2014 Free Agents

Post #1 » by **theBigLip** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:13 pm

Ok, assuming that we either don't get our pick, or whoever we get at #8 is not going to start or have a serious impact next year, we need to make our team via trades/free agency. Looking at who is available at PG and on the wing:

Kyle Lowery PG (age 28) Unrestricted
Eric Bledsoe PG (age 25) Restricted
Avery Bradley PG/SG (age 24) Restricted

Lance Stephenson SG (age 24) Unrestricted

Trevor Ariza SF (age 29) Unrestricted
Luol Deng SF (age 29) Unrestricted
Gordon Hayward SF (age 24) Restricted

I'd love to add 3, but need to make sure we don't overpay for anyone. We really just have Jennings and KCP that are starter worthy (maybe) for next year. If there is anyway we can use Jennings or Smith in a sign/trade for any of these guys it would be a huge plus for our new GM!

ComboGuardCity · Post #2 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:46 pm

I know a lot of people think it's unrealistic, but I think a S&t of josh for Bledsoe is possible if they struggle in the playoffs. Dragic is their PG and green played great filling in.

I know it'd be a hard sell, but imagine for a second

Bledsoe
KCP
Wiggins
Monroe
Drummond

Post #3 » by **theBigLip** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:11 pm

ComboGuardCity wrote:I know a lot of people think it's unrealistic, but I think a S&t of josh for Bledsoe is possible if they struggle in the playoffs. Dragic is their PG and green played great filling in.

I know it'd be a hard sell, but imagine for a second

Bledsoe
KCP
Wiggins
Monroe
Drummond

I like the way you think!

Joe Berry · Post #4 » by **Joe Berry** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:16 pm

So the Pistons get the first pick and trade one of the worst contracts in the league for Bledsoe. Sure keep dreaming.

Any of those free agents above would improve the Pistons. Lowry/Stephenson are more realistic because they are unrestricted and would improve the Pistons immediately. If they can get a wing in the draft improving the backcourt should be the no. 1 goal in free agency.

Post #5 » by **theBigLip** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:39 pm

Joe Asberry wrote:So the Pistons get the first pick and trade one of the worst contracts in the league for Bledsoe. Sure keep dreaming.

Any of those free agents above would improve the Pistons. Lowry/Stephenson are more realistic because they are unrestricted and would improve the Pistons immediately. If they can get a wing in the draft improving the backcourt should be the no. 1 goal in free agency.

Phoenix could dump Channing Frye back on us. That's not a great contract, but not sure if it is enough to justify a Bledsoe/Smith trade.

Southern Piston · Post #6 » by **Southern Piston** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:02 am

overpay and get Granger, we need a 3, and a player who has had to carry an offense some before, that way we have a piece to go to in offensive droughts.

Post #7 » by **theBigLip** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:06 am

Southern Piston wrote:overpay and get Granger, we need a 3, and a player who has had to carry an offense some before, that way we have a piece to go to in offensive droughts.

I think Granger is a shell of his former self. If he had anything left, Indiana would have kept him for their stretch run. And he is already 30. I think we need someone like the former Granger (and his former age - his current age is 30 and that doesn't jive so well with the rest of the young crew)

GSR121 · Post #8 » by **GSR121** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:29 am

Gordon Hayward would be my choice. He is young and can play both wing positions. He is a decent on defense, can stretch the floor, and is a willing passer. He also fits in well, age wise, with our young core. However, I don't see him coming here unless we are willing to offer $14+ a year.

MotownMadness · Post #9 » by **MotownMadness** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:42 am

GSR121 wrote:Gordon Hayward would be my choice. He is young and can play both wing positions. He is a decent on defense, can stretch the floor, and is a willing passer. He also fits in well, age wise, with our young core. However, I don't see him coming here unless we are willing to offer $14+ a year.

If Utah gets a top pick and gets Wiggins or Parker then they will probable not match a 12mil per offer. Its expensive but the kid is pretty damn good at a position we desperately need. Of course we then would need to sign and trade Monroe. Maybe some thing like Monroe+filler for Reggie Jackson+Lamb and Perkins.

Jackson/Jennings
Lamb/KCP
Hayward/Singler
Smith/FA
Drummond/FA

Then try to trade Jennings to NY.

Blkbrd671 · Post #10 » by **Blkbrd671** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:45 am

I am okay with Bledsoe or Lowry, but who would want jennings? NY? for Shump?

Notanoob · Post #11 » by **Notanoob** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:06 am

Bledsoe is basically unavailable. The Suns will match a max contract offer for him and have no intention of letting him go. Furthermore, everyone on their team is on a good contract so they don't have anything to dump. They're keeping him.

I don't know what to think about Stephenson. He's a really good young player, but I think that he stays with Bird unless he's seriously overpaid. And do we really want to overpay him that much? I really don't, and I'd like to give KCP another chance. He can at least be an excellent wing defender, and hopefully will find his shooting stroke.

Deng is the oldest of these guys and is the worst shooter, and even then it seems like he'll get the most money. I'd pass.

I don't trust Avery Bradley to run our offense as a PG, and he isn't a knock-down 3 point shooter. Plus, he's small for SG. He's a defensive specialist. He probably won't be expensive, but let's not think that he is our PG of the future.

I like Lowry a lot. Terrence Ross did an AMA on reddit, and spoke very highly of Lowry when asked about team leaders and stuff like that. He said Lowry would call out the other teams' plays before they ran them. Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/20 ... s_here_to/
He's a good 3 point shooter, and has proven that he can run an offense well and plays very good defense. I'd like to add him a lot.

Gordon Hayward is a very useful glue guy, but not a first option. His shooting has been weirdly inconsistent too. First year he shot 4.37% from three, then 34.6%, then 41.5%, and now 31.2%. I'm really not sure what to make of that. However, he'd be a solid addition so long as he's got someone else ahead of him when it comes to offense. He's a glue guy.

Ariza is a guy having a great year. Washington fans are convinced that he's shooting so well because Wall is getting him very good looks and loves to feed him. He's also 29, so he'd be creeping up there in years by the time this team is ready to go anywhere. I'm not convinced that we'd get the same production out of him here, but he'd be a great fit and a huge upgrade over what we've got at SF. We'd probably be forced to overpay him.

Lowry's our best option at PG, followed by the draft. SF situation depends heavily on what we can do with Monroe/Smith and the draft.

Post #12 » by **dVs33** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:06 am

Bledsoe or Lowry would be amazing, but i can't see it happening.
We need to trade Smith and look at those SF options. Ariza would slot right in without any issue and I think Deng would fit too. It's just a matter of how much they demand. Both guys could demand a pretty penny this offseason, so it might not be worth it.
Hayward would but ideal because of his age, but i'm not sure i want to trade monroe (the only way of getting him).

The Penguin · Post #13 » by **The Penguin** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:16 am

I want Lance. We aren't going to get anything for Jennings and his deal isn't really that bad. Jennings-Lance-KCP would fit together nicely as a 3 guard rotation. I'm afraid we are locked in with Smith/Monroe/Drummond as our starting front court, though it would be nice if their minutes were managed to only play 2 at a time.

DBC10 · Post #14 » by **DBC10** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:02 am

I think realistically, the best might be obtaining Hayward somehow. The guy is pretty underrated IMO and he plays hard as well.

The other guys seems like everyone will offer nearly anything for them.

Sent from my XT1034 using Tapatalk

Blkbrd671 · Post #15 » by **Blkbrd671** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:15 am

Notanoob wrote:Bledsoe is basically unavailable. The Suns will match a max contract offer for him and have no intention of letting him go. Furthermore, everyone on their team is on a good contract so they don't have anything to dump. They're keeping him.
.

They also have dragic who is more of a traditional PG, they aren't going to give Bledsoe the max to play backup pg or be undersized SG.

i would take dragic over jennigns in a heart beat

Notanoob · Post #16 » by **Notanoob** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:32 am

No, keeping Bledsoe is the plan IIRC. That was the plan earlier in the year when they were starting next to each other and being wildly successful. I don't think that plan has changed with Bledsoe getting hurt. You could ask the Suns board to be sure though. In any event he's looking at a huge contract.

As a guest of the Doug and Wolf Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Tuesday as part of Newsmakers Week, Phoenix Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby was asked if the team had seen enough of the guard to know if they are going to match any offer the restricted free agent might receive from another team over the summer. "I think our answer to that is yes, that we know enough about Eric as a player," Babby said. "Even more importantly, we've lived with him now for almost a year as a person. We like everything about him. Like him as a teammate, like him as a representative of our franchise and everything that he stands for. "He's got a tremendous future." Arizona's Sports Page - See more at: http://hoopshype.com/rumors/tag/eric_bl ... uINRr.dpuf

MotownMadness · Post #17 » by **MotownMadness** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:34 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:
Notanoob wrote:Bledsoe is basically unavailable. The Suns will match a max contract offer for him and have no intention of letting him go. Furthermore, everyone on their team is on a good contract so they don't have anything to dump. They're keeping him.
.

They also have dragic who is more of a traditional PG, they aren't going to give Bledsoe the max to play backup pg or be undersized SG.

i would take dragic over jennigns in a heart beat

Of course you would take Dragic over Jennings. Dragic has been a top 5 PG this year. Phoenix would definatly keep Dragic over Bledsoe but I doubt they let either one go.

MotownMadness · Post #18 » by **MotownMadness** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:34 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:
Notanoob wrote:Bledsoe is basically unavailable. The Suns will match a max contract offer for him and have no intention of letting him go. Furthermore, everyone on their team is on a good contract so they don't have anything to dump. They're keeping him.
.

They also have dragic who is more of a traditional PG, they aren't going to give Bledsoe the max to play backup pg or be undersized SG.

i would take dragic over jennigns in a heart beat

Of corse you would take Dragic over Jennings. Dragic has been a top 5 PG this year. Phoenix would definatly keep Dragic over Bledsoe but I doubt they let either one go.

Blkbrd671 · Post #19 » by **Blkbrd671** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:37 am

MotownMadness wrote:
Blkbrd671 wrote:
Notanoob wrote:Bledsoe is basically unavailable. The Suns will match a max contract offer for him and have no intention of letting him go. Furthermore, everyone on their team is on a good contract so they don't have anything to dump. They're keeping him.
.

They also have dragic who is more of a traditional PG, they aren't going to give Bledsoe the max to play backup pg or be undersized SG.

i would take dragic over jennigns in a heart beat

Of course you would take Dragic over Jennings. Dragic has been a top 5 PG this year. Phoenix would definatly keep Dragic over Bledsoe but I doubt they let either one go.

pay 1 pg the max and the other a heafty amount? how does that make sense?

MotownMadness · Post #20 » by **MotownMadness** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:43 am

Blkbrd671 wrote:
MotownMadness wrote:
Blkbrd671 wrote:

They also have dragic who is more of a traditional PG, they aren't going to give Bledsoe the max to play backup pg or be undersized SG.

i would take dragic over jennigns in a heart beat

Of course you would take Dragic over Jennings. Dragic has been a top 5 PG this year. Phoenix would definatly keep Dragic over Bledsoe but I doubt they let either one go.

pay 1 pg the max and the other a heafty amount? how does that make sense?

Bledsoe Is a combo guard and they've proven to co-exist nicely. They compliment each other well in that it gives you a shooter and a slasher and both can run a offense and create they're own shots.