Shams Charania of the Athletic reported Monday that the Milwaukee Bucks were among teams that checked on the price of Kevin Durant who requested to be traded earlier this off-season (subscription required). While the Milwaukee Bucks were likely just gauging the price based on the fact that they weren’t reported to make an offer, we as fans are still left wondering, “what would the Milwaukee Bucks have to trade to Brooklyn to land Kevin Durant?”
What would a Milwaukee Bucks trade offer for Kevin Durant look like?
It goes without saying that the Milwaukee Bucks aren’t trading Giannis Antetokounmpo and any interest in Kevin Durant was done so with the thought of pairing the forwards together. Where that leaves the Bucks is having to include either Jrue Holiday or Khris Middleton in order for salaries to work out.
The Brooklyn Nets have also been outward with their extremely high asking price on Durant, wanting a lot of draft capital in any deal for him, the Milwaukee Bucks have some, though not as much to offer as some other teams.
So what would the offer ultimately look like? Here is my proposal:
While I don’t love the idea of trading Khris Middleton because of how strong his chemistry is with Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is absolutely no denying that Kevin Durant would be an upgrade. Seth Curry and Grayson Allen essentially swap roles and salaries on the two teams however Seth Curry is on an expiring contract, Grayson Allen is signed through 2024 and could allow the Brooklyn Nets to flip Allen in a future deal. Including Allen, who is also six years younger than Curry, would allow the Brooklyn Nets to either trade Allen next season to a contender, helping maximize the return for Durant, or extend him and have him be a part of their rebuild.
Including draft picks is what it would take to ultimately compensate for the gap between Middleton and Durant, despite Khris being almost three years younger than Durant, the Milwaukee Bucks would have to include some draft capital to fulfill the asking price of the Nets. If this offer isn’t enough, the Milwaukee Bucks could include recently drafted forward MarJon Beauchamp and the deal would still be successful, but as it stands I believe this to be a fair trade.
Should the Brooklyn Nets disagree, the Milwaukee Bucks have a slew of second round picks that they could also add, last season when the team traded Donte DiVincenzo, in addition to Serge Ibaka, the Bucks also received two second round picks in the deal. Ultimately, the Milwaukee Bucks have five second round picks in the next three years, which they are unlikely to hold on to.
There are several pros and cons to making a blockbuster trade like this and while the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t submitted an offer to the Brooklyn Nets, it is fun to imagine what Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant would look like on the floor at the same time in a real NBA game, not an All-Star game. Imagining the havoc they would wreak on opposing defenses is a fun mental picture, however, at this time, it seems highly unlikely at best, that Durant is wearing a green, black or purple Milwaukee Bucks jersey in 2022-23.
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