The Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors have made their sign-and-trade official.
Kevin Durant will head to the Nets, while D’Angelo Russell will go to Golden State. The Warriors will also send a protected first-round pick to the Nets as part of the deal.
Also included in the trade were Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham who were promptly flipped by the Warriors over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Shortly after the news of Durant’s decision surfaced, there were rumblings that the Warriors could look to turn Brooklyn’s signing into a sign-and-trade.
The Nets had the cap room to sign Durant outright, so they had no real incentive to cooperate with Golden State. However, Brooklyn had maintained that it would help Russell get to a team via sign-and-trade if he chose a destination without cap room.
Russell had blossomed into a star for them before hitting restricted free agency but the franchise opted to replace him with Irving.
