{"id":126309,"date":"2025-02-28T20:30:51","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T01:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=126309"},"modified":"2025-02-28T20:16:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T01:16:41","slug":"nets-and-durant-reunion-should-be-avoided-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/28\/nets-and-durant-reunion-should-be-avoided-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why The Nets Should Not Reunite With Kevin Durant This Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, the Phoenix Suns sought to trade forward Kevin Durant<\/a>. Durant is in his third season with the Suns after being traded by the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges<\/a>, Cam Johnson,<\/a> Jae Crowder<\/a>, and four unprotected future first-round picks. As the Nets look to rebuild, if the Suns seek another suitor, they should avoid a Nets and Durant reunion.<\/p>\n

Why The Nets Should Not Reunite With Kevin Durant This Summer<\/h2>\n

The Nets stand just two games away from playoff contention in April. Securing a playoff spot would be a shock, considering they began the season as one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference. The future, however, looks promising: the organization owns 31 draft picks over the coming years and possesses enough salary cap to either re-sign players this off-season or save for future superstars and depth.<\/p>\n

In July 2019, Durant joined the Nets as part of a sign-and-trade deal between the Nets and the Golden State Warriors. In return, the Warriors received\u00a0D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a>,\u00a0Shabazz Napier,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Treveon Graham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During his time with the Nets, Durant averaged 29.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. In the 2020-21 season, he led the team to the second round of the playoffs, where their season ended in seven games.\u00a0The Nets tried to build a super team by pairing Durant with\u00a0Kyrie Irving<\/a> in the summer of 2019. Then, in January 2021, they acquired James Harden<\/a>. Unfortunately, injuries and New York City COVID-19 mandates limited the trio to 16 games together. As a result, a championship never materialized. All three were eventually traded. The Nets traded Durant to the Phoenix Suns in February 2023, ending his four-season tenure with the team.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty Lingers Over Durant\u2019s Future<\/h3>\n

On February 26th, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported<\/a> on NBA Today that the Suns will trade Durant in the offseason and said, “and he knows that.” He added, “Everybody’s intentions are crystal clear.”<\/p>\n

Durant is currently on a four-year, $194 million contract and is set to earn $54 million next season. In 2022, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia committed to building a championship-level team and promised a title. However, the Suns have yet to win a championship under Ishbia’s ownership and haven’t reached the NBA Finals since 2021. Additionally, Suns general manager James Jones traded most of the team’s draft picks. Consequently, the franchise is now desperate to trade Durant and acquire future first-round and second-round picks.<\/p>\n

Sean Marks Should Avoid A Nets and Durant Reunion<\/h3>\n

For months, rumors suggested Nets GM Sean Marks would trade Cam Thomas,<\/a> Cam Johnson, and others for a rebuild. However, Marks decided to keep the current roster and players rumored to be traded. With Kevin Durant, whom Marks signed in 2019 and traded in 2023, back in the news, Marks should avoid a Nets and Durant reunion. He may want to remember Durant\u2019s trade demands from Brooklyn in June 2022 and February 2023.<\/p>\n

While Durant is one of the greatest NBA scorers, his commitment has faltered. Over the last nine years, Durant played for four NBA teams. Although he performs well and leads, trading multiple draft picks for a veteran is unwise. Despite Durant’s prime, preserving draft picks and salary cap for future talent is the better move.<\/p>\n

Durant Reflects On His Time With the Nets<\/h3>\n

On a January 2025 episode of Out The Mud<\/a> podcast, Durant reflected<\/a> on his time with the Nets. \u201cI just wanted something new,\u201d Durant said. \u201cA smaller vibe, a different vibe \u2026 Brooklyn was [riding] with me, for sure. I liked it out there. I loved it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Durant\u2019s love for basketball and his time with the Nets, it may be wise for the Nets to pass on him this time. Although they could likely win a bidding war with 31 draft picks, it might be best if they explore other options.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, the Phoenix Suns sought to trade forward Kevin Durant. Durant is in his third season with the Suns after being traded by the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, and four unprotected future first-round picks. As the Nets look to rebuild, if the Suns seek another suitor, they should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5340,"featured_media":126317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,6,62,28],"tags":[1781,4069,509,444,69,406,1286,3269],"class_list":["post-126309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nets","category-nba","category-suns","tag-cam-johnson","tag-cam-thomas","tag-dangello-russell","tag-james-harden","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-shabazz-napier","tag-treveon-graham"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126309"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126321,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126309\/revisions\/126321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}