Phoenix Suns expect to part ways with Kevin Durant this offseason. Could the Spurs be a good landing place?

[Degoat]

Who does we think is actually involved between Dev, Barnes, KJ, and Soachan? I kinda think it could be Dev+KJ+14

[SpursFan86]

I suspect it’ll be Vassell/Barnes/14. Barnes has value as an expiring contract and I don’t think the Spurs are ready to give up on or move Sochan at this time.

It’d be great to move Keldon instead but just don’t think Phoenix will go for that.

[John B]

Who does we think is actually involved between Dev, Barnes, KJ, and Soachan? I kinda think it could be Dev+KJ+14

I actually like Keldon’s energy and has embraced that 6th man role.

[Chinook]

I don't see why they would wait to announce it though. Like what benefit is there to waiting to make an announcement

The league discourages trades being announced during the Finals. If it's agreed to, it likely won't be talked about until draft week. Also, if the trade requires them to use next year's finances, they may not want to announce it a month before it can be completed.

Depending on how much Durant, Fox and potentially Wemby are willing to leave on the table, the Spurs might not be willing/required to include Vassell. If that's the play, they'll need to use next year's figures to make the numbers work. Or they might be roping in other teams who aren't essential for getting this deal done but for flexibility purposes need to be part of this trade to allow the Spurs and/or Suns to make follow-up deals.

[Guru of Nothing]

All the various offseason plots could thin quickly if a Durant deal falls into place. I'm assuming Phoenix would target only the #14, Vassell, and Barnes, and from here it's pretty easy to see how the 15-man roster shakes out.

1 - Wemby
2 - Durant
3 - Fox
4 - Castle
5 - Sochan - (RFA or 3-years/$50, 3rd year team option)
6 - Harper
7 - CP3 - back to chase a ring for the next year or two
8 - Champ
9 - KJ
10 - Wesley
11 - Branham
12 - #38 pick - 7-footer project
13 - Biyombo - has one job: mentor the #38 pick
14 - Mamu - He's Malik Rose to me, dammit.
15 - Harrison Ingram - smart guy who will probably a fantastic addition to the Spurs FO one day.

Practice beefs ought to be great (Anchorman style). I can see it, with OG Durant spearheading the bigs and CP3 flashing gang signals to his team of guards.

[LeBowen]

CP3 - back to chase a ring for the next year or two

No.
Just no.
We can't draft Harper and give CP3 another season.

[John B]

All the various offseason plots could thin quickly if a Durant deal falls into place. I'm assuming Phoenix would target only the #14, Vassell, and Barnes, and from here it's pretty easy to see how the 15-man roster shakes out.

1 - Wemby
2 - Durant
3 - Fox
4 - Castle
5 - Sochan - (RFA or 3-years/$50, 3rd year team option)
6 - Harper
7 - CP3 - back to chase a ring for the next year or two
8 - Champ
9 - KJ
10 - Wesley
11 - Branham
12 - #38 pick - 7-footer project
13 - Biyombo - has one job: mentor the #38 pick
14 - Mamu - He's Malik Rose to me, dammit.
15 - Harrison Ingram - smart guy who will probably a fantastic addition to the Spurs FO one day.

Practice beefs ought to be great (Anchorman style). I can see it, with OG Durant spearheading the bigs and CP3 flashing gang signals to his team of guards.

I’m down with that line-up. But I think they’ll move that #38 plus to get to the 1st round though and get a defensive PF, hopefully Fleming.

[John B]

No.
Just no.
We can't draft Harper and give CP3 another season.

I think the CP3 with GSW and CP3 with Spurs are not the same. Yes he wanted to ball, but he took pride on mentoring the young core and maybe taking ownership on bringing the winning culture back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes less minutes and be part of a winning team. This is not GSW that he’s having pissing contest with Curry as the GOAT PG. IF he wants back as more a playing coach with less minutes, I think the Spurs would welcome him back. It’s felt good story for CP3 finally getting a ring, and KD “showing ways” to Wemby as his young Padawan.

[LeBowen]

I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes less minutes and be part of a winning team.

The thing is that there are no minutes available. Fox and CP3 can't play together as we've seen this season.
Unlike Castle, Harper is a natural point guard and we want him to be the primary ballhandler when Fox isn't on the floor.

[Guru of Nothing]

No.
Just no.
We can't draft Harper and give CP3 another season.

I'm not opposed to CP3 back in a very reduced role (somewhere between Branham and Wesley in terms of playing time), but regardless, I'd be surprised if he's not actively working this angle this offseason anyway. Just kind of expect him to be on the team come week 1, one way or another.

[exstatic]

Why? Suns have enough roster spots open and those 4 players I mentioned would combine for $49M. We could theoretically add another one if needed.
Second apron restrictions are for aggregating outgoing salaries, not incoming.

Salary matching. Keldon/Barnes won’t be enough. Vassell’s $27 is needed. We only have 10 players under contract, and trading 4 for 1 means we have 2 exceptions to fill 7-8 spots, with the rest being minimum salary.

[LeBowen]

Salary matching. Keldon/Barnes won’t be enough. Vassell’s $27 is needed. We only have 10 players under contract, and trading 4 for 1 means we have 2 exceptions to fill 7-8 spots, with the rest being minimum salary.

Then we'll be looking for a third team.

[Arguendo]

Jesus Christ, just think things through.

You've got Fox, Wemby, and Durant. Those are your big mouths to feed. And if you extend Durant then this is the situation for the next three years or so.

How the are you getting Harper enough touches to get him going? If you want him to get to his ceiling, you'll need his usage rate to start going up.

This... y'all just being ing morons, to be honest. Durant isn't sitting in the corner on kick-outs. This is so academically clear, I'm not surprised it's not obvious to you. It's clearly a problem.

Assuming Durant is here the next 3 yrs, why would Fox need to be?
I really don't understand why everyone is intent on giving Fox the next Levine and Beal likely albatross contract. Levine just likely had is best season, was the best volume 3pt shooter in NBA last yr (KD was #2), it was his most efficient scoring season and the Bulls were begging to give him any. Beal is even worse but he's been an efficient scorer in PHX. Fox will not be 25 again, and isn't and haven't ever been close to the shooter Levine/Beal are- shooting ages better than speed.
We got him at a time and price where it was a definite "Yes" to the trade, but now? Landscape has changed. Even in a sign&trade, we can recoup a lot of what we paid for Fox.
Steph gave me confidence he is ready to be an adequate #3 guy on a team with two 24-25ppg guys (Wemby and KD), just with the way to moves the ball and gets to the line. If he takes a 3% jump, he's a good to very good #3 at 21. And/or Harper may look like at adequate #3 next yr. Harper/Castle as 3a/3b behind Vic/KD may be optimal. I'd prolly prefer Harper/Castle/Champ/KD/Vic to Fox/Harper/Castle/KD/Vic, one is balanced one is very imbalanced. But KD is not the imbalance there.

Keeping Fox is not terrible, esp considering Harper just turned 19 and Steph turns 21 in Nov, and we can stagger minutes, likely expect Wemby and KD to play 72 games max and KD plays closer to 30mpg vs the 36-37mpg he's played in Phx, touches can be found...but if we can off Vassell for KD and get value for Fox, that's my preferred route.

I wanted no part of giving him a full max extension before Harper. Now, 3 more yrs of Fox, fine, I'll live with it but it likely hurts Steph and Harper and the odds of Fox feeling marginalized go up every month. 5 yrs? Absolutely NO.
The landscape looks different for Fox too. He wanted to come here when we had a unknown 19y/o maybe PG rookie, than that rookie won the ROY showing at least quality secondary handler skills while being elite at getting to the line, than we land a potential Superstar big PG who also gets to the line a ton. Does Fox really want to spend the last of his prime yrs fighting for PT/touches with two guys that may well look like better players (w/similar styles) then him very shortly?

That said, there's still a KD rental situation that is worth it simply to get off of Vassell and Harper's 19 all next season, he can run the bench unit 15mpg and get his lead touches with Fox off and at least one of Vic/KD taking his kick-outs. I'm not sure that Harper needs more than 15mpg leading to learn the ropes at 19, than when he's on with Fox/Wemby/KD he can work on other skills and develop those and his all-around game.

[Seventyniner]

Giving Fox an extension makes him more tradable if it ever comes to that. Teams won't give up much for a one-year rental. Something less than the max would help even more.

[John B]

The thing is that there are no minutes available. Fox and CP3 can't play together as we've seen this season.
Unlike Castle, Harper is a natural point guard and we want him to be the primary ballhandler when Fox isn't on the floor.

With Vassell gone, Castle playing combo SF. CP3 has to agree backup minutes. I wouldn’t give Sochan the starting until he proves he can shoot.

You have to agree, CP3, KD and Wemby would be prime time TV.

Wemby, Biyombo, #38
Durant, Sochan, Mamu
Castle, Keldon, Barnes
Harper, Champ, Branham
Fox, CP3, Wesley

Maybe get Capela or Adams instead of Biyombo.

[SpurSpike]

CP3 ain't coming back, he is on record recently saying he wants to be "Dad" now. So he is either retiring or going to an LA team.

[RC_Drunkford]

Let's just say when the dust settles and KD does end up joining the Spurs. Since he only has one year left of his contract, is the mentality by the team to bring him back on a cheaper contract? Because if not, that'd be a tough extension to take in.

I listened to a bunch of Suns fans discuss the trade with some of them supposedly having the inside scoop. They say that KD is not looking for a max extension. They are also saying Vassel, Barnes and #14 sounds about right and that the Suns won't get good value back since Ishbia will spearhead the deal and work with Durant. They even said it could be no first round picks involved.

I don't blame KD in 2023 for wanting the Suns. They made the Finals in 2021 and he thought he was the missing piece of the puzzle. Most of that Finals run was driven by CP3 so when they traded him for Beal and than Ayton for Nurkic, Allen is when the ship started to sink. Spurs are a smarter franchise than Suns and Nets so they won't make stupid mistakes like that. I hope he wants to come here and will only extend with Spurs.

they had Myles Turner + 1 first rounder on the table for Ayton and went with Nurkic and Allen

For the sake of discussion, what if the trade doesn't include Vassell?
We obviously want him gone because he's had enough chances to prove his worth and failed, but maybe Wright still rates him.
As I said many times, Vassell would require a third team in the trade because Suns don't need or want him.

Suns have just 10 players on the roster for the next season, 12 if they use #29 and #52 in the draft, 11 without KD.

I think they'd rather consider something like Barnes, Keldon, Jeremy, Wesley, #14 and a bunch of SRPs than getting Vassell.
As much as I want to get rid of Vassell, I also wouldn't mind not having to fit Jeremy's flaws into the roster.

That's actually what I'm hoping for. We could even exclude Wesley and put Bassey in the deal as a sign-and-trade piece, since the Suns want a center.

[RC_Drunkford]

All the various offseason plots could thin quickly if a Durant deal falls into place. I'm assuming Phoenix would target only the #14, Vassell, and Barnes, and from here it's pretty easy to see how the 15-man roster shakes out.

1 - Wemby
2 - Durant
3 - Fox
4 - Castle
5 - Sochan - (RFA or 3-years/$50, 3rd year team option)
6 - Harper
7 - CP3 - back to chase a ring for the next year or two
8 - Champ
9 - KJ
10 - Wesley
11 - Branham
12 - #38 pick - 7-footer project
13 - Biyombo - has one job: mentor the #38 pick
14 - Mamu - He's Malik Rose to me, dammit.
15 - Harrison Ingram - smart guy who will probably a fantastic addition to the Spurs FO one day.

Practice beefs ought to be great (Anchorman style). I can see it, with OG Durant spearheading the bigs and CP3 flashing gang signals to his team of guards.

you got half the roster wrong

I think the CP3 with GSW and CP3 with Spurs are not the same. Yes he wanted to ball, but he took pride on mentoring the young core and maybe taking ownership on bringing the winning culture back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes less minutes and be part of a winning team. This is not GSW that he’s having pissing contest with Curry as the GOAT PG. IF he wants back as more a playing coach with less minutes, I think the Spurs would welcome him back. It’s felt good story for CP3 finally getting a ring, and KD “showing ways” to Wemby as his young Padawan.

you think too much instead of just listening to what CP3 himself said...

[SpursFan86]

CP3 is not coming back. Of all the wildcards sitting out there right now this is one we don’t need to worry about discussing/pondering.

[RC_Drunkford]

Assuming Durant is here the next 3 yrs, why would Fox need to be?
I really don't understand why everyone is intent on giving Fox the next Levine and Beal likely albatross contract. Levine just likely had is best season, was the best volume 3pt shooter in NBA last yr (KD was #2), it was his most efficient scoring season and the Bulls were begging to give him any. Beal is even worse but he's been an efficient scorer in PHX. Fox will not be 25 again, and isn't and haven't ever been close to the shooter Levine/Beal are- shooting ages better than speed.
We got him at a time and price where it was a definite "Yes" to the trade, but now? Landscape has changed. Even in a sign&trade, we can recoup a lot of what we paid for Fox.
Steph gave me confidence he is ready to be an adequate #3 guy on a team with two 24-25ppg guys (Wemby and KD), just with the way to moves the ball and gets to the line. If he takes a 3% jump, he's a good to very good #3 at 21. And/or Harper may look like at adequate #3 next yr. Harper/Castle as 3a/3b behind Vic/KD may be optimal. I'd prolly prefer Harper/Castle/Champ/KD/Vic to Fox/Harper/Castle/KD/Vic, one is balanced one is very imbalanced. But KD is not the imbalance there.

Keeping Fox is not terrible, esp considering Harper just turned 19 and Steph turns 21 in Nov, and we can stagger minutes, likely expect Wemby and KD to play 72 games max and KD plays closer to 30mpg vs the 36-37mpg he's played in Phx, touches can be found...but if we can off Vassell for KD and get value for Fox, that's my preferred route.

I wanted no part of giving him a full max extension before Harper. Now, 3 more yrs of Fox, fine, I'll live with it but it likely hurts Steph and Harper and the odds of Fox feeling marginalized go up every month. 5 yrs? Absolutely NO.
The landscape looks different for Fox too. He wanted to come here when we had a unknown 19y/o maybe PG rookie, than that rookie won the ROY showing at least quality secondary handler skills while being elite at getting to the line, than we land a potential Superstar big PG who also gets to the line a ton. Does Fox really want to spend the last of his prime yrs fighting for PT/touches with two guys that may well look like better players (w/similar styles) then him very shortly?

That said, there's still a KD rental situation that is worth it simply to get off of Vassell and Harper's 19 all next season, he can run the bench unit 15mpg and get his lead touches with Fox off and at least one of Vic/KD taking his kick-outs. I'm not sure that Harper needs more than 15mpg leading to learn the ropes at 19, than when he's on with Fox/Wemby/KD he can work on other skills and develop those and his all-around game.

Fox is way better than Lavine and Beal. He would make less money than Beal on his max extension and only 2 million more than Lavine, while being younger. I don't understand your concerns here. People seem to overrate Harper on this board. Harper has 0 pull up shooting ability, not even from midrange and it's not a sure thing that the Spurs will draft him.

[John B]

you got half the roster wrong



you think too much instead of just listening to what CP3 himself said...

The 1st game of the Finals ranked the lowest viewers since 1988 (excluding COVID). Adam Silver would love CP3 and KD in the Spurs. If KD is truly coming to the Spurs, it would be very hard for CP3 to walk off, with the planets seem to be aligning for the Spurs.

[Ice009]

The 1st game of the Finals ranked the lowest viewers since 1988 (excluding COVID). Adam Silver would love CP3 and KD in the Spurs. If KD is truly coming to the Spurs, it would be very hard for CP3 to walk off, with the planets seem to be aligning for the Spurs.

If the Spurs draft Harper, there isn't really any room for CP3 IMO.

And how many Spurs fans are going to bang on about trading Fox. The Spurs will not trade Fox after he asked to come here, so stop asking about it. They probably don't even consider it for 2-3 years, and that is only if Harper shows he's worth the max.

[RC_Drunkford]

The 1st game of the Finals ranked the lowest viewers since 1988 (excluding COVID). Adam Silver would love CP3 and KD in the Spurs. If KD is truly coming to the Spurs, it would be very hard for CP3 to walk off, with the planets seem to be aligning for the Spurs.

I don't know what drugs you are using when CP3 did a 20 minute interview and all kind of journalists are already saying he won't return. You can keep halucinating all you want.

[John B]

Hot take. Suns makes the KD trade to the Spurs seamless. The Suns get #1 pick next year

[CGD]

I don't see why they would wait to announce it though. Like what benefit is there to waiting to make an announcement

I’d kinda want to see if anyone they love or anyone unexpectedly falls to #14 before announcing, wouldn’t you? Like what if Maluach falls unexpectedly? It’s a long shot obviously, but maybe a good reason to wait to announce it concurrently to when they’re supposed to pick. I suspect this is what happens in most cases.