Post Paul targets

[NapoleonII]

Hell if we get CP3 a ring and he's retired in 2 years...

Let's get a 35 year old Curry a go with our guys.

[lilfishi22]

IF Paul resigns, Then our absolute best option should be a talented draft prospect that can apprentice to him for two or three years until ready to take over. And that rookie scale contract will prove invaluable for our cap flexibility once we resign Ayton and Bridges to a max and near max contract.

Our top choices in the draft at 29 should be:

1- Shariffe Cooper.
2- Jared Butler.
3- Ayo Dosunma.
4- Tre Mann.
5- Duece McBride or Joel Ayayi?

And if Paul doesn't resign, Then in free agency, Our top priorities should be trying to sign one of:

1- Kyle Lowry.
2- Mike Conley.
3- Goran Dragic ( if he's not resigned). It would be kind of cool to bring him home.
4- Big offer to Lonzo Ball?
5- Patty Mills ( stop gap deal)?

Ultimately though, We shouldn't be too worried. As there's likely a 90% chance that Paul resigns with us anyways. So if we have this inside information, It should absolutely be our top priority to secure his apprentice via the draft!!!

I'm not sure about any of these FA targets except for maybe Ball

1- Kyle Lowry. - 35 years old
2- Mike Conley. - Turns 34 and has injury history
3- Goran Dragic ( if he's not resigned). It would be kind of cool to bring him home. - Just turned 35 (woah time flies) and also iffy injury history
4- Big offer to Lonzo Ball? - the most reasonable of the lot
5- Patty Mills ( stop gap deal)? - turns 33 in a couple of months and Cam is arguably better than him already.

[Ghost of Kleine]

[

Spoiler:

quote="lilfishi22"]

IF Paul resigns, Then our absolute best option should be a talented draft prospect that can apprentice to him for two or three years until ready to take over. And that rookie scale contract will prove invaluable for our cap flexibility once we resign Ayton and Bridges to a max and near max contract.

Our top choices in the draft at 29 should be:

1- Shariffe Cooper.
2- Jared Butler.
3- Ayo Dosunma.
4- Tre Mann.
5- Duece McBride or Joel Ayayi?

And if Paul doesn't resign, Then in free agency, Our top priorities should be trying to sign one of:

1- Kyle Lowry.
2- Mike Conley.
3- Goran Dragic ( if he's not resigned). It would be kind of cool to bring him home.
4- Big offer to Lonzo Ball?
5- Patty Mills ( stop gap deal)?

Ultimately though, We shouldn't be too worried. As there's likely a 90% chance that Paul resigns with us anyways. So if we have this inside information, It should absolutely be our top priority to secure his apprentice via the draft!!!

I'm not sure about any of these FA targets except for maybe Ball

1- Kyle Lowry. - 35 years old
2- Mike Conley. - Turns 34 and has injury history
3- Goran Dragic ( if he's not resigned). It would be kind of cool to bring him home. - Just turned 35 (woah time flies) and also iffy injury history
4- Big offer to Lonzo Ball? - the most reasonable of the lot
5- Patty Mills ( stop gap deal)? - turns 33 in a couple of months and Cam is arguably better than him already.[/quote]

I realize that they're all on the older side. But my thinking was in that they're all ( Lowry, Conley, Dragic) still winners/ solid leaders in some form with extensive playoff experience. So IF the idea is to continue our playoff runs in the immediate future, Yhen I consider it important to maintain that modicum of veteran leadership ( IF PAUL LEAVES). ALSO, The premise would be that we could use our draft pick for an apprentice guard to still be mentored by one of these three to better accommodate the transition after a season or two??? IF we don't draft one in this draft to be mentored by Paul himself, There'll still be the 2023 draft, In which there are numerous great high end lead point guard options we could seek to acquire in that draft.

I'd personally be ecstatic with any of:

Sky Clark, Scoot Henderson, Dior Johnson, Chance Westry, or Brice Griggs, or maybe even Desuan Ruffin honestly. And then I'd have them mentor one of these prospects same premise as a guard in this draft would get. However, I am very open to the possibility of using our cap space IF Paul opts out, For Ball, As I think he'd be great with our cores' timeline. But those are my options. ** Also, Whoever mentioned the possibility of trading for Cole Anthony, or another young guard could be cool too!

Really, I'm just looking for a reliable stopgap veteran guard with some poise, leadership, and playoff experience ( IF Paul does leave) So that guard can properly mentor our younger replacement guard that'll fit our core timeline better too.

[Revived]

Hell if we get CP3 a ring and he's retired in 2 years...

Let's get a 35 year old Curry a go with our guys.

And then Lillard after that.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Hell if we get CP3 a ring and he's retired in 2 years...

Let's get a 35 year old Curry a go with our guys.

And then Lillard after that.

Well, Even though the odds of us getting Lillard aren't not terribly realistic right now, One benefit of Booker playing in the Olympics would of course be the possibility of pulling more all star/ high end talent to Phoenix now that we're successful!

[Wilber85]

At this rate, get Reggie Jackson after CP3 lol

[Ghost of Kleine]

If we look to the draft, Duece McBride has been looking really good honestly. Apparently he's a really tough floor general team leader type. With elite shooting and great defense.

Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) Tweeted:
Miles McBride with an impressive 6'8.75" wingspan for measuring 6'1" in socks. Solid at 195lbs.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Basically 6'2 with a 6'9 wingspan great on and off ball defense and an elite ju.pshot and a 38 inch vertical! Outside of Cooper ( 1st choice) or Butler ( 2nd choice), I'd target McBride for sure to be mentored by Paul.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) Tweeted:
Don’t worry Phoenix fans.

Cameron Payne has early bird rights.

You can exceed the cap to sign him and not have to dip into your $9.5M Midlevel exception.

Contract can be for up to a projected $10-11M and a minimum of 2 years.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[suns12345]

Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) Tweeted:
Don’t worry Phoenix fans.

Cameron Payne has early bird rights.

You can exceed the cap to sign him and not have to dip into your $9.5M Midlevel exception.

Contract can be for up to a projected $10-11M and a minimum of 2 years.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

I think we're lucky with this situation and here's why

The max we can offer him is about fair value.

If we're offering slightly below his market value, we can justifiably say we're offering as much as we can, we love you and want you here, and you know you'll have success here.

Maybe he still leaves, but its not like we will be forced to overpay and/or look like stinges for offering below market value.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) Tweeted:
Don’t worry Phoenix fans.

Cameron Payne has early bird rights.

You can exceed the cap to sign him and not have to dip into your $9.5M Midlevel exception.

Contract can be for up to a projected $10-11M and a minimum of 2 years.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

I think we're lucky with this situation and here's why

The max we can offer him is about fair value.

If we're offering slightly below his market value, we can justifiably say we're offering as much as we can, we love you and want you here, and you know you'll have success here.

Maybe he still leaves, but its not like we will be forced to overpay and/or look like stinges for offering below market value.

Agreed!
Nevertheless, Taking immenent cap/ contractual obligations into consideration, We should absolutely keep the 29th pick for the 4 yrs of rookie scale salary control. And would be very wise to secure a quality two way guard with strong leadership qualities ( floor general attributes) to apprentice under Paul and eventually take over. We still resign Payne, But eventually move him to be our 6th man Flamethrower option once the drafted guard takes over!

Additionally, We'd be wise to also add a two way big ( backup center) that can be developed in the G league and called up as needed for those playoff series wherein the opposing teams have superior length/ athleticism. The very best late 2nd to undrafted options for us to consider
being: ** Ibou Dianko Badji, Khalifa Diop, EJ Onu, Balsa Koprivica, Jericho Sims, Ikey Obiagu.


Later by next seasons' deadline, IF Saric doesn't find his consistency, Then we should look to move Sarics' salary around the trade deadline for a late first/ early 2nd. This further reduces our salary commitment heading into our core extensions, and gives us greater cap flexibility to round out our roster around Ayton/ Bridges/ Booker/ etc.

*** If Paul resigns, And we feel good with Payne for now as our backup guard option, We should then use the 29th pick as insurance against losing Bridges!!! We should draft the best 3 and D wing option available that might be comparable or may possess an even better projection over time. The best apparent options in that context of course being: JT Thor, Trey Murphy 3rd, Herbert Jones. No matter what, We really need to have a plan, Just in case.

[Frank Lee]

Meanwhile the cart looks 10 miles down the road and sees a horse’s rear end.....


Wait, that doesn’t make sense... but you know what I mean

[thamadkant]

Ben Simmons, but on a 10 million a year contract.... so Payne can be signed for 15 a year. Imagine the defense and the ball rotation... I would play Simmons as PF though.

[lilfishi22]

Ben Simmons, but on a 10 million a year contract.... so Payne can be signed for 15 a year. Imagine the defense and the ball rotation... I would play Simmons as PF though.

I'd rather some other team be the guinea pig first and put in that investment to develop Simmons game further

[Qwigglez]

I think Payne will get 3 years maybe $21 million but I’m betting on $6mil a year. He’s been great for us but I can’t imagine his one year performance will get other teams to outbid us unless they are desperate. Maybe the Knicks but I’m still not sure they give him north of 8 figures a year.

[bigfoot]

One thing for sure ... the Suns are going to have free agents lining up at the door next year. Should be able to find quality role players to fill in the holes

For sure Jones can find better replacements for Moore and Langston and Kaminsky. Maybe Nader and Craig too.

[Stark]

I think first of all we should accept that you cannot replace CP3 or find a player really close to him skill-wise. However if our core is Book-Mikal-Ayton there are some skills that we definitely need from our future PG. Guys like Lillard sounds exciting and obviously i'd love to see Dame in a Suns uniform but as long as it's not a superstar like him (also can we even afford another superstar?) we need a calm pass first guard. Someone who can play pick and roll with Ayton, control the pace but also someone who doesn't afraid of big moments (Damn we're so lucky that we have CP3)

Even though CP3 is the perfect match on paper there is also one thing that a new player can bring something different and maximize our potential to an another new level and that is someone who can push the pace. Everybody knows CP3 loves playing in a slow tempo and that helps us a lot as we cut the turnovers and CP3 orchestrate the half court offense like a maestro. However when we lose CP3 i don't think this team can or should play in slow tempo. We see how the team looks so good with Payne as he suddenly brings so much pace to the game. Our core is young, fast and athletic. There are not many teams that can keep up with Ayton,Mikal and Book in a fast break.

So ideally if i had to pick a guard even though i hate the big baller brand shenanigans and hate the dude someone like Lamelo would be perfect for the Suns. Fox also would be one of my top choices but as we know financially or realistically these options would be impossible. We can give Payne a shot as he absolutely earned that but i believe he is too much of a wildcard to be the future PG of this team and if we start him James Jones should definitely target a solid back up like TJ McConnell or Monte Morris.

Brogdon is cool. Maybe we don't extend Cam J (even though i hate idea of it) and use that space to sign someone like him. I love Garland but probably Cavs will give him max or close to it. I like the idea of drafting PG prospects for the draft and see if we can nail a stud.

[bwgood77]

I think Payne will get 3 years maybe $21 million but I’m betting on $6mil a year. He’s been great for us but I can’t imagine his one year performance will get other teams to outbid us unless they are desperate. Maybe the Knicks but I’m still not sure they give him north of 8 figures a year.

Yeah, as much as he is balling, I was looking at some of his numbers, and with one good year, and a career high of 29, and one game of 24 points prior to that, those are the only two games in the 20s in his Suns career (he has one other 20+ pt game with the Bulls where he hit 7 3s and I think had 21).

And he has had double digit assists twice.

Does he look great? Yes. He has an elite 3pt% and ast/to ratio but so many other guards are much more proven vets. Two games over 19 points and two games with double digit assists so far....he would maybe get a backup offer, probably less than some due to lack of experience, and I don't see teams, or maybe more than 1 looking to pay him in the double digits.

I bet 3/$15 before they year ($5 million per) would have been crazy for him to think about before the season..he was out of the league. Very happy to get $200K last year and a chance at close to $2 million this year.

[NapoleonII]

CP3 just turned 36. He''s got the game and hopefully the body/luck to play until he's 39 and we're gonna contend while that happens.

Payne is our 'pace pusher'. Lock him up for 2-3 years.

Keep Chris healthy, give him a lot of nights off. There's no one better in the half-court. The chemistry/leadership is there. The perimeter heavy way the game is played nowadays will not diminish his capacities like it used to do with guards who needed to be first-step heavy/twitchy and able to finish inside.

[pj0tr]

CP3 just turned 36. He''s got the game and hopefully the body/luck to play until he's 39 and we're gonna contend while that happens.

Payne is our 'pace pusher'. Lock him up for 2-3 years.

Keep Chris healthy, give him a lot of nights off. There's no one better in the half-court. The chemistry/leadership is there. The perimeter heavy way the game is played nowadays will not diminish his capacities like it used to do with guards who needed to be first-step heavy/twitchy and able to finish inside.

The ideal scenario is CP3 for another 2-3 years with Payne backing him up.

Realistically, DeAaron Fox would be the replacement IMO. His timeline potentially of leaving Sacramento lines up with CP3 potentially retiring.

[thamadkant]

One thing for sure ... the Suns are going to have free agents lining up at the door next year. Should be able to find quality role players to fill in the holes

For sure Jones can find better replacements for Moore and Langston and Kaminsky. Maybe Nader and Craig too.

Craig and Nader are key players to throw against the Kawhis, LeBron's, Durant, George's, Doncic etc.

Suns strength is their wing defender dept. Crowder, Bridges, Johnson, Nader, Craig... All can switch to guards and forwards and not be disadvantaged.... This is key to the Suns system.