The Nets were considering waiting until the offseason to trade Kevin Durant. Did they get the best deal by doing it sooner?
In a blockbuster move, the Nets traded Kevin Durant and T.J. Warren for four unprotected first-round picks, a 2028 swap, Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, and Cameron Johnson. After Kyrie Irving was traded for seemingly win-now pieces, it seemed like the Nets might try their luck this season and wait until the offseason to trade Durant.
The return in any Kevin Durant trade will always be fruitful — a team will get good young players and a lot of first-round draft picks back in any deal. The Nets did that. Still, they didn’t get everything they should have in this trade.
Did the Nets get everything they wanted in the Kevin Durant deal?
The Suns were able to keep Deandre Ayton in the deal. The Nets could have not acquired Ayton due to rules in the CBA but they should have been able to move him around to get more assets in the deal. Phoenix was able to trade a player who was heavily disgruntled in Jae Crowder, who would have been moved for seconds if they were not able to re-wire into a three-team deal.
The Suns were desperate as they have been struggling and are in the middle of a disappointing season, because of injuries and declining play from Paul. This deal (roughly) would likely have been there for the Nets in the offseason but they maybe could have gotten more by waiting.
What should have the Nets gotten?
The Nets have a team full of 3-and-D wings on solid contracts (minus the Ben Simmons contract which is horrible) but they are in a bad situation with not having controllable rights to their first-round picks till 2027 because of the James Harden trade. The Rockets have the rights to the Nets’ first-rounders till that time via swaps and outright control of those picks.
While the pick haul seems like a lot, the Nets should have gotten more for Durant. The Nets could have asked the Suns to find a trade for Ayton. The Suns may have not been able to get more assets for Ayton (due to his no-trade veto). Still, the Nets could have gone to other teams like the Pelicans and see if they were able to offer Brandon Ingram and a lot of the valuable picks they have, in addition to their own firsts.
Kevin Durant would be arguably the best player ever available to be traded in the history of the NBA. Surely, the offers would have been more robust if the Nets waited till the summer rather than doing a deal at the deadline.
Perhaps Joe Tsai felt that Kevin Durant did right by him in his Brooklyn tenure and wanted to return the favor by not wasting one of the few deep playoff runs he has left — Durant isn’t slowing down anytime soon, but he is 34 years old. Still, the Nets could have leveraged offers from the Pelicans, Memphis, and Celtics at the minimum.
Waiting till the summer was probably the smarter move. Durant would have been under contract for the next three years and they could have gotten a lot more/tried to use their remaining assets to get a deal done to potentially keep Durant in Brooklyn. Instead, the Nets decided to do right by Durant. A trade now speaks to the relationship that Durant had with the Nets. Still, it is bad business.
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