Now. Both teams are not in the playoffs.
Giannis is a much better fit, no doubt about that, but asking price-wise, I think I don't want to give up as much, as Giannis's worth.
About KD, I am not so sure. I think this team is not winning with or without him next year, therefore I wouldn't do this trade if it's anything more than DV+KJ+14.
Giannis isn't the better fit. He is, by far, the better player. But the Spurs would need to do some serious juggling to get shooting around that team. Like Castle and Sochan just couldn't be playing with him. Durant just slides into any team in the league.
I really have little interest in Durant.
The age issue is obvious and I'm just not interest in Spurs adding another 20+ppg player like Durant or Markkanen. If you have Wembanyama, Fox and Durant, there won't have enough offensive touches left for players like Castle and Harper. Spurs have already their main scorers and playmakers. They now need defensive players.
rather have durant scoring then vassell trash ass scoring.Durant fits well next to wemby castle,fox and probably harper.
I tend to agree with you, but I also think he can teach Victor some stuff. That is the main reason I'd like him. I also think that it could make other players on the team more dangerous and vice versa with the attention each player will draw. You are right about the touches, though. Not sure how that would work with Castle and Harper.
Well, the good news is that Durant is a plus defender and plus rebounder. And get this, one of the best spacers in the league.
I don't want KD, but we can't deny he'd make an instant impact.
Despite his numbers, the decline was obvious this season.
Still, I'd look at it in the same way as current Lebron. They can both still be elite at what they do best, it's just that they can't do it for 40 minutes anymore.
And noone wants them to do secondary things at this stage of their careers.
We don't want KD running the offense like he did in Phoenix because they didn't have any legit point guards.
We don't want KD being the primary rim protector like he was in Phoenix at times because their centers were garbage.
People want to throw Harper or (less so) Castle into the fire as if it’s the most effective way for them to learn. Being able to see how greatness works, witnessing the daily grind and important habits only legends like KD have will be super valuable for our young core. You’re not only investing in them but investing in Wemby too. People think Wemby will just capture greatness by himself, but everyone is a product of who they admire. Kawhi had the luxury to learn from Duncan, Manu, and TP in real-time. your timelines, vets and especially legends are important to have on the team.
I think probably draft night will be when it goes down. If you’re buying or trading for a pick, you don’t want other teams to know the pick is yours.
The Spurs score 114 points (113.9) per game last year. You’d expect that to rise somewhat, but let’s keep it the same. Let’s also assume Wemby takes a huge jump in PPG to 30 and Fox and KD stay around 25 ppg they scored last season. That’s 80 ppg right there. I think a high end estimate for Castle is 18ppg and Harper 12 ppg. That’s another 30 taking you to 110. That leaves a handful of points for whomever is left (Champagnie/Sochan/Mamu/etc).
Now, more plausibly if it’s like: Vic (26ppg); Fox (24ppg); KD (20ppg); Castle (16ppg); Harper (12ppg), that’s a total of 98 ppg. If you assume a 4-6 point increase in ppg team-wide, you still have about 20-22ppg to spread amongst Sochan/JC/Mamu/Vet1/Vet2 etc. That still feels somewhat tight to me, but imminently plausible. KD fading into 3rd and 4th offensive options in years 2 and 3 also feels more natural as the scoring load would go more to Harper and Wemby (probably) and Castle (somewhat less so)
Also, that doesn’t factor in injuries. I don’t know how that impacts the averages, but I’d imagine that would free up another 10-20ppg on average over the course of the season. So the ability to spread the scoring burden around shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Last edited by vy65; 06-05-2025 at 07:07 AM.
Dp
Trading away #14 for a HOF is a no brainer. The draft is not the only source for future talents. The Spurs will be a preferred destination for ring chasers in the next 15 years, and some will be coming in cheap to have the opportunity to ring.
Good post. A lot of people don't think about this. I remember Lebron, Wade, Carmelo (can't remember which guys it was exactly), they said they saw how Kobe worked when they went to the Olympics and that made them change/improve their own workouts after seeing that (I think it was D-wade that said story).
So that is sort of the angle I'm coming at where Victor can learn from him, and maybe some of the other players can too.
Can KD be our shooting coach?
Spurs should have the best offense in the league with KD. If Mitch is good enough.
I think rockets have the better cards to get this deal done, because I dont see and hope spurs dont give more than hb and dv +14, but i think it ultimately comes down to where kd prefers to play.
if im kd, and factoring what rockets will have to give up, i wouldnt see rockets winning a chip as constructed w him. Spurs would have the best path and better redemption story.
Can't be bothered to dig up the post I made when the season ended, but Spurs had ORTG that would've been good enough for 6th in the league during March and April.
That was without Fox and Wemby. I think Mitch has proven he can set up an offense, we just need our perimeter defense to be at least average, Wemby will take care of the rest.
Apparently Houston has no interest in giving Phoenix their picks back. They also have no interest in trading players like Tari Eason to the Suns. Any deal would be centered around Van Vleet or Jalen Green. But then Van Vleet has to opt in and if he does, the Rockets can‘t absorb 11 million in salary to lower Phoenix tax bill like the Spurs can. And the Rockets actually want to keep Van Vleet, besides KD not wanting to go there anyway.
Getting Durant for DV, HB and 14 is a good swap. We won't need DV scoring and he most likely wont get enough opportunity anyway. KD knows how to play and has championship experience. Prior to the '99 championship, experience was what was needed. Its what is needed now along with defense. If we land KD and Sochan can improve shooting, I would think that would go a long way in improving this team
Important for Durant is the question whether the Rockets would extend him. I'm not sure they would, or would be able to.
Why do you need to keep it a secret? Wouldn't the other team know what pick they're buying/trading for? Can you give me an example of what you mean with this?
The Fred Van Vleet option is a team option not a player option
Say you’re trading for pick #10. Another team, team A, unrelated to the trade, owns 8 and 11. They think that the original team owning the pick is going to draft at 10, and they might make assessments as to who the original team that owned the pick might select , and who might slip to 11 for them to pick. The player they might want to slip to 11 might be the player you want at 10, and if they know you’ve traded for the pick, they’ll grab that player at 8, leaving you out in the cold.
Coach Bud can give Spurs insight on coaching KD nowadays. Vassell being included doesn’t bother me. I would hate to move Harrison Barnes, the iron man of the nba, for an older and brittle KD.
OK, got it. Darn, well then, in that case, you're right. Best to do the trade during draft night as it can screw up plans for certain teams if it's done to early. Got it.
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