Trading Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell in a 5-team fake deal featuring Lakers, Suns - SB Nation

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Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets hours before free agency opened on June 30. Now almost two weeks later, Durant remains with Brooklyn, with little momentum building toward a deal. We have been tracking every Durant trade rumor if you want to catch up. Spoiler alert: a whole lot of nothing has happened.

We do know a few things about a potential Durant trade based on insider reporting since his request. Durant’s preferred destination is the Phoenix Suns. The Nets want a young All-Star back in any deal, along with at least three future first round draft picks. While almost every team has ‘checked in’ on a Durant trade, the Nets haven’t seen the league-wide bidding war they were hoping for. It can be inferred that no team currently making an offer for Durant is making their best offer yet.

We also know there’s been a lot of smoke connecting Kyrie Irving to the Lakers. Los Angeles is reportedly Irving’s only possible destination if he’s traded from Brooklyn. We know the Pacers are interested in Deandre Ayton, possibly with Myles Turner going back in the deal.

It’s incredibly difficult to construct a two-team trade for Durant that satisfies every party. If the Nets don’t want Ayton back on a max (as has been reported), Phoenix doesn’t have the top-end talent to get the job done itself. The same likely goes for the Raptors if they won’t include Scottie Barnes, and the Pelicans if they don’t want to part with Brandon Ingram. The likelihood is that the Durant trade is going to have to be a multi-team deal to get everyone everything they want. Obviously, that’s complicated.

The Durant saga took another potential turn this week when it was reported the Utah Jazz are willing to listen to offers for All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. Utah already traded Rudy Gobert to Minnesota for a massive haul of picks earlier this month. It’s hard to envision how the Jazz could build a contender around Mitchell in the short-term, so trading him for another big package of picks could make sense. Mitchell is exactly the type of player the Nets covet in a Durant trade.

Here’s a 5-team trade for Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell that could satisfy every party

Before you yell at me, please know:

• Yes, I realize this is ridiculous.
• It would be extremely difficult, maybe even impossible, to get every team to agree to a trade like this.
• This is merely a rough outline of what a potential multi-team trade involving Durant and Mitchell could look like. It would need to be expanded with salary fillers to make it work.

If every player is going to get to their preferred destination, it could look something like this:

Nets get: Donovan Mitchell, Mikal Bridges, Myles Turner

Suns get: Kevin Durant

Pacers get: Deandre Ayton

Jazz get: Russell Westbrook and picks

Lakers get: Kyrie Irving

Why would every team agree to this trade?

Again: this is super complicated, and very unlikely to go through. But if you look hard enough, you can see the motivation from every side.

This is an incredible Durant return for the Nets. They get a young All-Star in Mitchell, a true 3-and-D wing in Bridges, and a starting center in Turner. Brooklyn couldn’t ask for anything more than this.

The Suns swap Ayton, Bridges, and picks for Kevin Durant. KD is still one of the best players alive. Phoenix is firmly in the mix for a championship after this deal.

The Jazz trade Mitchell for another bundle of picks, plus Westbrook’s expiring contract to match salary. Westbrook would likely be bought out. This deal probably requires three first round picks from the Suns and two first round picks from the Lakers going make to Utah. There’s likely to be some pick swaps in there, too.

The Pacers upgrade from Turner to Ayton. That’s a sharp move for Indiana.

The Lakers land Irving. LA would likely have to part with two future firsts to make this happen, but it’s worth it to give LeBron James another shot at a championship in the twilight of his prime.

Of course, this trade isn’t that easy. Brooklyn couldn’t actually have Mitchell and Ben Simmons on the same team because it would violate the league’s Designated Rookie rule, which bars teams from having multiple players on five-year extensions from their rookie contracts. So Simmons would have to be moved elsewhere. We’ll let someone else figure out that problem.

There are also a ton of potential hangups. The big one is Utah’s return for Mitchell. What do the Jazz want in return for their young star if they actually trade him? Could a team like the Knicks swoop in and make a better offer for Mitchell? Getting the Jazz to agree to this would be the hardest part, but two Lakers picks and a few Suns picks could be a good starting point. It’s also worth asking if the Lakers would really part with their 2027 and 2029 first round picks for Irving on an expiring contract.

The rumors right now are connecting Durant to Phoenix, Irving to Los Angeles, and Ayton to Indiana. The Mitchell trade rumors are also apparently getting real. This deal is a long-shot to be sure, but it’s one way everyone involved could get something close to what they want.

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Trading Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell in a 5-team fake deal featuring Lakers, Suns - SB Nation
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