Ever since Kevin Durant announced his desire to be traded out of Brooklyn in late June, the Boston Celtics have been viewed as a realistic destination for him to land.
Over the weeks that followed these reports, however, talks of such a transaction taking place went on to diminish considerably, which proved to be a celebrated situation for C’s fans considering they weren’t all that keen on the idea in the first place.
Unfortunately for them, recently the wing reiterated his desire to depart from the franchise, and, according to NBA Insider Ian Begley, the Boston Celtics are one of his desired landing spots.
However, there’s one stipulation: he wants to play with Marcus Smart.
"Durant sees Boston as a desired landing spot, per people familiar with the matter. Durant also would like to play with Boston’s Marcus Smart if he is traded to the Celtics, per people familiar with the matter."
Even before this report came out, the trade proposals concocted that would send Durant to Massachusetts were already a bit questionable, as virtually all of them included Jaylen Brown, a key foundational piece to the C’s current title-contending roster, heading borough bound.
Now, with the idea that KD wishes to play alongside the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, coming up with a package that’s both acceptable amongst fans and realistic in practice seems virtually impossible.
Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped people from taking a crack at accomplishing such a venture, and, just recently, ESPN’s Bobby Marks went about and proposed a deal that he believes both organizations can get behind.
The meat of the deal reads as follows:
Cited as being one of the most realistic trade scenarios that could be executed involving Durant, Marks told the folks on NBA Today that this could be a worthwhile deal for both Boston and Brooklyn.
"“Certainly the best player potentially available when you look at a player like Jaylen Brown, who’s got two years left on his contract. To make the money work [they can add] a player like Derrick White who came off the bench. Grant Williams, so you’re getting nice role players. They’ve got three first round picks to put in a deal,” Marks said. “I think, if you’re the Celtics, are you relying on this team righ now that just lost in six games to the Golden State Warriors. Good enough to win it potentially, or does a player like Kevin Durant put you over the top?”"
Throughout this whole offseason, not once have we at HH denied the fact that adding Kevin Durant to a core already consisting of Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams would bring the Boston Celtics closer to winning a championship so, with that, we absolutely agree with Marks’ thought process.
Having said that, our follow-up to this has been, and will always be–is giving up a potential decade more of Brown’s services really worth just a few more seasons of a top-notch Durant?
Sure, the megastar just saw himself record one of the greatest individual seasons of his first-ballot Hall of Fame-worthy career, finishing with stupendous averages of 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and just shy of a block per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor and 38 percent shooting from distance, but don’t let this distract you from the reality of this hypothetical.
At 33 years old and with 15 years in the NBA now under his belt, Durant finds himself on the verge of coming down from his peak and, in turn, is inching closer and closer to his twilight years.
Brown, on the other hand, is still only 25 and has yet to even reach his prime just yet, which is incredibly impressive when considering the fact that he’s already been selected to an All-Star game and is coming off of a 2021-22 campaign where he posted 23.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists and helped guide Boston to their first Finals appearance in over a decade.
With the Jays in tow, this team came within just two wins from winning the 2022 title, is already viewed as the favorite to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy come the end of 2023, and has the potential to become a legitimate dynasty should their young core remain intact.
By acquiring Kevin Durant, the Boston Celtics may have a better chance at attaining banner No. 18 and possibly even No. 19 in the next few years, but by keeping Brown they could realistically find themselves with several more than that by the time both he and Tatum are coming down from their peaks.