Official Suns Free Agent/Trade/Transaction Thread

[Fo-Real]

As someone has said, maybe we shouldnt trade anything unless its a game changing move like Love. All of the other trades disrupt chemistry while adding a guy for far more money than the current guy at the posistion for barely more if any more production at all. Obviously we shouldnt get rid of either Goran or Bledso, Plumlee is just scratching the surface of his potential ( not the mention like J Mac said... what if Len comes on in the next year and is what we thought he is), Fry is a perfect system fit,playing great, and actually getting better as the season goes, the Morris bros are DOING THE DAMN THING!!! and Green playing for the GM who drafted him is swimming in confidence!!! Ohh, and we are actually playing and developing a good rook so far in Goodwin. The only thing that can make this cinderella story better is if Okafer gets healthy and comes back to give us a STOUT back up big for a playoff run?!?!(Kravstov is not ready)

I was the first one on the sell high bandwagon for the players who I labled as overachieving, now I think I may be wrong. Maybe they are actually reaching thier potential with the right coach... right system... right opportunity.... right chemestry. We actually have a great situation.... Guys who are being optimized and playing out of thier heads... Draft picks galore going ahead... and a huge expiring, not just a bad contract and deadbeat, but someone who might actually get healthy and help, and if not is so very tradeable.... not to mention cap space. We should not accept anything other than a game changing trade ala Love, if not stay the course and let it ride with what we got.

[King4Day]

Didn't the Mavs run it with Nash and Nick Van Exell for stretches in 2003? Mo Williams-Delonte-Gibson for the Cavs? Curry and Jack last season for the Warriors?

It's certainly done before, but we'd need to define 'work'.

What do you Suns fans think of something like this:

Magic trade: Hedo Turkoglu and Mo Harkless
Suns trade: Emeka Okafor and Lakers' 2014 pick

If you guys cut Hedo before Jan 7th, his contract is non-guaranteed, so you basically take all that cap off for nothing and get a good, young 19 year old small forward.

We have LA's 2015 pick (top 5 protected). I don't know enough about Harkless to judge. For now, I'd pass as they could end up with a high pick considering nobody will want to play for a broken down team.

[Fo-Real]

Let us not forget that Okafor when healthy is better than Gortat by a lot. So we got a pick, and the better player going foward. Luckily we didnt need him right away, but if he is healthy come like Feb. he is an asset off the bench with his leadership, rebounding, defense and he is a very smart player. He at one time was an actual threat in the post both moving without the ball and as a post player, so him with Bledso, Dragic and guys like Fry spreading the floor.... we could get dangerous.

LIKE A FIRE IN A NURSING HOME!!!!! FOWARD TO ABOUT 1:20

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nwyKUKDqgQ[/youtube]

[Fo-Real]

With Okafor and Plumlee at C... no more getting pushed around..... EVER!!!!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcnwlR2Zda4[/youtube]

[Fo-Real]

Sorry.... I get excited sometimes!! But really, the perfect bench big to add to this team... may already be on the roster.

[Frank Lee]

Strange quiet about Okafor. Never any news on his rehab, and that is a strength area of this organization.

We need to hear something about him within the next month - 6 weeks if he is to play again this yr. SOMETHING. Give us an update.... would like to hear Okafor's thoughts/hope about his career. He will be job hunting if he is capable.


As for the 2 PG line up... proof is in the pudding. I think its fair to mention a huge benefit is having a solid starting PG on the floor for 48 minutes. We go traditional PG/SG backcourt for what....20+ minutes a game ? Right now,we are abusing other second units with a bench that is almost equaling our starters output.

Good breakdown on the cap stuff Carey.... I'm not up to speed on the new CBA, but I do remember McDo (or Coro) making a comment how with Bleds qualifying option, we can go over the limits to sign him. Does that effect your breakdown ? I guess it still does not change the following yr's possible Love Connection.

[Bogyo]

Didn't the Mavs run it with Nash and Nick Van Exell for stretches in 2003? Mo Williams-Delonte-Gibson for the Cavs? Curry and Jack last season for the Warriors?

It's certainly done before, but we'd need to define 'work'.

"Work" would mean a legit championship contender (top 4 team in the league for a couple yrs) for me in this regard. If we are talking about extending someone to a max contract, I tend to look at the bigger, longer picture, and we are likely extending Bledsoe with the max.

Two point guard lineups usually dont work becouse of defense. Point guards are generally smaller, so effective D is hard on legit shooting guards, and I feel this backcourt would/will have this problems.

Your examples are good (you were one of my favourite posters on .net - I was just lurking there), I havent really thought of them. Although I would discredit the Cavs backcourt, which was horrendus it only 'worked' (even on my terms) becouse of that LeBron dude.

Re: Grant Hills post - I would have loved to see Backcourt 2000 healthy... shame it never happened

[Gorilla Warfare]

You guys still think that Okafor was brought in as a player for this organization? He was clearly brought in as an expiring contract. At not point did I/am I expecting him to put on a Suns uniform.

[Bogyo]

You guys still think that Okafor was brought in as a player for this organization? He was clearly brought in as an expiring contract. At not point did I/am I expecting him to put on a Suns uniform.

Simmons mentioned in his podcast that we should try to get Love for our 4 draft picks this yr plus Len plus Okafor. It s essentially 5 draftpicks for Love. I'd try - but only if we are 100% sure Love resigns here.

[Gorilla Warfare]

I think Love could be had with 2-3 picks and Okafors expiring. We honestly have the best assets for Love and the Wolves, draft picks (insert Wolves' front office erections here) and a very solid expiring.

[Ring_Wanted]

.
.
.
So my question to you is... how much better does signing Deng make us considering it ties up all our remaining cap space going forward? Is it worth it?

In my opinion, no.

He'd be an upgrade over PJ, but I think he is not what we need at SF, above all if we are using our shot at a big contract on that position. I think he wouldn't improve the team to the next level, and I would be ok with going the rest of the season with PJ, Marcus and Green.


By the way, I'd love to resign PJ at 10/3, but would go as far as $4-4.25M per.

I also wish the FO and Frye negotiated a new contract that sets Frye for the rest of his career while giving us more flexibility next summer, basically to make sure Tucker was resigned without hurting the ability to make a max offer after all the cap holds apply. I think there is enough room under the $6.8M he is scheduled to make next year.

[WeekapaugGroove]

You guys still think that Okafor was brought in as a player for this organization? He was clearly brought in as an expiring contract. At not point did I/am I expecting him to put on a Suns uniform.

Simmons mentioned in his podcast that we should try to get Love for our 4 draft picks this yr plus Len plus Okafor. It s essentially 5 draftpicks for Love. I'd try - but only if we are 100% sure Love resigns here.

Sure IF the wolves would do it and IF loves agent told the suns he would sign an extension then you make the deal. I just think both those IFs are pretty big variables. I really doubt the wolves move love during the season IMO it much more likely this summer.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Ring_Wanted]

"Work" would mean a legit championship contender (top 4 team in the league for a couple yrs) for me in this regard. If we are talking about extending someone to a max contract, I tend to look at the bigger, longer picture, and we are likely extending Bledsoe with the max.

Two point guard lineups usually dont work becouse of defense. Point guards are generally smaller, so effective D is hard on legit shooting guards, and I feel this backcourt would/will have this problems.

When I saw the Bledsoe trade, I was not a believer in the two pg backcourt, but after watching every game so far, I must admit I am a buyer, and would indeed give Bledsoe the max if he came with such offer sheet (which in my opinion will be the case, either from the Lakers as Carey points or the Magic).

I think we can get away with it on both sides of the court. On offense they are playing more and more together, not just taking turns to do their thing, which was a big concern.

Neither is a 3pt specialist, but Bledsoe is improving and Goran can hit four or five threes from six tries any given game, he is just streaky. As long as defenses need to respect them, I think there is no issue if we have the right players around them. In that regard, PJ and Frye have been invaluabe.

And of course, what they don't offer in terms of 3pt%, they more than make up for dribbling to the basket and making closer shots (plus creating for others). Goran is developing a signature shot off the dribble to both sides, and Bledsoe makes his shots as long as he is looking straight to the rim. They are not flawless on O, tho, as Goran needs to finish with his right hand and Bledsoe needs to take better care of the ball, for instance, but they have a lot of time to polish what is already a killer game.

On D I am not worried either. Bledsoe can defend any PG (when he is into it). Goran is not as gifted but he is not Steve Nash by any means (actually Dragic was selected by Kerr as a supposed Parker stopper), and he brings it every single night.

Besides, the SGs of this era are less and less are capable of dribbling and creating and it's becoming more of a 3D position, which is much easier to defend. I particularly like Bledsoe's strength and lengh, so they could switch the assignment if needed.

We also need to keep in mind that interior defense is much more important than perimeter D, and we have Miles there (plus hopefully Len).

So I believe we can contend with this Binary System, if we add a real difference maker either at SF or PF/C. What we need to stay away from is lateral moves or expensive marginal upgrades (like Deng, in my opinion).


By the way, they say Goran is looking more and more like Manu. There we have a great example of two dominant guards perfectly integrated in a system. Manu comes off the bench, but Parker-Ginobili is the second most used backcourt by the Spurs, and it has a much better win% than Parker-Green. And regardless what the numbers say, as Suns fans we have seen those two destroy us countless times. Oh, and thanks for the kind words.

[Son of Ra]

You guys still think that Okafor was brought in as a player for this organization? He was clearly brought in as an expiring contract. At not point did I/am I expecting him to put on a Suns uniform.

Quite honestly it wouldn't surprise me. Did many really think that McD WANTED Green and Plumlee in the Indiana trade and not just the first rounder?
The way I see it with Okafor is a total win-win. Scenarios are as follows:

- He puts on a uniform and contributes or even plays great basketball. Then either:
---- we know he fits in our plans and we resign him.
---- someone else bids more than we want to pay so he is basically just an expiring again.
---- he doesn't contribute and we let him expire/trade him.
---- his value is up and we can sell high (if it is before the deadline this season)

- He doesn't play for us and:
---- our medical staff still clears him and we can sign him for dirt cheap since no one wants to take a risk by signing him
---- we let him expire.
---- we trade him.

I think this was another great, great under the radar move of McD. There is literally no negative outcome with Okafor that I can think of (other than we sign him and he has a serious injury again or underperforms which can happen with any player).

And besides all of that, Sarver has got to love the move too. If Okafor never plays his contract is insured and he has to pay him less. He has shown many times that he is not cheap (Childress, Beasley...). Apart from that I don't care how much Sarver has to hand out as long as it doesn't affect our cap.

I personally hope that he will play for us this/next season.

[gaspar]

What do you Suns fans think of something like this:

Magic trade: Hedo Turkoglu and Mo Harkless
Suns trade: Emeka Okafor and Lakers' 2014 pick

If you guys cut Hedo before Jan 7th, his contract is non-guaranteed, so you basically take all that cap off for nothing and get a good, young 19 year old small forward.

1. As mentioned earlier, we have Lakers' 2015 1st rounder, not 2014.
2. Hedo's contract is $6M guaranteed.
3. Harkless isn't worth a 1st round pick.

[gaspar]

Let us not forget that Okafor when healthy is better than Gortat by a lot. [...]

No, he isn't. Okafor is a bit better as a help defender, but Gortat is better defensively in the post and in about everything offensively - low post, pnr and mid-range jumpshot.

[rsavaj]

I think Love could be had with 2-3 picks and Okafors expiring. We honestly have the best assets for Love and the Wolves, draft picks (insert Wolves' front office erections here) and a very solid expiring.

If you were Minnesota, would you trade Kevin Love for Emeka Okafor and 3 picks?

[rsavaj]

Let us not forget that Okafor when healthy is better than Gortat by a lot. So we got a pick, and the better player going foward. Luckily we didnt need him right away, but if he is healthy come like Feb. he is an asset off the bench with his leadership, rebounding, defense and he is a very smart player. He at one time was an actual threat in the post both moving without the ball and as a post player, so him with Bledso, Dragic and guys like Fry spreading the floor.... we could get dangerous.

LIKE A FIRE IN A NURSING HOME!!!!! FOWARD TO ABOUT 1:20

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nwyKUKDqgQ[/youtube]

I wouldn't say "by a lot"; they're in the same tier as far as I'm concerned.

Sorry.... I get excited sometimes!! But really, the perfect bench big to add to this team... may already be on the roster.

This is true. Okafor's skill-set is just what we need, but we have no idea when he'll be healthy, and we don't know how he'll play if he ever does come back.

[jcsunsfan]

We don't need Jeff Green and his fat contract at all.

We don't need 99% of what's being talked about on this board. We have a great rotation with energy, youth, versatility, all spots covered, on good contracts. Yet half the board wants to pick up a traditional low post 4 or upgrade the 3 or 5 spot. If his name ain't Kevin Love or Gordon Hayward, we don't need him.

Yep. The biggest danger right now is tweaking too much. It's harder to make good trades the better you are. Stand pat get a good look at what you really need. The best move might be to do nothing.

[JMac1]

Simmons mentioned in his podcast that we should try to get Love for our 4 draft picks this yr plus Len plus Okafor. It s essentially 5 draftpicks for Love. I'd try - but only if we are 100% sure Love resigns here.

I'd do that trade in a heart beat!! We'd keep Goodwin our team and next year's Lakers' and Suns' pick. Good deal for everyone. They'd get a mid teens, early 20's and late 20's plus Len... Good deal for everyone, but yea Love would have to be on board.

I am glad Simmons is kicking the tires for us