The Brooklyn Nets were certainly caught off guard when Kevin Durant issued a trade request to the franchise a few weeks ago. Teams immediately began calling to gauge what it would take to acquire the former NBA MVP and the asking price was very high.

As a result, negotiations have been slow. No team has gained much traction in trade talks as the Nets are just asking for too much in return. Durant has seemingly tried to speed things up when he issued an ultimatum to the team during a meeting recently with team personnel, but that may have done the opposite.

By saying general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash need to be fired for him to reconsider coming back, Durant has sabotaged the leverage that the Nets had. Teams aren’t going to come with stronger offers now knowing that the franchise is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Alas, it sounds like the Nets are hoping to not have to make a trade at all. According to Brian Windhorst during a recent appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Brooklyn is hoping that Durant will re-focus on making a run at a title with the team.

“So from what I can gather, it appears he and the Nets are looking forward to meeting up in training camp. Whether Kevin Durant is there and his level of buy-in, that’s the big question. But right now, I think the Nets want to run this team back and they’re hoping Kevin Durant agrees. The way they’re conducting trade talks and the prices they are asking has teams out there thinking they don’t really want to trade Kevin Durant anyway. They want to bring this team back. We’ll see if Kevin Durant goes along with that in training camp.”

If the Nets can convince Durant to come back they have the pieces to contend. With Kyrie Irving also reportedly committed to the team for the 2022-23 season, there is a lot to like when it comes to Brooklyn on the court.

Ben Simmons and T.J. Warren, if healthy, are both huge upgrades to the rotation. Simmons provides an elite defensive presence while Warren will give the team another scoring option that can create for himself, taking pressure off of Durant and Irving.

Those four along with someone such as Joe Harris or Seth Curry would be a lot for opponents to handle on both ends of the court.

Latest NBA News & Trade Rumors: Brooklyn Nets & Kyrie Irving

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For the latest surrounding Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the Brooklyn Nets, check out our NBA news and trade rumors feed.