Well, that went out with a whimper. The epic tale of Kevin Durant’s trade request from the Brooklyn Nets is officially over.
It didn’t have the end many of us were expecting — Durant is staying in Brooklyn for the foreseeable future. Nobody seemed to be willing to make serious offers for Durant outside of the Phoenix Suns. And the Suns best offer is off the table for now because Deandre Ayton can’t be traded until January 15.
So the best — and maybe the only — option for all sides here was really to stand pat and go into the season with the team they have in hand.
And, really, it’s not a bad option. You’ve got Durant with two All-Star caliber players in Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. That’s potentially a championship team.
But it certainly isn’t the team most of us thought we were going to get come the start of the season.
Regardless of the inaction here, Durant’s request has shaken the NBA to its core. Lots of things have been up in the air for so many players and now things can finally come down.
With that in mind, let’s talk winners and losers of the Durant trade saga.
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Winner: The Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are clearly the most obvious winner out of all this. Durant agreeing to keep their “partnership” (lol) going was always what was most ideal for this team.
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) August 23, 2022
If they couldn’t keep him, they were going to obviously look for the best trade package to bring back in return. But keeping him is the clear better option here.
He’s one of the best players in the NBA. This is exactly why they put in the effort to try and convince him to stay. Well, that and the fact that nobody seemed to want to trade anything real for him.
That aside, the Nets can’t help but be thrilled with this outcome.
Winner: Kyrie Irving
The second biggest winner here has to be Kyrie Irving. Despite the early offseason drama surrounding Irving and his flirtations with the Lakers, he seems resigned to the fact that he’ll be a Brooklyn Net once the season starts.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the Nets and Irving seem to be ready to move forward together in the midst of the Durant trade talk.
“All-Star Kyrie Irving also opted into his $37 million player option, committed to the 2022-23 season in Brooklyn and sources with knowledge of the situation say he has been working out with teammates and holding constructive dialogue with the organization this offseason. Brooklyn has made clear to interested teams that they plan to keep the seven-time All-Star, according to sources.”
Irving should be motivated to prove his worth again to a league that straight up didn’t want him this offseason. And he’ll get to do that alongside Durant.
That’s a pretty big boost.
Ben Simmons
Nobody here has more to prove than Ben Simmons. When the season starts, he’ll have sat out without playing NBA basketball for a calendar year and some change.
We don’t know if he’s an All-Star caliber player anymore. We don’t know if he can be the All-Defense player or the All-NBA player he was once upon a time. There are more questions about him now than we have answers.
But if there’s anybody around who can make things easier on the court for him, it’s almost certainly Durant. Playing with what might be the best player in the world should be a pretty welcome boost.
Winner: The Western Conference
Nearly seeing Durant return to the West in a Phoenix Suns uniform would’ve been devastating for so many teams in the conference.
The Suns were the best regular season team in the conference last year without Durant in the mix. If you add a 6’10 absolute sharpshooter to the blend with Devin Booker and Chris Paul, you’ve got big problems.
They’d have lost Deandre Ayton, sure. And, obviously, Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges probably would’ve been involved in some way. That would’ve been a huge blow. But the offensive talent they’d have at the top? That may have been unstoppable.
We’ll never know, though. And I’m sure the rest of the West is happy about that.
Winner: The Utah Jazz
Kevin Durant is out of the way now. Danny Ainge now officially has the most valuable trade piece on the market in Donovan Mitchell.
You can’t tell me that when this news broke Ainge wasn’t somewhere lighting up a cigar in celebration. Utah is about to up the ante a bit more for their prized shooting guard. It’s Victor Wembenyama season.
Winner: The Boston Celtics
The Celtics didn’t actually do anything here. They’re probably just glad this is over for now. Their name was shrouded in chaos because of the Kevin Durant-Jaylen Brown trade rumors.
Brown obviously didn’t like them. And having one of your core players upset and looking over his shoulder after an NBA Finals run is not the best position to be in. So it’s probably good for Boston that this is over, even if the effects might linger a bit.
Winner: NBA free agents everywhere
The NBA’s free agent market has been on lock for basically a month now because everyone was waiting around to see where the Durant thing went.
It went absolutely nowhere, obviously. But, at the very least, it’s over now. And teams can move forward with whatever plans they may have had in the first place.
Isaiah Thomas spelled it out for us via Twitter.
Finally lol. Can we sign now lol
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) August 23, 2022
Great question.
Loser: Kevin Durant
It’s hard to call Kevin Durant a loser in any situation because, well, he’s Kevin Durant.
Wherever he goes the team will probably be good. But this isn’t where he wanted to be, obviously. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made a stink about things.
He has to be, at the very least, somewhat dissatisfied with the way things have gone down this offseason. But, regardless, he’ll have a shot at winning a championship next year. So it’s not all bad.
Loser: The Eastern Conference
The Bucks, Celtics, Heat, 76ers and everyone else vying for a championship in the East shouldn’t be happy about this news.
Durant nearly leaving the conference would’ve kept potentially the best player in the league out of their hair until the NBA Finals. But now? He could be a second-round matchup.
The Nets are beatable, obviously. But nobody wants to have to play this sort of talent — especially not early in the postseason. We’ll see how things shake out.
Loser: LeBron James
The Lakers need help and they need it desperately. Their team just doesn’t fit with one another right now.
They were this close to trading for Kyrie Irving this offseason as the Nets team was breaking down right before our very eyes. Now? Brooklyn has decided to remain whole and the Lakers don’t have too many avenues to choose from to get LeBron James the point guard he needs.
James can’t be happy with that.
