Getty Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets looks to pass as Bam Adebayo #13, Duncan Robinson #55, and Kendrick Nunn #25 of the Miami Heat
All-Star forward Kevin Durant has officially requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets after a season that concluded with him and Kyrie Irving getting swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics. Durant, already a champion and Finals MVP winner, came to Brooklyn with the hope of building a new culture in New York City basketball.
So far, the Nets have been unable to get any real traction, as they have only won one playoff series since Durant and Irving’s arrival. As a result, the 12-time All-Star has decided to move on, which has every NBA team trying to acquire his services. Dan Devine of “The Ringer” urges the Nets to engage in a proposed trade with the Atlanta Hawks that brings them back a major haul.
In the full terms of the trade, Brooklyn sends Durant and Joe Harris to Atlanta and, in return, receives John Collins, Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, 2023 and 2029 first-round picks, and ‘whatever swaps aren’t nailed down or already headed to San Antonio’. A hefty haul, even for a player of Durant’s caliber.
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Nets Urged to ‘Go All the F*** In’ With Durant Trade
Durant is one of the most decorated superstars in NBA history. Already a two-time champion, MVP winner, and holder of multiple scoring titles, Durant has checked every box in his career and has nothing to prove to anybody. Knowing this, the Nets have to understand that they are not likely to get back a single player of Durant’s caliber back in a trade.
But what Brooklyn can do if they play their cards right is get back a heap of players to fill the voids they have on their roster, in addition to other assets that can be used in the future. Devine urges Nets general manager Sean Marks to ‘go all the f*** in’ with this proposed Hawks trade.
“If you’re going to go all in, go all the f*** in, right? Collins, who has been on the trade block since before he even signed his $125 million contract, could find fresh opportunities as a roll man and pop threat in a refashioned Brooklyn offense that could take better advantage of his versatility,” Devine writes.
“Capela provides a steady backbeat as the kind of rim protector that the Nets sorely lacked last season after letting Jarrett Allen go to open the starting job for DeAndre Jordan to accommodate Durant and Irving, which, yipes! Bogdanovic, when healthy, is a super-useful combo guard who can contribute on and off the ball and would allow Brooklyn to claim victory as the first NBA team to have employed both Bogdanovics.”
Hawks Don’t Have Much Draft Capital
Devine also notes there is some downside to this potential Nets trade with the Hawks. That being, Atlanta has very little draft capital to work with after trading for former San Antonio Spurs superstar Dejounte Murray. But the Nets can get almost everything else that the Hawks have available in a potential blockbuster trade, including their picks from the 2022 draft.
“There’s not as much draft capital here after the Hawks sent a ton of it to the Spurs for Murray, but Brooklyn can get what’s left—and, hell, if Marks wants them, maybe recent draftees Jalen Johnson, AJ Griffin, and/or Sharife Cooper, too, just as a treat,” Devine continues.
“The Hawks, for their part, would have Durant, Onyeka Okongwu (stepping into the starting spot Capela leaves behind), and De’Andre Hunter up front, with Murray and Trae Young, in the backcourt, plus Harris, Kevin Huerter, and Insert Eighth Man Here rounding out your playoff rotation. Is that a championship-caliber team? I don’t know. But it sure seems like it’d be fun to find out.”
The Nets hold all the cards in a potential Durant trade as he is signed to the team for the next four seasons. They are not under any pressure to move him before they get a trade offer that is substantial enough for a player of his caliber.
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