How do the former Brooklyn Nets trades with the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns fare after time has passed?
The Brooklyn Nets may now be entering a rebuild phase, but this transformation has been a long time coming. It all began in 2019 when the Nets signed Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in free agency, aiming to create a championship window that ultimately never materialized. The two superstars joined forces in Brooklyn with hopes of winning a title, but their partnership ended with both requesting trades and moving on to new teams.
Recently, Bleacher Report revisited and graded these pivotal trades as part of their review of the biggest deals in the last five years, assigning letter grades to the Nets’ transactions involving Irving and Durant.
These trades laid the foundation for Brooklyn’s current rebuild, but how did Bleacher Report evaluate them now that time has passed? The first trade assessed was Durant’s move to the Phoenix Suns.
According to Bleacher Report, the Durant trade earned the Nets an “A++++” grade, as the deal secured substantial draft capital, positioning the team well for the future. “Brooklyn’s superteam experiment had fully unraveled by the time the Durant trade was made. Securing such a haul for a disgruntled 34-year-old who wanted to be traded to a single team was a significant achievement,” Bleacher Report noted. “The Nets have since turned it into an even bigger win.”
Mikal Bridges, a key acquisition from the Durant trade, was later traded to the New York Knicks, further enhancing Brooklyn’s collection of draft picks.
“In total, the Nets essentially turned KD and two swaps into seven additional first-round picks, regained the rights to two of their own firsts, secured two more swaps, and added Cam Johnson,” Bleacher Report explained. “…Rebuilds are often romanticized, but Brooklyn had no other choice. They maximized a situation that could have destroyed both their present and future.” While the Durant trade set the Nets up for future success, the Irving trade wasn’t as highly praised. Bleacher Report gave Brooklyn a “B” for the package they received in exchange for Irving, who was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
Although the Irving trade didn’t yield as much, it doesn’t pose a significant setback, as the Nets are now well-positioned to build a young, talented roster.