Pacers winning game 1 is another reason you dont just punt in the playoffs like the Rockets did. Its another reason why Im good with a reasonable kd trade. Just give yourself a real shot and see what happens. Dont mortgage your entire future for a long shot but upgrade the team within reason. We are a really good team. Lets add some pieces that make us even better.
the rockets have much bigger problems They don't have any offense whatsoever when it counts. Its pickup basketball similar to when they had Mchale
I believe pur offensive struggles have more to do with our personnel than a big flaw with our system. Most teams dont do anything vastly different than what we do. Look at Okc. Just put the ball in Shai's hand and he creates most of their offense. Jdub does his thing as a secondary option. Teams with really good offenses generally have really good players. You dont usually see a team with a guy of jalens caliber being your highest usage player and being a good offense. Also, when Dantoni took over for Mchale they really did much of the same stuff. Just give the ball to Harden (cp3) and let them create. Dantoni even talked about how we didnt really run his "system" because james was so good at what he did which was just iso and pnr. Park shooters on the perimeter and use his gravity to create open shots.
I personally think it is a combination of both a coach that, at least for now, is poor at rotations and is at best mediocre at offense plus an unbalanced roster. You can’t run an isolation offense with a guy that sucks at isolation offense (both FVV and Jalen). Not being able to recognize that points to bad coaching. Ime is young and inexperienced as a head coach, so at least, has the potential to get better. FVV is what he has always been and we won’t be able to find out with any certainty what kind of coach Ime can be until he is jettisoned. It’s not that FVV is a terrible player, it is that he is a terrible fit and a crutch for our very conservative coach.
I like this trade but Ime loves FVV and I love his game too. Plus his leadership and engine works for us.
"Weinbach took to X to share that a trade package from the Spurs for Durant would likely include Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, and the No. 14 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft." FVV + Jock + #10 or Jalen + Jabari + Jock and some future pick or no pick at all
Yeah we have to give up someone Ime loves - and someone that suits Phoenix - in order to get something good. FVV is replaceable and his career is about to take a nose dive so it's a worthy sacrifice.
Why would we? How many teams are lining up for a 50 million dollar player who's constantly injured and doesn't play defense? Im not giving them anything that makes our future picks worse.
I don’t think we should be giving up two of our core prospects for KD. I don’t think I want to give Pheonix either of Jalen or Bari unless it’s for Booker. I remain pretty frugal on what we should be giving up for a short term KD rental. I like FVV + #10 proposal. I don’t think Vassel and #14 is a better offer.
Yeah, that trade proposal is preposterous. I agree with everything you said, but I wouldn't even have Jabari in the Booker deal. That should, at most, be Jalen + PHX picks/swap.
I’m not high on a trade for KD at all, myself. Those are just the two I could get to work in the trade machine without bringing in third team. Really just an exercise in what we could offer to compete with the Spurs’ potential offer. So many times when these trades go through, everyone says “we could have beaten that offer.” This gives us a chance to beat the offer, but when we actually look at what we would be giving up, do we really want to do it?
Idk boys we won the 2027 Championship with Amen / Green / KD / Jabari / Sengun and Reed, Cam, Tari, Brooks off bench. Got bounced in the 2nd round 2026
If Toronto fielded SGA, Nembhard, Dort, Dillon, Jamal Murray, Edey and Co, they would not even need to go for Durant.
I think Vassel is a marginally better player than FVV and is 24 years old. Whether that outweighs the 10th vs 14th pick, I’m not sure. Both the Rockets and Spurs have to add more players in the deal to make the money work, so those players might make a difference. The Rockets can add Landale which will provide immediate cap and luxury tax relief, the Spurs will need to add another 20m in player salaries to make it worth. They could add Harrison Barnes that has an expiring contract. If those were the two offers, I think the Suns might just take the Spurs offer because Vassel is a really good young player (although not as good a fit as FVV) and Barnes is a much better player than Landale. Instead of Landale we could include Cam and Holiday that might swing the trade to us.
That's the thing. We don't really have bad contracts. When we make the money work, we are already sending out better players than most other teams. And our draft pick is better than theirs, too. It just gets to be too much.
Vassel is also signed for 4 years so they might prefer FVV’s and Landale’s expiring. In two years, Beal comes off the books and they will no longer be in salary cap hell if they get rid of Durant and don’t take back long-term salary. Under this circumstance they might prefer the 27 pick than the #10 this year. If it was the 27 pick, FVV, and Landale would you do it?
After all what happened after the extension, I forgot Vassell was even on the Spurs as they have added greater player after greater player.
