Kevin Durant. Yup, that's the title.


        Admittedly, whether it be out of my own tendency to fill up my calendar or my laziness, I still haven’t gotten around to grading the draft or highlighting what I’m looking forward to in summer league. While I had planned to write about that next, something happened a few days ago that takes priority. After a year of drama and weeks of waiting, Kevin Durant has finally requested a trade from the Nets. As the trade and free-agent market develops, his potential destinations will be shaved down to the teams that actually have a chance to land him. It’s rare that top five players are ever moved, and for that occasion, I’ll be writing about three of my favorite potential Durant trades and destinations for my own enjoyment and yours. It’s going to take a haul and I think that these teams have the parts to get a deal done. 


For reference, these trades will follow three key principles:


  1. All trades will be 1:1, no three-team deals, no shenanigans.

  2. All potential suitors will have an incumbent star. KD won’t be asked to single-handedly carry a team.

  3. All trades will follow CBA rules. So, no five straight unprotected first-round picks, no Bam/Mitchell/Booker for KD straight up, no cap dumps, etc.


With all of that out of the way, here we go.





In this fall – this is very tough – in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat


Potential Trade:


Heat Receive:


F, Kevin Durant - $44.1M

F/G, Ben Simmons - $35.4M

(+$13.3M cap impact)


Nets Receive:


C, Bam Adebayo - $30.3M

G, Kyle Lowry - $28.3M

G, Tyler Herro - $5.7M

G/F, Max Strus - 1.8M

2023 Unprotected MIA 1st Round Pick

2027 Unprotected MIA 1st Round Pick

2029 Unprotected MIA 1st Round Pick

2026 OKC, DAL, or PHI 2nd Round Pick

(-$15.1M cap impact)



While it’s been reported that the major “obstacle” in a Durant to Miami deal is his want to play with Lowry, Butler, and Adebayo, it shouldn’t matter. That possibility just isn’t possible under the NBA’s salary cap rules and isn’t possible when considering practicality. Kevin Durant cannot be dealt in a cap dump, real assets have to come back. In this deal, the Nets adhere to the designated rookie extension rule by dumping Durant and Simmons to acquire Adebayo while also betting on a pair of more reliable young players in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. The Heat, in exchange for sending over two young studs with Lowry and Strus only have to give up three firsts and a second, which is pretty fair considering that they're getting back Durant and the question mark of Simmons. For Durant, he gets his wish to play alongside Jimmy Butler and gets an interesting roll partner in Ben Simmons. For the Heat, they get a legitimate dynamic duo of superstars to fill in the pieces around. Pat Riley is savvy and if this move happened, he’d have to really utilize his skills post-trade. In all, the Nets get a fair haul and ditch the dramatic players on their roster while the Heat get to pair two superstars to go for a championship right now, it’s perfect!





Run from the Grind to the Grind


Potential Trade:


Trail Blazers Receive:


F, Kevin Durant - $44.1M

G/F, Joe Harris - $18.6M

(+$4.1M cap impact)


Nets Receive:


G, Anfernee Simons - $22.3M

G, Eric Bledsoe - $19.3M

G/F, Shaedon Sharpe - $6M

F, Nassir Little - $4.1M

G/F, Justise Winslow - $4.0M

G/F, Keon Johnson - $2.6M

2024 Unprotected ATL 2nd Round Pick

2025 Unprotected POR 1st Round Pick

2025 Unprotected MIL 1st Round Pick

2025 Unprotected DET 2nd Round Pick

2027 Unprotected POR 1st Round Pick

2027 Unprotected NOP 2nd Round Pick

2028 Right to Swap More Favorable BKN/POR 1st Round Pick

2029 Unprotected POR 1st Round Pick

(-$4.1M cap impact)


For Brooklyn, this deal would have to wait until the end of July because of Shaedon Sharpe’s rookie restriction, but I think that it’s worth it. The cap relief may not seem like much now, but outside of the key young pieces of Sharpe and Simons, all of the Portland outgoing deals are only for one year. Assuming Kyrie also gets moved, this gives Brooklyn a solid new backcourt of Simons and Sharpe to build with. Along with the players, the Nets could get a quite impressive pick haul from Portland. Effectively five firsts and three seconds with a swash of players seem to fit the quotes from Nets owner, Joe Tsai, about how they want a big haul, but still want to compete post-Durant. Dissimilar to other teams, Portland’s picks could actually be pretty valuable. The second-round picks from bad teams are basically first-round picks and with an older core, banking on a blow-up in Portland isn’t a terrible bet. These picks have real value. For Portland, they finally get their superstar partner for Damian Lillard and maintain a strong enough roster around them to compete. Durant gets to play with one of his friends and goes back to the West. Overall, it’s a win-win.




Leave Durant Out to Dry in the Desert


Potential Trade:


Suns Receive:


F, Kevin Durant - $44.1M

C, Day’Ron Sharpe - $2.1M

(-$15.5M cap impact)


Nets Receive:


F, Mikal Bridges - $21M

F, Jae Crowder - $10.1M

G, Landry Shamet - $9.5M

F, Dario Saric - $9.2M

G, Cam Payne - $6M

F, Cam Johnson - $5.8M

2023 Unprotected PHX 1st Round Pick

2023 Unprotected PHX 2nd Round Pick

2024 Unprotected PHX 2nd Round Pick

2025 Unprotected PHX 1st Round Pick

2025 Unprotected PHX 2nd Round Pick

2027 Unprotected PHX 1st Round Pick

2028 Right to Swap More Favorable BKN/PHX 1st Round Pick

2029 Unprotected PHX 1st Round Pick

(+$15.5M cap impact)


This is unquestionably where Durant (reportedly) wants to be. Creating a Durant, Booker, and Paul big three out west would be a “problem” and a “threat” to the Warriors, as Draymond Green would put it. For the Suns, this is an all-in move that throws away their future for their potential right now. All but one of their future first-round picks are gone and their top two young players, Bridges and Johnson, would also be sent out. Their cheap ownership group gets to shed salary and acquire Kevin Durant, which isn’t a bad sell. For the Nets, they get a nice haul of picks, young players, and role players to build with. Like the Portland deal, most of these contracts are one-year deals and/or tradeable, giving the Nets flexibility. The Suns have also been heavily engaged in a Durant deal, making it easier for the Nets to adjust a potential haul as there isn’t much that’ll stray the Suns away. Both the Suns and Nets are desperate which makes for a very interesting negotiation. Both teams want to make a Durant trade work, but both sides aren’t willing to currently accommodate the other. If this happens, it’ll be the culmination of a weird and fiery negotiation. 




The Durant Dilemma


No matter who trades for Durant, they’ll have to give up an arm and a leg to do so. For a guy that’s going to be 34 years old during the 2022-23 season, teams are certainly willing to give up a lot for someone who might not be on their team in two years. The rush that teams feel by getting Durant may have allowed teams to get away from their goals. These three teams seem to be willing to give up the necessary arm and leg to get Durant while still competing. However, there’s no guarantee that a smart trade comes to fruition. The Celtics, Warriors, Hawks, Sixers, and others could theoretically drum up the necessary assets to get a deal done, but would it make them better? It’s tough to say for sure. When it happens, and it will, the Durant trade will go down in history. It’s rare that a top-five player and another All-Star have forced their way off of a team at the same time, but for Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, that’s reality. The Nets are just one team out of thirty, but they sure have a way of pushing themselves into the spotlight. No matter what happens, no matter who changes area codes, basketball fans always have to remember one thing: Brian Windhorst is undefeated. Have a fun free agency, everyone.
















Adam Zimmerman-Diaz


IG - @adam.zd

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chaos, Dominance, and Revenge -- 2023-24 NBA Playoffs First Round Preview

Image
            Is it an exaggeration to say that the play-in is the best thing to happen to basketball in the last decade? As far as rule changes go, the product that the play-in creates is amazing. Not only the on-court product but all of the drama off the court with the expanded opportunities for teams to make the playoffs. Speaking of playoffs, with the play-in officially having concluded, we finally have all of our playoff matchups in both conferences for the 2023-24 playoffs. It was a long year, but we finally made it to the big dance after a season that felt like we spent the entire time talking about it. Well, it’s finally here and as I do every year, I’m going to break down the matchups for the first round and pick some winners. Eastern Conference (1) Boston Celtics vs (8) Miami Heat Prediction: Celtics in 4 BOS X Factor: Jrue Holiday MIA X Factor: Jaime Jaquez Jr. Well, well, well. Here we go, again. While the rosters are drastically different ...
Read more

The Season of the Chip -- 2023-24 NBA Conference Finals Recap and Finals Preview

Image
            In basketball, we often associate a quiet whimper with a series ending in four or five games. These conference finals, while blowouts on paper, were made up of close games, interesting dynamics, and surprise breakouts. As a primer for my perspective on these playoffs, the deeper we’ve gotten into the postseason, the worse the takes have been surrounding individual players as well as teams. For the most part, I’m going to try and focus my recaps and analysis on what I saw rather than lazy and contrived takes but I’m leaving this as a warning that as I dive into the finals matchup, which is the most toxic NBA Finals in a while, I could fall victim to focusing on a narrative. I’ll do my best because the basketball itself is actually quite intriguing but there are certain ways of thinking about these playoffs that do need some critiquing. That being said, there have been two series of basketball since I last wrote here, and there is one more to...
Read more

Finishing Touches -- 2023-24 NBA Playoffs Round 1 Recap/Round 2 Preview Part 2

Image
            You guys got your dessert first with that giant recap of round one and round two previews, so it’s only right that I feed you some vegetables with a recap of the one remaining round series and subsequent only second-round series that I didn’t already cover. While boring, the last first-round series did affect my Celtics, so I’m happy to get right into it.  First Round Recap (4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs (5) Orlando Magic Winner: Cleveland in 7 My Prediction: Orlando in 6 This was an expected rock fight. This series had everything from traded blowouts to blown leads to close finishes. While defense ruled for most of the series, at the end of these close games, Donovan Mitchell’s offensive grace and experience won out. To say that the Magic were bad down the stretch in this series is an understatement. Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs were 3-28 in game seven, but that’s far from the problem. Late-game turnovers, poor shot selection, and inexpe...
Read more