Kevin Durant

[sweetwater]

Marion and a guy like Horford would be nice but I can't see a team like Boston or Memphis passing up on a guy who instantly becomes the face of the franchise and will probably be a ten time All Star

[Aces McGee]

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Durant was never gonna win a nat'l title anyway, it's time for him to leave. Say hello to Phoenix .

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FYP

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That first round pick is top 3 protected, but knowing the Hawks luck they'll get 4th in the lottery

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I'm going to derail this thread because it sucks. Say your phoenix with the 4th or 5th pick what would you be willing to give up in order to move up to Durant? Matrix + 1st this year + 1st next?

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I like Durant as much as anyone, but that's an awful lot to give up for a guy who has yet to play a minute in the NBA.

-McGee

[kidcolin]

I heard Simmons and Chad Ford talk about that on his podcast a week or so ago.. should PHX trade up for the second pick if they get the 4th pick? It's not that bad of an idea, I don't think. They could package Marion, a pick, and some other players they hardly use and create a core of Nash, Amare, and Durant.

My main concern is Nash's age. While I expect Durant to be great his rookie year, I don't know that it'll be like a Duncan or Lebron-esque rookie year. It could take a year or two for him to really click in the NBA. So do you give up Marion who helps you contend year in year out? I dunno. I would cuz he seems so annoying, but the Suns have a good thing going here.

[ThaSaltCracka]

wouldn't the core be Barbosa-Amare-Durant? Throw in some Diaw and you have quite a squad for several seasons.

[Toro]

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Durant was never gonna win a nat'l title anyway, it's time for him to leave. Say hello to Boston.

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more like,

"welcome joakim" [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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Rumor is that the Celtics are sending Heinsohn to the lottery. If they get screwed again, bye bye ping pong balls.

[droopy0021]

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Durant is guaranteed sick sick shoe money and other endorsements that will dwarf whatever contract top rookies usually get. Nothing he can do in another year of college will really improve what he's going to get now

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Couple things to add:

1) he can't go any higher than the projections I've seen, 1 or 2
2) rookie NBA $$ isn't that great (I think 3 year deal) in a sports sense (good for you & me). These guys often figure the sooner they go pro, that's one year closer to the 3 yr rookie deal expiring and then signing the big $$ extension
3) he'll be set for life with a shoe deal

The shoe deal is a big kicker in this situation and I would think a terrible business decision to go back to school.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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1) he can't go any higher than the projections I've seen, 1 or 2

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[kidcolin]

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wouldn't the core be Barbosa-Amare-Durant? Throw in some Diaw and you have quite a squad for several seasons.

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Well, Nash is better than Barbosa, and they want to win soon. They'd certainly be awesome in a few years if they made the move, but when you have a group of guys that are contending year in year out RIGHT NOW, you better have a damn good reason of breaking that up.

Also, I'm not sure of Barbosa's current contract situation. I think the Suns extended his contract at quite a bargain but I'm not sure for how long. Once that's up he'll be really expensive. Durant will be, in all likelihood, a max-contract guy. The appeal of a team like PHX grabbing Durant is that they've got him for cheap for 3 years while they're still paying big money to Amare and Nash. I don't know if they can afford Amare, Durant, AND Barbosa 5 years down the line. So if they get Durant, they primarily want to win within those 3 years, and then when Durant is up for an extension they'll look at the current state of things and figure out where to go from there.

[Degenerasian]

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Durant is guaranteed sick sick shoe money and other endorsements that will dwarf whatever contract top rookies usually get. Nothing he can do in another year of college will really improve what he's going to get now

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Couple things to add:

1) he can't go any higher than the projections I've seen, 1 or 2
2) rookie NBA $$ isn't that great (I think 3 year deal) in a sports sense (good for you & me). These guys often figure the sooner they go pro, that's one year closer to the 3 yr rookie deal expiring and then signing the big $$ extension
3) he'll be set for life with a shoe deal

The shoe deal is a big kicker in this situation and I would think a terrible business decision to go back to school.

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Didn't Lebron sign his max deal right when he was drafted? I thought I heard that but I might be wrong on this one.

[kidcolin]

no, 1st round picks get a 3 year deal, varying in cost, but its cheap. I think the top pick gets $3.5M/year, and might make $4M in the 3rd year.