NBA Trades: 5 potential suitors for Kevin Durant and Brooklyn Nets

NBA Trades: 5 potential suitors for Kevin Durant and Brooklyn Nets: 5. Portland Trail Blazers

Lastly, the Portland Trail Blazers could make a run at Kevin Durant as they aim to reshape the roster in an effort to build a contender around superstar Damian Lillard moving forward. Lillard and his fellow teammates have openly recruited Durant through social media, and if it somehow came to fruition, the Blazers could become an instant title favorite year after year.

A star-studded duo of Durant and Lillard would be one of the most dominant offensive tandems that this league has ever seen. It sounds like a fascinating opportunity for Portland, but acquiring the 10-time All-NBA legend is obviously easier said than done.

The Blazers don’t really have enough assets to entice the Brooklyn Nets in a potential deal, especially without the ability to sign-and-trade Anfernee Simons anymore, who reportedly just signed a four-year, $100 million contract to remain in Portland.

As of now, the best that the Blazers could offer for Durant would likely include Jerami Grant, Josh Hart, Nassir Little, 2022 first-round lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe, and three first-round picks, along with additional pick swaps.

The Nets should be able to receive a better offer than that this summer, but if a Kevin Durant trade stalls into the start of next season, perhaps Brooklyn could wait until Simons is available for trade if they prefer to do business with the Blazers. It would be a perfect scenario for Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers if they ended up with the golden prize of Durant.

All in all, it seems inevitable that Kevin Durant will eventually be traded by the Brooklyn Nets. Other stealth suitors in the race for Durant could be the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Utah Jazz, as calls will continue to flood general manager Sean Marks and Brooklyn’s front office.