Los Angeles (USA) (EFE).- Kevin Durant is very close to leaving the Brooklyn Nets to sign for the Phoenix Suns of Chris Paul and Devin Booker.
Adrian Wojnarowski (ESPN) and Shams Charania (The Athletic), the two journalists with the best sources in the NBA and who regularly advance signings in this league, assured this Wednesday that the Suns are already finishing off the last fringes of this great operation to incorporate Durant.
In exchange for the forward, the Suns will send Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder to Brooklyn in addition to several draft picks.
Specifically, the Nets, who will also transfer TJ Warren to Phoenix, will receive four first-round picks in the draft.
Durant’s signing by the Suns marks a new earthquake in the NBA just four days after Kyrie Irving left the Nets for Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks.
Furthermore, this ‘bombshell’ by Durant came just a few hours after the Los Angeles Lakers, in a three-team deal, traded Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz.
Durant asked Brooklyn to trade him last summer (the Suns already appeared as prominent suitors then) but finally decided to stay, something that has now definitely changed with Irving’s recent departure to Dallas.
The forward, who has been out for a month with a knee injury, is averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season.
With Durant’s departure, the Nets no longer have any of the three members of that spectacular trio that threatened to dominate the league: Durant himself (Suns), Irving (Mavericks) and James Harden (Philadelphia 76ers).
This ambitious and very powerful operation by the Suns, a full-fledged ordeal in the search for the first ring in the history of this franchise, is also a last-minute move since the NBA transfer deadline is this Thursday, April 9. February at 3:00 p.m. US East Coast (8:00 p.m. GMT).
Finalists of the NBA in 2021, the Suns become with Durant one of the great contenders in the West and for the NBA title since they have managed to incorporate one of the most important and dominant stars in the league without parting with the legendary and veteran point guard Chris Paul, an explosive scorer like Devin Booker and a proven center like Deandre Ayton.
Phoenix is fifth in the West right now with a record of 30 wins and 26 losses.
Durant’s arrival at the Suns is reminiscent of his landing in Golden State to play for the iconic Warriors of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
With that team, Durant won his only two rings (2017 and 2018) before packing his bags in 2019 to go to Brooklyn, where, with many injuries and controversies involved in the team, his best result was the semifinals of the East of 2021.
Fifth in the East (32-22), the Nets now seem destined for a top-to-bottom reconstruction of their project without any of their figures at the helm.