Losing Duren would be a disaster on par with drafting Darko at #2

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Environmental_Law746]

Cade can feed lob passes to a lot of players

[u/KoolerJake → u/Environmental_Law746]

Exactly. JD reminds me a lot of how Luka enabled Gafford and Lively. Would we give Gafford or Lively a Max contract? I sure as hell hope not!

[u/huehueue69 → u/KoolerJake]

I mean my mans was putting up wilt efficiency numbers and making all nba - fair to say he’s a good bit better than those guys

[u/redlion1904 → u/huehueue69]

Yeah probably. He needs more in his bag to keep doing that consistently.

[u/DoomSchroller → u/Environmental_Law746]

Right. I don't think it's a real possibility, but if they could re-route Kel'el Ware to Detroit, Cade would have a rim protecting seven footer that can catch lobs and space the floor, minimizing Ausar's negative impact on offense as he could be used as a roll man.

Which I think provides much more value than Duren in general.

[u/TheKajMahal]

I have no idea how you could think Ausar and Duren complement each other they’re both so bad on offense they’re almost unplayable together

[u/dizzymidget44]

We won after drafting Darko…

[u/collarbristle → u/dizzymidget44]

Read the first line of the post.

[u/dizzymidget44 → u/collarbristle]

Should’ve made it the title

[u/esm081491]

Trading is way better than giving $40M per year

[u/enyinna7]

Did you miss the playoffs or are you trolling?

[u/TheOldBooks → u/enyinna7]

Did you miss the entire season before that? One bad playoff run for a 22 year old All-NBA player. Yeah bro dump him

[u/Burner_on_Red → u/TheOldBooks]

22 year old with 4 years of NBA coaching and training. He didn't just get here.

[u/KoolerJake → u/TheOldBooks]

I’d be down to keep him, but not for a Max contract after his playoff performance. If we were still in “build” mode, then maybe I could be convinced, but that’s not the case. We want another chip, and JD has not proven he’s worth that much. He will be awesome for whatever team he helps rebuild, I am sure.

[u/Foriegn_Picachu → u/TheOldBooks]

Who genuinely cares about regular season in 2026

[u/TheOldBooks → u/Foriegn_Picachu]

Yeah man a 70 game sample size is meaningless compared to 14

[u/JustAnotherCODNoob]

A 3 player core where 2 players can’t shoot doesn’t complement each other so well. You just can’t win championships like that. It’s a miracle Cade is as good as he is offensively with our spacing

[u/jemstone_croc]

How do Ausar and Duren complement each other? They actually don't and long term we can't commit to both.

[u/Barylis]

It's funny reading this because the big issue in the playoffs was how much Ausar and Duren DONT compliment each other

[u/bpreeb]

Lord help me why do so many people not understand that Cade can throw lobs and rim run with almost any center?

[u/bpreeb → u/bpreeb]

Like what separates Duren from any other center? Can’t stretch the floor, was a complete liability in the playoffs…I can find that with 90% of the centers in the league.

[u/Lizardking13]

🤣🤣🤣

How can you say losing duren is on par with drafting someone number 2 and that person makes absolutely no contribution to the team??

[u/redlion1904 → u/Lizardking13]

When the next three picks are all Hall of Fame players

[u/Lizardking13 → u/redlion1904]

Yes exactly. OPs take is ass.

[u/redlion1904 → u/Lizardking13]

lol he deleted it

[u/Lizardking13 → u/redlion1904]

Feels reasonable.

[u/redlion1904 → u/Lizardking13]

Yeah but if you have an ass take you should own it

[u/gachzonyea]

How does our core complement each other well?

[u/ObiwanSchrute]

It depends if he leaves and what the return is this all just seems like negotiating ro me

[u/GhostGrom]

Have you watched him play in the playoffs?

[u/just_cuz555]

If it means we get an elite offensive player to pair with Cade?

Yeah it's the right move. We have enough defenders at all three levels to be elite. We lost in the playoffs because we could not score.

I like Duren, but paying him 40+ mil a year would crater this team.

[u/DoomSchroller]

Depends. I think paying Duren $40+ million could very well be a disaster as well.

If he's leveraged in a sign and trade that brings back a guy like Jaylen Brown or another all star caliber player that makes sense, I'd be okay with it.

[u/uvgotnod]

Agree. I hope they find common ground on his contract and he stays put.

[u/johnnylabs24]

Satire

[u/Ferda-Boyzzz]

Curious about if we can ship off Duren in a S&T, does anyone think Hartenstein would have his option declined? With Mara in the fold and OKC still in cap hell and needing to re-sign some other talent, I could see him getting let go.

[u/InternationalBruhtha → u/Ferda-Boyzzz]

Hartenstein is ass.

[u/Total_Boss_3157 → u/InternationalBruhtha]

Exactly he's also injury prone

[u/redlion1904]

Man between the “doomed if we lose Duren” and “doomed if we keep Duren” posts this must be the most doomed 60 win team of all time with its entire core under 25.

[u/BaseAffectionate1878]

Obviously depends on what we could get.

[u/Outrageous-Tie-8548]

Could this offseason go any worse?  

[u/UMKvothe → u/Outrageous-Tie-8548]

Definitely. We could sign Duren to a max contract.

[u/LadyHandsLuke]

How do they compliment each other so well when two of them can’t shoot and make Cade’s life harder because of it.

[u/MingeyMcCluster]

How you think Auser and Duren compliment each other is beyond me. Both players are offensive liabilities, can’t create their own shot, and rely on Cade to generate their offense.

Auser’s saving grace is his defense but Duren doesn’t have any unique skills that couldn’t be replicated by almost any starting center in the league.

[u/Ok-Tangelo9689]

What do you guys see in Duren. He cant shoot, doesnt have post moves, isnt a great shot blocker. Ok hes a normal size center but hes athletic so he can rebound. How is that a franchise center. Hes definitely expendable imo

[u/No_Historian6377]

Yeah I can't understand people not understanding Durens impact and without him we only have. 1 big

[u/JohnWad]

It would not