Kevin Durant always had eyes for Phoenix, and the epic trade could get other teams into action

It was phoenix. It was always phoenix.

Even before Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets last June, just minutes before the start of the NBA’s 2022 free agency period, word had already spread among league officials: Durant’s eyes wandered to the Suns. If he could ever break away from the franchise Durant joined alongside Kyrie Irving in 2019, the prospect of a collaboration with Chris Paul and Devin Booker loomed on the tantalizing horizon. One of the best point guards to ever patrol the court and one of the sport’s most dangerous scorers behind Durant awaited in a warm-weather metropolis for a team brimming with draft capital plus Finals-proven players with great trade value.

The Nets eventually traded Durant and TJ Warren for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks between 2023 and 2029, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, hours before the NBA’s 3:00 p.m. ET close. plus a pick swap in 2028, league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports.

Durant never gave Brooklyn’s front desk a list of favorite travel destinations last summer, sources told Yahoo Sports, but Nets employees always knew. This is an unwritten element of the required acumen of any accomplished front office. The transactional world of the NBA is full of twists and turns between individual agendas and conflicting aspirations. Durant had told confidants about his interest in Phoenix, his admiration for Booker and the all-star scorer’s evolving game, and that information surely made its way to Brooklyn officials as well as competing front offices — just as it got wind of James Harden had a growing desire to flee to Philadelphia.

Durant shared an affinity with Phoenix head coach Monty Williams from their Oklahoma City days and with the USA basketball team. He is known to have deep respect for Paul. As LeBron James annually chose Damian Lillard between captains in the league’s most recent All-Star Game draft, you may recall Durant picking Booker with his first pick among the All-Star reserves ahead of last February’s Midseason Classic has.

The story goes on

In July, the Raptors visited Durant. The Celtics challenged Durant. Everyone called Durant. The Heat always reviews with due diligence whenever a worldly talent becomes available. But the offseason trickled on, Durant remained a member of the Nets, Brooklyn found upgrades at Royce O’Neale and re-signed Nic Claxton. Still, numbers in the NBA braced themselves for the possibility that another tumultuous season at the Barclays Center could bring down the Nets’ castle, leaving Durant within reach — where Phoenix should always be waiting with open arms.

Kevin Durant changes teams again. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Who knows what an open bid would have gotten for Durant? But few teams could have traded the equivalent amount to the Nets and still have a roster left to support Durant’s hunt for another ring. Could New Orleans or Memphis have a similar capacity to handle young players and draw capital? That’s for sure. But Phoenix was the ending Durant clearly wanted for this script. By all accounts, the Suns and Nets have been relatively quiet at work on this blockbuster. Despite mounting speculation and league-wide curiosity about Durant’s availability this week, news of a completed mega deal quickly rumbled through the league like an unexpected explosion.

Brooklyn had risen to second place in the Eastern Conference that season.

But Durant, sidelined with an MCL sprain in his right knee, the Nets stumbling in the table and asking Irving for his own trade on Friday before the league’s trading window closed, all led to a palpable inevitability. Rival teams monitored Durant’s status just like his All-Star teammate’s. Regardless of Brooklyn’s competitive return of Spencer Dinwidde and Dorian Finney-Smith in exchange for sending Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, the Suns were armed with a generous offer and braced themselves for an aggressive new team owner in Mat Ishbia on Tuesday will take control of the franchise, and Durant was dealt as Wednesday turned into Thursday.

If basketball can be called a customs game, team building in the NBA is a game of luck. It’s a cruel combination of fate and fitness and injury. Durant’s fractured Achilles and Klay Thompson’s cruciate ligament tear in the 2019 NBA Finals dashed Golden State’s title hopes that season and ended Durant’s tenure with the Warriors. Harden and Irving’s inability to face Milwaukee at full strength in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals sank those nets on the Bucks’ trek to this year’s championship — via those ascending Phoenix Suns. Coincidentally, two straight January years brought Brooklyn an MCL injury for Durant, a trade request from one of his fellow All-Stars, and this time Durant’s permanent exit as well.

His potential departure had stretched beyond the Irving trade talks and the rest of the NBA trade market in general. Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith marked win-now signings after Irving’s dismissal, but the likelihood that Brooklyn could seriously fight for a championship this season and maintain the winning environment a 34-year-old Durant craves had dwindled significantly.

The time was now while Phoenix can still make a title push in Paul’s fading twilight. He is 37 years old and has only largely guaranteed next season’s salary in 2023-2024. The Suns have already contacted opposing teams in search of point guard reinforcements, sources told Yahoo Sports, looking for top-notch ball-handling options that might even replace Paul in the future. Deandre Ayton’s long-term future remains tense following an extended period of limited free agency last offseason, which saw Phoenix scout for signing and trading Ayton to land Durant. There is little belief among those familiar with the situation that Sun management is really valuing Ayton at the average annual value of $33 million over four full seasons on its Indiana bid sheet.

But a foursome of Durant, Booker, Paul, and Ayton, with whatever tweaks the Suns front office can do to that list ahead of the deadline — and whatever veterans in the buyout market may crop up — stand in this mess as fierce as any threat Western Conference. Durant to Phoenix is ​​the domino of all dominoes that could spark a flurry of activity among contenders in the West playoff picture, and that’s before Dallas’ new signing Irving is reconsidered. Not to mention the three-team deal that brought D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt to the Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook to also help reunite Mike Conley Jr. with Rudy Gobert in Minnesota, where Anthony Edwards has blossomed into an all-star talent and Karl-Anthony Towns should return along the way.

The Pelicans and Grizzlies still have assets, and the Raptors have been bringing talented forward OG Anunoby to the market for weeks. Sources say the first-ranked Denver Nuggets are still looking for ways to move sophomore guard Bones Hyland for at least a postseason rotation. The Clippers have been linked to veteran point guards like Toronto’s former All-Star Fred VanVleet. And the reigning champion Golden State Warriors also wants to buy.

The opportunity can inspire action. Windows to win a championship can be closed as quickly as they open.

Just ask the Brooklyn Nets.