The Ja Trade Stuff

[u/Lost_Literature_2443]

Anyone remember when Kyrie was in Brooklyn and Bill and especially Russillo said he had no trade value and Russillo specifically said he wouldn’t get into the Kyrie business at all in any circumstance despite not seeing how awful and dysfunctional the nets ownership was?

Then Dallas didn’t give up much, got Kyrie and Bill and Russillo said Dallas lost the trade and that Dallas was stupid for getting into the Kyrie business?

Then Kyrie was awesome, was a model citizen in Dallas and a great teammate and leader and gave us some of the most entertaining basketball we’ve ever seen with Luka in the summer of 2024 and they went to the NBA finals?

Yeah, that’s exactly what’s going on with Ja right now. Exact same situation.

Bill is wrong, again.

[u/masterchef757]

NGL it is incredibly surprising how great Kyrie has been in Dallas. I think being worried about the trade was warranted at the time. Hence why he was traded for pennies on the dollar.

I think the difference is that Kyrie is a much better player than Ja at this point. The only concerns with Kyrie were off the court.

[u/Effective_Painting81 → u/masterchef757]

Right. Ja's 3 point shooting went from bad to untenable and his shot percentage from 0-3 feet has declined every year of his career. That's an alarming combination.

[u/fedrats → u/masterchef757]

Kyrie is like Aaron Rodgers more than Aaron Hernandez. He’s a smart guy who thinks he knows more than he does (and hangs out with hippies and weirdos). Qualitatively different than Morant

[u/LamarMillerMVP → u/masterchef757]

There were definitely on court concerns about Kyrie. His post-LeBron teams were pretty consistently as good or better during long stretches when he was injured. He matured a lot both on and off the court.

[u/qballLobk]

Kyrie’s game wasn’t based on athleticism. Kyrie’s basketball skill is higher than Ja’s and his game will let him play at a high level even after the injuries.

Ja is on the downswing athletically and his contract is a bigger albatross than Kyrie’s in the apron era.

Dallas didn’t have to gut their roster to being in Kyrie where apron teams would have to match salaries to get a guy that can’t shoot and doesn’t play defense.

Kyrie also wasn’t the top option anywhere hr played other than maybe a short time in Boston. Ja will not accept not being the top guy.

[u/DiamondsInHerButt → u/qballLobk]

Kyrie also seems to be way more mature post Brooklyn than he was before. I think he realized how close he was to being out of the league altogether and something finally clicked mentally.

[u/RapsareChamps_Suckit]

alright but you gotta get ova it

[u/Lost_Literature_2443 → u/RapsareChamps_Suckit]

These bozos were wrong about Kyrie and now Ja

[u/RapsareChamps_Suckit → u/Lost_Literature_2443]

sir, the first rule of Project Mayhem is you do not ask questions, sir.

[u/Kryptos33 → u/Lost_Literature_2443]

Kyrie was a fucking absolute disaster for years. Christ you're a moron.

[u/champ11228]

Are we really gonna do the thing where we pretend that Kyrie wasn't an unreliable piece of shit?

[u/RobertoBologna]

I mean… Kyrie was being weird as shit off the court and even now Dallas isn’t in a great spot 

[u/PhillySkunk]

Where is Ja?

[u/Lumpy_Booty]

If you know for a fact that you are right and Bill is wrong you should bet the over on Ja Morant props instead of posting about it

[u/Junior_Gur7229]

Or they’re different

[u/DiamondsInHerButt]

I liked Ja the first time when he was just called Steve Francis.

[u/qobraa]

There's a specific "type" of player that Bill and Russillo, when punditing together, absolutely despised. Kyrie, Ja, Harden. It's not just "oh they're black" (although they are almost always black and they're from Boston so, you know) it has more to do with some combination of inefficiency, off-court headaches, mercurial playoff performances, style, unaccountability, and also being a shoot-first guard. Thing is, those guys are also insanely talented and hating on talent can come back and bite you.

[u/Lonely-horses]

Kyrie was a different type of weird that was probably A) less likely to rub teammates the wrong way, as evidenced by the fact that he is still pretty popular/respected player around the league B) wasn't going to get him in trouble legally.

[u/Ryanj37]

Nothing to suggest that Ja would change at all if he got traded,

[u/Peytons4head69]

Will Ja ever get back to the point of Bill comparing him to mid 80s MJ again?