Why The Brooklyn Nets Do The Deal
All things equal, the Brooklyn Nets wouldn’t trade Kevin Durant for Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., a first-round pick, and a swap. The first reason they’d do this deal is the same reason they’d do any Durant deal – he has requested a trade.
Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic himself are not walking through that door. The few players that have more trade value than Durant will not be available to the Nets. Therefore, they’ll logically have to suffer a loss in any Durant deal.
With that in mind, they may be satisfied with this return. It’s not draft pick heavy – again, the Nuggets don’t have much to offer in that regard. On the other hand, it does offer them two players with undeniable star potential.
In fact, Murray has already given the Nuggets star production. Unfortunately, health concerns have held Porter Jr. back from doing the same. Still, if he can get healthy, he actually offers a reasonable facsimile of Durant as a 6’10, sweet-shooting wing.
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Of course, he’ll almost certainly never reach Durant’s level. Realistically, the Nets’ chances of landing a player who will went out the window from the moment Durant requested his trade.