2024-25 Season Discussion and Speculation Part IV

[Rebound Mound]

It is a pity that we are not completely into the PO race or PI race, neither out of it.
BDH has to fight with his serious issues with KD and Booker, find alternative fives when Beal is not available (45% of games, aprox.) and now he has to decide whether to play Bol and give him some responsability, so he can develop him as a player and, hopefully, have him signed for some more years, or play ONeale, who everybody knows what he can offer (also what he is unable to offer).
He is even not playing Dunn, what he should.
BDH has to care for his CV, while the franchises interests run in a different direction, as we need to develop Dunn and other players.

It is obvious we are not going to with the tittle. So Beal, Allen, Oneale, Booker and KD should play half the game or so and Gillspie, Dunn, Oso and Bol should play a big load of minutes so we can see what we have.

By comparison, I like how Snyder is doing things differently in Atlanta, giving time to Gueye and OO, and trying different players combinations, so the franchise knows what he has in the roster and he and the GM know what they have as assets to build from there from year 1 of the summer.
Also the atmosphere within the team is great and the new arrivals have fit in perfectly, even though have arrived from better teams with more aspirations...

[JRoy]

For sure! And I can appreciate that. But if he were to for whatever reason become available, what value would you put on him in a trade?

POR would want more for him than any team could be reasonably expected to offer.

Man! I can understand that! What a coup you guys pulled off from the Aygon deal! You guys have such an exciting young team and great front office/ GM. I'm not sure we'd ever get to live this decision down.

But tis the life of a suns fan I guess! Lol I've followed this team for close to 50 yrs now. And damn do they find the most creative ways to implode and RIP fans hearts out.

What's the consensus on Ayton recently?

POR still doesn’t have a real first option yet. Not sure Sharpe will get there. Hopefully can make it happen on draft day.

Every team has had its share of players that could not play at a high level.

Having a player that can, but will not, that’s even worse.

[lilfishi22]

Doubt Ainge will trade Markannen.

My take on Ainge is that he was brought in to build a culture for Utah Jazz. It's a long term thing and bringing in young urban-oriented players who love the night life and the spotlight aren't good targets for Utah Jazz. They want country kids, or international players who likes raising horses and living at farms rather than going clubs, parties or celebrity events.

Problem is Lauri now doesn't really fit their timeline as a long term piece imo. There is now a noticeable gap between their talented younger guys like Collier, Kessler, Flip and the guys brought in over the past few years like John Collins, Lauri and Clarkson (but let's not worry about Clarkson). And it's pretty clear they aren't ready to start building a competitive team yet given their young guys aren't ready to contribute to winning basketball right now. They may tank one more year after this and by the time they decide it's time to start building around their core, Lauri/Collins will be 29. You almost have to think the best path forward is to move them for good draft assets or young players you could put around the Colliers, Kesslers and whoever their FRP pick is this year (could be Flagg).

I don't think there's an immediate need to move off of Lauri, he seems like a good locker room guy, doesn't seem to be troublesome off the court and fits the culture well but I do think it's a crossroad they'll reach pretty soon.

[SunsRback4Good]

POR would want more for him than any team could be reasonably expected to offer.

We’ll give you Royce & Allen for Camara and not a penny more. Anything short of that trade and Suns laugh.

Laugh away while we keep Camara.

[JRoy]

We’ll give you Royce & Allen for Camara and not a penny more. Anything short of that trade and Suns laugh.

Laugh away while we keep Camara.

I didn’t mean to be stiff, I just don’t think there is any deal for TC that works for both teams.

[Ghost of Kleine]

The problem with many of your posts is that your arguments very often suggest a false equivalency. Because we don't know/can't know, then in your mind anything is possible. You give equal weighting to arguments regardless of how likely or unlikely they are because your argument hides behinds the notion of "no one knows, so anything is possible". Like with the KD to Washington argument.

Likelihood =/= Possibility. I am not debating possibility. Anything is possible. They could trade Jokic away for fillers and picks because it's possible under the CBA. But we can both comfortable agree it's not very likely.

But then by the very same standard, your argument is also a false equivalency with basis on appeal to ignorance because you also can present no evidence to the contrary besides your own subjective interpretation of someone else's hypothetical values and priorities that you only promote as valid if it fits your narrative or perspective so your view is not legitimately objective in such a discussion but subjective to your own implicit biases on how you yourself would value the implied considerations being discussed but at no time removing your own subjective feelings or views on the premise to take a more detached and objective view on the premise.

Of course anything is possible. But regardless of which side of this premise you perspectively personally fall on, this is still only a hypothetical premise absent of any credentialed or vetted evidence in support of or to substantiate either position beyond refute or contestation. So in that, you can really only argue from a position of subjective opinion or reasonable plausibility dependent and scalable by indeterminate variables. Thusly just leaving logical assessment of human nature in varying situational outcomes. And if you admit that any outcome is possible, separate from likelihood, then even that possibility is largely scalable in range of likelihood depending upon individual and situational context. So just as likelihood may not equal possibility, individual opinion exterior to the premise doesn't inhibit or diminish the likelihood of outcome being possible and then increasing in likelihood due to individual situational/ contextual variables.

I test my arguments on the basis on reasonableness. Is it reasonable that Kevin Durant would seriously consider Washington. The answer is no. Does that mean, he won't or that he can't? Of course not. The CBA allows a trade to happen so it's possible. But I'm again not debating possibility because then you're opening a massive can of worms by considering all possibilities. But that's what you do and when you do it, you assign equal likelihood to unlikely possibilities. That's the problem I have with your arguments.

Arguing for something that is highly unlikely is your prerogative but at the very least recognise that not all possibilities have the same probabilities.

Of course anything is possible. But regardless of which side of this premise you perspectively personally fall on, this is still only a hypothetical premise absent of any credentialed or vetted evidence in support of or to substantiate either position beyond refute or contestation.

This is the issue that you're still not comprehending with your arguments. I'm also 99% sure your using a chatgpt to write your posts

Again, all of these are merely your subjective views ( opinions). And I'm fully comprehending what your position is too. You're suggesting that just because " anything is possible " in a discussion, that doesn't in equity make it probable............ right? So on the basis of your individual subjective view, you see it as being possible but highly unlikely as you yourself don't or wouldn't see the value in the premise, so you attribute your individual interpretation of the value as being the standard for assessment.

Only problem with that man is that your individual views may not align as a universal or even consensus metric of evaluation for other individuals' in vastly different situations than yours or mine, obviously, man. This is because although you have your specific individual views on values or priorities in how you may make determinations or assessments situationally, people do not operate on a hive mentality or universal singular metric of value assessment. And the scalable (ranging outcomes in various scenarios for one person being vastly different than others, also impacting the potency of influence on those situational decisions.

So what I'm getting at here is that what might be paramount importance or a priority to you contextually could very easily be vastly different than how someone else views the same variables/ conditions in that situation contextually. How these scalable variables affect or influence your decisions may have entirely different effects on someone in KDs' position than a normal everyday person like you or I.

Your position:
KD wouldn't ever choose Washington regardless of connections, etc, because he still wants to compete at the highest level for Championships for his few remaining years left. Does that sound about right? Also, just because something is feasibly possible does mean it's at all likely?

My counterargument:
KD has already established himself as a historic all-time great in the game. An established Top 5 HOF talent, Top 10 all-time HOF great, 2-time NBA champion, with numerous other achievements to his legacy already secured. So maybe, just maybe how you subjectively view his priorities at this stage of his career do not actually align with how he views such situations for himself. Maybe he's content with his achievements and just wants to "play ball" and enjoy basketball for his few years left in this league. Maybe he isn't as hellbent on winning more championships as you may choose to believe and would rather spend his time around his friends, family or in a good environment playing in front of people who he loves (close friends or family, etc) or good friends in gnral in a situation wherein he'd b appreciated in his remaining years. Is this really such an unreasonable consideration to digest?

To me, I consider the human element in such decisions (especially at later stages of someone's career) as still being important factors in determinate outcomes. Now you can disagree with these perspectives as that's your distinct prerogative man. But ultimately my point is that I'm arguing the possibility of position over your probability position. Both can be valid positions, beyond subjective views influenced by subjective value metrics. What I'm saying in all this back n forth is that I'm not dismissing your position despite you being vehemently dismissive of my position on possibilities and probabilities being scalable (ranging from either spectrum of highly unlikely to very likely) based on numerous indeterminate theoretical variables we're not privy to that could better substantiate either position.

You're speaking from your own personal perspectives on how you yourself would interpret and assess the promised situation. I'm making suggestions on the possibilities for consideration that could add credence or legitimacy in this situation being reasonably possible/ probable under the specific conditions I've mentioned for consideration. My goal here is simply to get you in this premise to open yourself up to other variables and possibilities that could factor into such outcomes. And maybe not look at things in such a limited or restricted lens. for a moment, you were acknowledging a wider range of possibilities to consider, man. And that's growth to be encouraged.


So I'm not claiming or disputing your position as illegitimate at all as both are equitably possible depending upon the conditions and "equity of outcome" for how KD might view such a premise in his current situation, not either of ours. But to abjectly dismiss my position while emphatically promoting yours when both are theoretical absent of any evidence to oppositional perspective is just creating a Hitchens' razor looping position. Lastly, LOL! no, I don't use chatGPT for anything man. As I'm clearly not a techy type person and don't fully understand the application of all the things people are using today. Although I do use Grammarly, to help with spelling, grammar (obviously doesn't help keep things concise though) Lol. but I did have a lot of sugar last night, so maybe it's a bit of that perhaps?

[Ghost of Kleine]

Actually, I fully stand by my position here. When I mentioned wildcards like Minnesota and Dallas, I was specifically referring to teams that have the foundations of playoff-level rosters and potential to be better with KD, even if they're not current contenders. These teams have strong foundational pieces, and while they might not be top-tier title favorites, they still have the existing framework to be competitive.

- So adding KD to Washington's roster wouldn't make them better or more competitive? Also revisiting the context of this argument, currently in the east, you can sneak into the playoffs or play in tournament with only 26-30 wins. Washington even though currently intentionally tanking, has still managed 13 wins. Now considering it only taking 30 wins to be the 8th seed(still a playoff level team) or only 26 wins to reach the play-in tournament, there well within half way there while not trying to win! So as I previously premised, IF KD chose to go there, and Washington obviously shifted their competitive trajectory with him, you don't really believe they could manage 15-20 more wins with KD on their roster? Also, you don't think having players like Marcus Smart, Khris Middleton, Richaun Holmes, Bilal Coulilaby and Alex Sarr are good enough foundational pieces to achieve those 15-20 more wins in a full season with KD?? Not even considering what other pieces they could also add as well! from the position you're taking, man, this becomes an illogical fallacy argument for your position.

What I originally suggested is that, if pure competitiveness were the only consideration, Durant would likely focus on teams that are already championship contenders, like OKC, Cleveland, or Boston. However, that doesn't mean competitiveness is not a factor in his decision-making. It's still very likely to be a major consideration, possibly the most important one. But the key point is that other factors might also influence his choice, particularly personal connections to players like Kyrie in Dallas or Ant in Minny, much like his bond with Booker in Phoenix. What is pretty clearly absent with Washington is any semblance of a competitive roster, recent history of playoff experience/success, a star/stars that is ready to compete right now, an experienced and proven head coach or even a clear pathway to build a contender within the short term. The only straw your clutching onto is that KD is from Washington which flies in the face of any reasonable argument that he'd bet his last few years of elite basketball on an 11 win team.

- But can you say with any legitimate certainty or referenced evidence that for KD, competitiveness is the only consideration? You claiming that it's the most important factor in his decision at this stage of his career is subjective conjecture at best, man. Again, per the bolded statement you made above, you acknowledge the possibility and likelihood of other contributory factors. And clearly these multiple factors can scale in importance depending upon individual situation or priorities. You claim what is absent with Washington is any semblance of a competitive roster, yet again, despite deliberately tanking, they're still competitive enough to already have 13 wins. Now in thee East, if the threshold to be a legit playoff team is only 30 wins, and Washington already has 13 without really trying, there at a 43.3 % winning percentage.

Now compare that to ours with our already having our big three of KD, Booker, and Beal. And we only have a 46% winning percentage and Washington actually has a slightly better winning percentage than Portland, who might overtake us too. And obviously by these standards/ thresholds, Washington, even without any stars, isn't really that far off from us right now with vastly more depth and star talent. So clearly claiming they lack any semblance of a competitive roster is contextually wrong when taking both situations into objective consideration for the purposes of a contextual comparison.

Lastly, you really can't make an accurate assessment to their ability to create a clear pathway to building a contender because there's simply too many variables that can affect this premise and they clearly have multiple mechanisms (assets) for rapid short term improvement! Lastly, I'm not clutching to any straws here as I've listed multiple considerations in addition to KD being from Washington. You just choose to actively dismiss them based upon your subjective opinions. And honestly, claiming that I'm clutching to a "straw man" position is really just an "appeal to ignorance" claim to promote your opinion. And again, a 13-win team, even while deliberately trying to tank, while we're only a 30-win team despite trying to win, having the highest payroll in NBA history, and loads more star talent and depth pieces. So obviously equity of outcome is subjective and situationally scalable.

What I suggested in my post is that there may be other considerations in addition to the key priority of competitiveness like personal connections that could open up more candidates beyond the ones which are already contenders. But again, there is zero suggestion that an uncompetitive tanking team is a serious consideration which is perfectly in line with my prior post.

- So you only admit that there may be other considerations, IN ADDITION TO the key priority of competitiveness. such as "personal connections" (isn't family, close friends, and home in that grouping for most people though)?? But you then go on to promote your subjective opinion against Washington being a serious consideration on the premise that they're currently tanking. Yet we all know how quickly a position or strategy can change now, don't we, depending upon individual circumstances. There's a bunch of really bad non-playoff or lottery range teams that have turned things around quickly and made the playoffs, man. Most in the East ironically. But clearly it happens and has happened historically. So that premise is absolutely a valid possibility. The circumstances only need a change of KDs' willingness to go there as a trigger to pivot competitively.

You're picking up keywords in my argument to substantiate yours and you're not even picking up the keywords I literally bolded because those are the keywords I want to emphasis

I openly acknowledge your points, man. As you're absolutely right in your saying that just because a situation is possible that does not equate to it being very likely or highly probable. And I picked the words you stated because they're key points to reference for my counter points of my position. But there's obviously no substantiation for either position beyond implied subjective opinions or theoretical conjecture on hypothetical outcomes that we each subjectively see differently. I'm arguing for possibility being a reasonable consideration due to a variety of implicit situational variables.


And for those possibilities to just be considered rather than outright abjectly dismissed on basis of subjective opinion absent objective and more open-minded assessment. You always make great observations and points man! Which is why I enjoy our spirited discussions as they encourage diverse intellectual considerations otherwise missed. But this back n forth discussion is really quite more simple than either of us are making it. Absent of finding an equitable compromise or common ground, we can be amenable to, this premised argument is really just a back n forth of arguing subjective opinions on theoretical outcomes on basis of personal interpretation to the premised situation that neither can substantiate due to it being limited to theoretical conjecture.

But respectfully I absolutely acknowledge the validity of your position's premise. But find it disappointing that you can't or are unwilling to even consider the validity of mine man.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

[garrick]

Warriors convert Quinten Post’s two-way contract to a guaranteed deal
Not surprising, but still exciting.

By Brady Klopfer@BradyKlopferNBA Feb 7, 2025, 12:34pm PST 55 Comments / 55 New

The Golden State Warriors made a move on Friday that is both predictable and exciting. Golden State opted to convert rookie center Quinten Post’s two-way contract into a standard NBA deal, as first announced by Post’s agency.

It was easy to see the move coming. After trading four players (Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schröder, and Lindy Waters III) for one (Jimmy Butler), the Warriors roster sat at just 11 players, meaning they needed to add a few players into the fold. And Post, who has taken over the role of starting center, needed to have his contract converted in order to be eligible for the play-in tournament and playoff games, should the Warriors play any. So the Warriors did the obvious thing, and killed two birds with one stone.

Post, the No. 52 pick in June’s draft, has established himself as a core part of the Warriors going forward. He took over the starting role in late January, in just his ninth career game. His size and shooting ability is a weapon the Warriors haven’t had in a very long time: despite being seven-feet tall, Post is shooting 36.2% from three-point range. He’s also shown some strong defensive potential, some great instincts, and a good ability to fit the offensive system, make the right reads, and find the open man. It seems pretty clear that he’ll be an impact player for the Warriors for many years to come.

Golden State still needs to add a few players to the roster, but the addition of Post is a good start.

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2025/2/7/24361178/warriors-quinten-post-contract-conversion-jimmy-butler

I had a chance to watch GSW in January and Post was really lighting it up from deep but the Suns not surprisingly did not have him on our radar. This is just another indictment on JJ and Ishbia while teams are finding hidden gems in the 2nd round or undrafted class we have done absolutely zero in the scouting department and continue to sit on our hands and fail to pick up some real steals.

If the Suns are serious about contending they'll need to actually invest in scouts much more than they have until now and fire JJ and replace him with a someone who is half serious about doing their job!

[Ghost of Kleine]

Warriors convert Quinten Post’s two-way contract to a guaranteed deal
Not surprising, but still exciting.

By Brady Klopfer@BradyKlopferNBA Feb 7, 2025, 12:34pm PST 55 Comments / 55 New

The Golden State Warriors made a move on Friday that is both predictable and exciting. Golden State opted to convert rookie center Quinten Post’s two-way contract into a standard NBA deal, as first announced by Post’s agency.

It was easy to see the move coming. After trading four players (Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schröder, and Lindy Waters III) for one (Jimmy Butler), the Warriors roster sat at just 11 players, meaning they needed to add a few players into the fold. And Post, who has taken over the role of starting center, needed to have his contract converted in order to be eligible for the play-in tournament and playoff games, should the Warriors play any. So the Warriors did the obvious thing, and killed two birds with one stone.

Post, the No. 52 pick in June’s draft, has established himself as a core part of the Warriors going forward. He took over the starting role in late January, in just his ninth career game. His size and shooting ability is a weapon the Warriors haven’t had in a very long time: despite being seven-feet tall, Post is shooting 36.2% from three-point range. He’s also shown some strong defensive potential, some great instincts, and a good ability to fit the offensive system, make the right reads, and find the open man. It seems pretty clear that he’ll be an impact player for the Warriors for many years to come.

Golden State still needs to add a few players to the roster, but the addition of Post is a good start.

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2025/2/7/24361178/warriors-quinten-post-contract-conversion-jimmy-butler

I had a chance to watch GSW in January and Post was really lighting it up from deep but the Suns not surprisingly did not have him on our radar. This is just another indictment on JJ and Ishbia while teams are finding hidden gems in the 2nd round or undrafted class we have done absolutely zero in the scouting department and continue to sit on our hands and fail to pick up some real steals.

If the Suns are serious about contending they'll need to actually invest in scouts much more than they have until now and fire JJ and replace him with a someone who is half serious about doing their job!

.......... Had him in my undrafted center value steals list. As a high end mix of Poetl(defensively)/ better shooting Jock Landale (offensively) prospect. Would have been a really nice cost-controlled utility backup big.

[thamadkant]

POR would want more for him than any team could be reasonably expected to offer.

Man! I can understand that! What a coup you guys pulled off from the Aygon deal! You guys have such an exciting young team and great front office/ GM. I'm not sure we'd ever get to live this decision down.

But tis the life of a suns fan I guess! Lol I've followed this team for close to 50 yrs now. And damn do they find the most creative ways to implode and RIP fans hearts out.

What's the consensus on Ayton recently?

POR still doesn’t have a real first option yet. Not sure Sharpe will get there. Hopefully can make it happen on draft day.

Every team has had its share of players that could not play at a high level.

Having a player that can, but will not, that’s even worse.

Been watching heaps of Blazers games due to Ayton, Scoot, Deni and now Camara.... and it's true that Blazers lack a sure fire go to scorer I don't think Sharpe is it.. at best he seems to be a less flamboyant JR Smith at the very best.

Blazers also have looked very good during that stretch when Ayton wanted to prove something. He works well with Scoot and Deni and Camara. Since his injury Blazers have lost like 10 games or so.

I think Blazers need to keep the Deni, Ayton, Scoot, Camara core and trade Simons, Grant for a sure-fire young star, maybe someone like a Zion Williamson and hope he's healthy and then give Scoot the keys. Sharpe then focuses on the bench microwave scorer along with Clingan who has looked good as a rebounder and big body inside. Then hope to get another star in the draft. Billups may not be the long term coach but if he is, then Blazers should aim for a deep team in contrary to the other teams, like the Suns, who are very shallow and awful.

[JRoy]

Man! I can understand that! What a coup you guys pulled off from the Aygon deal! You guys have such an exciting young team and great front office/ GM. I'm not sure we'd ever get to live this decision down.

But tis the life of a suns fan I guess! Lol I've followed this team for close to 50 yrs now. And damn do they find the most creative ways to implode and RIP fans hearts out.

What's the consensus on Ayton recently?

POR still doesn’t have a real first option yet. Not sure Sharpe will get there. Hopefully can make it happen on draft day.

Every team has had its share of players that could not play at a high level.

Having a player that can, but will not, that’s even worse.

Been watching heaps of Blazers games due to Ayton, Scoot, Deni and now Camara.... and it's true that Blazers lack a sure fire go to scorer I don't think Sharpe is it.. at best he seems to be a less flamboyant JR Smith at the very best.

Blazers also have looked very good during that stretch when Ayton wanted to prove something. He works well with Scoot and Deni and Camara. Since his injury Blazers have lost like 10 games or so.

I think Blazers need to keep the Deni, Ayton, Scoot, Camara core and trade Simons, Grant for a sure-fire young star, maybe someone like a Zion Williamson and hope he's healthy and then give Scoot the keys. Sharpe then focuses on the bench microwave scorer along with Clingan who has looked good as a rebounder and big body inside. Then hope to get another star in the draft. Billups may not be the long term coach but if he is, then Blazers should aim for a deep team in contrary to the other teams, like the Suns, who are very shallow and awful.

Ayton has played well during that great run, but his motivation runs hot and cold. He cannot be relied upon. He needs to go, along with Simons and Grant. I don’t think Grant can be moved based on his awful season on top of that awful contract. I think Aytons contract expires and POR wishes him happy trails.

Simons will hopefully make his way to a team that can maximize his talents and mask his trash defense.

[lilfishi22]

But then by the very same standard, your argument is also a false equivalency with basis on appeal to ignorance because you also can present no evidence to the contrary besides your own subjective interpretation of someone else's hypothetical values and priorities that you only promote as valid if it fits your narrative or perspective so your view is not legitimately objective in such a discussion but subjective to your own implicit biases on how you yourself would value the implied considerations being discussed but at no time removing your own subjective feelings or views on the premise to take a more detached and objective view on the premise.

Of course anything is possible. But regardless of which side of this premise you perspectively personally fall on, this is still only a hypothetical premise absent of any credentialed or vetted evidence in support of or to substantiate either position beyond refute or contestation. So in that, you can really only argue from a position of subjective opinion or reasonable plausibility dependent and scalable by indeterminate variables. Thusly just leaving logical assessment of human nature in varying situational outcomes. And if you admit that any outcome is possible, separate from likelihood, then even that possibility is largely scalable in range of likelihood depending upon individual and situational context. So just as likelihood may not equal possibility, individual opinion exterior to the premise doesn't inhibit or diminish the likelihood of outcome being possible and then increasing in likelihood due to individual situational/ contextual variables.

I test my arguments on the basis on reasonableness. Is it reasonable that Kevin Durant would seriously consider Washington. The answer is no. Does that mean, he won't or that he can't? Of course not. The CBA allows a trade to happen so it's possible. But I'm again not debating possibility because then you're opening a massive can of worms by considering all possibilities. But that's what you do and when you do it, you assign equal likelihood to unlikely possibilities. That's the problem I have with your arguments.

Arguing for something that is highly unlikely is your prerogative but at the very least recognise that not all possibilities have the same probabilities.

Of course anything is possible. But regardless of which side of this premise you perspectively personally fall on, this is still only a hypothetical premise absent of any credentialed or vetted evidence in support of or to substantiate either position beyond refute or contestation.

This is the issue that you're still not comprehending with your arguments. I'm also 99% sure your using a chatgpt to write your posts

Again, all of these are merely your subjective views ( opinions). And I'm fully comprehending what your position is too. You're suggesting that just because " anything is possible " in a discussion, that doesn't in equity make it probable............ right? So on the basis of your individual subjective view, you see it as being possible but highly unlikely as you yourself don't or wouldn't see the value in the premise, so you attribute your individual interpretation of the value as being the standard for assessment.

Only problem with that man is that your individual views may not align as a universal or even consensus metric of evaluation for other individuals' in vastly different situations than yours or mine, obviously, man. This is because although you have your specific individual views on values or priorities in how you may make determinations or assessments situationally, people do not operate on a hive mentality or universal singular metric of value assessment. And the scalable (ranging outcomes in various scenarios for one person being vastly different than others, also impacting the potency of influence on those situational decisions.

So what I'm getting at here is that what might be paramount importance or a priority to you contextually could very easily be vastly different than how someone else views the same variables/ conditions in that situation contextually. How these scalable variables affect or influence your decisions may have entirely different effects on someone in KDs' position than a normal everyday person like you or I.

Your position:
KD wouldn't ever choose Washington regardless of connections, etc, because he still wants to compete at the highest level for Championships for his few remaining years left. Does that sound about right? Also, just because something is feasibly possible does mean it's at all likely?

My counterargument:
KD has already established himself as a historic all-time great in the game. An established Top 5 HOF talent, Top 10 all-time HOF great, 2-time NBA champion, with numerous other achievements to his legacy already secured. So maybe, just maybe how you subjectively view his priorities at this stage of his career do not actually align with how he views such situations for himself. Maybe he's content with his achievements and just wants to "play ball" and enjoy basketball for his few years left in this league. Maybe he isn't as hellbent on winning more championships as you may choose to believe and would rather spend his time around his friends, family or in a good environment playing in front of people who he loves (close friends or family, etc) or good friends in gnral in a situation wherein he'd b appreciated in his remaining years. Is this really such an unreasonable consideration to digest?

To me, I consider the human element in such decisions (especially at later stages of someone's career) as still being important factors in determinate outcomes. Now you can disagree with these perspectives as that's your distinct prerogative man. But ultimately my point is that I'm arguing the possibility of position over your probability position. Both can be valid positions, beyond subjective views influenced by subjective value metrics. What I'm saying in all this back n forth is that I'm not dismissing your position despite you being vehemently dismissive of my position on possibilities and probabilities being scalable (ranging from either spectrum of highly unlikely to very likely) based on numerous indeterminate theoretical variables we're not privy to that could better substantiate either position.

You're speaking from your own personal perspectives on how you yourself would interpret and assess the promised situation. I'm making suggestions on the possibilities for consideration that could add credence or legitimacy in this situation being reasonably possible/ probable under the specific conditions I've mentioned for consideration. My goal here is simply to get you in this premise to open yourself up to other variables and possibilities that could factor into such outcomes. And maybe not look at things in such a limited or restricted lens. for a moment, you were acknowledging a wider range of possibilities to consider, man. And that's growth to be encouraged.


So I'm not claiming or disputing your position as illegitimate at all as both are equitably possible depending upon the conditions and "equity of outcome" for how KD might view such a premise in his current situation, not either of ours. But to abjectly dismiss my position while emphatically promoting yours when both are theoretical absent of any evidence to oppositional perspective is just creating a Hitchens' razor looping position. Lastly, LOL! no, I don't use chatGPT for anything man. As I'm clearly not a techy type person and don't fully understand the application of all the things people are using today. Although I do use Grammarly, to help with spelling, grammar (obviously doesn't help keep things concise though) Lol. but I did have a lot of sugar last night, so maybe it's a bit of that perhaps?

My argument is that KD would not seriously consider Washington. I did not say it was impossible he'd go there. I did not say it was impossible a potential Washington thought bubble couldn't float by his mind. I said it would not be a serious consideration given where they are and how far they are from building an attractive proposition for him to seriously consider.

So I'm not claiming or disputing your position as illegitimate at all as both are equitably possible depending upon the conditions and "equity of outcome" for how KD might view such a premise in his current situation, not either of ours. But to abjectly dismiss my position while emphatically promoting yours when both are theoretical absent of any evidence to oppositional perspective is just creating a Hitchens' razor looping position.

From my perspective, KD’s whole career has been about competing at the highest level, aligning with others who are also at the top, and chasing championships. His body of work shows a consistent pattern of striving for greatness and trying to win at the highest level, so it makes far more sense that he'd stay in that kind of environment. My view is grounded in that career trajectory.

On the flip side, your argument suggests that suddenly, out of nowhere, KD’s going to make this drastic pivot to the worst team in the league just because he's from there. That’s why our arguments don’t have equal weight. While both scenarios might be theoretically possible, they’re not equally likely based on everything KD’s done up until now.

I will agree, I can't rule out Washington just as I can't rule out the Jackjumpers or some team in the CBA. That's as far as I can get with agreeing with your argument.

[Ghost of Kleine]

I test my arguments on the basis on reasonableness. Is it reasonable that Kevin Durant would seriously consider Washington. The answer is no. Does that mean, he won't or that he can't? Of course not. The CBA allows a trade to happen so it's possible. But I'm again not debating possibility because then you're opening a massive can of worms by considering all possibilities. But that's what you do and when you do it, you assign equal likelihood to unlikely possibilities. That's the problem I have with your arguments.

Arguing for something that is highly unlikely is your prerogative but at the very least recognise that not all possibilities have the same probabilities.



This is the issue that you're still not comprehending with your arguments. I'm also 99% sure your using a chatgpt to write your posts

Again, all of these are merely your subjective views ( opinions). And I'm fully comprehending what your position is too. You're suggesting that just because " anything is possible " in a discussion, that doesn't in equity make it probable............ right? So on the basis of your individual subjective view, you see it as being possible but highly unlikely as you yourself don't or wouldn't see the value in the premise, so you attribute your individual interpretation of the value as being the standard for assessment.

Only problem with that man is that your individual views may not align as a universal or even consensus metric of evaluation for other individuals' in vastly different situations than yours or mine, obviously, man. This is because although you have your specific individual views on values or priorities in how you may make determinations or assessments situationally, people do not operate on a hive mentality or universal singular metric of value assessment. And the scalable (ranging outcomes in various scenarios for one person being vastly different than others, also impacting the potency of influence on those situational decisions.

So what I'm getting at here is that what might be paramount importance or a priority to you contextually could very easily be vastly different than how someone else views the same variables/ conditions in that situation contextually. How these scalable variables affect or influence your decisions may have entirely different effects on someone in KDs' position than a normal everyday person like you or I.

Your position:
KD wouldn't ever choose Washington regardless of connections, etc, because he still wants to compete at the highest level for Championships for his few remaining years left. Does that sound about right? Also, just because something is feasibly possible does mean it's at all likely?

My counterargument:
KD has already established himself as a historic all-time great in the game. An established Top 5 HOF talent, Top 10 all-time HOF great, 2-time NBA champion, with numerous other achievements to his legacy already secured. So maybe, just maybe how you subjectively view his priorities at this stage of his career do not actually align with how he views such situations for himself. Maybe he's content with his achievements and just wants to "play ball" and enjoy basketball for his few years left in this league. Maybe he isn't as hellbent on winning more championships as you may choose to believe and would rather spend his time around his friends, family or in a good environment playing in front of people who he loves (close friends or family, etc) or good friends in gnral in a situation wherein he'd b appreciated in his remaining years. Is this really such an unreasonable consideration to digest?

To me, I consider the human element in such decisions (especially at later stages of someone's career) as still being important factors in determinate outcomes. Now you can disagree with these perspectives as that's your distinct prerogative man. But ultimately my point is that I'm arguing the possibility of position over your probability position. Both can be valid positions, beyond subjective views influenced by subjective value metrics. What I'm saying in all this back n forth is that I'm not dismissing your position despite you being vehemently dismissive of my position on possibilities and probabilities being scalable (ranging from either spectrum of highly unlikely to very likely) based on numerous indeterminate theoretical variables we're not privy to that could better substantiate either position.

You're speaking from your own personal perspectives on how you yourself would interpret and assess the promised situation. I'm making suggestions on the possibilities for consideration that could add credence or legitimacy in this situation being reasonably possible/ probable under the specific conditions I've mentioned for consideration. My goal here is simply to get you in this premise to open yourself up to other variables and possibilities that could factor into such outcomes. And maybe not look at things in such a limited or restricted lens. for a moment, you were acknowledging a wider range of possibilities to consider, man. And that's growth to be encouraged.


So I'm not claiming or disputing your position as illegitimate at all as both are equitably possible depending upon the conditions and "equity of outcome" for how KD might view such a premise in his current situation, not either of ours. But to abjectly dismiss my position while emphatically promoting yours when both are theoretical absent of any evidence to oppositional perspective is just creating a Hitchens' razor looping position. Lastly, LOL! no, I don't use chatGPT for anything man. As I'm clearly not a techy type person and don't fully understand the application of all the things people are using today. Although I do use Grammarly, to help with spelling, grammar (obviously doesn't help keep things concise though) Lol. but I did have a lot of sugar last night, so maybe it's a bit of that perhaps?

My argument is that KD would not seriously consider Washington. I did not say it was impossible he'd go there. I did not say it was impossible a potential Washington thought bubble couldn't float by his mind. I said it would not be a serious consideration given where they are and how far they are from building an attractive proposition for him to seriously consider.

So I'm not claiming or disputing your position as illegitimate at all as both are equitably possible depending upon the conditions and "equity of outcome" for how KD might view such a premise in his current situation, not either of ours. But to abjectly dismiss my position while emphatically promoting yours when both are theoretical absent of any evidence to oppositional perspective is just creating a Hitchens' razor looping position.

From my perspective, KD’s whole career has been about competing at the highest level, aligning with others who are also at the top, and chasing championships. His body of work shows a consistent pattern of striving for greatness and trying to win at the highest level, so it makes far more sense that he'd stay in that kind of environment. My view is grounded in that career trajectory.

On the flip side, your argument suggests that suddenly, out of nowhere, KD’s going to make this drastic pivot to the worst team in the league just because he's from there. That’s why our arguments don’t have equal weight. While both scenarios might be theoretically possible, they’re not equally likely based on everything KD’s done up until now.

I will agree, I can't rule out Washington just as I can't rule out the Jackjumpers or some team in the CBA. That's as far as I can get with agreeing with your argument.

I get what you're trying to say in that your using patterns throughout a large sample to assess probability standards. But again we're not dealing in absolutes here. And you can't really say just because his past indicates one behavior pattern or tendency, that pattern is immutable or eternally constant.

Also, absent of being legitimately psychically gifted (...are you???) You're not reading his mind or can accurately interpret how he chooses situations in the future because the variables/ factors are not constants. So at best, we're both still only speculating from.our own opinions. Equity of outcome in varying situations being factors too.

As we know of people and situational dynamics, people's views can of course change over time and with accumulation of experience or in accomplishing goals.

In a very simple metaphor, it's like going to a buffet when really hungry and eating till your full. Now in the beginning, you may be insatiable hungry and have one top prioritized goal of quenching that overwhelming sense of hunger.

But as you continue to eat and fill up on food, that same hunger dissipates and is no longer the biggest priority. Now that the overwhelming or obsessive factor has been addressed, it obviously becomes much less of a factor.

In other areas of life, apply thos metaphor to the premise around KD? Because even if you build your position in the premise of KD being very competitive forever, I've already pointed out that (aside from singular familial and close friends connections) I spoke to the chance of KD raising up his hometown franchise to prominence and competitive viability.

What bigger competitive challenge and statement of his unmatched greatness could their be towards adding to his overall legacy??
But even if you can't envision/ consider
that angle, I will repeat in correlation to my hunger metaphor above.

In that in a competitive prism, he's again already established an incredible HOF historically dominant career status and cemented himself as an all time historically great legendary player in his craft.

So maybe it's possible that he no longer has that same overwhelming or insatiable hunger to pursue that same dynamic because he's obviously achieved the highest levels in a multitude of areas to his craft! Consider these count numbers points to your positional statements man:

He likely wants to chase a championship? ............He's already achieved that twice!

- What he wants to prove he's an all time great in basketball history?
....................He's already achieved that too!

- But maybe he wants to add to his legacy though?
............. What better way to do that than to lift his hometown franchise from obscurity to relevance competitively while also adding to his personal accolades in the process as the main franchise guy! And also be revered further in his own hometown in front of family and friends? That would cement his legacy forever as the savior of the franchise.

- Wait but he may now prioritize playing with some of his basketball friends?
........Ok, they have plenty of assets to trade for some of whoever that might he or again have mechanisms to create cap flexibility to sign whatever players (within reason) that he may choose.

- But he may likely prefer to play on a playoff team though with foundational pieces?
.............Again, refer to the above premise of assets and mechanisms to competitively pivot rather quickly. And also consider Sarr, Coulilaby, and what if they win the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes too? Would those not be considered foundational pieces?

Also, the premise of the east being a much easier pathway to even getting into the playoffs than in the west, as evidenced year after year by records/ standings.

You speak to KD making sudden drastic changes, but again, neither of us being mind readers and absent KD coming out publicly and saying what his plans might be, no one knows If a decision we as fans may consider drastic on the surface may he viewed through the same lens as we do.

We don't know if he might have been quietly considering such premises and weighing the contextual variables toward such a premise? Has KD or other big name players made surprising decisions that people didn't see coming or didn't expect in the past?

Again the human element of unpredictability always a factor. And once you've pretty much achieved everything in your career, etc. Priorities can drastically change, even if people on the outside of such situations aren't expecting it or can't rationalize it.

You can exercise your assessments around probabilities and that's practical and fine. But again, even then the scalability of probabilities is ranging because celebrities, professional athletes and famous people in general are not confined or restricted by the same situational conditions or variables as we all are. So there thought process and value system for equity of outcome can he vastly different to our interpretations or considerations.

Basically what makes sense to us through a more limited scope of consideration and factors wouldn't necessarily apply/ affect their process of selection in such decisions. This makes those probabilities significantly more feasible/ likely as they not confined by the same degrees of consequences as the rest of us.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[sashaturiaf]

Warriors convert Quinten Post’s two-way contract to a guaranteed deal
Not surprising, but still exciting.

By Brady Klopfer@BradyKlopferNBA Feb 7, 2025, 12:34pm PST 55 Comments / 55 New

The Golden State Warriors made a move on Friday that is both predictable and exciting. Golden State opted to convert rookie center Quinten Post’s two-way contract into a standard NBA deal, as first announced by Post’s agency.

It was easy to see the move coming. After trading four players (Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Dennis Schröder, and Lindy Waters III) for one (Jimmy Butler), the Warriors roster sat at just 11 players, meaning they needed to add a few players into the fold. And Post, who has taken over the role of starting center, needed to have his contract converted in order to be eligible for the play-in tournament and playoff games, should the Warriors play any. So the Warriors did the obvious thing, and killed two birds with one stone.

Post, the No. 52 pick in June’s draft, has established himself as a core part of the Warriors going forward. He took over the starting role in late January, in just his ninth career game. His size and shooting ability is a weapon the Warriors haven’t had in a very long time: despite being seven-feet tall, Post is shooting 36.2% from three-point range. He’s also shown some strong defensive potential, some great instincts, and a good ability to fit the offensive system, make the right reads, and find the open man. It seems pretty clear that he’ll be an impact player for the Warriors for many years to come.

Golden State still needs to add a few players to the roster, but the addition of Post is a good start.

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2025/2/7/24361178/warriors-quinten-post-contract-conversion-jimmy-butler

I had a chance to watch GSW in January and Post was really lighting it up from deep but the Suns not surprisingly did not have him on our radar. This is just another indictment on JJ and Ishbia while teams are finding hidden gems in the 2nd round or undrafted class we have done absolutely zero in the scouting department and continue to sit on our hands and fail to pick up some real steals.

If the Suns are serious about contending they'll need to actually invest in scouts much more than they have until now and fire JJ and replace him with a someone who is half serious about doing their job!

Extremely frustrating, the Suns scouts are horrible.

So many good and hungry players in the world begging for a shot at the NBA yet we keep picking up Damion Lees and Plumlees in the hope they can be as mediocre as they were 5 years ago.

[Saberestar]

The team is competitive and fighting hard on every game...winning or losing we are right there but we could have been much better just putting Jimmy Butler in Beal's place.

The Warriors are 11-1 with Butler. That's how great he is as a two-way player.

I can't believe that Beal is so useless and he is so broken at just 31 years old. He was always overpaid but he used to be a dominant player on offense, now he is like Jordan **** Clarkson at best ****.

I was wrong about his addition. CP3, Shamet, multiple 2nds and some swaps were a better package than him with his broken body and his NTC.

My first move in the offseason would be to try to trade Beal. No doubt about it.