Latest on Kevin Durant

The Nets aren’t close to a Kevin Durant trade, source told Hoops Wire, and executives believe talks could “linger into training camp,” per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Durant requested a trade and his preferred landing spot is said to be the Suns, followed by the Heat. In exchange for Durant, the Nets are seeking an All-Star, a younger player with major upside and an unprotected draft picks, Scotto reported.

While Nets GM Sean Marks has been active in talks at the Las Vegas Summer League, so far, the type of package he’s seeking has yet to surface.

One executive told Scotto that he believes the Nets should receive a “James Harden type of package” for Durant. In the Harden deal with the 76ers, the Nets received Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round picks. (Brooklyn also sent Paul Millsap to Philadelphia.)

At least half the league has explored trade interest in Durant, but it is widely believed only a few have a chance. Scotto reported that teams in contention would make the most sense, as Durant will be 34-years old at the start of next season.

Then again, any team with Durant likely becomes an instant contender.

Overall, the Nets appear to be open to trading Durant to one of his desired locations, but their priority is clearly finding the best deal for themselves, as relayed by Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

“Nets general manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai had agreed to work with Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman to try to trade him to one of his preferred landing spots,” Lewis wrote. “But in the end, Durant and Irving are expected to be moved where and when it works best for Nets management.”

Like most everyone, the Suns would love to add Durant, who has four years remaining on his contract. But like everyone, there are obstacles. Word is, they don’t want to just gut a team that reached the Finals two seasons ago.

So right now, nothing is imminent.

“We have a pretty gigantic gulf between what the Nets’ value of Kevin Durant is and what the market is willing to pay,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Get Up, via Real GM. “Again, this requires some nuance and I know that this potentially will be taken out of that context.

“Kevin Durant is obviously a very valuable player. Nobody doubts that this guy is still in his prime years as an MVP level candidate, who can completely swing a team from pretender to contender with his presence.

“However, the market does not want to pay a super premium price for him because if you trade away all of these top assets on your team to get him, he becomes less valuable to you. And that gulf is why we’re in a stalemate right now and could have one for a while.”

Along with Durant, the Nets reportedly have been exploring trades centered on Kyrie Irving. We have more on those developments right here.