NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke up after the huge Kevin Durant trade request that shook the entire NBA World.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently spoke to the media. He talked about how the trades around the league are happing. Silver’s main focus was on the trade request made by Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant.
Durant still has four years left on his max deal with the Nets, but he wants to get moved as he is done with the franchise. The Nets’ treatment of KD’s best friend Kyrie Irving certainly played a huge part in it.
The request to get traded by Kevin Durant shook the entire NBA world. It is assumed that to get KD, a team will have to make the biggest offer in the history of the NBA. It is one of the main reasons why there is no clear-cut favorite to land KD.
Talking about it, Adam Silver said, “I don’t know whether his — whether he requested a trade or demanded one, frankly. Look, this needs to be a two-way street. Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players and the expectation is, in return, they will meet their end of the bargain.”
He added, “I’m realistic that there’s always conversations that are going to go on behind closed doors between players and their representatives and the teams. But we don’t like to see players requesting trades, and we don’t like to see it playing out the way it is.”
Adam Silver continued talking about how a trade of this magnitude will affect many players on many different teams. It is assumed that the trade to acquire Kevin Durant is likely to be at least a three-team trade.
Silver said, “And as to what we can do about this issue, again, when a player asks to be moved, it has a ripple effect on a lot of other players, on that player’s team and other teams. So it’s not just potentially the league or the team governors who are impacted by that, but lots of other players as well.“
Adam Silver further said, “It’s one of those issues that as we move into this collective bargaining cycle, which we are just beginning now, we intend to discuss with our Players Association and see if there are remedies for this. Again, as I said, it will never be the case when players won’t be unhappy in certain situations, but we don’t want to see it playing out the way it is now.”
He added, “I think it is something where there is mutuality of interests between the players collectively and the league, having more stability. So that’s something we’ll be discussing with the union.”
There is a sense around the league that the meeting between the owners and the player association is going to be a huge one. Many issues will be raised, in it and we could see many changes coming.
As things currently stand, the Miami Heat are determined to bring in Kevin Durant. They believe by adding him they can win the championship, and rightly so.
However, as earlier stated, a three-team trade will be required to pull off this move, and that is very hard to negotiate. As a result, the drama is likely to extend further ahead.
The Phoenix Suns are also trying very hard to bring Kevin Durant, but the same issue is arising with them. On the other hand, the Toronto Raptors are likely to be out of the race, as they don’t want to trade Scottie Barnes in return.
Read More:
Follow our dedicated NBA page for instant NBA news and updates