KD to the Suns

Post #941 » by **bwgood77** » Sun Nov 10, 2024 9:14 pm

Thought this was weird when I heard about it. A calf strain is scary for a guy who tore his achilles. Isn't that what he tried to play on in the finals when he tore it?

Is it the same leg?

Luckily we have good depth and three guys who can take over as lead scorer (including KD, so 2 in case of injury), but unfortunately our depth is the worst at PF so I always felt losing KD would be the toughest (aside from him being our best player).

It will be interesting to see how we respond. I think everyone will step up a little more. It's been nice that we have gotten different players involved a lot this season so they are ready.

Also unfortunate though is that our games have been close and he has the main clutch guy helping us close the games out.

sunsbg · Post #942 » by **sunsbg** » Sun Nov 10, 2024 9:15 pm

Looking positively at least KD didn't slip during warmup of Gm1 and BB was able to start the season this time.

Post #943 » by **bwgood77** » Sun Nov 10, 2024 9:19 pm

sunsbg wrote:Looking positively at least KD didn't slip during warmup of Gm1 and BB was able to start the season this time.

Yeah, and we all knew there was huge injury risk at the time of the trade and to be as healthy as he's been from the beginning of last season to now has been kind of phenomenal. Hopefully this just isn't a lingering type of injury or his achilles is bothered at all.

dremill24 · Post #944 » by **dremill24** » Sun Nov 10, 2024 9:39 pm

bwgood77 wrote:Thought this was weird when I heard about it. A calf strain is scary for a guy who tore his achilles. Isn't that what he tried to play on in the finals when he tore it?

Is it the same leg?

Luckily we have good depth and three guys who can take over as lead scorer (including KD, so 2 in case of injury), but unfortunately our depth is the worst at PF so I always felt losing KD would be the toughest (aside from him being our best player).

It will be interesting to see how we respond. I think everyone will step up a little more. It's been nice that we have gotten different players involved a lot this season so they are ready.

Also unfortunate though is that our games have been close and he has the main clutch guy helping us close the games out.

It's not the same leg as the one where the torn Achilles occurred.

Saberestar · Post #945 » by **Saberestar** » Sat Nov 16, 2024 1:53 am

“Kevin’s been good,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said during Friday’s pregame press conference. “Stayed in touch with him. His work ethic is kind of similar with rehab. He gets after it. He's pushing to get back and be healthy as quick as he can.”

https://eu.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2024/11/15/durant-injury-update-starting-5-change-okc/76343956007/

Saberestar · Post #946 » by **Saberestar** » Sun Nov 17, 2024 1:59 pm

https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-nov-15-2024-edition

Saberestar · Post #947 » by **Saberestar** » Wed Nov 20, 2024 9:25 am

Ishbia told ESPN this week that he fully expects to sign Durant to a contract extension next offseason and wants the 14-time All-Star to retire as a Sun.

"[Durant] loves being in Phoenix, we love having him," Ishbia told ESPN. "He's off to an amazing start this season -- one of the MVP leaders -- and we're off to a very good start. We expect Kevin to sign an extension, be with us for the long term. We hope he finishes his career here in Phoenix.

"You can't sign a two-year extension this last summer, you can't do it based on the NBA rules. So we figured after the season we'll talk about it, take care of it.

"Kevin wants to be here, we want Kevin here. There's never been one grumbling of anything different."

Durant and the Suns bypassed a one-year, $60 million contract extension before the regular season, placing the focus on the 2024-25 campaign and allowing for the sides to pursue a two-year, $120 million maximum extension next summer. Durant is currently under contract through the 2025-26 season.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/42498310/mat-ishbia-expects-suns-sign-kevin-durant-extension

Saberestar · Post #948 » by **Saberestar** » Tue Dec 3, 2024 9:15 am

Saberestar · Post #949 » by **Saberestar** » Sat Dec 14, 2024 7:18 pm

Read on Twitter

Saberestar · Post #950 » by **Saberestar** » Fri Dec 20, 2024 1:19 pm

Best scoring game so far this season for him. I am waiting for 40 and a W in the next few games with Book probably out.

Watch on YouTube

sunsbg · Post #951 » by **sunsbg** » Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:06 am

40 with 8TO - no win. Is Durant not coachable or it's Bud's fault he's been asked to initiate the offense when there are much better ball handlers on the team ? Bud probably got used to having Giannis handle the ball a lot and now expects the same from KD.

Saberestar · Post #952 » by **Saberestar** » Sun Dec 22, 2024 8:01 am

sunsbg wrote:40 with 8TO - no win. Is Durant not coachable or it's Bud's fault he's been asked to initiate the offense when there are much better ball handlers on the team ? Bud probably got used to having Giannis handle the ball a lot and now expects the same from KD.

Offense was great in this game. 125 points.

KD with 43 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals shooting 14/26 and 11/11. Yeah, he had too many TOs but he is averaging his usual 3.3/3.4 per game this season.

He is risky sometimes and obviously he isn't a PG but he is great shot creator and facilitator for his position. In this game he was the last of our problems.

Defense by our small PGs and our slow and unathletic C were our biggest issues if we have to punt out someone.

ChuckS · Post #953 » by **ChuckS** » Sun Dec 22, 2024 1:51 pm

Saberestar wrote:
sunsbg wrote:40 with 8TO - no win. Is Durant not coachable or it's Bud's fault he's been asked to initiate the offense when there are much better ball handlers on the team ? Bud probably got used to having Giannis handle the ball a lot and now expects the same from KD.

Offense was great in this game. 125 points.

KD with 43 points, 5 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals shooting 14/26 and 11/11. Yeah, he had too many TOs but he is averaging his usual 3.3/3.4 per game this season.

He is risky sometimes and obviously he isn't a PG but he is great shot creator and facilitator for his position. In this game he was the last of our problems.

Defense by our small PGs and our slow and unathletic C were our biggest issues if we have to punt out someone.

I totally agree with your analysis. I'll just expand on one point. As of game time, KD was averaging 3.1 turnovers per. His career average is 3.2. In comparison to other dangerous scoring bigs, LeBron is at 4.0, Jokic at 3.8, and Giannis 3.4. We should put some games in perspective lest we think an aberration is the norm. Even Magic, albeit a point guard, averaged 3.9. Absent Booker, and with KD being the biggest defensive target, I would more prefer a game like last night, then having him become too cautious. And I think we expected too much when we got low turnover point guards. There is a limit to what they can control when their primary job is to get the ball to the best option on each possession.

I also agree with your attributing the defense to our guards last night. This too might have been mitigated with Booker. But in the previous game we were killed by bigs. I'll let Bud figure that out. It's way beyond my pay grade.

dremill24 · Post #954 » by **dremill24** » Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:32 pm

8! turnovers is stupidly high lol.

Defense was (is) definitely a bigger problem than offense, but the TOs also have a direct impact on your defense. On average, teams are scoring 128 pts/100 after a turnover this season, which is significantly higher than after a make (108) or after a miss (112). They go hand in hand a lot.

But yeah...the overall defense is ****

Saberestar · Post #955 » by **Saberestar** » Sun Dec 22, 2024 6:43 pm

dremill24 wrote:8! turnovers is stupidly high lol.

Defense was (is) definitely a bigger problem than offense, but the TOs also have a direct impact on your defense. On average, teams are scoring 128 pts/100 after a turnover this season, which is significantly higher than after a make (108) or after a miss (112). They go hand in hand a lot.

But yeah...the overall defense is ****

3 of those 8 were offensive fouls so is not like those TOs produced 8 easy baskets in transition.

Like you said DEFENSE was the problem. Our team scored 125 points so those TOs weren't a big deal losing the game.

ChuckS · Post #956 » by **ChuckS** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:22 am

Saberestar wrote:
dremill24 wrote:8! turnovers is stupidly high lol.

Defense was (is) definitely a bigger problem than offense, but the TOs also have a direct impact on your defense. On average, teams are scoring 128 pts/100 after a turnover this season, which is significantly higher than after a make (108) or after a miss (112). They go hand in hand a lot.

But yeah...the overall defense is ****

3 of those 8 were offensive fouls so is not like those TOs produced 8 easy baskets in transition.

Like you said DEFENSE was the problem. Our team scored 125 points so those TOs weren't a big deal losing the game.

Thanks again for your knowledgeable objectivity. I would even subtract his two steals from the remaining five. I have no problem criticizing turnovers. I hate turnovers. Everyone hates turnovers. Even Durant hates turnovers, and has apologized and said he has to do better. I just dislike the term "stupid turnovers" because I think it ignores the reality of the game. There have been and will always be turnovers, and yes some will be careless. But the speed of the game, excellence of players and defensive prowess, fatigue, players stopping on a backdoor cut, zigging when they were expected to zag, or not coming to the pass, and even the 3 point emphasis today which encourages long or cross court dangerous passes thru traffic, are also factors. I also have found little the 8th all time best scorer has done to be stupid. And he did have 43 points last night, absent Booker, which should have some redeeming basketball value.

Once again for perspective, my quick study of the subject has shown that some all time greats lead the list of turnovers in a game. Jason Kidd has had 14 and twice 12 turnover games. Giannis, who someone claimed was what KD should be on a Bud coached team, also has a higher 12 turnover number, along with Pierce, and Pippen. LeBron, Kobe, and Hakeem have had 11. Yes, Kevin is also up there on that honor roll, as well as sixteenth for total turnovers. But that speaks to longevity and offensive ability. You won't find many offensive mediocrities, undeserving of exceptional defensive attention. One source suggested teams should be below 15 per game. But the San Francisco Warriors once had 45, so turnovers have a storied history.

phrazbit · Post #957 » by **phrazbit** » Fri Jan 3, 2025 3:37 am

In a few years this will be regarded as one of the worst trades in NBA history.

Post #958 » by **bwgood77** » Fri Jan 3, 2025 7:55 pm

phrazbit wrote:In a few years this will be regarded as one of the worst trades in NBA history.

It's already bad. The theory was going "all in" for a championshp, but instead the 4 firsts will kill us, plus Bridges and Cam were valuable, and Jae was worth something (he got 5 seconds for Brooklyn). Now would be be worse right now without KD and still having those players? Maybe, but then we'd have a high lotto pick and many more, and could still trade those guys for even more picks and put ourselves in a position like OKC was with their war chest of picks or Brooklyn. Instead it looks bleak. Memphis would have offered 4 first for Bridges...NY offered a bunch. Cam will probably fetch at least one. Then if we had really wanted to tear it down we could have traded Book for some sort of Paul George to LAC package and maybe get a really good young players (like they got Shai) plus a bunch more picks.

Fans may have been pissed trading guys for picks, but our fans (at least the hard core ones) usually get excited about watching young growing prospects, etc. We seem a lot like the 2010-11 and 2011-12 Suns that had Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, Vince Carter, Gortat, Frye, etc, thinking we could compete after the Amare trade. We also had Dragic, who we dealt for Brooks.

We finished 10th before finally trading Nash off for 2 firsts and going in the tank for 7 or 8 years besides that one semi-exciting year. And that was when we did have high picks during those years.

sunsbg · Post #959 » by **sunsbg** » Fri Jan 3, 2025 8:11 pm

Mikal + Cam J are averaging 38ppg combined. Mikal has played every game as usual. Present would've not been worse with these two and certainly not the future with all the picks included. The results show the trade was a collosal failure. Nothing to debate really.

MrMiyagi · Post #960 » by **MrMiyagi** » Fri Jan 3, 2025 8:37 pm

sunsbg wrote:Mikal + Cam J are averaging 38ppg combined. Mikal has played every game as usual. Present would've not been worse with these two and certainly not the future with all the picks included. The results show the trade was a collosal failure. Nothing to debate really.

It was UNKNOWABLE!