Please read the description before commenting or voting on the trade. It is vital to understanding the trade.
This deal will be done in two separate trades.
The first trade builds off of the Hawks and Kings trade for Kevin Huerter that was announced earlier today. In addition to what was already agreed upon in that deal Kevin Durant will also be sent to Atlanta. The lottery protected 2024 FRP from SAC will be rerouted to BKN who will also be receiving John Collins, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Onyeka Okongwu, Jalen Johnson, AJ Griffin, 2023 FRP (ATL), and a 2029 FRP (ATL).
The second trade will be sending Kyrie Irving to the Lakers in exchange for 2027 and 2029 FRPs via LA. This will create a trade exception for the Nets the size of Kyrie’s contract.The Spurs will be receiving Russell Westbrook and sending back Doug McDermont and Zach Collins. The Spurs will then waive Westbrook.
Nets:
The Nets find themselves in a very bad situation as both of their best players are wanting to be traded and they do not own any of their own FRPs for the foreseeable future. Since there is no incentive for the Nets to lose, their best option is to build as competitive of a team as possible around their only reaming star in Ben Simmons. They should also look to trade any veterans of value for young players and draft picks.
The main reason the Hawks offer is the most enticing one is due to the amount if talented players Brooklyn will receive who will be good fits alongside Simmons.
John Collins will provide floor spacing both lateral and vertically with his 3pt shot and athleticism.
Onyeka Okongwu will provide them with a raw and talented big man who has the potential to develop into the center of the future for Brooklyn. Similarly to guys like Bam, RobWill, and Draymond he has the ability to play physical down low as well as to switch out onto the perimeter and guard in space. Offensively he has the potential to stretch the floor and take on some playmaking responsibilities.
Bogdan Bogdanovic gives them a veteran who can help handle the ball and to create shots for himself and others. He could also be a valuable trade piece in the future as I’m sure there will be a number of teams interested in him.
AJ Griffin and Jalen Johnson give them both a wing and combo forward who can develop into really nice 3&D guys. They also both have some potential shot creation upside. I don’t feel the need to go into much more detail about these two as I’m sure everyone is well aware of their potential.
Along with all of these players who are great fits they will also be getting 3 future FRPs. The 2023 and 2029 picks from Atlanta will be unprotected while the 2024 pick from Sacramento will be lottery protected. If it doesn’t convey the protections will slowly go down over the years until it does. While this isn’t as many picks as other teams could offer the amount of players who are good fits with Simmons more than makes up for it in my opinion.
In the Kyrie Irving part of this deal the only assets they will be receiving are two FRPs from the Lakers. These picks will be unprotected FRPs in 2027 and 2029. These picks could be very high as the Lakers current core will all be long gone and they have no real route to attain any talented players aside from a trade or via free agency. The Nets will also be receiving a trade exception the size of Kyrie’s contract (36.9 M). This will allow them to take on that much salary without it effecting their cap space so long as they don’t send any players back in those deals. I think this TE could easily net them 2-4 more FRPs.
Hawks:
The Hawks are the clear winners of this trade as they will be receiving the clear best player in Kevin Durant. While they do give up a lot they will be the favorites to win the championship with a core of Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, Deandre Hunter, Kevin Durant, and Clint Capela.
They will also be receiving Maurice Harkless and Justin Holliday back from the Kings. This gives them two highly valuable role players off of the bench.
Along with receiving Durant, Harkless, and Holliday the Hawks will also have just under 14 M in cap space. This will allow them to sign a backup center as well as some wings to fill out the rest of their roster.
The biggest question with this roster will be how do three ball dominant players like Young, Murray, and Durant coexist. A big part of that burden will fall on the coaching staff. Their minutes throughout the game will need to be staggered so that all of them can get the amount of touches they need. When on the floor together the three of them will have to understand they may need to sacrifice having the ball in their hands in order to win.
Dejounte Murray will undoubtably be the “3rd Wheel” on this team. His biggest impact will be found defensively as he’ll be asked to guard the other teams best guard every night. Offensively he will have to develop more of an off ball game as Young and Durant will both need a ton of touches. He will need to get more comfortable operating off of off ball screens as well as operating as a ball screener. If he can figure this out he could be a true Swiss Army knife and thus one of scariest matchups in the league.
Spurs:
Since trading Dejounte Murray there is no doubt that the Spurs are in full on rebuild mode. This is not a decision you can fault as the 2023 draft class looks to be absolutely stacked. The main question you might have is why do the Spurs do this. If so then I have two words for you… CAP SPACE. By trading McDermott and Collins they will have traded away every player who isn’t on a rookie or expiring deal.
Buying out Westbrook will be mutually beneficial as he will be able to go to a team who truly wants him and the Spurs will be able to free up minutes for their young guards. This will result in a worse record, and thus a higher pick for the Spurs.
This could be a very quick rebuild for the Spurs. Going into next offseason armed with a really good young core that will hopefully be adding a top pick as well as having a ton of cap space will make them a highly desirable free agent destination. Coach Pop being so highly regarded will also play a big role in this in my opinion. They could add two max level contract players and still have the space to fill out their rotation. If everything goes as planned then the Spurs could be serious title contenders as soon as the 2023-2024 NBA season.
Lakers:
The reason the Lakers do this trade is very clear… they dump Westbrook and receive a huge upgrade at PG. Kyrie and LeBron have proven to play well together before, except now they have Anthony Davis in place of Kevin Love.
Giving up the two future firsts is less than ideal, but if it can potentially deliver you more championships it is more than worth it.
While McDermott and Collins aren’t the best additions they are valuable role players who could be very effective if used correctly. If things do not work out then the Lakers could look to flip them at the trade deadline for players who are a better fit with their roster.
Kings:
This trade has already been confirmed, and I have not added anything to this part of it. For once I am actually a fan of a move made by the Kings! This completes the restructure of their backcourt and I’m honestly a fan of it. Fox, Mitchell, Monk, and Huerter are all very dynamic players who could really be good for Sacramento. If they could just do some work to their frontcourt then I would really be a fan of what they’ve got going on in Sacramento!