Getty Cameron Johnson, Boston Celtics
The Brooklyn Nets remain with their two stars of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, despite a myriad of trade rumors for the past month. Irving and the Nets had a rather sloppy public contract negotiation that ended in Irving reluctantly returning for the final year of his contract with the Nets. How the Nets handled the negotiations has been considered by some NBA insiders as the final reason that pushed Durant to request a trade from Brooklyn. Now, the Nets have been unable to find landing spots for either star. For Kyrie, they couldn’t find a suitor interested in him besides the Los Angeles Lakers, but that would require Brooklyn taking Russell Westbrook. For Durant, they are looking for a historic trade package and haven’t been able to find one.
Because a deal has yet to be done, many within NBA circles are starting to believe that the Nets will be running it back with at least Durant and possibly Irving. Brooklyn has, despite the drama, had a surprisingly good offseason adding key players like Royce O’Neale, TJ Warren, and re-signing Patty Mills and Nic Claxton. If they were able to bring Durant back, they could be improved from last season. However, a recent article from Bleacher Report has a proposal that could be what the Nets have been waiting for in a Durant deal.
New Kevin Durant – Suns Proposal
In a recent article from Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, he shared a proposal that sends Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns in a historic haul. The Suns, who were counted out of the Durant deals after matching Deandre Ayton’s historic offer sheet may not be out of the deal after all. While they can’t include Ayton in trade discussions, they could put together a historic draft pick package to land Durant.
Brooklyn Nets Receive: SF Mikal Bridges, PF Cameron Johnson, PF Jae Crowder, 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 unprotected first-round picks, 2028 first-round pick swap rights, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 second-round picks.
Phoenix Suns Receive: F Kevin Durant
While the Nets don’t land an All-Star in the deal, they get an incredible amount of picks. 12 draft picks are included in the proposal. That’s insane, and definitely gives Brooklyn a lot to think about. It would also give Phoenix a piece that could lift them over the hump in their title contention.
Bridges and Johnson are also solid pickups for the Nets, and with those picks, they could make moves to build a competing team in Brooklyn. We have seen Sean Marks rebuild with picks in the past as well.
Nets Kyrie Irving Update
While the Nets could still deal Durant, it is looking less like they will be able to get a deal done for Kyrie Irving. The Lakers, the only suitors for Irving, have been reported to be looking elsewhere recently.
“There has been some talks reengaged between the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers that would center around a Buddy Hield deal,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin said.
The Miami Heat have also been mentioned in potential Irving deals. If they are unable to get a deal done, the team may look to exercise the stretch-and-waive provision with Irving to move on from his experiment in Brooklyn.