Could the Trail Blazers Package Young Players for Kevin Durant?

Kevin Durant trade rumors are the gifts that keep on giving during the NBA’s Summer of 2022. The future Hall-of-Famer reportedly wants out of Brooklyn, and every fan base worth its salt is concocting deals to steal him away from the Nets.

Portland Trail Blazersfans are no exception, as today’s Blazer’s Edge Mailbag indicates.

I recently read your reply email to the gentleman questioning whether we would have been able to make a Durant trade happen had we not dealt McCollum, Powell, Covington, and Nance.

我的问题与众不同，因为我同意您的回答，即布鲁克林想要年轻的才华和选秀权来帮助他们重建。我的问题是：

If the Blazers are truly trying to build around Dame for a championship run, why wouldn’t they make an aggressive attempt to get Durant. On a 4 year deal, his timeline matches perfectly with Lillard’s. In addition, Lillards’ defensive weaknesses would be bolstered by have a lengthy 7 footer who can move roaming around the edges. It seems like the perfect pairing.

Wouldn’t the Nets be interested in a Simon’s, Sharpe, Little, Keon Johnson and a draft pick deal? I would even sub Hart in there for Little or Sharpe if needed.

With Lillard, Durant, Grant, and Nurk, you have a real shot at beating the warriors and Durant would love nothing more.

Thoughts?

Thank you,

Brian

I’ve seen a few scenarios like this suggested. Here’s the problem.

首先，我不相信Anfernee Simons，Shaedon Sharpe，Nassir Little，Keon Johnson和选秀权会从布鲁克林撬开杜兰特。即使他们喜欢年轻球员的包装（他们可能不这样做），他们也将想要三个首轮选秀权和两个选秀权交易所，至少要完成这笔交易。西蒙斯可能会让他们感兴趣，但是该小组中的其他所有人都是投机性的。他们反对结束单个得分后卫以换取永久全明星的安全保障将库存这些选秀权，以供进一步使用或交易。

Second, Portland would be mortgaging every future asset they own for Durant. This would 100% have to work—and deliver a championship—or they might as well have kept all those players, grown them, and ended up in four years with no rings, but an intact future.

Two seasons ago, we could have made a near-certain argument that Durant could lift the Blazers into contention. 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game last season still weigh heavily in his favor. But Durant will be 34 when the 2022-23 season starts. He played 55 games last year out of 82, 35 out of 72 the season before, and sat out the season before that entirely. That’s only 90 game out of a potential 226 appearances over that span.

I believe Durant will be healthier this season, but nobody plays 82 games anymore. He might not average 60 over the remainder of his contract. With the Blazers trading away all their depth in the deal to get him, they can’t absorb a mid-30’s Durant and still stay whole. If he were 29, they’d do this deal all day. It’d even make sense if he were 32, maybe. Right now, at that price, it doesn’t.

您在这里有一笔交易，在这里，人才太稀疏了，以至于布鲁克林无法接受，而风险太大，无法接受。从表面上看，您可能会称这是开拓者的好举动，但是在上下文中，他们可能没有头衔，并且在杜兰特任职期结束时没有任何未来的增长前景。

Thanks for the question! You all can can send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll try to answer!