Kevin Durant trade sweepstakes heats up the summer

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

Happy Fourth of July to everyone, and especially to you – Kevin Durant – for you might have saved summer from turning into a snoozer.

Let’s face it, there are few days more enjoyable than the fun-filled Fourth, with all its sunburn and fireworks and probably more hot dogs than you’ll eat for the rest of the year combined.

However, in some years, the Independence Day celebrations elicit a small groan from sports lovers, given that it often marks the arrival of the sleepiest period on the calendar, depending on where your athletic loyalties lie.

Sometimes, July is the dullest time because three of the four major North American leagues are out of season, while baseball’s divisional races are yet to crank into their most competitive gear.

It is a time when the start of the new football season, oddly, actually feels further away than it did in April or May, probably because most of the key transactions are done already and news is thin as teams focus on the grind of training camp.

It is when the biggest problem isn’t so much in not having enough to watch, but a fate far more serious for those of us who live and breathe sports: That we don’t have enough to talk about.

This year, that’s not going to be a problem.

Durant’s decision to request a trade from the Brooklyn Nets guarantees we’re going to be served a summer sizzler of the highest order, a plot that has all the elements required to keep the sports world chattering and postulating for the next several weeks.

It is going to be a mystery tale that will provide the juiciest of interludes, a spellbinder that can rumble on for as long as it likes for all I care. Take your time, Kevin (and Brooklyn), you have our attention.

The magical components of the KD drama are all in place. Firstly, it is a decision that almost certainly will have significant influence on the destiny of next season’s championship.

The oddsmakers are the only ones who might not like this. No summer break for those guys, who are duty-bound to react to every rumor and each twist in the narrative by adjusting their line for the 2022-23 campaign.

Players such as Durant don’t often become available in this way, and the fact his preferred destinations of Phoenix and Miami now sit atop the odds charts is no accident. Look down the list of teams in the league – apparently more than half the league has inquired about KD – and you’ll go a long way before you find one where Durant’s arrival would not make them an instant contender to win it all.

One of the best parts of this as a storyline is that it is darn near impossible to predict. Where Durant most wants to go doesn’t make nearly as much of a difference as to where Brooklyn wants to send him. He doesn’t have a no-trade clause and is under contract for four more years.

The Nets, therefore, will try to soothe the pain of having the dream of glory years with Durant and Kyrie Irving thoroughly extinguished by pushing for a historic whopper of a trade haul. For fans, trying to predict which GM/owner combination will serve up the tastiest bait is tricky, and the situation remains fluid.

By its very nature, this thing is likely to rumble on for a while. The Nets owe it to themselves to be patient, and time can be their friend.

Time might tempt the Toronto Raptors to remember that the last swing they made that landed a big-name signing (Kawhi Leonard), which ended with them winning the championship.

Time might give the Golden State Warriors cause to talk themselves into bringing back Durant – in exchange for perhaps Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman – in what would be a sacrificing of future components for a shot at adding another layer to the current dynasty.

Time might coax the New Orleans Pelicans into sending a never-seen-before trove of players and draft picks to Brooklyn to pair Durant with Zion Williamson for a youth-and-experience swing at a championship.

That’s far from an exhaustive list of suitors. Whoever wants to get creative and try their luck has an open shot at this.

With Rudy Gobert’s trade from the Utah Jazz to the Minnesota Timberwolves having cost a king’s ransom of a package highlighted by four first-rounders, the price for Durant is going to be through the roof.

But the potential prize – arguably the best player in basketball and a possible banner hanging from your rafters – has gotten every team thinking.

And, for the rest of us, provided a sporting summer tale that would be hard to match, even if you could make it up.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.