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

[exstatic]

Pretty much how I feel, but if Sochan is willing to extend at something like 3/$36m I'd be willing to take the chance, especially if the Spurs can add more shooting with the MLE. If none of Fox/Castle/Harper become good shooters they'll have to trade one of them in a few seasons regardless.

He’d be stupid to sign an extension for less than the MLE.

[Robz4000]

He’d be stupid to sign an extension for less than the MLE.

Spurs could also just let him test the market next offseason tbh. Don't see him getting more than the MLE unless he improves his shot.

[BG_Spurs_Fan]

OK, with Durant now on boatprd, you now have 7 players under contract, and 2 exceptions to use, bringing you to 9 players. Do you really want to sign 6 minimum contract guys? They’d have to be guards and wings, replacing the four you just traded. That’s a lot for a team hoping to go places.

It’s doable, they don’t need 15 rotation players.

Bring back Chris Paul with the non bird rights, especially if Castle plays some 3. Split the MLE for 2 players, say Lopez and Kennard. Sign someone with the BAE. Bring back Mamu, maybe give Minix a non guaranteed deal as well. They have to nail some of these moves to have a functional rotation but it’s an easier job than to get the top level dudes.

[Robz4000]

Spurs can also use some of their other seconds to trade into the end of the first round to draft another player tbh. Plenty of interesting players will be available.

[RC_Drunkford]

Even if the report is true and "KD wants to be here"...that doesn't mean the Suns have to play ball or take a lesser deal to keep him happy.

Or this could just all be the usual offseason smokescreen bull we see every year.

they are working together like it or not. KD's agent Rich Kleinman has the second most NBA players under contract. You him over, you'll have a huge problem signing anybody in the future. KD is not tanking his trade value publicly, so Phoenix gets some value back and the Suns send him to the Spurs. And the Spurs are trying to find a 3rd team so the Suns get a better return and the Spurs have to give up less.

Don’t think ORL does this

me neither

But it's definitely gonna be a 3-team deal and I think we're trying to get a mid first back

I am one of the few against getting KD but I also think we overpaid for Fox. As has been mentioned earlier Fox puts up good number on teams that are not great. he is getting older and he has played with good bigs and good guards. When he played with good Guards his numbers were not good. I would think he is less likely to take a discount then someone that has been here awhile. I also like the built not bought mantra that we use to use but I am guessing that only because it fit at the time.

Built not bought doesn't work when your player development staff sucks and all the coaches from back then work for other teams now

Gambo is saying Vassell and Sochan are both part of the deal

told y'all the player the Spurs are trying to keep is Keldon. I'd rather keep Sochan, but that's what it is. Also Vassell + Sochan doesn't work, not even if you add Branham. Barnes or Keldon would still have to be in the deal.

[Bruno]

OK, with Durant now on boatprd, you now have 7 players under contract, and 2 exceptions to use, bringing you to 9 players. Do you really want to sign 6 minimum contract guys? They’d have to be guards and wings, replacing the four you just traded. That’s a lot for a team hoping to go places.

Branham and Wesley aren't better than the average min salary player. Spurs don't really lose depth by trading them away because they can easily be replaced.

[RC_Drunkford]

Not entirely sure the numbers but the suns also can’t take in too much money because there at the 2nd apron

Vassell, Sochan + 1 of Barnes/Keldon works and is still less salary than KD demands. Excluding Sochan would be smarter for both sides though, because Phoenix would shave off 11 million from their cap + what it costs in luxury tax. If Sochan is in the deal, it's only 4 million.

I wouldn't trade 14 straightup for Durant.

14 should give the Spurs a solid starter on the same timeline with the core. There are going to be a few solid players there at 14. Develop the young guys and don't bring in a high priced veteran who has a short window.

Paying big money for a player with diminishing skills over the next three years isn't the way to go.

Spurs are going to win a championship without Durant with what they are building. In a couple of years they will be right there rising to the top even without Durant.

Look at the big jumps OK City and Houston made over the last couple of years and the Spurs will be deeper with young talent than both those teams.

Newsflash: we aren't building anything here. We are in win-now mode and the majority of our young guys will be gone. It's gon be Wemby, Fox, Castle and 2 or 3 (max) of Vassell/Sochan/Keldon/Wesley/Branham/Champagnie. My money is on Wesley and Champagnie staying cause they are cheap. Out of the other 4 the Spurs want to keep Keldon the most, but even he might be out the door for the right deal.

The best you can hope for is that we draft 2 new guys and get back young players in the other trades we will make once we got KD.

[exstatic]

Branham and Wesley aren't better than the average min salary player. Spurs don't really lose depth by trading them away because they can easily be replaced.

They actually are, because they know the system and the players.

[RC_Drunkford]

They actually are, because they know the system and the players.

the Spurs don't have a system and the vast majority of our players will be gone this offseason

[Dejounte]

Fox/ Wesley
Castle/ Powell
Durant/ Julian
Barnes/ Vet FA/ Ingram
Wemby/ Bassey/ Minix

[Dejounte]

Oops, forgot we had the #2 pick

Fox/ Wesley
Harper/ Powell
Castle/ Julian
Durant/ Keldon/ Ingram
Wemby/ Bassey/ Minix

[Raven]

Only an idiot would want to trade for Durant at this stage of his career.

[RC_Drunkford]

Fox/ Wesley
Castle/ Powell
Durant/ Julian
Barnes/ Vet FA/ Ingram
Wemby/ Bassey/ Minix

rather something like

Fox/ Wesley
Castle/ Powell
Durant/ Julian
John Collins/ LaRavia
Wemby/ Maluach

or

Fox/Wesley
Castle/Julian
Durant/Keldon
LaRavia/Essengue
Wemby/Okongwu

or

Fox/Traore
Castle/Wesley
Durant/Julian
Jalen Johnson/LaRavia
Wemby/Maluach

or

Fox/Wesley
Castle/Clarkson
Bailey/Julian
Durant/LaRavia
Wemby/Kessler

and so on. Plenty of combinations.

[RC_Drunkford]

Only an idiot would not want to trade for Durant at this stage of his career.

FIFY

[Robz4000]

Fox/Harper
Castle/Keldon
Barnes/Champ
KD/Sochan/Mamu
Wemby/(Adams/Lopez/Capela/etc)

imo.

[rankingtear]

Only an idiot would want to trade for Durant at this stage of his career.

I am no idiot, i am smartest guy here.

[LeBowen]

No need to make 10 man rotation lists since we'll most likely have a 3 man guard rotation.

Guards:
Fox
Castle
Harper

Wings:
KD
Keldon
Champ
?

Bigs:
Wemby
?

[cutewizard]

Man the spacing out there for Fox, Harper, Castle with Wemby and Durant out on the 3pt line is nice!!

,,.................

Agree

I wonder who is the best fifth person to complement this line up

[RC_Drunkford]

My concerns are that people aren't appreciating how punitive the new cap is and I think max players need to be top-25 guys (honestly borderline perineal All-NBA but the league is full of idiots and trademill teams happy to pay for mediocre: see Lavine/Beal) to earn their pay if you want to be a contending team or unless you have a Brunson type that willingly takes less than market value. I don't think its reasonable to expect Fox to be a Top25 player in 2 yrs, I don't really expect him to be top Top25 again.

Fox is WAY better than Lavine and Beal, at what age? What exactly does Fox do exceptionally? He's definitely better defensively, today and at the same age, will he still be a better defender at 29 than Lavine? Is he so much better that that makes him WAY better?
Offensively? He is a far less efficient scorer than either and that's Fox's best attribute and its speed based and he's not getting faster and he has no positional versatility in a league where 6'2" starters are disappearing.

Lavine's career TS% is 58.7%, and he's been above 60% 4 of the last 5 yrs. Fox has 1 ing season better than Lavine's avg, Fox has never been above 60%, only above 57% once. Fox is a mediocre assist man, 19th amongst starting PGs this season, 20th the yr before. What is Fox elite at? Getting to the line? Not the last 2 seasons, where Lavine has been better.

I think Fox is a better player, but go look at age 23-27 Fox vs Lavine. WAY better? Not at the same age. WAY better on a team that needs 3% shooting? No, Lavine is arguably a better fit if you want to play Castle and not to mention the guy that definitely would've been draft #1 last yr (Harper).
Throw in Beal if you want, but I was pretty clearly talking about albatross contracts though. But even Beal jacking up crazy shots without help in WAS was a more efficient scorer.
As offense players, Fox is the least efficient player, the worst at getting points/shot. There are other things that make him better, but those 3 get Max money for scoring and for nothing else. Scoring efficiently. Fox is easily the most speed reliant and EASILY the worst shooter of the 3 and the least efficient scorer at that age (and from ages 23-27).

The concern you missed is that, if you view Lavine and Beal as albatross contracts, you shouldn't pay guys for what they've done but what they will do. This is especially true if they are not your franchise guy. IMO Fox screams potential albatross contract. I think its at least as likely Lavine lives up to the last 2 yrs of his K than Fox does to his if he gets the full max extension. Beal was still moveable this season because of his shooting, but he exercised a No Trade Clause to block it and those no longer exist. I'm concerned a slowed down, 29/30y/o Fox will be unmovable in a 2nd Apron league and potentially blocking Castle and/or Harper. And if he slows down enough, he becomes borderline unplayable. That's not a far fetched concern, speed goes. Fox has averaged <63 games played over the past 6 seasons, that's not great. There are reasons to be concerned, he's not a superstar and he never was. He's a former 1xAS/1xAllNBA3, and unlikely to be close ever again. He helped take 1 team, as the 2nd best player, to a first round exit. Sure, great 7 games against GSW. He was the best player on that team? The league and stats disagreed, as evidence by Sabonis getting 27 compared to 2 MVP votes, and nearly a double WS, with better efficiency almost across the board.

I like Fox and I want him for 2 more yrs, but I think Fox's decline has begun. I think its more likely a declining Lavine is capable of living up to his contract (like being the 14th most efficient starter in the NBA like he was THIS SEASON) at 29/30+ compared to Fox.
Its not about Harper, its about overall context. Fox made a ton more sense before the trade as compared to today, he is way more risky now given that context IMO. To me, that risk is pretty close to unjustified if we get KD for cheap (Vassell + 14 + filler). There's real concern and its not unreasonable.

Let me break this down to you:

First of all Fox is worlds better than Beal. Beal signed a 5-year supermax extention at the age of 29. That's 35% of the cap. The cap percentages are as follows: 35% / 34.36% / 35.71% / 34.7% / 33.58%

Zach LaVine and Fox might be on a similar level on offense, but Fox is better defensively and the main problem with LaVine is: health. That's the main reason why his contract is viewed as bad value.

LaVine signed a 5 year max extension at age 27. The cap percentages are as follows: 30% / 29.45% / 31.68% / 30.71% / 28.79%

Fox will sign at best for 4 years and the 30% max at age 27. The main difference is, that during Fox' tenure the cap will go up by 10% per year. So his cap percentages would be: 30% / 29.45% / 28.91% / 28.39%

this is lower than LaVine. The 2.32% difference in year 4 for example equals to 5.5 million. Maybe not that much of a difference, but it's a good amount paired with not having a fifth year and while Wemby and Castle are on rookie deals for 2 and 3 years. So it's perfectly fine. That's without him giving us a slight discount, which could actually happen if they tell him that the plan is to bring in KD, etc.

[rankingtear]

Fox-Castle-Murray-Durant-Wemby this is the most genius lineup out there all they have to do is don't overrate Scoot 2.0.

[scottspurs]

It doesn’t matter. How do people still think this is a compe ion? No one is upping their offer for a 37 YO player who won’t re-sign.. If he’s truly picked San Antonio, everyone else will turn away to other business.

I agree the market won’t be huge but that won’t stop the Suns from trying.

[RC_Drunkford]

[T Park]

They actually are, because they know the system and the players.

Big whoop. They stink. Adios.

[T Park]

I agree the market won’t be huge but that won’t stop the Suns from trying.

They can try as hard as Sacramento did…

[T Park]

It’s doable, they don’t need 15 rotation players.

Bring back Chris Paul with the non bird rights, especially if Castle plays some 3. Split the MLE for 2 players, say Lopez and Kennard. Sign someone with the BAE. Bring back Mamu, maybe give Minix a non guaranteed deal as well. They have to nail some of these moves to have a functional rotation but it’s an easier job than to get the top level dudes.

Chris Paul is 100% gone to Dallas