2024-25 Season Discussion and Speculation Part IV

[Frank Lee]

Beauty in the struggle? Wtf? There is also art in a trainwreck

[Ghost of Kleine]

Beauty in the struggle? Wtf? There is also art in a trainwreck

Lol...very true. And Ishbia is our picasso of utter chaos and self sabotage.

[BobbieL]

This, a thousand times this. As much as I liked Booker I just cant stand his and his buddys attitude by now. Shameful, disgusting, weasel type behaviour, only caring about himself and his personal stuff. KD is samesamebutdifferent. I couldn't care less about these 2 by now. I AM UNBOTHERED. I would trade them for 2 seconds for all I care and watch the team for 10 years like that than actually root for them. I havent even checked box scores for about a month now. F them. Same goes for JJ who should have never been hired, than he should have been fired after he made his first "trade" (whatever giveaway that was).
Wake me up when they are all gone and Ishbia got bored with this and decided to let basketball guys run a basketball team.

If this thing truly blows up and the Suns not only miss the play-in game but also finish below the Spurs - who are now without Wemby, that might be enough for Ishbia to clean house - fire Jones and hire somebody like Bob Myer

I still think Ishbia would want a "name" GM and not a younger candidate like a Trajan Langdon that went to Detroit.

But it needs to happen and again, it starts with KD and Booker and hopefully can attach Allen or O"neal in a trade. Just going to have to deal with Beal in the summer of 2026 when he is expiring. Get the draft picks back from Houston, get more draft picks in another trade, get some young talent and rebuild as this thing is going nowhere fast.

Bob Myer would be awesome and, this could just be my opinion but I think he's ready to hop back in next yr. Here's an interesting question would be is how he and Durant would work?

Would KD feel like staying if Myer is back? They won 2 titles together. If the Booker haul around KD, makes the idea of staying more palpable then what happens? Or would Myer just send both of them off, maybe neither.

My guess is there would be no issue working together as Myer would trade Durant first. You don't trade Booker and keep Durant.

My hope is trade them both of course - this team is not winning with these two

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

Another "gimme" game where practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing. We should win this handily, but nothing is consistent with this team.

[Djedefre]

Missing the play-in is the best thing that can happen to us as it is the only thing that could force our idiot of an owner to blow it up and trade those two...

[Slim Charless]

Missing the play-in is the best thing that can happen to us as it is the only thing that could force our idiot of an owner to blow it up and trade those two...

Then our pick is higher....and Houston has more leverage in a trade. Thats not good.

What we need is to make the play-in or even the playoffs. Then get our doors blown off. 4-0 sweep or a whooping in the play-in.

So that we get killed on a national stage and Ishbia and Jones csnt hide from the truth that we need a rebuild.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Missing the play-in is the best thing that can happen to us as it is the only thing that could force our idiot of an owner to blow it up and trade those two...

Agreed!
The problem though with these meh wins against these deceptively bad teams is that Ishbia and Jones will use the recent very small span of successful wins to only further delude themselves from the obvious that this was all still an epic failure and our very best hope for the future is in blowing it all up and cashing in on the diminishing value that KD and Booker might have left!

Ishbia will undoubtedly go on some coke-fueled delusional tirade about how even with all of our struggles, they've now seen evidence that this super team can work if we only make some minor adjustments around the edges and run things back with more time together as the elusive answer even though it clearly hasn't worked at all over multiple seasons. But for Ishbia and Jones, delusion is a far more acceptable outcome than having to actually face accountability for their egregious mismanagement.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

Another "gimme" game where practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing. We should win this handily, but nothing is consistent with this team.

Who are those players? Ulrich Chomche, PJ Tucker and A.J. Lawson? Lol.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Missing the play-in is the best thing that can happen to us as it is the only thing that could force our idiot of an owner to blow it up and trade those two...

Then our pick is higher....and Houston has more leverage in a trade. Thats not good.

What we need is to make the play-in or even the playoffs. Then get our doors blown off. 4-0 sweep or a whooping in the play-in.

So that we get killed on a national stage and Ishbia and Jones csnt hide from the truth that we need a rebuild.

This is why it'll be critically important for us to make absolutely sure we get back our 25' 1st in a KD to Houston trade. Then we can trade back in the draft with Brooklyn for the 21st,23rd, and 26th picks in this draft, and then the Brooklyn 26' 1st last (lottery protected). Then we can fill our roster with multiple young, long, physical, very athletic talents for our future core. And with those young talents being cost-controlled for the next 4 years, then we'd also have the cap flexibility to actually sign better quality free agent pieces to put around them.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

Another "gimme" game where practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing. We should win this handily, but nothing is consistent with this team.

Who are those players? Ulrich Chomche, PJ Tucker and A.J. Lawson? Lol.

Are you saying that Ingram and Poetl aren't key starters? Are you downplaying that those two are out when the Raptors already have a serious lack of depth at multiple positions without them too? These teams that we're facing already are bottom feeders, so not having two of their starters and even less depth is obviously significant when you already don't have much depth or talent to begin with.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

Another "gimme" game where practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing. We should win this handily, but nothing is consistent with this team.

Who are those players? Ulrich Chomche, PJ Tucker and A.J. Lawson? Lol.

Are you saying that Ingram and Poetl aren't key starters? Are you downplaying that those two are out when the Raptors already have a serious lack of depth at multiple positions without them too? These teams that we're facing already are bottom feeders, so not having two of their starters and even less depth is obviously significant when you already don't have much depth or talent to begin with.

First... Poetl is questionable. He has missed some games already but he is 50-50 on this one.

2nd... Ingram is injured since he was on the Pelicans. He hasn't played a single game for rhe Raptors.

You wrote "Practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing ". Someone is gonna tell you that you are lying or you are mistaken about it. Just that.

[ChuckS]

Read on Twitter

Another "gimme" game where practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing. We should win this handily, but nothing is consistent with this team.

You're probably just trying to be encouraging while hoping for a win. But if Poeltl, who is questionable, plays their strongest six players will still be available. It might not be as easy as you hope, particularly at a tough place to play. PJ will likely be cut. Ingram is out with an ankle and hasn't yet played for them. They gave up three nice bench pieces in the trade, but still have Boucher in Olynyk's absence. Brown and Mitchell might be missed a little, but their depth is probably still better than ours.

[Slim Charless]

Missing the play-in is the best thing that can happen to us as it is the only thing that could force our idiot of an owner to blow it up and trade those two...

Then our pick is higher....and Houston has more leverage in a trade. Thats not good.

What we need is to make the play-in or even the playoffs. Then get our doors blown off. 4-0 sweep or a whooping in the play-in.

So that we get killed on a national stage and Ishbia and Jones csnt hide from the truth that we need a rebuild.

This is why it'll be critically important for us to make absolutely sure we get back our 25' 1st in a KD to Houston trade. Then we can trade back in the draft with Brooklyn for the 21st,23rd, and 26th picks in this draft, and then the Brooklyn 26' 1st last (lottery protected). Then we can fill our roster with multiple young, long, physical, very athletic talents for our future core. And with those young talents being cost-controlled for the next 4 years, then we'd also have the cap flexibility to actually sign better quality free agent pieces to put around them.

I'd rather get already proven players and keep our pick. Gimme Jabari, Jalen Green and our picks for Durant and I'm happy.

Then either keep Jalen or send him to Detroit and see if we can buy low on Ausar while getting them to add Ivey hopefully. I'll even throw in something extra if need be. Pistons have a rookie SF already there and Ausar hasn't been as good as his brother.

Pistons need someone else besides Cade that can score and the 2 of them would make an awesome backcourt. Kinda like what we were supposed to get when we had JKidd and Penny Hardaway all those years ago.

[Calvin Klein]

KD saying there is beauty in the struggle when he cant stop jumping from team to team when things get tough...so ironic

[sunsbg]

Mikal, Payne and Shamet sighting in Knicks Celtics game. The later two had a positive impact to bring Knicks back into the game in first half, but didn't get to play much in second. Mikal with game worse -23. He has really regressed from his play after the trade. Knicks fans don't like him much even as 3-4 option from what I've read on GB. Wonder if Knicks could be interested in one for two deal for depth with us sending Allen and Royce back + the picks from Jazz trade. Also we'll have to get under the aprons for that to work.

[sunsbg]

Butler's playing well for GSW. KD screwed us by refusing the trade. While I'd hate giving Jimmy a max + losing picks, him replacing KD + gaining assets would've been nice.

Only way Suns make the playoffs is Kings who also have a hard schedule lose more than us. Then need to win two play in games. I'd put making the playoffs at 10% likelihood.

[dcoop]

Because butler hustles. He moves without the ball. He doesn’t just stand in the corner like KD

[Ghost of Kleine]

Who are those players? Ulrich Chomche, PJ Tucker and A.J. Lawson? Lol.

Are you saying that Ingram and Poetl aren't key starters? Are you downplaying that those two are out when the Raptors already have a serious lack of depth at multiple positions without them too? These teams that we're facing already are bottom feeders, so not having two of their starters and even less depth is obviously significant when you already don't have much depth or talent to begin with.

First... Poetl is questionable. He has missed some games already but he is 50-50 on this one.

2nd... Ingram is injured since he was on the Pelicans. He hasn't played a single game for the Raptors.

You wrote "Practically the whole team's starters aren't even playing ". Someone is gonna tell you that you are lying or you are mistaken about it. Just that.

Well, Surely opinions/ perspectives can be subjective, but contextual facts are not as scalable or disputable man.
- 1st If Poetl is obviously listed as questionable, then it's inferred that he's likely not going to play. If that were not the greater possibility, then he wouldn't be on the list or at least be listed as probable. But as it shows in the tweet, it says "questionable" not "probable." So the logical presumption would be in that he wouldn't likely play today (barring an anomalous decision).
- 2nd stating that Ingram is/ has been injured and as of yet hasn't played for the Raptors doesn't in any way delegitimize my statement towards them having the lack of depth due to having practically all of their starters out today.

Yes, I wrote "practically" as in the literal definition meaning near or almost. Not all or the entirety of obviously. So my statement by the very definition itself is still accurate and thusly not a lie as it doesn't at all infer the full or complete numbers/amount involved contextually in this premise. But clearly speaks to near or almost almost all of their starters dpth, which holds true if Poetl ends up not playing today. And in terms of their lack of legitimate depth is clearly illustrated in the link below.

https://www.espn.com/nba/team/depth/_/name/tor

So when looking at their current depth (post-trade) and with Ingram not even playing yet and IF Poeetl does not end up playing either. that's two starters and a total of 5 potential depth pieces for them when they already have players covering multiple positions due to that lack of tangible depth. Any way you slice it, the Raptors are razor-thin on overall depth and have even less when you consider Ingram who will be /is a definitive starter, and now possibly Poeetl too. So I'm not sure what the crux of your argument is in what I've said.

[bwgood77]

Suns are going to be pretty screwed with the fans, because if we trade Book we won't be very good, and many fans will say we never should have traded him, but if we keep him we won't be very good, and many fans will say we should have traded him.

[Hitachi77]

Butler's playing well for GSW. KD screwed us by refusing the trade. While I'd hate giving Jimmy a max + losing picks, him replacing KD + gaining assets would've been nice.

Only way Suns make the playoffs is Kings who also have a hard schedule lose more than us. Then need to win two play in games. I'd put making the playoffs at 10% likelihood.

I thought we’d get picks in that trade? Not lose them?

I had something longer typed out on making the playoffs then I realized I agreed with everything you said lol. Maybe a slight favorite to pass the Kings if I’m being generous. Can’t see us passing anyone else unless the Mavs start to fall apart after that disaster trade, but they are still playing hard. 10% sounds about right on the playoffs.