Before we had the NBA Finals, Kevin Durant was traded to Houston on Sunday. Toronto dodged a messy situation by not getting involved in the trade and here’s why.
After another Kevin Durant trade sweepstakes, the saga is over as the NBA Champion and All-Star has been dealt to the Houston Rockets. While there was speculation that the Toronto Raptors were trying to involve themselves in a trade to bring Kevin Durant to Toronto, it never seemed likely that it would happen. For one, Toronto didn’t have the assets Phoenix was asking for, based on the eventual trade. Then there was the fact that Durant was vocal about his preferred locations, likely needed to approve a trade, or the team involved would risk him not extending with them in a year. Lastly, it just didn’t make sense for Durant to come play for the Raptors in their current era.
So, yes, it’s okay that the Toronto Raptors did not get Kevin Durant.
We’ll start with the price for Durant, given what the trade ended up being. The Suns sent Durant to Houston, and in return, Houston sent back Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in this week’s draft, as well as five second-round draft picks. Green was the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Brooks is an elite defensive player who can heat up offensively, as well as a World Cup Bronze Medalist and Olympian with Team Canada. Then you have the lottery pick for this week, and FIVE second-round picks.
If you compare that bar-for-bar with the Raptors, it kind of goes like this: Green was No. 2 in the year Scottie Barnes was drafted 4th, so they would have likely been asking for either Barnes or RJ Barrett, who was drafted No. 3 in 2019. Then you have the solid, defensive-minded veteran in Brooks. The Raptors don’t have many vets, but that likely would have been someone like Ochai Agbaji. The Raptors have the No. 9 pick in the draft, and given that Houston had to send the No. 10 pick, easy enough to assume that would have been in the deal, plus the five seconds.
So if the Raptors wanted Durant, they would have had to give up Barnes/Barrett, Agbaji (or another bench player or two), the No. 9 pick, and five seconds. For a 36-year-old aging veteran who would likely play one year and bounce.
Which leads us to Durant’s preferred destinations, which were Houston and San Antonio, maybe Miami. When you put those three places together, they have two big commonalities: hot weather and a lack of income tax. Two factors that Toronto does not have going for them as 1) one of the coldest markets in the league and 2) one of the highest taxed locations in the league. I like my free healthcare and subsidized post-secondary education, so I like it here, but I get the hesitation.
Why does this matter? Well, Durant has one year of his contract left, and a team giving up all of the assets above isn’t just doing it for one year of Durant until he has the free will to go where he wants. The Raptors lucked out on that scenario once; it’s unlikely it would happen again, especially in this era of the team.
All of that was all I needed to say “no thanks” at the prospect of trading for Kevin Durant, but overall, he just didn’t fit with the team right now. He’s a great player, phenomenal even. Yet this team has been going hard on building around Barnes as the No.1 option, and everyone on the team is suited (skill and age-wise) to Barnes. If you’re trading for a superstar player, it makes more sense to go younger to match that. Someone who will grow with the team instead of already being aged out.
Now, Durant heads to his preferred destination, off to play with Fred VanVleet and the Rockets. We’ll get a vision of what the Raptors could have looked like had Durant come to Toronto a few years ago, when it made more sense. We’ll get to see if it was worth trading away the young stars and the future draft stock for a Durant in his mid-to-late thirties. Should be interesting, from an outside perspective.