Phoenix and new owner Mat Ishbia wanted to make a splash when he took over the team, and they certainly have done it. Kevin Durant is headed to the Valley of the Sun in exchange for young forwards Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges, old and disgruntled forward Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a pick swap.
Durant and the team’s executives met to talk about “the franchise’s direction” after the Kyrie Irving trade. Apparently that direction was west, to Phoenix. KD was interested in going to Phoenix, and Ishbia wanted to get the deal done before the deadline, so now Durant is a Sun.
It’s a steep price for a truly great player. Durant was playing at an MVP level before the MCL sprain that’s kept him out since early January. The 2014 NBA MVP and 2017 and 2018 Finals MVP is one of the greatest pure scorers in basketball history.
As for the return, Bridges made the All-Defensive first team last season. He’s averaging 17.2 points this year and shooting 38.7 percent from three – “three-and-D” actually understates what a quality player Bridges is.
Like Bridges, Johnson is a sweet-shooting forward born in 1996. He’s not quite as good as Bridges defensively, but he holds his own, and his three-point shooting is spectacular – 45.5 percent this year alone. He’s a restricted free agent, but the Nets should absolutely want to build around both of them.
The Nets also get a ton of draft picks, replenishing what they gave up in the James Harden trade and then some. And they’re not done yet. We can expect more moves before Thursday’s deadline, perhaps expanding this as-yet unofficial deal to include players like Crowder, or Spencer Dinwiddie.
With Bridges, Johnson, Crowder, Dorian Finney-Smith (from the Kyrie Irving trade), and Royce O’Neale, the Nets suddenly have a glut of what might be the most valuable commodity in the NBA: high-quality wing defenders who can shoot.
They’re certainly waving the white flag on contending this season. But with all these assets, all these picks and an emerging star in Cam Thomas, things look considerably brighter in Brooklyn than they did a week ago. Even without KD.
