Over the last week or so, one of the hottest topics in the NBA has been the rumored discussion between the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics regarding a potential Kevin Durant trade.
As many NBA fans know, the primary piece that the Celtics would send over is Jaylen Brown. However, the Nets reportedly want a lot more, including guard Marcus Smart.
According to one NBA general manager, he’d rather trade Celtics star Jayson Tatum for Durant before giving up Brown and Smart.
An anonymous GM says he’d trade Jayson Tatum for Kevin Durant
“I'd do that before I'd give them Jaylen and Smart. Brown is valued a little less than Tatum because he's not the skill darling. He's a high level athlete who has developed into a good player.”
(Via FOX Sports) pic.twitter.com/vM019i3Uo4
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 1, 2022
Though Tatum is certainly seen as the face of the Celtics franchise, there is no doubt that Brown and Smart are just as important.
Last season, Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Brown averaged 23.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. As for Smart, he averaged 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
Either way, the Celtics would be losing a lot of production in any hypothetical deal. However, they would be getting back Durant.
Though Durant is getting up there in age and will be 34 years old by the time the 2022-23 NBA regular season starts, he is still one of the most dangerous offensive players in the NBA. He proved that last season.
Perhaps, the biggest concern is his injury history. Of course, Durant suffered a major Achilles injury just a couple of years ago. He’s only played in 90 regular season games over the last two seasons.
In the end, any deal for Durant still seems quite a ways off. However, given the amount of talent the Celtics have on their roster, they seem to be a team to watch in the sweepstakes going forward.
