Tari Eason is the only player on this team whose jersey I’ve bought, but if Jalen, the 10th pick, and Tari would be enough to acquire KD then PHX
All of this is funny! If Gobert + others, or Ware + others, or any of these other deals were truly on the table for a 37 yo Durant then we would see a more focused "Miami and the Suns are working to finalize..." type messaging already. We don't. And that tells me...none of that is real. The media is collecting clicks and viewership. Its working. I remember an interview where Stone said "a lot of that stuff out there is not real" and in this instance I truly believe it. Now whether KD ends up here or not, the final deal with whichever team will be underwhelming for those expecting a blockbuster haul for the Suns. Maybe 2-3 years ago, not now. The only thing making it bigger is his $54m salary that needs to be matched to some degree by the other team. And for a 37 yo Durant, I don't see anyone, in their right mind, beating Brooks, Landale + filler and #10. Gobert and Ware are not on the table. Not unless they slept with someone's wife in the FO.
If they thought that, Tari would be a starter. He's a slightly better Carl Landry. Love him as a player but injuries and cost as a bench player means he's likely not getting extended by us.
Way to try to rewrite history. Nobody had "physically limited role player" expectations for Smith when he was drafted - he was being compared to NBA all-stars like Rashard Lewis, Chris Bosh and even (lol!) Kevin Durant, though that was obviously nonsense As you may recall, Jabari was ranked #1 overall (and in fact, was going to be taken 1 overall until the last few days before the draft) by a number of evaluators as part of the "Big 3" along with Holmgren and Banchero. How do I know this? I remember it. Also, i remember reading posts like this, hyping Jabari as an elite prospect, indicative of the general Spirit of May/June 2022: I will leave you with Sam Vecenie's mea culpa from earlier this week: 19. Jabari Smith Jr. | 6-10 big | Auburn | 2022 This one was a bad ranking that I would do over if I could. I’m generally a fan of Smith’s and think he will continue to grow as a starting-caliber player on good teams because of his defensive improvement and shooting ability at nearly 6-foot-11. But I drastically underestimated how uncomfortable Smith was as a ballhandler when thinking of him as a potential wing as opposed to what he’s turned into, essentially a big man. Smith averaged nearly 17 points per game as an 18-year-old at Auburn and drilled 42 percent from 3 but rarely seemed to create easy shots. It was all either catch-and-shoot 3s, jab-steps, or mid-post jumpers over the top of defenders. He wasn’t that capable of driving toward the rim to take advantage of his gravity as a shooter because he played very upright and didn’t have a tight handle. Smith was a tremendous collegiate defender but struggled early on in his NBA career before turning it around. I probably overestimated his shiftiness and lateral agility as it pertains to being switchable. I thought Smith would be a borderline All-Star type who impacted winning at a high level because of his shot-making and defense. He was the consummate high-floor prospect whose ceiling was not as high as I thought.
We need superstars like KD. This Rockets are still 1st round playoffs team at most. We are missing center piece. Get the trade done, Stone.
I'd still take him over Banchero. Chet is better but huge injury concerns... Jabari probably safer pick in long run....
Banchero - All Star Chet in the finals Jabari getting more tattoos on his body and gaining 2 pounds of muscle this offseason. don’t think anyone in this world would agree with taking Jabari over those 2.
We get it. You don’t like Jabari and have determined all that he will ever be even though he just turned 22. Now perhaps let’s let it play out to see if events prove you right or not.
For those of you concerned / wondering about the Miami Heat involved in a trade for KD, I mean, maybe if the Heat is allowed to include future 2035 and 2037 first round picks along with (ugh!) Wiggins, Rozier, Duncan Donuts. Accepting a trade from Miami would be out of spite to the other teams not offering exactly what Phoenix wants. An Andy Elisburg Jedi mind trick. (I almost typed Pat Riley.)
The " just turned 22" thing is a total cop-out Is he going to magically learn to get a dribble penetration game - at the NBA level - at age 24? How about develop lateral quickness to guard smaller players perimeter, this is coming later in his career? Ability to play above the rim & finish? Is this coming at age 30? If he looked like an elite prospect and was just OK at shooting like he is now, I'd be optimistic he could still get to all star level in a few years. Lots of guys improve their shooting. But he doesn't! WHat bothers me about Jabari so much is that The Rockets (Stonetitta), Sam Vecenie & the Big Board Crew all collectively GroupThinked their way into thinking of him as a #1 overall prospect - when even a total dunderheadnoramus like me can watch him as a rookie, see him be pretty slow and unable to jump high, and be totally floored as to why or how this guy was ever even mentioned in the same breath as Banchero or Holmgren.
Glad tweets are favoring the Heat now...all this means is Phoenix is trying to get more...everything related to this Durant trade on X/Twitter is BS. If you have time, watch this video on the owner of the Phoenix Suns... "
Why doesn't he shut down the conversation and target other stars.....it is not like the Rockets are hung on Durant.... With Durant you have a limited 2-3 year window with Durant's injury history, I am sure Stone knows the risks.
The Suns don't want Jalen Green.. Is there any other way to get it done without offering Jalen? Maybe start with BROOKS...
Banchero is a loser. He's inefficient as a scorer and a poor defender. Are you being serious on that Chet point? So you're going to argue Hartenstein is better than Sengun, right????
