The Brooklyn Nets never wanted to trade Kevin Durant. In February 2023, the day after they did it, general manager Sean Marks spoke reverentially about him. "We'll feel his presence in here," Marks said, "because, what he brought to, whether it was the locker room or the practice facility, that work ethic and that competitive spirit, honestly, I've never seen anything like it. I think that's contagious. It'll linger here with many of our guys, for sure, for a long time."
Naturally, Marks spoke optimistically about Brooklyn's future. But he said that, the previous night, he was "sad."
Shortly thereafter, in an ESPN story, Marks said, "Nobody wants to give up Kevin Durant. There's so many things that make him special. They don't come around very often, and our franchise is better off because we had him here. There's no question of that." The story explained in great detail how the blockbuster came together. How the Phoenix Suns had "recoiled" at Brooklyn's asking price the previous summer, how Durant had requested a trade specifically to Phoenix on the Monday before the trade deadline, how the owners of the two teams had talked later that day, how Marks had laid out what it would take to get the deal done, how Marks had asked for one additional asset at the last minute, how Suns owner Mat Ishbia couldn't stop thinking about how rare it was to have a chance to acquire a top-five player.
The trade, which in its final form involved four teams, returned Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, four unprotected first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and two second-round picks to Brooklyn. As sad as any executive may feel to trade an all-time great, it was unequivocally good value. The Nets had effectively told Durant and Phoenix the same thing: You can have each other, but only if we get exactly what we want.
Sixteen-and-a-half months later, the Durant haul looks even bigger. The brief Brooklyn Bridges era ended on Tuesday, and in the process the Nets added another four unprotected first-round picks, a top-five-protected pick and a pick swap. And they did it by taking the exact same approach that worked with Durant.
According to SNY's Ian Begley, Bridges made it known that he wanted to reunite with his college teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo on the New York Knicks. The Nets granted his wish, but only because they could do so on their terms. They maximized Bridges' value, and they charted a new course.
It is unlikely that any of the picks that Brooklyn receives from New York will be as valuable as, say, the ones that it sent the Boston Celtics for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2013. Regardless, the Nets are flush with future picks and flexibility. And crucially, thanks to a near-simultaneous trade with the Houston Rockets, they also regained control of their own 2025 and 2026 first-round picks. In a vacuum, that move wasn't the same kind of win -- they sent Houston two picks and two swaps -- but it effectively enhanced the value of the Bridges deal (and, in retrospect, the Durant deal).
When you trade your best player and go into rebuild mode, the most important piece you get back might not be anyone involved in the actual trade, but a player you select near the top of the draft after sinking to the bottom of the standings. Given how loaded the 2025 draft class is, that could very well be the case here.
Bridges, 28, had two years left on his below-market contract. Brooklyn did not have an eternity to find him a star teammate, but it did not have to trade him, like, yesterday. Brooklyn especially did not have to hand him to its crosstown rival, with whom it hadn't made a trade in 41 years. Since the moment the Nets acquired him, they had made it clear that they envisioned him being a core part of the team the next time they had a chance to win big. Just like it did in the trade that brought him to Brooklyn, though, the front office made the best of a bad situation. After sending the Rockets what became the No. 3 pick in this year's draft, Bridges' desire to chase another championship with his Villanova buddies represented a golden opportunity.
Rebuilding is daunting, and it is never easy to make a trade that screams our plan didn't work. It's a little less difficult, though, when you have forced the other side to pay a premium.
