Minnesota Sports Forum

60WinTim wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:58 pm

BloopOracle wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:55 pm I'm told that a KD to Minnesota trade has been agreed to

Which one of us told you that?!?

Monster wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:58 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:16 pm 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.

BloopOracle wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:55 pm I'm told that a KD to Minnesota trade has been agreed to

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 6:02 pm

Monster wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:58 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 5:16 pm 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.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 6:56 pm Hey Monster and Lip, isn't it about time for you two to discuss next years' 14th and 15th man?

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 13, 2025 6:56 pm Hey Monster and Lip, isn't it about time for you two to discuss next years' 14th and 15th man?