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

[itzsoweezee]

If Houston offered that a deal would be done. They are just offering Jalen Green, salary filler and pick 10.

I don’t think any team has offered more than one 1st round pick and that’s the holdup. Nor should they. The Suns may not get a 1st at all if they don’t trade him by the draft so the suitors are in the driver seat. I think Houston eventually folds and adds a second 1st. Not sure if Miami has another 1st to trade. Hopefully the Spurs hold strong. I’m cool with picking at 14 in this draft.

I think the offers right now are (don’t feel like looking to see if salaries match):

Houston: Jalen Green, jock landale, pick 10

Timberwolves: Gobert, donte divincenzo, future 1st,

Spurs: Vassell, Barnes, pick 14

Heat: Wiggins, Duncan Robinson, Jovic, Jaime Jaquez, pick 20

Maybe a few mystery team offers

Suns are just waiting it out. Risky move because teams may not want to play Poker on draft night.

Houston is in the driver’s seat. They’ve got plenty of excess talent they can add to sweeten the pot, not to mention the picks.

San Antonio needs to stick its offer, if this is indeed the offer.

[Jordan Jackson]

The Spurs unofficial spokesman, Don Harris, is saying the Spurs/KD won’t happen.

He doesn’t talk unless the front office gives him permission. So, I lean this way as well.

I will say, including Sochan would not be a deal breaker for me. But if the Spurs value him, more power to them.

[mo7888]

You don't think Durant is worth two 1st's?

Vassell is worth 2 firsts...Sochan is worth at least 1..then 14 + another? That's 5 firsts in value for a 1 year rental.... no thank you...and im a big KD proponent.

[LeBowen]

I will say, including Sochan would not be a deal breaker for me.

Me neither, but KD trade kind of doesn't make sense if we take the "KD is a great mentor for Wemby" out of the equation.
Spurs certainly won't make the conference finals in the upcoming season, after that KD's deal becomes a financial burden.

If we do the KD trade with Sochan, Vassell and Barnes going the other way, we'd have just 7 players under contract for 26-27 season.
Wemby
Keldon
Castle
Champagnie
Harper
KD
Fox

If KD takes another max or close to it and with Fox's extension kicking in, we'd be between 150 and 160 million on the books with salary cap at 170 million. First apron at 195 million.
And obviously 8 roster spaces to fill. Add another solid rookie because hopefully the Hawks will suck and there's no wiggle room other than minimum deals or trading worthless Keldon for similar players.
Then Wemby's extension kicks in and we're ed financially.

Look at the two finals rosters. They got there by outrunning the opposition. Depth is key. 7 or 8 man rotations are a thing of the past in the playoffs, it's impossible to keep up with modern basketball requiring so much running up and down the floor.
You can do it for a couple of series, but there's no chance to win it all without depth.

Just my take, but if we're going with Fox as Wemby's max contract partner before Castle/Harper extensions kick in, we can't add another max contract without losing too much depth.
Wemby will be a top5 player in the league when healthy, Fox is a solid all-star, two young guards have a lot of potential, we just need to surround them with legit 3-D wings and we're good to go.
Then if it doesn't work after a couple of tries moves need to be made.
Making those moves before we got anywhere doesn't make sense, especially with a rookie coach.

[RC_Drunkford]

There's some PR issues here, tbh. Fans are going to see Desmond freaking Bane getting five first round picks. And then next year when Durant helps a team to a deep playoff run, more questions.

I think they just keep him. Why not.

they are not keeping him. They tried to pull a Luka on him at the deadline and the Warriors told KD about it. They owe him one and can't up relationships with player agents, otherwise nobody will go there.

Me neither, but KD trade kind of doesn't make sense if we take the "KD is a great mentor for Wemby" out of the equation.
Spurs certainly won't make the conference finals in the upcoming season, after that KD's deal becomes a financial burden.

If we do the KD trade with Sochan, Vassell and Barnes going the other way, we'd have just 7 players under contract for 26-27 season.
Wemby
Keldon
Castle
Champagnie
Harper
KD
Fox

If KD takes another max or close to it and with Fox's extension kicking in, we'd be between 150 and 160 million on the books with salary cap at 170 million. First apron at 195 million.
And obviously 8 roster spaces to fill. Add another solid rookie because hopefully the Hawks will suck and there's no wiggle room other than minimum deals or trading worthless Keldon for similar players.
Then Wemby's extension kicks in and we're ed financially.

Look at the two finals rosters. They got there by outrunning the opposition. Depth is key. 7 or 8 man rotations are a thing of the past in the playoffs, it's impossible to keep up with modern basketball requiring so much running up and down the floor.
You can do it for a couple of series, but there's no chance to win it all without depth.

Just my take, but if we're going with Fox as Wemby's max contract partner before Castle/Harper extensions kick in, we can't add another max contract without losing too much depth.
Wemby will be a top5 player in the league when healthy, Fox is a solid all-star, two young guards have a lot of potential, we just need to surround them with legit 3-D wings and we're good to go.
Then if it doesn't work after a couple of tries moves need to be made.
Making those moves before we got anywhere doesn't make sense, especially with a rookie coach.

that's not true. I've mapped out this scenario plenty of times. If you think losing Barnes, Vassell, Keldon, Branham and Wesley is losing depth, then you believe in the power of friendship more than the Spurs FO. Typical Spurs fan logic, overvaluing their mediocre prospects.

We can easily trade for KD and add a John Collins or PJ Washington and be off to the races. Still would have some room with the MLE and BAE. Can buy a pick in the low 20s with a bunch of seconds to get a good end of the bench player. Can sign Riley Minnix to a Champagnie deal, etc.

They can turn this roster into a contender in one offseason, if Wright is aggressive enough.

[BacktoBasics]

KD for the 14 pick along with Sochan, Devin and Barnes I’d do all day. I don’t think the Spurs up that much beyond throwing in a handful of those seconds they keep in the ashtray.

No need to overpay for Durant at this point in his career.

That’s awful. Sochan, Barnes and Vassell plus 14 is a bad deal for us. I’m not including Sochan.

You could do a lot better with those 3 players and that pick than a rental of a guy who is moments away from retirement.

[RC_Drunkford]

lol

Again, Wright is playing this perfect. KD took Minny out of the equation. The Suns can leak that "we gon do what's best for the franchise" stuff as much as they want. Once that franchise talks to KD and his agent and he tells them he won't play there, they won't go all in.

All Brian has to do is wait it out and then put some extra sauce on that package and the Suns will bite. They won't wait past draft night to do a deal.

[Ariel]

Vassell is worth 2 firsts...Sochan is worth at least 1..then 14 + another? That's 5 firsts in value for a 1 year rental.... no thank you...and im a big KD proponent.

I don't think anyone around the league currently values Vassell at 2 firsts, not at his contract and not after the past season.

[LeBowen]

that's not true. I've mapped out this scenario plenty of times. If you think losing Barnes, Vassell, Keldon, Branham and Wesley is losing depth, then you believe in the power of friendship more than the Spurs FO. Typical Spurs fan logic, overvaluing their mediocre prospects.

I don't care about losing those players, I just don't think aggregating all those salaries into one player is worth it.
Unless we can get a couple more pieces on really cheap deals like Champagnie.

We can easily trade for KD and add a John Collins or PJ Washington and be off to the races. Still would have some room with the MLE and BAE. Can buy a pick in the low 20s with a bunch of seconds to get a good end of the bench player. Can sign Riley Minnix to a Champagnie deal, etc.

Vassell would be gone in KD deal and Mavs wouldn't want Keldon+garbage without multiple FRPs.
We still wouldn't have a legit backup big, I made a post the other day, it's slim pickings if we're cheaping out.
Riley Minnix wouldn't contribute to actually competing.

Then even if we add Washington, he'd probably ask for a deal in 22-25 million a year range, with Fox's extension kicking in and we're on the verge of luxury tax already.

Post KD trade rotation:
Fox/Harper
Castle/-(irrelevant, 3 guards are enough)
Champagnie/Keldon
KD/(does Jeremy stay?)
Wemby/?

If Jeremy is also gone, we need a backup big and another legit wing.
But if we want Collins or Washington, then Keldon is gone. Which I'd be happy about, but then we'd need another wing for the rotation.

As I said plenty of times, I'd like to ship the entire friendship crew out, but I'd much rather do it for multiple high end role players.
Something like getting PJ Washington, Gafford and Cam Johnson.

Fox/Harper
Castle/-
Cam/Keldon (or Barnes)
Washington/Jeremy
Wemby/Gafford

And we'd have way more flexibility to do another deal at the deadline if we're doing well.
And our long term cap situation would be ideal, without contracts that are difficult to move if Washington and Gafford agree to let's say 40 million combined on their extensions.

[mo7888]

I don't think anyone around the league currently values Vassell at 2 firsts, not at his contract and not after the past season.

Based on what Bane got back, I think they do..

[RC_Drunkford]

The Spurs unofficial spokesman, Don Harris, is saying the Spurs/KD won’t happen.

He doesn’t talk unless the front office gives him permission. So, I lean this way as well.

I will say, including Sochan would not be a deal breaker for me. But if the Spurs value him, more power to them.

you should look at what he's actually saying:

key words: My GUESS remains

He's guessing. He doesn't know.

I don't think this guy is reliable at all, but for fun:

no team in the league is giving them 3 picks tbh.

Then there's this:

[Chillen]

Then there's this:

He won't even finish the season for the Raptors. He will demand out of there if they trade for him. He will be miserable. Only team for a 1 year rental for him he would stay the whole season with I think is Minnesota.

[vy65]

they are not keeping him. They tried to pull a Luka on him at the deadline and the Warriors told KD about it. They owe him one and can't up relationships with player agents, otherwise nobody will go there.



that's not true. I've mapped out this scenario plenty of times. If you think losing Barnes, Vassell, Keldon, Branham and Wesley is losing depth, then you believe in the power of friendship more than the Spurs FO. Typical Spurs fan logic, overvaluing their mediocre prospects.

We can easily trade for KD and add a John Collins or PJ Washington and be off to the races. Still would have some room with the MLE and BAE. Can buy a pick in the low 20s with a bunch of seconds to get a good end of the bench player. Can sign Riley Minnix to a Champagnie deal, etc.

They can turn this roster into a contender in one offseason, if Wright is aggressive enough.

And, who are we adding at roster spots 8-15?

Google AI projects the 26/27 salary cap at $170,112,000, the luxury tax at $206,686,000, the first apron at $215,505,000, and the second apron at $228,572,000. If you assume $160 million as the combined salary of 1-8, you have about $55 million before hitting the first apron. You might have one or two more "large" (15-20MM) contracts, but those remaining roster spots are going to be filed with rookies picked hopefully in the 20s (their salary maxes out at around $3-4MM) and minimum type players.

1-8: 160MM
9: 20MM "large" contract
10: 10MM "medium" contract
11-12: rookies at a combined 8MM
13-15: 3 minimum players making ~4.5MM each

Total = ~211MM

[RC_Drunkford]

I don't care about losing those players, I just don't think aggregating all those salaries into one player is worth it.
Unless we can get a couple more pieces on really cheap deals like Champagnie.



Vassell would be gone in KD deal and Mavs wouldn't want Keldon+garbage without multiple FRPs.
We still wouldn't have a legit backup big, I made a post the other day, it's slim pickings if we're cheaping out.
Riley Minnix wouldn't contribute to actually competing.

Then even if we add Washington, he'd probably ask for a deal in 22-25 million a year range, with Fox's extension kicking in and we're on the verge of luxury tax already.

Post KD trade rotation:
Fox/Harper
Castle/-(irrelevant, 3 guards are enough)
Champagnie/Keldon
KD/(does Jeremy stay?)
Wemby/?

If Jeremy is also gone, we need a backup big and another legit wing.
But if we want Collins or Washington, then Keldon is gone. Which I'd be happy about, but then we'd need another wing for the rotation.

As I said plenty of times, I'd like to ship the entire friendship crew out, but I'd much rather do it for multiple high end role players.
Something like getting PJ Washington, Gafford and Cam Johnson.

Fox/Harper
Castle/-
Cam/Keldon (or Barnes)
Washington/Jeremy
Wemby/Gafford

And we'd have way more flexibility to do another deal at the deadline if we're doing well.
And our long term cap situation would be ideal, without contracts that are difficult to move if Washington and Gafford agree to let's say 40 million combined on their extensions.

This is super easy to navigate. And that's without a Fox discount. KD takes a minimal discount. You might have to pay tax in 27/28, key word: MIGHT. And even then it wouldn't be much.

There's a ton of wiggle room to unlock still and your 10 player rotation would probably be the best in the league. This is too easy with that many rookie contracts on the books. Adding KD and extending Fox ain't hurting this team one bit.

And, who are we adding at roster spots 8-15?

Google AI projects the 26/27 salary cap at $170,112,000, the luxury tax at $206,686,000, the first apron at $215,505,000, and the second apron at $228,572,000. If you assume $160 million as the combined salary of 1-8, you have about $55 million before hitting the first apron. You might have one or two more "large" (15-20MM) contracts, but those remaining roster spots are going to be filed with rookies picked hopefully in the 20s (their salary maxes out at around $3-4MM) and minimum type players.

1-8: 160MM
9: 20MM "large" contract
10: 10MM "medium" contract
11-12: rookies at a combined 8MM
13-15: 3 minimum players making ~4.5MM each

Total = ~211MM

I don't need AI to tell me anything. I can actually do this my damn self.

[LeBowen]

This is super easy to navigate. And that's without a Fox discount. KD takes a minimal discount. You might have to pay tax in 27/28, key word: MIGHT. And even then it wouldn't be much.

There's a ton of wiggle room to unlock still and your 10 player rotation would probably be the best in the league. This is too easy with that many rookie contracts on the books. Adding KD and extending Fox ain't hurting this team one bit.

So your 26-27 rotation is:
Fox/Harper
Castle/-
Champagnie/Sochan
KD/Collins
Wemby/Vukcevic
?

I don't like that.
Not enough shooting and a most likely inadequate backup big.
(Don't say Collins at C because when I suggested it you said he shouldn't play C, even as a backup)

[spurraider21]

[Knoxxx]

Since when are we acquiring Vucevic?

[Chillen]

Any team that trades for him as a 1 year rental and if he does not want to be there he will ask out and demand a trade to one of Spurs, Heat and Rockets. If he does not want to play for T-Wolves he will be absolutely thrilled to be a Raptor, lol. If Raptors want to give the Suns the 9th pick for KD go right ahead.

[Mr. Body]

Kevin Durant wants:

1. Warm weather
2. No income tax

[mo7888]

you should look at what he's actually saying:

key words: My GUESS remains

He's guessing. He doesn't know.

I don't think this guy is reliable at all, but for fun:

no team in the league is giving them 3 picks tbh.

Then there's this:

I think they are the main compe ion. They are the most desperate.

[exstatic]

Feels like it was always some SRPs added to the deal. Phoenix is going to want more, but likely won't get it. They aren't seeing the offers they want. I'd almost just keep Durant at this point.

And lose him for nothing next summer? Not a good idea. Take whatever you can get this summer. 14,Vassell and Barnes is better than Jada.

[RC_Drunkford]

So your 26-27 rotation is:
Fox/Harper
Castle/-
Champagnie/Sochan
KD/Collins
Wemby/Vukcevic
?

I don't like that.
Not enough shooting and a most likely inadequate backup big.
(Don't say Collins at C because when I suggested it you said he shouldn't play C, even as a backup)

Who's the non shooter except Sochan? Harper and Castle are questionable. They would be on your roster as well.

more like

Fox/Harper
Castle
Durant/Champagnie
Collins/Sochan
Wemby

In 2026 we got the ATL swap so you add a rookie. You still got money left for another veteran center. Blake can get a cheap extension if he finally finds a way to put the ball in the basket. Vukcevic might actually develop into a decent stretch big. He shot 37.3% from 3 last season.

Since when are we acquiring Vucevic?

not Bulls' Nikola Vucevic. Tristan Vukcevic from the Wizards. 21 year old stretch big. He's cheap and worth taking a swing on.

[RC_Drunkford]

I'd laugh my ass off if they trade for KD while they got Ingram on the roster

[td4mvp21]

Suns PR working overtime trying to drive the price up

Spurs are rightly standing pat with their Vassell/Barnes/14 offer. It leaked last week that Spurs are KD’s preferred landing spot. You either get KD for the price you want or let Houston overpay to get him.

[cd98]

Seems perfectly lined up for Raptors to trade for Durant on a one year rental. But giving up a lottery pick? Yikes. They aren't winning a le if they get Durant. They are just ruining their lottery changes for next year's draft.