Fans have been reading tea leaves for more than a month now, hoping they can see a pattern that suggests their two superstars would “run it back” next year in Brooklyn. That cup of tea wound up as spillage Monday with word from Shams Charania that Kevin Durant had given Joe Tsai a ultimatum: fire Sean Marks and Steve Nash or trade me.
Other than that, though, what should be expect now that positions are hardened, and arguably the best player in basketball is headed to his fourth team in 16 years? Probably not much immediately.
On Sunday, the day after Tsai met with Durant in London, word around HSS was that the Nets intend to be “hardline” on Durant’s demand — “request” no longer encapsulates the situation.