POLL: The KD Trade

[Drewsprocket]

Monty wasn't holding Mikal back. Mikal's offense gradually got better and he broke out when he was forced into a scoring role due to all the injuries. Prior to that, he didn't have the mindset or instincts of a scorer.

That could be because Monty was holding him back.

Bridges had to step up in absence of Book. He had to work through how to become a number one option. There’s no coach alive that creates that role alongside a healthy Book. It’s just how that works. It took bridges multiple games to realize he has to get a bucket play after play. It was Bridges who turned the corner.

[Drewsprocket]

Now I would not have made that trade with Bridges included. Perhaps if we could have kept Cam. That would have been my line in the sand.

[SunnyOrange]

We got fleeced. I really like KD on this team, but we gave up too much. So I vote "Yes" it was a mistake.

I feel the same way, even though I don't think it was a true mistake.

[Mori Chu]

We got fleeced. I really like KD on this team, but we gave up too much. So I vote "Yes" it was a mistake.

I feel the same way, even though I don't think it was a true mistake.

Good to see you, SunnyOrange! Willkommen! Hallo und Guten Tag!

[Nodack]

I didn’t vote. I doubt any team could pass up getting Durant if he wanted to join your team. I think the Suns before the Durant trade would have fared better during these playoffs than the later Durant team. The Suns before the trade were good enough to make it to the finals once. Their core of young players were blossoming. If they traded for Durant in the preseason like they tried, they would have had a whole year to develop chemistry and solidify the rest of the team. That didn’t happen. The trade went down at the end of the season and the Suns had to try to piece together a team and become a Championship team with very little time. Then Durant gets injured again. Then Paul and Ayton get hurt and that was it.

Jamal Murray is kicking butt with Denver in the playoffs. The year before in the playoffs he was injured. The year before that he was injured.
They stuck with him and now they are going to win a Championship. You can’t really predict who will get injured and when. Basketball is like playing Vegas.

Some say we would never have won it all with the team we had without Durant. They went to the Championship without Durant and won a couple of games there with that team that was even younger. Some say we shouldn’t have gone that far then because some teams we played were missing players due to injury and that puts and asterisk next to those wins. I say BS. Injuries are a huge part of every season. The teams that stay healthy have a much better chance than those missing stars to say the least. Is there an asterisk next to the Denver series because we had injured players?

Was the Durant trade a bad move? It depends. It was a bad move for this seasons playoffs since the trade came so late in the season. Maybe next year with a whole year of Booker, Durant and Co. playing and practicing together with their new revamped roster and coach, they win it all. Then it was a good move. Maybe injuries hit the Suns again. Maybe not. Denver is playing great. Take Jokic and Murray out of the equation and I think their chances go way down.

[ShelC]

Most wanted a big move since no one thought the pre-KD team would go very far in the postseason. Jones was taking heat for not reshuffling the roster, trades for guys like John Collins, Julius Randle, Max Strus, Jonathan Issac (ffs) were all thrown out there, "internal development" had become a punchline. Just go back and read some of the threads from the summer into the first part of the season. The cost of the trade was steep for us and we know that, wish it could've been less but it's KD - even if it's an older KD. We really did need a 2nd star next to Book. Now, we need to regroup.

This quote gives insight into the trade from JJ's perspective. We know Jones values chemistry and continuity and we know Ishbia pushed the deal thru as soon as he took over. The same deal could've most likely have been made last summer but Jones held firm. Maybe if Ishbia wasn't involved, Jones would've balked at the asking price again and tried to negotiate a deal this summer or tried for other moves. Maybe he could've cut a better deal closer to the deadline or made a smaller trade around Jae (and been trashed for not making a bigger move). It doesn't sound he was too keen on making such a big move midseason AND giving up all those assets. Maybe that's a lesson learned for Ishbia? Just feels like a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Superbone]

I didn’t vote. I doubt any team could pass up getting Durant if he wanted to join your team. I think the Suns before the Durant trade would have fared better during these playoffs than the later Durant team. The Suns before the trade were good enough to make it to the finals once. Their core of young players were blossoming. If they traded for Durant in the preseason like they tried, they would have had a whole year to develop chemistry and solidify the rest of the team. That didn’t happen. The trade went down at the end of the season and the Suns had to try to piece together a team and become a Championship team with very little time. Then Durant gets injured again. Then Paul and Ayton get hurt and that was it.

Jamal Murray is kicking butt with Denver in the playoffs. The year before in the playoffs he was injured. The year before that he was injured.
They stuck with him and now they are going to win a Championship. You can’t really predict who will get injured and when. Basketball is like playing Vegas.

Some say we would never have won it all with the team we had without Durant. They went to the Championship without Durant and won a couple of games there with that team that was even younger. Some say we shouldn’t have gone that far then because some teams we played were missing players due to injury and that puts and asterisk next to those wins. I say BS. Injuries are a huge part of every season. The teams that stay healthy have a much better chance than those missing stars to say the least. Is there an asterisk next to the Denver series because we had injured players?

Was the Durant trade a bad move? It depends. It was a bad move for this seasons playoffs since the trade came so late in the season. Maybe next year with a whole year of Booker, Durant and Co. playing and practicing together with their new revamped roster and coach, they win it all. Then it was a good move. Maybe injuries hit the Suns again. Maybe not. Denver is playing great. Take Jokic and Murray out of the equation and I think their chances go way down.

I agree with most of that but what you didn't touch on is how much we gave up for him. We seemed to give them everything they wanted. I know you have to give a lot to get an all-time great player but we didn't seem to push back at all on the negotiation and gave in to all their demands.

[Nodack]

Giving up Bridges and Johnson hurt, not to mention all our draft picks for the next several years. Bridges became an offensive star after he left. When we had all those injuries during the season Bridges became the man and he delivered offensively. Nobody saw that coming a few years earlier. I wish we could have kept him because he is turning into a star in his own right and was a huge contributor to the moral of the team.

[JeremyG]

Gambo was just talking about what we could have done if we hadn’t traded for Durant.

Imagine this lineup:
Beal
Booker
Bridges
Johnson
Ayton

Plus, we would still have all of our first round picks (maybe would have given one or two for Beal?) and whatever we could have gotten for Crowder.

[Split T]

I doubt Beal chooses us if we don’t have Durant

[Shabazz]

Gambo was just talking about what we could have done if we hadn’t traded for Durant.

Imagine this lineup:
Beal
Booker
Bridges
Johnson
Ayton

Plus, we would still have all of our first round picks (maybe would have given one or two for Beal?) and whatever we could have gotten for Crowder.

Needs an upgrade at Center.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Beal would've gone to Miami if the Suns didn't have Durant.

[JeremyG]

Does anyone feel differently than they did a year ago?

[Superbone]

Does anyone feel differently than they did a year ago?

Nope. Still was the wrong move. Hated how we dismantled our (mostly home grown) Finals team.

[Kryptonic]

Nope... still a mistake in my book.

[Split T]

Nah, it was still the right move…In hindsight I would’ve just held firm on my offer though, so I guess maybe I would undo it. I’d tell Brooklyn to take Mikal/Cam and 2 picks or Ayton/Cam and 4 picks…final offer. Then let them know the price is going down if they waited till the summer.

[JeremyG]

Does anyone feel differently than they did a year ago?

Nope. Still was the wrong move. Hated how we dismantled our (mostly home grown) Finals team.

Exactly how I feel. Especially since we’ve only gotten progressively worse since the trade.

[Split T]

I don’t know if that’s true

Winning percentage by year:

21-22: .780
22-23(before KD): .539
22-23(after KD): .577
23-24: .598

In the regular season at least we’ve been getting better.

I think sometimes we remember the finals team and the 2021-22 regular season team and forget the 2022-23 regular season team before the KD trade. Those guys weren’t good. That Dallas series broke them.

[Superbone]

I don’t know if that’s true

Winning percentage by year:

21-22: .780
22-23(before KD): .539
22-23(after KD): .577
23-24: .598

In the regular season at least we’ve been getting better.

I think sometimes we remember the finals team and the 2021-22 regular season team and forget the 2022-23 regular season team before the KD trade. Those guys weren’t good. That Dallas series broke them.

Nothing was broken. Everything can be fixed. Celtics just showed how continuity is king.

[JeremyG]

I don’t know if that’s true

Winning percentage by year:

21-22: .780
22-23(before KD): .539
22-23(after KD): .577
23-24: .598

In the regular season at least we’ve been getting better.

I think sometimes we remember the finals team and the 2021-22 regular season team and forget the 2022-23 regular season team before the KD trade. Those guys weren’t good. That Dallas series broke them.

We had injuries but everything was starting to come together right before the trade deadline. The chemistry was still there, or at least better than it was after the trade.