Getty Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during warmups before the game against the Golden State Warriors
What was once an unbelievable report with the Golden State Warriors interested in a potential Kevin Durant trade has continued to be an NBA talking point over a week later. When a talent like Durant is on the market it’s silly not to enquire, but the Warriors have been there and done that and won a championship following Durant’s exit, so it is surprising. An NBA executive proposed a possible package that Golden State could put together that other teams couldn’t match.
A rival Western Conference executive told Heavy NBA Insider Sean Deveney, that the Dubs have the best package of any team in the Durant sweepstakes.
“So, put aside all the bullsh** that happened when Durant left, it’s a perfect scenario. Wiggins, Wiseman, Kuminga, and a future pick and it is a deal Brooklyn would have a hard time saying no to,” said the rival executive.
“If you can put aside all the bitterness from the two sides, it’s the easiest deal to make of anything Brooklyn is looking at right now. You have three young players you can put into a deal—Moses Moody, (James) Wiseman, (Jonathan) Kuminga—and all of them have value around the NBA. Like, big value because they’re associated with the Warriors, they won a championship. You don’t have to give up all three. You’ve got two rookies coming in, Patrick Baldwin and (Ryan) Rollins. They can’t make deals with those guys until later if they sign. They only owe one pick (in 2024) going forward, they can load up on picks. And you have a guy who can match salaries, Andrew Wiggins.”
However, despite the Warriors continuing to be named as a team with the best package for Durant an NBA Insider close to Durant recently downplayed all Durant – Warriors rumors.
Logan Murdock: ‘There’s No Way’ Warriors Trade for Durant
In the most recent episode of ‘Real Ones with Raja + Logan,’ a Ringer NBA podcast Logan Murdock and former NBA player Raja Bell discussed the trade landscape for Kevin Durant and Logan Murdock, who did a feature with Durant last year and has good intel on his situation downplayed the Golden State connection in rumors.
“You go to the Warriors, which is not happening. That’s just fairy dust. That’s all out in the wind. It was like a fun day to like here that, but it’s not happening,” Murdock said. “If it were to happen, they would have to trade Wiggins, Poole, all their young guys…Kuminga, to go through something they’ve already kind of gone through. It’s kind of crazy to even have this discussion with Kevin Durant.”
Murdock makes a good point. They know how their experience was with Durant on the Warriors, and they also know they can win a title without the star. Despite them being one of the most dangerous teams in the league with the addition of Durant, the players in their deal continue to develop into stronger pieces. Poole and Kuminga are likely to be key role players in the Warriors quest to repeat next season and it is hard to lose so many key players and lose depth in a possible Durant trade.
How Realistic is the Warriors Pursuit of Durant?
Marc J. Spears was the first to report the Warriors were interested in discussinga Durant deal after the former Warrior made his trade request on June 30. Quickly after Spears backpedaled just a tad to clarify his comments.
“A call is a call, and that’s what Bob Myers makes all the time. So, I think people shouldn’t put the cart in front of the horse, but there was a phone call.”
When a generational talent like Durant is on the block, a call should be made to see what the market is for the All-Star. However, it seems the talks stopped there, and it turned into another fun day in NBA offseason chatter.