The Kevin Durant Problem

[Split T]

The only problem is you have to find a Beal trade…I don’t mind exploring that path first, but I have doubts you can find one that makes sense.

Though I’m currently wondering if there’s something with Washington built around Marcus Smart. You keep all the health issues, but Smart when he plays would be a great pairing with Book/KD

[Mori Chu]

Not trading KD in the summer would be a colossal blunder. He is still a highly valuable asset that can net us the picks and players we need to avoid the Dark Times coming. If we keep him even one more year, that will no longer be true.

[Mori Chu]

The only problem is you have to find a Beal trade…I don’t mind exploring that path first, but I have doubts you can find one that makes sense.

Though I’m currently wondering if there’s something with Washington built around Marcus Smart. You keep all the health issues, but Smart when he plays would be a great pairing with Book/KD

I think if you call Washington trying to trade Beal back to them, they laugh uproariously and hang up. They couldn't be happier to be off his contract.

[Split T]

The only problem is you have to find a Beal trade…I don’t mind exploring that path first, but I have doubts you can find one that makes sense.

Though I’m currently wondering if there’s something with Washington built around Marcus Smart. You keep all the health issues, but Smart when he plays would be a great pairing with Book/KD

I think if you call Washington trying to trade Beal back to them, they laugh uproariously and hang up. They couldn't be happier to be off his contract.

There was already a report that they were willing to take him back. His contract is only 2 more years and Washington has no interest in being good over those 2 years. I think they’d gladly take the 1st round pick for him and let him become their all-time leading scorer.

[JeremyG]

Not trading KD in the summer would be a colossal blunder. He is still a highly valuable asset that can net us the picks and players we need to avoid the Dark Times coming. If we keep him even one more year, that will no longer be true.

This. How can getting into 10th place, or potentially 9th, be making people so delusional? See this is what I was afraid of—that it would make Ishbia keep the team together. And now the fanbase is already starting to call for it!

[Carno]

It's not about what place they are in. It's about how the team is playing...are they competitive. The mix of players so far this season has clearly not been right, but lately that appears to have changed. If the team rallies, plays better, and makes the playoffs, then yes, the Suns should consider keeping Book and KD together. To do that, though, there has to be a path to fill out the team with the high effort, high IQ, defensive-minded role players that seem to be currently working.

[Split T]

For the record, the only way I’d keep KD is if you could find a Beal trade that actually adds pieces that make sense. I’m still on the trade KD team because I don’t believe a Beal trade exists.

[Superbone]

The only problem is you have to find a Beal trade…I don’t mind exploring that path first, but I have doubts you can find one that makes sense.

Though I’m currently wondering if there’s something with Washington built around Marcus Smart. You keep all the health issues, but Smart when he plays would be a great pairing with Book/KD

I think if you call Washington trying to trade Beal back to them, they laugh uproariously and hang up. They couldn't be happier to be off his contract.

And that should have been a good hint at the time of the deal but I'm sure they must have contained their laughter and huge smiles.

[Superbone]

It's not about what place they are in. It's about how the team is playing...are they competitive. The mix of players so far this season has clearly not been right, but lately that appears to have changed. If the team rallies, plays better, and makes the playoffs, then yes, the Suns should consider keeping Book and KD together. To do that, though, there has to be a path to fill out the team with the high effort, high IQ, defensive-minded role players that seem to be currently working.

This. Exactly this. If this was the team who had played all year long, the whole complexion of the season would have been different and we never would have been trying to trade KD at the deadline.

[Mori Chu]

It's all fool's gold. They've played really well for what, 4 games? Bless their hearts. And maybe 1 of those 4 games was a tough game? Outside of the admittedly impressive CLE win, what have they done exactly? Played well for about a week and a half against teams they should always have been able to beat?

I'm not just trying to be Negative Nancy here. We got a whole season's look at these guys, and they haven't got it. We have minor disagreements about exactly what's wrong, but suffice it to say there are many major problems with this team's construction, and it is not close to being a title contender. This is nice that they can win 3-4 games when they get on a hot streak. But you don't double down on a shitty year like this just because they have a dead cat bounce near the end of the season.

Again, I'm not trying to be a pessimist. The current win streak is absolutely encouraging. It tells me that if they retool the team by trading KD and some of the vets and letting some FAs leave, and then focusing on Booker and the young guys, we will play with good energy and we'll be capable of winning some games. That's a good thing! We can take some of that optimism into next season and not have this one end entirely on a bad note. But let's be real about what this streak is and what it isn't.

[ShelC]

I'll admit it's a bit tempting seeing the team play this way with CG, Dunn and Oso surrounding KD and Book and thinking "why not run it back". Without putting too much emphasis on the past 4 games, it's more about how we've played. This is a team that might've been a 5-6 seed had we played this kind of rotation from the start of the year. I don't think this recent stretch is fool's gold like the 8-1 start was. Even if we drop more games, Dunn, Oso and CG have proven to be impact players that help make KD and Book that much more dangerous. We're playing winning basketball and there's a process to it. It's not just hanging in there, keeping it close and hoping for KD heroics in the 4th, or getting down by 20 and clawing our way back into a game.

But like Mori said, it's still not close to being a contender and to try and get another year like this from KD with an extension looming is just too much of a risk. We'd have to NAIL our offseason with trades and whatever draft pick(s) to really make a leap to contender next year with Book and KD and that just doesn't seem possible. So best to cash in on KD and use those assets to add to what looks to be a legit core around Book.

[Split T]

It's all fool's gold. They've played really well for what, 4 games? Bless their hearts. And maybe 1 of those 4 games was a tough game? Outside of the admittedly impressive CLE win, what have they done exactly? Played well for about a week and a half against teams they should always have been able to beat?

It’s not fools gold…I also don’t think anyone is claiming it’s gold at all. But maybe it’s like bronze or copper. This isn’t just the team getting hot and wining some games…it’s a complete change in lineups and play-style. They lost before because they didn’t play any defense and would let games spiral with turnovers. This team has essentially replaced 3 or 4 of the normal rotation guys and added high energy, defensive minded players.

So it’s not just that they’ve played well, Booker and Durant have played well all year on offense…it’s that they now have the players doing the defensive stuff they need to actually win games. I don’t think this means they are a contender by any means…nor do I think it means they should run it back, but I don’t think it’s the same old team. It shows that they should’ve prioritized different players around Book and KD, but it’s too late for that.

I would still look to trade KD, but I can see why you might look at seeing what you could get for Beal and Grayson first. Just to be sure.

[JeremyG]

You have to cash out on KD before he’s essentially worthless. The time to trade him was last year or at the deadline, but you certainly can’t wait beyond this summer. He could get injured or start declining at any moment, not to mention his age itself will start turning teams off from giving up anything of value.

[Cap]

You have to cash out on KD before he’s essentially worthless. The time to trade him was last year or at the deadline, but you certainly can’t wait beyond this summer. He could get injured or start declining at any moment, not to mention his age itself will start turning teams off from giving up anything of value.

What do you hope to get for KD? Young talent that might help us in the future? Draft picks? Ish has sent down orders, publicly through the media, that we are not to trade for such things. If Ish means what he just said, and all available evidence indicates that he does, then future-looking moves are prohibited, because Ish wants to try to see the game today.

I have to wonder… is Jones that desperate for the money? Why would any self-respecting GM want to work for someone who would issue such orders?

I also wonder what Jerry Colangelo thinks of his recent “I believe in him, I think he’ll learn from his mistakes” video. Ish just told him to fuck off with that bullshit.

[virtual9mm]

You have to cash out on KD before he’s essentially worthless. The time to trade him was last year or at the deadline, but you certainly can’t wait beyond this summer. He could get injured or start declining at any moment, not to mention his age itself will start turning teams off from giving up anything of value.

What do you hope to get for KD? Young talent that might help us in the future? Draft picks? Ish has sent down orders, publicly through the media, that we are not to trade for such things. If Ish means what he just said, and all available evidence indicates that he does, then future-looking moves are prohibited, because Ish wants to try to see the game today.

I have to wonder… is Jones that desperate for the money? Why would any self-respecting GM want to work for someone who would issue such orders?

I also wonder what Jerry Colangelo thinks of his recent “I believe in him, I think he’ll learn from his mistakes” video. Ish just told him to fuck off with that bullshit.

If you were looking for such things, the way to maximize your returns is to say that this isn't what you want.

[Cap]

You have to cash out on KD before he’s essentially worthless. The time to trade him was last year or at the deadline, but you certainly can’t wait beyond this summer. He could get injured or start declining at any moment, not to mention his age itself will start turning teams off from giving up anything of value.

What do you hope to get for KD? Young talent that might help us in the future? Draft picks? Ish has sent down orders, publicly through the media, that we are not to trade for such things. If Ish means what he just said, and all available evidence indicates that he does, then future-looking moves are prohibited, because Ish wants to try to see the game today.

I have to wonder… is Jones that desperate for the money? Why would any self-respecting GM want to work for someone who would issue such orders?

I also wonder what Jerry Colangelo thinks of his recent “I believe in him, I think he’ll learn from his mistakes” video. Ish just told him to fuck off with that bullshit.

If you were looking for such things, the way to maximize your returns is to say that this isn't what you want.

So Ish is a canny operator who’s just saying he wants to keep doing the same stupid shit he’s been doing to disguise the fact that he has actually had a change of heart?

[virtual9mm]

[media][/media]

It's all fool's gold. They've played really well for what, 4 games? Bless their hearts. And maybe 1 of those 4 games was a tough game? Outside of the admittedly impressive CLE win, what have they done exactly? Played well for about a week and a half against teams they should always have been able to beat?

I'm not just trying to be Negative Nancy here. We got a whole season's look at these guys, and they haven't got it. We have minor disagreements about exactly what's wrong, but suffice it to say there are many major problems with this team's construction, and it is not close to being a title contender. This is nice that they can win 3-4 games when they get on a hot streak. But you don't double down on a shitty year like this just because they have a dead cat bounce near the end of the season.

Again, I'm not trying to be a pessimist. The current win streak is absolutely encouraging. It tells me that if they retool the team by trading KD and some of the vets and letting some FAs leave, and then focusing on Booker and the young guys, we will play with good energy and we'll be capable of winning some games. That's a good thing! We can take some of that optimism into next season and not have this one end entirely on a bad note. But let's be real about what this streak is and what it isn't.

Exactly. Booker as the wise old vet with a bunch of young guns could work very, very well.

[Superbone]

[Split T]

That’s good news…we need a bidding war

[ShelC]

I'm scared we're going to end up with OG Anunoby and some not-so-great draft picks.