Trade & Free Agency Ideas & Discussion 2

[matt131]

[quote="Jdiddy701"]Next question: if Blake signs, will we have more nationally televised games? Suns vs LAC, Christmas Day? The league is better when the Suns are good!

Nah. I'm sure if the Suns sign Blake, the narrative will be that he is an injury prone player on the downside of his career. We will not get more TV games.

Now if he signs with the Celtics, the narrative will be that he is a top 10 player who will be able to push them past Cleveland and compete with the Warriors.

[Sunsdeuce]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

I don't think teams should fully build through the draft and I don't think you should fully build through free agency/trades. In my opinion you have to successfully be good at drafting/trading/free agency.

That's why I love how the rockets and Boston do business. Get the assets then either draft a star or use them to get a star.

Point is just letting players develop isn't going to get a team into a championship team. Aggressive committment to winning gets a team to a championship and that means being good at drafting/trading/free agency. Every team that has ever won a championship has had a Top 3 pick and most have really really good free agent signings. Can't build a team simply through drafting.

Right now the only thing Suns can put a check mark by is drafting. Let's be honest here Ryan McDonough has a very very weak free agency and trading resume.

So to say you don't want Blake Griffin (without having to give up a single asset) is just crazy!

[Zelaznyrules]

Next question: if Blake signs, will we have more nationally televised games? Suns vs LAC, Christmas Day? The league is better when the Suns are good!


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

I agree, basketball is more fun when the Suns are relevant. And I'd like more televised games. But I don't think today's Blake Griffin gets us much in the way of national interest. He's always been a very polarizing player and with his game in decline the past few years, I think he'd have to re-establish himself in order to bring serious media focus our way.

[NTB]

I still don't see Blake hinders Chriss & Bender's development. Our core will still develop and while they are developing we are also gonna win more games and experience playoff action.

Well they certainly wouldn't get as much on court playing time, if you think that contributes to development.

Read on Twitter

I think they would.

[bwgood77]

Bill Simmons article about what the Clippers should do...he has season tickets to the Clips...

1. Let Blake Griffin leave.
Again, I’m just trusting NBA history here. I think it was the great Red Auerbach who first came up with this rule: If you throw the name of any 28-and-over All-Star forward or center into Google searches with the following words …

“Broken”
“Torn”
“Walking Boot”
“Arthroscopic”
“Second surgery”
“Under the knife”
“Limping”
“Tendinitis”
… and you get results for half of the searches, you should be concerned. If you’re getting results for EVERY search? RUN FOR THE HILLS.

I believe Blake Griffin remains one of the league’s most fascinating talents, but I can’t imagine him staying healthy for two years, much less four. Too many injuries, too much damage. You could see the effects of those hospital trips last year, when Blake started going under and around bigger players instead of over and through them. We went from Lob City to Duck City.
In 2010, Phoenix faced a similar dilemma with a star forward in his late 20s who brought similar physical risks. They blinked and let Amar’e Stoudemire sign with New York for $100 million. He played fantastically for 50 games, then his knees broke down and that was that. I hope that doesn’t happen to Blake, but it’s more likely than unlikely. You can’t risk $130 million for four years, or $175 million for five years, on someone who probably can’t stay healthy. Let him leave. We’ll always have the 2015 Spurs series, Lob City, the Kia leap, and 230 of the 237 best dunks in Clippers history. I enjoyed the Blake Griffin era.

https://theringer.com/2017-nba-free-agency-11-step-guide-to-fixing-los-angeles-clippers-steve-ballmer-lebron-james-5be49018c062

[bwgood77]

Next question: if Blake signs, will we have more nationally televised games? Suns vs LAC, Christmas Day? The league is better when the Suns are good!


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

I agree, basketball is more fun when the Suns are relevant. And I'd like more televised games. But I don't think today's Blake Griffin gets us much in the way of national interest. He's always been a very polarizing player and with his game in decline the past few years, I think he'd have to re-establish himself in order to bring serious media focus our way.

I do find it interesting that none of the other teams with cap space are going after him and the Clips are hesitant to give him the max.

[Zelaznyrules]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

I don't think teams should fully build through the draft and I don't think you should fully build through free agency/trades. In my opinion you have to successfully be good at drafting/trading/free agency.

That's why I love how the rockets and Boston do business. Get the assets then either draft a star or use them to get a star.

Point is just letting players develop isn't going to get a team into a championship team. Aggressive committment to winning gets a team to a championship and that means being good at drafting/trading/free agency. Every team that has ever won a championship has had a Top 3 pick and most have really really good free agent signings. Can't build a team simply through drafting.

Right now the only thing Suns can put a check mark by is drafting. Let's be honest here Ryan McDonough has a very very weak free agency and trading resume.

So to say you don't want Blake Griffin (without having to give up a single asset) is just crazy!

I agree with some of what you're saying but you're ignoring our reality. We aren't like most teams. We don't just have a kid or two, we have a team full of them. With the possible exception of Booker, none of them have all that much trade value right now. They might in a year or two if we get them on the court and let them learn and show what they can do but right now, most of them have less value than the pick number they were drafted as.

[Zelaznyrules]

Next question: if Blake signs, will we have more nationally televised games? Suns vs LAC, Christmas Day? The league is better when the Suns are good!


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

I agree, basketball is more fun when the Suns are relevant. And I'd like more televised games. But I don't think today's Blake Griffin gets us much in the way of national interest. He's always been a very polarizing player and with his game in decline the past few years, I think he'd have to re-establish himself in order to bring serious media focus our way.

I do find it interesting that none of the other teams with cap space are going after him and the Clips are hesitant to give him the max.

I'm sure someone will explain it all away by pointing to our training staff.

[bwgood77]

I agree, basketball is more fun when the Suns are relevant. And I'd like more televised games. But I don't think today's Blake Griffin gets us much in the way of national interest. He's always been a very polarizing player and with his game in decline the past few years, I think he'd have to re-establish himself in order to bring serious media focus our way.

I do find it interesting that none of the other teams with cap space are going after him and the Clips are hesitant to give him the max.

I'm sure someone will explain it all away by pointing to our training staff.

They were impressive 8 or 9 years ago.

[Two Time]

Can't we just learn on our and others mistakes? Remember LMA case? It was like at a funeral here when he chose Spurs. And now, 2 years later, he's at the door, failed to achieve anything significant even in their proven system. Would our future look better and brighter today if we landed him then? I'm pretty sure the answer is no - this board would be throwing stones at McD, cursing him for pulling Knight 2.0 move and selling our future for a year or two of quasi-relevancy.

Can't say for sure, LMA was talked out of coming to Phoenix, and from the looks of it, he regretted it the day he started playing for the Spurs. He was a poor fit there. He could have worked in Phoenix, but we'll never know.

I'm sure he could've worked in PHX. To the 1st round exit. That's the point. You simply do not throw money with long term commitment on a guy like LMA/Griffin when you're not just one (exactly that one) piece away from being a contender. You do not cut yourself maneuvering space in the future like that.

I don't get what this means. Why would the Suns have been done if/when they signed LA?
"We got Aldridge guys we're good now".. "Well should we use any other assets to pursue deals for other players, or use LA as a way to entice some other players?" .. "Nahhh, we signed ONE player, the process is complete.."

[Kerrsed]

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/bjxx58/the-phoenix-suns-still-dont-know-what-they-are

Spoiler:

Is a free agency meeting with Blake Griffin significant, or are the Suns fooling themselves once again?

The Phoenix Suns exist in a perpetual identity crisis. No team is more confused about what it is, or where it wants to go. At various times in recent years they've convinced themselves that they are an attractive free agency destination, one appealing enough to pull in an All-Star or two. In reality they're a jumbled mess of a team, a mix of bad contracts, promising prospects, a few intriguing assets, and maybe one or two pretty good players (if all breaks right) who aren't nearly good enough to lead a playoff run.

They want to win now and build for tomorrow—we can call this The Boston Celtics Model—but they don't have enough talent, foresight, patience, or coaching to make either objective feel possible. The Suns won 24 games last season, good for worst in the Western Conference. To be fair, several healthy veterans were intentionally put on ice at the end of the year to preserve a high draft pick. Then, in the lottery, Phoenix was leapt by two teams and fell from second to fourth, a devastating development that cost them a chance to pair Devin Booker with either Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball in the backcourt.

But even when Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight, and the team's other veteran contributors were in the rotation, Phoenix was still a trainwreck on defense. Add it up, and they're still too young and antsy to string together anything close to a playoff-caliber team. That brings us to free agency, where Phoenix suddenly believes it can bag a prized asset like Blake Griffin.

The two sides will reportedly meet on Sunday, in an unexpected and strange development with echoes of a similar meeting two years ago, when the Suns believed LaMarcus Aldridge was on their doorstep. This situation is a little different, though. The meeting feels more like something Griffin is using to squeeze a fifth year—and maybe even a no-trade clause—out of the Los Angeles Clippers than an actual prelude to him taking his talents to Maricopa County. The same can probably be said for Paul Millsap, another Suns target, but the Atlanta Hawks would be fine to let their best player walk if Phoenix is serious about maxing a 32-year-old out.

Is there a reason for Griffin, and the rest of the NBA, to take the Suns seriously right now? Maybe. What if joining forces with former teammate and pseudo-All-Star Eric Bledsoe, a stable veteran like Tyson Chandler, and a bunch of blooming could-be-awesomes like Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, and Marquese Chriss tickles his fancy?

More importantly, is Phoenix's justifiably hallowed medical staff by itself enough to convince Griffin that signing a four-year max with a player option in the final season is his smartest long-term play? That way he can opt out after three (potentially) healthy years and re-enter free agency with 10 seasons of experience under his belt, just in time for a massive payday at a higher scale down the line.

It's not that crazy, really, but to clear max space for Griffin, the Suns would first need to renounce Ronnie Price and Alex Len, waive Leandro Barbosa, and trade either Jared Dudley or Knight. Even though he just had toe surgery and is expected to miss 3-4 months, Dudley is the easiest contract to shed without attaching any valuable assets, but he's also the better player, another of Griffin's former teammates, and a complementary fit in lineups that pit Griffin at center and Dudley at the four.

If the Suns are serious about cutting corners and solely focused on regaining relevance with a star-driven playoff appearance, they should have no problem handcuffing their most prized assets to their ugliest contracts and dumping them on teams like the Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, or Sacramento Kings.

With Griffin already in the fold, what's stopping them from making a trade for the next star who becomes available? The Suns have made some devastating mistakes over the past few seasons, but they still own two attractive chips from the Miami Heat: a top-seven protected selection in 2018 and an unprotected one in 2021. All their own picks are safe and sound, too.

Just thinking out loud, what if they sign Griffin, then, pending what happens with Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, strike a deal sending Chriss and/or Bender, salary filler, and a pair of first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan? Even with non-existent spacing, a capped ceiling, and defense that would give Phoenix's fans a permanent migraine, the lineup flexibility would be enticing. And with a proven coach—related: they'll need to hire a new coach—and system that preaches ball and man movement, at the very least they would be a fun group that's hard to stop.

Way too many things need to happen for that to become reality—it's just about impossible, honestly, and also not very smart—but the point is that if Phoenix can lure Griffin to the team, they can afford to get aggressive on the trade market. They have attractive young contributors and a solid stash of picks that would interest teams looking to time their rise with the eventual decline of the Golden State Warriors/Cleveland Cavaliers rivalry.

How about Carmelo Anthony? Or a Paul George overpay? Or maybe even an absurd offer to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook? The Suns usually come off as desperate, and with enough assets to spice up trade conversations they won't worry about destroying their future to maximize a free agent splash.

Even if they don't land another star, who knows how high Booker can climb next season, and the year after, in a competitive environment where he's the second or third option. A Bledsoe, Griffin, Booker, Jackson foursome on its own could be enough to make the playoffs in 2019, and by then they should have enough room to go spending in free agency once again.

All this sounds nice, but Griffin has more enticing offers and destinations to ponder. It doesn't hurt to get a meeting with someone that talented, but the Suns' priority should be to take things slow and grow organically with the pieces already in place. Even though they haven't made the playoffs in seven years, flexibility should still to be sexier to them than a postseason appearance. Even if they sign Griffin and trade for another star, a playoff spot is just about all they're promised to get.

[Frank Lee]

Jesus Kerrsed.... thats like a summary of the past 30 pages

[darealjuice]

What a **** article lol.

"Suns are doing their due diligence by trying to talk to stars when they have tons of cap space, what a train wreck. I think this must mean they're trading for every washed up star in the league and giving up all their young players too, so stupid and desperate of **** Phoenix."

[bigfoot]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

I don't think teams should fully build through the draft and I don't think you should fully build through free agency/trades. In my opinion you have to successfully be good at drafting/trading/free agency.

That's why I love how the rockets and Boston do business. Get the assets then either draft a star or use them to get a star.

Point is just letting players develop isn't going to get a team into a championship team. Aggressive committment to winning gets a team to a championship and that means being good at drafting/trading/free agency. Every team that has ever won a championship has had a Top 3 pick and most have really really good free agent signings. Can't build a team simply through drafting.

Right now the only thing Suns can put a check mark by is drafting. Let's be honest here Ryan McDonough has a very very weak free agency and trading resume.

So to say you don't want Blake Griffin (without having to give up a single asset) is just crazy!

Holy hell ... the world is coming to an end ... I 100% agree with you

[QRich3]

So, sad as it is for us, I find very very likely that Blake is gonna sign with you guys. He's not the type to be getting public meetings to feed his own ego, it actually surprised me that he had even one public meeting leaked like this. So it's likely that you're gonna close it right there on Saturday imo, unless your FO plans on low balling him or something. Then, there's the fact that his agent, not him, is meeting with the Clippers the day before, which kinda signals he's just letting us know he's gone.

Also, for the skeptics, once you have him on your team, you'll find out that a lot of his public perception is due to hot takes, and he's a much more humble, hard working, reliable guy than he gets credit for.

What are your thoughts on him being injured so much? I know the toe thing was kind of a freak thing as I witnessed it. But what else was he out for and why and are these recurring issues.

Interesting that you have a Q Rich avi and the last time we signed a Clipper (him), in the summer of 2004, we went from like 29 to 62 wins. Of course Nash had something to do with that. And I wouldn't expect near 60 wins this season.

Ya I watched more Phoenix games than Clippers games that season, still got my orange #3 Phoenix jersey somewhere

Griffin's injuries, they're concerning, for sure, it literally killed 3 of our postseason chances in a 5 year span. But they've also been random injuries to various body parts mostly, and he was an iron man that didn't miss any games in his first 4 seasons here. So it's not like he has a red flag because of one specific injury. We've seen many times how guys are labeled injury prone because they can't stop getting a variety of injuries, and then they catch some luck for a few years and they're back to top level. Him falling on Odom's foot during the Grizzlies series is not something I'd be worried about going forward, and neither is him breaking his hand after being stupid and punching a friend (and that's another thing, he acted really stupid there, but he's not a stupid guy in the least). So I can definitely see him being back to healthy, but you never know when the next random thing's gonna happen. His knee is a minor concern, but I'd be much more worried about Bledsoe's, for instance, and I think even with him it's not that bad necessarily. Anyway, I would give Blake the max with no reservations, specially if you're adding him for nothing like you guys would.

That said, hope it goes really bad tomorrow

[Damkac]

Don't get too excited. I think there is about 20% chance that Blake will be a Sun.

But if Suns could sign him WITHOUT trading any young player it would be stupid not to do this.

Bledsoe/Ulis
Booker/Jackson
Jackson/Warren
Griffin/Bender
Chandler/Chriss

Everybody should get enough minutes. Dudley would have to go to free cap space and playing time.

[jredsaz]

Well they certainly wouldn't get as much on court playing time, if you think that contributes to development.

Read on Twitter

but here is where Bender and Chriss control if they want to play and get the pay day down the road
its by earning a job

Russell Wilson beat out Matt Flynn and the rest is history

If Bender/Chriss continue to improve, the minutes will be there for all and the team will benefit

Yes and Billy flipped his burgers better than little Timmy but guess what, it's not the same thing. And it isn't just Bender and Chriss, we have a team full of players that are far from reaching their playing peak. If you play young players they make mistakes. If you're pulling out all stops to win games, you can't afford those mistakes.

To see the risks with this "bring in a star" approach, all you have to do is look at Len, look at the arguments that so many made in favor of the acquisition of Chandler and look where we are now. We all know that a lot of big men develop late. We all knew that Len came to the game late and had a long ways to go. We accepted the idea that Chandler would be a good mentor for Len and that he could learn what he needed in fits and spurts rather than by playing a major role. Our recent history suggests we were wrong.

And now, we have to decide whether to invest big dollars in Alex or let him walk. If we hadn't chased Chandler, we'd have a much better idea what to do right now but his presence delayed Len's growth, ate up the first contract cushion the CBA gave us, and left us in this position. I so hope we don't do this again and find ourselves having to consider letting Bender and maybe even Chriss walk, just as we're considering doing now with Len and Warren.

Chandler is not nearly the caliber of player Griffin is. I also have a hard time believing Len would be that much better had we not signed Chandler. Isnt it just as possible that he is an average player from a pretty weak draft?

In the end If you can land a top 15 player you take the shot. Period. That's what you hope and pray one of our youngsters will develop into. Griffin is that caliber of player when healthy. Given our training staff's success in the past I think the injury risk is somewhat mitigated.



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[WeekapaugGroove]

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/bjxx58/the-phoenix-suns-still-dont-know-what-they-are

Spoiler:

Is a free agency meeting with Blake Griffin significant, or are the Suns fooling themselves once again?

The Phoenix Suns exist in a perpetual identity crisis. No team is more confused about what it is, or where it wants to go. At various times in recent years they've convinced themselves that they are an attractive free agency destination, one appealing enough to pull in an All-Star or two. In reality they're a jumbled mess of a team, a mix of bad contracts, promising prospects, a few intriguing assets, and maybe one or two pretty good players (if all breaks right) who aren't nearly good enough to lead a playoff run.

They want to win now and build for tomorrow—we can call this The Boston Celtics Model—but they don't have enough talent, foresight, patience, or coaching to make either objective feel possible. The Suns won 24 games last season, good for worst in the Western Conference. To be fair, several healthy veterans were intentionally put on ice at the end of the year to preserve a high draft pick. Then, in the lottery, Phoenix was leapt by two teams and fell from second to fourth, a devastating development that cost them a chance to pair Devin Booker with either Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball in the backcourt.

But even when Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, Brandon Knight, and the team's other veteran contributors were in the rotation, Phoenix was still a trainwreck on defense. Add it up, and they're still too young and antsy to string together anything close to a playoff-caliber team. That brings us to free agency, where Phoenix suddenly believes it can bag a prized asset like Blake Griffin.

The two sides will reportedly meet on Sunday, in an unexpected and strange development with echoes of a similar meeting two years ago, when the Suns believed LaMarcus Aldridge was on their doorstep. This situation is a little different, though. The meeting feels more like something Griffin is using to squeeze a fifth year—and maybe even a no-trade clause—out of the Los Angeles Clippers than an actual prelude to him taking his talents to Maricopa County. The same can probably be said for Paul Millsap, another Suns target, but the Atlanta Hawks would be fine to let their best player walk if Phoenix is serious about maxing a 32-year-old out.

Is there a reason for Griffin, and the rest of the NBA, to take the Suns seriously right now? Maybe. What if joining forces with former teammate and pseudo-All-Star Eric Bledsoe, a stable veteran like Tyson Chandler, and a bunch of blooming could-be-awesomes like Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, and Marquese Chriss tickles his fancy?

More importantly, is Phoenix's justifiably hallowed medical staff by itself enough to convince Griffin that signing a four-year max with a player option in the final season is his smartest long-term play? That way he can opt out after three (potentially) healthy years and re-enter free agency with 10 seasons of experience under his belt, just in time for a massive payday at a higher scale down the line.

It's not that crazy, really, but to clear max space for Griffin, the Suns would first need to renounce Ronnie Price and Alex Len, waive Leandro Barbosa, and trade either Jared Dudley or Knight. Even though he just had toe surgery and is expected to miss 3-4 months, Dudley is the easiest contract to shed without attaching any valuable assets, but he's also the better player, another of Griffin's former teammates, and a complementary fit in lineups that pit Griffin at center and Dudley at the four.

If the Suns are serious about cutting corners and solely focused on regaining relevance with a star-driven playoff appearance, they should have no problem handcuffing their most prized assets to their ugliest contracts and dumping them on teams like the Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, or Sacramento Kings.

With Griffin already in the fold, what's stopping them from making a trade for the next star who becomes available? The Suns have made some devastating mistakes over the past few seasons, but they still own two attractive chips from the Miami Heat: a top-seven protected selection in 2018 and an unprotected one in 2021. All their own picks are safe and sound, too.

Just thinking out loud, what if they sign Griffin, then, pending what happens with Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, strike a deal sending Chriss and/or Bender, salary filler, and a pair of first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors for DeMar DeRozan? Even with non-existent spacing, a capped ceiling, and defense that would give Phoenix's fans a permanent migraine, the lineup flexibility would be enticing. And with a proven coach—related: they'll need to hire a new coach—and system that preaches ball and man movement, at the very least they would be a fun group that's hard to stop.

Way too many things need to happen for that to become reality—it's just about impossible, honestly, and also not very smart—but the point is that if Phoenix can lure Griffin to the team, they can afford to get aggressive on the trade market. They have attractive young contributors and a solid stash of picks that would interest teams looking to time their rise with the eventual decline of the Golden State Warriors/Cleveland Cavaliers rivalry.

How about Carmelo Anthony? Or a Paul George overpay? Or maybe even an absurd offer to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook? The Suns usually come off as desperate, and with enough assets to spice up trade conversations they won't worry about destroying their future to maximize a free agent splash.

Even if they don't land another star, who knows how high Booker can climb next season, and the year after, in a competitive environment where he's the second or third option. A Bledsoe, Griffin, Booker, Jackson foursome on its own could be enough to make the playoffs in 2019, and by then they should have enough room to go spending in free agency once again.

All this sounds nice, but Griffin has more enticing offers and destinations to ponder. It doesn't hurt to get a meeting with someone that talented, but the Suns' priority should be to take things slow and grow organically with the pieces already in place. Even though they haven't made the playoffs in seven years, flexibility should still to be sexier to them than a postseason appearance. Even if they sign Griffin and trade for another star, a playoff spot is just about all they're promised to get.

While I disagree with the entire end of that article on who they should acquire if they did land Griffin I have to agree with the first part: this team has really lacked a coherent and sensible team building plan. They seem to change their minds and contradict themselves often. Heck even this Griffin or Milsap pursuit seems like a change in ideas since if they had any forsite they were going to do this then why the **** give Dudley that contract last offseason? By simply not doing that they would have max cap space this summer and woulnd't have to do anything to clear space. I do sometimes feel like this team just can't think more than one year out and that's how you get yourself in trouble.

[Scutt]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

I don't think teams should fully build through the draft and I don't think you should fully build through free agency/trades. In my opinion you have to successfully be good at drafting/trading/free agency.

That's why I love how the rockets and Boston do business. Get the assets then either draft a star or use them to get a star.

Point is just letting players develop isn't going to get a team into a championship team. Aggressive committment to winning gets a team to a championship and that means being good at drafting/trading/free agency. Every team that has ever won a championship has had a Top 3 pick and most have really really good free agent signings. Can't build a team simply through drafting.

Right now the only thing Suns can put a check mark by is drafting. Let's be honest here Ryan McDonough has a very very weak free agency and trading resume.

So to say you don't want Blake Griffin (without having to give up a single asset) is just crazy!

Cap space flexibility is a pretty important asset and would be giving that up. While I agree that free agent singings are important to building a contender, they have to be the right free agent signings at the right time. Do you really think Blake Griffin fits in with the core the Suns have? When the majority of our teams talent hits their primes, Blake will be in his mid 30's.

I feel like I am taking crazy pills here, am I the only one who thinks even if we do sign him, we are not even a lock for the playoffs? Griffin only has a few good years left, at best. Bledsoe, Griffin, Chandler, Booker, and a bunch of babies is not going to compete for anything meaningful, so what is the point? Lets hit the pause button on the rebuild, so we can sign a declining PF with bad knees and team him up with our PG who also has bad knees. Its a match made in heaven, sign me up!

[Djedefre]

Can't say for sure, LMA was talked out of coming to Phoenix, and from the looks of it, he regretted it the day he started playing for the Spurs. He was a poor fit there. He could have worked in Phoenix, but we'll never know.

I'm sure he could've worked in PHX. To the 1st round exit. That's the point. You simply do not throw money with long term commitment on a guy like LMA/Griffin when you're not just one (exactly that one) piece away from being a contender. You do not cut yourself maneuvering space in the future like that.

I don't get what this means. Why would the Suns have been done if/when they signed LA?
"We got Aldridge guys we're good now".. "Well should we use any other assets to pursue deals for other players, or use LA as a way to entice some other players?" .. "Nahhh, we signed ONE player, the process is complete.."

This isn’t singles tennis
Things aren’t that simple. Bringing one player in order to entice other to join you is always risky. Chances are actually not so great to pull it off. McD tried with Chandler, took a risk at overpaying an old player like him hoping LMA would come, and end up with another contract that he now looks to dump. Why didn’t Spurs use LMA and Kawhi to bring another big name? They had the tools, so? Easier said than done. Scoring in free agency is a hell of a job.