News broke of Kevin Durant requesting a trade nearly two months ago, and yet he remains on the Nets.
If you've been following the saga, you'll know that there is no shortage of teams interested in the 12-time All-Star, but there aren't many that have the assets Brooklyn is looking for. Not only that, but the teams that do have the assets don't appear willing to give them up.
The Pelicans have "deemed" Brandon Ingram untouchable. The Raptors "refuse" to make Scottie Barnes available. That Heat have yet to "seriously engage" with a package around Bam Adebayo. The Celtics haven't included Marcus Smart or Robert Williams in their proposal. The Grizzlies aren't even putting Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane on the table.
It begs the question: Are teams underestimating how good Durant still is? Consider this a much-needed reminder of his undeniable greatness.
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A reminder of Kevin Durant's undeniable greatness
The SparkNotes version
A non-disputed member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, Durant is one of the most accomplished players in league history. He's racked up 12 All-Star selections, 10 All-NBA selections, four scoring titles, two championships, two Finals MVP awards and one regular-season MVP award through 15 seasons.
Regardless of how the rest of his career plays out, Durant will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Even at the age of 33, Durant is still among the best players in the NBA. He's coming off of a season in which he averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and a career-best 6.4 assists. Only three players averaged more points and only 21 averaged more assists.
Had injuries not limited him to 55 games, Durant might've made the All-NBA First Team in 2021-22.
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The nerdier version
In addition to being a volume scorer, Durant is highly efficient.
In the 2021-22 season, Durant posted his 29.9 points per game on 51.8 percent shooting from the field, 38.3 percent from 3-point range and 91.0 percent from the free throw line. He's already a one-time member of the NBA's vaunted 50-40-90 club, but he's been flirting with those percentages each season for almost a decade now.
Durant's efficiency is even more impressive considering a tiny portion of his shot attempts came at the rim last season. He's one of the greatest midrange scorers we've ever seen, and he's a threat to shoot both off the catch and off the dribble from the perimeter.
At 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, there isn't a whole lot anyone can do about stuff like this:
For perspective, only three players scored more points per game in isolation than Durant last season, and he ranked in the 90th percentile with an average of 1.10 points per possession. He was just as automatic out of the post and in pick-and-rolls.
In a league full of bucket-getters, Durant still reigns supreme.
Scoring is and always will be Durant's bread and butter, but he'll punish teams for loading up on him as a passer and can wreak havoc as a defender. He has the speed and size to guard multiple positions, and he can make plays at the basket with his long arms.
Not that you'd want him being a full-time anchor, but players did shoot 8.4 percentage points worse than expected when Durant was defending the rim last season. He has plenty of experience unlocking small lineups.
The icing on the cake is that Durant is under contract for not one, not two, not three but four more seasons. With no player or team option in his contract, he won't be a free agent until the 2026 offseason, by which point he'll be in his late 30s.
It's fair to wonder how much longer Durant can keep this up, but with how well-rounded of a scorer he is, one would think his game will age gracefully.
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So you're saying there are no concerns in trading for Kevin Durant?
Not exactly.
One, Durant's performance in the 2022 NBA Playoffs might have left a bad taste in some people's mouths. He still averaged 26.3 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game, but the Celtics held him to 38.6 percent shooting from the field.
Boston finished the regular season with the best defensive rating in the NBA, but it didn't help Durant's case that Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry each went on to have big series against the Celtics.
Two, Durant hasn't been the most available star over the last few seasons. After missing all of 2019-20 with a torn Achilles, he appeared in 35 of a possible 72 games in 2020-21 and 55 of a possible 82 games in 2021-22. Considering his age, injury history and the amount of miles he's racked up, availability is a legitimate concern.
That doesn't change the fact that an all-time great who is still in the conversation for best player in the league is available. Even with Brooklyn asking for a whole lot, it is a surprise that Durant hasn't been traded yet.
