Will Toronto Raptors Get KD? (NBA Trade Rumors)

Will the Toronto Raptors get KD? It is the question that the NBA world and Raptor fans have been asking the last few days. It is everywhere in sports news and media. This is no surprise – someone of Kevin Durant’s skill set would definitely get teams clamoring for him, and the Brooklyn Nets would just take the best package and the deal would be done yesterday. However, here we are at a stalemate. There is a lot of chatter but little movement right now. Many are even looking at the betting websites to see what team has the advantage right now. It is pretty crazy but yet fascinating at the same time. It is NBA trade rumors at their best! But back to the question, will the Raptors get Kevin Durant? Let’s analyze this scenario.

Will the Toronto Raptors Get KD? – What Do the Brooklyn Nets Want for KD?

Based on the rumors out there, the Nets want at least one all star under the age of 25, another star player under 25 and a boatload of 1st round draft picks, probably four. The reason is that they want to rebuild on the fly. If they acquire these type of players, it keeps the Nets in the playoff mix for the near future and the draft capital helps them build to be a title contender in the near future as well. So they would not have to tear everything down and start from the bottom. They can contend and build. A good formula to use.

The other reason why they are asking for so much for Kevin Durant is that the market has been set by the Rudy Gobert trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Utah got four 1st round draft picks with three of them unprotected and the other top 5 protected. They also got a first round pick swap. And, they acquired four other players: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, and Jarred Vanderbilt. None of these players are all stars but they are all solid role players and Walker Kessler is a 2022 1st round draft pick who protects the rim in similar fashion. That’s a lot for an all defensive player who basically has no offence and at times trouble defending in space. However, Kevin Durant is all world meaning that he is probably in the top 5 of the best basketball players in the NBA. So that’s why the price is so high.

Will Toronto Raptors Get KD? – What Would the Toronto Raptors Offer?

If you are getting KD, that means you want to compete for the NBA championship right away. It means that you cannot gut your roster so much that you do not give Durant enough support. So that probably means that the Toronto Raptors would not offer Pascal Siakam in the trade. Why? Pascal has proven to be a good number 2 guy on a championship team when the raptors won it with Kawhi Leonard. Therefore, he would be an excellent support player for KD if he came to the Raptors. In fact, it would be hard to see Kevin wanting to come to Toronto if Pascal wasn’t going to be here.

Also, you do not want to kill your future in any KD trade. That means you would not trade Scottie Barnes. Imagine if you traded Scottie Barnes and gave up a bunch of draft picks and KD gets hurt or demands a trade in a year or two? You are then in big trouble in building a team, and it might take upwards of the decade to build your team back to where it was. So based on those two assumptions, the Raptors would probably offer two players from the following list: OG Anunoby, Fred Vanfleet, or Gary Trent Jr but most likely just OG, Gary, Khem Birch and other salary filler along with multiple 1st round draft picks. Gary and OG are great two way players and are young players that are definitely not all stars and might not be stars yet, but they have potential to be. Is it enough for Brooklyn? It looks like no, hence the stalemate.

Can the Brooklyn Nets get a Better Offer from Another Team?

If the offer is from just one other team, then probably not. The Phoenix Suns who is the number 1 team on Durant’s wish list can basically offer Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, salary filler and picks. It is comparable to the Raptors deal, but I would say that Anunoby is slightly better than Bridges and Trent Jr. is better than Johnson. Also, it appears the Nets do not want Ayton on a max deal, so the Suns cannot send him so advantage raptors.

Durant’s second team of choice – the Miami Heat – can only offer a trade centered on Tyler Hero as they cannot acquire Bam Adebayo due to the Ben Simmons trade. The Nets would have to get rid of Ben Simmons first and then they could trade for Bam. So that complicates things. Finally, there is New Orleans who could offer a trade package and picks centered on Brandon Ingram which could potentially rival or beat the Raptors potential offer, but there’s not much chatter about them yet. So it would appear that the Raptors have the advantage to get Kevin Durant. Not quite.

Potential 3 Team Trade or More for Durant

There have been a lot of NBA trade rumors and speculation that Phoenix in particular might be exploring a 3 team trade to give Brooklyn what they want. One proposed trade I saw had Utah, Phoenix and the Nets in a trade where Brooklyn gets Donovan Mitchell and picks, Utah gets Ben Simmons and Deandre Ayton, and Phoenix gets KD. That seems interesting and maybe possible. That would definitely beat the Raptors best offer unless they added Pascal or Scottie. Brooklyn could also look for other teams to do these type of deals but 3 way or 4 way trades are difficult to do. So will the Toronto Raptors get KD?

Will Kevin Durant be a Toronto Raptor?

Based on the time this has been going on, it seems that the Brooklyn Nets haven’t been offered something that would appeal to them enough to trade Kevin Durant. It probably means that teams like the Suns are trying to find more teams to sweeten the pot for the Nets. If that is the case, then sadly, KD is probably not heading to TO. However, if that is the case, the Raptors might still try to involve themselves in the trade, and maybe try to get a smaller piece like Deandre Ayton to help a team like Phoenix get Durant. But as of right now, none of us know and all we can do is speculate. How long will this go on for? If I had to guess, maybe things get done by the end of the week but who knows? Until then, buckle up, as it is going to be an interesting ride!

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