Zach Lowe mentioned on the podcast that the Nets do not want any part of Ayton. They don’t think he’s someone you can build around. All PHX would have to offer Brooklyn is Bridges and Booker.
Ay I sort of agree after watching Ayton's games against Portland. Good but not worth the 27 mil (?) he gets each year.
Phx is not offering Booker though. Bridges as a centerpiece doesn't seem feasible. Really hard to see a Durant trade that makes sense, and the Nets aren't going to want to get back less than Utah got for either of their lesser players.
Hart is certainly a below average starter. Easy to name 15 superior starting SG, and with 30 teams hench that is below average. Nurk you could make an argument is an average starting center. Even so that doesn't change my statement of a Dame Durant core with him not being contenders.
Didnt necessary believe you were advocating for it. But the Blazers lack of salary filler, Durant's massive salary, and yes the hard cap all make a Durant to PDX trade much less likely.
This must be why they haven’t resigned oden yet, with that massive anaconda between the legs and all.
Having thought about it some, I'd trade anyone on our team except Dame, Grant, Nurk and Sharpe for him. Plus they can have our 1st rounders. If we give up any one of Dame/Grant/Nurk there's not much point in trading, as we wouldn't be contenders. Sharpe has too much upside to throw in--in many years based on what we can all see now I think he's a #1 draft pick. You don't toss in that for a trade like this. There's probably another team that would give more for the Talent of Durant. But, the Reality of Durant, which includes all the fucking headaches and risks of him saying or doing something obnoxious that derails the team, plus the contract, plus his age, makes it maybe not that unreasonable of an offer. It's honestly not a bad deal for both teams.
I'm not sure your trade idea is even possible with the hard cap. Simons and Hart don’t make enough to match Durant.
Durant to Lakers Davis to Blazers Grant plus ??? to Nets? https://www.slamonline.com/archives/damian-lillard-team-up-anthony-davis-blazers-portland/
Im sure bat this point both Davis and James are available at the right price. Lakers may decide its best to tank for a shot at Wemmie and start a rebuild.
If I'm running the Lakers I try to trade Davis and LeBron for both my picks back from the Pelicans. Then they can rebuild.
I don't see the point of Davis for Durant from the Lakers perspective. They get even older and the rest of the roster sucks ass so they still won't contend, if they even make the playoffs. If the Lakers are trading Davis/LeBron it makes sense to just rebuild. Yes they lost this pick and either 2024 or 2025. But unless they can get those back in a trade its a sunk cost. However the Lakers have done a lot of stupid moves the last few years so I wouldn't count on them doing the most logical or best long term decision, so who knows.
Problem for the Nets is the Harden trade; they don't have picks to rebuild. Its actually a much worse spot they are in than even the Lakers. Here are Brooklyn's picks; 2023 swap least valuable of Nets/6ers/Rockets/Jazz 2024 Rockets gets pick 2025 Rockets can swap 2026 Rockets gets pick 2027 Rockets can swap Sure Houston kind of sucks now so the swap might not look bad, but that 2027 pick is a long way off so who knows the Nets could then be losing a top lottery pick for a late first rounder. Then you see another glamor city team in the Clippers who are currently in the play-in; but don't control their own pick until 2027. So thats both LA teams and a NY team that have gutted their future picks. It could really end up burning some of these franchises. I wonder if we will see teams more hesitant to give away the full boatload of picks for these older allstars?
He was not dominating Nurk, AT ALL. It took help from the refs to ignore Ayton's grabbing Nurk non stop to get the advantage. Big Pass.
IMO, the biggest need on our team is a dead eye shooter off the bench. No matter where he spots up, he's draining it when open. We have a lot of athleticism on the bench, but no true shooters. Nas & Shaedon are the best shooters on the bench right now. But both are too unselfish, pass up shots, and pass the ball to non shooters too much.
