It has been a wild Thursday for the Brooklyn Nets. They have been hit with the hard reality that some major changes will be on the horizon, as NBA superstar Kevin Durant has requested a trade from the team. His representation and the franchise will now work together on finding him a new team to play with.
This roster is going to look drastically different, as everyone will be up for grabs. As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported, we have likely seen Durant and Kyrie Irving in a Nets uniform for the last time.
Lost amongst all of the Durant news is another transaction that the team made. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Nets traded a 2023 first-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Royce O’Neale.
As mentioned by Wojnarowski, the Nets will be sending the lesser pick between theirs, the Houston Rockets or the Philadelphia 76ers. Philadelphia’s selection is owned by the Nets from the James Harden deal and they deferred to take that one. Houston has the right to swap picks with the Nets from their Harden deal.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: Brooklyn Nets Expected To Trade Both Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant
The timing of this deal with the Utah Jazz, however, is peculiar. Given the news breaking about Durant requesting a trade minutes beforehand, it raises some questions about what the Brooklyn Nets are doing.
Seemingly heading for a rebuild, sending out a first-round pick, even if it is a late-round one, seems counteractive based on the road they are about to embark on. O’Neale is a solid player that would have fit in well alongside Durant and Irving, but it is anyone’s guess what the plan for him is now given the circumstances.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: Brooklyn Nets Expected To Trade Both Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant
O’Neale offers some positional versatility as he can defend both forward spots, wings and some guards on the perimeter. He is your prototypical 3-and-D player, as he knocked down 38.9 percent of his attempts last season and is a 38.1 percent career shooter from distance.