After over a month of drama, rumors, and gossip, the Kevin Durant trade saga has finally come to a disappointingly anticlimactic end, with the former NBA MVP and Brooklyn Nets Governor Joe Tsai coming to a temporary truce.
After much speculation, it appears that KD will be staying in Brooklyn for the next year or will at least start the season as a Net.
That means that the Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors, and Boston Celtics will have to wait until closer to the trade deadline to reopen their negotiations with Tsai and Nets’ General Manager Sean Marks.
Other teams that weren’t frontrunners in the initial discussions now also have more time to prepare their best possible trade packages.
For example, the Portland Trail Blazers can now try to find a way to convince the Chicago Bulls to remove the protections on the 2023 first-round pick that Portland owes them which would free up the Blazers to include multiple first-rounders for Durant.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kevin Durant & Brooklyn Nets Updates
With the discussions tabled for the time being, there should be some new teams joining the conversations when Tsai and Marks decide to reopen negotiations.
Many organizations will be eligible to move additional assets such as recently acquired rookies and newly inked free agents after the season starts.
Here are the three teams best positioned for a Kevin Durant trade moving forward.