The Kevin Durant Problem

Discussion of the league and of our favorite team.
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ShelC
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Just gonna leave this here


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Kryptonic
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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ShelC wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 6:18 pm
Just gonna leave this here

I'd bet a lot KD ends up in SA.... I'd think he'd like to end his career in his home state.

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Flagrant Fowl
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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KD is from the DMV area, not Texas.

I think the Spurs will likely make the best offer to the Suns, so I want to know where the Suns are planning to send Devin Vassell. Of course I'd have no issue with keeping him if they can dump Beal on someone else.
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Mori Chu
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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With all these rumors, it's really important to keep in mind that these reporters aren't, like, the CIA. The only way they get info to report is if a rep from a team's FO or a player's agent calls them and chooses to leak something to them. It's all information that somebody told them voluntarily because they wanted the reporter to tweet / report it out. So you always have to ask yourself, who would want this info released? Who benefits from these points getting out there and being discussed? So far it all seems like smoke to me, teams leaking rumors to try to pressure the other side or improve their position. I wouldn't put much stock in it until a deal gets done.

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TOO
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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I think Vassell, Sochan, Barnes, 14 is a solid return. I haven't done the machine to see if that works but I'd take that.
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Flagrant Fowl
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
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TOO
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:31 pm
However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
Agreed. I wonder what sort of C a guy like Vassell could bring back? He's around 25m per, gotta be something decent around that price
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JeremyG
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Whatever they do, they need to wait to see if OKC wants KD.
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Flagrant Fowl
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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TOO wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 8:04 pm
Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:31 pm
However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
Agreed. I wonder what sort of C a guy like Vassell could bring back? He's around 25m per, gotta be something decent around that price
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sunset rubdown
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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TOO wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 8:04 pm
Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:31 pm
However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
Agreed. I wonder what sort of C a guy like Vassell could bring back? He's around 25m per, gotta be something decent around that price
Probably some scrub like Nic Claxton or similar.

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ShelC
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Agree that most of these rumors are just writers/fans going thru the trade machine. It's the offseason and these are the storylines.


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TOO
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Can't wait for the part where Gambo leaks bad packages to prepare us for the inevitable shit sandwich we'll get in return.
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Mori Chu
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe talk about the Suns ownership and trade situation on their recent podcast.



It's a good point; the Clippers, despite not seeming like a top Durant destination, could theoretically give us their 2030-2032 picks, but it'd take years for that investment to reap benefits, so there's no way our short-sighted FO will go for it. We are much more likely to pounce on something that looks good short-term and gives us no future.

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JeremyG
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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TOO wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 8:04 pm
Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:31 pm
However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
Agreed. I wonder what sort of C a guy like Vassell could bring back? He's around 25m per, gotta be something decent around that price
Jusuf Nurkic makes $19M. :P
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Kryptonic
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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JeremyG wrote:
Thu Jun 12, 2025 12:02 pm
TOO wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 8:04 pm
Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:31 pm
However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
Agreed. I wonder what sort of C a guy like Vassell could bring back? He's around 25m per, gotta be something decent around that price
Jusuf Nurkic makes $19M. :P
LMAO... I saw that too.

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TOO
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

Post by TOO »

JeremyG wrote:
Thu Jun 12, 2025 12:02 pm
TOO wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 8:04 pm
Flagrant Fowl wrote:
Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:31 pm
However it shakes out, they probably need to acquire a Center from the deal. Neither Richards and Oso are full time starter quality.
Agreed. I wonder what sort of C a guy like Vassell could bring back? He's around 25m per, gotta be something decent around that price
Jusuf Nurkic makes $19M. :P
The amount of meh players making over 15m is absurd.
Love, Hurts.

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Mori Chu
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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TOO wrote:
Thu Jun 12, 2025 12:22 pm
The amount of meh players making over 15m is absurd.
I've heard some smart folks here argue that it is good for us to sign some guys to big (but less than max) contracts because it's good to have some salary ballast for use in future trades. And I get the logic of that. But then the question becomes, if this player is good and deserves such a contract, why would we be bundling him into a future trade? And if he isn't good and we want rid of him, why would the other hypothetical team want to trade for him?

You should never want to have a guy signed for MORE than his production is worth. Overpaying players, particularly ones who are not stars and not capable of growing into being stars, is bad roster management.

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Split T
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

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There’s some interesting contracts in that 20 million to 27 million range(what vassell makes). Some good interesting, some bad:

John Collins at 26.5
Draymond Green at 25.8
Nic Claxton at 25.3
Miles Bridges 25
Trey Murphy III 25
Mikal Bridges 24.9
Jaden McDaniels 24.9
DeMar Derozan 24.5
JJJ 23.4
Kuzma 22.4
Vucevic 21.4
Cam Johnson 20.5
Jarrett Allen 20

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Split T
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Re: The Kevin Durant Problem

Post by Split T »

Mori Chu wrote:
Thu Jun 12, 2025 12:30 pm
TOO wrote:
Thu Jun 12, 2025 12:22 pm
The amount of meh players making over 15m is absurd.
I've heard some smart folks here argue that it is good for us to sign some guys to big (but less than max) contracts because it's good to have some salary ballast for use in future trades. And I get the logic of that. But then the question becomes, if this player is good and deserves such a contract, why would we be bundling him into a future trade? And if he isn't good and we want rid of him, why would the other hypothetical team want to trade for him?

You should never want to have a guy signed for MORE than his production is worth. Overpaying players, particularly ones who are not stars and not capable of growing into being stars, is bad roster management.
There was some value to signing guys like Okogie to that 8 million per year deal while we were in the 2nd apron…we didn’t have other avenues to acquire players at that salary level…and with him being a team option, he was essentially an expiring deal, so no longterm issues with the money.

Signing someone to big money at multiple years is definitely more risky. Think Royce or Grayson. I don’t think either out priced their value though. Both would still be tradable…but if they got 30 million/yr deals it would be a different story.

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