Nets fire sale superstars at the NBA Trade Deadline

Last updated on Feb 20, 2023

By Andrew Scarpaci, Sports Editor

On Thursday, Feb. 9, at 3 p.m., the NBA trade deadline came to a close. This deadline saw the Brooklyn Nets rebuild following trading away their superstar talent in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. 

Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 6, one day after he requested a trade from the team. Brooklyn received Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 second-round pick, as well as 2029 first and second-round picks. Dinwiddie previously played for the Nets from 2016 to 2020. With Kyrie gone, the Nets sent Kevin Durant to his requested location in the Phoenix Suns along with T.J. Warren in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks alternating years from 2023-29. 

With Irving set to become a free agent at the end of this season, the trade came as no surprise, considering Irving has been at the center of controversy in recent years. Irving was one of few NBA players who refused the COVID-19 vaccination, making him ineligible to play a majority of last year in home games due to strict city-wide vaccine requirements for sporting events. He also missed a portion of this season after a suspension from the team following his promotion of a movie deemed antisemitic on his personal Instagram. 

With Durant under team control for the next three seasons, the blockbuster move before the deadline confirmed the Nets’ desires to rebuild after the nightmare outcome of trading their superstar trio of Durant, Irving and James Harden, who they sent to Philadelphia at the deadline last year. 

Travis Demers, a class of 2003 alumni of LIU Post, who has been the play-by-play voice of the Portland Trail Blazers radio since 2018, expressed his belief that the Kyrie Irving trade made sense for both sides in an interview with WCWP. 

“With Kyrie, I think we all expected it. Eventually, he was gonna get traded, and to see him go to Dallas, it makes perfect sense. They need another superstar next to Luca Doncic. That team wasn’t going anywhere. They add Kyrie Irving, and that team is significantly better now,” he said. “Brooklyn is getting back Spencer Dinwiddie, a guy they’ve had before. They know he’s a good starter/role player, while Finney Smith is a really good defensive player. He can shoot the three, so I think that was a good move there.”

However, Demers was surprised about the move with Durant.

“I saw the news come through that Kevin Durant was traded to Phoenix, and that was shocking, not just the fact that Kevin Durant goes to Phoenix. The Suns didn’t have to give up Deandrae Ayton, so they still have Booker and Chris Paul, now Kevin Durant. They gave up Bridges, who a lot of teams wanted. I love Michael Bridges and Cam Johnson, who has been hurt, and I know they probably wanted to move on from him. Crowder was gonna go anyway,” he said. “I was shocked that that deal came out the way it did. I’m sure there are a lot of people that woke up on the East Coast shocked to find out that in the middle of the night, Kevin Durant was traded. I was one of those people 100 percent. All the reports were looking like the Nets were going to hold on to KD at least until the end of the season. That was not the case.” 

In an interview with WCWP, Producer and anchor at CBS Sports Radio and WFAN, Shaun Morash, showed his frustration with the Kevin Durant trade.

“It’s hard to say they won when you got a real star to come to you, and you had the control over him for the next three years in Kevin Durant. I don’t blame them for taking a swing at these two guys,” he said. “Kyrie was clearly the bigger head case, but the idea that you basically just handed over Kevin Durant to start over, you need to hope one of the homegrown guys you hold on to or Michael Bridges is that good a player. You’re going to need some combo of three really good players to become a finals contender, which is what you were with Kevin Durant.”

The Nets are currently sitting at 33-24 and are 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. Only time will tell how the Nets adjust following the loss of their superstar talent and whether they have a team competitive enough to compete in the NBA playoffs this year.