Houston got those picks to go after 28 YO Booker, not a soon to be expring 36 YO Kevin Durant.
Well I sure hope this is how Rockets think and keep holding these picks for a hypothetical while their players get more expensive and Booker is still in Phoenix. Once the picks begin conveying they’ll lose their value.
As for the Suns, as long as Ishbia doesn’t pull a Prokhorov, they’ll be decent for the next few years. They can retool around Booker.
25 is a complicated swap option. 27 is an outright PHO pick, and 29 is the best two of their own, Dallas, and Phoenix. KD is ing gone,probably this summer, but NLT 2026. Book will probably ask out when KD gets traded. If you’re Houston, you twist the knife a bit by swapping and using this year’s pick. Phoenix can still retrieve their 27 and 29 picks, and all three if they don’t get stupid and stubborn this summer, by flipping Book to Houston. They’re toast,and have no way to improve the team without owning their picks. I just don’t see Durant bringing back much in trade.
This team with KD is not a contender
As recently as a few weeks ago I was onboard with giving up say 2 picks and contracts for Durant, but interest is waning. Maybe give up one pick (27 and beyond) is where I'd draw the line now.
Three vets (CP3, Barnes, and say Durant) is my max for next season, otherwise keep'em young.
Booker is not staying after Durant leaves in the summer.
If KD stays, then Booker is surely gone in 2026.
If they can retool with assets they get for KD, maybe he stays.
I agree. Trading KD wouldn't be about tearing everything down, it would be trying to gather assets to build long-term around Booker while waiting for Beal's contract to end.
The Suns will still get soaked in the round trip on KD, but he's a sunk cost at this point.
Retool around Booker with what? Half their picks are gone and the other half will be in the late 20s.
37 Year Old Durant isn't going to get them much. I don't think two picks + crap matching salary would be them getting soaked tbh, they blew the last years of his prime and they'll get nothing remotely in the ballpark of what they paid for him. They were stupid for not sending Booker to Houston last week and then getting what they could for Durant, who is worth way less this summer than he was last week.
Why would Booker be gone if KD stays?
EDIT: My bad, read that wrong
Anything they could get back this summer is more than they would get in 2026 when he can just walk in free agency. They are so asset-bare in terms of picks that each pick they can receive carries a lot of value to them.
I can kind of understand them not valuing picks though when you look at their draft history: Ayton, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Jarrett Culver, Marquiss Chriss, Jalen Smith all with top 10 picks
They’re not going together a lot for a 36 YO with one year left on his deal.
PHO never made the playoffs with Booker as their focus, no matter how much he shot or scored.
37 YO next year
What about if vASSell is gone though?
I think Ishiba is exactly the kind of owner to see how Houston has leverage on him and just say " these guys" and not deal with them out of spite. If he could just find another owner who is stupid enough to think KD is the difference maker for them to take a next step, he can get enough back (in players, not picks) to retool around Booker and stay on the treadmill to over Houston and be just good enough to sell out the stadium every night.I can kind of understand them not valuing picks though when you look at their draft history: Ayton, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Jarrett Culver, Marquiss Chriss, Jalen Smith all with top 10 picks
Here are some fringe teams who might be see KD as someone who can take their franchise to a next level in the short run and might foolishly give up some long term upside for 2-3 years of KD. These are the kinds of teams that may not measure success in Championships (and honestly I'm kind of afraid we might become one of those teams) but instead just want to make the playoffs most years, sell out the stadium for a few extra games, and be an exciting pastime that the community adores.
Spotrac Trade Machine isn't yet set up for Off-Season mode, so I didn't form full packages but the moves below would be the hypothetical centerpiece of deals.
ORLANDO. This is the first team that comes to mind. And mind you, I think this would be a stupid trade by the Magic but I could see them doing it and selling to the fanbase the arrival of an all-time great star. Magic get KD, Suns get Franz. This isn't quite as bad as Luka for AD, but it's pretty close. You suggest something like this to anyone and they immediately think it's absurd, but when you think about it... can't you see ORL doing something like this? ORL has a lot of really good young talent, but they are constructed rather poorly. I'm not sure that Paolo and Franz are a great fit next to one another, and certainly not with Suggs as the 3rd cog in the machine.
ATLANTA. As we know, the Hawks have zero incentive to be bad in the short term, and they may instead have a heavy incentive to want to keep their face of the franchise happy so he'll extend. Hawks get KD, Suns get Jalen Johnson and Okongwu. Again, extremely short sighted, but I could see something like this happening. If the Hawks could pair this with using the SAC pick on someone like Malauch... now they've got a happy Trae and a Trae/Daniels/Risacher/Durant/Malauch starting 5 to try to make the playoffs with in a weak east.
MINNESOTA. The Wolves were rumored to be making a late push for KD at the deadline. Gobert + Dillingham for KD? This keeps PHX compe ive at least.
These are just a few examples. The bigger impediment to PHX's ability to stay compe ive is Beal IMOPHX for ever taking him on
i dont see the hawks scenario at all tbh. johnson just turned 23. no shot theyre moving him
I would normally agree, but I also just watched Luka Doncic get traded for Anthony Davis. "No shot [thing happens]" is no longer part of my lexicon.
For Atlanta,I think Ishiba is exactly the kind of owner to see how Houston has leverage on him and just say " these guys" and not deal with them out of spite. If he could just find another owner who is stupid enough to think KD is the difference maker for them to take a next step, he can get enough back (in players, not picks) to retool around Booker and stay on the treadmill to over Houston and be just good enough to sell out the stadium every night.
Here are some fringe teams who might be see KD as someone who can take their franchise to a next level in the short run and might foolishly give up some long term upside for 2-3 years of KD. These are the kinds of teams that may not measure success in Championships (and honestly I'm kind of afraid we might become one of those teams) but instead just want to make the playoffs most years, sell out the stadium for a few extra games, and be an exciting pastime that the community adores.
Spotrac Trade Machine isn't yet set up for Off-Season mode, so I didn't form full packages but the moves below would be the hypothetical centerpiece of deals.
ORLANDO. This is the first team that comes to mind. And mind you, I think this would be a stupid trade by the Magic but I could see them doing it and selling to the fanbase the arrival of an all-time great star. Magic get KD, Suns get Franz. This isn't quite as bad as Luka for AD, but it's pretty close. You suggest something like this to anyone and they immediately think it's absurd, but when you think about it... can't you see ORL doing something like this? ORL has a lot of really good young talent, but they are constructed rather poorly. I'm not sure that Paolo and Franz are a great fit next to one another, and certainly not with Suggs as the 3rd cog in the machine.
ATLANTA. As we know, the Hawks have zero incentive to be bad in the short term, and they may instead have a heavy incentive to want to keep their face of the franchise happy so he'll extend. Hawks get KD, Suns get Jalen Johnson and Okongwu. Again, extremely short sighted, but I could see something like this happening. If the Hawks could pair this with using the SAC pick on someone like Malauch... now they've got a happy Trae and a Trae/Daniels/Risacher/Durant/Malauch starting 5 to try to make the playoffs with in a weak east.
MINNESOTA. The Wolves were rumored to be making a late push for KD at the deadline. Gobert + Dillingham for KD? This keeps PHX compe ive at least.
These are just a few examples. The bigger impediment to PHX's ability to stay compe ive is Beal IMO
You actually thinking a 2 for 1 (starter) swap for KD makes them better? They'd need to replace that depth with money they don't have.
The other two teams are lateral moves at best. Orlando is no way giving up their homegrown talent for 1-2 years of Durant.
After the dust settles, the Spurs are the most willingly team with the most to offer behind the Rockets after being convinced in this thread.
He can try to us over all he wants. We still have his picks.I think Ishiba is exactly the kind of owner to see how Houston has leverage on him and just say " these guys" and not deal with them out of spite. If he could just find another owner who is stupid enough to think KD is the difference maker for them to take a next step, he can get enough back (in players, not picks) to retool around Booker and stay on the treadmill to over Houston and be just good enough to sell out the stadium every night.
Here are some fringe teams who might be see KD as someone who can take their franchise to a next level in the short run and might foolishly give up some long term upside for 2-3 years of KD. These are the kinds of teams that may not measure success in Championships (and honestly I'm kind of afraid we might become one of those teams) but instead just want to make the playoffs most years, sell out the stadium for a few extra games, and be an exciting pastime that the community adores.
Spotrac Trade Machine isn't yet set up for Off-Season mode, so I didn't form full packages but the moves below would be the hypothetical centerpiece of deals.
ORLANDO. This is the first team that comes to mind. And mind you, I think this would be a stupid trade by the Magic but I could see them doing it and selling to the fanbase the arrival of an all-time great star. Magic get KD, Suns get Franz. This isn't quite as bad as Luka for AD, but it's pretty close. You suggest something like this to anyone and they immediately think it's absurd, but when you think about it... can't you see ORL doing something like this? ORL has a lot of really good young talent, but they are constructed rather poorly. I'm not sure that Paolo and Franz are a great fit next to one another, and certainly not with Suggs as the 3rd cog in the machine.
ATLANTA. As we know, the Hawks have zero incentive to be bad in the short term, and they may instead have a heavy incentive to want to keep their face of the franchise happy so he'll extend. Hawks get KD, Suns get Jalen Johnson and Okongwu. Again, extremely short sighted, but I could see something like this happening. If the Hawks could pair this with using the SAC pick on someone like Malauch... now they've got a happy Trae and a Trae/Daniels/Risacher/Durant/Malauch starting 5 to try to make the playoffs with in a weak east.
MINNESOTA. The Wolves were rumored to be making a late push for KD at the deadline. Gobert + Dillingham for KD? This keeps PHX compe ive at least.
These are just a few examples. The bigger impediment to PHX's ability to stay compe ive is Beal IMO
That's the thing... he won't care. Enjoy the 20th pick in the draft.
I still think there is a high likelihood that HOU and PHX end up doing some kind of deal for either KD or Booker, but all the time in this league people say things like "scenario X is inventible because team A has no other choice" and then something else completely happens.
Expect the unexpected.
Vegas loves to make us the most likely destination for just about everyone... but we're not even sniffing the top of the charts on this one
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