Rumblings around Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets’ offseason

Kevin Durant’s preferred trade destination is the Phoenix Suns, and Kyrie Irving’s preferred trade destination is the Los Angeles Lakers, the Daily News has learned. Neither one of the Nets’ stars want to remain in Brooklyn, ushering in the end of the Seven-Eleven superteam era that lasted three years but felt like three seconds.

The Phoenix Suns just signed superstar Devin Booker to a four-year, $214M supermax contract, making his trade unlikely. A deal that sends Durant to Phoenix would have to include an All-Star caliber player and significant draft compensation. The Suns can offer star center Deandre Ayton, Defensive Player of the Year candidate Mikal Bridges, budding 3-and-D wing Cameron Johnson, draft picks and pick swaps.

Irving’s path to Los Angeles is slightly more complicated given Russell Westbrook’s albatross contract. Westbrook is coming off the worst season of his career and is due $47M in the final year of his deal. There is almost no market for Westbrook’s contract except for reports suggesting the Charlotte Hornets and Oklahoma City Thunder would be open to a deal.

What the Lakers are able to fetch for Westbrook would ultimately be re-routed to Brooklyn in exchange for Irving. The Nets might be willing to accept a deal that includes a combination of sharpshooting point guard Terry Rozier, versatile wing Kelly Oubre Jr., former first-round pick P.J. Washington and draft compensation. The Nets are unlikely to accept Gordon Hayward back in an Irving deal, according to a league source, as Hayward is due in excess of $60M over the next two seasons and has had a number of injuries that have kept him off the floor the past two seasons.

Durant and Irving’s friendship remains strong despite their lack of sustained success on the court. The two are open to a trade that serves as a package deal and allows them to continue to play together outside of Brooklyn, according to a source. It is unclear whether such a deal exists given the financial realities of what it would take for a deal to come together: Durant and Irving are due a combined $80M next season and a team would need to match that salary not only with talented players but also draft pick consideration.

That’s not to say it can’t be done: The Lakers, for example, could open up the Russell Westbrook trade by sending Anthony Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker to Brooklyn. They do not, however, have the draft assets to make this a compelling trade for Brooklyn, and Westbrook is unlikely to fetch such assets.

Nets veteran guard Patty Mills also declined the player option on his contract and has re-signed on a two-year, $14.5M deal. Mills and Nets GM Sean Marks met in person in Brooklyn hours before Irving announced his decision to opt into the final year of his deal. The two had an animated discussion before the news of Irving’s decision broke.

The Nets also acquired Utah Jazz swingman Royce O’Neale in exchange for Philadelphia’s 2023 top-eight protected first-round pick. The rationale behind the decision is a talking point for fans on social media who believe O’Neale is best suited as a supplementary piece on a championship contender. The Nets, in the wake of Durant’s trade request, are no longer that.

The Nets cannot acquire Heat star Bam Adebayo in any Kevin Durant deal unless they trade Ben Simmons because collective bargaining agreement bylaws prevent teams from trading for a player on a designated rookie max contract extension if one already exists on the roster.

Unrelated to the Nets, the Heat are a more likely landing spot for Donovan Mitchell and have furnished a trade offer to the Utah Jazz. In an April 2022 episode of the Certified Buckets podcast, New York City hip-hop legend Fat Joe told me he is close to Mitchell and that Mitchell’s dream is playing for Miami, not his hometown Knicks.

The Nets are open for business and have no shortage of suitors making significant offers for Durant. This has become the most important offseason in Nets franchise history, but with Durant and Irving now having both feet out the door, it’s an important offseason for all the wrong reasons.

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