Kevin Durant following Kyrie Irving out the door in Brooklyn?

With Kyrie Irving sent to Dallas, the Brooklyn Nets have been contacted by the Boston Celtics about a possible deal between Kevin Durant and Jaylen Brown before Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Stephen A. Smith.

“I heard he’s about to be potentially moved,” Smith said on Monday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take. ‘Obviously we’ve all been speculating on that, that it could be moved. They are on the phone. Heard Boston’s making some calls. Keep an eye on that, Jaylen Brown. Don’t lose sight of that.

Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn before the season, but rescinded that demand after sitting down with owner Joseph Tsai, general manager Sean Marks and then-coach Steve Nash to work out their issues with the Nets.

Nash has since been fired, and the Nets responded by going 30-15 under his replacement, Jacque Vaughn.

But just when things seemed to be looking up in Brooklyn, the Nets (32-20) deadlocked in extension talks with Irving, who demanded a trade. Marks agreed and sent Irving to the Mavericks for a 2029 first-round pick, point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Dorian Finney-Smith.

For the second time in the last year, Durant (right) is rumored to be the subject of trade rumors involving Brown (left), the Boston Celtics All-Star.

With Kyrie Irving sent to Dallas, the Boston Celtics have contacted the Brooklyn Nets about a possible deal between Kevin Durant and Jaylen Brown before Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Stephen A. Smith (pictured).

Adding fuel to the rumors was Brown’s presence on Boston’s injury report Monday with what the team described as a non-COVID illness. Brown remains questionable for Monday’s game against the Detroit Pistons.

‘Now why would Jaylen Brown be questionable?’ wrote a fan on Twitter, suggesting that the team is preparing to move him in a trade.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the 26-year-old Brown has surfaced in trade rumors involving Durant.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in July that Boston inquired about Durant and was willing to give up Brown.

Brown did not comment on the report directly, but did tweet “SMH,” short for “shaking his head.”

One potential hurdle to that deal was the sale price reported by the Nets for the 34-year-old Durant.

According to Woj, the Nets want multiple unprotected first-round picks, pick trades and multiple impact players.

The lawsuit was somewhat similar to the trade that landed Brown in Boston: Brooklyn’s 2013 acquisition of Celtics stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

The Nets, under then-general manager Billy King, gave up unprotected first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as trades for additional picks, allowing the Celtics to draft Brown and Jayson Tatum in 2016 and 2017, respectively. .

Meanwhile, Brooklyn clinched a second-round playoff appearance in Pierce’s only season with the Nets.

Durant still has $150 million and three years left on his contract, while Brown has one season and $28.5 million left after the 2022-23 campaign.

At the time, the Brown-Durant trade rumors did not sit well with Tatum.

“I played with him during the Olympics,” Tatum said when asked about Durant. “Obviously he’s a great player. But that’s not my call. I love our team. I love the guys we have.

Tatum and Brown helped guide the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2021-22 after sweeping Durant’s Nets in the first round of the postseason. Boston currently has the best record in the NBA at 37-16.

This time around, any Brown-Durant deal could be affected by the latter’s sprained knee, which has kept him out of the lineup since Jan. 8.

Before his injury, the former MVP was averaging 29.7 points per game (8th in the NBA).

Brown, for his part, averages 27 points per game (12th in the NBA).