I mean, maybe? Or maybe the Nets swing a deal with the Suns to pair Durant with MPJ. Or maybe a billion other circumstances change. That's the whole point - the impacts from the butterfly effect would be so innumerous that it's a futile exercise. The idea that we likely would have ended up with the same team AND a good pick in the 2026 draft due to the Nets being bad is ludicrous.
Yeah I’d say the Nets trade for phx picks deal was my least favorite in hindsight. Not just because of the end value, but because the reasoning for it which I believe was because Stone naively thought we had too many young players and wanted to push back his window to use those picks in a star trade or use the picks for prospects later on when he felt the window was more conducive to taking on another prospect. I think this season has proved how deep this team really is not and how important it is to keep on taking 1 to 3 prospects a season.
I’m maybe in the minority here on Ime. I think he’s a solid coach but I think another mistake by Stone and probably more so Tillman is not two years ago hiring a sort of senior leader as the president of bball ops that can be that figurehead, provide wisdom, and really have the deep relationships around the league you need. I think they missed an opportunity there and now Stone and the Fertittas have banked a little too much capital on Ime who I really like… but I do see character flaws in that could blow up in our face in the next few seasons.
I wonder how much Stones anticipated about the 2026 draft class when he traded the Nets picks for the Suns picks.
Stone underestimated the impact Dillon Brooks would have on the Suns. He must have underestimated the impact Brooks had on the Rockets, as well. To be fair, what Brooks has been doing for the Suns also surprised me.
Right. It seems like our lottery picks took such a huge step up with him. Our offense seems terrific. We’re winning a bunch of games. Beating all the actively tanking teams doing their best to loose sitting their star players. Players seem so happy Ignorance is bliss, I’ll have what you’re taking
Stone sucks big time nobody who has a Gm mind trades the NETS 2026 pick. Stupid as well to give away our 2025 lottery pick. He is a lawyer and was hired for his financial skills.
I actually think he was thinking too much like a lawyer and GM when he made this deal and not thinking enough about the basketball team and talent mining of his job. I can’t get in his mind but my interpretation of his thinking was that the deal was made to essentially push back the draft picks a year because he did not want another young player in 2025. I guess it’s cause he thought maybe they had too many young players already and was worried about not enough playing time leading to young players needing to be traded or waived like the situation with Cam Whitmore. But those situations are of their own making. I see a very shallow bench that is far too reliant on veterans that has no business in the nba at this point, and other bargain bin players with limited upside talent. The Rockets clearly are still a developing team. They need more depth in talent and they can’t bank on there being another James Harden type of trade around every corner that they need to over engineer their pick stash to setup. If that opportunity presents itself great, but until then I want to see an organization that will put the focus on talent development and depth first. There is waaaayyy too much of the future riding on Reed Sheppard for instance. It’s unnecessary risk that could be alleviated by a GM that doesn’t see the need to push back their draft picks because they want to set themselves up for another Harden trade instead of worrying about taking good young prospects.
No one has a crystal ball that can see into the future. It's the GM's experience, analysis, vision, and some gamble to make a educated guess. Had Stone win his gamble he'd be praised as god, now he lose he deserves some blame.
Before I choose his worst move so far I think it’s important to have a discussion about hindsight. It gets used entirely too frequently on the BBS and is pointless. I think it’s also hard to sit and drool over any given draft class. Sure 2026 looks strong, but there have been classes before that looked that way and didn’t end up as so. Even if the Nets get one of the best four players in the draft, they’re not keeping Porter Junior around, and they are likely going to be fairly poor next year. Also, I think highly of Cooper Flagg, but his acquisition alone doesn’t convince me that the Mavs 2029 pick isn’t valuable. Any unprotected pick. Just because the suns are playing better this year doesn’t mean that they are necessarily going to continue to get better next year and it seems to me that other than Mr. Green, They’ve been pretty healthy and pretty lucky. Our very young players have been fine. Amen and Sengun will continue to to grow. I don’t think it’s accurate to say stone clearly misjudged the concept of the potential of all of our youth. This includes Reed who in my mind will be an All-Star. Utilizing hindsight, AND knowing where the Nets pick fell where it did, AND knowing the Mavs would get Flagg, I probably wouldn’t have made the trade. I do believe NJ would have still traded Bridges. However, maybe not. Maybe they would’ve tried to get Mitchell or someone else. Pushing the pick out of 2026 also has Important financial ramifications and is helpful in that sense. So now that we are where we are, we still have four assets that are extremely valuable. There is no guarantee that the sun’s are good next year or in 2029. There is no guarantee that the Mavericks have built correctly around Flagg by 2029. So if I have to use hindsight and judge stone on the worst move that he’s made, it is probably the exact construction of the deal for Durant. I do believe that he underestimated what Brooks brought to the team. I have no idea if Durant And Brooks get along, but even if Fred was healthy I don’t think that his encore presence would be replacing what is now missing with Brooks gone. Maybe including Smith/Eason and trying to tokeep Brooks and #10 Would have worked. Again, this is hindsight, which I hate to use, but yes, I do blame stone and Udoka For not realizing what Brooks brought to the team. A roster of Sengun/Adams Durant/DFS Brooks/ Amen/Reed Reed/Amen/Holiday/Whomever Would be ahead of this roster. There is still a chance that Smith nullifies this argument, but it is my current thinking. And obviously, if we did have Fred, I think that team would have one of the best records in the league. I’d have probably use the tenth pick on Demin.
at this stage of the game I’m not taking anything worthwhile; you’ll just have to go with the slow er flow…
I think stone revives part of his reputation come deadline. We need some PG help along with a guy who is designed to come in and be a killer in terms of scoring. When KD is out, the energy changes. Imagine if Stone can pull a guy who knows his role is to score in bunches.. Not worried about picks...KD is a 2 year window. We must use it properly and with expectations of a championship . The playoffs are just part of the journey. I think we'll be 4th seed, which may be better in the long run. Get some help before FVV makes his early return and invest in a pure scorer to put more points on the board, especially from the 3.
C'mon, you think NBA teams don't know how potentially stacked a draft class is? Draft people/scouts have known about the 2026 draft for years because the kids in them have been spectacular prospects since at least their early high school years. This draft was supposed to have Dybantsa, Flagg, Harper, Boozer, etc. so it's been known to be stacked for a few years because the talent level is that high. Now with that being said, a lot of draft classes have seemingly been stacked .... until they weren't. In other words, watch them all be duds. Jk.
What's crazy about Clutchfans is if FVV wasn't hurt this conversation would probably not be happening. Thompson is just never going to be a point guard and I think we're asking Durant to do too much.
