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Just the time it would take giannis to shoot free throws...would mean 4 hour spurs games...not interested.
Father time is undefeated...nuff sed.
Just the time it would take giannis to shoot free throws...would mean 4 hour spurs games...not interested.
Question is, can Durant even stay healthy? I read somewhere he hasn't played 60-plus games a season for 5 years now.
Durant has played 137 games over the last two seasons compared to Giannis's 140. KD played 62 games last year and 75 the year before. Are folks confusing him with Embiid or something?
I say absolutely go for it if the price is right.
KD has still got it - who cares if he can't give you 30 a night anymore? I want him saving up his body. That's what we have Fox, Wemby, Castle, Harper? for.
His presence, knowledge, experience and work ethic would be invaluable for the team, just like CP3's.
I don't think he's a "coach killer" at this point in his career either (and it's good practice for Mitch, anyway).
Not to mention, an ideal player to teach Wemby and have him absorb from, face against in practice, have shooting drills with....
Honestly a great landing place for him, without even considering the lack of shooting on the roster.
36 y/oDurant
26.6/6.0/4.2/0.8/1.2 on 18.1 FGA/6.0 3PA on .527/.430/.839 splits...that's done?
25 y/o Fox in his best season
25.0/4.2/6.1/1.1/0.3 on 18.2 FGA/4.2 3PA on .512/.324/.780 splits
Durant was better last season then Fox has ever or will ever be. He's 6'11" and can always get his shoot off. 2 stocks a game, Top20 Blk%, above average ast%, was the 2nd best volume (>5) 3pt shooter last yr, 11th best percent overall. Just under average rebounder. He is still a Top20 player, is better than Fox today.
FAR from done, he was just done with Phx. A homecoming will do him good.
Just for reference, he played 37.2mpg in '24, and 36.5mpg in '25. He can still play 30+, just better if he's on a team where he doesn't need to.
He played 75 and 62 games the last two seasons.
Think he means 30 points a game, though I can totally see how he could mean minutes.
That makes sense, but he hasn't hit 30ppg since 2014, and only done is twice.
30ppg was very rare until COVID, like maybe 1 guy a yr. Now its 3-5, but those guys are all Top5 MVP guys. Durant's not that anymore, hasn't been for a decade.
But I'd love to have him for #14/Vassel playing 30-32mpg. Please!!
KD may be old but he loves ball more than anyone. A reduced mpg load would help him a lot and he could still give 2-3 more solid seasons I would think. The added bonus for us is it probably takes Vassell and Keldon's contracts to get the money in the trade to work. Beyond that it is just a matter of how much draft capital goes to PHX.
My bad. Meant Dev and Barnes, instead of Dev and Keldon.
I might be the only one... but part of KD's appeal for me is the fact he's expiring. People want to talk about what his extension would be, but I view him as a one-year Spur and let him roll off if he let's us get out of Vassell's contract.
I love Giannis... and I actually don't want either of these guys. But if we had to choose Giannis at his price or KD's at his price (and expiring contract)... I'd probably take KD. There should be relatively no debate, however, that if cost were not an issue, Giannis would be better (because Giannis is currently much better than KD). But cost is an issue, as it always is.
I'm pretty resigned to the Spurs never having cap space again in the Wemby era. Maybe I'm RGM-brained, but I assume Vassell is going to be a Spur next year. I don't see Durant's expiring status as good unless he wants to take "whatever is left" after a substantial move. My hope is that he's a Spur for the rest of his career and his max gives way to Castle's max and later Harper's max as the team retools around them for the next era. That math gets way shakier when you throw in 2026 free-agent money.
I'm not interested in Durant as an expiring or getting of Devin in order to have cap space for free agency (I'm of the belief that free agency is largely a mirage anyway). I'm interested in their money rolling off because I don't believe the Spurs will ever be a consistent tax team, and things are going to start getting iffy really quick if we add KD to the mix for a few years and keep Devin.
It ain't my money, and I don't give even half a about the Holt's balance sheet... but I do operate with the assumption that the tax line acts as our hard cap.
Crazy how many people didn’t pay attention to PHX the last two years. KD joins the Nets. Oh wow they are going to be a le contender. They win one whole series. KD forces his way to the Suns after nuking the Nets. Oh KD on the Suns makes them le contenders. They win one whole series.
Now KD to the Spurs. That will make them fringe contenders. No it won’t. Bc the Spurs don’t need a player like KD. We need role players. We have our top guys in in Fox, Wemby, Castle, and Harper. Those are our horses. Now we need role players who play a definitive role. We have 1.5 of those guys in Barnes and Sochan. What we don’t need is more scoring. We need 3&D players, or players that rebound and set screens, or another shot blocker/rim protector. Those are our needs. KD fills none of those roles. We have scoring. Wemby will average 27 a game. Fox will average 23 a game. Harper and Castle will give us 30 points a game between them.
Why repeat the Nets and the Suns mistake and go after a guy who doesn’t help franchises at all. This is one of the times where you need to watch the teams he plays for and really watch KD. He hasn’t been a part of a winner for a long time now. If you think the Spurs are somewhere on the 6th-10th seed, KD doesn’t push them to the next level. He would just keep us in the same tier.
That’s why I say if you’re going to get a malcontent then get one who is in his prime and would help us on some of our needs. Like Giannis. But even if you say no to a MVP candidate in your prime, KD is a horrible option
some sites say he has a player option for 26/27. Sportrac and Hoopshype don't have it listed. So no clue what's true, but KD for another year of 56 million wouldn't be good at all.
People are in denial.
37 years old by the time the season starts. 37.
This is not a relief pitcher in baseball. This is not Golf. This is not a game for 37 year olds.
breaks down. The mind will believe it- the body will refuse. Durant will spend more time injured than on the court in the next 2-3 years until he accepts what his body is clearly saying.
Get over durant- spurs should have gone after him a decade ago but were too cheap - so stay with the young guys - heck even the young guys have trouble staying healthy all season long but at least they heal fast...unlike 37 year olds.
Durant can absolutely still play at a high level. He just came off a .642TS% season on high volume. Lower the minutes and usage a bit and I will gladly take that over praying that Vassell keeps turning every corner he encounters. This is a David Justice/Moneyball situation, both sides need to know what they are getting at this point in Durants career. Nobody is expecting 2014 MVP Durant to come walking through the door.
If it was relatively 'cheap' like Vassell and Barnes/Keldon and #14, then I'm in.
Why?
Because I don't believe in Vassell and Johnson or Barnes being any good for a playoff team. They're trash.
Vassell doesn't defend anyone anymore, doesn't even shoot that well, and on top of that he's hurt all the time, playing fewer games than Durant the last 2 years.
Barnes is totally washed other than shooting from the corners. I can't believe it when I see people happily featuring his name starting in a playoff rotation, he doesn't defend or rebound in the regular season and would be a disaster in an intense playoff series.
And Keldon just isn't disciplined enough or pays enough attention to detail to take seriously in a playoff setting. He's usually clueless on defense, backdoored all the time, eyes wide looking around for someone to tell him what just happened, he can't be trusted against a team like OKC, come on. And you know you can't trust his shooting.
But Durant, even old Durant, might be one of the best possible shooters to get. Even as a decoy he's as good as you can get. This roster needs shooting, and it's hard to do better. he might even improve the defense, he does get 50% more blocks per 100 than Sochan
But also ... If the 3 guard rotation of Fox-Castle-Harper is going to be legit, then Vassell has to be gone to make room for Harper if Harper is as legit a prospect as people say he is. It's not enough to me to just say, oh well, put Castle at SF and voila, instant room for Harper to be the third guard behind Fox and Vassell. The roster needs help at PF, and that move forces Sochan down to SF where he belongs. Whether it's Durant, or a trade for John Collins, or PJ Washington, or drafting Fleming or Queen, the status quo of Barnes and Sochan isn't enough. Swapping out Vassell for Durant makes the shooting better and shifts those minutes out of the way for Harper to get as much time as he can earn off.
So if a trade could be done only losing pick 14 and some seconds maybe, it would preserve the picks needed to fill the roster with talent over the years, and with some luck some of those swaps at the end of the decade pay off big time. A Giannis deal probably kills all that pick potential.
Imagine Durant as Bonner 2.0
And while I'm not super into getting Durant, I get it.
Lots of people want to be patient and plan for the long term.
But injuries and cir stances can derail everything in a snap.
Spurs fans might have a warped view of injuries because in the 14 years of the big 3, only Manu missed a playoffs and that was just one with the broken leg. He was also hobbled with the broken arm against Memphis but he played. And while there were sprains and plantar fasciitis and bruises etc .... The Spurs were remarkably injury free.
OKC thought they would eventually get one with KD and Russ , but both had season ending injuries at different times plus injuries to Ibaka.
Milwaukee wouldn't be in this current situation if Middleton never gets hurt. They might still be playing if not for that butterfly effect. Even Giannis missed postseasons.
Boston loaded up hundreds of millions in tax salaries and it will went belly up with Tatum.
Wemby is still growing, his body and health are still a mystery. Make a reasonable move to win right now while you can. The Wemby future is not promised, and if Durant could be gotten for a decent price that preserves picks for the future, I think it's a fair risk.
If Durant is traded to Spurs this summer. It means:
1. Only cost us #14 pick plus 2 SRPS max.
2. Durant is willing to be the #5 option behind out Big 4.
3. Will accept load management - only play 20 - 25 min per game and no back to backs, in order to be ready for playoffs.
4. Agrees extension for year 2 and 3 at very fair price - close to MLE, or may be slightly more. This way we have room sign other pieces like John Collins.
This may very well happen. Durant's ego is not as big as advertised.
2 and 4 aren't reasonable expectations. He'll be the 2nd or 3rd option depending on the night and he's worth way more than the MLE. 3 is sorta in play... im sure there will be load management, but when he plays it'll be over 30 minutes/night.
Some of the takes on Durant have been bananas. He'd be the second-best player on the team. It's so odd that a poster calling himself a Manu and Duncan fan would be so willing to put down another HoFer who's aging gracefully. The over-38 rule may prevent most of the craziest contracts anyway, but he's still going to get paid. If Durant doesn't have a max contract, it'll be because he chose to give money back, not because he couldn't command it.
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