Thomas

Dude gonna end up being a bust when it's all said and done.

I'd suggest that if the whole world knew I was desperate to make a big deal, and was first in line with offers for Durant, Anunoby, and Bridges, that I would come away with one of them at the deadline. And if that meant getting more creative or adding one more first or a player on my current team I like, which ultimately will have nowhere near the impact on winning that one of these players would, I would do it. At a certain point -- like when you already have three under-25 stars on your team -- you need to focus less on value and more on putting a winning supporting cast around them now. The one thing I'll say is I think they've been humbled a bit -- at least the front office has -- by the big spiral the team took in the weeks leading up to the deadline. It's good to me that they at least showed a willingness to change their strategy and I think they will try again to make the big move this summer. I'll leave it at I hope they can get it done, though I don't think they'll be able to land a player as tailor-made for their needs and timeline as Bridges.

It's more than KD, they struck out on OG and Bridges as well. They lack balls and are afraid to overpay to make a jump. I'll give Kleiman one more summer to make the big move though before making a final judgement on him, because at the end of the day guys like OG didn't get dealt to anyone else. If he can't make it happen over the summer, it will be time for people to admit the brilliant aura surrounding our front office is an illusion.

There's nothing worse than these "awww shucks, but we tried our best guys" pieces that come out the day after every deadline. Kleiman couldn't get it done. That's the story. And at this point it's fair to question if he has what it takes to make the big boy move needed to put this team over the top.

Think the worst part about all of this is they didn't trade Dillon, when a split is obviously needed. Could get toxic real quick.

This would have been the perfect secondary deal to make after securing the final core piece. They've needed a guy like this who is a proven elite NBA shooter over throwing darts at rookies thinking that will fill the need. Great contract for a trade piece in the future as well.

I don't see this as an overreaction, but rather a pretty obvious pattern -- Kleiman doesn't have it in him to put us over the top.

Easily. Born to round out this core.

I'd die.

You can reasonably sell Bridges as the main player piece coming back in the KD deal to the fans so I think they'll be looking to keep him. Otherwise, DFS would be amazing for us.

Toronto trying to drive OG's price up. Looks like he's still in play.

Yeah we really don't have that blue-chip piece outside the big 3 like a Bridges. That's partially why I'm hoping they can deal for OG, because if it doesn't work out ultimately he's still a great first piece in a package. Looks like Brooklyn got all unprotected 1sts, the last being in 2029. Just don't see Kleiman even considering something like that. Win/win for both teams involved.

Definitely down to us vs New Orleans now it seems. But what is Toronto thinking now that they've dealt for Poetl? Have plans shifted?

Tough to see that, because that's a completely reasonable package for Durant that we could have replicated in some form without giving up one of the big 3. Seems like he really wanted to be in Phoenix, so there was probably never a real chance we'd get him.

Is the deal even Davis for Konchar? Or is that just speculation?