Chris Paul was also 26 when he went to LA, and was 32 when he went to Houston, where he had his last prime season before the hamstring gave out, making him another dude who appears on both sides of that list.
Paul makes every team better every time he is traded. He is exempt. He is some kind of magic yeast for baking a dysfunctional team into a cohesive whole. LA, Houston, OKC, Suns, now SA. Only exception was GS, which he was redundant on.
Trading for Booker means trading Jalen Green. When you are trading for Booker, you are trading him for his scoring. However, is the difference between them large enough to warrant giving Phoenix Back all their picks back, and 22 year old Green? For the season, Booker is averaging 25 points on TS 58%. Green is averaging 21 points on TS 56%. This level of difference doesn't warrant trading away Green himself on top of all of Phoenix's picks. Furthermore, Booker is having a clear down year, but at 28 years old he should be playing the best basketball of his life. For comparison sake, Bradley Beal had an amazing season at 27 years old (31 points per game on TS 59%), but had a massive drop off at 28 years old (23 points on TS 54%) due to injuries and other factors. He never reached the same level of play since. The reality is, trading Green and picks for Booker means: Trading away a 22 year old at his high, and thinking that his play won't continue to improve in the future. Trading for a 28 year at his low, and thinking that his play will improve in the future. Not a fan of this type of gamble, and not convinced that Booker even at his best is what this team needs to win a championship.
Booker is so overrated by casuals and Suns fans. His team was losing every year when he was the primary "superstar" and now he has KD and Beal, they are still a mediocre team. Dude turning 29 this year and is getting paid close to 60mil per year, I'll pass on this guy. No thanks.
I guess that was Jalen Green's response. No point keeping Green if you acquire Booker, they are flat out redundant. Compare Booker option with the other option guys. Booker for 5 picks or Durant for 2.5 years for 3 picks - gives you 27ppg regular season, 30+ ppg playoffs guaranteed with minimal disruption compared to the average superstar I vote Durant. We don't have to lose a core player or surrender all our good picks. Durant can be had with no one serious lost from the rotation but Brooks (who would lose the minutes anyway) and Adams. Rest can be 1 great pick and whatever we negotiate as far as mediocre to poor picks 2 or 3 is my guess. In 2.5 years, we have tons of draft capital and the kids are 100% ready to take the mantle having gone through - at minimum - deep playoff runs with 3 champions on the roster in Durant, Uncle Jeff and FVV. Sengun/Jabari/SomeoneSomewhatLarge Durant/Jabari Amen/Tari/Jabari Green/Whitmore FVV/Amen/Sheppard HC: Ime Udoka (Finals Experience) That's a championship team with very little we have to sacrifice. Contender this year, serious title contender next year for sure. Nothing traded from the core. Have the ammo to acquire a star player when Durant expires and we know who's who. Personally can't justify dropping 5 picks on Booker if it turns out he's only worth $12m more than Jalen or something silly like that. For 5 picks.
KD tore his ligament stretching during warmups. Dude is old and being forced to carry the load in PHX. Rox gonna go on deep playoff runs anyway with or without KD. OKC literally the only bad matchup in the West.
The timing is very odd. Perhaps they are wanting to cash in on Jalen's annual hot streak this time before he regresses to the mean?
The hope is that it's a career-high mean. That would be awesome. 22ppg on 56 TS% for the remainder of the season (plus good defense and unselfishness) would be sufficient.
I'm still not 100% sold on Green, but I think it would be Booker at the PG and Green at the SG at this point with FVV being the backup at each position. Having Amen at a forward spot means the Rockets should have plenty of playmaking.
You can relax. The Rockets are not trading Jalen for Booker or anybody else for that matter. Jalen, Amen, and Sengun are pretty much off the table in any trade. Jabari is pretty close to being untouchable. If Booker is the target it will be for FVV/Reed and/or Cam, and their picks back. If the target is Durant it will be less. This next stretch of games is going to dictate if we make a significant trade or not. If we hold our own against a really tough schedule going into the deadline, we won't be trading for anything significant unless we get a real gift.
