Grading Kevin Durant trade to Suns in one of the biggest blockbusters in league history

The Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets agreed to a blockbuster deal in the early morning hours of NBA trade deadline day that sent shockwaves through the league, placed an MVP candidate in the West, and immediately transforms the championship picture.

Kevin Durant has been traded to the Phoenix Suns. In return, the Brooklyn Nets get Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, and four unprotected first round draft picks. The massive deal comes days after Brooklyn traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. Durant reportedly wanted to go to Phoenix last offseason when he requested a trade from the Nets, and now he finally has his wish. Here’s a full breakdown of the deal:

Suns get: Kevin Durant, T.J. Warren

Nets get: Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, unprotected first round picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029.

The Suns are expected to flip Crowder if they can at the trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

This is one of the biggest trades in NBA history. Let’s grade it from both sides.

With Durant, the Suns can realistically dream of an NBA championship this season. Durant has had one of the best years of his legendary career, showing off absolutely scorching midrange shooting, impressive playmaking chops, and also playing at a high level defensively. I’m not sure if Durant is my pick for the ‘best player in the NBA’ right now — that’s Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo — but KD is in the discussion. When he’s at his best, he’s as good as anyone in the league.

When Durant requested a trade over the summer and named the Suns his preferred destination, I wrote that Phoenix was being extremely foolish by reportedly not offering its full package of future draft picks in the deal. What’s changed since then? The Suns got a new governor in Mat Ishbia while Durant had been playing at an MVP-level for the Nets at age-34. Add in the recent Irving trade, and it was enough for the Nets to agree to blow up their team as Ishbia reportedly pushed hard to get the deal done.

Phoenix’s season looked like it was on the brink of disaster after Devin Booker’s groin injury. The Suns started this season 19-12, then went on a prolonged losing streak after Booker went out of the lineup on Christmas. Phoenix was three games under .500 in the middle of Jan. and looked like they might miss the playoffs. Somehow, they righted the ship without Booker and are now four games over .500 at the time of this trade.

Durant wasn’t going to have any star teammates left in Brooklyn if he finished out the season there, but he was going to have a deep team full of shooters and defenders around him. Selfishly, I wanted to see KD in that set up, giving him the chance to provide an answer to the “win a real ring” crowd that emerged after his move to the Golden State Warriors. The Nets wouldn’t have been the favorites in the East with Durant, but I think they would have had a chance with so much length and three-point shooting around him. Now in Phoenix, Durant has the co-star he craves in Devin Booker, but the supporting cast is looking thin.

The Suns have two superstars in Durant and Booker, one aging Hall of Fame point guard in Chris Paul, and a talented if sometimes underwhelming young center in Deandre Ayton. What does the rest of this team look like? Well, there’s Dario Saric in the front court, Damion Lee in the backcourt, and Torrey Craig to defend big wings. Landry Shamet’s shooting becomes critical now on the wing but he’s been out lately with injury. Will the Suns swing another move to add to their depth?

It feels like Phoenix still has more work to do to optimize this roster around Durant and Booker, but what a pairing that should be. The Suns have never had a player of Durant’s caliber in franchise history. Surrendering that much draft compensation could be painful in the future, but who cares. The Suns have never won a championship before, and that is now their mission with KD and Booker. They should be applauded for pulling this off.

It feels impossible to grade this trade from the Nets side because so much goes into it.

How did Brooklyn fall apart so quickly after a promising start to this year? It all begins with the Nets’ refusal to give Kyrie Irving the contract extension he wanted earlier this month. Irving wanted a max contract extension with all guaranteed money, the Nets reportedly wanted to protect themselves in case the NBA’s most unreliable superstar missed more games for who knows what reason.

Irving demanded a trade, and the Nets moved quickly to send him to Dallas. It feels like Brooklyn thought Durant would be part of the team this year given what they got from the Mavs — two solid veteran role players in Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith, and one unprotected 2029 first round pick. Would the Nets have chosen a deal with more future draft compensation (maybe from the Lakers?) if the knew KD would want out, too? It’s possible, but it’s too late for that now.

The implosion of the Nets is one of the strangest stories in NBA history. Brooklyn was supposed to be a dynasty with Durant, Irving, and James Harden. Instead, the Nets underperformed on the court and were constantly overshadowed by off-court controversy. Irving missed most of last season refusing to get the Covid vaccine, which reportedly led to Harden asking out. Irving was suspended from the team this season for sharing antisemitic propaganda on social media. Durant requested a trade over the summer and didn’t get his wish. Durant has also been injured constantly, playing fewer games with the Nets than Kawhi Leonard has with the Clippers.

In a vacuum, this is a solid return for KD. Four unprotected first rounders is a king’s ransom for a player who turns 35 years old this summer. Bridges is a very good young player and joins a roster in Brooklyn that is now full of 3-and-D talents without a star to stir the drink. The Nets’ original trade for Harden — trading first round picks in 2022, 2024, and 2026, and pick swaps in 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2027 — played a huge factor in every decision Brooklyn made. Without being able to control their own picks, there’s no incentive for the Nets to tank. Brooklyn needs to try to find a star shot creator in free agency, or swing a trade for one.

The Nets’ Durant-Irving era was awful in every way. Brooklyn brass has to be relieved to get away from so much drama, but the team’s future looks incredibly murky going forward.