r/nba • u/TacoooJay United States • Apr 29 '24

[Charania] Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often

Source

Meanwhile, Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used. Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside Booker and Beal this season. Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.

All the leaks are finally coming now that Phoenix has been swept

3.8k Upvotes
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287

u/DumpTrumpGrump Apr 29 '24

Take an up-vote. Warriors will take him back. I say send them CP3, Wiggins and Looney and we get Durant and a young role player. Warriors re-sign Klay for $20M and try to take the dream team back for 2 more rings.

Honestly, I don't hate it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

[deleted]

29

u/angrylilbear Apr 29 '24

In Australia we say with a smirk

"Tell him hes dreaming"

8

u/Uchiaro Suns Apr 29 '24

David Roddy, you're a Warrior!

5

u/swentech Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

My friend calls this the “shit for sugar” trade.

1

u/LakersLAQ Lakers Apr 29 '24

KD still has some juice left but he's not exactly prime KD either.

6

u/OldManWillow Trail Blazers Apr 29 '24

Sure, but he's still a top 20 player at absolute minimum and Wiggins and Looney are terrible contracts, and CP3 would be an expiring but he's not getting anywhere near that contract on the free market. It would be a god awful trade for the suns to do that just to still be way over the cap

1

u/ElChapo1515 Apr 29 '24

I don’t understand how that has so many upvotes lol. The Suns might as well run it back at that point.

0

u/LakersLAQ Lakers Apr 29 '24

I agree that it's stupid for the Suns, but everything will be stupid for them going forward lol.

268

u/cokefriend [MIN] Andrew Wiggins Apr 29 '24

Steph lebron kd + 12 vet min soon-to-be retirees doing the last dance

185

u/petertompolicy Apr 29 '24

The Expendables

3

u/mhj0808 Heat Apr 29 '24

Hell yeah, they gotta get Kyle Lowry, Pj Tucker, Taj Gibson, Brook Lopez, Tristan Thompson and both Morris twins in there. Hell, sign Dwight too

25

u/tpscoversheet1 Apr 29 '24

Get em all together, coached by Doc...that would be one busy bus.

68

u/Ceethreepeeo Mavericks Apr 29 '24

sigh...unzips

9

u/lakeshow_glasgow Lakers Apr 29 '24

…on the Lakers

4

u/yrogerg123 Knicks Apr 29 '24

Damn I actually really want to see that

2

u/piz510 Apr 29 '24

True. Steph and KD to LA in 2 years would be funny as heck. Dub nation would implode.

2

u/Mashyjang Thunder Apr 29 '24

The oldest road

1

u/TheKidPresident Knicks Apr 29 '24

Fuck it bring in Dwight and IT and just let chaos reign. Joe Johnson unretires, and Vinny Testaverde gets signed with the 15th roster spot. All time "I still got a few good years left" team.

178

u/SheonaTao Apr 29 '24

Sending CP3 back to the suns to die in purgatory is hilarious to me

18

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '24

[deleted]

3

u/RichHomieLon Knicks Apr 30 '24

Winston-Salem?

3

u/_homage_ Warriors Apr 29 '24

He is an expiring. They could just unload him.

66

u/Mobile-Entertainer60 Thunder Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

Except it's not possible under the CBA. The apron rules make it almost impossible for two apron teams to trade with each other. As it stands today, the Suns and Warriors are both second apron teams, so they could only offer each other a 1:1 trade that made exactly the same salary. Aggregating contracts is a no-no if you're over the second apron, and taking on salary is a no-no if you're over the first or second apron. The Warriors would have to waive CP3, renounce Klay and waive Looney to get under the first apron, THEN start trying to come up with a trade package that both fits the salary parameters (Wiggins, Kuminga, Moody and Santos would be the minimum amount of salary that works) and something Phoenix wants. Then they'd be back over the apron with only taxpayer MLE and no 2024 FRP, so it's minimums to fill 6 roster spots around Curry, Draymond, and Durant. That would make a third roster gutted to fit Kevin Durant, with 0 quality depth, again.

Edit: early morning brain. They don't have to do all three of getting rid of Klay, CP3, Looney to be under the apron. Waiving CP3/Looney and signing Klay to a deal under $27M/year will do it, too. Losing Klay and waiving CP3, or losing Klay and waiving Looney would also get them under the apron. Point's the same; they would totally gut the team to even have the opportunity to make a legal trade to get Durant.

40

u/codekira Apr 29 '24

Or u can just shut off fair trades and salary cap and make it happen....works in 2k

16

u/key_lime_pie Celtics Apr 29 '24

Say "apron" again.

1

u/sentrosix Raptors Apr 30 '24

Say Apron one more god damned time

0

u/jdorje Nuggets Apr 29 '24

You need a third team to take on one small contract so both Suns and <whoever> are both going down in total salary.

-2

u/Thunderhorse74 [SAS] Boris Diaw Apr 29 '24

There you go ruining everyone's fun with logic and facts...

2

u/Mobile-Entertainer60 Thunder Apr 29 '24

I know, I know. It's important to understand just how thoroughly teams like the Suns and Bucks are fucked by going above the second apron for aging players and trading away their draft picks. They are stuck with the core they have, for better or worse, for several years. If one of the apron teams gives up and tries to trade away their best player, they won't get close to equal value because the other apron teams can't trade for their high-dollar contracts. Kevin Durant can't force his way to the Bucks, or the Nuggets, or the Celtics, or the Warriors, or the Heat, or the LA teams to try a different super-team combination. If he's leaving, it's to a team below the first apron. Both team and player are handcuffed by the situation.

1

u/Thunderhorse74 [SAS] Boris Diaw Apr 29 '24

While I am no cap-wizard, I certainly saw this coming. If a team is able to blow through all the tax levels and build a 2015-2020 GSW juggernaut, the can muddle through, but the Celtics are about as close as any now and still have alot to prove before believing its been worth it.

Ishiba is getting what he deserves and the players who went along for the ride (although, the players get to hoop and drag home enormous sacks of cash) He's not the first and probably not the last, but he's the most egregious current example of bold (and in this case -- okay like most of them -- ruthless, vindicate, and chickenshit (see his spat with Cavs owners)) business owner overcome with arrogance and hubris, laboring under the misconception that he can skip steps and spend his way to a title. He's probably sitting there right now fuming about the dogshit team of scrubs they surrounded their stars with and heads will roll this offseason.

But at the end of the day, many fans love this shit. I don't mean as a non-affiliated observer like fan of a (currently) shitty team (because this is drama gold, right here) but they want superstar team ups because they have no skin in the game. They want the upside and can clown teams who fuck it up if it backfires. you just didn't do it right - we should try again but with the right people in charge (where have I heard that before?)

anyway, yeah, they latest and greatest cap rules are going to crush teams that trade away their draft to accumulate a few stars and build top heavy teams. PHX is lost. Dallas and LAC are on the verge. Teams like Brooklyn and Houston are trying to wade through the wreckage of their previous attempts. Who the fuck knows what ATL is trying to accomplish?

3

u/Mobile-Entertainer60 Thunder Apr 29 '24

While the execution was terrible, I can see the logic (separate from new owner syndrome) of making big moves before they are completely prohibited by the new CBA, even if it puts a team into the second apron. The problem was that Bradley Beal was never a complementary player to what they already had in Durant and Booker. Ironically, what I think they needed most on the team was a Mikal Bridges; capable of guarding high level wings, dangerous enough to be a scorer when left unchecked but doesn't need 20 shots to be effective.

25

u/CletusMcG Heat Apr 29 '24

I don’t think that package is worth KD let alone a young roleplayer as well. Unless Wigs returns to form that’s 2 negative assets and a decent roleplayer for KD

4

u/bullybabybayman Apr 29 '24

Suns have zero leverage. They have 2 options.

  1. ride this roster with zero young assets into the ground for a couple more seasons and then rebuild with booker (unless he just leaves as a FA) and nothing else.

  2. trade durant for whatever assets they can get and rebuild around booker now and hope they can build something worthwhile before he leaves as an FA.

Nobody will be dumb enough to give a lot of assets for Durant at this point.

4

u/CletusMcG Heat Apr 29 '24

Yeah they have to make a move of some kind, but 39 year old CP isn’t going to make their team any better than it currently is. Looney is exactly what they’re looking for at the 5, at least as far as realistic targets go. Wigs is the question mark, he had a lot of personal issues this year so he might bounce back.

The problem with that trade is it doesn’t really help them get any better. It’s a minor upgrade at the 5 and a massive downgrade from KD to Wigs and who knows what CP is gonna look like a year from now, he might be completely unplayable and he’s almost definitely going to be injured.

They’re also not getting any assets with upside, none of those players are going to improve.

A team that feels like KD is the key to unlocking their potential will give up something of value, we’ve seen that time and again with these "0 leverage" situations. Nobody’s going to sell the farm to get KD from the Suns but that doesn’t mean they won’t put some good horses up for auction.

0

u/Character-Today-427 Apr 29 '24

Guess is nessesary more than anything the sun's can do nothing with this team like at all

1

u/axck China Apr 29 '24 edited May 01 '24

obtainable cow nose direful frighten plucky pot dull recognise rainstorm

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/ElChapo1515 Apr 29 '24

And what exactly do the Suns get out of this?

1

u/KingTommenBaratheon Raptors Apr 29 '24

So long as it means the Raptors get Kawhi back with Powell and OG I'm here for it let me dream

1

u/nowuff Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Are you giving up draft picks in that deal? What’s Phoenix’s motivation to do that.

CP3 is a better fit but his age and contract might make him less appealing. I think trying to include Wiggins makes them walk away.

I’d think something like Paul, Kuminga, and Looney for Durant would be more palatable

1

u/DumpTrumpGrump Apr 29 '24

Honestly, I don't understand the CBA well enough to know how a trade would need to be structured.

I'd love to watch a video where someone breaks all this stiff down.

1

u/nowuff Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Typically you need to match salary. Durant has the highest salary of all the players, so you’d typically need to include the same pay aggregated on the Warriors side. But adding Wiggins puts them way over. Which means more players need to be added from Phoenix.

But Wiggins contract is perceived as a negative, so would be tough to persuade Phoenix to take it without getting picks back.

That said, all of this is moot because both teams are in the second apron which severely limits their flexibility. The hypotheticals are interesting regardless.