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I think if Rockets lose 1st round, they are less likely to go for Durant. Durant is going to a team that is close to being a champion.
I'll have a go at a Durant trade. Some will probably say it's an overpay but I think a lot of teams will be in for him, with Houston and OKC easily able to outbid the Spurs if they really want to.
Durant to Spurs
Vassell, pick 14 to Brooklyn
Keldon, Cam Johnson, pick 8, pick 27 from BKN to Suns ( if you think it's overpay send the pick to the Spurs instead, whatever)
Why for the Spurs - they get an 1A scorer obviously, who's a Wemby favourite
Why for Brooklyn - they move from 27 to 14 by trading roughly equal players, with Cam currently having more value due to the better season he's had
Why for Suns - they get 2 rotation players, a guaranteed high pick instead of the usual late firsts that come in star trades AND they get under the 2nd apron, allowing them much more flexibility
Again, if say Houston lose in the first round and realize they need shooting(duh) they can outbid this offer, so I'd hope the Spurs strike first and that Durant would be happy playing with Wemby.
In this scenario I'd also split the MLE between Brook Lopez and Chris Paul, use the BAE on Kennard or someone similar and maybe work some more on the fringes of the roster. It would be a good blend of vets and young guys, some fresh legs to soak up minutes and preserve the older players. Rebounding and general physicality will be a problem but you can't have everything. They'll have more moves in them too.
I think if Rockets lose 1st round, they are less likely to go for Durant. Durant is going to a team that is close to being a champion.
I don't think that's an overpay at all. I think it's a reasonable trade. I'm still a little torn on doing it, as I might prefer to get Cam ourselves and use the remaining capital elsewhere, but if we go the Durant path then I think that's about what we'd give up on our end.
Yeah it depends on how you value this draft’s picks. I don’t, like at all. I’m very low on this draft and I didn’t want to include any future picks in the Durant trade because the Spurs would need maximum flexibility for other moves and/or for re-tooling past Durant as it would likely be a 2-3 year window with him.
Williamson may be an easier get with the greatest risk/reward.
I'm not low on this draft. I don't think it's an exceptional draft or anything, I just think it's average after pick #1. I wouldn't include future picks for Durant either and there are still other options on in the trade market I might prefer depending on what materializes.
I’m not even convinced diet and weight loss solves how injury prone he is. I think he is what he is. He’ll play 35-45 games a season if you’re lucky.
I think Lebron might be changing the way we look at older players a little bit too much. What he's been able to do is historically great, but for the vast majority of other players, the decline post age 35 is still a legit issue. Looking at a few impact stats, Durant is showing a pretty steady decline in BPM the last 4 seasons (7.2, 7.1, 4.0, 3.2), in WS/48 (.198, .194, .142, .111), and in on/off +/- (+11.9, +9.1, +6.7, +4.2). His shooting is still sweet, but I don't think he'll do in his late 30s what Lebron was able to do.
Do not want Durant or Williamson. I think Vassell will be better if they lessen his role as a creator and he plays more off Fox, Wemby, and Castle.
Stein claims word around the league is that the Timberwolves and Knicks were/are pushing the hardest for Durant, with the Heat and Spurs also in the mix.
I suspect the Rockets are waiting out Antetokounmpo (with Booker as a fallback) and the Thunder would only pursue a star trade if they don't win either of the next two championships for non health reasons.
It seems realistic value wise, but I can't see the Spurs trading out of the '25 1st round entirely.
They've also supposedly expressed interest in Cam Johnson, but my guess is 8, Keldon Johnson and Champagnie would be the offer.
I don’t get how Minni thinks they can land KD without also gutting important parts of their team. Julio Randle isn’t getting it done, especially when there draft pick situation sucks (most are outbound).
I spent some time on the Magic forum and they’ve been brainstorming trades to bring a guard in for more depth. Vassell’s name popped up multiple times. It’s got me thinking if that could be a third team in a Naz Reid sign and trade.
For me the biggest question is what kind of extension is KD going to want? If it's two years supermax in addition to the year left at $54M I probably pass, as it means having to salary dump someone when Victor's 30% supermax goes into effect. If he's willing to sign for say 2 years, $60 million then give him $50 million the first year, $10 million the second and there are no concerns about hitting aprons with Victor's supermax in 27-28.
Durant's extension is 2 years $122 million and he's going to demand it, there's no way around that, he's not playing for RJ Barrett money even at 36. $50 mil in year one and $10 mil in year two isn't possible as an extension (although technically it could be done, but this is fantasy land).
Spurs can easily cope with it cap-wise for the next two seasons, the '27-'28 is going to be a problem with Wemby and Fox both on 30% extensions but it's possible to work it out as Castle's wouldn't kick in until the following season.
I'm passing then as there is no way he's worth the 35% supermax in his age 39 season. I'm good with paying the $54 million remaining next season and maybe going up to 2 years $70 million on the extension. And of course heavily frontload it since they'll have Bird Rights so should be able to do a huge first year, small second.
But if KD wants that 35% supermax extension his trade value probably drops to a first and matching salary.
That will be a dram off season!
Naz isn't going anywhere, TWolves cleared their cap space so they can keep him.
NAW is the only obtainable Twolves free agent this summer. Maybe Randle, but we don't want him.
As for Magic, they don't really have anyone we'd want long term.
Franz and Banchero are their core pieces. We got a better version of Suggs in Castle.
KCP is washed with two years left on his contract.
Isaac's contract isn't big, but that's way too many years for a player who can't stay healthy or play heavy minutes.
Cole Anthony isn't good.
I guess Bitadze or WCJ would be solid options for a backup big, but I doubt Spurs would take a player who punched his coach and WCJ's contract is kind of too much for a backup big who can't really play as a PF.
I think Giannis gets moved this summer. I would love him beside Wemby, but I seriously doubt we go in that direction. Where do you think he goes and do you see any potential in being a 3rd team in the deal to get some type of value out of it?
If you do think we go after Giannis directly, what do you think the package would look like?
Cue the Giannis to MIN/Naz to SA/Vassell to MIL hopium, though that's a tough one since MIN has very little draft capital available and MIL is going to want a ton of it.
Not many teams have the assets for Giannis without it being a lateral move because they'd have nothing left after trading for him.
Thunder, Spurs, Rockets are the obvious candidates.
Nets have a clean payroll with al of picks, they could construct a brand new team around Giannis right away, but I doubt Marks goes down that road yet again after KD/Kyrie fiasco.
We're talking about probably 4 unprotected FRP and a couple of young players, Giannis is a top3 player in the league.
You may be right about what our FO is willing to take on in a player (although we did take SJax back), but I would be extremely happy to trade Vassel for Isaac and Bitadze...
That was to get off an extra year of Richard Jefferson’s salary, definitely a marriage of convenience. In Pop’s call to Jack, according to sources, the first words out of his mouth were “We’re not talking about an extension. We’re not,”
Yeah, but we still took him... Isaac + Bitadze gets us off Vassel's contract and fills a couple of holes in the roster... And if neccessary, both or either of them could be further traded on.
You’re building in an assumption that PATFO feel the same way about Vassell’s deal as they did about Jack’s.
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