The Durant Sweepstakes

[Phrazbit]

Durant has killed our off season.

I really doubt much would be different if this Durant stuff had never happened. There are no free agents we missed out on because we have no cap space. Any trades that didn't happen the last couple months as everyone waited out Durant could still take place now.

As much as the playoff flameout bummed everyone out, rolling it back with a 64 win team, with several guys young enough to improve, isn't exactly a disaster.

 

[AZ Native]

I really doubt much would be different if this Durant stuff had never happened. There are no free agents we missed out on because we have no cap space. Any trades that didn't happen the last couple months as everyone waited out Durant could still take place now.

As much as the playoff flameout bummed everyone out, rolling it back with a 64 win team, with several guys young enough to improve, isn't exactly a disaster.

I hope so.

 

[Joe Mama]

What moves did we really miss out on? I expect DA, bridges, and cam Johnson to each take steps forward this year. I expect CP 15 to get healthy and play more like you did two years ago. I expect us to finish with a top three Record in the league.

Joe

 

[Hoop Head]

What moves did we really miss out on? I expect DA, bridges, and cam Johnson to each take steps forward this year. I expect CP 15 to get healthy and play more like you did two years ago. I expect us to finish with a top three Record in the league.

Joe

There's a number of players the Suns could have gone after had they not been solely focused on KD. Batum, Gallinari, or Joe Ingles would have been decent forward options. Ricky Rubio could have been brought in to backup CP3. They could have made a stronger effort to resign JaVale McGee.

As mentioned already, the Suns could have tried acquiring DeJounte Murray from the Spurs, who Atlanta paid pennies on the dollar for.

There were moves that could have been made. If you view the list of remaining free agents you'll see how no move is an upgrade at this point while there were some moves available almost 2 months ago rather than waiting to see what happens with KD. Especially if reports are true that the Nets made it clear to the Suns that there was nothing we had to offer for Durant at the start of all this. That wasn't just posturing, it was true. The Suns should have turned their attention elsewhere then and no later than when they matched Ayton''s offer sheet because that killed any chance of acquiring pieces for a KD deal.

 

[Bufalay]

This offseason has been just like the '07 offseason when the Suns were trying to trade for Kevin Garnett. The Suns sucked the following season and traded for Shaq. If the similarities continue I could see the Suns trading Ayton for James Harden at the trade deadline.

 

[Covert Rain]

Gambo is letting more things "spill". He 100% has a contact in the FO because he knew things like the Nets not being interested in Ayton where alleged insiders had Ayton as part of a package for Durant. He said the Suns are telling him that they never offered Bridges to the Nets. Why? Because the moment the Nets expressed no interest in Ayton any hopes for a deal were dead from that moment on unless they could get another team involved.

That appears to be where the Suns have spent the bulk of their time since this all started and nothing ever materialized despite hunting for another team to help.

From the START, the Nets told the Suns they wanted Ruby Gobert type deal or no deal at all. So, the Suns were never in it nor did they make a formal offer because the Nets were upfront with the Suns from the get-go and never wavered. There were no negotiations and the Suns NEVER (despite a certain insiders Tweets) ever had what the Nets wanted. Ever.

So, it sounds like the Suns were depending on Ayton interest early on and the Nets killed that right away. So the Suns were never in the right place and the right time and they never had an opportunity to get KD because of the lack of interest in Ayton and not having what the Nets wanted.

 

[GatorAZ]

Gambo is letting more things "spill". He 100% has a contact in the FO because he knew things like the Nets not being interested in the Nets where alleged insiders had Ayton as part of a package for Durant. He said the Suns are telling him that the Suns never offered Bridges. Why? Because the moment the Nets expressed no interest in Ayton any hopes for a deal were dead from that moment on unless they could get another team involved.

That appears to be where the Suns have spent the bulk of their time since this all started and nothing ever materialized despite hunting for another team to help.

From the START, the Nets told the Suns they wanted Ruby Gobert type deal or no deal at all. So, the Suns were never in it nor did they make a formal offer because the Nets were upfront with the Suns from the get-go and never wavered. There were no negotiations and the Suns NEVER (despite a certain insiders Tweets) ever had what the Nets wanted. Ever.

So, it sounds like the Suns were depending on Ayton interest early on and the Nets killed that right away. So the Suns were never in the right place and the right time and they never had an opportunity to get KD because of the lack of interest in Ayton and not having what the Nets wanted.

-
I don’t believe that Mikal “was never offered” despite Gambo’s reports. That sounds like local spin to me but I don’t think it’s a big deal anyway. I don’t think a role player is going to be upset about being “dangled” in the way a franchise pillar like Jaylen Brown would be.

The Crowder thing is different I think the Suns just want to move on from his inconsistent production and roll with CamJ. It sounds like they’ve been honest with him about it and he’s doing Kyler-type stuff on social media.

 

[Mainstreet]

So, it sounds like the Suns were depending on Ayton interest early on and the Nets killed that right away. So the Suns were never in the right place and the right time and they never had an opportunity to get KD because of the lack of interest in Ayton and not having what the Nets wanted.

The Nets were not interested in Ayton because it would hard cap them. Now, if the Suns traded Ayton to a third team, the Suns could have used some of those assets to trade for Durant.

I think saying the Suns never offered Bridges in trade is circumventing the issue. The Suns didn't have enough assets without trading Ayton so why talk about it.

 

[Chaplin]

Gambo is letting more things "spill". He 100% has a contact in the FO because he knew things like the Nets not being interested in the Nets where alleged insiders had Ayton as part of a package for Durant. He said the Suns are telling him that the Suns never offered Bridges. Why? Because the moment the Nets expressed no interest in Ayton any hopes for a deal were dead from that moment on unless they could get another team involved.

That appears to be where the Suns have spent the bulk of their time since this all started and nothing ever materialized despite hunting for another team to help.

From the START, the Nets told the Suns they wanted Ruby Gobert type deal or no deal at all. So, the Suns were never in it nor did they make a formal offer because the Nets were upfront with the Suns from the get-go and never wavered. There were no negotiations and the Suns NEVER (despite a certain insiders Tweets) ever had what the Nets wanted. Ever.

So, it sounds like the Suns were depending on Ayton interest early on and the Nets killed that right away. So the Suns were never in the right place and the right time and they never had an opportunity to get KD because of the lack of interest in Ayton and not having what the Nets wanted.

That also proves to me that we didn't "miss out" on any of the other deals and signings. Sounds like we were in a position to be involved but just didn't want to be. It's the opposite of the narrative that Durant was holding us hostage and preventing us from doing any deals.

Now whether you agree or not we were interested in any of the other deals/signings, well, that's a whole other discussion.

 

[Covert Rain]

-
I don’t believe that Mikal “was never offered” despite Gambo’s reports. That sounds like local spin to me but I don’t think it’s a big deal anyway. I don’t think a role player is going to be upset about being “dangled” in the way a franchise pillar like Jaylen Brown would be.

The Crowder thing is different I think the Suns just want to move on from his inconsistent production and roll with CamJ. It sounds like they’ve been honest with him about it and he’s doing Kyler-type stuff on social media.

The is a difference between dangling him and making a formal offer. Gambo said Bridges was never part of an offer. I believe that. Likely because without Ayton as part of a deal, a 3rd team would somehow have to be involved. If the Suns could never get a 3rd team even interested? It makes sense Bridges was never offered. He definitly was not offered to the Nets. The Nets evidently were upfront with the Suns about what they wanted from the start.

 

[Covert Rain]

That also proves to me that we didn't "miss out" on any of the other deals and signings. Sounds like we were in a position to be involved but just didn't want to be. It's the opposite of the narrative that Durant was holding us hostage and preventing us from doing any deals.

Now whether you agree or not we were interested in any of the other deals/signings, well, that's a whole other discussion.

Depends. If the Suns spent the bulk of this past month or so trying to find a partner to make a KD trade work, we definitely missed out. The Suns couldn't afford to trade assets that another team might want.

 

[Mainstreet]

The is a difference between dangling him and making a formal offer. Gambo said Bridges was never part of an offer. I believe that. Likely because without Ayton as part of a deal, a 3rd team would somehow have to be involved. If the Suns could never get a 3rd team even interested? It makes sense Bridges was never offered. He definitly was not offered to the Nets. The Nets evidently were upfront with the Suns about what they wanted from the start.

This is almost the same type of talk, the Suns never made a formal offer to sign Ayton last summer when he could be extended.

 

[Chaplin]

Depends. If the Suns spent the bulk of this past month or so trying to find a partner to make a KD trade work, we definitely missed out. The Suns couldn't afford to trade assets that another team might want.

I'm not sure I agree. You could be right, but I just can't see James Jones taking a full 2 months to do such a thing. They had to have know early on (and reports say this is the case) that it was nigh impossible to pull this off. And the Gobert trade to Minny would have solidified that belief IMO.

 

[Covert Rain]

I'm not sure I agree. You could be right, but I just can't see James Jones taking a full 2 months to do such a thing. They had to have know early on (and reports say this is the case) that it was nigh impossible to pull this off. And the Gobert trade to Minny would have solidified that belief IMO.

For KD? He is one of those once in a lifetime players. I would expect JJ to exhaust every avenue before throwing in the towel.

 

[Chaplin]

For KD? He is one of those once in a lifetime players. I would expect JJ to exhaust every avenue before throwing in the towel.

2 months though. If you think he was concentrating on just KD for the past 2 months, more power to you. I just don't see it.

 

[Covert Rain]

2 months though. If you think he was concentrating on just KD for the past 2 months, more power to you. I just don't see it.

If we were talking about another all-star I would agree. We are talking about a generational player. That's not a normal trade scenario.

 

[Chaplin]

If we were talking about another all-star I would agree. We are talking about a generational player. That's not a normal trade scenario.

He was a generational player a couple years ago. Now he's a 34-year-old injury prone player. I would love to have him, but there are a lot of "generational players", his MVP years of several years ago aren't going to win us a title in 9 months.

 

[Covert Rain]

He was a generational player a couple years ago. Now he's a 34-year-old injury prone player. I would love to have him, but there are a lot of "generational players", his MVP years of several years ago aren't going to win us a title in 9 months.

There are? I only see a handful of those in the entire league and most teams would pull out every stop to get one of them. I think KD (IMO) was one of those borderline decision type scenarios. He is 34 and had two injury plagued seasons. However, the fact so many teams were trying to get in on it says something. Many think it was worth the risk.

 

[Mainstreet]

I expect the Suns to make another move, but their hands were mostly tied until the Durant situation was resolved.

Hopefully, James Jones put some thought into alternative moves during the interim. It could be the Suns wait until the trade deadline now unless something good pops up in a spinoff trade like for Mitchell.

 

[Chaplin]

There are? I only see a handful of those in the entire league and most teams would pull out every stop to get one of them. I think KD (IMO) was one of those borderline decision type scenarios. He is 34 and had two injury plagued seasons. However, the fact so many teams were trying to get in on it says something. Many think it was worth the risk.

Were they though? I have a hard time trusting the media on almost everything that came out about these conversations.

Brooklyn did a great job of basically scaring teams off from even having discussions in the first place.

 

[Hoop Head]

Were they though? I have a hard time trusting the media on almost everything that came out about these conversations.

Brooklyn did a great job of basically scaring teams off from even having discussions in the first place.

So you don't trust the media that a lot of teams made plays for KD but do believe the media when they claimed the asking price scared off most suitors? Seems like you're picking and choosing what you want to believe. The same sources reported both things, that a ton of teams tried to make a pitch for KD and that the Nets were asking for a lot.

 

[Covert Rain]

Were they though? I have a hard time trusting the media on almost everything that came out about these conversations.

Brooklyn did a great job of basically scaring teams off from even having discussions in the first place.

Sounds like Brooklyn was straight up from the start of their asking price. I can't imagine that was only with the Suns. If that is the case, I don't really consider that scaring off teams as much as saying, this is what the market was for Gobert. We will settle for nothing less.

 

[Fumats20]

I expect the Suns to make another move, but their hands were mostly tied until the Durant situation was resolved.

Hopefully, James Jones put some thought into alternative moves during the interim. It could be the Suns wait until the trade deadline now unless something good pops up in a spinoff trade like for Mitchell.

After all this effort to get KD, Jones landed on the thought that he needs a post up power forward. I think he's trolling somebody because his power forwards are no where near the post. ...his power forwards are actually small fowards.

Wait a minute. He did just dump a power forward who told them he liked to play from the post.

 

[Mainstreet]

After all this effort to get KD, Jones landed on the thought that he needs a post up power forward. I think he's trolling somebody because his power forwards are no where near the post. ...his power forwards are actually small fowards.

Wait a minute. He did just dump a power forward who told them he liked to play from the post.

Ooh. A dagger straight to the heart of the matter.

 

[Fumats20]

Jones has a very witty way with words. LOL!!
He tells you everything you need to know.
You choose to believe or not.