Kevin Durant is about to leave the Brooklyn Nets to sign for Chris Paul and Devin Booker’s Phoenix Suns.
Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN) and Shams Charania (The Athletic), the two top-sourced journalists in the NBA who regularly make purchases in this league, assured this Wednesday that the Suns are already finalizing the final touches of this season. great operation to take on Durant.
In exchange for the forward, the Suns will send Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder to Brooklyn, in addition to several draft picks.
Specifically, the Nets, who will also transfer TJ Warren to Phoenix, will get four first-round picks in the draft.
The Suns’ signing of Durant marks another earthquake in the NBA just four days after Kyrie Irving left the Nets for Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks.
Moreover, this Durant “bomb” came just hours after the Los Angeles Lakers, in a three-team deal, traded Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz.
Durant asked Brooklyn to trade him last summer (the Suns were already appearing as prominent suitors at the time), but ultimately decided to stay, something that has now definitely changed with Irving’s recent departure for Dallas.
The forward, who is out for a month with a knee injury, has averaged 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season.
With Durant’s departure, the Nets are without any of the three members of that spectacular trio that threatened to dominate the league: Durant himself (Suns), Irving (Mavericks), and James Harden (Philadelphia 76ers).
A full-fledged trial in the quest for the first ring in franchise history, this ambitious and very powerful operation by the Suns is also a last-minute move as the NBA transfer deadline is Thursday, April 9. 3:00 PM US East Coast (8:00 PM GMT).
Finalists of the NBA in 2021, the Suns become one of the major contenders in the West and for the NBA title with Durant as they managed to absorb one of the most important and dominant stars in the league without saying goodbye to the legendary and experienced point guard Chris Paul, an explosive goalscorer like Devin Booker and a proven center like Deandre Ayton.
Phoenix currently ranks fifth in the West with a record of 30 wins and 26 losses.
Durant’s arrival with the Suns is reminiscent of his landing in Golden State to play for the iconic Warriors of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
With that team, Durant won his only two rings (2017 and 2018) before packing his bags in 2019 to head to Brooklyn where, with many injuries and controversy on the team, his best finish was the 2021 East Semifinals used to be.
Ranked fifth in the East (32-22), the Nets now seem destined for a top-down reconstruction of their project without any of their figures at the helm.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
