2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation

[Slim Charless]

Ayton out too.

Just coming here to post this. Well, it was bound to happen to us too. Our luck wasn't gonna last all season. Better now than in the playoffs I guess.

[SunsRback4Good]

Ayton out too.

Just coming here to post this. Well, it was bound to happen to us too. Our luck wasn't gonna last all season. Better now than in the playoffs I guess.

I cried for hours after finding out Crowder and now Ayton are out due to covid.

[Revived]

They cut the quarantine time from 10 days to 6 days for vaccinated and asymptotic players. But IMO they need to cut it even lower and have it be 3 days instead of 6.

I think they will cut it down to 3 days eventually but their just gonna waste time before they do it.

[Revived]

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Lol wish this was Ayton or Crowder instead.

[garrick]

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Lol wish this was Ayton or Crowder instead.

We winning for sure now. lol

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Lol wish this was Ayton or Crowder instead.

We winning for sure now. lol

The nba gods sure have a sense of humor!

[Ghost of Kleine]

There is growing speculation that the Detroit Pistons could trade leading scorer Jerami Grant and the Phoenix Suns are included in some of the chatter. NBA insider Marc Stein recently reported that there is a "rising belief" that the Pistons will deal Grant before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 10.5 hours ago

https://www.azcentral.com › suns
Detroit Pistons' Jerami Grant trade speculation includes Phoenix Suns

Also:

https://noooracademy.com/detroit-pistons-business-speculation-on-jerami-grant-includes-phoenix-suns/
( alot of the trades inclusive to this article and floating about are borderline absurd)!
I don't see Grant having enough value to warrant any of Johnson, Crowder, 3 firsts and Especially not even close to Ayton if not resigned!! I have his value at expirings and a first maybe.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/flipboard.com/topic/maricopacounty/jerami-grant-trade-speculation-with-detroit-pistons-includes-phoenix-suns/f-2c5eed44fe%252Fazcentral.com%3fformat=amp

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-trade-jerami-grant/

Phoenix Suns At first glance, it doesn’t appear the Suns have anything appealing to offer Detroit outside their big four. Still, it should go without saying that Grant would be an outstanding addition and fit in Phoenix. There could be fair arguments against such an addition due to how well the Suns are currently playing and the production they’re getting from their forwards. But if they’re looking to make an aggressive move to increase their title chances, Grant could be gettable for them.

As CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn points out, the Suns control a considerable amount of their first-round picks compared to other title contenders. They owe their Top 12 protected 2022 first-round pick to Oklahoma City which is protected through 2025, but it will convey this year as the Suns currently have the best record in the league. The Pistons could agree to acquire multiple conditional Suns first-round picks. At most, the Pistons could get up to three first-round picks from the Suns, two of which would have to be conditional.

The question of how many first-round picks the Suns will have to give up may depend on if they’re willing to trade Cameron Johnson. If they are, perhaps one additional first-round pick could be enough. As far as salary matching goes, Phoenix will likely want to keep as many rotation players as possible. In this scenario, they’ll likely want to include Dario Saric who is out for the season, and Jalen Smith who is already out of their future plans having declined his team option for next season.

One factor that could stop the Suns from making such a move is the price. Multiple first-round picks for Grant is steep, especially ones so far out. Also, Phoenix is set to be deep in the luxury tax for the foreseeable future assuming they re-sign Deandre Ayton to a contract near the maximum range. He is earning around $20 million annually, as well as potential new contracts for Johnson and Jae Crowder down the line, will make the roster extremely expensive. Phoenix does have a move to make with the Saric and Smith salary slots, but it could be for a player such as Thaddeus Young who earns less money and won’t require as many assets to acquire.

Verdict:

[Ghost of Kleine]

Matt Petersen (@TheMattPetersen) Tweeted:
The Suns were tied for the best lottery odds to land the 2nd pick and Ja Morant in 2019. They slid to 6th.

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[Ghost of Kleine]

Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) Tweeted:
James Jones’ inability to build a sufficiently deep roster may bite him in the ass.

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Been saying this for a bit now. The majority of our bench depth aside from maybe Johnson and McGee is an illusion. The majority of our bench is inconsistent and mediocre at best. Our success is predicated upon them outperforming their normal production. The other half is bargain bin washouts and scrubs. We need legitimate upgrades!

[Ghost of Kleine]

Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) Tweeted:
The more people are honest about this, the better. Jones needs to be a better drafter.

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Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) Tweeted:
@iloveRachel772 Cam Johnson was always a Bower pick, from what I know
https://t.co/4XJhFDfJpZ

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[Fo-Real]

Is Kenny Wooten still available?

[bwoolf2]

Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) Tweeted:
James Jones’ inability to build a sufficiently deep roster may bite him in the ass.

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Been saying this for a bit now. The majority of our bench depth aside from maybe Johnson and McGee is an illusion. The majority of our bench is inconsistent and mediocre at best. Our success is predicated upon them outperforming their normal production. The other half is bargain bin washouts and scrubs. We need legitimate upgrades!

Thats not what the stats say but sure lets just listen to Xin Varlock. This team went to the finals and has had either the best record or 2nd best record the entire year. At least do a little research 1st I know you love rosterbating and thats fine but this is a really good team and a really good roster minus the back end of the bench and when given minutes Smith has played decent, Monty has to give guys minutes if you want them to develop. Hutchinson sucks and shouldnt be on the roster but everyone else gives you something.

Stats:

Bench Scoring 39.2 pts per game which puts them 3rd
Rebounds 18.0 which puts them 4th
plus/minus 1.9 which puts them 5th

anyway you cut that its solid if not upper tier performance from the bench, the only reason some 13,14,15 are getting any burn this year from anyteams is because of covid.

[Jdiddy701]

This boards turns quick when we lose a few games lol I think we’ll be alright guys!


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[Iceman36]

It's not the loosing, it is the way of loosing, which is concerning!

[Ghost of Kleine]

Xin Varlock (@XinNBA) Tweeted:
James Jones’ inability to build a sufficiently deep roster may bite him in the ass.

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Been saying this for a bit now. The majority of our bench depth aside from maybe Johnson and McGee is an illusion. The majority of our bench is inconsistent and mediocre at best. Our success is predicated upon them outperforming their normal production. The other half is bargain bin washouts and scrubs. We need legitimate upgrades!

Thats not what the stats say but sure lets just listen to Xin Varlock. This team went to the finals and has had either the best record or 2nd best record the entire year. At least do a little research 1st I know you love rosterbating and thats fine but this is a really good team and a really good roster minus the back end of the bench and when given minutes Smith has played decent, Monty has to give guys minutes if you want them to develop. Hutchinson sucks and shouldnt be on the roster but everyone else gives you something.

Stats:

Bench Scoring 39.2 pts per game which puts them 3rd
Rebounds 18.0 which puts them 4th
plus/minus 1.9 which puts them 5th

anyway you cut that its solid if not upper tier performance from the bench, the only reason some 13,14,15 are getting any burn this year from any teams is because of covid.

Thats not what the stats say but sure lets just listen to Xin Varlock. This team went to the finals and has had either the best record or 2nd best record the entire year

Stats can sometimes be misleading. I don't need extensive research to know what my eyes tell me when watching the actual games lol. Let's be honest with ourselves here. Take both Cam Johnson and Javale McGee's contributions from the scenario ( they're carrying the bench) And then let's see where they rank! Our bench depth is a facade. We had legitimate solid opportunities ( in free agency) to spend for higher quality bench depth, and instead chose the cheapest available mediocre cost cutting options. Our lone great selection was McGee. The rest of our money we simply sat on whilst quality free agents signed elsewhere! Again, the only reason our bench looks even close to decent statistically is because of Johnson and McGee's production. Beyond that, the rest of our bench has been inconsistent and disappointing.

- Cam Payne:
He has been fairly terrible throughout the season up until this last game. He's been inefficient, indecisive, shooting his lowest FG%, Rushing shots, getting blocked on penetration, turning the ball over a lot. He's been a shadow of the player that he was in the bubble. Maybe he'll figure it out, maybe he won't.

- Shamet:
Although streaky, He has been struggling in his role as well. And definitely not living up to the 10 - 11 million he'll be getting next season that he signed for.

- Nader:
( when he actually isn't injured with seems rare) aside from his 3 pt shooting has been largely inconsistent and mediocre.

- Cam Johnson:
He's been the saving grace overall for the bench along with McGee. Otherwise their ratings/ production ( stats) would be much worse!!!

- Hutchinson:
He hasn't even proven good enough to play outside of the GLeague yet!

- Ish Wainwright:
What exactly has Ish offered/ shown so far even in garbage time minutes to date?

- Payton:
His only real contribution since joining our team has been his somewhat solid defense mainly due to his size. But he can't shoot, doesn't pass enough (tunnel vision issues) and overall hasn't had much if any impact.

- Javale McGee:
The other saving grace for our bench. His strong post defense, rim protection, and efficient production has ( along with Johnson) carried this mediocre bench. Otherwise they'd be rayed much much worse.

Again, If we're being honest here, Our team making the finals wasn't at all a result of our bench depth. Aside from Payne and Johnson, Smith ( who didn't even play), Nader was as usual out with injury, and none of Payton, Shamet, Hutchinson, Wainwright, McGee, were even part of our team. We honestly only made the finals because of Ayton playing out of his mind, and Paul playing up to his HOFer' reputation.

Of our then bench, Saric was as usual wildly inconsistent and unreliable. Same with Kaminsky. Williams barely even played Moore at all, and didn't really play Galloway either. Craig was fairly good for us, So of course we let him go! ( over 2 million in salary difference) that we're paying Nader to not play.
Damian Jones didn't really do anything either. So our current bench had very little if anything to do with us making the finals. Now as to our current record being in 2nd place this season, Our success has been widely predicated upon our starters and a few rotation players having streaky outlier performances. Our bench depth has offered very little towards our wins.

this is a really good team and a really good roster minus the back end of the bench and when given minutes Smith has played decent, Monty has to give guys minutes if you want them to develop. Hutchinson sucks and shouldnt be on the roster but everyone else gives you something.

....this is a really good team and really good roster

On this point we agree! This is a really good team. Even though 5 of our 6 losses have come against direct playoff rivals that we'll have to get past to even make it back to the finals. Also we have yet to even play Utah, Or really any of the legitimate East Coast contenders either. But for now we can consider ourselves a good team I guess. But I'd also argue that our overall success is primarily because of our key starters playing exceptional though. And yes, minus the back end of the bench AND ALSO both Payne and Shamet who've been struggling mightily to adjust this season too. But then they're inclusive to the whole bench depth argument aren't they? So if they actually get it together and figure things out, then yes, our bench will be solid. But that has yet to be seen at all this season aside from Payne just briefly last night!! And who knows if he'll sustain it or again regress. And Shamet to date has been hit or miss at best!


I also agree that WHEN GIVEN MINUTES Smith has played well. But then that's the determining factor isn't it. Whether or not he's actually going to get minutes. Check any of my posts since we drafted him, I've advocated for him to get playing time whilst being in minority for awhile now. But I agree, Monty actually has to ( be willing) to give minutes for them to develop! Who knows aside from Covid if that'll ever happen though huh? Of course one could argue that IF we hadn't just been penny pinching in free agency, and focusing on other teams fringe busts, failed retreads and cast offs, We wouldn't need to hope for their development right?? They'd have that proven level of contribution/ body of work to rely on.

But hey! At least we saved a few bucks for the buyout market huh, even though we don't know what options will actually be there to choose from. We might have slim pickins' or some very poor choices if any?

Hutchinson sucks and shouldnt be on the roster but everyone else gives you something.

Hutchinson does unfortunately suck. But what can you do? ( especially if you choose the cheapest bargain bin options). I guess you get what you pay for! As for everyone giving you something, What is that something exactly in terms of value, legitimate depth and statistical impact towards wins? Again in contrast to some of the players that we could've signed but instead passed on for Payton, Hutchinson, Wainwright? Which bench players again ( aside from Johnson and McGee)! Have actually even noticeably statistically impacted our wins this season???

I will agree that IF both Saric and Kaminsky weren't out injured for likely the entire season,
and Nader weren't out with injury so often, Our legitimate bench depth would be significantly better. But then they aren't playing are they. So they can't really offer any legitimate on court impact towards our wins either. But you're right that everyone does give us something. For Saric, Kaminsky, and even Nader being out injured and unable to contribute on the court, that's basically sideline cheerleaders and locker room support at the low pricetag of only $ 13 million in dead salary that could be used for our roster.

[Revived]

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This is the only one of his tweets I agree with. Yeah Jones hasn’t been at good at evaluating college prospects and yeah it’s likely the Cam Johnson selection was a Bower selection.

That said, it seems like Jones realizes this is a weakness of his and that’s why he traded away the Suns 1st last yr for a player that’s already in the league in Shamet. Wish that pick (and $$ on extension) was used on a better player though because I’m sorry but Shamet **** sucks.

[Revived]

I think it’s only a matter of time before Tyson Chandler comes back to the league.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Is there really no potential interest in an Aaron Baynes reunion? ( if his health permits)?

I guess never mind!

Today, with a wide range of feelings, I'm announcing my retirement from basketball. IMMENSE GRATITUDE to everyone (family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, fans) involved in my life in the last 23 years. It's been a fabulous journey.
https://twitter.com › aronbaynes
Aron Baynes (@aronbaynes) / Twitter

[Ghost of Kleine]

Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) Tweeted:
Based on what we've heard so far, here's when Jae Crowder and Deandre Ayton could return for the @Suns. https://t.co/FQLsCrD472

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So about 6 days instead of 10 with two negative tests in 24 hours? Theoretically they can return next week?

Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) Tweeted:
Vaccinated NBA players and coaches can now clear quarantine after six days if Covid-testing data shows they’re no longer at risk to be infectious, according to a memo distributed to teams Monday and obtained by ESPN.

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[Ghost of Kleine]

Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) Tweeted:
Devin Booker said he was proud of the way Jalen Smith performed last night. Said Smith played big and was playing smart defensively within the Suns' schemes.

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