Nets Notes: Kevin Durant Trade, Mikal Bridges, Expectations

The Nets refused to budge in their asking price from the Suns for star forward Kevin Durant, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

In return for Durant, the Nets received forwards Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and Jae Crowder (later traded to Bucks), as well as multiple picks.

“What I know is Brooklyn put out an offer on Monday, I believe, at least the beginning of the week, and pretty much didn’t budge from that offer,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast, via RealGM. “And I don’t know how close they got with any other teams. I have no idea, but they pretty much said ‘This is what it’s going to take.’

“And the Suns, at the end of the day, acquiesced to it. They did because Mat Ishbia was there, but as the week went on and they discussed it more and more, and they looked at it, I believe from my discussions that James Jones was in alignment with Ishbia. I think that it is easy to make an assumption and I kind of was thinking that might have been the case, but I did the reporting and I feel comfortable in saying there was alignment in the organization.”

• Durant told the Nets he was willing to play out the season if a trade had not been found, per Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
• The Durant deal nearly fell apart when the Nets also requested Crowder, per Windhorst and Shelburne.
• As we relayed here, one team offered four first-round picks for Bridges, per Zach Lowe of ESPN.
• Brian Lewis of the New York Post breaks down what the post-Durant and Kyrie Irving Nets can expect now. (Full story.)

Inside the final days of the greatest superteam that never was. Durant’s quiet trade request, Brooklyn’s pocket listing and how new Suns owner Mat Ishbia got to “yes” on the franchise altering move his first day in charge. Story w/ ⁦@WindhorstESPN⁩ https://t.co/6WamGywfrB

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 10, 2023