And yet... Mikal Bridges and Ayton are both in the Phoenix- Nets trade talk.... https://www.si.com/fannation/nba/fa...-the-nets-could-pursue-involving-kevin-durant
I doubt Phoenix gives in on Bridges, but it’s possible if they think Durant will let Boston or Toronto into the conversation. Miami ain’t giving up Bam so I think Phoenix will trump their offers.
I wouldn't count out Miami and Pat Riley making a competitive offer; they can always get a third team involved
Don’t see how unless somebody really wants a worn out Lowry. By the way, the SI article is pure speculation nothing says Phoenix is throwing Bridges into the mix. Of course, they could if they are worried about being out bid. If I were the Nets I’d be hitting up Toronto and Boston really hard. Boston might do Jaylen Brown and other assets for Durant since they will have to extend Brown next year and they are so close to being a champion.
The reason the Nets are screwed is because they HAVE to trade Durant now and the only teams interested would be contenders.....and contenders aren't going to give up anyone that is THAT good for a 58 year old KD because it would hurt their team....and the whole purpose is to make their team better. Now sure, they can give the Nets picks, but they are likely to be pretty late first round picks unless it's a team with a very short window.
Brooklyn absolutely can just hold Durant hostage if his preferred teams aren't playing ball and are only offering table scraps. If they play hardball he will expand his list or Phoenix will cave. Or possibly some other team will be willing to roll the dice like OKC and Toronto did with no guarantees from the star himself. Durant isn't a kid anymore, is he willing to pout for his last few prime years? Brooklyn can't f**k this up, and there's simply no incentive to settle.
If they attempt to hold him hostage, all he has to do is pull a Harden and intentionally sabotage the team....I'm sure Kyrie would be down for that. They don't control their own first round pick, so if they tank their play, it won't even help the team get a better pick. KD has no incentive NOT to sabotage the Nets, they aren't going to contend for anything so the ONLY thing he wants from them is a trade. They are, as one poster said, bent over a barrel.
They have a pick swap next season, unless we get really good all of a sudden, they do have incentive to lose next year. Sabotage away.
If your top 2 stars are sabotaging the team, you could very well end up deep in the lottery.....and the Rockets could contend for a play in spot. That opens up the possibility of the Nets "winning" the lottery, only to hand that pick to the Rockets in exchange for a middle first round pick......while making your own franchise look bad in the eyes of the top talent in the league. The Nets really have no leverage here.....and they put themselves in this spot.
Seems pretty unlikely that the Nets will be really bad and the Rockets go from straight seasons of last place to competing in the play in spot with 7 FRP over the last two years. Nets do have leverage, they don't have to settle on a poopoo platter package when Durant is a on 4 year deal.
We could be bad and they could be bad also. Doubles our chances of Victor. Can you imagine if we got the 4th pick and the nets got the 1st pick.
SMH @ some of these deals being kicked around. Unless someone dramatically overpays for 33 year old KD w/the injury history, and load management, then... I understand the allure of Ayton, but the Heat have Herro, who is going to be a big time star. Don't count out Pat Riley. Wherever he goes, it's a massive gamble on a small window.
If KD and Kyrie intentionally sabotage the team because they are being held hostage, it's pretty likely they'll be REALLY bad. As to the Rockets, perhaps you have no faith in the talent they've drafted, but most teams don't stay REALLY bad after drafting legitimate top talent for a few years in a row.....and I'm not saying they'd win 50 games.
Big IF that the Nets would allow both of them to hold them hostage when there is a competitive market for KD. Most teams don't go from two straight last place seasons to the playoffs.
Well I definitely don't think they would actually hold them hostage, that was my point, that they have no choice but to trade them.....and teams know that. The only teams that would be realistically in on a trade are teams looking to win immediately, which means they won't be trading any major talent away to get him, mostly picks. The OKC Thunder went from back to back 20 win seasons to 50+ wins when they drafted KD and Westbrook. I'm not saying Green and Smith are on that level, but if a core of Green, Smith, KPJ, and Sengun can't get AT LEAST 30+ wins, the Rockets needs to start reconsidering everything about the talent level of the players they picked. Hell just getting Luka transformed the Mavs from a 24 win team to a 33 win team. Hopefully the combination of Green and Smith are almost as good as just getting Luka.
What goes around comes around. Durant is doing to the Nets what Harden did to the Rockets, in order to get to the Nets.
I think the point was that the swap in 23 still doubles our chances at getting #1 if both us and Nets are bottom 5 in the lotto We could swap up to #1 from our spot
Gambodoro is a local PHX guy, Flex is an "insider" that called CP3 to PHX in advance. Simmons would have to be traded out if Mitchell ends up in BKN. So they could end up with just Mitchell and assorted pieces... I think that bodes well for the Rockets if that's the case.
