How the Nets turned Kevin Durant trade into an unprecedented haul of future draft picks
NEW YORK — Phoenix was Kevin Durant’s preferred destination when he forced his way out of Brooklyn two seasons ago. The Nets had to find three more trade partners to honor their former star’s request, but they ultimately sent him and T.J. Warren to the Suns in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Cam Johnson, four first-round picks and a pick swap.
Bridges and Johnson wound up suiting up for the Nets about halfway through the 2022-23 season while Crowder was quickly re-routed to the Milwaukee Bucks. Some thought Brooklyn got adequate compensation for Durant at the time of the trade, while others criticized general manager Sean Marks for not getting more assets in exchange for a player of Durant’s caliber.
However, as we found out Tuesday night, the Durant deal was technically not complete.
Bridges, one of the better two-way players in the NBA on a team-friendly contract, retained his value despite a rocky 2023-24 season in Brooklyn. And Marks finally cashed in on Bridges’ league-wide interest, sending him to the Knicks in exchange for forward Bojan Bogdanovic, four unprotected first-round picks, a protected first-round pick via Milwaukee, an unprotected pick swap and a second-round pick.
Regardless of how some felt about the Nets’ compensation for Durant two seasons ago, all can agree that Marks made the most out of it in the end, even though it took a while for him to find the most bountiful path forward. After flipping Bridges to the Knicks, he ultimately walked away with eight unprotected first-round picks, one protected first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick swap, a 2028 unprotected pick swap and three second-round picks.
The Nets also acquired their 2025 first-round draft pick from the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, negating a previously agreed to swap, and their first-round pick in 2026 in exchange for a 2025 first round-pick swap (Houston/Oklahoma City for Phoenix), the Suns’ 2027 first-round pick and the rights to the two most favorable of the Dallas, Phoenix and Houston first-round picks in 2029.
Brooklyn will retain the least favorable of Dallas, Houston and Phoenix’s first-round draft picks in 2029, but more importantly, it controls their first-round selection in a loaded 2025 draft class that features Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper and others, and has 15 first-round picks and 10 second-round picks through 2031, setting up what should be a brighter future.
A complete look at Nets’ war chest of future assets entering the 2024 NBA draft:
— 2025: Own first, Knicks first, Bucks first (1-4 protected), Phoenix/Houston/Oklahoma City first (least favorable), own second, Miami second (31-35 protected)
— 2026: Own first, Detroit/Milwaukee/Orlando second (least favorable)
— 2027: Own first (least favorable of own/Houston, Knicks first, Philadelphia first (top-8 protected)
— 2028: Own/Phoenix/Knicks first (most favorable), own second, Memphis second
— 2029: Own first, Knicks first, Dallas/Phoenix/Houston first (least favorable), own second, Dallas second, Memphis second
— 2030: Own first, own second
— 2031: Own first, Knicks second, own second
