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NBA 2023-24 Off Season


Fastbreak

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25 games and $10 million is a ton for a guy who didn't do anything illegal. His biggest crime is being a jackass on social media (even with the repeat offense from the other incidents).  I don't see how this is getting off light. Anything more than that and the players association would freak the fuck out. Let's not act like Silver is doing this without having them in the loop. This is a much different era of cooperation between the NBAPA and the league than when David Stern was running shit with an iron fist.

And historically, this doesn't seem that bad. Sprewell assaulted (choked) his coach and got 68 games. People calling for that type of suspension for Morant are way off base. Stephen Jackson got suspended for 30 games for his part in the malice at the palace, which is way worse than what Morant did. Gilbert Arenas got 50 for locker room gun play, which is about 100x worse than what Morant did. Kermit Washington got 26 games for almost killing Rudy T.

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1 minute ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

25 games and $10 million is a ton for a guy who didn't do anything illegal. His biggest crime is being a jackass on social media (even with the repeat offense from the other incidents).  I don't see how this is getting off light. Anything more than that and the players association would freak the fuck out. Let's not act like Silver is doing this without having them in the loop. This is a much different era of cooperation between the NBAPA and the league than when David Stern was running shit with an iron fist.

And historically, this doesn't seem that bad. Sprewell assaulted (choked) his coach and got 68 games. People calling for that type of suspension for Morant are way off base. Stephen Jackson got suspended for 30 games for his part in the malice at the palace, which is way worse than what Morant did. Gilbert Arenas got 50 for locker room gun play, which is about 100x worse than what Morant did. Kermit Washington got 26 games for almost killing Rudy T.

He basically slapped Silver in the face by doing it again.  It's pretty disingenuous.  This isn't about legality, it's about the right to work somewhere.  It's not illegal for a guy to be a Nazi sympathizer but if you're gonna work for me, you gotta get that shit off your IG and Facebook.  Actually you would've never been hired but I digress

 

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25 games is a lot, and he's basically on NBA parole now. One more big public fuckup and he's probably out for the season. 

Jordan selling the Hornets is cool. Hopefully they get someone that actually tries to run a competent organization. The draft is next week and they have the #2 pick, so it will be interesting to see what they do. The Suns new owner went for KD immediately to make a splash, but the ownership had transferred by the time that happened. Maybe MJ will let them have some input on who to draft or if they want to send the pick elsewhere for Beal, Brown, Lavine, KAT or whoever. 

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53 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

25 games and $10 million is a ton for a guy who didn't do anything illegal. His biggest crime is being a jackass on social media (even with the repeat offense from the other incidents).  I don't see how this is getting off light. Anything more than that and the players association would freak the fuck out. Let's not act like Silver is doing this without having them in the loop. This is a much different era of cooperation between the NBAPA and the league than when David Stern was running shit with an iron fist.

And historically, this doesn't seem that bad. Sprewell assaulted (choked) his coach and got 68 games. People calling for that type of suspension for Morant are way off base. Stephen Jackson got suspended for 30 games for his part in the malice at the palace, which is way worse than what Morant did. Gilbert Arenas got 50 for locker room gun play, which is about 100x worse than what Morant did. Kermit Washington got 26 games for almost killing Rudy T.

Exactly this.  The NBAPA would be all over that shit as they should.   Yeah he was stupid as hell.   Even moreso when you factor in his team trying to say the gun was a toy but nothing he did was illegal.   

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24 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

HaHaHaHa😂😂😂😂

Adam Silver overplayed the hype on how severe Ja's punishment was gonna be.  

25 games is a joke... Silver's reputation and influence just took a major hit 😬

 

49 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

He basically slapped Silver in the face by doing it again.  It's pretty disingenuous.  This isn't about legality, it's about the right to work somewhere.  It's not illegal for a guy to be a Nazi sympathizer but if you're gonna work for me, you gotta get that shit off your IG and Facebook.  Actually you would've never been hired but I digress

 

So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?

Gilbert Arenas brought multiple hand guns into the locker room. pulled one on his teammate and then dared him to shoot him with it over a poker debt... and got 50 games. That's probably the closest comparison I can make to this in the NBA, and what Ja did doesn't even seem to be remotely in the same universe. I don't know what you were expecting, but 25 games is harsh. That's enough to put Memphis into play-in territory or maybe even the lottery with another injury or two in what should be another very competitive western conference. Also, I'd like to issue a pre-emptive "double fuck you" to anyone who tries to bring up their record without him.

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5 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:
It’s almost 1/3 of the season, basically it’s costing Ja $10m just in salary. I hope keeping it real hot some 15 year olds on IG was worth it.

Probably costs him more than that because he'll be ineligible for All NBA.

Yep, I'm sure that was a consideration with the new mandate for eligibility for post season awards.  

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1 minute ago, Chewbacca said:
1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:
It’s almost 1/3 of the season, basically it’s costing Ja $10m just in salary. I hope keeping it real hot some 15 year olds on IG was worth it.

Probably costs him more than that because he'll be ineligible for All NBA.

Ooooo, that's a good point, only 57 games max for him. He won't be eligible for MVP voting either. He has to have some escalators in his contract for those achievements. It might keep him out of the All-star game too, since he will only have about 15-20 games played at that point. 

I will say I think contrast it's absolutely bullshit that Draymond punching a teammate during an NBA practice doesn't get at least a 5 game suspension from the league. If they are so worried about the image of the league, why isn't a sucker punch assaulting another player deserving of a suspension? 

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So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?
Gilbert Arenas brought multiple hand guns into the locker room. pulled one on his teammate and then dared him to shoot him with it over a poker debt... and got 50 games. That's probably the closest comparison I can make to this in the NBA, and what Ja did doesn't even seem to be remotely in the same universe. I don't know what you were expecting, but 25 games is harsh. That's enough to put Memphis into play-in territory or maybe even the lottery with another injury or two in what should be another very competitive western conference. Also, I'd like to issue a pre-emptive "double fuck you" to anyone who tries to bring up their record without him.
I expected half a season or more, but really only because of Silver making it a bigger deal by delaying it. Without that announcement, this is about what I would expect.
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14 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
1 hour ago, Fastbreak said:
It’s almost 1/3 of the season, basically it’s costing Ja $10m just in salary. I hope keeping it real hot some 15 year olds on IG was worth it.

Probably costs him more than that because he'll be ineligible for All NBA.

Was just about to post this.  Could be in the $30M range depending on his contract.

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25 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?

 

Ja's 2nd offense occurred only 2months after his 1st suspension on March 15th, 2023.  

Two fuckin' months...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/15/sport/nba-ja-morant-suspension-spt-intl/index.html

Minimum should have been at least half the season.  Silver acted like it was gonna be a really severe penalty... 25 games is not a severe punishment imo because the 2nd incident happened only two months later.

Ja Morant needs help... flashing a gun in a 2nd video is a cry for help.

Prayers for Ja 🙏🙏🙏

 

Edited by LTtxfan
typo
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18 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Ja's 2nd offense occurred only 2months after his 1st suspension on March 15th, 2023.  

Two fuckin' months...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/15/sport/nba-ja-morant-suspension-spt-intl/index.html

Minimum should have been at least half the season.  Silver acted like it was gonna be a really severe penalty... 25 games is not a severe punishment imo because the 2nd incident happened only two months later.

Ja Morant needs help... flashing a gun in a 2nd video is a cry for help.

Prayers for Ja 🙏🙏🙏

 

According to my son who is more in tune with this stuff than I am, apparently Lil Wayne reached out to Ja to try and help him get his shit together.  Ja ghosted him.  This won't be his last suspension.

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2 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

According to my son who is more in tune with this stuff than I am, apparently Lil Wayne reached out to Ja to try and help him get his shit together.  Ja ghosted him.  This won't be his last suspension.

Hopefully it's not worse...

Kids playin' gangsta around the wrong people often get hurt...

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8 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Hopefully it's not worse...

Kids playin' gangsta around the wrong people often get hurt...

At this point, I can't say I care what happens to him.  He's gonna make all the dumb decisions he wants to make and nobody can stop him.

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1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

 

So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?

Gilbert Arenas brought multiple hand guns into the locker room. pulled one on his teammate and then dared him to shoot him with it over a poker debt... and got 50 games. That's probably the closest comparison I can make to this in the NBA, and what Ja did doesn't even seem to be remotely in the same universe. I don't know what you were expecting, but 25 games is harsh. That's enough to put Memphis into play-in territory or maybe even the lottery with another injury or two in what should be another very competitive western conference. Also, I'd like to issue a pre-emptive "double fuck you" to anyone who tries to bring up their record without him.

25 is fine. 

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So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?
Gilbert Arenas brought multiple hand guns into the locker room. pulled one on his teammate and then dared him to shoot him with it over a poker debt... and got 50 games. That's probably the closest comparison I can make to this in the NBA, and what Ja did doesn't even seem to be remotely in the same universe. I don't know what you were expecting, but 25 games is harsh. That's enough to put Memphis into play-in territory or maybe even the lottery with another injury or two in what should be another very competitive western conference. Also, I'd like to issue a pre-emptive "double fuck you" to anyone who tries to bring up their record without him.
Considering he didn't break any laws, 25 seems a bit harsh. Until you take into account this is his 2nd offense along with the other stuff. But I think most are reacting to Silver's/the NBAs mixed messages. He could have just gone with 16-20 weeks ago and been done with it.
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3 hours ago, closetohumping said:

He basically slapped Silver in the face by doing it again.  It's pretty disingenuous.  This isn't about legality, it's about the right to work somewhere.  It's not illegal for a guy to be a Nazi sympathizer but if you're gonna work for me, you gotta get that shit off your IG and Facebook.  Actually you would've never been hired but I digress

 

Not to mention a lot of other off the court stuff that Ja has been associated with.

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2 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

 

So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?

Gilbert Arenas brought multiple hand guns into the locker room. pulled one on his teammate and then dared him to shoot him with it over a poker debt... and got 50 games. That's probably the closest comparison I can make to this in the NBA, and what Ja did doesn't even seem to be remotely in the same universe. I don't know what you were expecting, but 25 games is harsh. That's enough to put Memphis into play-in territory or maybe even the lottery with another injury or two in what should be another very competitive western conference. Also, I'd like to issue a pre-emptive "double fuck you" to anyone who tries to bring up their record without him.

At least half the season with him returning after the all-star game IMO.

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2 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

So what do you guys think a fair suspension would have been? 50 games? The entire season? Lifetime banishment from the league?

 

Hard for me to say, but when Silver made his announcement during the Finals of new information:

 

Quote

"We've uncovered a fair amount of additional information, I think, since I was first asked about the situation," Silver said Thursday.

 

I wondered what that additional information was.  To ask you the same question, had the public found out the new information was Ja pointing a gun at Pacers employees in the initial incident back in late January-early February, would you say 25 games would have been enough?  What if it comes out in the coming weeks it was in fact Ja pointed a gun at Pacers employees?

 

 

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

I wondered what that additional information was.  To ask you the same question, had the public found out the new information was Ja pointing a gun at Pacers employees in the initial incident back in late January-early February, would you say 25 games would have been enough?  What if it comes out in the coming weeks it was in fact Ja pointed a gun at Pacers employees?

I can't imagine that's what happened based on punishment. Something like that would certainly warrant more. That's a big jump from whipping out your gun on instagram. But going along with the rampant speculation, there is a legal issue there that would need to be resolved first. According to the googletron. if you point a loaded gun at somebody in Indiana it's a felony punishable by a minimum of 1/2 year in the state pokey. It's a misdemeanor if the gun isn't loaded. Regardless, I think the Arenas precedent would apply -- 50 games for pointing an unloaded gun at somebody seems about right. If the thing was loaded? Fucker needs to go to jail.

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2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

According to my son who is more in tune with this stuff than I am, apparently Lil Wayne reached out to Ja to try and help him get his shit together.  Ja ghosted him.  This won't be his last suspension.

He was probably hoping to hear from Ja Rule  /chappelle

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https://theathletic.com/4617399/2023/06/16/ja-morant-nba-suspension-adam-silver/

 

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They sat and talked for more than an hour.

In that conference room next to Adam Silver’s Fifth Avenue office in New York, where the NBA commissioner had called in Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morantfor this March meeting because of his latest embarrassing act involving a firearm, the league’s top boss and its premier American-born player on the rise seemed to reach an agreement. Enough was enough.

Joe Dumars, the Pistons legend who now acts as vice president and head of the league’s basketball operations department, was there. Tamika Tremaglio, the head of the National Basketball Players Association that represents the league’s 450 or so players, was there too. They all heard it.

 

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They heard him blame the poor decision making inside that Glendale, Colo., strip club on the heavy drinking, recalling how the events of that night were all so fuzzy because of the booze that was flowing so freely. They believed him when he shared a message that was both humble and contrite. A lot can be said in more than an hour — that’s plenty of time to get extremely personal — and Morant had managed to convince the commissioner that he was genuine.

Morant seemed to understand the gravity of it all, how his actions were not only dangerous for him and those around him but for the millions of kids who follow his every move online. According to sources with both direct and indirect knowledge of the meeting, granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, Silver — who would go on to give Morant an eight-game suspension for wielding a gun in public while intoxicated — was pleased with Morant’s demeanor and hopeful this would be the end of his nonsense.

 

Quote

And then, less than two months later, Morant did it again.

By the time the league announced Morant’s 25-game suspension on Friday morning, when he paid a hefty price for the March 4 decision to flash what appeared to be a gun on his friend’s Instagram Live feed from the passenger seat of a moving car, there was no mention of that meeting in the league’s release about the punishment. But make no mistake, the lessons Morant chose not to learn from that day had everything to do with the way this went down.

 

Spoiler

No one could blame the commissioner for feeling a sense of betrayal, especially with all the criticism that had come his way after the first ruling. And for all the nuance and complicated context that surrounded this situation, with Morant involved in a bevy of other unflattering situations that involved allegations of firearm use but were not part of this decision, this choice had everything to do with Morant’s inability to follow through on what he promised that day.

Was the ruling harsh enough? Time will tell. We all know Silver is far more lenient than his mentor, the late David Stern, when it comes to discipline. Silver is the player-friendly commish, and that approach has done wonders for both the basketball and the business. And if Morant makes the necessary changes here, returning to the Grizzlies a couple months into the season and maintaining a positive profile from there, then all’s well that ends well. If he doesn’t, then all of this history will come back to haunt him yet again.

In terms of the player politics that are an omnipresent part of Silver’s job, Tremaglio made it clear Friday afternoon that all is not well on that front in the wake of the ruling. Nearly four hours after the decision was announced, and after Morant issued a public apology to his fans, his sponsors, the NBA and the Grizzlies, she released a statement indicating the NBPA sees the punishment as “excessive and inappropriate.”

“We will explore with Ja all options and next steps,” the statement read at the end.

But in terms of the league’s process, and the NBPA’s reaction to the final decision here, this is what I’ve learned.

The gun culture messaging mattered

It seems to have reached a point where the optics surrounding these two Morant situations were so bad, and so potentially damaging in terms of the ripple effect on the millions of young fans who follow him, that the details of what actually took place only mattered so much. There was a bigger picture in play here, with Silver well aware that gun violence disproportionately affects the Black community, and a clear belief from his vantage point that it was the league’s responsibility to consider the societal ramifications of his social media habits. Even if Morant wasn’t being charged by the authorities.

For the purposes of this decision, league sources say the investigation only focused on the incidents on March 4 and May 14. As for the litany of other incidents — from the “it’s free to see how hollows feel” tweet to the accusations about Morant beating up a teenager after a pick-up game at his house,threatening a shoe salesman at a local mall, taking part in an alleged confrontation with a high school student or being part of the alleged laser pointing situation after a Pacers game in Indiana on Jan. 29 — those were not factored in. There’s one caveat here, though.

The lawsuit alleging Morant’s assault of then-17-year-old Josh Holloway was filed in January and is ongoing. As is the case with all of the incidents in which he has been involved, the league will always consider whatever new information comes its way.

Gilbert Arenas, this was not

When Stern suspended Gilbert Arenas 50 games for his gun incident with teammate Javaris Crittenton inside the Washington Wizards locker room on Dec. 21, 2009, Silver had a front row seat to the process. He was more than four years into his time as Stern’s deputy commissioner and was widely seen as his eventual successor. It’s only natural to wonder if that experience might have informed his process when it comes to Morant.

But the distinction between the two, it seems, is the chosen attitude of the two players during their respective controversies. As Arenas himself has discussed publicly, it was his choice to mock the entire situation — pointing finger guns at his teammates during a mid-game huddle as the investigation was just beginning — that escalated Stern’s reaction. Less than a day later, he was suspended indefinitely. The formal ruling, along with Arenas’ guilty plea for a felony weapons possession charge and a 30-day stay in a safe house, would come later.

Even with Morant’s repeated offenses here, it seems clear his handling of the league’s process aided his cause. Ditto for the fact that he avoided formal charges relating to the two aforementioned incidents.

The NBPA is not happy

So where do they go from here? The NBPA’s stance ensured the Morant headlines won’t be going away anytime soon, as Tremaglio seemed to be signaling that an appeal was around the corner.

Morant and the NBPA now have 30 days to decide whether or not to file a grievance. If they do, a source with knowledge of the union’s business said the man in the middle would be attorney Richard Bloch, a longtime arbitrator who has worked with pro sports leagues for decades. There is a less formal road to take as well, with top officials on both sides potentially meeting again on the matter as a way of avoiding an appeal during that 30-day window.

In terms of the NBPA’s discontent, a source with knowledge of the union’s view said the league’s choice to be so vague regarding the requirements of Morant’s eventual return was a major point of contention.

“He will also be required to meet certain conditions before he returns to play…” one early part of the league’s statement read.

Later in the release, there was a similarly ambiguous message.

“Prior to his return to play, he will be required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior,” it read.

In terms of the length of the suspension, something in the 16-game range — double his previous punishment — would have likely been seen as fair by the union. As always in a situation like this, past precedent matters a great deal. Here’s a quick look at the cases the NBPA is known to deem most relevant, in reverse chronological order.

-Miles Bridges, the then-Charlotte Hornets forward who pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge, was suspended 30 games in April.

-Willie Reed, the then-Pistons forward who was arrested on a domestic battery charge and later entered a diversion program that led to the dropping of charges, was suspended six games in February 2018.

-Darren Collison, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, was suspended for eight games in October 2016.

-Jeffrey Taylor, the then-Hornets forward who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence assault and malicious destruction of hotel property, was suspended 24 games in November 2014.

-Raymond Felton, the then-Mavericks guard who pleaded guilty to two weapons charges, was suspended for four games in August 2014.

As the NBPA sees it, there are two key differences between Morant’s latest incident and the above examples that should have factored into the ruling more: the lack of criminal charges and the absence of a violent act toward another person.

But Silver saw it differently. And Morant’s choice to break that promise made in their March meeting, quite clearly, had a lot to do with it.

 

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5 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

-Miles Bridges, the then-Charlotte Hornets forward who pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge, was suspended 30 games in April.

Ahhh forgot about this one.

Man that dude threw his career away. 

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1 minute ago, Vic Mackey said:
50 minutes ago, TonyTexas said:
^^^
LeBron confirming that he’s playing for Phoenix next season. 

Lebron isn't Durant.

Chicago Bulls What GIF by NBA

You're right - he shit the bed in the Finals in the first year of his superfriends assembly. 

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The players union is misguided here.  They need to realize they (meaning the NBA in general) have a brand image to protect and the NBA has come light years in terms of image compared to the 70's.  If one of the more popular players is some wanna be gangster then that starts to effect the brand image.

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It has to be Ayton for Beal. CP does nothing for Washington, they want to rebuild and the Suns have very few picks to include in a trade. Ayton is young, and someone you might be able to build around in the future.

I still don't see what Phoenix would get from swapping those two, Beal isn't exactly known for defense, and him being third banana to KD and Booker seems excessive for a team that really just needs a 3+D guy in the middle of the lineup. If they ship out Ayton, there are some decent veteran Canters to be had for ring chasing. 

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Sweet Lou hanging 'em up. Dude could fucking catch fire with the best of them. Fun player to watch

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37873057/lou-williams-three-sixth-man-year-retires-nba

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The 36-year-old Williams won three Sixth Man of the Year awards (2015, '18, '19) -- tied with Jamal Crawford for the most in NBA history -- while appearing in 1,123 career games with only 122 starts. He scored an NBA-record 13,396 points off the bench, which is 2,117 more than Crawford.

Quote

Williams was the 45th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. Out of the 60 players taken that year, only Chris Paul scored more points in the NBA than Williams, who went straight to the league out of high school. He finishes his career with 15,593 points, 131st in NBA history.

 

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Beal isn't what they need optimally but Ayton is hard to move right now - and if you can get rid of him for an asset like that then I think you do it. 

Beal's main issue is staying healthy. He'd be great alongside KD and Book but they'd really need to shore up their 4 and 5 spots with some D and shooting potentially. 

Harden, KD and Kyrie were just kicking the shit out of teams that one window they were all healthy and playing together. Granted both those guys are better than Beal, but I also don't think BB is going to quit on the team or post videos on Twitter about how the Persians under king Xerxes were actually Africans. 

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4 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

The suns need to make 2 for 1 trades. The only way Beal works is Ayton + Shamet. That is the opposite of a 2-1.

That big 3 would be over the cap and almost at 1st apron by themselves.

Or Ayton + Paul.

I'm curious which two good depth pieces you think they're getting for Ayton. 

But you're right in that I'm not sure how the money would even work. 

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