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I don’t see Durant’s stats dropping off that much. Even if he scores in the low 20s, his type of spacing and efficiency is what we need. We just need him to be healthy and he still a bucket getter.
Anyone know the earliest this trade could be made?
I don’t see Durant’s stats dropping off that much. Even if he scores in the low 20s, his type of spacing and efficiency is what we need. We just need him to be healthy and he still a bucket getter.
Fox / CP3
Harper / Castle
Sochan / Champagnie
Durant / Barnes
Wemby / Brook Lopez
That team should be good enough to make the playoffs, tbh.
I predict that if this Durant trade actually goes through, the price will be higher than just Vassell / Johnson / 14th pick, and people will be complaining about how high a price the team paid, even if the price is still actually low by objective standards.
A couple of 2nd rounders. If it is more expensive than that, then let some other team overpay.
Vassell
KJ/Barnes
14th pick
1 lottery protected FRP
A million seconds
A little more than what others here would offer. But I believe this is what gets it done.
I mean who is actually bidding for him? At this point you’re really just getting a name. You aren’t getting a difference maker. If he were a difference maker then the Nets would’ve been better and Phx would’ve made the playoffs. When you look at it objectively, Durant isn’t changing your team at all. If you’re a top team then you’re going to stay a top team. If you’re a middle team then you’re going to stay a middle team and if you’re a lower end team well that’s where you’re going to stay. Except for 3 teams.
The 3 teams I believe that would improve are Detroit, Orlando, and Hou. Durant wants no part of Detroit or Orlando and that just leaves Houston. Houston probably would just offer one of Phoenix picks back for KD and that’s the top of their offer. While I want no part of Durant, if you trade Vassell and Barnes and the 14th with 3 SRPs for him then you make that trade 100% of the time.
Then draft Hugo Gonzalez with our SRP this year and stash him.
If that's the deal, Suns probably offer to pick you up at the airport and stops for dinner on the way to the stadium to sign.
Suns should do that in a heart beat. For the Spurs and an often injured and unpredictable KD, that's overpay. Then... you have to KD 50M for one year and potentially more.
KD will be All-NBA caliber into his 40s. The achilles injury didn't faze him. Neither will age. Greatest scorer of all-time. Most skilled offensive player of all-time. It's Kevin f'ing Durant bro. If it doesn't costs you the #2, or Castle, or Fox you jump on it.
We'll know when the offseason begins what's an overpay or not. Fans of their team have a habit of overavaluing their assets and undervaluing the player they are trading for.
Again, a lot of people disagree but that's my max.
Was Ray Allen a 7 footer with an elite handle and shot?
Teams not in the playoffs (so everyone except OKC and IND) can make trades now.
OKC added players without having to trade away lots of pieces this is why if they are not to greedy can have a long run. If we trade away everything for older players then they will retire and we wont have anything and could lose some of our younger players that were not already traded away.
TIL. I thought it needed to be the offseason. Guess that only applies with FAs.
Even if he does some down as he ages, he's still going to be one of the best spot up shooters and gravity wells in the NBA because he's so huge he gets his shots off over almost anyone
The past 5 years shooting, ages 32-36, have been the best 5 year 3 point shooting span of his entire career. Want more spacing for Wemby or open lanes for Castle and Fox drives? Get Durant next to them to see the attention he draws.
And people have been knocking his defense .... He still blocked 50% more shots per 100 possessions last year than Sochan thanks to his length. The length isn't going anywhere.
I could see a scenario where the Suns will want the 2027 hawks pick instead of pick 14 this year. With the luxury tax situation they are in maybe Vassell + Johnson/Barnes + pick 38 + hawks 27 pick. Then the spurs can use pick 14 in this deep class or use it to trade for another veteran.
Could have been made the moment the season ended (so long as the other team was not in the playoffs). Nothing stopping the teams from making this trade at any moment… but mostly likely we won’t see any activity until closer to the draft.
Comps are hard for a seven-footer who can shoot like that—that’s why I asked.
How about Dirk? Seven-footer, great shooter, handling not as good. Dirk started to fall off around 37 too; averaged 18 points, down to 14, to 12, to 7.
I get why people think a great shooter’s game will age well, and maybe it will—but I also remember people saying the same thing about Dirk before his game dropped off. Time usually wins.
Last edited by Gandalf; 06-04-2025 at 10:58 PM.
Ya - for purposes of the trade deadline rule, it applies to that season. So once a team is done/eliminated they are now in the “next” season technically.
Dirk is fair but it's important to remember that Dirk compared to Durant he wasn't a 3 point specialist until very late in his career. He was a post up into a one legged shot guy.
From the ages of 25-35, Dirk Averaged under 6.0 3pta/100 possessions. Including the shockingly low 2.1 3pt a/100 in his age 31 season.
From 25-35, Durant ranged from 6.7-9.1 3pt a/100.
Also with Dirk, don't conflate the teams being bad with Dirk's decline.
If Dirk at age 37 had Wemby, Fox, and Castle as his next best scorers instead of Parsons, Wes Matthews, and Deron Williams, people wouldn't remember him being so washed
The Suns should wait for when the Spurs are on the clock at #14. That gives them a few more weeks to gauge the market and make sure the player they want at 14 is on the board. No need for them to rush.
As great as Dirk was, he never moved like 36 year old KD moves. Much less prime KD. There is no comp for him. He is the most skilled offensive player of all-time. Smoothest handle, most fluid moving 7 footer of all-time.
Barring another catastrophic injury, he will continue to age better than just about anyone in NBA history, imho.
Well, like a few others on here, I don’t believe that low price tag (Vassell, Barnes & #14) is realistic. There will be other teams bidding and I think that offer is easily beat. And if we gotta pay more I would rather put those assets plus whatever extra is needed to get Giannis. I think it’s a much better bet even if it costs much more. Wemby & Giannis would be a two headed monster unlike anything the league has seen before. I think there’s a good chance it would lead to a dynasty actually!
‘Hey might as well have some fun. Here’s what I think the BW version of the KD trade might actually look like (don’t shoot me, I wouldn’t do this trade but I’ll make an argument for it):
Spurs get: Kevin Durant, Cam Johnson #8
Spurs give up: Barnes, Vassell, KJ, #2
i won’t list it, but nets and phx will both be very happy with what they get.
Why would spurs do it? Because they are turning Barnes, vassell and KJ into ing Kevin Dursnt and Cam Johnson for just the difference in what their lottery pick was going to be to what it became. So basically they are giving up nothing if they hadn’t won the lottery. It’s nothing that if the numbers had fallen differently that they would have ever even considered. So just turning some luck into a decent chance at a championship next year. And if they pick right at #8 they may get another all-star rookie to add to the fold, no not DH but perhaps a real difference maker like [you fav goes here]…
oh plus we still get #14 too in this deal…
Last edited by sfernald; 06-05-2025 at 01:31 AM.
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