GM Sean Marks: Nets, Kevin Durant Meet, Agree To Stay Together

After everything, Kevin Durant is returning to the Nets, and that comes straight from general manager Sean Marks.

Per the Brooklyn GM, Marks, coach Steve Nash, Nets owner Joe Tsai and Durant and representative Rich Kleiman all met in Los Angeles, hashing out the following arrangement: Durant will remain with the Nets.

In other words, the Nets are no longer discussing Durant trades and he will return with four years left on his contract.

This is an about-face from the start of the summer, when Durant requested to be traded. He later reiterated that stance in a meeting with Tsai, when Durant gave an ultimatum — either fire Marks and Nash, or trade me.

Apparently, he has back off that stance in his entirely, as Marks, Nash, Durant and even Kyrie Irving will all return. So the entire summer was much ado about nothing for the Nets, who are bringing the band back together after an offseason full of trade discussions.

Those discussions, clearly, are over. At least, they are when it involves Durant and Irving, who are expected to be joined by a finally ready-to-play Ben Simmons. The Nets are also expected to see the return of Joe Harris, who missed most of last season with a foot injury, and added veterans Royce O’Neale and T.J. Warren this offseason.

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— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) August 23, 2022

Durant, of course, had been linked to multiple teams — from “preferred destinations” such a the Suns and Heat, to the Bucks, Pelicans, Raptors, Hawks, 76ers and Celtics, especially when it came to a possible package involving Jaylen Brown.

Each of those teams talked to the Nets about a Durant deal, and the Nets’ price was said to be sky-high. But ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and multiple others suggested the Nets had been holding out hope that Durant would return.

At the time, the idea seemed silly. But now, Durant is back, Irving is back, Marks is back, Nash is back, and the Nets may actually enter the season better than ever.