Mr. Miserable

[slightly biased bias fan]

Mr Miserable aka Kevin Durant is back to his emotional best.

Coach Mike Budenholzer seems like another walking Durant victim, to add to the list of problems Durant always seems to encounter around him.

Where do you think Durant will be next season?

Just remember, Durant will be 37 this September, Bradley Beal has a no trade clause & the Houston Rockets have most of the Suns future draft picks.

[Phantom255x]

I predict Houston. I think Houston and Memphis both have a shot. He'd make a lot of sense in MEM too. Two darkhorse candidates are probably Dallas and Miami, especially the latter.

If Giannis or another bigger fish is loose this offseason, I think HOU goes hard after them, but if not they might be okay with Durant to go along with Sengun/Green/Thompson. There's no way the bidding or trade price for KD will be huge, not like the last time.

[Who]

The Suns owner had some quote recently saying he had no interest in rebuilding. He has no interest in a 5-7 year rebuilding process. What is the point in that? He said.

So it sounds like they will look for a win-now trade if they move Durant rather than a collection of picks / young talent.

[Who]

I wonder if the Knicks would go in for Durant. Offer up Mikal Bridges and Mitchell Robinson for him. Something like that.

[Roy H.]

I predict Houston. I think Houston and Memphis both have a shot. He'd make a lot of sense in MEM too. Two darkhorse candidates are probably Dallas and Miami, especially the latter.

If Giannis or another bigger fish is loose this offseason, I think HOU goes hard after them, but if not they might be okay with Durant to go along with Sengun/Green/Thompson. There's no way the bidding or trade price for KD will be huge, not like the last time.

I hope that somebody in the Houston organization thinks about the Durant versus Ime clash before making that trade.  That is not going to be a good fit at all.

[Phantom255x]

I predict Houston. I think Houston and Memphis both have a shot. He'd make a lot of sense in MEM too. Two darkhorse candidates are probably Dallas and Miami, especially the latter.

If Giannis or another bigger fish is loose this offseason, I think HOU goes hard after them, but if not they might be okay with Durant to go along with Sengun/Green/Thompson. There's no way the bidding or trade price for KD will be huge, not like the last time.

I hope that somebody in the Houston organization thinks about the Durant versus Ime clash before making that trade.  That is not going to be a good fit at all.

Do they have history?

[Who]

Atlanta for Jalen Johnson. Maybe LeVert and Nance. Not sure that is enough money. Maybe Okongwu as well.

A Trae + Durant duo.

I don't think I would do that if I was Atlanta. They have a nice young nucleus now that they are developing around Trae. Young athletic wings who can complement Trae.

Although maybe they could go all-in with a Risaccher trade for a 3rd star from somewhere else.

[Who]

What could Houston offer?

I can't see them giving up Amen Thompson or Sengun for Durant. Durant is too old. I doubt PHX have any interest in Jalen Green given that they already have D Booker and B Beal in that same position.

VanVleet & Jabari Smith Jr?
Or VanVleet and Reed Sheppard?

I don't know if Houston can make the contracts work without VanVleet. Houston would have to replace VanVleet in FA with the midlevel. Maybe Schroder or D'Angelo Russell.

Not a great win-now offer. The first one is two solid starters. The second one is one solid starter and good prospect. You could put picks and other youth like T Eason or Cam Whitmore as well. Still not a win-now offer. A rebuilding trade for PHX.

[Who]

The Clippers??

For James Harden. Let Harden take over the PG duties on offense. You could run a three guard perimeter corps of Harden, Beal and D Booker. Harden with his bulk could defend SFs better than either of the other two. D Book can defend his proper position. Beal at PG defensively. Harden at PG offensively. The other two can concentrate on scoring.

Or Kawhi Leonard. Straight swap. One starting PF for another starting PF. Maybe LAC can find a way to sweeten the offer. Kawhi would need to finish this season healthy. Maybe put in a good showing in the playoffs. And hope PHX haven't noticed that he has declined considerably this season.

[Who]

Mmm, Sacramento could put together an interesting offer.

Keep D Sabonis and Z LaVine. Sabonis too valuable to give up. LaVine plays the same position as D Booker and B Beal. Build an offer around DeRozan, K Murray and maybe Malik Monk.

Sacramento going nowhere with their current core. A worthwhile risk to push them to the next level where they could go on a playoff run.

Sacramento Kings

G: (free agent), Devin Carter
G: Z LaVine, Keon Ellis
F: (free agent), (free agent)
F: Durant, J LaRavia
C: D Sabonis, Valanciunas

Lot of holes to fill. I do like Sabonis, Durant, LaVine as a big three. A terrific offensive trio. They would need some good role players at SF to help cover holes defensively. The PG position would be an issue too. Still, more interesting their current core of players.

Phoenix Suns

G: B Beal, Grayson Allen
G: D Booker
F: K Murray, R Dunn
F: D DeRozan, R O'Neale
C: (free agent), N Richards

They sorta become ... the new Sacramento Kings? A .500 team with surplus scorers and nothing else? Similar to what Phoenix are today with their current core also.

[Roy H.]

I predict Houston. I think Houston and Memphis both have a shot. He'd make a lot of sense in MEM too. Two darkhorse candidates are probably Dallas and Miami, especially the latter.

If Giannis or another bigger fish is loose this offseason, I think HOU goes hard after them, but if not they might be okay with Durant to go along with Sengun/Green/Thompson. There's no way the bidding or trade price for KD will be huge, not like the last time.

I hope that somebody in the Houston organization thinks about the Durant versus Ime clash before making that trade.  That is not going to be a good fit at all.

Do they have history?

No.  Ime is just a hard-nosed coach that demands constant effort and defense.  That's not KD these days.

[slightly biased bias fan]

The Suns owner had some quote recently saying he had no interest in rebuilding. He has no interest in a 5-7 year rebuilding process. What is the point in that? He said.

So it sounds like they will look for a win-now trade if they move Durant rather than a collection of picks / young talent.

James Jones (Suns GM) to Bradley Beal every day this offseason

[bdm860]

Would Phoenix want trade him to a contender in the West? That's usually a no-go (unless you're Nico Harrison), and Ishbia doesn't seem to me like the type of owner that would want to do that either, but most of the rumored landing spots seem to be in the West.

Could Philly make a hail Mary 3-way trade in a last ditch effort of squeezing something out of the process? Durant to Philly, George+picks to rebuilding team, rebuilding team star to Phoenix? Utah fits nicely as a rebuilding team with Markkanen, as Danny would gladly take picks, try to rehab George's value, then flip him again when he has a more palatable 1-2 years left on his contract.

For the West teams, someone is going to be disappointed with a 1st round (or even play-in) loss. OKC, HOU, MEM, DEN, MIN, at least one will have a very disappointing ending.  HOU is too young and will just roll the dice on player development, MIN is probably too cheap, OKC would be a nice reunion story, but they could just roll the dice on development too. MEM and DEN are the teams I see trying to shake things up.

[slightly biased bias fan]

Matt Ishbia inherited some massive mistakes by Robert Sarver.

Phoenix drafted Ayton over Doncic (Suns HC was the Slovenian HC). They also drafted Jalen Smith over Tyrese Haliburton when the Suns were in desperate need of a pass first point guard to take minutes from Chris Paul.

But Ishbia really cratered the Suns future after the Ayton trade.

Phoenix sold their Ayton stock at its lowest value, considering that Ishbia is a finance guy, that should have been a red flag. What made that trade even worse is part of that deal to Portland was sending a low second round pick named Toumani Camara. If you are unaware of Camara, he has the potential to be a star, especially on the defensive end.

Yes, Ayton has motor issues, but after giving him that huge contract, the Suns only option was to rebuild his value and if that ment getting the perfect coach for him so be it.

A starting five of Ayton, Durant, Camara, Booker, Paul might not have won the league but it would have been extremely competitive.

[Birdman]

At his age, contract & attitude I would pass on him just like Aaron Ridgers