Brooklyn Nets Receive: F Keldon Johnson, F Doug McDermott, C Jakob Poeltl, G Josh Richardson, 2023 First-Round Pick (via CHA), 2024 First-Round Pick, 2025 First-Round Pick (via ATL), 2025 First-Round Pick (via CHI), 2026 First-Round Pick (via ATL), 2027 First-Round Pick (via ATL)
San Antonio Spurs Receive: F Kevin Durant
In the summer of 2019, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving decided that they wanted to team up. With Durant now requesting a trade, it is assumed that the two no longer want to play alongside each other. There have been some rumors that the Los Angeles Lakers might be willing to acquire both of them, but they don’t have the assets to make a competitive offer.
But, what if a team did want both of them? The San Antonio Spurs are a team heading toward a rebuild, but what if they decided to change course, opting to instead attempt to send Gregg Popovich off into the sunset with a chance at contending?
The Spurs are one of the few teams that can absorb both Durant and Irving while providing Brooklyn with the kind of draft capital they are looking for. The Spurs would take all of the first-round picks that they received from the Atlanta Hawks in the Dejounte Murray trade and send them to the Nets as part of this trade package.
The Spurs also own extra first-round picks from the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls, which they use to bolster this trade package. They need to include as many draft picks as possible to help make up for the lack of high-end players heading back to Brooklyn.
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Keldon Johnson, who played for Team USA at the 2020 Summer Olympics, is the headliner in terms of players heading back. Doug McDermott, Jakob Poeltl, and Josh Richardson are all included to help match salary.
Those four players have to be included for this to work under the league’s salary cap rules. While it would be a major risk-taking on Irving and Durant, that duo should be enough to contend with a few more tweaks to the fringes of the roster.
