Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant, USA Basketball.
With the drama-filled problems in Brooklyn, rumors are starting to once again swirl around about whether Brooklyn will move its star player Kevin Durant. Combine that with the Portland Trail Blazers‘ hot start, and there could be a match.
Could KD be the last piece to creating a contender in Rip City, or would it be too risky to break up the early season chemistry?
There are all sorts of wild ideas running around the internet. Realistically, any deal for Durant will likely include Josh Hart‘s expiring contract to match salaries. If Lillard isn’t included (which he shouldn’t be), then the Portland Trail Blazers also have to include Jerami Grant‘s $20.8M expiring contract or Anfernee Simons‘ first-year $22.3M salary (4 years, $100M overall).
Some rumors have Shaedon Sharpe included with Simons. They don’t make speakers loud enough for the “No” I would want to yell out at any idea that involves both of Portland’s top 2 youngsters.
If Brooklyn wants Sharpe, then Grant and Hart would be included to match salaries. Moving Grant and Sharpe in a deal for Durant is a non-starter, sorry.
Grant is in his prime and fills too many team needs. Not to mention Sharpe’s potential is off the charts. So that leaves Simons as the only remaining contract big enough to partially match Durant’s salary in a trade.
Other rumors mention Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic going to Brooklyn instead of Little, with Nic Claxton coming back from the Nets. Unless they want fewer picks, Nurkic won’t be involved.
He fits a specific need that the Blazers can’t replace off the bench. Size. Claxton might be 6’11”, but he also weighs 215-pounds.
Back to the deal:
Portland Trail Blazers
Send Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Nassir Little, Greg Brown III, and a pair of future first-round picks (2025, 2027) to Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Nets
Send Kevin Durant to the Pacific Northwest.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it; I hate the idea of losing Anfernee Simons. The kid is going to be an elite NBA player, someone special.
The difference is Kevin Durant is already elite and already special. As good as Simons has looked at times, Durant, in his current form, is already better.
That’s the main reason for doing this deal now. It gives Lillard the most help he can get while still in his early 30s. Dame gets his best chance to contend for a championship.
A big question that gets answered if Portland were to make this deal. Do the Blazers think Sharpe is ready to groom for the starting shooting guard role?
After all, the rookie is not only 19 years old, and he’s also very green. Remember, until the Summer League, Sharpe hadn’t played competitive basketball for over a year.
An ongoing debate in my head for a while is contemplating how the trio of Lillard, Simons, and Sharpe will develop together. If Sharpe were guaranteed to grow another inch or two, he’d be the perfect small forward. The Portland Trail Blazers become a nightmarish perimeter team.
As for right now, he looks more suited to play shooting guard at the NBA level. Moving Simons speeds up the process for Sharpe to develop and become a starter within the next year or two.
His continued growth would also align pretty well with Durant and Lillard’s descent over the next 4 years or so. The 32-year-old Lillard and 34-year-old Durant are a nightmare 1-2 punch right now.
In 2-3 years from now, maybe the dynamic duo will take a backseat to Sharpe. At that time, they become the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2nd, 3rd, or 4th options. (we can’t forget Jerami Grant in that group).
The last part to mention in this deal is that Portland has the depth to maintain a good rotation after a trade. Of course, Durant replaces Josh Hart in the starting lineup. But Portland still has Gary Payton ll to take on Hart’s jack-of-all-trades role.
Offensively, KD takes over Simons’s role on offense, with GPll handling Hart’s role on defense. A starting 5 of Lillard, Payton ll, Durant, Grant, and Nurkic, with Sharpe, eventually replacing Payton, looks like the best starting lineup the Portland Trail Blazers have put on the court since their contender days in the 1990s.
Factor in the bench depth, which includes whichever non-starter between Payton ll and Sharpe, along with Keon Johnson at guard. The departing Little’s minutes are divided by a combination of Justice Winslow, Trendon Watford, and Jabari Walker.
Breaking it down to a 9-10 man playoff rotation, the Portland Trail Blazers have a pretty solid, high-energy, all-around steady 2nd unit. There are also some definite defensive chops there.
It’s also likely in this scenario that Portland will pick up some additional low-cost help at or after the deadline. Someone who can help a contender will have his contract bought out. It happens every year.
The good thing is any potential deal involving Simons couldn’t happen until after January 15th. This means Portland Trail Blazers management still has a couple of months to evaluate further how good this team actually is and what needs they have.
It’s still early in the season, and team chemistry can only improve. Chemistry often gets overlooked for talent when teams build their roster.
KD has a dark cloud of criticism that’s followed him around with every team he’s played for. Oklahoma City never won a ring despite having a stacked roster.
He earned two rings in Golden State, but critics have an “Asterisk” associated with Durant’s involvement because he joined a team and culture that averaged 70 wins in its prior two seasons. The Warriors already had a Championship and likely would have had a second if not for some bone-headed Draymond Green plays.
How many supposed “Super teams” fizzled out due to team chemistry? Star players clash with teammates, coaches, and even the media.
That happened to the Lakers twice in the last decade. The first came in 2012 when the “super team” had problems gelling and staying healthy. They made the playoffs once and got swept. Then the 2021 Lakers were stacked with current and former All-Star and completely missed the playoffs.
What about the current Brooklyn Nets team that Durant plays for? That group has been a circus since coming together. They have issues on and off-the-court issues and have underperformed in the playoffs.
The Portland Trail Blazers have to ask themselves if it’s worth bringing in a player who could disrupt chemistry while simultaneously losing out on Anfernee Simons. They also have to part rotational players like Hart and Little, who play with passion, something that often gets understated in the current game.
What if Sharpe grows another inch, adds a little more weight, and can play small forward? A Lillard, Simons, Sharpe, Grant, and Nurkic starting lineup would be must-watch NBA TV for the foreseeable future.
After weighing the pros and cons of any potential Durant deal, one thing needs to be mentioned. In either scenario, Lillard is the perfect leader for the Portland Trail Blazers.
If Durant came to Rip City, Lillard, head coach Chauncey Billups, and the team culture could negate Durant’s dark clouds and instead bring out the best in him. An all-in, focused, and motivated KD would be a scary thing for the rest of the league to face.
If Portland stands pat, Lillard has already shown how impactful he is for his younger teammates. He’s helped create a team culture of accountability and unity.
Maybe the Blazers can balance the roster. Maybe they will also find a way to retain Hart and Winslow beyond this year.
One of my favorite non-Blazer teams to watch was the Chauncey Billups-led Pistons. With him, Detroit went to 6 straight Eastern Conference finals and won the 2004 championship.
Detroit was a team that played together that valued defense and ball movement. All players did their part, whatever that role was. It’s a team the Blazers should model themselves after. They have the perfect coach for it.
Whatever direction Rip City fans want this team to go, they have to feel pretty happy with its current leadership. From Joe Cronin to Chauncey Billups to Damian Lillard, there is definitely something exciting brewing.
What do you think about the Portland Trail Blazers trying to trade for Kevin Durant?