The Trade Deadline strikes again. Just after 1 am ET the evening before Thursday’s deadline, a serious balance of power shift made its way from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference as Shams Charania reported that the Phoenix Suns were acquiring superstar Kevin Durant.
The Nets are trading Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns for a package including Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, four first-round picks and additional draft compensation, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. https://t.co/fJoFHv3i7M
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2023
The details started trickling in, as the Suns pushed all their chips to the center of the table with this move.
The Suns are sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, a 2028 pick swap for Durant and TJ Warren, sources tell ESPN. Durant wanted move and new owner Mat Ishbia pushed to get deal done tonight. https://t.co/fqFUMIDllo
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
Nets gets unprotected picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
It was a collaborative effort by the camp of Kevin Durant and Brooklyn Nets to find the right situation, sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. Both sides were committed to pursuing that objective and part ways on good terms.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 9, 2023
A player like Durant was always going to command a huge haul if and when he was moved out of Brooklyn, but after his first trade demand over the summer, there wasn’t quite a package that GM Sean Marks felt suitable (although the Suns were linked even then). Eventually the two sides reconciled and things were at an equilibrium until Kyrie Irving’s sharing of an antisemitic film and suspension. Even after all that, the Nets were clicking until Durant’s knee injury. In just a couple weeks following him going down, the Nets sputtered, Irving was moved to Dallas, and whispers of whether or not Durant would be in Brooklyn much longer started spreading.
While it always seemed like Brooklyn wanted to do right by KD, Marks also was responsible for putting out the best team possible. If Durant could fetch a haul, moving him always made sense. Four first-rounders, a pick swap, and young talent like Bridges and Johnson are a great start, and Crowder finally gets his wish for playing time (and a change of scenery). For the Suns, this is one more shot at winning it all in an extremely open West, and getting one of the best players on earth to join Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Deandre Ayton is certainly formidable.