Trade Talk: KD vs. Brooks, Green, etc.

This seems like a pretty square trade, though all things considered, I wouldn't be surprised if the Suns ultimately come out looking better than Houston.  Ideally, KD would solve the scoring issues within the Rockets' roster, which the world witnessed this past postseason.  Meanwhile, the Suns put themselves in a position to move forward post-Durant without being stuck in limbo or under pressure to win immediately.  They may be garbage next season, but they're not going to trash(?).  But if you were to force me, I would say in the grand scheme of things Phoenix got the best of the deal - even if not by a wide margin - for two main reasons:

KD IN PHOENIX HAS BEEN A DISASTER SINCE DAY ONE

This is the fault of the Suns' braintrust more so than Durant.  You have to remember that they had a really good team before bringing KD in, a good team in the OKC Thunder sense - well-rounded, balanced, with size and depth, not overstacked at a particular position and complete with an MVP candidate (that being CP3).  Remember that squad, pre-KD, actually made it to the Finals.

That compatibility was in large part due to the presence of CP3, perhaps the last true PG allowed to operate in the NBA.  When Phoenix acquired KD, Paul instantly became redundant.  Why?  Because even with all-time great PGs by his side, like Kyrie for instance, Kevin still insists on running point, at least based on what I've seen.

KD is kinda like an Allen Iverson.  If you have someone like him at the center of your offense, the other four guys should more or less be supporting players.  You know, it's kinda hard to get mad at KD for hogging the ball.  That's something Phoenix should have understood before not only putting him next to Booker but going even further to acquire Beal - all three of whom are used to being primary, allstar-level scorers and furthermore wings.

KD wasn't so much of a detrimental chuck when he won those championships with the Dubs, but they had already established themselves as champs beforehand, besides having Draymond "the Equalizer" Green.  Like why was Draymond compelled to bark on him like that to begin with?

ANOTHER FAN FAVORITE BETRAYED

The Rockets, going back decades, have always had what may be considered an above-average braintrust.  But remember that up until like last season, they spent some years in the garbage zone.  They had these promising players like Green, Porter Jr., Smith Jr. and even Sengun but couldn't make it work.  Then, came Dillon Brooks.

Players like Brooks and Draymond are, imo, the most valuable in the NBA in terms of their uniqueness.  There's a number of guys out there that can put up triple-doubles.  Lebron rarely plays defense, to the detriment of his team even, but because he can score, rebound and assist, you know, put up stats, you have pundits declaring him one of the players in the NBA.  But off the top of my head, I can only think of three players in the entire league who have displayed the ability to regularly galvanize an entire team with their defensive tenacity, with none of the triple-double guys being amongst them.

I'll admit that, against the Warriors this past postseason, Brooks looked like a nonfactor.  After watching the highlights, I even had to resort to box scores to make sure he played.  I thought dude was injured or some shit.  And it also seemed that Draymond took his heart and in doing so, definitively changed the tide of the series in the Dubs' favor.  You know, I talk shit, you talk shit, but at the end of the day only the one who wins is going to be justified.  Brooks is like a Draymond without a Steph.

I probably would have been more inclined to trade Fred VanVleet for KD, maybe.  Fred carried the team offensively during Round 1, and you would think Houston would reward him by letting him shoulder more of that responsibility throughout.  It's almost like acquiring Durant is a roundabout way of saying they don't believe in VanVleet, because it's difficult to see their styles meshing.  I'm expecting that now, maybe Fred will play more off the ball, like a 2.

As for Jalen Green, yeah, he more or less had to go.  Up until recently, he was arguably the star of the team, yet dude deadass got benched during crunchtime vs. the Dubs.  There's really no need keeping him around under those circumstances, you know, if he isn't developing, and I don't quite see how he's going to fit next to Booker either (presumably, he'll be coming off the bench).

Hopefully Jalen will wind up in Milwaukee, like Kevin.  That roster, with those old dogs upfront (i.e. if they keep Brooks), is better suited to accommodate young, erratic shooters.  With Dame hurt they need that kinda energy, though in a more constructive way.

Maybe the Bucks will end up with Booker instead?  But I can imagine both Porter Jr. and Green running wild next to Giannis, who more-fundamental style would be able to mitigate some of their shortcomings.  If Milwaukee is going to retain Giannis, all things considered (i.e. an injured Dame being on the books), they need to start thinking a little outside of the box.

SHOUTOUT TO JABARI SMITH JR.(?)

Reportedly, the one player Houston was most keen on trading for Durant was Jabari Smith.  You often hear pundits pointing out how beneficial it is for bigs to develop jumpers.  But what I've been pointing out, for years now, is that in doing so many of them neglect their main advantage, which is their size.

There are some exceptional shooting Cs, but generally speaking Gs remain better at the job.  If you allow dudes to take the easy way out, you know, hoisting up threes instead of posting up or driving, most of them will do it, even the biggest man on the court.

So what I'm envisioning is something like KD chuckin' as usual, and Jabari, instead of waiting under the basket for a rebound, rather opting to linger somewhere behind the three-point line, hoping for a pass.  Indeed, he's the one player on the roster who truly becomes expendable with the presence of Durant, because they have similar builds and to some extent playing styles, tho KD being like 1000x more effective.

It's rare that three-pointers get blocked anyway.  So you don't need to always have your tallest dude at the three-point line.  But I have to imagine that Smith, once again given his height (and agility), must also have some perimeter D value.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? (PHOENIX SUNS)

Speaking of above-average braintrusts, as noted the Suns have made their mistakes in recent years, but they're also known for perennially fielding competitive rosters, if nothing else at least on paper.  To be totally honest, I thought Beal + Booker + Durant + Nurkic, especially once they added Jones to the mix, was going to be akin to a contender.  Things didn't work out like, I would speculate, off the top of my head, the reason being that if you have three high-scoring wings, then you'd have to have a respectable pass-first PG to complement them, you know, distribute the ball, make sure everyone gets their shots, etc.

The thing tho is that in today's NBA, there really isn't anything like "a respectably pass-first PG" since every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to run point or chuck up threes at will.  And the coaches may sit around like 'yeah, our team prefer freestyle basketball', but at the end of the day, the players probably don't give two fucks what they have to say anyway.  It's like everyone is an Iverson these days.

Speaking of which, I'm now starting to feel sorry for Thibs.  I criticized him a lot in the past, but at least he, unless most of his peers, had a palpable coaching presence.  And it's also now blatantly obvious that whoever NYK replaces Thibs with isn't going to be nearly as good as he is.  You know what I mean?  AI coach.

Going back to the Suns, their current roster isn't half bad.  They'd definitely be a playoff team in the East.  Btu what I'm foreseeing is at some point, you know what I'm saying?

Booker is like their Kobe, the star they drafted who, even after a decade, is still with the team that picked him.  That kinda shit is a lot more common these days then some people realize.  But ultimately, they should have never disbanded the aforementioned squad from a couple of seasons ago.  Sometimes, you only get one chance type shit.

Alongside the likes of Ayton, CP3 and Bridges, Booker had a clearly-defined role that like didn't overlap any of his teammates.  He was unanimously the 2-guard, the go-to scorer.  Now, you have guys like Beal and Green alongside him.  I'm not saying any of them are higher in the pecking order than Devin.  But once again looking at OKC for instance, you see the value of having players who complement each other, rather than their skillsets overlapping.

That said, like Memphis and Houston before them, I do expect Phoenix to find value in Dillon Brooks.  He's the type of player that virtually any squad can use.  When you're in a field where dudes make million of dollars whether they win or lose, some extra fire is a good thing.  I'm even hoping to one day see Dillon next to Draymond, as a mentee, eventually becoming his Warriors' replacement once Green retires.  Draymond needs to stop scaring away potential teammates.  The Suns gave up a player who's cancerous in the locker room sense and replaced him with someone who's known to like uplift entire squads though, like Draymond, Dillon could also benefit sometimes from less aggressiveness.

CONCLUSION

The Rockets needed additional scoring this past offseason, the key word in that sentence being past, because you can't take for granted say, for instance, that if they make the Playoffs next season (which they probably will), they'd once again face the Dubs.  Fukaround and they find themselves against a team like the Thunder or Nuggets, and you find yourself asking would Brooks more beneficial in that scenario than KD?

As for the Suns, I would argue they got the better of this trade because, you know, they really-really needed to break up that Big 3, even if Durant hadn't request a trade.  Houston needed more scoring power, but did they really need that much more?  They probably could have packaged Green and Smith and got he type of scorer they needed, alongside VanVleet and Sengun, instead of, you know, going after one of the best in history.  But I can understand, to some extent, why they wanted to get rid of Brooks, once again considering this past postseason.  But how instrumental was he (and Green) to them finishing in 2nd place to begin with?

2025 NBA Finals Ruminations (Game 4)

I finally got around to watching the highlights from Game 4, and I would say the biggest mistake the Pacers made down the stretch, with about 30 seconds left in the game, down by 4 with approximately 10 seconds on the shot clock, was having Turner shoot a three instead of Haliburton.  But it wasn't all Myles's fault, because Tyrese, if he really wanted the ball like that, would've bolted out to the perimeter, away from defenders, after passing the rock to Turner.

The media has been making it sound like SGA was the big hero of the game.  He made some tough shots, as usual, but it wasn't really like that.  But I guess that's how it is when you're MVP, like your name always has to be mentioned in the headlines.  Meanwhile, Jalen Williams proved just as important down the stretch, not to mention Chet Holmgren and, to a somewhat lesser degree, Lu Dort.

The Thunder basically won on fouls and free throws.  I would further go on to say that the officials were on their side but not go as far as to proclaim, based on the small sample I've seen, that the game was rigged.  The NBA powers-that-be probably don't favor either team, but I would presume that a longer series benefits the league financially.

Everyone thought Indiana were just going to get their asses kicked, but it hasn't been like that, at all.  These victories have been down-to-the-wire affairs, to the point where I can no longer definitively say that OKC is the better team.  They have a superior or better-rounded roster but don't have that type of offensive firepower the Pacers have become known for.  Indiana's offense has really impressed, matching up with the best defense in the league.

Speaking of which, another pivotal play was when Andrew Nembhard, with about 2:30 left in the game, for whatever reason decided to drive to the basket, even though he was being firmly defended by Alex Caruso, and Holmgren, the best shotblocker in the series, was lingering right there under the rim.  That was a very poor decision in a contest of this magnitude, even though the other four Pacers on the court, all of are noticeably taller than Nembhard, were lingering behind the three-point line, as if they didn't really want the ball.  Maybe the Pacers actually called an isolation play for Andrew, which again, all things considered, would be stupid.

SHOUTOUT TO ALLEN IVERSON

I intend to write an article in the near future the about most-influential NBA players of the last five decades, of which I only intend to mention like three or four, not the most-popular or winningest per se but those who actually changed the way the game is played.  One of the handful of people to make that list, the only one who didn't win a championship, is Allen Iverson.  And I was thinking about him because you see a couple of players on OKC wearing those forearm braces.  That's a style that AI brought to the NBA, not to mention the cornrows which, due largely to his influence, went on to become a society-wide cultural phenomenon, not just one practiced in the NBA or basketball circles.

Should Steph Come Off the Bench?

I always try to be ultra sensitive when talking about the Dubs, because when you negatively criticize them, like I have a lot of respect for Draymond.  But when you have players like Steph (and Klay) especially on your team, no opponent's lead is safe unless it's really high and like in the last minute.  If the Splash Bros. get hot, there's really isn't anything an opposing squad can do except like hope one of them gets injured or that a role player fuksup or something.  When you have a team that can consistently shoot better from three than their rivals are able to do from two, again, the only thing you can hope is that something fuksup with them internally.  So you can sit here and watch the Warriors lose to some lowly team and be like 'man, they're washed'.  And then the next thing you know, they're winning another championship or some shit.  It's just that 'easy' when you're like the best-shooting team in history.

So when I suggest Steph should come off the bench, that's no disrespect to him.  Last season when he came back from injury and Kerr had him play a sixth-man role, he was averaging what, like 34pts a game?  That's when you really knew, that late in the season, that the Warriors were going to be a problem, because they managed to stay competitive without Steph, and then when he came back, his skills once again pushed them over the top.

Also, it's hard for me to say that Steph's game has declined.  I said some shit like that once or twice in the past and always ended up eating my words.  Even now, offensively he looks just as good as ever, with the exception of Father Time now being firmly on his ass.

Usually when a superstar reaches this point in their career, you know what I mean, shit ain't easy.  Remember when Allen Iverson, as a grizzled vet, refused to come off the bench?  And how much more accomplished is Steph than AI?  Iverson was asked to come off the bench behind, if I remember correctly, OJ Mayo and Mike Conley.  Conley esp went on to become a star vet, but still, you can kinda see why AI might have been offended.

The thing about Steph that differentiates him from every any other alltime great that I can think of at the moment - Jordan, Kobe, and even the likes of Magic and Lebron - is that when they got old or whatever, there teams didn't have any viable replacement, i.e. someone who can come off as the bench and start jsut as well as they had.  But Steph has been blessed with Jordan Poole.  No, I'm not saying that Poole will ever be as good as Curry.  But I will say that at about this point, hefty contract extension aside, he's the most unacknowledged star in the NBA.  And it's also like Steph is so good that people, including Kerr as far as I can tell, are afraid to suggest that he come off the bench.

Jordan Poole is getting plenty of run, but at this point it's obvious, at least to me, that he should be starting ahead of Steph.  I also said that last season, but the Warriors were able to squeak by (I'm sure with the help of the NBA powers that be) with a championship nonetheless.  But there's no reason to tempt fate.  If you already that you're going to have to make a change eventually, then sometimes the sooner the better.  Or let's say that as Golden State currently stands, it'd be better for them to have someone healthy starting as opposed to a player who gets injured every couple of months.  And that was pretty much true last year also, even if they did win the Larry O'Brien.

Steve Kerr made an excuse last night, after the Warriors' winning streak was snapped due in part to, the way it reads, Steph chuckin during the 4th quarter (though he did score 19pts therein) by saying that "He strikes fear in our opponents and opens up a lot of things for his teammates".  Yes Steve, but that's even truer when he comes off the bench, because if starting linesup can't fukwit Curry, than how much more the bench players?

And I wouldn't say that Kerr insisting to start Steph is stifling Poole's development per se.  But it's like, maybe you should start getting the team more accustomed to the future, you know, before they become garbage.  Now that GP3 is hurt and Kuminga likely needs to be traded to reach his full potential (hopefully to the Grizzlies), might as well adjust and starting preparing for the inevitable now.  You know what I'm saying?  Give dudes enough time to properly develop and form chemistry while the big bros are still around to have their back.  There isn't any reason to jeopardize a winning streak and the Warriors looking formidable for the like the first time this season to accommodate an aged superstar, even if the alltime great Steph.

CONCLUSION

This is just my argument.  I know it's a lot easier to sit here and say Steph should come off the bench' than for someone to actually say that to his face.  We live in a pansy world, and even though dude has already won just about every NBA award possible, still, it's like no one can ask him to maybe humble himself.  So I have a lot of respect for Wiggins and Poole and Looney and those guys.  But if the Warriors are going to continue like this, well, let's hope some ideal free agents do become available in the near future and that they actually have the money to pursue them.

Kyrie Irving, the Well-Rested Superstar

'Thank you very much.  I'm now off to play some flag football
against my non-professional athlete homeys.' -Kyrie

About a week ago, Kyrie "Fievel" Irving dropped 60 points in a game against the ever-lowly Magic, and all types of dickridin took place afterwards.  This even included NBC Sports postulating whether he's "the most skilled NBA player ever" (a distinction I would rather give to Kobe, but that's a discussion for another day).

Meanwhile, Karl Anthony-Towns accomplished the same feat the night prior against the Spurs, another team that really isn't that good but is still more respectable than the Magic.  And personally, I consider KAT's 60 points to be more notable than Kyrie's.  Why?  Because Kyrie Irving is better rested than any other NBAer who is actually playing at the moment.

This then brings up the age-old debate of which is more preferable, rest or practice?  Every year during the Playoffs, you have one team sweep another, while whoever they're going to face in the next round is locked into a longer, more-competitive series.  So then people start asking what's preferable, having days of to rest or constantly plying your craft?  The old adage, "practice makes perfect", would support the latter theory.  But natural law itself dictates that rest is a good thing, especially if you make your bread engaged in a profession as physically strenuous as the NBA.

Oddly enough, none other than Allen Iverson already answered this question, in his own special way, decades ago.  AI wasn't the most coachable player, and the pinnacle of his hard-headnesses was on display in what has gone down in history as "the practice rant".

Even though the Answer didn't actually diss the importance of practice, that's how his words were interpreted anyway.  But even if you do decide to take what he said like that, there's something very important you have to remember about Allen Iverson.  From the moment he stepped on the court as a rookie, he was already the best scoring PG in the NBA.  And that is not an ability he got from practicing.  In other words, he did not need to practice as much as some of the other dudes.

Would practicing make him a better player overall?  Of course it would, so long as he didn't overextend himself.  But it isn't like he's one of those players who has to go to the D-league and shoot a thousand free throws and all types of other shit before becoming a starter.  Allen Iverson wasn't Eric Snow or Aaron McKie or those other dudes he played with, no disrespect to them.  He didn't become one of the best basketball players in the world through practice.  Rather, he was born with it.

So if Kyrie Irving is in fact the most skilled player in the NBA, logic would dictate that the more rest he gets the better.  Why?  Because he's already more talented than 99.9% of the other players, so constantly being on the court isn't as beneficial to him as it would be to them.  That is to say that he is in the enviable position of being able to prioritize general health over actually playing basketball.

CONCLUSION

When this season began, I didn't believe that the Nets were contenders.  But with this current roster, I do.  Yet that said, if the Nets do make it out of the East please, let's not contribute it all to their talent, even if they do have one of the most-gifted rosters.

If they do make a long playoff run and Irving is healthy throughout, that would likely be due to the fact that he rested most of this season (remember what happened during last year's Playoffs).  And if Ben Simmons also suits up, which I believe he will, then the Nets will basically have two all-stars who rested all the way up until the playoffs.  Some people will say 'oh, Ben Simmons is rusty' - but he will be rested.  And in a way that may not be fair to the other teams who will likely be facing them with hobbled stars.