NEW YORK – The Brooklyn Nets have traded All-Star forward Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, in a swop deal that includes four other players and future first-round picks, American media reported on Thursday.
ESPN reported two-time National Basketball Association champion Durant and T. J. Warren would head to Phoenix, while Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder would move the other way, along with first-round draft picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 plus a 2028 pick swop.
Separately, the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to trade guard Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team deal, according to three people familiar with the trade who were not authorised to speak about it publicly.
As part of the exchange, the Lakers will receive Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell, whom they drafted No. 2 overall in 2015 and then traded away after just two seasons.
The agreement was first reported by ESPN. Durant’s move comes two days after Mat Ishbia, billionaire president and chief executive officer of United Wholesale Mortgage, completed the purchase of the Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury for US$4 billion (S$5.3 billion).
The trade ends Durant’s unhappy three-year stint in Brooklyn, where he was sidelined in his first season due to injury, while he never got close to winning the championship despite being teamed up with Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
While Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, Irving moved to the Dallas Mavericks this week, ending Brooklyn’s “Big Three” experiment.
“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.”
Durant, who has not played in the last four weeks and missed 14 games due to a sprained knee ligament, will now team up with fellow All-Stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker in the hopes of winning his first NBA title since 2018.
Durant, 34, won back-to-back championships with the Golden State Warriors, where he was also named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in both title-winning seasons. Both the Nets and the Suns are fifth in their respective conferences. The trade deadline is 3pm Eastern Time on Thursday (4am on Friday in Singapore).
The deal for Westbrook will end his tumultuous, and brief, tenure with the Lakers. The Washington Wizards traded him to the Lakers before the 2021-22 season, giving the Lakers high hopes that he would be part of a so-called super team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
To acquire him, the Lakers traded multiple players who were crucial to their championship run in 2020. It did not pan out.
Westbrook, a nine-time All-Star and the 2017 MVP, is versatile and athletic at his best, easily able to fill up box scores. But in Los Angeles, he struggled to adjust to coming off the bench and not being the primary ball handler. That, along with his below average perimeter shooting, sank the chances of him fitting with James and Davis.
The Lakers (25-30) are out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, despite their championship aspirations. Westbrook averaged 16.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game off the bench for the Lakers this season.
The Westbrook trade will also send to the Jazz forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, centre Damian Jones and a first-round pick in the 2027 draft.
The Jazz will mark Westbrook’s fifth team in five years, an unusual level of movement for a former MVP still relatively close to his prime. REUTERS, NYTIMES
