Kevin Durant following Kyrie Irving out the door in Brooklyn?

With Kyrie Irving shipped off to Dallas, the Brooklyn Nets have been contacted by the Boston Celtics about a potential Kevin Durant-Jaylen Brown deal ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Stephen A. Smith.

‘I’m hearing that he’s on the verge of potentially being moved,’ Smith said on Monday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take. ‘Obviously, we’ve all been speculating about that, that he may be moved. They’re on the phone. I’m hearing Boston is making some calls. Keep your eye on that, Jaylen Brown. Keep your eye on that.’

Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn prior to the season, but rescinded that demand after sitting down with owner Joseph Tsai, general manager Sean Marks and then-coach Steve Nash to hammer out his issues with the Nets.

Nash has since been fired and the Nets responded by going 30-15 under his replacement, Jacque Vaughn.

But just when things appeared to be improving in Brooklyn, the Nets (32-20) hit an impasse in extension talks with Irving, who demanded a trade. Marks acquiesced, sending Irving to the Mavericks for a 2029 first-round pick, point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Dorian Finney-Smith.

For the second time in the last year, Durant (right) is rumored to be the subject of trade rumors involving Brown (left), the Boston Celtics’ All-StarĀ 

With Kyrie Irving shipped off to Dallas, the Brooklyn Nets have been contacted by the Boston Celtics about a potential Kevin Durant-Jaylen Brown deal ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, according to Stephen A. Smith (pictured)

With Kyrie Irving shipped off to Dallas, the Brooklyn Nets have been contacted by the Boston Celtics about a potential Kevin Durant-Jaylen Brown deal ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Stephen A. Smith (pictured)Ā 

Adding fuel to the rumors was Brown’s presence on Boston’s injury report Monday, with what the team described as a non-COVID illness. Brown remains questionable for Monday’s game against the Detroit Pistons.

‘Now why would Jaylen Brown be questionable?’ one fan wrote on Twitter, suggesting the team is preparing to move him in a trade.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that the 26-year-old Brown has been floated in trade rumors involving Durant.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in July that Boston inquired about Durant and was willing to relinquish Brown.

Brown did not comment on the report directly, but did tweet ‘SMH’ – the abbreviation for ‘shaking my head.’

One potential obstacle to that deal was the Nets’ reported asking price for the 34-year-old Durant.

According to Woj, the Nets want multiple unprotected first-round picks, pick swaps and several impactful players.

The demand was somewhat similar to the trade that brought Brown to Boston: Brooklyn’s 2013 acquisition of Celtics stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

The Nets, under then-general manager Billy King, relinquished unprotected first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as additional pick swaps, which allowed the Celtics to draft Brown and Jayson Tatum in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Brooklyn, meanwhile, managed one second-round playoff appearance in Pierce’s only season with the Nets.

Durant still has $150 million and three years remaining on his contract, while Brown has one season and $28.5 million left on his after the 2022-23 campaign.

At the time, the Brown-Durant trade rumors did not sit well with Tatum.

‘I played with him during the Olympics,’ Tatum said when asked about Durant. ‘Obviously, he’s a great player. But that’s not my decision. I love our team. I love the guys we got.’

Tatum and Brown helped guide the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2021-22 after sweeping Durant’s Nets in the first round of the postseason. Boston currently has the best record in the NBA at 37-16.

This time, any Brown-Durant deal could be impacted by the latter’s sprained knee, which has kept him out of the lineup since January 8.

Prior to his injury, the former MVP was averaging 29.7 points a game (eighth in the NBA).

Brown, meanwhile, is averaging 27 points a game (12th in the NBA).



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