Tramel: Why neither time, nor money, was right for Thunder to trade for Kevin Durant
As the basketball world watched LeBron James break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time NBA scoring record Tuesday night, some neophytes might have experienced this Thunder rendition for the first time.
Their response likely was something along the lines of, geez, these guys are good.
And indeed, the Thunder has more good young players named Jalen/Jaylin Williams than the Lakers have named anything.
Of course, OKC fans noticed several moons ago and know the future is bright and somewhat limitless. Lots of young talent, starting with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey and Santa Clara Williams (Jalen), then extending to Chet Holmgren and who knows who else to come?
And some Thunderworlders were ready for a shortcut. Expedite the excitement. Pull the ripcord and jump out of the slow rebuild.
They wanted the Thunder to trade for Kevin Durant.
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Of course, it didn't happen. As the witching hour arrived Wednesday night, the Suns traded for Durant as the Brooklyn Netropolitans continued the teardown ignited by Durant’s kooky Nets sidekick, Kyrie Irving, asking for a trade. Irving was sent to Dallas a few days ago.
Funny how the NBA world folds together at the same time. LeBron’s big night, trade deadline, All-Star Game approaching. Drama intersecting all around.
The Thunder's rapid ascent from tanking to cranking made us all get on the dream train.
The Suns got Durant (and T.J. Warren) for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four first-round draft picks. Truthfully, the Thunder could have trumped that deal. Could easily have matched the draft haul and offered equally promising players, only younger (Josh Giddey? Santa Clara Williams?).
But let’s stop the fantasy right there. This was not the time for the Thunder and Durant to make nice and reconcile, 6½ years after the breakup that shook basketball.
The timeline didn’t work. The financials didn’t work.
Even if Durant was open to returning to the state that placed laurel wreaths upon his brow, even if the Thunder was open to bringing back the hoops deity that broke Oklahoma hearts and Sam Presti's master plan.
Durant is in the first season of a four-year contract that will average about $50 million annually going forward.
Just making the money work to satisfy the payroll cap would have required the Thunder to send out Luguentz Dort and other building blocks like Giddey or Chet Holmgren or Santa Clara. The Nets weren’t giving away Durant for Ousmane Dieng and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Pairing Durant and Gilgeous-Alexander sounds quite spectacular, but a team still must have quality players around them. We know that from the futile superstar roster-building undertaken by the likes of LeBron, Durant, James Harden — the list is long. That kind of roster construction hasn't worked much in the recent NBA.
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NBA squads aren’t fantasy teams. They aren’t card collections. Franchises still need the right pieces to build a team good enough to win at the highest levels.
The Thunder doesn’t have enough of those pieces to contend for a championship, even with Durant — not yet, anyway — and there’s no reason to reduce that inventory to bring in Durant.
Add Durant to a primed team — Memphis, Phoenix — without losing too much? Sure. An NBA title parade could be in the immediate future.
But the Thunder is not ready to stand toe-to-toe with the NBA’s best teams. Durant wasn't going to change that.
Anytime you feel the hankering to concoct some great trade idea, remember this. The Thunder doesn’t even know what it has, much less what it needs. What does it have in Holmgren, a 7-footer billed as a sharp-shooting rim protector who is sitting out this season with a foot injury? What will Giddey become? Is Santa Clara the next Bruce Brown or the next Jaylen Brown?
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We don’t know, the Thunder doesn’t know, not even the players know.
The thought of bringing back Durant is a pleasant dream. His departure was abrupt. He went from Superman to Lex Luthor before the firecrackers started popping on that fateful July 4.
Bringing back Durant would bring closure to a horror show.
But patching old wounds is not worth submarining the Presti rebuild. The Thunder is getting good and fast, the plan is working to near perfection, so why would anyone want to abandon the plan?
Durant still can play. He’s not Russell Westbrook or even James Harden, both still valuable players but nothing like their heydays. Durant appears as good as ever. Almost timeless, like LeBron. You have to look hard to see any slippage.
But the cost of getting Durant would place a ceiling above the Thunder funhouse. The limitless would become limited.
All for the warm and fuzzies of having the Slim Reaper back.
Wasn't worth it. Not now.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: NBA trade deadline: Time wasn't right for Kevin Durant move to Thunder
