Kevin Durant decided not to let NBA Twitter sleep with news of a blockbuster trade between the Suns and Nets dropping in the middle of the night.
The eve of the NBA trade deadline was already hectic enough with the Lakers dumping Russell Westbrook to pick up De’Angelo Williams and others from the Timberwolves.
Then a surprise Kevin Durant trade appeared.
It wasn’t just an unexpected development. It was also a late-night bombshell that will make the Western Conference look even more stacked.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Nets are sending Durant and TJ Warren to Phoenix for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap.
Bridges basically summed up how every NBA fan felt when they heard the news:
Omygod lol
— Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) February 9, 2023
“Omygod lol,” he tweeted.
Best memes and tweets after Kevin Durant trade
Here’s how the rest of Twitter took the news.
Everyone right now seeing the Durant news: pic.twitter.com/450eBbRBjw
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) February 9, 2023
This Matt Ishbia guy goes hard.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) February 9, 2023
$95 million for my alma mater’s football coach? Done.
Four first-round picks to have Kevin Durant on my newly purchased NBA team? On it.
Ayton
— ™️Marcus (@TheMisterMarcus) February 9, 2023
Durant
Craig
Booker
CP3
That’s spicy in the west.
Ben Simmons: “Kyrie’s gone, but we can win together!”
— RingerNBA (@ringernba) February 9, 2023
Kevin Durant: pic.twitter.com/6NgrapcWF7
https://twitter.com/_Talkin_NBA/status/1623565259536564224
The West is wild. The Thunder are half a game out of the play-in as the Mavs add Kyrie Irving, Suns add Kevin Durant, Jazz sell Conley and buy out Russ, and Minnesota got better. This league.
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) February 9, 2023
Let me get this straight, Rudy Gobert had a larger trade package given up for him than Kevin Durant. That should be the final straw for Sean Marks. Doubt he gets a new contract next season.
— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) February 9, 2023
Suns after trading for Kevin Durant pic.twitter.com/2VkxiVDBNl
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) February 9, 2023
The Nets fulfilled Kyrie Irving’s wish to be traded over the weekend, sending him to the Mavericks to team up with Luka Doncic. Despite sending one star away, there was still a sense that Durant would stick it out in Brooklyn for the remainder of the season as the team sought more talent to put around him.
However, reports suggested the Suns were interested in dealing for Durant should he become available. It seems their offer turned Durant’s head enough for a deal to get done before the deadline.
Now, Durant and the Suns look like a contender in the Western Conference, especially because they held onto Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton. They’re going hard after a title.
Meanwhile, the Nets were roundly criticized online for not getting more in return having traded their superstars away. They are in rebuild mode now. And their fans aren’t happy about that.