The Case for and against Kevin Durant

[Rustyman]

With all the rumors going around about Kevin Durant to the Spurs, I thought I would try to put some thoughts together on the benefits or not of trading for him.

Firstly, the trade. This I assume is Vassell, Keldon, (I want to keep Barnes due to his shooting), Branham, #14 in 2025 and 2-3 second rounders in future years. I am not trading either #2 or Castle due to value and I am also not trading Sochan in a trade for Durant as that would skew the shape of the roster. Now if a future first rounder needs to be added, we can consider that.

The negatives:
- He will be 37 around the time the season starts
- He will be looking for a 2 year extension to his current deal
- He costs a lot of money which will dig into the Spurs roster building flexibility in future years
- He is unlikely to play 75 games due to age and potential injury

The positives:
- He fills the team's immediate needs for a scorer. He could and will score 20+ in his sleep
- He fills the team's need for outside shooting
- He can help with veteran leadership and guidance

Now at the price I mentioned, I would be willing to make the trade. I will quibble about a future first but will probably accept that going forward.

Best case scenario:
- He fills the Spurs needs, plays 65 games and leads the Spurs to the conference finals.

Worse case scenario:
- His body breaks down and he is injured for the majority of the season and the Spurs get nothing for 3 players, picks and cap space.

Why I would still do it is even in the worse case scenario, Vassell leaving gives Harper more space to develop. We do not get measurably worse because we lose the efforts of Vassell/Keldon/Branham/picks. In fact we will probably get close to 50 wins next season simply by the fact of having a healthy Wemby/Fox and another year of development out of Castle.

[G R E Y]

We flip Vassell's closer to his ceiling for a known and still higher ceiling of KD, but we flip Barnes' durability for KD's older, harder to maintain body. Ironically having Barnes there as the alternate would be ideal but we also make good on an expiring Barnes contract. Enter Julian

Speaking of contracts, I assume we'd have an extension agreement with KD for, say, two years. Aligns well for when we have to extend Wemby.

We'd consolidate assets and punt finding a long term SF alongside Wemby, giving ourselves a longer window to do so with higher level talent along the way.

We'd still have to get shooting around them after trading a lot of it away, but KD's scoring prowess and gravity, alongside Fox, Wemby, Castle, and Harper is a formidable core.

[Rustyman]

Said better and much more succinctly by G R E Y!

[Rustyman]

I still don't believe the Spurs offer is the best one.

The Rockets can outdo the Spurs if they offer #10, Jabari Smith, Cam Whitmore and a future pick Phoenix pick but I guess it depends on whether the Rockets offer Jabari or whether they try to cheap out with Jalen Green. Green duplicates what the Suns already have on the roster so I think if the Rockets don't offer up Jabari + picks + cap space, the Spurs are in with a chance.

[G R E Y]

I still don't believe the Spurs offer is the best one.

The Rockets can outdo the Spurs if they offer #10, Jabari Smith, Cam Whitmore and a future pick Phoenix pick but I guess it depends on whether the Rockets offer Jabari or whether they try to cheap out with Jalen Green. Green duplicates what the Suns already have on the roster so I think if the Rockets don't offer up Jabari + picks + cap space, the Spurs are in with a chance.

I'd be shocked if Smith were offered.

FVV and his enormous contract are returning. Seems like Green is being offered around like a joint at a frat party lol

Suns would love to deal with Rockets as the latter have their picks. This has shades of Hawks offering Trae for the unprotected picks of theirs we own.

The crux is KD. If he won't extend with Rockets, why would they give all that up? If both sides are willing to extend, then it's a different story.

If KD wants us, our leverage increases. Seems like the media feelers of KD and mutual interest with various teams are designed to get teams to compete and raise offers.

[Kineto]

At first, I was sceptical about this potential trade, but the more I think about it, the more I like it.

KD is old, yes, and trading for him is a short term rental, yes.

But he averaged 27 points per game last year (64% true shooting!), and because of that short window, he won't cost much.

And this short windows is not so bad for the spurs, because it will end when the spurs will have to start giving big pay check for they're youg player :
Sochan first (probably not much, but who knows? If he find himself a reliable 3pt shoot, he may ask for something around KJ's money)
Then Victor (probably rookie supermax, if he manage to play 65 game, he is guaranteed to finish with the DPOY)
Then Castle.
Then Harper.

We don't know if Castle and Harper will be good enough to get a max rookie contract, but that's the long-term plan we're hoping for !

So yes, i really like the idea of buying low on a really good player who fit perfectly with the current roster, and who will be off the books when SAS will start to deal with major salary cap difficulties.

[Rustyman]

So yes, i really like the idea of buying low on a really good player who fit perfectly with the current roster, and who will be off the books when SAS will start to deal with major salary cap difficulties.

And that is why I like the KD deal as we have to spend the cap space anyway. So spending it on KD instead of Vassell/Keldon seems more efficient and we potentially only have to deal with one year of Wemby/KD's deals overlapping before we can spend that money on some of the young guys.

[Rustyman]

Seems like Green is being offered around like a joint at a frat party lol

That imagery made me burst out laughing.

[imagump1313]

My pros and cons for a Durant trade.

Pros:
Can we get Champaigne included? He would look good in Phoenix IMO

Cons:
If we cannot include Champaigne.

Expectations:
To get Champaigne off this team. I don't care if Durant plays one minute for us.....

Can Durant help us?
Yes, if we can get Champaigne off this team.

Can we make the playoffs with Durant:
Maybe. But we will be much closer not having Champaigne ruining it.

Ok, On a serious note:
Can we get rid of Champaigne?

[Rustyman]

I'm just sensing a theme here. Are you in favor of trading Champagnie?

[Rustyman]

Thinking of the trade for Durant from a Suns perspective as they need forwards and centers, not more guards.

1. Houston. Jalen Green as the centerpiece of the deal is just not appealing. Would like the Phoenix picks the Rockets hold but just Green and picks is not as appealing, unless it is lots of picks.

2. Spurs. Vassell/Keldon once more duplicates what the Suns already have with Booker and Beal.

3. Miami. Tyler Herro . Same problems as the deals above. Might be different if they offer Bam.

4. NY. Sorry, nothing exciting there and they have no picks.

5. Cleveland. Now here there is real alignment. Garland for KT works as the Suns also need a PG. However, the Suns want to come out with more than just a single player and the Cavs may simply value Garland too highly.

[G R E Y]

Thinking of the trade for Durant from a Suns perspective as they need forwards and centers, not more guards.

1. Houston. Jalen Green as the centerpiece of the deal is just not appealing. Would like the Phoenix picks the Rockets hold but just Green and picks is not as appealing, unless it is lots of picks.

2. Spurs. Vassell/Keldon once more duplicates what the Suns already have with Booker and Beal.

3. Miami. Tyler Herro . Same problems as the deals above. Might be different if they offer Bam.

4. NY. Sorry, nothing exciting there and they have no picks.

5. Cleveland. Now here there is real alignment. Garland for KT works as the Suns also need a PG. However, the Suns want to come out with more than just a single player and the Cavs may simply value Garland too highly.

There's lots of Cs in this draft, two in the lotto alone. For Suns, with Book as the main guy and Beal begrudgingly still there, they'd need a C as a pressure valve release ie/ get a pass and swing it or DHO, keep it moving while guards get open, set screens, protect the rim, grab boards. I don't know that they need a 3s shooting big. Just surround their star guards with shooting/spacing. Barnes and Vassell and some picks offer all of that very well. And helps their depth as well.

[Rustyman]

There's lots of Cs in this draft, two in the lotto alone. For Suns, with Book as the main guy and Beal begrudgingly still there, they'd need a C as a pressure valve release ie/ get a pass and swing it or DHO, keep it moving while guards get open, set screens, protect the rim, grab boards. I don't know that they need a 3s shooting big. Just surround their star guards with shooting/spacing. Barnes and Vassell and some picks offer all of that very well. And helps their depth as well.

I think the Suns want to contend now and I just don't know how much a rookie center contributes to that. My view is that maybe 5 rookies a year make a real impact. Does not meant that they cannot become good players but rookie contributors to contenders are a rare breed.