Sources: Suns acquiring Kevin Durant in blockbuster deal with Nets

Phoenix is sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap to Brooklyn, according to sources. The picks, in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, are unprotected. The Suns are also getting forward T.J. Warren in the trade, sources said. Durant wanted the move and new Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia pushed to get a deal done ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline. The Nets are expected to explore trade scenarios for Crowder ahead of the 3 p.m. ET deadline, sources told ESPN. After the Nets traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks at the beginning of the week, Durant had been engaged in conversations with Nets owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks on the direction of the franchise and its ability to be a championship contender, ESPN reported Tuesday. Sources told ESPN then that the Nets insisted to Durant and inquiring teams that the organization had no intention of moving him prior to the Thursday deadline. Ishbia has been fully engaged in overseeing the Suns operation and aggressive in pursuing ways to make a major and immediate impact. Durant joins a starting lineup that already includes an All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker, along with center Deandre Ayton. Entering Wednesday, the Suns were 18-1 to win the NBA championship, per Caesars Sportsbook. They are now +525 to win it all, the second-shortest odds in the NBA and shortest among Western Conference teams. Durant -- who asked out and later rescinded a trade demand in the offseason -- held a strong interest in an offseason trade to Phoenix, sources said. There is optimism that Durant, who is currently out with an MCL sprain in his right knee, will be ready to return to action after the mid-February All-Star break, according to sources. Durant, 34, has three years and $153 million left on his contract after this season. The former league MVP attended the Nets' loss to the LA Clippers on Monday night in Brooklyn but did not answer reporters' questions on his way out of Barclays Center. Irving, who scored 24 points against the Clippers in his debut with the Mavericks on Wednesday night, reacted to the trade after the game, saying he was praying for Durant's "happiness and praying for his well-being." "This business changes so quickly. He's getting a little bit older, I'm getting a little bit older, I just love the competition now that we can be in the same conference," Irving said. "I welcome all that. Get to see him a little bit more, probably playing against Phoenix a lot more. That's what I'm looking forward to. Everything else and in between, I just, I'm glad that he got out of there."