Kevin Durant Rumors

[Monster]

I'm told that a KD to Minnesota trade has been agreed to

Which one of us told you that?!?

Lol

[Lipoli390]

The Gobert deal tells me that when TC is going for a big name he tends to overpay. I remain convinced he gave up significantly more than necessary to get Rudy. Therefore, if past is prologue, then I’m afraid I’m going to hate the final terms of a Wolves deal to acquire Durant.

Here’s what I would consider a realistic three-way deal for Durant involving the Nets that would not be a gross overpay:

Wolves get Durant and Claxton
Suns get Rudy, Donte, Minott and pick #31
Nets get Naz (sign-and-trade) and pick #17

I wouldn’t like that deal but it wouldn’t make me vomit. I’m afraid, however, that TC will end up including Dilly and or TSJ. The only reason I wouldn’t completely hate the deal outlined above is because I like Claxton. I’d actually be ok with the deal if it included Randle rather than Naz but I don’t think that’s realistic from the Nets perspective. Giving up any young talent for Durant seems nuts to me.

[Lipoli390]

Continuing my case against trading for Durant. The numbers already show that Durant has gone from being an excellent defender in his prime to what is now a very poor defender in his late 30s after Achilles surgery. The numbers also show that he routinely misses at least 20 games as season. And we know his style does not lend itself to the winning style we’re seeing in the NBA finals.

The numbers show Durant can still score at a very high level. I have two thoughts on that. First, because of his poor defense and propensity to miss games, I think he’d be a bad acquisition even if he were to maintain his scoring levels we’ve seen the past few seasons. Second, at age 37, we can’t count on him maintaining that level next season or thereafter. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the scoring of older players tends to decline pretty suddenly from one year to the next, not gradually, once they reach age 34 or 35 and especially age 37. In other words, the decline isn’t typically linear. Here are some examples but the list is longer:

1. Kareem went from 23.4 points per game at age 38 to 17.5 at age 39 and then to 14.6 at age 40 before retiring.

2. KG went from 14.8 points at age 36 to 6.5 points the next season at age 37 and then 6.9 points his last season at age 38

3. Paul Pierce went from 18.6 points at age 35 to 13.5 points at age 36, following by 11.9 points at age 37 and 6.1 points at age 38.

4. Reggie Miller experienced his big drop at age 36 going from 19 points at age 35 to 16.5 at age 36. He experienced another big drop at age 37 going down to 12.6 points.

5. Dirk Nowitski went from averaging 18.3 points at age 37 to 14.2 at age 38 and continued his decline from there to 7.3 two year later.

6. Tim Duncan went from 17.8 points at age 36 to 15 at age 37 and then 13.9 at age 38.

All of these players experienced a significant scoring decline even earlier in their early 30s. The point is that Father Time eventually takes a lot of your scoring prowess away and when he does he takes it in significant chunks, not little nibbles. And you can’t know exactly when or how much he’ll take. But he takes it and it not just possible but LIKELY he’ll take a big chunk away when you turn 36, 37 or 38. And again, that’s just scoring and doesn’t account for the generally more substantial loss of the player’s speed, quickness, agility on both sides of the ball. And it doesn’t account for the propensity to miss games as you get into your late 30s, especially if you’ve already shown such a propensity.

This is a good breakdown but I will mention that Kareem won 2 NBA titles at 39 and 40 playing a significant role on teams that won over 60 regular season games both years. Yes those teams were VERY talented but that's also likely part of the reason why his scoring was down. It's also just another chance to remind people how really good Kareem was.

Kareem was tremendous and I think he gets overlooked too often in discussions about the greatest players of all time. Yes, MJ and LeBron are 1 and 2. But Kareem is a close #3 in my book.

Another important point is that the Lakers didn’t give up much and received a draft pick along with Kareem in return. Moreover, Kareem was only 28 years old when they acquired him: The Lakers traded Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman, and Dave Meyers to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. This trade took place on June 16, 1975. The Lakers also acquired a pick in the 1976 draft, which they used to select Abdul-Jabbar's teammate from UCLA, Walt Wesley.

[Wolves21]

I'm told that a KD to Minnesota trade has been agreed to

I think KD to the Heat is more likely then the Wolves. Minnesota will never offer KD a long term deal that he want.

[Monster]

Continuing my case against trading for Durant. The numbers already show that Durant has gone from being an excellent defender in his prime to what is now a very poor defender in his late 30s after Achilles surgery. The numbers also show that he routinely misses at least 20 games as season. And we know his style does not lend itself to the winning style we’re seeing in the NBA finals.

The numbers show Durant can still score at a very high level. I have two thoughts on that. First, because of his poor defense and propensity to miss games, I think he’d be a bad acquisition even if he were to maintain his scoring levels we’ve seen the past few seasons. Second, at age 37, we can’t count on him maintaining that level next season or thereafter. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the scoring of older players tends to decline pretty suddenly from one year to the next, not gradually, once they reach age 34 or 35 and especially age 37. In other words, the decline isn’t typically linear. Here are some examples but the list is longer:

1. Kareem went from 23.4 points per game at age 38 to 17.5 at age 39 and then to 14.6 at age 40 before retiring.

2. KG went from 14.8 points at age 36 to 6.5 points the next season at age 37 and then 6.9 points his last season at age 38

3. Paul Pierce went from 18.6 points at age 35 to 13.5 points at age 36, following by 11.9 points at age 37 and 6.1 points at age 38.

4. Reggie Miller experienced his big drop at age 36 going from 19 points at age 35 to 16.5 at age 36. He experienced another big drop at age 37 going down to 12.6 points.

5. Dirk Nowitski went from averaging 18.3 points at age 37 to 14.2 at age 38 and continued his decline from there to 7.3 two year later.

6. Tim Duncan went from 17.8 points at age 36 to 15 at age 37 and then 13.9 at age 38.

All of these players experienced a significant scoring decline even earlier in their early 30s. The point is that Father Time eventually takes a lot of your scoring prowess away and when he does he takes it in significant chunks, not little nibbles. And you can’t know exactly when or how much he’ll take. But he takes it and it not just possible but LIKELY he’ll take a big chunk away when you turn 36, 37 or 38. And again, that’s just scoring and doesn’t account for the generally more substantial loss of the player’s speed, quickness, agility on both sides of the ball. And it doesn’t account for the propensity to miss games as you get into your late 30s, especially if you’ve already shown such a propensity.

This is a good breakdown but I will mention that Kareem won 2 NBA titles at 39 and 40 playing a significant role on teams that won over 60 regular season games both years. Yes those teams were VERY talented but that's also likely part of the reason why his scoring was down. It's also just another chance to remind people how really good Kareem was.

Kareem was tremendous and I think he gets overlooked too often in discussions about the greatest players of all time. Yes, MJ and LeBron are 1 and 2. But Kareem is a close #3 in my book.

Another important point is that the Lakers didn’t give up much and received a draft pick along with Kareem in return. Moreover, Kareem was only 28 years old when they acquired him: The Lakers traded Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman, and Dave Meyers to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. This trade took place on June 16, 1975. The Lakers also acquired a pick in the 1976 draft, which they used to select Abdul-Jabbar's teammate from UCLA, Walt Wesley.

Kareem also requested that trade. I wasn't alive then so I don't know how those types of things worked then and in that instance but it's a worthwhile detail. I just read an article that said Kareem only had one year left on his deal and said he would not resign with the Bucks so they got what they could. They did end up with a couple useful players and had some pretty good seasons when Don Nelson coached there. It's kinda wild that Kareem's situation around 50 years ago doesn't seem that much different than some of the players requesting trades today.

[Coolbreeze44]

Hey Monster and Lip, isn't it about time for you two to discuss next years' 14th and 15th man?

[Crazysauce]

It seems wild we are considering trading rudy and julius and donte and more for a 37 yr old Durant. I like Durant but damn 37 is 37. Also what type of contract is he gonna want? Is he looking for a other 50 million dollar contract? 30? This seems like huge overpay. It's like we trade a ton for star players but our star players somehow equate to nothing in trade. Randle is coming off an excellent season. Rudy is Rudy still. Like mentioned if we start also dipping into draft picks and dillingham and Shannon this trade would just be franchise suicide.

[Monster]

Hey Monster and Lip, isn't it about time for you two to discuss next years' 14th and 15th man?

I hope wherever you are there are some clouds to yell at!

[BloopOracle]

A 2 year extension with Minnesota has already been agreed to by KD and his camp, deal is done

[Lipoli390]

Hey Monster and Lip, isn't it about time for you two to discuss next years' 14th and 15th man?

lol. I think so, Cool. Monster, can you lead off?