Well, we're back! After doing several iterations of this thought exercise over the summer we find ourselves here once more, asking the same question: will Kevin Durant get traded? Things are different this time around, though. Kyrie Irving, Durant's running mate and the driving force behind KD ending up with the Brooklyn Nets in the first place, is gone. He was traded to the Dallas Mavericks after demanding a trade again. The trade arguably makes Brooklyn a more balanced team but throws everything into flux because nobody knows how Durant will react.

There is a chance he demands a trade once again, just like he did the last time the Nets did not cooperate with Kyrie. Other teams clearly think that is a possibility and wasted no time expressing their interest through the rumor mill after the Irving trade went down on Sunday.

I would consider it exceedingly unlikely that Durant asks for and receives a trade before the deadline on Febuary 9. Irving didn't give them much more time but he was a different case. Even though they traded him the Nets' general trajectory remains the same. That would not be the case if they traded Durant. He is in the first year of a four-year contract and even if he wants out Brooklyn will make him wait until the summer to do a deal.