At this point, I suspect Gordon isn't going anywhere. After all the Suns buzz, the Durant deal makes it feel like that ship has sailed. I just don't think there's a team out there willing to match salary without sending back a bad contract AND throw in a first rounder. It's either take a bad contract or settle for weak assets. If they make any move, it's probably some minor deal. I wouldn't be mad at something that trims the roster a bit while adding longer-term assets, but I don't even know what that looks like. This offseason, though, Stone has got to make moves. If they go into next season with the same roster plus their rookies, I'll be pissed. It needs work or we're giving OKC a stellar draft pick in a year.
Meant to say TyTy not Nix Tate is from Ohio + played HS ball with Levert IIRC + is 27 = give that man a chance to shine in front of his hometown fans in the playoffs instead of watching lottery balls in Htown Osman is Turkish = gave Alpi someone to talk to + hit with those sweet cut passes So.. not random
Possibly (& probably)... Hayes has been playing well for DET with more minutes recently. Honestly don't think they will trade him. KPJ is a decent starter IMHO, but would be a fantastic 6th man where he can dominate the ball with a 2nd unit of JayGup - Tari - Noel - Bruno. Lots of lob threats and rebounders.
I agree that Bertāns is not someone you want mucking up your cap space, but the landscape has changed a little. Arguably, the top two free agents (Turner and Russell) are now, in all likelihood, off the table. Fred Van Vleet opting out would likely put him up there. There are not going to be a lot of true game changers available in free agency. It might not hurt to accept a contract that goes beyond this year as long as it is a valuable player that can contribute long term or be moved if necessary.
But they're pretty different players and Tate is the guy they've invested in. Making a deal solely to acquire a role player of similar age and value just because he might be buddies with one of your young players feels like a bad way to build a team. It doesn't maximize Tate's value. If they move Tate, I'd like to see them get a first for him. Given his versatility and contract, he's worth a late first rounder at least.
I would like to think that the Durant trade shakes things up...by a lot. Hopefully it creates some demand for a sharpshooting get buckets guard...
Breaking this response into two parts .... I have acknowledged the fact that free agency isn't going to be where they make any quality (Big names) acquisitions. The FA class lacked top end talent and was otherwise thin at secondary stars. Once Turner was extended in Indy that ship sailed and to be honest, I don't know if he was worth the expense at the C spot when you have Sengun though they are very different players. FVV has been terrible this year in all the advanced metrics. I'd be afraid of handing him a 4 year max deal and having him under-perform with a starting point of $40,064,220 and being $50,469,378 in that 4th year. He's simply not worth that contract. There's just no one on the FA list, including Harden who I'd want to hitch that wagon to. Here's the list - 2023 NBA Free Agents Tracker | Spotrac With that said, we know they want to make a splash on a big name so the only way that's happening is thru a trade but it opens up a whole new list of players that we cannot really identify currently, it could literally be anyone. You are correct here but lets clarify that any player returning must be on a reasonable contract and must be a player who can contribute equal to his contract, otherwise he's a negative asset and cannot be used as part of a package that nets you a star player via trade. Knowing that, I think it really limits the pool of players we are talking about. A potential trade has to make the team receiving Gordon better .... yet the return has to be a useful player who's contract is palatable. And then adding draft asset(s) on top of that player .... it just seems too good to be true for the Rockets.
Clippers seem like the favorite to land EG at this point. There is also a rumor going around that keeping EG would make Harden more likely to return, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.
No EG trade = no Stone press conference = Stone can continue to hide in his hole and marinate in his embarrassment
Man, don't YOU get in on the Harden action. That gives an odor of credulity to what seemed like freshly-squeezed bullshizzlenit.
With Gordon gone, that would bring down the team's overall age by 1 year. Sucks right now but 40% lineup is the same age as Dicapprio's new baddie.
