Sky Sports NBA pundit Mo Mooncey analyses what the Brooklyn Nets and other teams will be thinking about with regards to any trade; he then looks the potential landing spots for Durant
Friday 1 July 2022 06:38, UK
Last night's trade request by Kevin Durant sent the NBA world into a frenzy.
He is certainly one of the hottest trade assets ever available on the trade market, and it's going to be fascinating to see where he ends up.
This is a 12-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA first team selection, we are talking about – a man who averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game last season on 51.8 per cent shooting from the field. Obviously, he will be coveted by just about anyone.
When the news emerged last night, most of the NBA world was shocked. I wasn't. My overall reaction to this is: I'm not surprised. I've been saying this was a possibility for months now.
You've got to feel bad for Ben Simmons, though. He's not even played one game with them before they all ran away. I'm sure Joel Embiid is somewhere grinning.
It's one of the bigger offseason narratives in recent memory, but here are the key things to bear in mind surrounding any potential trade for Durant – a player who has the potential to transform any franchise in the NBA.
With that in mind, let's take a look at things in more detail...
Where it all went wrong...
I told you guys when the playoffs began that they would lose in the first round quite easily to the Boston Celtics. The Nets are historically not a great organisation. Steve Nash was out-coached by his former assistant, and Sean Marks, the general manager, did not assemble a roster that works. James Harden, who they traded almost all of their future draft picks to acquire, James Harden had the foresight to see all of this and jump to the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this year.
Defensively, there's nothing there. They thought Andre Drummond would save them. Nope. Kyrie Irving barely played all season long - no matter how talented you are, team chemistry is a delicate thing.
Kevin Durant is a hooper. He loves to play basketball. That's what he wants to do. He wants to play basketball and win. The Nets put him with a bunch of guys who were specialised in either offense or defense, no two-way players like KD. For the former MVP, it's very simple and the chemistry was clearly not there because the rest of the team clearly don't have the same mindset as Kevin Durant.
Why Kyrie opted in...
Kyrie Irving opted in, okay, and they spun it like 'Oh, it's my obligation to play with KD'. Don't get it twisted, Kyrie only opted in because he couldn't get that kind of money anywhere else. That's why Kyrie Irving opted in. So the first thing to consider when looking at the ripple effect of this is that I wouldn't be surprised if Kyrie gets traded. Whether it's in a package with Durant, or separately, the Nets won't look to build around the unpredictable point guard.
What the Nets are looking for...
Another thing to remember is the Nets don't own the majority of their future draft picks. They gave them almost all of them to Houston. They gave all their draft picks away unprotected, so they need some if they're going to rebuild. That is unless they're going to trade KD straight up for a star, which seems unlikely. So they need young talent, and as many draft picks as humanly possible.
Phoenix Suns
The reason why I've been telling people Phoenix is because I heard some whispers – and it makes sense, because they need KD to take them over the top to become a championship team, someone to stop Chris Paul from perennially choking.
They can give Deandre Ayton (former No 1 pick in the draft), Mikal Bridges (one of the league's best defenders) and Cam Johnson (an elite shooter) to make up the salary, and all of the future draft picks. I think that Bridges has a lot more potential that people think. People just see him as a 3-and-D guy, I think he can be a lot better than that. I'm not saying he's gonna be superstar, but I think he's better than the fit at Phoenix is showing – and I think Ayton, who is already unhappy there, could do a lot more than his role has allowed him. So you look at that, and that's the most obvious destination.
Miami Heat
Then you look at Miami. From what I hear, they can't actually trade for him due to some complication with Bam Adebayo's contract – the Nets can't have Simmons and Adebayo on the roster at the same time – there'll be a way for Pat Riley to navigate that, but I'm not sure what kind of other assets they possess to do a deal. I don't know if the Nets will be really that high on Tyler Herro. It'll be interesting to see how hard both sides would want to push in this potential deal.
New Orleans Pelicans
One of the other teams I like the look of is the Pelicans. I think it'll be Phoenix, but I like New Orleans who have got a bunch of young players, picks, and the right kind of pieces to do a deal. They could move Zion Williams or they can move Brandon Ingram. When those two guys are healthy, they are a lot better than the players other teams could offer.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies have young players, future picks, and their financial books are in good shape. They have such a strong young core so the timeline may be different, but that would certainly be a very interesting move.
Golden State Warriors
Now, they've got the young players, the future picks, and the salary, but I don't know how likely it is given how good they were this season – they won a championship – and how valuable Andrew Wiggins was to them along with the other younger guys. What will it say about the organisation if they trade a group of champions for a player who walked out on the team? I don't know if they'll break that current group up, but it would be peak irony.
OKC Thunder
Then of course, when we're talking about draft picks, the OKC Thunder, have got all the draft picks in the world. So then there's that option. Also ironic, given KD's tenure and departure from the Thunder.
Other teams to look out for?
If they can't get a star straight up, they're going to have to rebuild. They will have no choice.
What NBA Twitter wants to happen is Anthony Davis for Kevin Durant. Now that could happen if AD wasn't injured all the time, but the Nets won't bite on that deal.
I'm expecting everyone to get traded out of Brooklyn, they've got to go into rebuild, and they've got to recoup the draft assets that they've lost. Also, keep an eye out for the Mavericks, trying to get into the mix to trade for Kyrie Irving now that it's looking like Jalen Brunson signs in New York.
Sky Sports NBA pundit Mo Mooncey can be found on Twitter and watch him on Sky Sports: HeatCheck when the new NBA season gets underway.
