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USATSI

When Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets last week, it sent shockwaves around the NBA as every team began crunching the numbers to see if they have enough to acquire one of the most prolific offensive players in league history. Durant listed his preferred destinations: the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, and while Twitter was overloaded with screenshots of trades that would send him to any number of teams, the trade market for him has been relatively quiet. 

Any trade involving Durant would net Brooklyn a monumental haul, and considering the Utah Jazz just got four first-round picks (three of which are unprotected), and five players in the trade that sent Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, you can only imagine the return the Nets are going to get for a two-time Finals MVP. While Durant may want to be traded as soon as possible to get ready for next season, Shams Charania said during an appearance on the "Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday the Nets plan to be patient until a team meets their asking price for Durant.

Per Charania:

"[The Nets] are making moves and doing things this offseason with the preparation and operation as if they're bringing these two guys back next season and playing with these two guys. They're open in dialogue and open to teams like Toronto, Phoenix, Miami making offers but until they get that price threshold met, which I'm told is All-Star-type players, a boat load of draft picks, they're not gonna move. This is what they're telling teams: We're not going to move Kevin Durant until the price is met. We'll see how this summer goes ... this process with Kevin Durant could take awhile."

This isn't entirely surprising, given how long it's taken to trade superstars in the past. It took five months from the time Anthony Davis requested a trade from the Pelicans in January 2019 to when he was actually shipped out to his preferred destination of the Lakers. In that situation, New Orleans held firm on its asking price with Los Angeles, and eventually got what it wanted in three first-round draft picks and three young, talented players in return. So the Nets have no reason to rush this along for the sake of getting it over before the season starts.

With the high asking price Brooklyn is requiring, this may drag out into training camp or potentially the regular season. It all depends on what teams are willing to give up for Durant.