2024-25 NBA Thread: Game 7!! (164 Viewers)

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Chaos in Phoenix and KD

 

[msudaisy26]

Jabari kinda sucks. He’s the reason Houston isn’t going to add one of the best players ever? Give me a break. Do these teams want to win or just hoard assets forever.

Reminds me of the Celtics under Ainge and a large majority of the fans were all on board. They were trying to be a dynasty before winning one. The Celtics only got over the hump when they made some big trades.

 

[msudaisy26]

I love how less than a week after the Finals we get the draft. Then, like a week later, we get free agency.

I'm ready!

Draft Harper, trade for Durant for about 50 cents on the dollar, and mix in a little Luke Kornet to do some dirty work. There probably won't be a lot of minutes for CP3, but I would not mind him being brought back to help with Harper's development, and maybe get a ring, right?


Starting lineup: Wemby, Durant, Sochan, Castle, Fox
Rotation: Harper, Champaignie, Kornet, Keldon Johnson, and maybe we see Blake Wesley still get some run (I still believe he can carve out a decent role in the NBA).

About mid-season we should start cooking once we've got a guard rotation such that we have 2 out of 3 of Fox, Castle, and Harper on the floor at all times. They should eat up weak benches, and eventually the entire league.

If I were the Spurs, I would be looking to bring in young shooters around Harper and Wemby, preferably those that can defend. They aren't winning the title next season, so I wouldn't waste assets on Durant. The only real exception to this would be Giannis and I think the Spurs could offer a very compelling package including Castle.

If the Griz are looking at making more changes, I would be willing to throw a lot of assets at Jaren Jackson Jr. Keegan Murray should be a better fit with the Spurs so I would poke around there. Deni Avdija and Camara would be interesting from Portland. Trey Murphy would be an amazing fit that I would also probably throw real assets at (Castle + Sohan + pick?). Naz Reid would be a fantastic 6th man that could play half of his time at PF next to Wemby if they could clear space by trading Johnson or something. Jabari Smith seems like he'll eventually be an odd man out in Houston. That would be about my entire list of players I would be looking at really chasing in 2025.

There's no way to acquire Giannis without gutting the depth, a la Denver's roster. I wouldn't do it, and besides, I doubt it happens. As for bringing in young shooters, I'll re-ask a question I saw posed earlier. For the Spurs, would you rather have the next three years of Durant, or say draft a 3&D with the 14 and get 10 years of Danny Green (including development time)? I was generally opposed to the idea of KD at first, timelines and all, but I'm here for it now - at the right price.

I have high expectations for the Spurs this season, but a title is unlikely. The next season? You bet.

1. Durant makes basically the same as Giannis (Durant makes about 600k more in 25-26 and a few million more in this league year) so there is going to be a sacrifice of current depth to make a Durant trade work as well. To make the trade work THIS league year (i.e. at the draft), the Spurs need to trade ~$40m in salary. I doubt the Suns would take Johnson/Barnes/flotsam (Wesley/Branham) and the 14th pick as the Rockets have offered Green, the 10th pick (and I assume more salary relief) which is a better player/prospect and pick than what SAS would likely offer without trading away more current or future depth.
2. Your question seems to be Durant vs the 14th pick, which regardless of it not being an option as I explained above, my proposition was more to chase younger guys that are far better than a Danny Green type ever was. Those kind of players will be more costly than Durant, probably, but would offer a long term starter that would help grow the core of the Spurs without pushing the timeline ahead (more as it relates to development of Castle/Harper/others).
3. If I had the keys to the organization, I would be looking to trade Castle, Sochan, Fox for players that are better potential fits alongside Harper and Wemby.
   • The problem with Fox is that he isn't good enough to supplant really any guards of the top 12 teams or so in the NBA because he is a mediocre shooter and he is too old to get traded to a rebuilding team. I genuinely can't find an especially good fit for him.... other than Sacramento. Houston could be interesting (Van Vleet + Jabari Smith for Barnes and Fox?) and Houston would also have the ability at that point to still get Durant.
   • Castle + Sochan for Trey Murphy is such a sensible trade for both teams, IMO. NOP gets to reload with younger guys and Castle could hit big, SAS gets a significantly better fit for their needs on a timeline that still fits.
   • A long term lineup of Harper, Vassell (this would need to be a guy like Danny Green long term), Murphy, Smith, Wemby could be awesome and they would still have plenty of ammo to fill out the back half of the roster. For this year, Van Vleet is a step down from Fox but could fill in fine for a year and then potentially resign him next offseason as the 3rd guard that could plan along side either Vassell or Harper.

If the Bucks aren't going to benefit from tanking b/c they don't have their own pick, Fox would make sense as a part of the Giannis return.

San Antonio is going to be super disappointed if they hold onto Fox and then surround him with non-shooting ballhandlers in the backcourt. He's a terrible fit for what it looks like they are doing there.

Not tanking or rebuilding because you don't own your picks is dumb. That is a sunk cost.

Instead of trading Giannis and getting young players and picks, they should take mediocre players and just be the Hawks until they have picks and start their rebuilding in three to five years?

(1) Strip mining your roster also doesn't benefit you when you don't have picks; (2) Fox isn't mediocre.

Milwaukee could do something like Giannis for Fox, Sochan, and a ton of draft equity. Fox provides most of the incoming salary they need for matching purposes. He's better now than someone like Castle will ever be, in my view, and Fox can either help them put an entertaining product on the court for the next year or two or they can flip him for more assets down the road.

What I mean by mediocre is he isn't a top 2 guy on a championship team. He might be a 3rd or 4th.

Giving Fox any value isn't good for the Bucks. Their timeline to rebuild, get to the playoffs, and then contend wouldn't match up with Fox's age and timeline. The only way you take Fox is if you did what Portland did a couple of years ago with Jrue Holiday. Get him to flip him.

If someone is offering you a young superstar in the making, sure, don't grab Fox in lieu of that player. Otherwise, there's value in having a really good player who people will buy tickets to see play while you are rebuilding.

Then just keep Giannis if you want too sell tickets and have a great mentor to young guys.

I don't think Giannis is going anywhere this off season. With an even weaker East, they probably have a chance. Could be a mid season trade if things aren't working out.

You are probably right, but when I look at these situations I try to say to myself this is this Pistons and what would I want.

Giannis is at the point if you don't trade him this year or next year, then it feels like you should just make him a Buck for life. I prefer this year because of what the Spurs or Rockets can offer and what seems to be a very strong draft class, but the writing is on the wall. The Bucks aren't winning anything anytime soon with this team. I thought Giannis played out of his mind in round one and they lost in five.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Chaos in Phoenix and KD

For what it’s worth:

https://x.com/kdtrey5/status/1936161315384434729?s=61&t=rOfFF50jqROp_zTD5zfX9w

 

[Major]

Jabari kinda sucks. He’s the reason Houston isn’t going to add one of the best players ever? Give me a break. Do these teams want to win or just hoard assets forever.

He's no Banchero but he's not trash. I see him as a Robert Horry type.

 

[Capella]

Jabari kinda sucks. He’s the reason Houston isn’t going to add one of the best players ever? Give me a break. Do these teams want to win or just hoard assets forever.

He's no Banchero but he's not trash. I see him as a Robert Horry type.

I mean…that’s not worth losing out on KD, if he even hits Horry levels.

 

[thecatch]

I love how less than a week after the Finals we get the draft. Then, like a week later, we get free agency.

I'm ready!

Draft Harper, trade for Durant for about 50 cents on the dollar, and mix in a little Luke Kornet to do some dirty work. There probably won't be a lot of minutes for CP3, but I would not mind him being brought back to help with Harper's development, and maybe get a ring, right?


Starting lineup: Wemby, Durant, Sochan, Castle, Fox
Rotation: Harper, Champaignie, Kornet, Keldon Johnson, and maybe we see Blake Wesley still get some run (I still believe he can carve out a decent role in the NBA).

About mid-season we should start cooking once we've got a guard rotation such that we have 2 out of 3 of Fox, Castle, and Harper on the floor at all times. They should eat up weak benches, and eventually the entire league.

If I were the Spurs, I would be looking to bring in young shooters around Harper and Wemby, preferably those that can defend. They aren't winning the title next season, so I wouldn't waste assets on Durant. The only real exception to this would be Giannis and I think the Spurs could offer a very compelling package including Castle.

If the Griz are looking at making more changes, I would be willing to throw a lot of assets at Jaren Jackson Jr. Keegan Murray should be a better fit with the Spurs so I would poke around there. Deni Avdija and Camara would be interesting from Portland. Trey Murphy would be an amazing fit that I would also probably throw real assets at (Castle + Sohan + pick?). Naz Reid would be a fantastic 6th man that could play half of his time at PF next to Wemby if they could clear space by trading Johnson or something. Jabari Smith seems like he'll eventually be an odd man out in Houston. That would be about my entire list of players I would be looking at really chasing in 2025.

There's no way to acquire Giannis without gutting the depth, a la Denver's roster. I wouldn't do it, and besides, I doubt it happens. As for bringing in young shooters, I'll re-ask a question I saw posed earlier. For the Spurs, would you rather have the next three years of Durant, or say draft a 3&D with the 14 and get 10 years of Danny Green (including development time)? I was generally opposed to the idea of KD at first, timelines and all, but I'm here for it now - at the right price.

I have high expectations for the Spurs this season, but a title is unlikely. The next season? You bet.

1. Durant makes basically the same as Giannis (Durant makes about 600k more in 25-26 and a few million more in this league year) so there is going to be a sacrifice of current depth to make a Durant trade work as well. To make the trade work THIS league year (i.e. at the draft), the Spurs need to trade ~$40m in salary. I doubt the Suns would take Johnson/Barnes/flotsam (Wesley/Branham) and the 14th pick as the Rockets have offered Green, the 10th pick (and I assume more salary relief) which is a better player/prospect and pick than what SAS would likely offer without trading away more current or future depth.
2. Your question seems to be Durant vs the 14th pick, which regardless of it not being an option as I explained above, my proposition was more to chase younger guys that are far better than a Danny Green type ever was. Those kind of players will be more costly than Durant, probably, but would offer a long term starter that would help grow the core of the Spurs without pushing the timeline ahead (more as it relates to development of Castle/Harper/others).
3. If I had the keys to the organization, I would be looking to trade Castle, Sochan, Fox for players that are better potential fits alongside Harper and Wemby.
   • The problem with Fox is that he isn't good enough to supplant really any guards of the top 12 teams or so in the NBA because he is a mediocre shooter and he is too old to get traded to a rebuilding team. I genuinely can't find an especially good fit for him.... other than Sacramento. Houston could be interesting (Van Vleet + Jabari Smith for Barnes and Fox?) and Houston would also have the ability at that point to still get Durant.
   • Castle + Sochan for Trey Murphy is such a sensible trade for both teams, IMO. NOP gets to reload with younger guys and Castle could hit big, SAS gets a significantly better fit for their needs on a timeline that still fits.
   • A long term lineup of Harper, Vassell (this would need to be a guy like Danny Green long term), Murphy, Smith, Wemby could be awesome and they would still have plenty of ammo to fill out the back half of the roster. For this year, Van Vleet is a step down from Fox but could fill in fine for a year and then potentially resign him next offseason as the 3rd guard that could plan along side either Vassell or Harper.

If the Bucks aren't going to benefit from tanking b/c they don't have their own pick, Fox would make sense as a part of the Giannis return.

San Antonio is going to be super disappointed if they hold onto Fox and then surround him with non-shooting ballhandlers in the backcourt. He's a terrible fit for what it looks like they are doing there.

Not tanking or rebuilding because you don't own your picks is dumb. That is a sunk cost.

Instead of trading Giannis and getting young players and picks, they should take mediocre players and just be the Hawks until they have picks and start their rebuilding in three to five years?

(1) Strip mining your roster also doesn't benefit you when you don't have picks; (2) Fox isn't mediocre.

Milwaukee could do something like Giannis for Fox, Sochan, and a ton of draft equity. Fox provides most of the incoming salary they need for matching purposes. He's better now than someone like Castle will ever be, in my view, and Fox can either help them put an entertaining product on the court for the next year or two or they can flip him for more assets down the road.

What I mean by mediocre is he isn't a top 2 guy on a championship team. He might be a 3rd or 4th.

Giving Fox any value isn't good for the Bucks. Their timeline to rebuild, get to the playoffs, and then contend wouldn't match up with Fox's age and timeline. The only way you take Fox is if you did what Portland did a couple of years ago with Jrue Holiday. Get him to flip him.

If someone is offering you a young superstar in the making, sure, don't grab Fox in lieu of that player. Otherwise, there's value in having a really good player who people will buy tickets to see play while you are rebuilding.

Then just keep Giannis if you want too sell tickets and have a great mentor to young guys.

that’d be my plan A

 

[Major]

Jabari kinda sucks. He’s the reason Houston isn’t going to add one of the best players ever? Give me a break. Do these teams want to win or just hoard assets forever.

He's no Banchero but he's not trash. I see him as a Robert Horry type.

I mean…that’s not worth losing out on KD, if he even hits Horry levels.

I'm not opposed to trading Jabari but not with Green, Brooks and picks for an injury prone veteran. That's the type of package I'd give up for Booker. I'd probably do Jabari, Whitmore and a pick for him.

I really just want Jalen Green out. Inefficient, score only guards with a low basketball IQ generally don't win championships. I could see them working a 3 team deal where PHX is able to move Green because he seems redundant with Booker.

 

[Capella]

I'm not opposed to trading Jabari but not with Green, Brooks and picks for an injury prone veteran. That's the type of package I'd give up for Booker. I'd probably do Jabari, Whitmore and a pick for him.

I’ve heard Jabari, Whitmore and picks for KD, idk what picks but you wouldn’t do that? He’s played 75 and 62 games the past two years that’s not bad. But apparently Houston doesn’t want to do that.

I’m not saying Houston is at the OKC level but adding Durant puts them in the WCF mix I feel like. You get to the final four and things can happen.

 

[Frostillicus]

Jabari kinda sucks. He’s the reason Houston isn’t going to add one of the best players ever? Give me a break. Do these teams want to win or just hoard assets forever.

He's no Banchero but he's not trash. I see him as a Robert Horry type.

I mean…that’s not worth losing out on KD, if he even hits Horry levels.

I'm not opposed to trading Jabari but not with Green, Brooks and picks for an injury prone veteran. That's the type of package I'd give up for Booker. I'd probably do Jabari, Whitmore and a pick for him.

I really just want Jalen Green out. Inefficient, score only guards with a low basketball IQ generally don't win championships. I could see them working a 3 team deal where PHX is able to move Green because he seems redundant with Booker.

You'd do Jabari, Whitmore, and a pick for Booker? I'd hope so.

EDIT: i never learned to read. But you should also do that trade for KD.

 

[Major]

I'm not opposed to trading Jabari but not with Green, Brooks and picks for an injury prone veteran. That's the type of package I'd give up for Booker. I'd probably do Jabari, Whitmore and a pick for him.

I’ve heard Jabari, Whitmore and picks for KD, idk what picks but you wouldn’t do that? He’s played 75 and 62 games the past two years that’s not bad. But apparently Houston doesn’t want to do that.

I’m not saying Houston is at the OKC level but adding Durant puts them in the WCF mix I feel like. You get to the final four and things can happen.

I'd make that trade (see bolded). When I said "him" I was referring to KD.but realize that wasn't clear. Pick seems to be this years 1st (1.10)

 

[Capella]

I'm not opposed to trading Jabari but not with Green, Brooks and picks for an injury prone veteran. That's the type of package I'd give up for Booker. I'd probably do Jabari, Whitmore and a pick for him.

I’ve heard Jabari, Whitmore and picks for KD, idk what picks but you wouldn’t do that? He’s played 75 and 62 games the past two years that’s not bad. But apparently Houston doesn’t want to do that.

I’m not saying Houston is at the OKC level but adding Durant puts them in the WCF mix I feel like. You get to the final four and things can happen.

I'd make that trade (see bolded). When I said "him" I was referring to KD.but realize that wasn't clear. Pick seems to be this years 1st (1.10)

Gotcha. Yea idk that trade seems fair to me on both sides.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Durant is perfect fit in Houston. They really lacked some in the half court that could get own shot. Not to mention outside shooting. Durant is still a top 15 offensive player.

Houston should probably give Phoenix all their picks back, plus Jabari or Whitmore, Shepard, Eason for Durant

Houston has the ability to offer best package with their picks and talent on their bench. Minnesota likely next (if KD had any desire to go there I think a deal would already be done). I think Miami can get it done if they throw in Kel'el Ware.

Though they have less desirables to offer, I think Miami gets him before the draft

 

[Brunell4MVP]

How long until the NBA finals finish in July? This has dragged on forever. I didn't watch the last two games. Actually did not even remember they were on. Guess I'll watch Game 7 tonight. Or I might go to bed. I fail to understand the point of more than 1 day off between games. It's a <2 hour flight.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

How long until the NBA finals finish in July? This has dragged on forever. I didn't watch the last two games. Actually did not even remember they were on. Guess I'll watch Game 7 tonight. Or I might go to bed. I fail to understand the point of more than 1 day off between games. It's a <2 hour flight.

You won’t watch Game 7 tonight.

 

[Brunell4MVP]

How long until the NBA finals finish in July? This has dragged on forever. I didn't watch the last two games. Actually did not even remember they were on. Guess I'll watch Game 7 tonight. Or I might go to bed. I fail to understand the point of more than 1 day off between games. It's a <2 hour flight.

You won’t watch Game 7 tonight.

Ugh. They might as well have the draft before the finals at this point.

 

[identikit]

Happy NOT Gameday!!!!!!!

 

[Major]

How long until the NBA finals finish in July? This has dragged on forever. I didn't watch the last two games. Actually did not even remember they were on. Guess I'll watch Game 7 tonight. Or I might go to bed. I fail to understand the point of more than 1 day off between games. It's a <2 hour flight.

You won’t watch Game 7 tonight.

Ugh. They might as well have the draft before the finals at this point.

Are you new to the NBA? Sundays are usually reserved for Game 7s

 

[Mister CIA]

How long until the NBA finals finish in July? This has dragged on forever. I didn't watch the last two games. Actually did not even remember they were on. Guess I'll watch Game 7 tonight. Or I might go to bed. I fail to understand the point of more than 1 day off between games. It's a <2 hour flight.

You won’t watch Game 7 tonight.

Ugh. They might as well have the draft before the finals at this point.

Are you new to the NBA? Sundays are usually reserved for Game 7s

I think he's Wizards fan.