Kyrie

[Dan H]

Bickley's all, "Suns will regreat passing on Kyrie."

Whatever, dude.

 

[mjb21aztd]

Thank god its over so glad suns didnt bite and trade jackson and bledsoe and a pick this forum would go crazy!

I personaly feel boston gave to much it is a awesome pg than to add a good pick and other players without giving up tatumn wow........ gj cavs.

Boston will still be solid with 3 top players. But ainge payed a steep price.

 

[Mainstreet]

Even if Kyrie is the better player, which he might be, the Warriors have perfectly fitting pieces. You don't want to mess that up.

Its easy to get distracted by winning trades rather than building a team.

Ainge is thinking about a team too. He has put together a "big three" of Kyrie, Hayward, and Horford. That trio is a pg, wing and big with a nice mix of offense and defense.

Then he also has Tatum and Brown. And he has an unprotected Laker pick to get into the top 5 next summer.

As you note, the Warriors do have better fitting pieces. I don't know why the Warriors would want two PGs in any regard. There would not be enough basketballs for Curry and Irving.

 

[Mainstreet]

Bickley's all, "Suns will regreat passing on Kyrie."

Whatever, dude.

I saw the title and the writer. No need for me to read the article.

 

[GatorAZ]

Bickley's all, "Suns will regreat passing on Kyrie."

Whatever, dude.

I've been burned before overrating our assets so I'll wait and see how te young guys turn out first.

 

[Finito]

I really wanted Kyrie but oh well.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I wanted Kyrie too. But I trust mgmt here. As I have said before, James Jones knows Kyrie. If he was worth it, we would have traded for him.

 

[Folster]

I really wanted Kyrie but oh well.

Well we know a comparable Suns package would have been Bledsoe, Warren, and our unprotected 2018 pick. The Boston deal is still slightly better IMO.

Also consider that sending Kyrie to Boston does not impact the value of the Brooklyn pick as it would likely negatively affect the value of the Suns pick in a trade with Phoenix.

Cleveland got a great deal, much better than I expected. We wouldn't have been happy had we beat their offer.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm hoping the Kyrie trade will start movement on other NBA trades and signings that have been lingering. Some may be only minor in nature.

Of course the rumored Carmelo trade is still out there.

 

[AZCrazy]

I don't think Ainge is quite the giddy fool everyone is making him out to be.
He knows what we all know. That virtually all of the NBA is made up of average talent. A whole lot of
guys who can play, and are essentially interchangeable. No one wins in this league without superstars, and
at least a couple of them.
Whether you are the showtime Lakers, the 80's Celtics or Pistons, Jordan's Bulls, Duncan's Spurs, or Golden State
or whatever team LeBron is on.
You say the Celtics gave up Bagley, Bamba, Porter, Ayton, etc.... I say "Who?" Just guys. There are maybe a dozen guys in this league that can win you
a chapionship. Irving is one of them. Those other guys are not.

 

[Hoop Head]

Saw this stat regarding Irving and it's exactly why I didn't want the Suns to go after him. I think the only reason Boston made the deal is because they didn't want to be trapped into a 5 year max deal with IT. IT is a great player but he's not someone that will ever get fair value in a trade because of his size and paying him $30 million when he's 32 or 33 isn't very enticing. If they could have paid him the max for 3 years, I think they would have kept him but he wanted the full max, length and money, and that would have put Boston in a tough position because they couldn't move him at a later date.

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[SirStefan32]

I don't think Ainge is quite the giddy fool everyone is making him out to be.
He knows what we all know. That virtually all of the NBA is made up of average talent. A whole lot of
guys who can play, and are essentially interchangeable. No one wins in this league without superstars, and
at least a couple of them.
Whether you are the showtime Lakers, the 80's Celtics or Pistons, Jordan's Bulls, Duncan's Spurs, or Golden State
or whatever team LeBron is on.
You say the Celtics gave up Bagley, Bamba, Porter, Ayton, etc.... I say "Who?" Just guys. There are maybe a dozen guys in this league that can win you
a chapionship. Irving is one of them. Those other guys are not.

While he may be able to win a "chapionship", he has not proven that he can win a championship. He got his ring because Lebron played like a mad man and the Warriors choked like crazy. If my memory is correct, Kyrie couldn't even get the Cavs to the playoffs on his own.

 

[overseascardfan]

I'd prefer Bagley or Porter over Irving. The sad thing is the last couple of times PHX ended up with the second worst record in the league we've found a way to end up falling out of our projected draft slot. I will be irate if PHX has a bottom 2 record and CLE & BOS end up with better picks than us next year.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I'd prefer Bagley or Porter over Irving. The sad thing is the last couple of times PHX ended up with the second worst record in the league we've found a way to end up falling out of our projected draft slot. I will be irate if PHX has a bottom 2 record and CLE & BOS end up with better picks than us next year.

That's a lot to assume. These players are high schoolers. They are still huge gambles. Ainge's timeline is much more immediate. He is not going to beat LeBron James one the ECF with 18-19 year olds.

 

[Errntknght]

That's a lot to assume. These players are high schoolers. They are still huge gambles. Ainge's timeline is much more immediate. He is not going to beat LeBron James one the ECF with 18-19 year olds.

I think you nailed it JC. Danny has put together a Championship team before so we should give him credit for knowing what he's doing. For me, I just don't like Kyrie...

 

[leclerc]

I'm hoping for some excitement in the east instead of the usual cake walk for whatever team le'bron is playing for.

It's funny though, I was hoping for career years, all star berths and finals appearances for Bledsoe and Dragic if they had ended up in Cleveland, but I don't care with regards to IT. Sure I hope he does well and has a nice time because he seems like a good guy despite his swagger, and off course the tiny/underdog thing, but meh.

 

[pokerface]

While he may be able to win a "chapionship", he has not proven that he can win a championship. He got his ring because Lebron played like a mad man and the Warriors choked like crazy. If my memory is correct, Kyrie couldn't even get the Cavs to the playoffs on his own.

Can any one player get a team to the playoffs on his own?

 

[Errntknght]

Can any one player get a team to the playoffs on his own?

Of course not. I don't think there's ever been a player so good that you could put on an otherwise average team and reasonably expect a championship contender. LeBron comes as close as anyone along with MJ, Bill Russel, Magic, Kareem...

 

[Finito]

Dude,guys really need to stop with the Kyrie didn't win before Lebron BS. I'm sorry how old was he? Hell he's only 25 now. Oh who was the second best player on those Cavs teams with Kyrie? I'll wait.

Kyrie has played lights out the last two years against Golden State and last I checked it was Kyrie who hit the big shot to win that championship not Lebron.

Stop hating

 

[Finito]

Of course not. I don't think there's ever been a player so good that you could put on an otherwise average team and reasonably expect a championship contender. LeBron comes as close as anyone along with MJ, Bill Russel, Magic, Kareem...

MJ, Russell, Magic and Kareem all played with other hall of famers

 

[Raze]

Of course not. I don't think there's ever been a player so good that you could put on an otherwise average team and reasonably expect a championship contender. LeBron comes as close as anyone along with MJ, Bill Russel, Magic, Kareem...

What LeBron did 2 years ago in the playoffs was a tale of the ages. That team couldn't have won 10 games without him. For him to take them to the Finals was indescribable. Even then he nearly beat GS on his own. Everyone knows he was the MVP of those Finals.

But Pokerface did say "Can any one player get a team to the playoffs on his own?" I would say playoffs, rarely. Finals? One in a million. (And that one was LeBron.) Right now, you only need one great player to get to the playoffs in the East. Small chance in the West. (Although the Thunder were pretty close to having only one player)

 

[Raze]

Dude,guys really need to stop with the Kyrie didn't win before Lebron BS. I'm sorry how old was he? Hell he's only 25 now. Oh who was the second best player on those Cavs teams with Kyrie? I'll wait.

Kyrie has played lights out the last two years against Golden State and last I checked it was Kyrie who hit the big shot to win that championship not Lebron.

Stop hating

It's true that he's young. Also true that his team was garbage Pre-James. (Also true that he was an offensive FORCE in Cleveland.) But that past performance is all we have to go on with him as the sole "great" player on the floor. And it isn't exactly appealing that the team played terrible when LeBron wasn't playing.

Plus, his attributes are severely lopsided. He's an elite scorer but offers very little otherwise. There just isn't a ton of history of guys like him winning anything.

Given the limited evidence there isn't much to support that he will lead his team to a championship, even in Boston. He would have to show a completely different side to his game than he did in Cleveland. I firmly believe anyone is capable of changing. The question is will he? (It'll be an interesting follow up discussion in 8 months)

 

[Cheesebeef]

Rubber meets the road as far as getting an answer to the "Is Kyrie a guy you can build around?" question this year. He's going to a team with a decent amount of talent and a great coach. If he can get them to the 2nd or 3rd round, the answer is yes.

But that team shouldn't take a step back next year. If they do, it'all be a legit question to ask.

I hope he's good on Boston. That would make the East Finals really interesting for the first time in a while.

 

[Russ Smith]

That's a lot to assume. These players are high schoolers. They are still huge gambles. Ainge's timeline is much more immediate. He is not going to beat LeBron James one the ECF with 18-19 year olds.

Hey LeBron just lost a pickup game at UCLA to 5 members of UCLA's team, 3 of them freshmen.

bagley and Porter are pretty spectacular, I prefer Bagley but they could both be special but yeah at 19 they're not winning the ECF for Boston.

 

[Chaplin]

Dude,guys really need to stop with the Kyrie didn't win before Lebron BS. I'm sorry how old was he? Hell he's only 25 now. Oh who was the second best player on those Cavs teams with Kyrie? I'll wait.

Kyrie has played lights out the last two years against Golden State and last I checked it was Kyrie who hit the big shot to win that championship not Lebron.

Stop hating

That's interesting and there are always exceptions. The one that comes to mind is this past season's Russell Westbrook. So it IS possible. And that was in the West, no less.