The Risks of a Durant-Brown-Centered Trade
Of all the NBA teams, the Brooklyn Nets have the most problems to solve before the 2022-2023 season opens. They have two star players who want out of Brooklyn, and another whose future and playability remain a question mark.
Since the 2022 free agency period opened, the Nets have tried to work out trades that would send Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to their respective preferred destinations. And since then, all fans have heard was that talks didn’t work out due to various circumstances. Whether it was the Nets asking for too much, or the other team didn’t want to give up too many assets for a player that would bring potential baggage to their franchise.
While Kyrie Irving’s move to Los Angeles appears to be temporarily on hold, Kevin Durant has been rumoured to be moving to a team that swept the Nets in the 2022 NBA playoffs: the Boston Celtics.
However, many pundits believe the potential trade could prove problematic for the Celtics.
The Jaylen Brown Problem
Jaylen Brown’s name recently entered the mix of players who Boston reportedly offered in exchange for Kevin Durant. In short, Brown wasn’t pleased upon hearing he was being linked to a potential Durant deal.
The initial offer included Brown, Derrick White, and a draft pick. The Nets countered by adding Marcus Smart, multiple draft picks, and another rotational player.
While it’s easy to say “But this is Kevin Durant,” to the Boston front office, it could also disrupt the team’s chemistry should the trade fail to materialize. One need only to remember the effect on the young core of the Los Angeles Lakers when they heard their names being linked to the Anthony Davis trade a few years back. That impacted the chemistry of a team that had a newcomer in LeBron James so bad that the team imploded midway through that season.
Another reason why this Brown-Durant trade isn’t going to work for Brooklyn is there’s no assurance that Brown would sign a contract extension with the Nets. Due to a few quirks in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), Brown is all but guaranteed to decline a contract extension should the trade materialize.
This would mean Brown could enter free agency by 2024.
Brown-Centered Trade Makes Sense
As risky as a trade involving Jaylen Brown and Kevin Durant would be for both the Celtics and the Nets, the deal could theoretically benefit both squads and the players involved.
For Durant, he gets to play on a high-caliber team that recently made the NBA Finals. While the Celtics weren’t on his initial preferred destinations list, Durant could actually have a chance at winning another championship. In return, the Celtics bolster their odds of nabbing championship number 18 if everyone remains healthy.
For Jaylen Brown, a change in scenery could actually be beneficial after failing to win a championship, and constantly seeing his name included in trade packages. Boston also declined to offer him a max rookie extension in 2019. So perhaps there’s another team on the market that would be willing to commit both term and dollars to the talented forward elsewhere.
For Brooklyn?
It’s simple. They rid themselves of the media circus that this offseason has turned into, while acquiring a valuable piece they can build around in Brown. By knowing the return, they can then finalize a Kyrie deal to fill in some missing pieces and move forward with a rebooted young core in 2022-23.
Up until now discussions haven’t progressed very far between the two clubs. However as the season draws nearer, perhaps Brooklyn’s asking price will begin to inch closer to what other franchises are willing to offer.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: KT King. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.