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The Kevin Durant trade talks have stalled after an initial rush to inquire about the superstar's services. The asking prices being reported around the league have been exorbitantly high and perhaps the initial wave of suitors have been cooled on conversations with Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks.
That's opened the door for some more funky rumors to emerge. The latest one? That the Washington Wizards have emerged as a dark horse candidate for Durant, according to source from NBA insider Sam Amico:
Several sources even have told Hoops Wire to keep an eye on the Wizards, who could make a major push. Durant is a DC product, too. He may not be upset about playing at home alongside Bradley Beal.
It still seems a little far-fetched to believe that the Wizards could craft an offer to beat out all other suitors without including Bradley Beal in the trade package. But even if D.C. did have the winning ticket in the KD sweepstakes, should they even go for it in the first place?
Here are three (3) reasons the Wizards would be out of their minds for even considering a Kevin Durant trade:
3 reasons Wizards would be insane to trade for Kevin Durant
#1 – KD doesn't want to come home
Wizards fans are well aware that #KD2DC isn't a trend that's likely to pick up. That's because this isn't their first rodeo in trying to woo Kevin Durant to come home. Back when Washington was one of the up-and-coming teams in the East with an in-his-prime John Wall and rising star in Bradley Beal, they also tried their luck at luring Kevin Durant to come back home.
Of course, we all know how they went with KD joining the 73-9 Golden State Warriors and winning two rings in the process. Asked during his first visit to D.C. that year about his thoughts on playing back home, Durant was vocal on why it's just not an idea that sounds alluring to him.
Via Washington Post:
“I don’t want to open up anything in the past, but I really just didn’t want to play at home,” Durant said. “It was nothing about the fans. Being at home, I was so happy with that part of my life — playing at home, being in front of friends, hanging with friends and family every day. That was a part of my life that has come and gone.
By all accounts, the Nets aren't catering to Kevin Durant's whims here. They're trading him to the team that can offer them the most value. But sending Kevin Durant to a situation he's openly pined against doesn't sound like a recipe for a successful trade – especially one that would warrant the cost that it would. Of course, it's been a few years since then. Perhaps KD's stance on coming home has softened. But until he speaks openly about a change of heart, it's hard to predict otherwise.
#2 – Trading for Durant guts an already shallow Wizards team
Assuming the Wizards do somehow manage to trade for Kevin Durant, the offer would likely consist of every first-round pick they own plus Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma, and whichever combination of Rui Hachimura, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert, and Johnny Davis that the Nets would want. There's not exactly much else in the coffers to offer besides those assets (which raises the legitimacy of such a rumor in the first place).
Yes, Kevin Durant will have his star running mate in Bradley Beal. But aside from Beal, who else is left on the roster? They'll have the productive but limited Daniel Gafford to start at center. Then there's the newly acquired quartet of veterans in Will Barton, Monte Morris, Delon Wright, and Taj Gibson. Then likely the odd man out amongst the Wizards lottery picks that the Nets didn't want – likely Hachimura given that he's a pending free agent.
Is that really enough to compete in a suddenly loaded Eastern Conference? Probably not. We've seen lack of quality depth hurt teams the past couple of seasons, chief among them was Durant's Nets that were top heavy but offered little cohesion amongst its mishmash of disjointed parts. The situation doesn't get any better in D.C.
#3 – The risk outweighs the potential reward
The whole point of trading for Kevin Durant is to contend for winning a championship. That's the ultimate reward to chase. Adding KD certainly raises the team's ceiling next season from what feels like a less than 1 percent chance to suddenly being in the conversation. That's the level of talent that he'd bring.
The reality of it is he'll be 34 years old once the 2022-23 season starts and likely has just two, maybe three prime years left before a sharp decline. Taking such a massive swing could be worth it for teams like the Miami Heat or Phoenix Suns, ones who are right at the cusp of winning it all with Durant being the overkill addition that nearly guarantees they'll be showered in confetti come June of next year.
But the Wizards are in no such position. With the talent-level lacking and an already established lukewarm desire from KD to play for his hometown team, there's a good chance the situation simply implodes just like it did with the Nets. But unlike Brooklyn, who can recoup a grand haul for Durant via trade, Washington won't have as easy of a time with an older asset that's failed to make it work with yet another franchise.
Couple that with the fact that he and Bradley Beal would be making roughly $100 million between the two of them with no picks to trade for additional support, the avenues for improving the team beyond veteran's minimum guys would be almost none.
Is a slim chance to win a title in the next year or so worth the risk of the much more likely scenario that the Wizards spend the next half decade plus wishing they hadn't mortgaged their future on Kevin Durant? The sad reality of being a Wizards fan is that the answer might be yes – but it really should be no.
