Celtics enter into talks with Nets

The Celtics appear no closer to acquiring Durant than others in talks with the Nets, but Boston’s ability to include All-Star All-Star Jaylen Brown as a centerpiece in the deals helps make the team formidable in its pursuit, sources said.

The Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors are known to have varying degrees of interest in Durant, but the Celtics have also been in regular contact with the Nets, the sources said.

No deals are believed to have traction for Durant, and no team has yet met the significant threshold the Nets have set for trading one of the league’s most talented players, the sources said. The Nets’ stance on a potential trade has remained virtually unchanged: They want a massive return that potentially includes multiple unprotected first-round picks, trades of picks and impact players for Durant, the sources said.

The Celtics consider NBA small forward Jayson Tatum off limits in any trade talks, but Boston can construct a package for Durant that could include Brown and up to three unprotected first-round picks (2025, 2027 and 2029), and two draft-order trades (2024 and 2026). Brown, 25, has two years and $56 million remaining on his current contract.

Durant, a 12-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP, requested a trade on June 30 and has not backed out of that request. At 33, Durant has four years and $198 million left on his contract, meaning Brooklyn can be patient waiting on teams for the kind of return it believes will eventually emerge for a star player hitting the trade market in his prime.

The Celtics defeated the Nets 4-0 in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series last season and built the core of their current team, in part, from draft compensation from a 2013 trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets. Both Tatum and Brown were acquired via Brooklyn picks sent to Boston.