He was horrible in Boston when they wanted him to lead a talented team. His teams in Cleveland prior to LeBron were horrible. Yes he looked great one or two years following LeBron, but so did JR Smith. If he would accept the JR Smith late career role, or a late Vince Carter role, etc he could be a great contributor. The problem is he wants to be a max level star of a team. He doesn't lead others, nor follow the main team leaders. Plus he is injured a lot.
basketball is not why he flamed out in Boston...or Brooklyn....it's his brain...his skills with a basketball are off the charts...guy is smooth as silk as a point guard...unselfish...too bad because his head gets in his way off the court and stubborness about vaccinations has ruined his career the last 2 seasons. He hated the fans in Boston ...called them all racists. He hasn't handled this era of his career well at all...he has Ben Simmons syndrome if you ask me. I wouldn't be surprised to see the guy walk away from the game. Money is not his motivator
Probably because when the Blazers are rumored to be pursuing max offers for Hedo Turkoglu, Greg Monroe, and Chandler Parsons they choose to go elsewhere.
Dame, call KD. Get ‘er done. Simons + Hart + EBEC + #7 + MIL ‘25 + salary needed to send out to make the S&T work = KD + incoming salary under the TPE to make the $$$ work for BKN. So, assuming KD and Dame form a pact, numbers people, make this deal work!
The Blazers can't combine a trade exception for salary purposes such as matching KD. Trade exceptions have to be used on their own. Also: Simons is a free agent; so he can't be traded away at the draft.
Quoting myself to be clear … 1. The 7th pick conveyed would be with the idea that BRK wants that player … that player can be shipped after the draft. 2. When free agency begins, Simons agrees to the speculated $20 million per to run a younger Brooklyn team with Simmons. With a S&T of a rookie contract along with EBEC and Hart, Portland needs to send out more to get KD. 3. The Nets get the full value of Simons’ incoming contract and the others and MAY need to send out enough to make the dollars work; since that may need to be the case, those $$$ would be absorbed separately within the TPE by Portland. This is called “How to get KD.” If anything in the revised version above is CBA non-compliant, I invite anyone to re-work it and get KD on the Blazers. Yes, I know everything can’t be done during the draft … and TPE dollars are separate … and colluding is bad … wink, wink … no one does that in the NBA … those that do so stupidly (e.g., with Bogdanovic’s agent) deserve punishment … and … yes, I know.
I don't think anywhere he thinks he has a chance to get a ring is beneath Durant. The question is more can the Blazers get him and then put players around Him and Dame to make a legitimate run?
Might not be able to have Simons go to Brooklyn in a sign and trade. Two problems, first it hard caps them. Second is BYC. Possibly harder than that is Brooklyn not having their own picks from acquiring Harden. I don't think they do a trade Durant rebuild if they don't get their picks. 3rd issue is Blazers being able to give Brooklyn necessary picks. Maybe Blazers can get Chicago to unprotect the 2023 pick. Salaries are hard to matchup but less of a hinderance than above issues. Someone else posted how, could probably be done with Hart EB someone else, maybe third team.
Is it really a disappointment if this was an outcome that many people could see coming? They went out and got some of the biggest headcases in basketball.
I'm not sure the Nets went out and intentionally got Kyrie. They wanted Durant and rightly so. Seems both Kyrie and Durant believed Kyrie is a legit star. Durant and Kyrie also considered DeAndre Jordan to be a good starter and told the Nets he was happy to sign for 40million. If Durant just told Sean Marks I'll come there and then you can go add the best talent for us to win the Nets might have made some very different moves. Similar to LeBron, when these stars throw their weight around the franchises decision making and push for GM moves, it never seems to helps. Which makes sense and is predictable. Does anyone think Sean Marks would be able to go in and do Durant job well? Technically he is his supervisor (or supervisors supervisor), but obviously Durant has the skills, preparation, and focus to excel at basketball where Sean would fail. Sean similarly spent decades gaining the skills, and performing the preparation to succeed as a GM. Without any front office experience, why do these players think they can do a better job than one of only 30 people on the planet to hold this position?
A call, then the draft then free agency … I’m just running the pipe dream up the the flag pole … KD goes where KD wants to go. If it’s staying in Brooklyn with or without Irving, that’s for KD to decide. Dame is reportedly saying who he’d like to play with … a phone call to hear yes or no. Just saying. Thursday will be interesting no matter what.
