While everyone is on the lookout for any information regarding a Kevin Durant trade, we will probably have to be patient. To give you an idea, we therefore suggest that you come back to the delays taken by several managements in recent years in cases similar to that of KD.
Carmelo Anthony
Nuggets trade request: August 27, 2010
Trade to the Knicks: February 22, 2011
The first recent and notable case of a major player being forced to trade to another team dates back to 2010 with Carmelo Anthony. Brilliant in Denver since his Draft in 2003, Melo eventually got tired and asked to be transferred to New York, to join his friend Amar’e Stoudemire. We are at the end of August and the situation is putting the management of the Nuggets in trouble. This is the start of “Melodrama”, a soap opera followed by the media and fans which will last several months, punctuated by the player’s sulks. A period of vagueness which will finally conclude in the middle of the season. After also negotiating with the Nets, Melo is finally sent to the Knicks in a monstrous blockbuster trade: thirteen players are involved, to which must be added two second-round draft picks and three million dollars. A transfer of a magnitude rarely seen which will not lead to much for Anthony, still very strong individually without however succeeding in making his team pass a course. For their part, the Nuggets will have rebounded perfectly by establishing record results for the franchise in the following months.
Dwight Howard
Magic Trade Request: June 30, 2012
Trade to the Lakers: August 10, 2012
This is a forced transfer that will have literally plunged a franchise. Dwight Howard, true incarnation of the rebirth of Magic from its Draft in 2004, will permanently change the destiny of Floridians… but on the wrong side. Drunk by two eliminations in a row in the first round of the Playoffs, the pivot tries the passage in force by asking his employer to find him a new destination. The management of the Magic will refuse to accede to this request at first, before yielding under the pressure of his player. While the month of August is well underway, an agreement is announced between Orlando and the Lakers, who recover the pivot. Six players, so Nikola Vucevic, arrive in Florida in return, in addition to several future Draft choices. Ten years after the deal the Magic has still failed to bounce back, chaining disappointing seasons at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Surely the trade on this list that has had the most negative consequences for a franchise over the long term.
Kyrie Irving
Cavs trade request: July 21, 2017
Trade to the Celtics: August 22, 2017
This event constitutes the first turning point of the victorious cycle of the Cavs of LeBron James. A year after winning the title by achieving an XXL feat, Cleveland is back in the Final against the Warriors. But the Ohio team will not achieve the double, overwhelmed by Dubs reinforced by the arrival of Kevin Durant (him again). A month after the end of the season, Kyrie Irving informed his management of his desire to make a new start, to everyone’s surprise. A decision motivated by the desire of the leader to be the leader of a franchise. Faced with this unexpected situation, the Cavs do not panic and take their time to study the offers offered by other franchises.. A month after the announcement of Kyrie’s wishes, the point guard was sent to Boston against Isaiah Thomas, Jay Crowder, Ante Zizic and a first-round pick in the 2018 Draft. hindsight, since the franchise is barely recovering from the departure of Irving added to that of LeBron James, free agent and left for the Lakers the following season.
Kawhi Leonard
Trade request to Spurs: June 15, 2018
Trade to the Raptors: July 18, 2018
Surely one of the most significant trades of recent years. After having collected individual and collective distinctions in spades at the Spurs, Kawhi Leonard will completely disappear from Texas circulation from the beginning of 2018, victim of a rather obscure injury. After months of absence, the winger will make a media comeback in mid-June, asking his leaders to… leave San Antonio. Among the Texans, we walk on a wire trying to negotiate the maximum for a player whose profile can be perceived as worrying. Yes, Leonard was dominant for several years, but not much is known about his physical form or state of mind. In addition, Kawhi will be at the end of the contract at the end of the following season, without certainty for the franchise which will recover it to be able to extend it. After a month of negotiations, he is finally sent to Toronto, which will release in exchange its historic leader and all-time leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, as well as Jakob Poeltl and a Draft pick. A winning choice for the Raptors, which Kawhi will take to the first title in their history. The Spurs, for their part, limit the breakage without really succeeding in reviving.
Jimmy Butler
Wolves trade request: September 19, 2018
Trade to the Sixers: November 10, 2018
This is yet another announcement that set the League on fire. Arrived in Minnesota in the previous offseason to support Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler will put the souk in the Wolves locker room before requesting his transfer in the middle of September, just a few weeks before the resumption of the season. A situation that is not easy to manage for the management, who must both negotiate a consideration worthy of the All-Star that is Butler, but also supervise the diva behavior of its “leader”. There again no precipitation, even if it means letting the start of the season pass. It was finally nearly two months later, in the middle of November, that the deal was closed. Bye bye Jimmy, traded for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a second round of Draft 2021. A move that will not really benefit either franchise, since Butler will leave Philadelphia after one season and the Wolves will not succeed in start on a new dynamic.
Anthony Davis
Pelicans trade request: January 28, 2019
Trade to the Lakers: June 16, 2019
We start this time on a particular case, that of Anthony Davis. The monobrow decided not to do like everyone else by asking for his transfer… in the middle of the 2018-19 season. At the time, everyone already knew that this request was made in order to join LeBron’s Lakers, if possible before the trade deadline. But on the side of the Birds we decided not to be fleeced and we are then in a position of strength since the strong winger is still under contract the following season. We are therefore relaxed, and we are going to extend the wait until the following summer to put pressure on the management of Los Angeles. A strategy that pays off, since New Orleans will receive a huge package against its superstar: Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and 3 future first-round draft picks. An offer that will have allowed them to launch an accelerated reconstruction, while recovering the coveted first pick of the 2019 Draft: Mr. Zion Williamson. For their part, the Lakers will take advantage of the LeBron-AD duo to seek a title in 2020, while waiting for more.
Ben Simmons
Sixers trade request: August 31, 2021
Trade at the Nets: February 10, 2022
Finally, we were treated to a move just a few months ago that shook the League quite a bit. After requesting his transfer, skipping the Sixers training camp and refusing to wear his team’s jersey again, Ben Simmons believed that all of this would be enough to get him transferred quickly. But with a savage Daryl Morey in charge, he didn’t know who he was dealing with. The GM of the Sixers was clear from the start and held his course. No sufficiently interesting offer, no departure. While we thought that the file would not be settled before the following summer, a big transfer was finally concluded on the gong of the trade deadline with the Nets. After months of waiting for the right offer, the Sixers finally choose to try to revive James Harden, when the Nets recover Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks in the process. A trade that is difficult to assess even today with the lack of hindsight, but the facts are there: the Embiid-Harden association has not yet fully functioned but it constitutes a very pleasant basis for next season. For their part, the Nets must regret this move a lot, they who find themselves today in trouble to negotiate the famous trade of KD because of… Ben Simmons. And by the way, we still haven’t seen the big leader on the court with the black jersey…
These few examples of transfers should show us, in principle, that we will have to wait some time before seeing a Kevin Durant trade.
Each file is different, so it can also go very quickly, but I would be very surprised if it happens soon.
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) July 6, 2022
The main lesson of these blockbuster trades who have turned the NBA upside down in recent years? It takes time to put together a package worthy of such a transfer. And the longer the franchise forced to sell its player can take the time to negotiate, the more likely it is to recover an attractive consideration. In any case, the decision of Sean Marks has a good chance of arriving by the start of the training camp in September. We will therefore have to be patient, because the ex-Warrior is unlikely to move in the coming days.