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

[RC_Drunkford]

well there's always John Collins

I wonder what the Spurs have lined up for #14 that made them not wanting to include it in a KD trade

[scott]

Tried to find some Aldama info on Grizzlies subreddit and it seems they think he'll be gone in a S&T.
I wonder if we could get it done without including #14.

70/4 would be a great deal for us.

We can't execute a S&T until the FA period starts anyway, so #14 shouldn't play into any Santi discussions.

As for compensation, we've picked up FRPs (the CHI pick) and FRP Swaps (the SAC 2031) for facilitating S&Ts in the past (ironically, both for Demar), but that seems like an FRP might be too much of a price here. There is only one team who is an outright threat to sign Santi (BKN, though I guess DET could maybe work things around to offer him around $17MM/yr if they wanted)... so there isn't a ton of leverage for MEM to extract a lot of capital out of a S&T team.

The unfortunately thing is that if MEM is interested in S&T'ing Santi in order to save money, then that gives a team like ATL a leg up because they could use their TPE. Barnes would probably be our best trade asset for a potential Santi S&T as an expiring... maybe HB + some SRPs? MEM might value those SRPs as they have a strong history of turning them into real players.

I'd like to keep HB... but it seems like he is going to be a key to upgrading our forwards unless we find someone that really values 4 years of Devin Vassell. Devin might actually have some interest to MEM since they lost Bane... but my guess is they don't want the long term money.

[scott]

lol. I'll have to try and find it and watch it again as I only watched it once back then and the comments said it was FVV, so I'd been thinking it was him all these years .

Man... it's time to move on lol

[Spurs Homer]

Thanks to the universe...
i am amazed that people here still dont see KD as already having fallen off the cliff and built him up to somehow be a very valuable piece...
i dont see it...

also- wemby has to be top dog here - no ifs,ands, or buts - putting an aging KD on the court next to wemby was kinda counter-productive imo - i know the experts imagined some kind of magic - but i doubt it would have been good for wemby..

finally, glad to keep barnes, sochan and even keldon ...

but maybe there is still a chance vassell and the #14 pick are used for a good veteran?

[dubross]

If you don’t trade vassell, sochan and a late lottery pick for KD what can that package get realistically? I don’t really see vassell and sochan(especially if he can’t shoot a reliable 3) in the future for the spurs. I would have been reluctant to include Sochan but he wouldn’t have been a deal breaker.

---

[KobesAchilles]

Either way this coming season is not a development season. It is a make the ing playoffs or bust season. Not play-in. Not well we won 40 games so we are growing. We need to make the ing playoffs. 8 seasons in a row for not making the playoffs needs to get some people fired.

This roster needs a shake up badly. And if they want to go all in next year on the shake up and take an extra year to see that Devin still is a No-D chucker and Sochan is a pussy when it comes to shooting open 3s that’s their prerogative I guess. But don’t try to chicken your way of admitting the FO made mistakes with these players by saying well the Spurs are young and developing. Bc I’ve seen zero development from any of the pre-Wemby players.

Also this chicken excuse of we are young needs to stop too. Idgaf about how young are players are when all the other young teams with talent except ours is making the playoffs.

[lefty]

Thank you Rockets

[exstatic]

Allegedly. There is no credible report that says that he is suffering from Long Covid.

Officially, he was suffering from post-viral syndrome. Treatment mostly means long rest, which is what a long offseason is supposed to provide to an athlete. In any case, a trade like this would always mean taking physicals and checking if he has recovered. The Spurs' due diligence can establish if he has recovered or not.

HIPAA.

[Ice009]

Man... it's time to move on lol

Yeah, might just be . Just when I see FVV I sort of remember that video and say "F-that guy" (outside of that, I don't care about him at all) as I thought it was super disrespectful if he did say that. Like, really, any of those guys should have been saying "Thank you, Pop" for trading Kawhi there in the first place, otherwise, they'd be ring less.

[LeBowen]

If you don’t trade vassell, sochan and a high lottery pick for KD what can that package get realistically? I don’t really see vassell and sochan(especially if he can’t shoot a reliable 3) in the future for the spurs. I would have been reluctant to include Sochan but he wouldn’t have been a deal breaker.

We're looking for legit forwards with size and reliable 3pt, not for another star.
The list should be something like Cam Johnson, PJ Washington, John Collins, Santi Aldama, then FA targets like LaRavia, Merrill, NAW.
And a legit backup for Wemby.

[LeBowen]

Man... it's time to move on lol

How about Markkanen or Murphy?

[spursistan]

He's a kid who likes to troll and is obviously very affected by the news around him... which to me is a sign of mental softness... the same kind of that leads dudes like KD (ironically enough) to have burner accounts. IMO.

Sochan is the biggest false image on the team. He thinks his hair-dying shtick, on-court theatrics, and childish twitter trolling can mask this very truth. Notice how he leaks out a shooting/practice video every time there a big trade buzz that might involve him so as to say :"i'm improving/i'm taking the next step. don't trade me!".. Contrast his behavior to how off social media radar Castle is. His X account is dormant while he puts in the work during the offseason. Give me a silent assassin over someone who is morphing into another Lance Stephenson -- a persona speaking with their antics rather than letting their game talk..

[objective]

Spurs probably weren't going to beat a Houston offer. Even putting in Sochan I guess would have triggered Houston to add more also.

BUT

Now B.Wright needs to step it up and get John Collins or PJ Washington on this team.

I understand it might take until draft night to see if someone Utah likes slides to 14, but they have to get frontcourt talent that isn't elderly and maxxed out.

[scott]

How about Markkanen or Murphy?

I'm always on board for 100+ pages of TMIII talk... but I'm not gonna waste brainwaves on Lauri anymore with his contract and the price Ainge will likely still want. The Dunc'd On Mock Offseason talked a bit about this and how Ainge will probably think Lauri is worth 4 FRPs based on the Bane deal. Unsurprisingly, no one was interested in trading for him.

[scott]

Sochan is the biggest false image on the team. He thinks his hair-dying shtick, on-court theatrics, and childish twitter trolling can mask this very truth. Notice how he leaks out a shooting/practice video every time there a big trade buzz that might involve him so as to stay "i'm improving/i'm taking the next step. don't trade me!".. Contrast his behavior to how off social media radar Castle is. His X account is dormant while he puts in the work during the offseason. Give me a silent assassin over a someone who is morphing into another Lance Stephenson -- a persona speaking with their antics rather than letting their game talk..

Preach! Everyone here rightfully hates Dillon Brooks... but Dillon's bull is at least backed up by being a better, more impactful player than Jeremy Sochan. I just hate how Jeremy is a persona before he's a basketball player. Should be the other way around. Jeremy hasn't earned it yet.

[Mr. Body]

Sochan is the biggest false image on the team. He thinks his hair-dying shtick, on-court theatrics, and childish twitter trolling can mask this very truth. Notice how he leaks out a shooting/practice video every time there a big trade buzz that might involve him so as to say :"i'm improving/i'm taking the next step. don't trade me!".. Contrast his behavior to how off social media radar Castle is. His X account is dormant while he puts in the work during the offseason. Give me a silent assassin over a someone who is morphing into another Lance Stephenson -- a persona speaking with their antics rather than letting their game talk..

lol these takes are so stupid

[LeBowen]

Preach! Everyone here rightfully hates Dillon Brooks... but Dillon's bull is at least backed up by being a better, more impactful player than Jeremy Sochan. I just hate how Jeremy is a persona before he's a basketball player. Should be the other way around. Jeremy hasn't earned it yet.

As I said many times, how many Spurs fans would actually value Jeremy if not for Rodman cosplay?
The best thing he's got going for him is that we don't have a single 6'7-6'10 wing who's a positive defender.

[djohn2oo8]

Sure, but they’re still in a great spot. Great young core with Sengun/Amen/Jabari/Eason/Sheppard, still plenty of future draft capital, very solid young coach, and no long-term contracts that appear to be awful. Obviously you’d rather not whiff on a 2nd pick but I doubt their FO or fanbase is too upset at the moment.

Yeah. Just getting rid of Green is addition by subtraction.

[Mr. Body]

Either way this coming season is not a development season. It is a make the ing playoffs or bust season. Not play-in. Not well we won 40 games so we are growing. We need to make the ing playoffs. 8 seasons in a row for not making the playoffs needs to get some people fired.

This roster needs a shake up badly. And if they want to go all in next year on the shake up and take an extra year to see that Devin still is a No-D chucker and Sochan is a pussy when it comes to shooting open 3s that’s their prerogative I guess. But don’t try to chicken your way of admitting the FO made mistakes with these players by saying well the Spurs are young and developing. Bc I’ve seen zero development from any of the pre-Wemby players.

Also this chicken excuse of we are young needs to stop too. Idgaf about how young are players are when all the other young teams with talent except ours is making the playoffs.

Goddamn are you a crybaby. They made their big move in the middle of the season. Goddamn. What the kind of shakeup do you ing want? Lauri Markannen? Lmfao. This team is making the playoffs next year. Jesus Christ.

[BacktoBasics]

Preach! Everyone here rightfully hates Dillon Brooks... but Dillon's bull is at least backed up by being a better, more impactful player than Jeremy Sochan. I just hate how Jeremy is a persona before he's a basketball player. Should be the other way around. Jeremy hasn't earned it yet.

I think that’s a bit unreasonable. It’s not like it’s one or the other. The idea that you can’t have a personality until you’ve reached an imaginary level of basketball skill is kinda ridiculous.

I find Sochan to be significantly better than Vassell and I completely understand why they wouldn’t want to package him in that trade for a guy who is probably in his last two years and likely to not give you over 55 games.

Out of Sochan, Vassell and Keldon I think it’s obvious that Sochan is the only one who will positively impact the team next season or at the very least be the most impactful of the 3.

There are other trades out there and I’m somewhat relieved to not have Durant.

I had visions of him missing big stretches of the season while the team gels only for him to come back at pivotal moments and wreck any cohesiveness by being as big of a black hole as Keldon is.

[LeBowen]

Out of Sochan, Vassell and Keldon I think it’s obvious that Sochan is the only one who will positively impact the team next season or at the very least be the most impactful of the 3.

So far the only truth and the objective thing we can go with is that neither of them is a positive contributor.
At the end of 23-24 season we went 4-4 against good teams with all three of them being shut down because we tried to tank.
This season we were actually doing really well with Champagnie starting while both Jeremy and Devin were out.
Then Mitch had to shove those two into lineups that didn't really make sense and we started losing games in worst possible ways.

Keldon is what he is, this is his peak ability. Subpar player.
Other two can maybe improve in the right environment and roster construction.
Wemby can play with anyone, but we also have an all-star point guard who's not a good shooter and two more 6'5 players who also aren't a great fit with those three.

We'll be trying to make the playoffs and shoving Devin/Jeremy into lineups that make players who should be prioritized over them uncomfortable isn't the way to go.
Does that mean Devin and Jeremy can't be great somewhere else? No, but sometimes role players just don't fit the roster, it's just how basketball works.

[scott]

I think that’s a bit unreasonable. It’s not like it’s one or the other. The idea that you can’t have a personality until you’ve reached an imaginary level of basketball skill is kinda ridiculous.

I find Sochan to be significantly better than Vassell and I completely understand why they wouldn’t want to package him in that trade for a guy who is probably in his last two years and likely to not give you over 55 games.

Out of Sochan, Vassell and Keldon I think it’s obvious that Sochan is the only one who will positively impact the team next season or at the very least be the most impactful of the 3.

There are other trades out there and I’m somewhat relieved to not have Durant.

I had visions of him missing big stretches of the season while the team gels only for him to come back at pivotal moments and wreck any cohesiveness by being as big of a black hole as Keldon is.

It's one thing to have personality, it's another thing to be a Brooks/Sochan/Draymond type villain-type character. That's what, IMO, Sochan hasn't earned. If he played for another other team, he'd be exactly the type of player that Spurs fans hate (very much like Brooks and Green).

That is a different matter than what I perceive to be his mental softness. That is probably just the insecurity of youth and he can certainly grow out of that.

[exstatic]

Harper is irrelevant to keldon imo because he better not be on the bench past the beginning of the season

I am not a Sochan believer. Devin is a shooter who can't shoot

Devin I career .369
Devin II career .354

Can you figure out which one is Vassell, and can you identify the other Devin?

[LeBowen]

Devin I career .369
Devin II career .354

Can you figure out which one is Vassell, and can you identify the other Devin?

The thing is that Booker is a first/second option 25ppg+ scorer on above average TS% while also averaging 7 assists per game.
We're trying to develop Vassell into an off the ball shooter.

[scott]

We'll be trying to make the playoffs and shoving Devin/Jeremy into lineups that make players who should be prioritized over them uncomfortable isn't the way to go.
Does that mean Devin and Jeremy can't be great somewhere else? No, but sometimes role players just don't fit the roster, it's just how basketball works.

This is the best summation for me. Devin and Jeremy are role players, and they can be valuable in the right situations and roster constructions... but it doesn't appear that we have one of those situations/constructions.

For example, earlier today when Chinook suggested we should sign NAW to start at SG so that Jeremy can fit. This pushes Castle and Harper, both players better than Sochan, to a bench role just so we can make Sochan fit. This idea just seems crazy to me. Devin and Jeremy aren't good enough to build around... Wemby/Fox/Castle/Harper are those guys. Everyone else needs to fit, or they don't have a place on this team.