Kevin Durant Trade: Thunder Could Be Key Third Team

The Brooklyn Nets are in an interesting situation with superstar forward Kevin Durant. He’s requested a trade from the team, but deals for a player of his magnitude are extremely difficult to pull off.

Additionally, Durant informed Nets owner Joe Tsai over the weekend that he did not have faith in the team’s direction, saying he needed to choose between him or GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash.

These types of trades can have an impact on the league that last a decade or more. If Brooklyn truly moves on from Kevin Durant, the Nets will want to ensure they’re set up for success both now and in the future. They don’t have many of their upcoming draft picks, as they were traded away in last year’s James Harden trade. As such, bottoming out and rebuilding that way isn’t a possibility.

Simply put, Brooklyn wants a trade package that keeps them relevant even next season.

While there were reports late last month that the Boston Celtics were interested in trading away Jaylen Brown for Durant, there doesn’t seem to be much traction for that type of deal as it stands now. 

While he doesn’t have all of the power, Durant has also listed his preferred destinations as the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns. 

There’s complications for both of these teams, with Deandre Ayton not being trade eligible for a few months after signing a new deal and Bam Adebayo not able to be part of a Durant package due to rookie extension rules and Ben Simmons already being in Brooklyn.

The Raptors have also reportedly shown interest, but it appears Scottie Barnes is off the table for now.

The common theme to this point is that there’s really not a scenario in which two teams can swap assets to make a deal work as of today. Due to this, a third team might need to get involved.

The perfect team for this situation is the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’ve got picks, young player, veterans and everything in-between that could help facilitate a three-team deal to get Durant on the move.

Of course, Thunder GM Sam Presti would only be interested if OKC is paid to help facilitate and doesn’t take on long-term, unwanted salary. If there’s a way they can acquire a young player or picks to enhance the creativity of a potential deal, it would make a ton of sense.

Additionally, the Thunder are going through a roster crunch and need to dump three players before the start of the season. It would be the perfect scenario if Oklahoma City could get paid to help make a Durant deal work while also clearing roster spots.

Again, the Thunder wouldn’t be acquiring Durant in any scenario like this, just helping out as a third team. 

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