Celtics

What Boston sports radio is saying about the Kevin Durant trade rumors

Reports that the Nets and Celtics have engaged in serious trade talks surrounding Kevin Durant sent Boston sports radio into a frenzy.

The Celtics are reportedly engaged in trade talks to acquire Nets superstar Kevin Durant. Seth Wenig / AP, File

July 26, 2022

The NBA world has been buzzing with Monday morning’s news that the Celtics and Nets have reportedly engaged in serious trade talks surrounding Kevin Durant.

Of course, Boston sports radio shows have had no shortage of opinions regarding the situation. Here’s what they have been saying:

On the plausibility of a trade

Reactions to the possibility of giving up Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, draft picks, and potentially one more rotation player for Durant were mixed. The cast of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich” unanimously agreed that the deal would be positive for the Celtics.

“Now that they’ve got Malcolm Brogdon, I think that’s a deal you have to make if you’re Brad Stevens,” the show’s Rich Shertenlieb said Monday morning.

Co-host Jon Wallach echoed Shertenlieb’s sentiments, saying, “I don’t see how you can’t do this. It makes too much sense for both sides, both teams can sell it to their fan bases. The Nets get a fair package back and the Celtics get one of the best players on the planet.”

Tony Massarotti of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Mazz” pointed out that, if the relationship between Brown and the Celtics is irreparable, moving him for Durant is something Boston should do.

“If Jaylen Brown is going to leave, and you [the Celtics] can get four years of Kevin Durant right now for doing it, then you do it,” Massarotti noted.

On WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” the co-hosts’ initial reactions were split. While former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins supported accepting Brooklyn’s reported proposal for Durant, his co-hosts Hill and Courtney Cox, as well as producer Chris Curtis, weren’t so sure, calling Durant’s history of dealing with pressure from fans into question.

On Durant as a fit for Boston

Curtis brought up Durant’s mental toughness when analyzing him as a fit with the Celtics, saying, “If I were to pick one sort of mental framework to say that that guy couldn’t work here [in Boston], Kevin Durant is the prototype. Burner accounts on Twitter, can’t handle fans being negative about him … “

98.5 The Sports Hub’s Christian Arcand questioned whether Durant would be able to fit in from a team standpoint. “There is no guarantee that [Durant] and Tatum find a way to get along,” he said when explaining why he would not make the deal. “There is no guarantee that it works from a team perspective.”

Despite acknowledging that the Celtics should acquire Durant if they are going to move Brown, Massarotti and co-host Michael Felger also weren’t sure about the fit with Boston.

“I don’t know if it’s a perfect fit,” Felger said.

Massarotti agreed, declaring that putting Durant in front of Jayson Tatum would send a “bad message to Tatum.”

Massarotti also wondered whether Tatum and Durant would be able to play effectively together. “I’m not sure their games are all that compatible,” he said. “Aside from the toughness element … their games are kind of similar. They’re both guys that you want to start the offense with the ball in their hands.”

However, “The Greg Hill Show’s” Wiggins looked to the relationship between Tatum and Durant in supporting the potential trade, noting that “the way that that Durant talks about [Tatum], I can easily see them putting their egos to the side.”

On Jaylen Brown

Hosts across the city also reflected on what these trade talks might mean for Jaylen Brown’s future, even if Boston does not pull off a trade for Durant.

Greg Hill asked his co-hosts “If the deal doesn’t happen, do you have an issue going forward with Jaylen Brown?”

Wiggins responded affirmatively, saying, “You have a bigger issue if the deal doesn’t get done, so you have to make this deal.”

Rich Keefe of WEEI’s “Gresh and Keefe” also addressed this issue on Monday. “The Celtics should not have offered Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant. I think that is a mistake,” Keefe said. “The worst part of this is you have already ended Jaylen Brown’s time in Boston. It’s just a matter of when that date is, but it’s coming to an end.”

Fueled by Brown’s ominous tweet reacting to the rumors, Felger and Mazz discussed at length a possible growing rift between Brown and the Celtics as a contributing factor to the trade offer.

“My guess is … that the Celtics aren’t offering Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant because they want Kevin Durant,” co-host Michael Felger said. “They’re offering Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant because Jaylen Brown doesn’t want them [the Celtics] and they’ve got to get something for him.”