No. 2
The Golden State Warriors should have a few things in mind when dealing Durant. For starters, they want to compete now, but they also want to prepare for the future with Green, Curry and Thompson all either over 30 or quickly approaching 30.
That said, this deal with the Bulls seems ideal. The trio can eventually hand the ropes to LaVine and Markkanen while also getting production out of them this upcoming season.
LaVine made drastically improvement in Chicago, averaging 23.7 points per game on 47% shooting. The Bulls are high on 22-year-old Markkanen so they may refrain from dealing him. Averaging 18.7 points along with 2.3 triples per game, Markkanen thrived last season.
For New York, you deal two first-round picks and Knox. If that’s all it takes to get Durant, you have to do it. They could then aim for either Irving in the 2019 offseason or a superstar like Anthony Davis in the 2020 offseason.
The Bulls may be losers of this trade, but locking up two first round picks, one of which is almost guaranteed to be in the top-3, wouldn’t be a bad return.