basketball
Spectacular changes in the NBA
Russell Westbrook is about to leave the LA Lakers. photo
© Frank Franklin Ii/AP/dpa
Shortly before the deadline, sensational transfers are emerging in the professional basketball league NBA: Superstar Durant is probably strengthening a top team. Dennis Schröder also gets support.
Basketball superstar Kevin Durant is on the verge of a move to the Phoenix Suns and could once again be part of a superteam of sorts with the 2021 finalists. According to media reports, the 34-year-old is to switch from the Brooklyn Nets to the Suns in the North American professional league NBA.
According to the news agency AP, ESPN and “The Athletic”, the Arizona team is said to have managed to keep its three star players Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton and still get Durant in an exchange deal.
The price to be paid for the two-time NBA champion is still high: in Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder and Cam Johnson, three important role players are to go, and the Suns are sacrificing four future first-round picks in talent training. With playmaker Paul (37) and points collector Durant, Phoenix is banking on immediate success.
Bookmakers change odds
Durant was part of a multi-star team with the Golden State Warriors, winning championships with them in 2017 and 2018. The bookmakers immediately changed their betting odds and declared the Suns the new Western Conference favorites. The Nets would lose their two star players within days. Point guard Kyrie Irving also traded the team this week and is now playing for the Dallas Mavericks.
The Los Angeles Lakers around points record holder LeBron James and national player Dennis Schröder are also facing the obligation of several players immediately before the end of the change period. According to media reports, among other things, point guard D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves is to come to the NBA record champions, instead Russell Westbrook is to switch to the Utah Jazz. A total of eight players and three teams are involved, as the AP news agency reported on Wednesday evening (local time). Changes between teams can be made until Thursday.