I don’t get this.
Why? His game is skill-based, not due to superior athleticism. I see zero reasonable basis for this projection. I mean you’re entitled to your opinion, I’m just curious what makes you take that position.
Pure free agents, maybe not. But in the past 4 years we have landed Paul, Durant, and Beal. That’s a lot stars in a four year span.
If we lose out on a bunch of robin Lopezes and markeiff morrises I ain’t worried.
I'm glad you said this.
Look at the effect that KD had on Book. Now add KD and Book to the impact on Beal's game. This will be the easiest he's had it as far as just putting the ball in the basket. He is the 3rd option, which extends the potential of his effectiveness not diminishes.
You’re entitled to your opinion but it’s just that. Teams can build and win without using the draft especially when you have players and an owner willing to spend! No reason they can’t make trades later in reverse and get some assets as well, 2 draft picks are a shot in the dark especially since we will be good and picks won’t be lottery picks more likely very late picks. We’ve tried the other way for 50+ years, screw it im glad the new owner is actually going for it!
What’s your expectation of him when he’s 33?
Except that capital continues to build. So every other year we have a first round pick and we March forward to New Years whose future firsts can be traded. I don’t love the idea of continually kicking draft payment down the road, but if stars keep coming available and the book and Beal draw continues to be strong maybe we flip an expiring KD for another star on a big contract plus the current draft pick plus a future draft pick and swaps. Kind of like how the saints and rams always navigated the salary cap pushing money forward indefinitely. Eventually they’ll have to pay the piper, but they could potentially play this trade away future picks game for aging stars for books entire career. At which point we would be building over anyway and likely go the Oklahoma route of using capspace to reacquire lost oicks by taking on bad contracts.
If the 10% is true, that brings us to $180 in three years. If you can move Ayton at a relative discount with what you take back you can still have a slot available. If it’s possible to combine Ayton and KDs expiring (I’m seeing y’all report conflicting answers on combining) and a pick or two you’ve created a LOT of cap room for taking back a stars contract.
It’s typically a combination. I find it amusing that you’re all or nothing on draft picks and fail to recognize that KJ, Barkley, Paul, KD, and Beal all came via trade. And nash (when he was actually great), chambers, manning, AC green, wayman tisdake, crowder, ainge, all came via free agency.
Going by Real GM estimates it will $157m in three years (21 above current). Of course these estimates are almost always lower than the actual number so it will probably be closer to $165m or so. With Durant's contract coming off it may not be enough to put us significantly under the cap, but it at least keeps us under the 2nd apron where a lot of the restrictions come into effect.
Wait, Ayton and kd contracts expire at the same time? And people don’t see that as a period of opportunity? Regardless of where the cap rises to at that point losing those two contracts absokutely has to create opportunity for the suns. Though the value of an expiring contract has been dead, i think the new cba has revived it. I mean we’ve seen the Chris Paul corpse contract dealt not once, but twice, for big contract (and picks with poole!) players in the past weeks alone.
(A) aren’t they usually a LOT more off? The $180 number was just roughly compounding 10%. I see that number accelerating, not slowing in an increasingly global sport. (B) But if it’s durants and Ayton’s contracts coming off and now we also have two more future picks to deal, why couldn’t we be in a sweepstakes for another disgruntled star? Book will be 29, Beal 33 with two big expiring contracts and a higher salary cap and two new future picks. Sounds like a potentially good recipe.
KD *if healthy* will be a top-25 player at worst in 3 years. He came into an entirely new situation mid-season while injured and still put up great numbers despite not looking nearly as good as the numbers suggested. The mid-season blow up deals are unprecedented and starting fresh on the team going forward will give us a better version of KD than we saw last year. And if after two years they go in a different direction that “fossil” will have plenty of value as an expiring. We don’t have picks but we have options.
