So many mistakes but the one that hurts the most is the nets pick especially the 2026 pick we gave back to them... we have the 2027 swap from them but it's literally not at the same level as the 2026 draft.
We gone have to borderline harass the Fertittas to get some change because atm they don’t care about this team. I wish the Houston media would pressure them but all of them are bought and paid for, Houston media operate like they work for the pro teams here.
The kind of GM that is counting his dollar bills at home and enjoying time with his Trophy.....I mean wife.
Okay, that makes some sense. I was so wrapped up in my anti-Stone-ness that I didn't stop and think about that. 'Scuse me, my ride's here.
They might not intentionally tank. But they would still be a lottery team, likely a bottom 5 team in the East. Their best players were Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges.
Their best players at the time were Bridges and Thomas….. but you do know you can acquire new players through FA or trades? Basically you are assuming they would have made no effort to improve? The year we made the trade, they were 9th and due to lottery odds we got the 4th pick. If you want to argue we would luck into another top 4 pick then make the luck argument.
They had no asset to trade for good players other than Bridges and Thomas and the Suns picks. And what star player would want to go there? They were desperate after the big 3 blew up. Without their own picks, they had no way to rebuild. Everybody knew they had no leverage on the Rockets because we had all their cards. If they didn't trade with us, their only hopes were for the Suns to suck which didn't look very likely at that time with Booker and Durant on the team.
The issue with the Brooklyn pick isn't whether they'd tank without it, but rather they were absolutely freaking desperate to get it back. Stone negotiated it like he wanted a fair deal for both sides, not one where he wanted to extract the most value. Stone clearly overvalued the Phoenix picks, and just got screwed when Phoenix ended up not being nearly as bad as he thought.
The blow up of the Nets was a lot of luck in itself. Some people thought that the big 3 might not end well. But very few people expected it to happen so soon. It all accelerated with Kyrie's anti-vax antic. If COVID (and Durant's injury) didn't happen, it might not be that bad for them, and the Nets pick from the Harden trade might be very meh.
Aside from the assets they got from the KD trade.... which was a 4 unprotected FRP and 1 pick swap.... Bridges and Cam Johnson!?! Aside from that? Not to mention they own all their future picks starting 2028 and beyond.... So they had options on how to rebuild. This notion they had no leverage is just made up.
Why would the Nets be so "freaking desperate" to get it back? They got a haul from the KD trade plus they own their picks outright starting 2028. If you want to argue they preferred getting their picks back, then sure. But the bolded is just a made up story.
Funny how these threads are so quiet after a win. Must be exhausting having this "what have you done for me lately" mentality as a sports fan.
Why are people writing about the future Suns picks as if they are now worthless? The Suns are a surprise play-in team this year - a year that doesn't matter to us - based on hustle, vibes, and a first year coach bump. Their long-term situation has not really improved. They have $140M/yr locked into shooting guards on bad contracts (Booker, Beal, Green, Allen); they are at the tax line going into next year before re-signing two starters and two key rotation players who are free agents (Gillespie, Williams, Goodwin, Highsmith); they have to extend Dillon Brooks for $30M/yr+ this summer; their young prospects have shown little; they have no tradable picks; and on paper they have the ~10th or 11th most talent in the West. Not to mention the coming lottery reform that increases the value of future picks from mediocre non-tanking teams just like the Suns and probably the 2028 Mavs. And not to mention we already got one lottery pick out of the deal.
If you are going to start a rebuttal to someone's statement with a straw man's argument, then it's pointless to engage in anything you say subsequently. I said "Stone overvalued the Suns picks." It's clear I didn't speak as if the Suns picks as worthless, or even worth very little. If you want to equate "overvalue" with "worthless," then I think our differences in opinion comes down more to do with how one read the English language.
