Kevin Durant trade sweepstakes heats up the summer
Mon, Jul 4, 2022
NBA News (AP)
AP Sports Columnist
Happy Fourth of July to everyone, and especially to you - Kevin Durant - for you might have saved summer from turning into a snoozer.
Let's face it, there are few days more enjoyable than the fun-filled Fourth, with all its sunburn and fireworks and probably more hot dogs than you'll eat for the rest of the year combined.
However, in some years, the Independence Day celebrations elicit a small groan from sports lovers, given that it often marks the arrival of the sleepiest period on the calendar, depending on where your athletic loyalties lie.
Sometimes, July is the dullest time because all three of the four major North American leagues are out of season, while baseball's divisional races are yet to fully crank into their most competitive gear.
It is a time when the start of the new football season, oddly, actually feels further away than it did in April or May, probably because most of the key transactions are done already and news is thin as teams focus on the grind of training camp.
It is when the biggest problem isn't so much in not having enough to watch, but a fate far more serious for those of us who live and breathe sports. That we don't have enough to talk about.
This year, that's not going to be a problem.
Kevin Durant could be on the move after requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets.Durant's decision to request a trade from the Brooklyn Nets guarantees that we're going to be served up a summer sizzler of the highest order, a plot that has all the elements required to keep the sports world chattering and postulating for the next several weeks.
It is going to be a mystery tale that will provide the juiciest of interludes, a spellbinder that can rumble on for as long as it likes for all I care. Take your time, Kevin (and Brooklyn), you have our attention.
The magical components of the KD drama are all in place. Firstly, it is a decision that almost certainly will have some kind of significant influence on the destiny of next season's championship.
The oddsmakers are the only ones who might not like this. No summer break for those guys, who are duty-bound to react to every rumor and each twist in the narrative by adjusting their line for the 2022-23 campaign.
Players like Durant don't often become available in this way, and his preferred destinations of Phoenix and Miami now sit atop the odds charts is no accident. 'Look down the list of teams in the league - apparently more than half the league has inquired about KD - and you'll go a long way before you find one where Durant's arrival would not make them an instant contender to win it all.
One of the best parts of this as a storyline is that it is darn near impossible to predict. Where Durant most wants to go doesn't make nearly as much of a difference as to where Brooklyn wants to send him. He doesn't have a no-trade clause and is under contract for four more years.
Nick Wright doubts KD, Steph Curry, or any of the Golden State fans are rooting for this trade. Watch as he breaks down why this is not a Warriors reunion that he would want to see.The Nets, therefore, will try to soothe the pain of having the dream of glory years with Durant and Kyrie Irving thoroughly extinguished by pushing for a historic whopper of a trade haul. For fans, trying to predict which GM/owner combination will serve up the tastiest bait is tricky, and the situation remains fluid.
By its very nature, this thing is likely to rumble onwards for a while. The Nets owe it to themselves to be patient, and time can be their friend.
Time might tempt the Toronto Raptors to remember that the last swing they made that landed a big-name signing (Kawhi Leonard), ended with them winning the championship.
Time might give the Golden State Warriors cause to talk themselves into bringing back Durant - in exchange for perhaps Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman - in what would be a sacrificing of future components for a shot at adding another layer to the current dynasty.
Time might coax the New Orleans Pelicans into sending a never-seen-before trove of players and draft picks to Brooklyn in order to pair Durant with Zion Williamson for a youth-and-experience swing at a championship.
That's far from an exhaustive list of suitors. Whoever wants to get creative and try their luck has an open shot at this.
The Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns are at the top of his wish list but this brings up the issue of whether teams have the stock to trade for him.With Rudy Gobert's trade from the Utah Jazz to the Minnesota Timberwolves having cost a king's ransom of a package highlighted by four first-rounders, the price for Durant is going to be through the roof.
But the potential prize - arguably the best player in basketball and a possible banner hanging from your rafters - has gotten every team thinking.
And, for the rest of us, provided a sporting summer tale that would be hard to match, even if you could make it up.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for AP Sports and the author of the AP Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.
