The Kevin Durant era in Brooklyn has come to a merciless end.
In the early hours of Thursday, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the Nets have traded the veteran superstar to the Phoenix Suns for Cam Johnson, Mikael Bridges, Jae Crowder four first-round draft selections plus additional picks.
The trade took place more than 48 hours after the Nets traded their other franchise star, Kyrie Irving, to the Dallas Mavericks in another blockbuster. With that, the once-promising Durant-Irving era in Brooklyn is over.
Both future Hall of Famers and perennial All-Stars signed with Brooklyn in 2019 free agency. The super duo only led the Nets to a single postseason series win (against the Boston Celtics in 2021), and significant future assets were sacrificed to land James Harden in the 2020-21 season.
Harden, of course, was subsequently sent to the Philadelphia 76ers in another big-time trade that sent Ben Simmons to Brooklyn.
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Hours before the Durant stunner was announced, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz agreed to a blockbuster trade of their own.
In that trade, the Lakers acquired D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. Utah received veteran guard Russell Westbrook, the Lakers’ 2027 first-round pick, Damian Jones and Juan Toscano-Anderson. Minnesota landed Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and draft picks.
Durant requested a trade from Brooklyn last offseason, but he ultimately decided to return to the organization for at least the start of the season.
Durant now joins a star-studded Phoenix team led by Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul. Phoenix is two years removed from a trip to the NBA Finals, but the acquisition of the 2014 league MVP just might put them over the top once and for all.
