It's time to move on from DLO....

[Lipoli390]

D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, three future first-round picks, and two pick swaps for Kevin Durant? Hmm.

Easy yes.

Ya guys want another Patton? Another Okogie? Another Shabazz? Another Gorgui?

So we lose out if he gets injured or wants to leave. OK, back to dealing with the last 3 decades. Or he is perfect between Ant and Kat..

That's an easy no for me. I'm not going to mortgage the team's future on a 34 year old with his contact and history of poor durability. If they're willing to give up all that for Durant, they should have given up what would have been slightly less to get Murray.

But it's all academic. The Wolves are not going to trade for Durant. He'll be going to a team that's already on the cusp of winning a championship with players Durant knows and feels comfortable with. That's who he is. He doesn't take risks or assume burdens. He's as super talent, but he's not coming here.

Murray makes zero sense to this team, imo.

With you 100% Future. Big difference between KD and Murray. Murray is a boarderline all star who might never play in another all star game again who only has 2 years left on his deal. KD is under contact for 4 years and is a top 5 MVP candidate. Murray makes the wolves maybe a top 4 team in the west, KD makes the Wolves the title favorite in the West

Wow guys. 20 points, 9.2 assists, 8.2 rebounds and 2 steals are not "borderline all-star" numbers. And he's 25 years old, not 34. In any event, there is zero chance of Durant coming here. And obviously there is now zero chance of Murray coming here. :) Next topic?

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Murray might have made some sense. His lack of an outside shot would have made him a bit less than ideal next to Ant, who I think would really benefit from floor spacing.

Kevin Durant can fit seamlessly onto any team in the league. He's on the cusp of being a 50-40-90 guy every year on insane volume. And if counting stats are your thing, the guy averaged 30 PPG last year along with over 7 boards and 6 assists. That's a ton of money to pay for a guy who's about to turn 34 and whose contract will take him through his age 37 season, but guys like LeBron and CP3 are showing that elite talent can age well, and Durant's game is not at all predicated on quickness and athleticism like a guy like Rose or John Wall. Plus, that will always be a tradable contract.

At some point, we have to take a swing. With all our picks in the future, now that we're decent, we'd just be adding a lot of average guys most likely, as another poster indicated. But you need star talent on the floor to win in this league. You're not going to get far on a bunch of role players. And again, if it goes sour, we've got 4 freakin' years with him under contract to trade in which you know we could probably get some first rounders back because I really can't see this contract turning into something like a Wall or Westbrook situation.

Damn, he's been such a prickly personality though since his last year in Golden State. You have to hope that he's ready to grow up.

In my opinion, since we don't have any other Kyrie or Draymond or Harden types who could clash with him, I think it's worth it. Cam's deal is a no-brainer to me (not sure if it works salary-wise). I'm sure they'd prefer Jaden to Vando, and they'd probably ask for another young guy and I'd throw in Bolmaro too. DLO, Jaden, Bolmaro and the picks. This is Kevin freaking Durant. That probably wouldn't be enough, but you never know. I guess they could ask for Beasley too, but that is getting a bit ridiculous.

Starters
Beverley
Ant
Prince
Durant
KAT

Bench
Nowell
Beasley
Vando
JMac
Naz

plus we've still got those rookies and could add some length with a vet min contract or something. You know guys would want to play with a team like that.

That would be a heck of a team!

EDIT: Sorry Lip, but let us fantasize about this for a minute!

[kekgeek]

D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, three future first-round picks, and two pick swaps for Kevin Durant? Hmm.

Easy yes.

Ya guys want another Patton? Another Okogie? Another Shabazz? Another Gorgui?

So we lose out if he gets injured or wants to leave. OK, back to dealing with the last 3 decades. Or he is perfect between Ant and Kat..

That's an easy no for me. I'm not going to mortgage the team's future on a 34 year old with his contact and history of poor durability. If they're willing to give up all that for Durant, they should have given up what would have been slightly less to get Murray.

But it's all academic. The Wolves are not going to trade for Durant. He'll be going to a team that's already on the cusp of winning a championship with players Durant knows and feels comfortable with. That's who he is. He doesn't take risks or assume burdens. He's as super talent, but he's not coming here.

Murray makes zero sense to this team, imo.

With you 100% Future. Big difference between KD and Murray. Murray is a boarderline all star who might never play in another all star game again who only has 2 years left on his deal. KD is under contact for 4 years and is a top 5 MVP candidate. Murray makes the wolves maybe a top 4 team in the west, KD makes the Wolves the title favorite in the West

Wow guys. 20 points, 9.2 assists, 8.2 rebounds and 2 steals are not "borderline all-star" numbers. And he's 25 years old, not 34. In any event, there is zero chance of Durant coming here. And obviously there is now zero chance of Murray coming here. :) Next topic?

I mean he was an injury replacement. So yes the definition of a borderline all star player and he did it as the high usage player. Murray also could just walk in 2 years.

I'll move on now because like you said both are not happening but Murray is not in the conversation when it comes to talent of KD

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

And Dejounte Murray will never be as good as Kevin Durant currently is regardless of age. I don't think that's even up for debate. The acquisition of Durant makes that team a championship contender regardless of the outgoing pieces. The acquisition of Murray simply makes that team a 50-win team instead of a 45-win team. That's the difference.

In any event, I doubt the Timberwolves are the team that winds up with Durant so we agree there, but should they be making competitive offers for him? Absolutely.

[Lipoli390]

I think Russell has a more adaptable game than some are giving him credit for. He can be a high volume shooter, which is probably his natural proclivity, but he's also an excellent passer who can become more of a facilitator in my view as the situation demands it.

I'll admit that, like Abe, I don't care for DLO's style of play aesthetically. I don't like his shooting inconsistency or his tendency to over-dribble. And I don't like his occasional really dumb turnovers. But he did far less over-dribbling last season and played consistently well on the defensive end. He was a plus player and a key reason the Wolves won 46 games. I think his game is adaptable enough, if he's willing, to fit effectively over the long term. Does that mean we shouldn't trade him? Absolutely not. He's not and never will be a $30 million per year player in my view. And there's no certainty that he'll adapt his game like he needs to even though I think he's capable of doing so.

My issue is two fold. First, we shouldn't underestimate his value to the team, including his adaptability over the long term, in deciding whether to trade him. Second, we need to get an adequate return for him in any trade or it's not worth doing. I'll take DLO's $30 in cap space next summer over a deal that doesn't move the needle forward either short term or long term

[AbeVigodaLive]

Whether I think Murray's value -- either now or in the future -- is close to Durant's value is irrelevant. Theoretically, Murray was gettable.

Durant is not. Durant has ALL the power on where he ends up.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Whether I think Murray's value -- either now or in the future -- is close to Durant's value is irrelevant. Theoretically, Murray was gettable.

Durant is not. Durant has ALL the power on where he ends up.

- We can't assume that the Timberwolves wouldn't be willing to give up the assets necessary for Kevin Durant just because they were unwilling to offer them for Dejounte Murray. That's why the comparison was relevant. They are on two completely different levels as players even at their respective ages.

- Durant still has four years remaining on his current deal. Superstar or not, he doesn't have the leverage necessary to dictate his next destination. If he's indeed traded, Brooklyn will inevitably take the best offer and that is where Durant will go.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

please please please oh my god KD on this team would be awesome.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Whether I think Murray's value -- either now or in the future -- is close to Durant's value is irrelevant. Theoretically, Murray was gettable.

Durant is not. Durant has ALL the power on where he ends up.

- We can't assume that the Timberwolves wouldn't be willing to give up the assets necessary for Kevin Durant just because they were unwilling to offer them for Dejounte Murray. That's why the comparison was relevant. They are on two completely different levels as players even at their respective ages.

- Durant still has four years remaining on his current deal. Superstar or not, he doesn't have the leverage necessary to dictate his next destination. If he's indeed traded, Brooklyn will inevitably take the best offer and that is where Durant will go.

That's simply not how the NBA works.

Do you really think Durant would request a trade from Brooklyn... and then shut up even if he's sent to another destination he doesn't want to be?

[kekgeek]

Whether I think Murray's value -- either now or in the future -- is close to Durant's value is irrelevant. Theoretically, Murray was gettable.

Durant is not. Durant has ALL the power on where he ends up.

- We can't assume that the Timberwolves wouldn't be willing to give up the assets necessary for Kevin Durant just because they were unwilling to offer them for Dejounte Murray. That's why the comparison was relevant. They are on two completely different levels as players even at their respective ages.

- Durant still has four years remaining on his current deal. Superstar or not, he doesn't have the leverage necessary to dictate his next destination. If he's indeed traded, Brooklyn will inevitably take the best offer and that is where Durant will go.

That's simply not how the NBA works.

Do you really think Durant would request a trade from Brooklyn... and then shut up even if he's sent to another destination he doesn't want to be?

Im with Abe on this one. Now Durant has a little less leverage then normal but a Ben Simmons situation will just happen if he is traded to a place he doesn't want to go. The players control the league and where they play. Kat could ask out tomorrow if he wanted to and the Wolves would do it.