Kevin Durant would have forced the Warriors to "give up" more and more for D & # 39; Angelo Russell

The relatively complex signing agreement that sent Kevin Durant to Brooklyn Nets and D'Angelo Russell at the Golden State Warriors would have been complicated by none other than Durant himself.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported Thursday that the former star of the Warriors "hesitated" in the face of an exchange that would only involve Russell and him.

"He did not think it was a fair deal, and in this case, the Warriors had to not only satisfy the Nets, but also Durant," reported Windhorst, citing several sources.

Windhorst announced that the Warriors were "reluctantly" forced to forgo a first-round pick with "one of the most unusual protection choices the NBA has seen recently".

If the first-round pick of the Warriors is outside the top 20 of the NBA Draft next year, the Nets get the pick. If this is not the case, the Warriors send Brooklyn a second round pick in six years.

ALSO: Steph Curry discusses the departure of Kevin Durant and the arrival of Dr. Angelo Russell

In addition, Golden State would have been forced to accept the contracts of Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham – who were abandoned by the team soon after – in order to allow the Nets to free up money. space for DeAndre Jordan, a close friend of Durant & # 39; s and Kyrie Irving.

If this is true, it is just another chapter in the very strange saga that was Durant's free will.

On Tuesday, Nets chief executive Sean Marks told reporters that although the team's officials were sure to land Durant, the most useful former player did not speak to the team before to announce his decision at 3 pm PT on his Instagram account "The Boardroom" of his sports business.

"Well, yes, the Instagram message that he posted, we were all sitting in the office, and we all received it in real time with you," said Marks. "We did not even know if we were going to have a meeting that night or if there would be a phone conversation with him – it was the first time."

The signing agreement has been finalized and officially announced by the teams involved earlier this week.

Eric Ting is a personal editor of SFGATE. Email: [email protected] | Twitter:@_ericting

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