NEW TRADE RATING: Brooklyn Nets get A++++ for Kevin Durant deal

It's never over until it's over, and the value of the Brooklyn Nets' Big Three trades won't be fully realized for another seven years. By then, all of the draft picks the Nets received in exchange for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden will be on the NBA books.

Still, the experts will look beyond the NBA horizon and plan, plan, plan. Earlier this week, the team at Bleacher Report took a look at some major NBA players from the past five years and included the deals of all three superstars in a survey to re-evaluate offseason trades.

Their main focus was the Durant deadline trade to the Phoenix Suns in 2023… and the Nets' subsequent moves by redirecting the biggest piece the Nets received in that trade, Mikal Bridges, to the Knicks and restructuring the draft assets from the 2021 Harden trade to the Houston Rockets.

Dan Favale is so enamored with the end result that he gives the Nets an A++++ (four plus points), the biggest upgrade of any trade B/R has examined. Here's his reasoning:

Brooklyn's superteam constellation had completely fallen apart by the time negotiations for the Durant trade began, and getting that much for a disgruntled 34-year-old who preferred to move to another team was always going to be a big deal.

The Nets have now turned it into a bigger victory.

Durant's departure paved the way for a much-needed reboot. It took them over a season to get there, but now they're there with even more picks.

Bridges was just traded to the New York Knicks for five additional first-round picks and another first-round trade. Brooklyn was also able to use Phoenix's 2027 and 2029 selections to regain control of its own 2025 and 2026 first-round picks.

All told, the Nets essentially turned KD and two swaps into seven additional first-round picks, the return of the rights to two of their own first-round picks, two more swaps, and Cam Johnson. (Crowder was also used to acquire 2028 and 2029 second-round picks from Milwaukee – another smart move.)

Demolition is often over-romanticized, but Brooklyn had no choice. The city made the best of a situation that could have destroyed its present and future.

A few footnotes to Favale's analysis: “Exploiting” the Suns' 2027 and 2029 picks to strip the Rockets of the 2025 first-round pick's trade rights and get the 2026 first-round pick back was a bit more complicated. The Nets sent the Rockets the Suns' 2025 and 2029 first-round picks' trade rights, as well as the Suns' 2027 first-round pick, which had been rated as the NBA's best traded pick in some previous analyses. The two seconds the Nets got in the Jae Crowder trade were used to reduce the salaries of Joe Harris and Patty Mills. (Part of the Harris trade exception was used to facilitate the Dennis Schröder deal.) Of course, if the Nets can get good value for Cam Johnson, that would increase the profit.

The Suns, who were eliminated in the first round of last season's playoffs despite building a super team, received a revised B grade.

It was a big gamble then. It seems even riskier now. Phoenix has changed head coaches twice since the move, and while it has made some good minimum-market signings since then, its roster is rife with question marks and lacks enough wingers.

If the Suns still win a title with KD, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the grade automatically becomes A. (The last time the Nets received an A++++ grade for a transfer was in 2011 when they signed Deron Williams. How did that work out?)

The reassessment of the Kyrie trade was less positive, not because the Nets performed poorly, but because the Dallas Mavericks performed better than expected.

Brooklyn had no choice but to leave an untenable situation behind, and apparently they did well to get future first-rounders in the first place…

Irving proved to be the perfect secondary offensive weapon to support Dončić. He was warmly welcomed by his teammates, stayed in shape off the court and was indispensable on the Mavs' path to the 2024 Finals.

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report gave the Nets a B and the Mavericks an A in this re-evaluation.

The Nets still retain Dorian Finney-Smith, whom they are reportedly offering, as well as the Mavericks' first- and second-round picks, both unprotected, for 2029. They traded Spencer Dinwiddie to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Dennis Schröder (and Thaddeus Young, whom they waived) and used a Mavs' second-round pick for 2027 in the salary dumping of Joe Harris.

The Harden trade with the 76ers remains a disaster for both sides. In case you forgot, Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report is here to remind you.

76ers receive: James Harden and Paul Millsap

Receive networks: Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, Ben Simmons, a 2023 first-round pick (Brice Sensabaugh was selected later) and a 2027 first-round draft pick.

It should also be noted that the 2027 first-round pick is protected in the top 8 and, if not used in this draft, will carry over into 2028 with the same protection. Based on the Sixers' offseason, it seems likely that the 2027 pick will be used.

Bailey gives the 76ers a revamped C, especially since Daryl Morey was able to bring an increasingly fragile Harden to the Clippers. The Nets, however, get a D.

As for the Brooklyn side of this deal, it's easy to criticize the Nets right now. The Simmons trade was a failure, barring dramatic development this season. Seth Curry and Andre Drummond are no longer on the team. Brice Sensabaugh hasn't even played a game there (he was traded as a pick for Royce O'Neale).

But there's still a slim chance Brooklyn can save it. And I mean slim. The 2027 election will probably make it look better, but it's protected.

Bleacher Report hasn't re-evaluated the Nets' original trade for Harden, but it looks like it will be graded a straight F and could be among the worst trades in franchise history. Jarrett Allen became an All-Star and $100 million player in Cleveland, and Caris LeVert is still a reliable player for the Cavaliers.

Although the Nets managed to get two picks in June, they did not get their 2024 pick back. Not only did it rise from 9th to 3rd in the lottery, but the young player that was picked up with this pick, Reed Sheppard, was just voted the likely Rookie of the Year by ESPN's panel of experts. And it wasn't close, either, with 62% choosing Sheppard. In addition, the Rockets have another advantage in the Nets draft: the right to trade the 2027 first-round picks. (The Rockets also got the promising guard Tari Eason with the Nets' pick in the 2022 draft.)

Will everything return to balance in the end? We will ultimately find out.