“They should find a way to do a deal with Boston” -  An anonymous NBA executive says the Brooklyn Nets won’t get a better player than 1x All-Star in the KD deal

NBA insider Chris Mannix has heard from an anonymous executive that the Brooklyn Nets should be listening to the Boston Celtics.

The sweepstakes for Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant is heating up as the Boston Celtics appear to be in the driver's seat for the moment.

Durant held a face-to-face meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai this week and reportedly gave him an ultimatum: either fire general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash or trade him. With training camp around the corner and Tsai unwilling to let Marks and Nash go, Durant will likely be traded sooner rather than later.

Chris Mannix on the podcast The Crossover NBA Show with Chris Mannix and Howard Beck spoke about how the Nets might be forced to take the best offer on the table. This could be Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics.

"I had one executive who was not involved in the Durant sweepstakes say to me ‘if the Nets don’t have the stomach to bring him to training camp, they should find a way to do a deal with Boston because they’re not going to get a better player in a deal than Jaylen Brown,'" Mannix said.

Earlier this summer, the Boston Celtics reportedly made an offer to the Brooklyn Nets for Durant, which involved Boston parting ways with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a whole host of draft picks. The Nets rejected this offer and demanded that the Celtics add either Marcus Smart or Jayson Tatum to the package along with Brown.

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What is the package that the Brooklyn Nets want?

Cleveland Cavaliers v Brooklyn Nets - Play-In Tournament

The Brooklyn Nets hold all the leverage in this situation as Kevin Durant has four more years on his contract. The two-time NBA champion will not hit free agency until the summer of 2026 after he signed a four-year deal worth north of $190 million last year with no player-option included in it. This means that the Nets can trade Durant when they receive the right package.

The Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns were the frontrunners for Durant earlier in the summer. However, Phoenix cannot do a deal as Deandre Ayton cannot be traded until January. The Heat, on the other hand, cannot package Bam Adebayo as the Nets cannot acquire two players on a designated rookie extension via trade.

This leaves the Boston Celtics as the only realistic landing spot for Kevin Durant. The potential of the trade could be getting an All-Star in Jaylen Brown but they should also want either Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart or Robert Williams III with draft compensation.

Should the Nets receive Brown and Williams III, they would have weakened the Celtics while also addressing one of their biggest issues, which is defense.