An NBA superstar has been traded. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Brooklyn Nets traded Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns for a package that includes Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected future first-round picks. The deal was made last Wednesday night before the NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
The Suns adding Durant makes them a contender for the championship as the team already has Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. This move also comes after the Nets traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. The Nets also had James Harden, and all three requested trades from the team. Durant, Irving and Harden just played a total of 16 games together.
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Last year, Durant requested a trade from the Nets. But later in the summer, Durant rescinded his trade request after meeting with Nets management. In an interview with ESPN, Durant explained why he thought the Nets can win a title.
“I don’t even look at s— that way,” Durant said. “My whole thing was like — are we, does the process matter to us? And that’s one thing I did know that people here enjoy, grinding. So that was the most important thing for me. Titles and stuff come with the process in which you — how you prepare. It was more so, ‘All right, are we going to practice harder? Are we going to pay more attention to detail?’ Not just everybody else, all of us, me included. Is that going to be preached to us every day? I had the faith that that would happen because I voiced that throughout the summer as well. Even behind the scenes, like, ‘Yo, this is what I like to do. This is how I like to practice.’”
Durant was selected No. 2 overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007. The team moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and was renamed the Thunder. Durant became the face of the franchise as he was named to the All-Star team from 2010-2016. Following the 2015-16 season, Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors and was with the team for three seasons, And during that time, Durant helped the team win two NBA titles.
In June of 2019, Durant announced he planned to sign with the Brooklyn Nets but missed the entire 2019-20 season due to an injury. In three seasons with the Nets, Durant played in just 129 games but made the All-Star team in each of the three years. Along with being a 13-time All-Star, Durant was named NBA MVP in 2014 and NBA Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018.
