Kevin Durant dropped a bombshell on the Brooklyn Nets and NBA free agency by requesting a trade just hours before the start of the moratorium period. While Kyrie Irving decided to exercise his player option earlier this week, it seems Durant wasn't pleased with how that whole saga went, leading to this trade request. The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are reportedly on the top of Durant's list of preferred destinations.
While the Nets want to get the best deal here, when a superstar player requests a trade and has a list, they usually wind up somewhere on that list. It seems KD really would like to go to the Suns:
"Kevin Durant is going to try to force himself to Phoenix" 😲
— Brian Windhorst#NBATwitter
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) June 30, 2022
Given this, there's an easy assumption to make that Durant wants to play with Chris Paul and Devin Booker. The Suns also have a star big man in Deandre Ayton who seems to be on his way out in free agency because of alleged issues with Paul and Monty Williams. There had actually been some rumblings about Ayton going to the Nets earlier this week, and now this scenario would make even more sense.
Suns trade offer for Kevin Durant
Ideally, the Suns are sending Ayton to the Nets as part of a sign-and-trade that gets him is max contract. Mikal Bridges would also be involved, plus any draft capital necessary to do the deal and perhaps Cam Johnson as well. This would give Brooklyn a stellar young core to build around assuming Ben Simmons stays there, and we're also assuming Kyrie is going somewhere else. The Nets have no incentive to tank because of all the draft capital they sent to the Houston Rockets as part of the James Harden trade (woof).
It's worth noting, though, that Ayton is subject to base year compensation rules that make a sign-and-trade with the Nets tricky, especially with Brooklyn's payroll situation. The assumption here is that the two parties can work it out, with perhaps more teams getting involved to make the salaries work if absolutely needed. Maybe Ayton even goes elsewhere in this scenario. We're not going to go too deep into that here because it's complicated, but it's something to think about.
Of course, what if the Nets are feeling really frisky and tell the Suns that general framework with those players doesn't cut it? What if they ask for Devin Booker as the centerpiece? Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer says that's exactly what they will do:
From Brooklyn's perspective, sources said, there's no deal to land Durant in Phoenix that doesn't start with sending back Devin Booker to Barclays Center. The Suns, of course, would likely hold the line firm. But early indications are the Nets brass is not particularly inclined to take a sign-and-trade that brings back unrestricted free agent Deandre Ayton.
Would Phoenix trade a 25-year-old superstar (or borderline superstar) for a 33-year-old Kevin Durant? That decision becomes much more difficult, but KD has four years left on his contract and is still, at the very least, a top-five player in the world when healthy. He has obviously had injury problems in recent seasons, but, again, this is Kevin Durant we're talking about.
Ultimately, Booker definitely isn't part of the Suns' “perfect” trade offer for Durant. That other package headlined by Ayton would be ideal, and maybe that would wind up being enough to get it done. But if it comes down to it, Phoenix should be willing to part with Booker for Durant, and then perhaps Ayton could be moved elsewhere for something of value. Brooklyn would have to trade Ben Simmons elsewhere to make this work, but that could be worked out.
Follow Us
Subscribe