Kevin Durant requests a trade, how it impacts the OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are impacted by Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant requesting a trade to open up the NBA Offseason. This news shocked the NBA World, as it is not like KD to overshadow a Fourth of July holiday weekend, but it appears Durant has played his final game for the Nets.

Kevin Durant began his career in Oklahoma City, winning an MVP, lifting the Thunder to the NBA Finals, and proving to be one of the best scorers the game has ever seen. Of course, that chapter of his career closed on July 4th, 2016 when Durant jumped ship to head to Golden State, winning two Finals MVPs and cementing his spot on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.

Durant eventually left the Warriors to join up with point guard Kyrie Irving with the Nets in Brooklyn.

Kevin Durant requests a trade out of Brooklyn, and while his Nets divorce will likely not end in an Oklahoma City Homecoming, the Thunder are still impacted

Kevin Durant played 90 total games for the Nets and it appears he will not play another. For all the money, moving heaven and earth to get Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and eventually James Harden together, the Nets have one playoff series win to show for it.

While the Oklahoma City Thunder has not popped up as a trade destination for the superstar, Kevin Durant lists Miami as one of the organizations he would like to end up with. The Miami Heat are equipped with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, a great culture, and were a shot away from the NBA Finals.

However, If Miami is able to create a package that the Nets would want, the Heat would need to alter the protections on a pick owed to Oklahoma City. The Heat would need to make the 2025 First-round pick owed to OKC to be unprotected in order to free up additional future Heat picks to be dealt in a package for Kevin Durant.

While this alteration will not net back a grand haul for Oklahoma City, it should warrant a future second-round pick or something comparable. We have seen how valuable second-round picks are to Sam Presti and the NBA in general. Not only as draft classes get deeper, but also we have seen how second-round picks can be used by contenders to grab veteran pieces to round out a roster. The Thunder hope to be contenders soon.

While I do not expect a Kevin Durant homecoming, there are ways that the trade demand impacts the Oklahoma City Thunder. So buckle up, and let’s see where this goes.