I injured myself like that when I was 12... While his are is a big concern, people roll their ankle at any age.
You aren't a professional basketball player. Yes people roll their ankles but KD getting injured like this means he is old and injury prone already. Just this season he already missed 10 games.
I understand your concerns. I’m not blind, there is a risk in such move. But seeing the squad tonight, without FVV, just made me think like “hey, wouldn’t it be nice if instead of Uncle Jeff we had KD?”, when healthy, Durant is still lethal on the offensive side. Think of the following lineup when Green and Sangun are resting on the bench - KD, Eason, Bari, Amen and Cam. That’s a carzy lineup man. IDK, I get the cons but I also really like the upside of such move.
In soccer you could borrow a player (even an old All Star) for 1 or 2 seasons and give him back after that. That would make the NBA a lot more comfortable as the need would be fixed quickly and also very short term.
I get what you are saying, but at the same time if we are paying KD 60M and Sengun and Jalen basically another 60M thats like 2 max contracts already. There wont be enough money to pay everyone. Amen is prob gonna cost a max or near max by hinself and then we need to pay Jabari, Tari and Cam. You expect Fertita to be like PHX owner and pay 500M in luxury tax? Look at what happened to the Wolves they traded for Gobert and screwed themselves over.. So assuming we get KD we will lose some of these other guys and they will blow up on other teams like KaT in NYC. KD is old and getting washed after 2 yrs he will be on the decline and even more injury prone but we need to pay him max or he feels offended and leaves like Klay or Jimmy B. Meanwhile the guys we let go 2 yrs ago are now balling at other teams and hitting their prime just like Sengun and Green are today. I dunno seems like a dumb and shortsighted move to me.
If we trade for KD (and that’s a big if), I assume it’ll be because we’re confident in a Green, Sengun, and Amen core. I don’t care what anyone says — add Durant to those three and we’re a contender. By the time he leaves, those three will be in their primes and, hopefully, we’ll be able to contend with them without Durant. Yes, you’re right — we probably lose a few guys. But do people on here really expect us to keep everyone forever? That seems unrealistic. I can honestly see both sides, but not really because I’m incredibly invested in resigning Cam, etc. But rather because I think because in the age of the second apron, having a consistent inflow of draft prospects will be more valuable than ever.
I wasn't, but no matter how old or in shape you are, rolling an ankle happens all the time regardless of age and conditioning when playing basketball. Hell, that was a big part of how the Warriors were built due to Steph constantly hurting his ankle, helping them lose games and resulting in a smaller contract for himself. Despite all the injuries, since that torn achilles, he did play 75 games last year, not that I really care, since his importance is the playoffs. And maybe we could help him out not playing him 36 minutes a night like he has to on a Phoenix team with no bench. Everyone wants to pretend this team will be around for a long time because they are young, but you can't pay everybody. If we can get somebody without giving up a major piece, we should try to maximize our chances for this year and next. I wouldn't be re-signing Durant after that. They get none of our picks, not of our young players, just their picks.
If we pay Durant we def won't be able to pay everybody. If we don't pay Durant we can keep the core 6 at least. Our picks are garbage compared to PHX, we need the PHX picks more than our picks.
So why you think adding Durant and losing draft assets is a good idea if we need a slew of draft prospects? Why does being confident in Green, Sengun and Amen mean adding Durant? You can be confident in those 3 and keep Jatari and Cam. If we aren't paying Kevin Durant his 60M salary and FVV either leaves or takes a paycut then yes we can keep everybody. It's just simple math. Jabari and Tari will prob cost around Kevin Durant's salary combined. I'd rather have those 2 orbiting around our big 3 than KD's 2 yrs.
If I’m not mistaken, Durant’s contract expires by the end of the next season. If that’s the case - it’s won’t overlap the commencement of Bari/Tari and Amen/Cam next contacts. I don’t want Durant for the long run, just for this and next playoffs, so me might have a chance to do more than just “letting our young core playoff experience”. But again, I see the downside of this move and it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.
I think we are closer to contention that some believe, and adding Durant puts us there. Conversely, I don’t think we’ll be true contenders without Durant until our core really hits their primes in 3 or 4 years. So, yeah, I think there is a world where adding Durant makes sense. It makes us competitors now without gutting our future like we would by trading for a Booker type. We’d have to pick and choose, but I do think we’d preserve some draft assets and would be able to retain at least one of our core outside of Sengun, Green, and Amen (I’m guessing Bari). Conversely, if we trade for a guy like Booker, that’s it basically for the foreseeable future. He’ll cost a ton more and will be around a lot longer. I’m not saying I necessarily feel strongly a certain way. If I’m the GM, I probably stand pat frankly. But I can see arguments for trying to trade for Durant, for standing pat, and for trying to trade for a Booker/Fox type.
It won't happen for a 2 yr rental. Stone isn't Morey. Look at what he did with the Clippers that's what happens when all you care about are win now short term rentals.
I don't want a two year contender window we saw what happened with Cp3 and Harden. Yeah you got two shots and then what? If the choice is you get KD now and then be weaker in 3 yrs or you wait 3 yrs and then be contenders for a decade not sure why getting KD is preferable. Someone like Booker and Fox I'd be more on board with since these guys are only in their 20s and their game will age gracefully like KD did. We will have a 8 year window and then they'd be KD's current age. All things considered Fox is my preferred guy he isn't making the max now and maybe he can be talked to taking a discount like Jalen Brunson did. He came from Texas so maybe Stone can convince him to take a hometown discount esp since Sengun and Jalen also aren't making the max. He is basically an upgrade to FVV so he wouldn't disrupt the rotation of Ime.
I love guys like Bari and Eason, but I personally don’t believe they will be the key to contention. If this core becomes a contender, it’ll be due to the development of Green, Sengun, and Amen. This is why Durant is somewhat intriguing to me — add him, and if it works, great. If not, his contract will end before Amen’s kicks in, and we’ll still have enough ammo to find a fourth guy to pair with those three. And I do think Durant will aid in their development. Conversely, if we trade for a Booker/Fox and it doesn’t work, it’ll be far more difficult to pivot from that since we’ll have likely blown through all our assets to get them. Again, I think we should stand pat, but the idea of running out a unit of FVV / Green / Durant / Amen / Sengun does intrigue me.
The Kings are having a resurgence after the firing of Mike Brown...they're going to be buyers and not sellers through the NBA trade deadline so Fox isn't going anywhere. Also, I think the Suns are buyers as well so getting Durant is not happening. We could make a run at Jimmy Butler by giving up Brooks/Steven Adams/Jeff Green/Tate/Suns picks
We are also having a surgence. Why do we even need to make a move? If its not a good deal we dont need to do it.
Bari and Eason wont be the key to contention but neither will Durant. Durant cant even keep the Suns from not sucking. Its a false argument. Again KD is better than Eason and Jabari but prob only for the next 2 yrs. Dude is 36. In 2 yrs time Im sure Jatari will be seen as more valuable than him. It would be a short sighted trade like when Minny traded for Gobert. KD isnt even available now, Suns still trying to get Jimmy Bucket so that saga will last till next year. we really getting 38 yr old Durant and hoping his bones stay connected in his old age? Nahhh.
Take Durant out of the equation, we’re a much better team in general than the Suns. So it’s really not an apt comparison. Who knows if he’ll be available. We’re obviously speaking in hypotheticals here.
