Topline
The Brooklyn Nets traded Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns, sending several young players and future draft picks back to Brooklyn for the 13-time All Star, several outlets reported early Thursday— capping Durant’s four-season tenure with the Nets that failed to deliver on the hype but swelled the four-time champion’s pockets.
Kevin Durant is heading to Phoenix.
Key Facts
Phoenix shipped off wings Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, their 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 unprotected first round picks to Brooklyn for Durant and forward T.J. Warren, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and the Athletic’s Shams Charania, while the Nets also received the right to swap 2028 first round picks with the Suns as a cherry on top.
Durant received $147.6 million in salary and incentive pay in his roughly three-and-a-half seasons in New York, according to Spotrac.
And Durant took home another $161 million in endorsements during his time he spent in Brooklyn, according to Forbes’ estimates, including the $45 million he netted this season in sponsorship deals from the likes of Nike, Coinbase and 2K Sports.
That brings Durant’s total earnings while with the Nets to $308.6 million, or roughly $2.4 million each of the 129 times he suited up for the Nets.
Key Background
Durant signed with the Nets alongside fellow star Kyrie Irving in the summer of 2019, and Durant missed the entire 2019-20 season due to an achilles injury. Despite sky-high expectations, the Nets never reached a conference, let alone NBA, finals with Durant and Irving, as Durant battled injuries and Irving struggled to stay off the court due to a variety of off-court incidents, including a 2021 suspension over his refusal to receive the Covid-19 vaccine and a suspension earlier this season for promoting antisemitic conspiracies.The Nets traded Irving to the Dallas Mavericks earlier this week. The 2014 league MVP and 2016 and 2017 finals MVP, Durant remains at the top of his craft at 34 years old, averaging 29.7 points per game on the best true shooting percentage of his career. Durant will join All-NBA guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker with the Suns, who are now the odds-on favorite to win the Western Conference.
Surprising Fact
Durant’s trade to Phoenix comes just two days after the league officially approved mortgage billionaire Mat Ishbia’s $4 billion purchase of the franchise.
Further Reading
Nets trade Kevin Durant to Suns, ending Brooklyn’s much-hyped hypothetical era (Athletic)
Kevin Durant Will Start His Next Final Chapter by Joining Another Superteam in Phoenix (Ringer)
Read More
As one of the greatest athletes of his generation, it comes as little surprise that Kevin Durant would eventually make a financial windfall as a professional basketball player. What is surprising is the sheer volume of money accrued in the form of a four-year, $164 million contract signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019. On June 30th, 2021, Durant opted out of his final season in Brooklyn and officially declared his free agency.
Although the Nets have yet to see a championship while Durant has been their star player, the monetary value of this arrangement is undeniable. Moore than $300 million, over four years, is the largest financial package any NBA player has been offered in a single contract. Additionally, a flurry of corporate deals and product endorsements are estimated to have brought Durant hundreds of millions more outside of the formal contract.
Ultimately, however, leaving without any rings may leave a sour taste in the mouth of some Nets fans as Durant departs. This season, the Nets fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2021 Playoffs.
The good news is that Durant is likely to return better than ever once he is fully recovered from a major Achilles tear he suffered in 2019. Although more games will be needed to be played before we can say for sure, it seems that a wealth of free agency offers are being extended to Durant as we speak. Only time will tell where he ultimately chooses to play next, but if anything is certain, it is that whichever team offers him a slot and a paycheck, they’re in line to make a huge financial win.
