It seems like Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was just as surprised as the rest of us when he saw the trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns.
“Wtf did I just wake up to??” Donovan Mitchell wrote in a Thursday tweet.
The Athletic Senior lead NBA Insider Shams Charania broke the news of the Kevin Durant trade at 1:06 a.m. on Thursday, adding forward Jae Crowder would be included in the trade just a few minutes later. The Brooklyn Nets sent Durant and forward T.J. Warren to the Suns in exchange for forwards Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Crowder, as well as four first-round picks and a pick swap in 2028.
Cavs center Robin Lopez posted a reaction of his own to the Kevin Durant trade in a Thursday tweet. Lopez compared the situation to the “Muppets Take Manhattan” movie, where the Muppets split up and leave after trying, and failing, to take Manhattan. The Muppet Scooter worked as an usher in a Cleveland theater in the 1984 movie, according to IMDb.
The Cavaliers were connected to Nets forward Royce O’Neale in a recent article by Cleveland.com Cavs reporter Chris Fedor. Cleveland “had interest” in the 29-year-old forward before the 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline, Fedor wrote, as they continue to scour the market for a potential wing upgrade.
Action Network senior NBA writer Matt Moore said the Cavaliers “held conversations” with the Dallas Mavericks about a swap between Mavs guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cavs guard Caris LeVert. They also contacted the Atlanta Hawks about forward Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Though the Cavs will not take on the Suns again in the regular season this year, they will have two more matchups with the Brooklyn Nets in March. Cleveland will start a two-game series against Brooklyn at 7:30 p.m. EDT on March 21 in the Barclays Center. The first game will be broadcasted on NBA TV and Bally Sports Ohio.