Brooklyn Nets trade NBA superstar Kevin Durant to Phoenix Suns
The 2021 NBA runners-up, the Suns, will send small forwards Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cam Johnson and up to four first-round draft picks to Brooklyn, according to reports from ESPN and The Athletic.
Durant leaves the Nets less than a week after the departure of Kyrie Irving to Dallas, his controversial partner in recent seasons in Brooklyn, and just hours before the trade deadline on Thursday.
Irving and Durant agreed to arrive together to the Nets in 2019 to form a 'superteam' that came to temporarily add James Harden as well.
Battered by injuries and Irving's numerous controversies, the project unravelled this week without even making it past a second round in four playoff appearances.
Durant will now join Chris Paul and Devin Booker in Phoenix to fight for the third ring of his career, following the two he earned with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.
"We had a lot of conversations throughout the year of what our futures were going to look like," Irving said after his Mavericks debut on Wednesday.
"There was still a level of uncertainty, but we just cared about seeing each other be in places that we can thrive and whether that be together or whether that be apart.
"This business changes so quickly. He's getting a little bit older, I'm getting a little bit older... I just am glad that he got out of there."
At 34 years old, the forward remains one of the NBA's biggest stars, averaging 29.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists this season.
The Suns were already on Durant's list of preferred destinations when he requested a trade from the Nets last June, fed up with the franchise's management decisions.
The Nets then managed to keep the small forward, who had another three seasons on his contract, but Irving's departure triggered his departure to Phoenix, a franchise that just got new ownership.
Billionaire Mat Ishbia, the new owner, said on Wednesday morning that he would actively seek ways to bolster the team. The Suns sit in fifth in the Western Conference.