Kevin Durant Requests Trade From Nets: 6 Possible Trade Destinations
Only three years into his tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant has requested to be traded. The news came down hours before NBA free agency opened Thursday evening, first reported by The Athletics’ Shams Charania, sending NBA Twitter into a frenzy.
The request was made directly to Nets Owner Joe Tsai, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, this coming after Kyrie Irving opt-ed into the final year of his $37M contract. Durant’s request undoubtedly marks the end to the Irving-Nets pairing, as well.
Should the Nets trade Durant, they could get back a significant return that includes either multiple first-round draft picks, rising stars, or All-Star caliber players ready to help the Nets remain competitive alongside the likes of Ben Simmons, a returning Joe Harris, and Seth Curry. The 33-year-old two-times Finals MVP has four fully guaranteed years left on his deal and is coming off a ’22 campaign averaging 29.9 points per game. In ’19, the OKC Thunder eventually got five first-rounders for Paul George including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the New Orleans Pelicans gutted the Los Angeles Lakers for all their young talent and three first-rounders. Durant is better than both and still at the top of his game.
Kevin Durant requests trade from Nets hours before free NBA agency begins.
Over half the league is reportedly trying to get into the Durant sweepstakes. A player of his caliber doesn’t show up on trade blocks often and when he does you have to go all in. Durant’s agent Rich Kleiman told sources that Nets GM Sean Marks is working with Durant and Kleiman on finding a trade for the superstar. The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, both top teams in their respective conferences, are among Durant’s wish list for potential trade destinations, per Woj.
Here are some potential destinations for the Nets forward:
Phoenix Suns
Since the Suns are one of the two teams we know Durant wants to go we’ll start with them and what they have to offer. Per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, a Suns-Durant trade doesn’t happen without sending Devin Booker to Brooklyn. This may make things tricky for Durant who most likely would want to keep the young star who just re-upped with the Suns with a $224M supermax extension. Durant even called Booker a “certified bucket” on Twitter, and the two recently played with each other for Team USA.
Durant and Booker during the victory celebration for Team USA. Credit: GETTY IMAGES
If the Suns can swindle the Nets and keep Booker, a trade package instead would look more like sending off Deandre Ayton, who reportedly has a fractured relationship with the franchise, on a sign-and-trade deal, Mikal Bridges, and a couple of future first-round picks. A pairing of the two Suns players with a core of Simmons, Harris, and Curry could have the Nets competitive for now in the East as they look to reel in another star. For the Suns, the move would be a no-brainer to add Durant to a stable team with a good culture and a backcourt of Booker and Chris Paul to compete against teams like the Golden State Warriors and a healthy L.A. Clippers.
Miami Heat
The other team with a head start in the Durant sweepstakes, the Heat, is an intriguing destination. Durant is just the offensive weapon the Heat is missing to seriously compete and win a title. He and Jimmy Butler would be a top-three duo in the league if not the best. Erik Spoelstra is a significant upgrade over Steve Nash in terms of coaching and if they are to retain Bam Adebayo in the deal, even better. The Heat have a true winning culture and that is exactly what Durant needs at this stage of his career. Not trying to move mountains for a pretender franchise.
Concerns with this potential destination is a league rule that doesn’t allow more than one player on a rookie max contract on a team, which prevents Adebayo from being traded to the Nets who have Simmons. It’s hard to believe the Nets wouldn’t want the big man in a deal for Durant’s services. Other than him, the Heat only have left to send Tyler Herro and some future picks.
Dallas Mavericks
Alright, time to get wild. It would be amazing to see a pairing of Luka Doncic and Durant, they would undoubtedly be THE BEST duo in the league, perhaps history. The Nets superstar has ties to Texas as he played for Univ. of Texas back in the day. The Mavericks would automatically become the favorite to come out of the West and win. Durant, Doncic, along with a Christian Wood, who the Mavs just traded for, would be a solid big three and Durant would excel in an offense headed by one of the most efficient players in the league.
The Mavs have solid players they can send in Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, and Dorian Finney-Smith and some picks too. This trade would be a hard one to sell for the Nets, but they will not nearly get anything in return that’s on the same level as Durant. This will make for desperation in the coming weeks for the Nets who are looking to move beyond the Durant-Irving era as soon as possible. Until then, I will keep dreaming about this scenario.
Chicago Bulls
This is perhaps the best trade scenario for both teams in terms of staying competitive in the East. The Bulls can send the Nets DeMar DeRozan who had a breakout season with only a few years left on his deal leaving the Nets wiggle room to reset in the future if it doesn’t work out. Also, the Bulls have Nikola Vucevic they can send-off. He’s on the last year of his deal, things teams love to trade for when trying to get big contracts off their books and he addresses a need for the Nets immediately. Pairing DeRozan and Vucevic with Simmons who will have a crop of shooters around him would make the Nets a very interesting team.
Durant working out in a Toni Kukoč jersey. Credit: TWITTER
On the other hand for the Bulls, Durant and Zach LaVine could make a scary duo. Getting back Lonzo Ball and keeping him healthy would be key but you would get the best version of him with a weapon like Durant to play make for. And Durant is familiar with Bulls coach Billy Donovan too. Add in some veteran pieces and this would be a top roster. They would likely have to give up Alex Caruso or Coby White, but it would be a small price to pay for salvation.
Denver Nuggets
Denver is just a piece away from contention when Jamal Murray is healthy, and Durant would be that missing piece of the puzzle. The Nuggets thought that role was for Michael Porter Jr. who has repeatedly been out with injuries. Exchanging him for Durant would surely put the Nuggets at the top in the West with back-to-back league MVP Nikola Jokic. Porter Jr.’s $30.9M salary gets the job halfway done too in matching salaries along with Aaron Gordon or some of the young talent and picks
The only thing with this deal is everything will center around Porter Jr. and his health which is a big factor. But if he can stay healthy he would replace the scoring the Nets would lose in Durant and you’ll have two young payers in MPJ and Simmons to build around for the next decade. High risk, possibly high reward.
Los Angeles Lakers
Yes, this could be a possibility. There is reported interest for Durant and Irving to stay together on a new team and the Lakers are one team that could absolutely match the Nets in contracts, problems, and drama. This deal would benefit the Lakers because Durant is better than Anthony Davis, who would need to be traded, and LeBron is desperate to capture another ring by any means. He’s been openly flirting with the thought of playing with Stephen Curry so the idea of playing with Durant shouldn’t be beneath the four-time champ.
Durant and James during ‘18 All-Star Game. Credit: NBA
The Nets would receive Davis, Russell Westbrook, and whatever they can muster. Simmons and Westbrook would be scary in the worst way, but Davis is still a top-10 caliber player when healthy. And the Nets have better surrounding pieces than the Lakers which could make that situation work better than what we have seen in L.A.
Sparks are sure to fly this July 4th weekend during NBA free agency. It’s the Summer of Kevin part two.
