Here is a database of free agents and their contract situations in upcoming years 2026 and onwards. There are much more, younger fish on better contracts in the sea. We were the #2 seed last year, if we pass on 37 year old Durant we won't die, we'll actually make a better decision long term. There are much better situations out there including developing our own homegrown stars as we have. https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/_/year/2026
They can have Jalen, any 2 picks they want, and a bunch of junk. It doesn't matter whether they like Jalen or not - the value is in the picks. If they want a center back, they can draft one at 10. I don't not want to put Bari or Tari in the deal. Those guys along with Amen are the key to an elite defense. The idea is to swap Jalen for a better scorer and use the picks to make that happen, not change what works.
Heat going after Durant is just stupid. Might as well have just kept Butler and paid him. Herro, Adebayo, and Durant aren’t winning ****.
Man, I don’t know. I could see a Durant / Herro / Bam / Ware lineup making some noise (assuming health).
Kevin Durant last season, age 36: - Lowest rim attempts/75 of his career - Lowest AST % since 2012 - Lowest AST/TO since 2011 - Lowest ORB% of his career - Lowest DRB% since his rookie year - Lowest FTR of his career (over the last two seasons) - Lowest PNR Ball Handler PPP of his career (data goes back to 2013) - Lowest EPM, BPM, RAPTOR, on court net rating etc since his sophomore season in 2009 KD is still fantastic at one thing - shotmaking, particularly in isolation situations. He's not going to lose that anytime soon. But what happens as guys get older is the rest of their game deteriorates as their bodies get stiffer and slowly fossilize. They're less active on the floor, they don't get to their spots as easily, they stop contributing on the glass, in transition, or defensively. They are less able to create for others or exert winning influence on the game. The descent has clearly already started for KD. You don't need the stats tbh, you could've just watched the Suns last year. The teams that win are the ones that trade away guys before they hit that point, not the teams that trade assets to acquire them. When was the last time a "star" over the age of 35 won a game in the conference finals or finals?
If the Suns don’t get Ware in the deal they are stupider than I thought. Can’t imagine the Heat would have the best offer without Ware.
A lot of this is not just expected at age 36, but likely intentional and preferable in order to prolong his career. I don't need him being overused handling the ball or taking it to the rim every possession if he's still putting up 27/6/6 on 53/43/84.
This is the correct answer. Keep him under 30 minutes a game, let him sit out back-to-backs, let him skip an extra week for load management, then let our young guys soak up those extra minutes. Do the exact same thing for Fred.
[Spears] "KD wanted the New York Knicks. The Knicks have no interest in bringing him in... There is some fear from him and Rich Kleiman that they're hoping that there's going to be respect at Kevin's age to give him what he wants rather than try to trade him like he's 31 years old."
