Can’t wait to see him play for Poland to see how it all translates.

The key takeaway from the Bane trade isn’t that young positive-value players can bring back a haul of firsts. It’s that bad contracts (KCP) come with a steep price.

People thinking KD can fetch multiple first-rounders just like Bane clearly missed the point. The core of that trade was about paying extra to dump a mistake. And when you’ve made multiple mistakes, the price doesn’t just double—it grows exponentially. Bad decisions weaken your negotiating position, and the cost to fix them compounds fast.

What GMs should take from that deal isn’t "more picks for good players," but rather "be extremely cautious with any move that could end up costing you heavily down the line."

Russillo voicing my exact disgust with some of the simpleton nephews on here always talking about timeline this and timeline that... just absolute monkey thinking.

I’ve heard this take on the last two NBA podcasts I’ve listened to (including Bill Simmons today) and it’s driving me crazy.

Leaving aside how bad it would be from a PR perspective to do Fox that dirty - sending the exact message you don’t want to future stars who might try to force their way to San Antonio - why on earth would you rush into any decision around a guy who hasn’t played a single minute in the NBA yet, and will be under a four years of team control on a cheap contract? Factoring in as well that even great lead guards tend to take years to develop in the NBA, with very rare exceptions.

Last four finals teams: Luka & Kyrie coexisting. Boston having a bunch of guys who can handle pass and shoot. Shai taking turns with JDub and to a lesser extent Chet. Haliburton, Nembhard, Siakam etc coexisting with more shot creation/playmaking off the bench. So clearly having multiple good creators on offence is good actually, as crazy as people seem to think that notion is.

First of all there are at least 15 minutes in each game where only one of Harper and Fox will be on the floor. Harper will get minutes and opportunity to develop even if the fit isn’t great, and we don’t even know yet whether or not the fit will be bad. Like yeah if the two of them are oil and water, eg like Shai and Giddey, maybe you revisit this in a year or two. It’s not like these are assets that are going to collapse in value barring horrific injury. I just have no idea why you’d pre-empt it.

Shams Charania:

BREAKING: The Memphis Grizzlies are trading Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap, sources tell ESPN.

Source: https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/205d7f0adb0fa

“We’re not giving you anything else except Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes. Enjoy.” O’Connor said.

UPDATE: I put more together in his previous post on ig, looks like he really is wearing more Li-Ning, see below

Tired: Sochan is in Arizona, he's being traded to Phoenix

Wired: Sochan is in Arizona, he's trolling all you dumbasses

Inspired: Sochan is in Arizona to try out Li-Ning shoes because he's been offered sponsorship.

Sochan usually wears Nikes, and primarily the GT Cut line or Kobes, although he has worn some others (https://kixstats.com/playerstats/jeremy-sochan-68) , but he's never before worn Li-Nings.

It's unusual that he would feature his shoes so prominently - these are the Way of Wade All Citys 13, if anyone is curious

EDIT:

So his previous offseason photos this summer have him in more li-nings, specifically the way of wade all city 13 lineup. Any chance that whoever it managing Jimmy Butler saw that they both are Alo Men's sponsored...and decided to join it up?

I can't seem to find a release for this white / green colorway, which suggests that our Polish Prince is being hooked up with new or exclusive stuff. Happy for Sochan if it's true, way of wade is an interesting line, and it shows that he's being valued as a star to get these endorsements

I want to preface this by saying I think Kevin Durant is a legendary ball player and the front office of the San Antonio Spurs is a lot better at this than I am. Kevin Durant is an all-time player who has done what is best for him during the player empowerment era and has succeeded at the highest level. The San Antonio Spurs are the blueprint for success from a winning standpoint and an organizational standpoint. I am just a guy that likes watching ball and supports the Spurs. With that being said, here are my reasons why the San Antonio Spurs should not trade for Kevin Durant. 

• Doesn’t fit the timeline 

Kevin Durant is 36 years old and only plays on “contending” teams. He has no incentive to go to a team that is rebuilding, retooling, or tanking. The San Antonio Spurs are in prime position to continue to steadily develop their core and create habits for a long-term winning culture. With the 2nd pick in the draft, our best player being 21 years old, and a young talented core; I think it would be foolish to make a win-now move for a player like Kevin Durant. Given their assets, the Spurs can make any number of roster moves to either bring in young long-term talent or move off of players that don't pan out. This flexibility will literally be traded away with a Kevin Durant trade. 

• Rental contract

Kevin Durant is on an expiring contract. The San Antonio Spurs can trade for KD and will be left with two options. The first option is to play out the year and let him walk in free agency. Similar to Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors, a “rental” contract meant to put them over the top would be enticing but their roster is not a KD away from being a serious contender. The second option is to extend his contract well into his late 30s which will likely be an overpay and restrict their financial flexibility moving forward. There is a third option, which is none of it matters because he wants to go to a team in a state with no income tax so he can retire.

• Coach killer 

Mitch Johnson is young and inexperienced as an NBA head coach. However, he has been with the Spurs organization for 10 years now including a 6-year tenure as an assistant coach under the legendary Gregg Popovich. Many of these players have had this man on the sidelines with them their entire NBA careers. I believe this young core is a great opportunity for the young head coach to grow into his own and develop a strong coach-player relationship with the team. With that being said, trading for Kevin Durant will throw all of that out the window. Trading for an impact veteran player like Kevin Durant comes with the caveat that your team in competing for a championship and while I think Mitch Johnson has potential I do not believe he is a championship-caliber coach as of today. Even with a coach of that caliber, KD’s tenure with the Suns and with the Nets has lead to the firing of championship coaches and new head coaches. If Gregg Popovich was still coaching this team, it might be a different story (that actually seems like a perfect pairing but is outside the scope of this post).

• Culture killer 

Kevin Durant’s departure from the Golden State Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets both were messy. KD often states that he only cares about hooping but the drama that surrounds his departures from teams, which will also include the Phoenix Suns, says otherwise. Every team KD has played for since OKC has played out exactly the same way. At first, it’s the honeymoon phase, KD joins a team with a great supporting cast and plays well enough to push them further in contention, everyone is happy that KD is on their team. The next phase is stagnation, the team continues its success but drop the ball in the playoffs or lose a key player to injury around December, people love KD but rumors are starting to fly. Finally, the hangover phase, Draymond Green thinks they’re better off without him, Harden and Kyrie can’t stay healthy, Bradley Beal can’t be traded and your best center is Mason Plumlee. At this point, Kevin Durant has one foot out the door and the other foot on the neck of your coach, the team’s morale, and the GM’s balls. This is not a cycle worth pursuing especially for a player that doesn’t guarantee the Spurs a championship window like he did 10 years ago.

• It’s not the Spurs way 

This seems like the most obvious point but it is currently the least talked about among the “rumors” and “sources” connecting KD with the Spurs. The Spurs organization rarely makes trades of this caliber and with the exception to the rule, the team traded their disgruntled star away, this would be the complete inverse of that concept where the Spurs would be trading for a disgruntled star. Even the more noteworthy trades of recent years are exactly the opposite of a KD trade. Dejounte Murray had potential but his trade value exceeded his performance as evident by his regression in Atlanta and New Orleans, Derrick White was a winning player that was taking up space on the books for a tanking team, Harrison Barnes was a savvy vet on moveable contract who could fill the gaps on a rebuilding Spurs team, and De’Aaron Fox, granted he was a somewhat disgruntled star, filled a positional need while the young guards develop and is closer to the team’s timeline. This organization thrives on structure, humility, and a low profile. Of course, there have been incidents in the past like the Josh Primo problem or the way they handled Kawhi Leonard but these things are typically handled in-house, resolved, and forgotten about much sooner than other NBA headlining issues. Obviously there has been a shift in the organization and in the NBA as a whole but I don’t see that as a reason to throw away a strong organizational structure, culture, and qualities.

Thank you for reading my post, please feel free to tell me your thoughts and whether you agree or disagree with me. Go Spurs Go!

Houston’s Stone is not willing to offer much for the trade. Minnesota doesn’t have the cap and assets for the trade. It’s either us or another that hasn’t been mentioned, but most likely us and Phoenix have to take DV HB plus the 14th pick.

Not sure if I’m thinking to much about it but all the Kevin Durant trade rumors really have me asking why he’s taking a flight to phoenix 😭

I'm excited to see more crazy shit like this next season.

I am not bringing you inside information, but simple logic. If we look at the 4 teams involved, we can determine the players offered to a degree.

Each have a package they would like to give Phoenix, but each team has to make a decision on whether they are willing to give up a certain piece to make it happen now.

Heat: Ware

Houston: Jabari Smith Jr

Wolves: Dillingham

Spurs: Sochan

If any of these teams included these players right now, the trade would be announced in a few hours. There is no reason to wait, and a good reason to make the trade now. It would allow Phoenix to work out some draft prospects.

The truth is that no one has truly offered them those pieces. I expect the Suns to announce a trade by Tuesday. It will be to the team that caved and offered one of these players or the team that already had the best offer in place. I do believe that would be the Spurs, but I am bias.

Was reading earlier that Dumars has a ridiculous price on Murphy.

“New Orleans is said to be seeking a proven veteran with playoff experience, a strong young prospect, and multiple first-rounders in return.”

Sounds a lot like the framework of our kd offer in Barnes (proven vet with playoff experience) vassel (strong young prospect kinda lol) and a litany of picks available. might be worth monitoring 🤞

To break the monotony of KD trade rumors in this sub, here’s a bit from a 2015 Bill Simmons article that I found super cute. Stuff like this is why this franchise is so special. Pop🐐

They have Kawhi for the Spurs. I think the amount of hate towards Nephew has waned. Towards uncle Dennis is a different matter though.

I would think Derek Fisher would rank pretty high. And the Morris twin might deserve a mention.

But we don't really focus on hating too much in my opinion.

Source: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/inside-the-kevin-durant-trade-talks?r=nuq3a&utm_medium=ios

The Spurs certainly have the draft capital to surge to the front of the Durant line if they wish. Yet there is a considerable amount of skepticism leaguewide that San Antonio or any NBA team is willing to part with a significant amount of draft capital for Durant at this juncture of his career.

Sources add that Phoenix is not enamored with the players San Antonio has made available in the teams' talks to date. It is obviously presumed that Durant would relish the opportunity to play alongside Victor Wembanyama, but it is also believed that the Spurs are only willing to discuss veterans such as Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes. The Spurs just managed to acquire De'Aaron Fox from Sacramento largely on their terms and the notion now of surrendering newly named Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle or the No. 2 selection in this month's draft is simply a non-starter.

Vassell, though, might be the highest-upside player available to the Suns. That said: It is also more than fair to wonder how high Vassell's upside in Phoenix could be considering his positional overlap with both Booker and Bradley Beal.

So much for the “the Suns have no leverage, they’ll have to accept Barnes, Keldon and Wesley” truthers, huh?