The sun got a star. Wizards got cover space. But another team might win the Bradley Bell deal.
Brooklyn controls Phoenix’s first-round picks for five of the next seven draft picks, including this one. While the addition of Beal could hurt the quality of the pick Brooklyn receives in 2025, Kevin Durant turns 35 before the start of next season. Before the 2026-27 season, he will be 38 years old. Devin Booker will be 30 years old, and Bill will be 33.
Brooklyn also gets a first round player for Phoenix in both 2028 and 2029, when those players are older and the Suns won’t have the opportunity to renew their roster through the draft. Phoenix only has first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, which it does It says send Six second rounds for Washington. The new CBA imposes severe restrictions on trades and salary cap exceptions.
This means that networks could have very valuable venture capital, albeit a few years in the future. It is the opposite of the position they were in when they took their own place All in the trade in 2013.
Brooklyn added Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in exchange for three first-round picks, plus a pick swap. Those picks turned out to be Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, with the 2018 pick forming the basis for their trade for Kyrie Irving. Boston has reached the NBA Finals in 2022 and five Conference Finals in seven years.
While both Pierce and Garnett were much older than Garnett at the time of the deal, the trade already shows the danger of trading unprotected picks in the future. Brooklyn was still paying for his ill-advised deal five years later, and four years after Pierce left the team.
It might still be worth it for Phoenix to clinch the title. But it could make Durant’s deal particularly lucrative for Brooklyn.