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

[Ice009]

I could see this just being KD and PHX using SA while stirring the pot to up his general trade value or get a non-Spurs suitor to panic and boost their offer. Wonder if Spurs are half considering KD just to keep him off HOU etc lol jk

But agree with others who say it has the same smoke feel as the Fox build up so we will see.

I really don't know. Was just thinking about what you said earlier today. I'm 50/50 on what you said and on it also it being real.

[mystargtr34]

If the trade is Durant for Vassell + Keldon + #14 + a few SRP’s then that leaves the rotation as folllows.

Wemby / FA
Durant / Barnes
Sochan / LaRavia
Castle / Harper
Fox / Harper

That 3 guard rotation of Fox-Castle-Harper leaves plenty of minutes for each.

We know the Spurs need a backup C via FA or trade (Kornet, Capela, Lopez, Adams etc.)

It would be interesting to see what the Spurs do at the forward spots. Sign LaRavia hopefully to fill up one spot with Barnes in the other spot.

That’s a solid lineup, but not sure if Sochan is ready to be a starter on a playoff team or contender with that shakey shot.

You could then make a run at PJ Washington by returning that Dallas pick swap in 2030 and adding Barnes to the deal plus a couple second round picks. Dallas would also have to send Dwight Powell to make salaries work who the Spurs could use as depth.

Now this lineup looks ready to make noise in the playoffs by next season.

Wemby / FA
Durant / LaRavia
PJ Washington / Sochan
Castle / Harper
Fox / Harper

[Ice009]

If the Spurs were to get Durant, a certain name pops out there. I wonder how close he is with Steven Adams. Maybe he could sway Adams to come to the Spurs?

Man, the more I think about it, I think if the Spurs do get him, he's really going to have some pull. You might see some players jump over at discounts.

[exstatic]

If the trade is Durant for Vassell + Keldon + #14 + a few SRP’s then that leaves the rotation as folllows.

Wemby / FA
Durant / Barnes
Sochan / LaRavia
Castle / Harper
Fox / Harper

That 3 guard rotation of Fox-Castle-Harper leaves plenty of minutes for each.

We know the Spurs need a backup C via FA or trade (Kornet, Capela, Lopez, Adams etc.)

It would be interesting to see what the Spurs do at the forward spots. Sign LaRavia hopefully to fill up one spot with Barnes in the other spot.

That’s a solid lineup, but not sure if Sochan is ready to be a starter on a playoff team or contender with that shakey shot.

You could then make a run at PJ Washington by returning that Dallas pick swap in 2030 and adding Barnes to the deal plus a couple second round picks. Dallas would also have to send Dwight Powell to make salaries work who the Spurs could use as depth.

Now this lineup looks ready to make noise in the playoffs by next season.

Wemby / FA
Durant / LaRavia
PJ Washington / Sochan
Castle / Harper
Fox / Harper

If PHO is offloading Durant for Pennie’s, they’re going to want short contracts, Barnes, not Keldon. They’re already eating 4 years of Vassell.

[tbdog]

I know the rumour is Vassell, but I think the Spurs will offer Keldon and a better pick or 2 for Durant instead.

[Russ]

If the trade is Durant for Vassell + Keldon + #14 + a few SRP’s then that leaves the rotation as folllows.

That seems like a bit of an overpay.

Let the D. Fox trade be your guide.

Maybe #14 (I would even be hesitant there) plus either Vassell or KJ. Max.

It's not like Phoenix holds that many cards (to paraphrase our gutter-dwelling prez).

[exstatic]

I know the rumour is Vassell, but I think the Spurs will offer Keldon and a better pick or 2 for Durant instead.

Vassell is needed for salary purposes, and to clear shots and touches for Harper.

[thOOdee]

I could see this just being KD and PHX using SA while stirring the pot to up his general trade value or get a non-Spurs suitor to panic and boost their offer. Wonder if Spurs are half considering KD just to keep him off HOU etc lol jk

But agree with others who say it has the same smoke feel as the Fox build up so we will see.

either way win win. Houston can be a legit thorn in our side if they play their cards right. If this causes them to overpay, awesome.

[objective]

I'd be fine with offering the ATL 27 instead of the 14 this year

East is hard to stay out of the play-in mix because of all the bad teams and I think Jalen Johnson and Risacher will be even better then ... Don't feel great about that pick. Plus there's a bunch of guys I like at 14 this year

[Ice009]

I'd be fine with offering the ATL 27 instead of the 14 this year

East is hard to stay out of the play-in mix because of all the bad teams and I think Jalen Johnson and Risacher will be even better then ... Don't feel great about that pick. Plus there's a bunch of guys I like at 14 this year

Like another poster has said throughout this season, they're a Trae Young injury away from the lottery. I think Trae played most of the games this season and they barely made it. Their second best player was out for a while, though, but that just shows their still a ways from being elite.
Do you guys think they're a top 6 team if fully healthy as they're constructed currently?

[mo7888]

Like another poster has said throughout this season, they're a Trae Young injury away from the lottery. I think Trae played most of the games this season and they barely made it. Their second best player was out for a while, though, but that just shows their still a ways from being elite.
Do you guys think they're a top 6 team if fully healthy as they're constructed currently?

As currently constructed, I think they are between 8 and 12 in the eastern conference

[cd98]

I think Tre Young is eligible for the supermax. If the Mavs traded Luka, I don’t know why Atlanta wouldn’t trade Young. I think Young is a great player but not a supermax…if he gets it, it won’t age well.

[SpursBills]

Lmao it's not a routine. It's just basic common sense.

This ain't NBA2K. You can't just throw players together and see pixels move on a screen. Someone up there said Durant takes Keldon and Vassell's shots... That's not how it works. Those are role player shots, third and fourth options on kick-outs and other actions. Durant isn't using the same shot diet. At all.

It's already a problem that Castle and Harper want the same actions to get going (primarily ball screens top of the key extended) and that Fox also wants to get into the paint.

Durant with Castle-Fox-Wembanyama works. The problem is that there's no clear avenue to get Harper to develop properly. And squeezing your crossed fingers together and dreaming in EA Sports ain't gonna do it.

These are all reasonable concerns.

Let me ask you this then - based on what you see, in your opinion, does Harper with Castle-Fox-Wembanyama work? It seems like your issue is more with the Harper-Castle fit than anything to do with Durant. Would you advocate for trading out of 2 for a lower lottery pick and additional assets?

Personally, I subscribe a little bit to the Chinook model here. Love what Harper brings, but it's not necessarily wrong for the first year for him to work on some of his very glaring weaknesses that he showed this year - re-learning how to be a good defender (since I think he was decent in high school), utilizing his frame to become a good rebounder, being able to take advantage of a bent defense rather than being forced to create something against a set defense. In order to truly become a good primary option, he has to develop a pull up jumper and something like that is going to take several years for him to develop. You've compared him to Harden in the past, but Harden also came off the bench for several years in OKC and was known as a a good off-ball player and defender in his OKC years. The same holds for Castle, who I'm hoping plays a bit more like how he did at the beginning of the year next year as a big utility guard, continuing to work on his off-ball game, and bringing his on-ball stuff along more gradually.

Additionally, and this may be wishful thinking on my part, but I'm hoping that Durant's trajectory resembles something like Dirk's later years where his usage tailed off gradually around his age 35 season. I would also say that if you are utilizing KD as a pure play-finisher, his usage may continue to be high but his time of possession can be reduced to allow the guards room to create.

Again, I think your concerns are valid, but I think there is probably a way to develop Harper while still incorporating KD to thread the developmental needle.

[objective]

Like another poster has said throughout this season, they're a Trae Young injury away from the lottery. I think Trae played most of the games this season and they barely made it. Their second best player was out for a while, though, but that just shows their still a ways from being elite.
Do you guys think they're a top 6 team if fully healthy as they're constructed currently?

They had serious non-Trae injuries this season and only gave the Spurs the 14th pick.

They were even 4-2 in the 6 games he missed, I wouldn't say that a Snyder coached team is ever in danger of being that terrible. I do think they're an easy playoff team in the East if healthy. Sure they probably lose Capela in free agency, but they still have picks 13 & 21 to work with

And if PHX wants that pick instead to get the deal done then I'm fine with it. Sure there's a risk it becomes the #1 pick, but it could also be the 16th pick with no chance to move up. And it gets the Spurs Kevin Durant now. Having to give something to get something is normal, they can't all be Rasheed or Mourning trades where teams got a lot less than the Kings got for Fox

[tbdog]

You can put protections on the swaps.

[kht]

How much better is KD than Vassell? Can Vassell get any better? Phoenix should jump all over this if Vassell/KJ/#14 are on the table...

[Mnky]

Holy , no. C'mon. You're not drafting Harper to stick him on the bench for three years (at least), walling him off from being able to develop.

You people are being just -tier stupid about this. I'm not against considering Durant, but with him you already have three players who are around 30 percent usage rate right now. Castle might need another 20 percent. Already, even without Harper, and with Durant, you need things to give somehow.

So where does Harper develop? Huh?

You're just being goddamn ing dumb.

Him being the leader of the bench unit would be way more development than him playing next to wemby, castle, and fox, if you want a usage rate.

Once again, KD affects absolutely nothing in either scenario. Whether he's there or not.

[John B]

How much better is KD than Vassell? Can Vassell get any better? Phoenix should jump all over this if Vassell/KJ/#14 are on the table...

Trading Vassell is necessary to clear minutes for Harper. Also Vassell’s stock would take a hit sharing minutes. Spurs should trade while the iron is hot. But I’m not too crazy for a 2-yrs rental KD, especially if it includes #14. I think this draft is deep on solid role players like a Naz Reid defensive type player even at #14, Bryant, Fleming, Essengue, or if they want to go big Sorber. I rather they use future FRP’s, ATL swap, etc instead.

[objective]

Anyone who has hope of Harper playing legit minutes better hope for a Vassell trade. Durant, Collins, PJ, whoever, but Vassell is bad news for Harper time and on ball development

[cutewizard]

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Sir Kevin, Apollo reincarnated......please arrive at Spursland! See you mega-archer!!!!!!!!!!!

[cutewizard]

By gawd, what an awesome sight it would be...........

One of the absolutely greatest players of all time, to mentor Wemby.........

[spursistan]

26/6/4 on 64.% TS guys don't grow on trees-- much less coming off multiple knee injuries and an Achilles.

KD's longevity is vastly underrated; it is even more impressive than Lebron's IMO. Just an insanely skilled scorer and the most adept plug-and-play superstar we've ever seen. Durant would be perfectly cast in the Spurs and can shed off Option 1/Team Leader responsibilities (He isn't cut for the latter). Everyone knows it is Wemby's team on both counts, which would help ease the scoring pressure off him and lead him to expand more energy on the other end (especially team rebounding and even rim protection like in his GSW days). Suns going 3-17 without him is more of a reflection of (a) Booker being a fugazi franchise first option player, (b) their flawed supporting cast, and (c) Bud's atrocious coaching year which also included a debacle on the interpersonal side.

If KD costs you Vassell + 14 (plus flotsam seconds), it is a no brainer. The only issue is negotiating a reasonable extension.

[cutewizard]

Durant
Harper
Steven Adams (or equivalent back-up center)
Back up power forward

And we are super compe ive

Do itttttttttttttttttt Spurs Head office please...............

[benefactor]

How much better is KD than Vassell?

[Frenchfred]

the only difficulty with KD is managing egos. Not everybody is going to score 20+ PPG in the team and some player are playing for their contract (Castle and Harper mostly) so they might feel that KD's presence is going to impact how much money they can make. That's on the coach to manage minutes properly to avoid that problem. With Fox, Castle, Harper, KD and Wemby, you have potential scoring threats and you should have two of them all the time on the floor