After more than three tumultuous years and the second trade request in eight months, brooklyn network All-NBA forward transaction Kevin Durant arrive phoenix sun for a package that includes dynamic forwarding Mikal . Bridge, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four future first-round picks are not covered, sources told ESPN Wednesday night.
In a deal that landed at midnight before the 3 p.m. ET Thursday trading deadline, Durant and TJ Warren was taken to the Sun for a large number of first-round draft picks (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029) and 2028 pick swaps, the sources said.
Negotiations have progressed and stalled, and the Sun appears to be moving towards a trilateral deal that may have landed Atlanta‘S John Collins sometime on Thursday morning, sources said. At the direction of the new owner, Mat Ishbia, general manager James Jones texted Nets GM Sean Marks sometime after 11 p.m. ET — and it won’t be long before Ishbia and the owner of the Nets, Joe Tsai, put together the final elements of the commercial blockbuster, sources said.
Agreement to send Durant to the desert to work with Booker Devin, Chris Paul And Deandre Ayton — and the end of the great experiment on superstars in Brooklyn. Durant, Kyrie Irving And James Harden all come to conquer the NBA together, and all rest on the muscle of commercial claims. They played a total of 16 matches together.
After taking on a huge role in the dysfunction that eventually deconstructed the roster, Irving was traded for Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, and that began Durant’s final days and hours as a network. The two-time Finals MVP has been sidelined due to an MCL sprain in his right knee, but sources say there is optimism he will be ready to return after the All-Star break.
Durant and his sales manager, Rich Kleiman, told Tsai and Marks that their preference was the Phoenix deal, sources said. Ishbia knew Durant wanted to join his franchise and start getting superstars in his franchise. first official week of organization supervision. Few franchises have ever had the opportunity to trade for a star like Durant – something the organization hasn’t experienced since doing a deal for Charles Barkley in 1992.
Ishbia’s initial hope was to prevent Bridges from entering the transaction, but that was not the beginning for the Nets. The Suns offers aren’t close to the Nets’ asking prices on Monday and Tuesday, and Marks continues to make viable deals to bolster listings around Durant. Nets pursue OG Anunoby IN Torontoand discuss possible deals for Collins and Cleveland‘S Caris LeVertbut Durant’s mood was unstable and Brooklyn knew it had to push Phoenix to make an offer it couldn’t refuse.
The sun spoke to Detroit about the possibility of getting Collins in a tripartite deal with Atlanta, but Ishbia wouldn’t consider it a night without making one more run with Durant.
Once the Sun is ready to move Dario SaricSources say his contract is out of agreement – and as long as they waive the second-round picks to calculate his salary – the teams have reached an agreement.
Brooklyn believes it has a chance to turn Crowder into a candidate by Thursday’s deadline and with it the form of a deal that makes sense for the Nets.
The Suns paid a heavy price for Durant, but this is a brand that has never won a championship and decided to take the hit with Durant, 34, who has three years left on his contract. Ishbia, once led by Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo at the state of Michiganpromised to give Suns coach Monty Williams the talent to chase the championship, and he did so with the Durant deal.
The Nets are probably not good enough to win a title this season — nor are they good enough to prevent another commercial claim from Durant. After surrendering some of the first picks for Houston rocket for Harden in 2021, Brooklyn perfected itself again by buying back options in deals that offloaded Durant, Irving, and Harden: seven people in the first round could trade for the next seven years. Brooklyn still owes Houston first picks in 2024 and 2026, and the Rockets have the right to swap first picks in 2025 and 2027.
Brooklyn has shown itself as a scouting and player development machine under the regimes of Marks and assistant GM Jeff Peterson, and that will be the spell again with Jacque Vaughn as head coach. The Nets had hoped they could get Durant to continue his journey, but he wanted to go West – and wanted the Sun.
Finally on Wednesday night, Ishbia didn’t go to bed, and he asked his GM to do it again in a deal with Brooklyn. It worked. The Suns have Durant, and the NBA deal deadline is still a few hours away.
