The last few days have brought a flurry of NBA player trades, more than I can remember in the last few years for a mid-season deadline. Even the Warriors participated, trading their former lottery draft pick James Wiseman in a multi-team deal that netted them Gary Payton II, whom they had previously allowed to depart in free agency. The centerpiece of it all was the Brooklyn Nets’ trade of Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns for a haul of future draft picks. Some thoughts on the matter are in order.
1. No mystery about the Suns-Nets deal. The Suns saw their championship window closing and mortgaged their future in the hopes of bringing home the first Larry O’Brien Trophy in the history of the franchise, while the Nets had given up on their superteam dreams earlier in the week when they sent Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. I would be happy if I were a Suns fan. Even if the KD situation doesn’t work out, the Suns have him under contract for another couple of years and could unload him somewhere else for draft picks similar to what they relinquished. As it is, they should be the odds-on favorites in the Western Conference to go to the Finals.
2. Big mystery about the Irving deal. Why were the Mavs willing to trade for him? The Nets should have had to pay them to unload such a toxic presence. It will not end well for Dallas. Take that to the bank.
3. Another mystery is how the Warriors managed to get Detroit to take Wiseman, a high-end draft bust. Maybe the Pistons are looking to tank for future lottery picks. Hopefully, they’ll make better use of them than the Dubs did when they picked Wiseman #2 in the 2020 NBA draft. Many teams think they can take raw physical talents and render them into stars. This should be a cautionary tale for that line of thinking.
4. No mystery as to why the Lakers unloaded Russell Westbrook. The question is why they traded for him in the first place–$40-plus million a year for a player who lost his shot years ago but thinks he should still get the ball every time. ESPN suggested that the team who took him, the Utah Jazz, might buy out his remaining contract just to be done with him. Sounds good to me.
The objective part of me hopes the KD deal works out for the Suns. Phoenix has had to wait decades for its first title, and I may be one of the few Warriors fans who has no hard feelings about KD’s departure in 2019. It was tough to see him leave and cut short the dynasty, but it was always clear that he was a restless soul forever looking for a new place to land, similar to how the well-traveled NBA coach Larry Brown earned the nickname “Next Town Brown.” If KD had been a stay-at-home type, he would never have signed with the Warriors in the first place. Two of the four banners they raised in the last decade are owed largely to him. He provided a pretty good return on their investment, which the Suns hope to acquire for themselves.
