Game 36: Phoenix Suns (27-8) @ Charlotte Hornets (19-17) l Sunday l 5:00pm l BSAZ

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[sunsbg]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

[grumpysaddle]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

Anyone but Nader. Still mad they kept him and let Craig go.

[PittsburghSuns]

Very nice win hopefully we get some Omicron guys back soon and can start rolling again

[Calvin Klein]

i don't understand people who complain. After all these years, these kind of games are so fun to watch. Just relax and enjoy some fun basketball.

Charlotte defense is so so bad. Last game was the same. There's just no defense at all.

Stix is a center. Amazing what playing with CP3 does to most centers. DeAndre Jordan owes his whole career to him.

[Calvin Klein]

If Jalen Smith plays this way the NBA might as well hand us the trophy and call it a night. He's dominating in front of our eyes like a young Amare. Jalen might not show it with thunderous dunks but his bball iq is off the charts. Glad he's finally getting the minutes he deserves instead of 2-3 min a game last season.

Phoenix Suns (@Suns) Tweeted:
SUNS WIN! https://t.co/I5NeEmYAqq

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?s=20

Even Eddie Johnson mentioned how this dunk reminded him of prime Amare, Bsck when he dunked on Tolliver! I only wish they'd do a side by side comparison! That'd be so cool!

Yep. First thing I thought of was the dunk on Tolliver.

[BobbieL]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

Gambo mentioned the players getting 10 day deals probably wouldnt' get a second

I am not sure why that wouldn't apply to Biyombo. With the depth at the 5 limited without Kaminsky, he seems like a fit

I will say this about the guys they signed - they were good cheerleaders in Charlotte and good for them. Making an NBA roster is a big deal - even if only 10 days

[King4Day]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

Gambo mentioned the players getting 10 day deals probably wouldnt' get a second

I am not sure why that wouldn't apply to Biyombo. With the depth at the 5 limited without Kaminsky, he seems like a fit

I will say this about the guys they signed - they were good cheerleaders in Charlotte and good for them. Making an NBA roster is a big deal - even if only 10 days

The Paris guy, it sounds like he's had some journey. As fans, we many never hear or read everything about it, but I bet he'll have a story to tell to the people he's close with and those who've supported/doubted him over the years.

[RunDogGun]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

Anyone but Nader. Still mad they kept him and let Craig go.

Wasn't Nader under contract still? I was watching Craig the other night on the Pacers. I really like his game, even though he makes some questionable decisions on offense. Craig was our Lou Admunson with a three point range, which every contending team needs coming off the bench.

[lilfishi22]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

Anyone but Nader. Still mad they kept him and let Craig go.

Wasn't Nader under contract still? I was watching Craig the other night on the Pacers. I really like his game, even though he makes some questionable decisions on offense. Craig was our Lou Admunson with a three point range, which every contending team needs coming off the bench.

Amazing comparison. Sweet Lou was one of my favourite bench guys of all time.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Anyone but Nader. Still mad they kept him and let Craig go.

Wasn't Nader under contract still? I was watching Craig the other night on the Pacers. I really like his game, even though he makes some questionable decisions on offense. Craig was our Lou Admunson with a three point range, which every contending team needs coming off the bench.

Amazing comparison. Sweet Lou was one of my favourite bench guys of all time.

Amundson is the role I have Biyombo actually filling for us. And I do think that we should absolutely look to pick up Craig again this season, and worry about the salary details later in the offseason. I truly believe that adding Craig again to replace Nader ( whose always injured anyways) at the backup 3 would absolutely put us over the top! I say Nader/ Payton and a first should get it done! I don't see them wanting Smith necessarily with them being so high on Isiah Jackson currently and also still having Sabonis and Turner, etc.

But when Nader comes back, he'd be able to fill that role for them on the wing that Craig is currently filling But for a year less and cheaper. And for a rebuilding team, the first would be the real prize. Of course we'd protect the first somewhat, But I think it'd get done!

[suns12345]

Anyone but Nader. Still mad they kept him and let Craig go.

Wasn't Nader under contract still? I was watching Craig the other night on the Pacers. I really like his game, even though he makes some questionable decisions on offense. Craig was our Lou Admunson with a three point range, which every contending team needs coming off the bench.

Amazing comparison. Sweet Lou was one of my favourite bench guys of all time.

But Nader makes basically the minimum and craig got $5m a year?

The gripe should be with paying shamet etc. rather than anything to do with nader > craig

[RunDogGun]

Wasn't Nader under contract still? I was watching Craig the other night on the Pacers. I really like his game, even though he makes some questionable decisions on offense. Craig was our Lou Admunson with a three point range, which every contending team needs coming off the bench.

Amazing comparison. Sweet Lou was one of my favourite bench guys of all time.

But Nader makes basically the minimum and craig got $5m a year?

The gripe should be with paying shamet etc. rather than anything to do with nader > craig

I think they meant that Nader and Craig had similar roles, but Craig gave us more options if we went small at the 5. The salaries are why we kept Nader, and let Craig go.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Amazing comparison. Sweet Lou was one of my favourite bench guys of all time.

But Nader makes basically the minimum and craig got $5m a year?

The gripe should be with paying shamet etc. rather than anything to do with nader > craig

I think they meant that Nader and Craig had similar roles, but Craig gave us more options if we went small at the 5. The salaries are why we kept Nader, and let Craig go.

Also that Nader is injured more often than he is available. So he's highly unreliable. At least you can count on Craig being able to play. I know that Nader only counts for 2 million, But overall he's dead salary for us whilst injured. Even worse is that between Saric/ Kaminsky/ Nader, we're sitting on a combined $ 13 million in dead salary. Not contributing to any wins or tangible depth. If were to be considered legitimate title contenders, we need to be trying to frend away from this! We need to have players that can actually contribute or have impact on the court for us. Nader currently is yet another example of wasted salary.

[Mr Puddles]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

This is why I'm hoping the Suns can still swing a trade to get an upgrade for Shamet - like an Eric Gordon. Sure, he's an injury risk, but the Suns only need him out there for 20-25 minutes a game and he's far more consistent and skilled than Shamet. His contract duration + size are about the same as Saric and Shamet combined, so add in a top 20 protected pick and I could see the rebuilding rockets go for it. Between Payne, Gordon, Cam off the bench - that gives us a lot of firepower on the perimeter and consistency off the bench to combine with McGee, Byombo, Smith, Kaminski to complete the big man rotation.

[RunDogGun]

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

This is why I'm hoping the Suns can still swing a trade to get an upgrade for Shamet - like an Eric Gordon. Sure, he's an injury risk, but the Suns only need him out there for 20-25 minutes a game and he's far more consistent and skilled than Shamet. His contract duration + size are about the same as Saric and Shamet combined, so add in a top 20 protected pick and I could see the rebuilding rockets go for it. Between Payne, Gordon, Cam off the bench - that gives us a lot of firepower on the perimeter and consistency off the bench to combine with McGee, Byombo, Smith, Kaminski to complete the big man rotation.

I can't see us trading for Gordon, he is owed $39 mil over the next two seasons after this season according to Basketball Reference (2023 is not guaranteed, but I don't know if that is a partial or not. Its hard to believe a team can just waive him and he loses $20 mil) . But still, $19 mil next year for a bench player seems rather high. That would make signing DA and later Johnson very tough, while filling the roster with solid players.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Spoiler:

The team is loaded with bigs now. Javale is long, Biyombo is athletic and strong. Jalen is coming around. All would help against Giannis though we'd more likely face Warriors and Nets in the path to the title and Monty will play Nader against those smaller teams. Shamet and Payne, who played great in this game, would be key in such matchups, but their inconsistency would make me nervous.

This is why I'm hoping the Suns can still swing a trade to get an upgrade for Shamet - like an Eric Gordon. Sure, he's an injury risk, but the Suns only need him out there for 20-25 minutes a game and he's far more consistent and skilled than Shamet. His contract duration + size are about the same as Saric and Shamet combined, so add in a top 20 protected pick and I could see the rebuilding rockets go for it. Between Payne, Gordon, Cam off the bench - that gives us a lot of firepower on the perimeter and consistency off the bench to combine with McGee, Byombo, Smith, Kaminski to complete the big man rotation.

I can't see us trading for Gordon, he is owed $39 mil over the next two seasons after this season according to Basketball Reference (2023 is not guaranteed, but I don't know if that is a partial or not. Its hard to believe a team can just waive him and he loses $20 mil) . But still, $19 mil next year for a bench player seems rather high. That would make signing DA and later Johnson very tough, while filling the roster with solid players.

The premise for this to happen without additional incurred cap would have to be something along the lines of:

Saric/ Smith/ Nader/ Payton/ first? Might gave to throw in a 2nd as well. That gets us to atound 18.7 million or so, Plus the pick ( we'dbe 500,000 over. So I'd look to take back Daishen Nix ( Payton replacement).

As for his salary in 23, (That's actually non guaranteed)

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/houston-rockets/eric-gordon-6116/
- 2023 non-guaranteed, fully guaranteed for All-Star team or 500 min (reg)/750 (reg/playoffs) + HOU Championship (@Wojnarowski

) (@BobbyMarks)

So really we'd only be on the hook next season
for his 19 million. HOWEVER with sending out additional 18.7 million salary in the trade, We'd be even after taking Nix back. Then we just look to flip Shamet ( after recouping some value) for any equivalent expiring whatsoever?? Then we use that additional cap space from Covingtons', Lambs, Santoranskys' or whoever's expiring to resign McGee?


So again, we can also look to move Shamet (in a separate singular trade) for a decent expiring to clear the additional space necessary to resign McGee. I would suggest Shamet to Portland for Covington perhaps? Or perhaps Jeremy Lamb or Thomas Santoransky. Both have salaries around 10 million. Actually,
with both Saric and Smith outgoing in the Gordon trade, Tristan Thompson for 9 million expiring would be a near perfect salary match. Derrick Jones Jr would be close too. All expire in 2022.

For me though personally, I'd love to add Covington and Gordon to our bench for a title run! The idea of this for me
Is very tempting!
Paul/ Booker/ Bridges/ Crowder/ Ayton.
Payne/ Gordon/ Covington/ Johnson/ McGee.
That's a super deep veteran bench with playoff experience. Possibly could be the deepest bench in the league! So since his 23' salary would be unguaranteed barring an extreme miracle, we'd basically upgrade Shamet to Gordon without any increase in cap obligation. Then we flip Shamet and two 2nds to Portland for Covington who can help us this season at the backup 3, and who expires next season too.