Kevin Durant’s legacy living on at the Golden State Warriors

Kevin Durant won two Finals MVP’s at the Golden State Warriors across three of the most dominant and aesthetically pleasing years of basketball we’ve ever seen. But as the Warriors prepare to face their ex-teammate and the Brooklyn Nets again on Wednesday, Durant’s legacy at the franchise continues to live on far beyond his departure during the 2019 offseason.

The presence of Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga on this current Golden State roster is regularly put down to a one-sided trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2020, but it’s often forgotten that it wouldn’t have been possible without a parting gift from Durant.

Brooklyn Nets’ superstar Kevin Durant continues to play an inadvertent role in the present and future of the Golden State Warriors.

Durant had made his intentions known of signing with the Nets in free agency — a double blow for the Warriors who’d just lost the NBA Finals to the Toronto Raptors amid devastating injuries to Durant and Klay Thompson.

But Warriors’ general manager Bob Myers worked quickly to find a way of salvaging something for his departing star. He convinced All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell to come to the Warriors in a sign-and-trade — one that Brooklyn and Durant ticked off on once Myers threw in a top-20 protected first-round pick, and took on the contracts of Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham.

Russell, Napier and Graham for Durant and a protected first-round pick? Certainly a lop-sided deal. But it was something for Myers and the Warriors when they were otherwise going to lose Durant and the cap room. Speaking immediately following the deal, Myers was thankful, and perhaps a little surprised, that all parties were able to agree.

"“No one really had to — well, Brooklyn didn’t have to do it and Kevin didn’t have to do it. So when you have a situation like that and you are trying to hold all these things up, it’s very easy for somebody to say, ‘I’m tired of this, why would I do this?’"

The sign-and-trade allowed Brooklyn to sign Deandre Jordan. So, Durant was helping his former team for the sake of a friend who was far from his glory days, and a pick that’s now conveyed as a future second-rounder. Sure, the Warriors would have preferred Durant re-sign with them, but he was still doing them a massive favour.

Myers then worked his magic in fleecing the Timberwolves mid-way through the following season. Russell played just 33 games with Golden State before he was shipped off, along with Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman, for Wiggins and a top three protected future first-round pick.

Wiggins has developed into an All-Star, while the pick conveyed into a number seven pick used on the immensely talented Jonathan Kuminga — two players who undoubtedly hold greater individual value than Russell whose career has stagnated and never again reached the heights of the sole All-Star season in Brooklyn.

It all started with Durant though. One day post-career we might learn about things he’s come to regret. How would he have felt earlier this year watching Wiggins dominate and his former team win the NBA title, all the while knowing his sign-and-trade agreement played an undeniably crucial role.