Kevin Durant will be taking his talents to the Brooklyn Nets to join forces with Kyrie Irving. Durant announced his intentions to leave the Warriors on Instagram on Sunday, and the departure of the two-time NBA Finals MVP will be a tough pill for the franchise to swallow.
One thing that could help the organization cope, however, is the fact that the Nets seem to at least be open to the possibility of doing them a favor by executing a sign-and-trade deal for him.
It should be noted that there were similar rumblings of the Nets being willing to engage the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets in a similar deal to acquire Irving, but it appears that the Nets got cold feet when it was revealed that the deal would help Boston in its attempts to re-sign Al Horford. Being that the teams are division rivals, it would make sense for Brooklyn to be reluctant to lend them a helping hand.
With the Warriors, however, the same incentive (or deterrent, depending on your perspective) doesn’t exist. The news of the potential sign-and-trade deal for Durant was first reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
At this point, it is not known what or who the trade would consist of, but it’s plausible that the Nets would attempt to send at least one player out since they are attempting to manage their cap in such a way that will allow them to sign both Durant and Irving to maximum-salaried contracts. The Nets are also planning on signing DeAndre Jordan and Garrett Temple, as well.
It stands to reason that the Warriors would send the Nets some draft considerations and, in return, would receive a massive trade exception that they could use to absorb a player who would effectively serve as Durant’s replacement in San Francisco. The luxury tax implications could be tremendous, but it would allow the Warriors to remain competitive in a Western Conference that will see LeBron James and Anthony Davis together on the Los Angeles Lakers.
For most Warriors fans, the news of Durant’s departure is a negative, but credit to Bob Myers and his organization for at least attempting to make something positive happen from could easily be a no-win situation.
