2020 Offseason Speculation, free agency, summer trades (keep draft prospect talk in draft thread)

[WeekapaugGroove]

So this came out in an interview with sour ex-Suns and known Suns haters Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson? Also I still don't trust Earl Watson after his time here. He never seemed to have any actual coaching tact and was always the first to push the blame when anyone called him on it. Where is he now?

Not saying there's no truth to it, or Sarver isn't a dick (he definitely was a dick to me last time I saw him) but there's always 2 sides.

I like their show and they never come across as suns haters. Hell they talk about Phoenix being a nice city in this interview. They had nash on recently.

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[Revived]

So this came out in an interview with sour ex-Suns and known Suns haters Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson? Also I still don't trust Earl Watson after his time here. He never seemed to have any actual coaching tact and was always the first to push the blame when anyone called him on it. Where is he now?

Not saying there's no truth to it, or Sarver isn't a dick (he definitely was a dick to me last time I saw him) but there's always 2 sides.

I like their show and they never come across as suns haters. Hell they talk about Phoenix being a nice city in this interview. They had nash on recently.

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They give Booker a lot of praise too on there too.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Read on Twitter

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[WeekapaugGroove]

So this came out in an interview with sour ex-Suns and known Suns haters Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson? Also I still don't trust Earl Watson after his time here. He never seemed to have any actual coaching tact and was always the first to push the blame when anyone called him on it. Where is he now?

Not saying there's no truth to it, or Sarver isn't a dick (he definitely was a dick to me last time I saw him) but there's always 2 sides.

I like their show and they never come across as suns haters. Hell they talk about Phoenix being a nice city in this interview. They had nash on recently.

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They give Booker a lot of praise too on there too.

The Al Harrington episode where Jackson talks about the strip club fight is a great listen.

This was great too

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[Ghost of Kleine]

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[Slim Charless]

I don't think it was so much about the Suns trading up to get Tatum as much as it was about Boston actually being interested in JJ over Tatum before the draft. There's been a lot of talk about how the Celtics would've picked Tatum #1 overall since the draft, but I feel a big part of that is when you're picking that high (top 5-ish) in most years, more often than not teams say the player they picked they would've picked them #1 overall. (If that makes sense)

I never really believed that story. I mean what were they gonna say that they took the number 2 guy on their board? I think they would've taken fultz. He was the consensus top guy if I remember right and was projected to be a Wade/Rose type of player

I don't think Boston wanted Fultz. I really think something about his interview with them turned them off and that's why they jumped at that sixers offer.

Maybe they go JJ but honestly they already took a better version of him the year before in Brown. Tatum was probably their guy regardless of JJ canceling that meeting.

If we're going to relitigate that summer the real insanely dumb thing the suns did was not trading Bledsoe before the draft. Had they done that fox would have come meet with them and obviously they could have avoided all the **** show that played out. It was criminal negligence to not trade him once they decided not to extend his contract, pure idiocy.

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I remember wanting fox if we didn't have Bledsoe and yes they should've traded him when they knew they weren't gonna resign him. Fox would fit in perfectly next to Booker too That makes this upcoming decision with Oubre even more important. Hopefully they decide and do the correct thing.

[Blonde]

Just to chime in on the Earl Watson thing, the guy will say anything to be relevant in nba circles again. Sour grapes at its finest. I fully believe the Celtics were going to take Tatum ahead of us no matter what and there was no opportunity to trade up. Philly offered a great package for the top pick that nobody could match. The Lakers were destined to take Ball at 2. And even pre-draft the buzz was that the Celtics worshipped Tatum after his workout. They weren’t going to risk him not being there at 4. Jackson didn’t work out but let’s not act like it was some egregious pick at the time. He was by most accounts BPA at 4. I was happy to pick 4th because I assumed we would get Tatum or Jackson but was ecstatic when Jackson was available.

[Crives]

I miss basketball

[lilfishi22]

Just to chime in on the Earl Watson thing, the guy will say anything to be relevant in nba circles again. Sour grapes at its finest. I fully believe the Celtics were going to take Tatum ahead of us no matter what and there was no opportunity to trade up. Philly offered a great package for the top pick that nobody could match. The Lakers were destined to take Ball at 2. And even pre-draft the buzz was that the Celtics worshipped Tatum after his workout. They weren’t going to risk him not being there at 4. Jackson didn’t work out but let’s not act like it was some egregious pick at the time. He was by most accounts BPA at 4. I was happy to pick 4th because I assumed we would get Tatum or Jackson but was ecstatic when Jackson was available.

I think you're right about Boston always having their eye on Tatum. The Josh Jackson workout swerve basically just made the decision even easier.

[Big NBA Fan]

About Matt Barnes: he has said in the past that him and Sarver don't like each-other and he was unhappy with how his one year stint in Phoenix turned out.

But he has never said anything bad about the city or his team-mates; he was, however, very unhappy with Terry Porter's ways which he says "put a (expletive) on the team's season. Wrong coach, wrong system"

Porter alienated everybody by treating his veterans like Elementary School students in practice (Defensive slides, chain runs, fire feet, diving on the ground after imaginary basketballs, etc) and putting in that ill-fitting Detroit Pistons system that didn't suit STAT or Nash.

If only Kerr had done the right thing by promoting Alvin from the start or hired Budenholzer (Who was a finalist for the job in 2008) instead.

I think it's very telling that Kerr fired his golfing buddy after just 3 months in charge. Says a lot about what the organization thought of Porter's coaching that year.

Bud and Alvin would have had the team continue an open style of play while trying to improve them defensively...MDA's stubborn refusal to practice defense resulted in him quitting to go to a bad team who also eventually forced him to hire a defensive assistant. (As did the Lakers and Rockets)

Coaching makes a big difference in the NBA and Porter was clearly the wrong guy for the job that year.

I don't blame Barnes for his frustration. They averaged 118 PPG (!!!) after Porter was dismissed and that's with Barnes/Lou in place of Amare/Diaw who missed the last 30 games due to injury and trade, respectively.

Barnes said, "If we had Alvin's system from the beginning and if Amare never got hurt, it would have been a great year. We had what it took at all the positions."

Basically, everybody has blamed Porter for that chaotic season; he failed miserably to command the respect and buy-in of his players.

[King4Day]

Watch on YouTube

There's a good bit with the Suns/Kings. Freakin hilarious

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

About Matt Barnes: he has said in the past that him and Sarver don't like each-other and he was unhappy with how his one year stint in Phoenix turned out.

But he has never said anything bad about the city or his team-mates; he was, however, very unhappy with Terry Porter's ways which he says "put a (expletive) on the team's season. Wrong coach, wrong system"

Porter alienated everybody by treating his veterans like Elementary School students in practice (Defensive slides, chain runs, fire feet, diving on the ground after imaginary basketballs, etc) and putting in that ill-fitting Detroit Pistons system that didn't suit STAT or Nash.

If only Kerr had done the right thing by promoting Alvin from the start or hired Budenholzer (Who was a finalist for the job in 2008) instead.

I think it's very telling that Kerr fired his golfing buddy after just 3 months in charge. Says a lot about what the organization thought of Porter's coaching that year.

Bud and Alvin would have had the team continue an open style of play while trying to improve them defensively...MDA's stubborn refusal to practice defense resulted in him quitting to go to a bad team who also eventually forced him to hire a defensive assistant. (As did the Lakers and Rockets)

Coaching makes a big difference in the NBA and Porter was clearly the wrong guy for the job that year.

I don't blame Barnes for his frustration. They averaged 118 PPG (!!!) after Porter was dismissed and that's with Barnes/Lou in place of Amare/Diaw who missed the last 30 games due to injury and trade, respectively.

Barnes said, "If we had Alvin's system from the beginning and if Amare never got hurt, it would have been a great year. We had what it took at all the positions."

Basically, everybody has blamed Porter for that chaotic season; he failed miserably to command the respect and buy-in of his players.

Making Porter HC was a crazy bad unforced error. But even with the damage he had done, we would have been fine - and a heavyweight title contender - had Amare not needed cornea surgery after just two games post-Porter.

Any of you watched those Since '68 vids on youtube? Was watching some last week and almost came to tears a few times hearing the old timers discuss the championships we should have had. We should have been three time champs '93-'95. Should have had several with the Nash/Amare/Marion Suns. Instead we have zero. It's even more tragic than thinking about how good our team would be today if only we had competently tanked.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Kerr's biggest mistakes as a GM were the porter hire and Marion trade and both seemed to be trying to zag away from the style that made them successful in the first place.

Like I don't think porter was a terrible coach in a vaccume but he was definitely the wrong guy for that team.

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[Ghost of Kleine]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/258157/NBAs-Salary-Cap-For-20-21-Could-Decline-By-As-Much-As-$30M

The NBA most recently projected a salary cap of $115 million and $139 million luxury tax for the 20-21 season. According to one team's front office, the cap could decline by as much as $25 million to $30 million.

The initial cap projections were based on an expected $8 billion in basketball-related income (BRI), which is now expected to decrease by at least $1 billion and potentially as much as $2 billion.

Using the standard salary-cap formula with $6 billion in BRI would have massive implications throughout the league, with the salary cap and tax line for 2020-21 plummeting to $95 million and $115 million, respectively.

Under that scenario, there would be at least 25 teams in the luxury tax, which would be the most of any season in NBA history.

The Golden State Warriors' projected tax penalty of $45 million would increase to $160 million even before the start of free agency.

One executive told ESPN that the league could solve the luxury tax issue by leaving the line at $139 million and letting the cap fall.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/258158/Small-Market-Teams-Could-Lose-Approximately-$20M-Per-Season-In-Revenue-Sharing-Alone

Small market teams such as the Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies collect around $20 million per season from more profitable teams due to revenue-sharing.

Even when the NBA's revenues spiked due to the start of far more profitable national television deals for the 16-17 season, 14 of the league's 30 teams lost money before factoring in revenue-sharing. Nine teams finished that season in the red even after accounting for those payments.

With the possibility of no fans attending games for the remainder of the 19-20 season, as well as the entirety of the 20-21 season, teams like the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers will have less money to distribute to other teams.

The NBA's 30 owners could change the revenue-sharing model without negotiating with the union.

[nevetsov]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/258157/NBAs-Salary-Cap-For-20-21-Could-Decline-By-As-Much-As-$30M

The Golden State Warriors' projected tax penalty of $45 million would increase to $160 million even before the start of free agency.

One executive told ESPN that the league could solve the luxury tax issue by leaving the line at $139 million and letting the cap fall.

But that would mean the small market teams with low salaries, that depend on revenue sharing, would then get a smaller piece of the pie? I just don't see how that's not just a bailout for the teams that continually go into the tax (who do it because they have the money to do so)..?

[Ghost of Kleine]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/258157/NBAs-Salary-Cap-For-20-21-Could-Decline-By-As-Much-As-$30M

The Golden State Warriors' projected tax penalty of $45 million would increase to $160 million even before the start of free agency.

One executive told ESPN that the league could solve the luxury tax issue by leaving the line at $139 million and letting the cap fall.

But that would mean the small market teams with low salaries, that depend on revenue sharing, would then get a smaller piece of the pie? I just don't see how that's not just a bailout for the teams that continually go into the tax (who do it because they have the money to do so)..?

Exactly!! The strongest teams ( Big market revenue grabbers) get stronger. Parity is a myth.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I could see the league bring back the amnesty clause to help teams get under the huge tax bill. Which would be kind of funny since this year will be like the first time in a decade the suns wouldn't have any bad contracts on their books lol

The future cap crunch probably changes how you handle the oubre situation, it's far more likely they will be able to retain him at a reasonable number in 21.

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[Ghost of Kleine]

I could see the league bring back the amnesty clause to help teams get under the huge tax bill. Which would be kind of funny since this year will be like the first time in a decade the suns wouldn't have any bad contracts on their books lol

The future cap crunch probably changes how you handle the oubre situation, it's far more likely they will be able to retain him at a reasonable number in 21.

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That would be a pretty nice consolation to the restrictive cap IF it becomes so. Fingers crossed I guess!

[King4Day]

Part of me wants to see these big markets pay for always spending over the cap (LA, GSW, etc.).
I'm not saying let them have to go from paying 40mil in tax to 160 (in the Warriors case), but have the smaller market teams be able to play catchup. They can over spend on players without dealing with a major payment because of this. Imagine a team like the Hawks, Suns, or Griz, being able to add a big name or 2, due to what's going on?

[Ghost of Kleine]

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Interesting.