Re-visiting the Nets trading Kevin Durant to the Suns
The Brooklyn Nets are in the early stages of their offseason as they’re looking to improve enough to make it back to the postseason next season. So far, Brooklyn has hired Jordi Fernandez as the permanent head coach moving forward, but there are also other matters that impact the organization in the near future.
On Sunday, the Phoenix Suns lost 122-116 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA playoffs, ending their season by being swept after making it at least to the second round of the playoffs in the previous three seasons. Much was expected of the Suns after the franchise traded for Kevin Durant last season and trading for former Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal last summer.
Once Phoenix acquired Durant from the Nets last season, the Suns were regarded as one of the teams in the mix of contending for championships given how much owner Mat Ishbia has changed the team recently. With that being said, this is a good time to re-visit Brooklyn trading Durant to Phoenix and what that has meant for the Nets.
To recap the trade that happened on Feb. 9, 2023, Brooklyn traded Durant and TJ Warren to Phoenix in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, first-round picks in 2023 (pick became Noah Clowney), 2025, 2027, and 2029, and a first-round pick swap in 2028. After Durant requested to be traded to the Suns, the Nets tried to get the best haul they could get by essentially investing in Phoenix’s future.
Since the trade, Brooklyn is 45-65 including being swept in the first round of the playoffs last season and missing the postseason entirely this season. However, the trade seems to be working well from them in the sense that Clowney had a good rookie year for the Nets in an otherwise disappointing season for the organization.
With talk that the Suns could be looking for ways to improve this offseason, time will tell if Phoenix will be good enough to render their 2025 first-round pick to outside of the lottery. In the meantime, Brooklyn has been seeing some good returns so far.
