Deandre Ayton's future with the Suns?

[Shabazz]

I don’t want to give up Mikal. That would be a tough pill to swallow.

[Superbone]

There is no way we get KD without Ayton being involved. Sorry, not going to happen. In fact, it likely costs us both Ayton and Mikal (although I'd push hard for it to be Ayton, Cam, filler and picks).

If we had to give up Ayton and Bridges why would KD even want to still come here? That makes us worse than last season, especially when you factor in CP3’s age. If we are the only team on his list, the Nets will accommodate him.

And from the Suns side of things, CP3 and KD are only going to decline each year, while Ayton and Bridges are going to improve each year.

I will take the next two years of KD's career over the next 2 years of ANYONE's career on this current team. The comparison seems so silly.

But where do we end up two years from now? Bridges and DA will be in their primes and we’ll continue to either compete or have tradeable assets. KD, CP3 will be albatross contracts and we’ll be left to start over like Brooklyn is now and LA.

I guess the question becomes will we really go all out to try and win-now.

If the answer is KD on this current roster minus 2/3 of DA, Cam and Mikal- we’re not any better off and in two years we’re worse.

If we get KD, we better pay and go all out getting creative to add some serious talent around CP3 Book and Kd

It's a fine line. If we go for it with KD and don't win a Chip, it's a failure. We'd be back to square one.

[Indy]

There is no way we get KD without Ayton being involved. Sorry, not going to happen. In fact, it likely costs us both Ayton and Mikal (although I'd push hard for it to be Ayton, Cam, filler and picks).

If we had to give up Ayton and Bridges why would KD even want to still come here? That makes us worse than last season, especially when you factor in CP3’s age. If we are the only team on his list, the Nets will accommodate him.

And from the Suns side of things, CP3 and KD are only going to decline each year, while Ayton and Bridges are going to improve each year.

I will take the next two years of KD's career over the next 2 years of ANYONE's career on this current team. The comparison seems so silly.

But where do we end up two years from now? Bridges and DA will be in their primes and we’ll continue to either compete or have tradeable assets. KD, CP3 will be albatross contracts and we’ll be left to start over like Brooklyn is now and LA.

I guess the question becomes will we really go all out to try and win-now.

If the answer is KD on this current roster minus 2/3 of DA, Cam and Mikal- we’re not any better off and in two years we’re worse.

If we get KD, we better pay and go all out getting creative to add some serious talent around CP3 Book and Kd

It's a fine line. If we go for it with KD and don't win a Chip, it's a failure. We'd be back to square one.

Agreed. But we say all the time that you need to make big moves if you want to win. Of course it is a gamble. But is it anymore of a gamble to hope Ayton takes a leap to become an effective #1/#2 on a great team?

[specialsauce]

If we had to give up Ayton and Bridges why would KD even want to still come here? That makes us worse than last season, especially when you factor in CP3’s age. If we are the only team on his list, the Nets will accommodate him.

And from the Suns side of things, CP3 and KD are only going to decline each year, while Ayton and Bridges are going to improve each year.

I will take the next two years of KD's career over the next 2 years of ANYONE's career on this current team. The comparison seems so silly.

But where do we end up two years from now? Bridges and DA will be in their primes and we’ll continue to either compete or have tradeable assets. KD, CP3 will be albatross contracts and we’ll be left to start over like Brooklyn is now and LA.

I guess the question becomes will we really go all out to try and win-now.

If the answer is KD on this current roster minus 2/3 of DA, Cam and Mikal- we’re not any better off and in two years we’re worse.

If we get KD, we better pay and go all out getting creative to add some serious talent around CP3 Book and Kd

It's a fine line. If we go for it with KD and don't win a Chip, it's a failure. We'd be back to square one.

Agreed. But we say all the time that you need to make big moves if you want to win. Of course it is a gamble. But is it anymore of a gamble to hope Ayton takes a leap to become an effective #1/#2 on a great team?

Yes. It is.

This team as constructed is already a few pieces away from contending at a high level. I don’t think it would take another superstar to get us over the top. I think another playmaker added to the mix is all we need with some better complementary pieces than Crowder, Shamet, Payne. We need to be smarter about who we surround Booker and Ayton with. They need to be shooters, and our 4 needs to be a 4 that can dribble and is athletic. Not Jae Crowder.

It’s not a stretch to say that if you added Harrison Barnes and Patty Mills or Gary Trent to our current roster and took away Crowder, Cam Johnson and Landry Shamet that we would be significantly improved.


I think a core of Bridges, Booker and DA with surrounding pieces could get you to at least the semifinals every year and if you’re really smart about your team building we could get back to the finals.


If you half ass the KD arrival and miss, you’ve depleted all your assets and are looking at a rebuild not a retool.


I’m not opposed to KD. I’m opposed to KD being our only addition and losing DA/Bridges/Johnson to get him. That’s a short term L and a huge long term L.

If you’re getting KD you better go all out and really overhaul this roster and spend big money to give it a real chance in the next two seasons.

[JeremyG]

There is no way we get KD without Ayton being involved. Sorry, not going to happen. In fact, it likely costs us both Ayton and Mikal (although I'd push hard for it to be Ayton, Cam, filler and picks).

If we had to give up Ayton and Bridges why would KD even want to still come here? That makes us worse than last season, especially when you factor in CP3’s age. If we are the only team on his list, the Nets will accommodate him.

And from the Suns side of things, CP3 and KD are only going to decline each year, while Ayton and Bridges are going to improve each year.

I will take the next two years of KD's career over the next 2 years of ANYONE's career on this current team. The comparison seems so silly.

We weren't talking about "anyone." We were talking about both Bridges and Ayton. You would take the next 2 years of KD over the next 2 years of both Bridges and Ayton?

[Indy]

There is no way we get KD without Ayton being involved. Sorry, not going to happen. In fact, it likely costs us both Ayton and Mikal (although I'd push hard for it to be Ayton, Cam, filler and picks).

If we had to give up Ayton and Bridges why would KD even want to still come here? That makes us worse than last season, especially when you factor in CP3’s age. If we are the only team on his list, the Nets will accommodate him.

And from the Suns side of things, CP3 and KD are only going to decline each year, while Ayton and Bridges are going to improve each year.

I will take the next two years of KD's career over the next 2 years of ANYONE's career on this current team. The comparison seems so silly.

We weren't talking about "anyone." We were talking about both Bridges and Ayton. You would take the next 2 years of KD over the next 2 years of both Bridges and Ayton?

Do you know who Kevin Durant is? I mean what are we doing here?

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Ya need a new option...

4. New Mascot as Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man

[JeremyG]

There is no way we get KD without Ayton being involved. Sorry, not going to happen. In fact, it likely costs us both Ayton and Mikal (although I'd push hard for it to be Ayton, Cam, filler and picks).

If we had to give up Ayton and Bridges why would KD even want to still come here? That makes us worse than last season, especially when you factor in CP3’s age. If we are the only team on his list, the Nets will accommodate him.

And from the Suns side of things, CP3 and KD are only going to decline each year, while Ayton and Bridges are going to improve each year.

I will take the next two years of KD's career over the next 2 years of ANYONE's career on this current team. The comparison seems so silly.

We weren't talking about "anyone." We were talking about both Bridges and Ayton. You would take the next 2 years of KD over the next 2 years of both Bridges and Ayton?

Do you know who Kevin Durant is? I mean what are we doing here?

Yeah, he's the guy who shot 38.6% in the playoffs this year.

[Indy]

LOL Jeremy. He scored 30 ppg this season with a 63.4% TS%.

[Indy]

Only Detroit and San Antonio have enough cap space to offer DA the max (or anywhere close to it).

So what does that mean for the Spurs? If they offer him the max they can only use vet min players and the MLE this season to complete their roster?

[TOO]

LOL Jeremy. He scored 30 ppg this season with a 63.4% TS%.

Durant would instantly be the best player in Suns history, he's THAT good.

[Indy]

LOL Jeremy. He scored 30 ppg this season with a 63.4% TS%.

Durant would instantly be the best player in Suns history, he's THAT good.

But what if Ayton turns a corner and starts being dominant?

[TOO]

LOL Jeremy. He scored 30 ppg this season with a 63.4% TS%.

Durant would instantly be the best player in Suns history, he's THAT good.

But what if Ayton turns a corner and starts being dominant?

I'll literally eat a hat.

[JeremyG]

LOL Jeremy. He scored 30 ppg this season with a 63.4% TS%.

You're right, I guess regular season is more important than the playoffs.

[BlaCkAdDa]

You're right, I guess regular season is more important than the playoffs.

In which case we already have the best team in the NBA so we can't go giving half of it away

[Mori Chu]

That cap space list, didn't Detroit lose some of theirs by absorbing contracts from NYK? Do they still have max cap space?

I was reading some takes online that various teams (primarily DET and SAS) would no longer offer Ayton the max because they had drafted bigs. I don't agree with that reasoning. Some raw ass big man who's going to need 2-3 years to even be worthy of putting in a rotation is going to stop you from pursuing a starting big who might be an All-Star next year? Nah. The guy they drafted will come off the bench. I don't see the two as being in conflict at all. I would still expect one or both of DET and SAS to offer max money to Ayton.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I voted that I think they'll trade him and I'll add to the wild stabs in the dark about what James Jones will do.

Suns - Kevin Durant
Spurs - Deandre Ayton (4yr/$140M-ish)
Hawks - DeJounte Murry, Jae Crowder
Nets - John Collins, (Hawks role player), Cam Johnson, (Suns role player)

I don't know how these teams value draft picks in trades but I'd guess the Suns, and definitely the Hawks, would lose picks. I could see up to 3 picks going to Brooklyn in this kind of deal. The value would probably depend a lot on which role players the Nets requested. I'm not putting Mikal in that group if it wasn't obvious. Atlanta would probably say the same about Hunter and Okongwu.

Looks great for everyone except the Nets, so it's obviously a nuclear option for them. We'll see how desperate they have to get.

[Indy]

I voted that I think they'll trade him and I'll add to the wild stabs in the dark about what James Jones will do.

Suns - Kevin Durant
Spurs - Deandre Ayton (4yr/$140M-ish)
Hawks - DeJounte Murry, Jae Crowder
Nets - John Collins, (Hawks role player), Cam Johnson, (Suns role player)

I don't know how these teams value draft picks in trades but I'd guess the Suns, and definitely the Hawks, would lose picks. I could see up to 3 picks going to Brooklyn in this kind of deal. The value would probably depend a lot on which role players the Nets requested. I'm not putting Mikal in that group if it wasn't obvious. Atlanta would probably say the same about Hunter and Okongwu.

Looks great for everyone except the Nets, so it's obviously a nuclear option for them. We'll see how desperate they have to get.

It feels like Kyrie will be playing with LeBron in LA and AD will be in Brooklyn. Wonder what that means for this kind of deal.

[JeremyG]

I voted that I think they'll trade him and I'll add to the wild stabs in the dark about what James Jones will do.

Suns - Kevin Durant
Spurs - Deandre Ayton (4yr/$140M-ish)
Hawks - DeJounte Murry, Jae Crowder
Nets - John Collins, (Hawks role player), Cam Johnson, (Suns role player)

I don't know how these teams value draft picks in trades but I'd guess the Suns, and definitely the Hawks, would lose picks. I could see up to 3 picks going to Brooklyn in this kind of deal. The value would probably depend a lot on which role players the Nets requested. I'm not putting Mikal in that group if it wasn't obvious. Atlanta would probably say the same about Hunter and Okongwu.

Looks great for everyone except the Nets, so it's obviously a nuclear option for them. We'll see how desperate they have to get.

The Spurs are only allowed to offer him $131 million.

[Drewsprocket]

JJ will be GM of the century if he can pull this off by just sending out Ayton + picks + Expiring contracts. If we can keep Cam J and Bridges, we’d be set.