Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn mentioned he doesn’t have any concern about Kevin Durant’s need to stay in Brooklyn now that Kyrie Irving has been traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
Durant and Irving had been a package deal deal after they signed four-year contracts with Brooklyn in the summertime of 2019. Yet he’s the one star remaining after each Irving and James Harden requested trades one 12 months inside one another.
Durant requested a commerce over the summer season, however the Nets declined to maneuver him.
”At the tip of the day, Kevin simply needs to win,” Vaughn mentioned forward of tip-off towards the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. “That’s been our goal. He wants to win at shootaround, he wants to win any game of the week. That’s why he loves to play, and that’s why he wants to play 82 games. That will be our holy grail. We’ll continue to put a group out that wins and until there’s something for me to be concerned about, then I’ll carry on business as usual.”
Neither Durant nor Irving attended Saturday’s matchup towards the Washington Wizards. Vaughn mentioned he was unsure whether or not or not Durant, who’s presently nursing a sprained MCL in his proper knee, can be in attendance to help his teammates on Monday towards the Clippers.
The Nets have been energetic forward of the Feb. 9 NBA commerce deadline in an effort to bolster the roster round Durant, who may request a commerce both earlier than Thursday or this upcoming summer season if he’s unhappy with the expertise on the roster.
The Nets tried to rope a 3rd group into the Mavericks deal and reroute Spencer Dinwiddie and draft capital elsewhere to herald an affect participant, however in the end, they declared the commerce official 90 minutes forward of tip-off towards the Clippers. If the Nets choose to deal Dinwiddie or Dorian Finney-Smith by Thursday’s 3 P.M. deadline, they will’t package deal both with extra gamers in a deal.
Vaughn mentioned his conversations with Durant haven’t been Irving-related.
“My conversation with Kev basically was based around the [Wizards] game and how our group pulled together to get a win,” he mentioned. “He was enthusiastic about how our guys played, how Cam [Thomas] played, so our conversations really kind of geared toward that direction.”
The Nets are anticipated to provide some type of an replace on Durant’s standing forward of tip-off towards the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Monday marked his thirteenth straight sport missed with the MCL sprain, which Vaughn declined to offer a grade of severity.
Durant is averaging 29.7 factors, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the Nets this season. Despite his harm, he was named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter over Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, however his standing for the 2023 All-Star Game stays unsure.
Injuries have saved Durant out of the All-Star Game each season since he signed in Brooklyn in 2019.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com