Brooklyn Nets Could Play Key Role in Multi-Team Kevin Durant Trade

The Brooklyn Nets will be a popular franchise among league executives this summer, largely due to their flexibility. Brooklyn has the ability to facilitate essentially any deal involving a superstar, thus its inclusion in Kevin Durant mock trades is highly understandable.

Forbes' Evan Sidery expanded on this idea Friday morning, describing what the Nets' flexibility includes:

"The Nets will be a team to monitor as a potential facilitator in a Kevin Durant trade. Brooklyn is the only team with excess cap space, and they’re willing to take on salaries for draft picks," Sidery posted to X. "If the Suns trade Durant in a multi-team framework, Brooklyn could end up involved."

Beyond the irony of the Nets being included in a Durant deal—just two years removed from trading the future Hall of Famer themselves—joining the negotiations could warrant great compensation. As Sidery mentions, Brooklyn has the most cap space of any team in the NBA, allowing GM Sean Marks to take on massive contracts in exchange for draft capital.

Mocks have included the Nets taking on Grayson Allen's contract from Phoenix while gaining a future first-rounder, allowing Durant to land with the San Antonio Spurs.

However, Brooklyn's inclusion extends past Durant teaming up with Victor Wembanyama. Regardless of where Durant's next destination is, it seems like a foregone conclusion that the Nets will have to be involved.

What the potential compensation could look like remains to be seen, as most mock deals that include the Nets have sent Durant to the Spurs. But, even if Durant ends up with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets or even the New York Knicks, Brooklyn could be of utmost importance.

The return package sent back to the Nets depends on the team gaining Durant, but Marks is in a "no lose" situation. No matter what the framework ends up looking like, assuming it's included in the eventual deal, Brooklyn is nearly guaranteed to stock up on draft assets by simply taking on one or two players who won't be on the roster by the time the team has reached contention.

Durant is reportedly expected to be dealt within the coming weeks.