This NBA offseason is keeping everyone on the edge of their seats. We had Jalen Brunson initially staying with the Dallas Mavericks, only for it to emerge later on that the Knicks are set to land the guard. While the turn of events for Brunson surprised many, there has been no situation filled with as many twists and turns as Kevin Durant’s.
KD looked to be on his way out from the Brooklyn Nets as they were at an impasse with Kyrie Irving, but when the guard opted into his player option, it seemed the two would be with the Nets for 2022-23 at least. We were then hit with the bombshell that Durant had requested a trade, and it sent the NBA world into a frenzy. It was going to take the biggest trade package in NBA history to land KD and recent events might have bumped up the asking price a bit more.
With the Durant talk dominating the headlines, news filtered out that Rudy Gobert was being traded to the Timberwolves for a massive haul of picks, and Kevin O’Connor reacted to the news by wondering what kind of package KD would command if Gobert went for this much, with NBA fans having their say on the matter.
Five firsts for Gobert. Now imagine what the Nets will get for Durant. https://t.co/3UStA7mYz8
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) July 1, 2022
“I think this will now raise the bar for the Durant trade to such a high level that no one will be able to beat it so either 1) Nets get egg on face and get Durant to wherever he prefers to go at lower than deserved return or 2) they don’t trade Durant.”
“I feel like this trade is so bad for Minnesota that it can’t count as a baseline. Like, you can’t point to it as an example or anything because it is too ridiculous on its face to emulate.”
“Yeah but Non of the players going to the Jazz are all star level? That’s why they’re getting so many picks. Nets are asking for good players, all star quality plus picks.”
“I don’t think the nets will get much more than this… at what point does the NBA step in to protect an organization from completely ruining itself?”
“Clippers and Paul George ruined the NBA trade market”
“Like the rockets haul for harden but with Ayton and bridges or Bam/Herro and 3 first Or OG Scottie Barnes and 4 first”
“The Nets will get nothing like that. The Timberwolves just took the biggest risk of their franchise, giving up all of that for one player. Damn!”
“Holy s**t. How is he worth 4 first rounders. If that’s the case KD with worth 7+ plus swaps and a all star”
“This just proves that the nets can’t trade Durant. They’ll never get fair value”
“in fairness, they didn’t give up much actually talent so the amount of picks was to compensate for that”
“Well Durant is four years older than Gobert and injury-prone. I wouldn’t break the bank for the guy but sure, it will almost certainly happen.”
“Those same firsts back + Donovan Mitchell”
“It’s not apples to apples, the Wolves GM got fleeced!”
“Hopefully less…at least Gobert don’t quit on franchises.”
“I’d say 7 firsts and Cam Johnson”
“Durant will get a haul, but let’s remember that he wants out and he’s old as s**t. Again, they will get a haul.”
“This Rudy Gobert trade is gonna inflate the trade market like Christian Kirk did with the Wide Receiver contracts”
“The next 2 decades of 1st round draft picks & everyone in their rotation that is not a starter”
“If this is the case, only OKC or NO can land Durant”
“I’m not even sure what a KD trade looks like now”
As some pointed out, the quality of players in exchange isn’t anywhere close to the likes that the Nets are rumored to want in return for KD, but in the same way, Gobert is nowhere near Durant in terms of star power. We’re probably looking at teams having to give up around that same draft capital, but with some All-Star caliber players and there aren’t too many around who can do that.
It looks like this Durant saga might drag on for a fair bit and it is within the realm of possibility that KD might end up staying if the Nets demand too much on the back of this Gobert trade. The Timberwolves have just potentially thrown a wrench in the works without even being involved in the KD sweepstakes.
