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2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion

Moderators: bwgood77, lilfishi22, Qwigglez

With the Deandre trade, which is closer to your take?

Kept him
10
22%
Wait and see
9
20%
Clean cut now for a fresh start to the season
27
59%
 
Total votes: 46

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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1941 » by kennydorglas » Tue Oct 3, 2023 2:28 am

Calvin Klein wrote:
matt131 wrote:James Jones likes Nurkic's chemistry with our guards.

"Can your big guy be a pressure relief valve? Will he make the right reads, will he roll to the basket and score, will he make the right pass but understand that he's a big and that we need him in the paint and at the rim. We need him to get the rest of our guys open. If we need him to punish the switch, he does it. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE DOESNT COMPLAIN AND HE EMBRACES IT. Our guys respect the heck out of him."



I would bold every single sentence in that quote. Specially "understand that he's a big and that we need him in the paint and at the rim".


Only blind Ayton stans don't undestand what was going on.


Still cant believe people said Ayton was a good teammate because Jock said so hahahaha
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1942 » by lilfishi22 » Tue Oct 3, 2023 2:32 am

bwgood77 wrote:
lilfishi22 wrote:
TeamTragic wrote:
This will go down as the dumbest trade request in NBA history. That clown looked at our current lineup with brand new ownership and a new coach and decided that he wants to go to a rebuilding team where centers go to die.

Mindblowing. DA needs multiple therapists and someone that can put him on the right path.

It worked out for all sides. He got to go to a team where he'll likely have more freedom to do what he wants out on the court, likely not have elite players like Book/KD/CP3 (at the time) stare him down for not doing what he should be doing and just being in a much lower pressure environment. I've said for a while now that I thought the best place for him and his character is on a team where he can be featured as the #1 or #2 guy, it's in a small-medium NBA city without the national spotlights and relatively low stakes. I thought Detroit, Indiania Orlando would've been a good landing spot for him.

You could say he's taking the Jeremi Grant route of going from a contender to a smaller market where he could be featured (coincidently, Detroit) and give himself an opportunity to be the man. I think Grant did a good job in Detroit, he was their go-to guy on a low stakes rebuilding team, generally got no pressure from the press/media and occasionally he'd get a mention or a highlight reel on the ESPN's when he has the occasional 30+, 40+ pt games. He'll now be playing with Ayton, ironically.

Portland is rebuilding but they already have some pieces in place with Scoot, Grant and Sharpe so he won't be the #1 guy but there's a chance he's no worse than #3 and potentially could be #2 depending on how well Scoot acclimates and if they move Grant


I don't think it was so much about being a #1 guy or a lot of shots. Even in that interview, just like he said in countless Suns interviews, he doesn't care about a lot of shots, will sacrifice his shots for others, etc, and will do what he needs to do, etc.

I think it mainly comes down to where he didn't feel valued, even maybe going back to the summer he was eligible for a max extension and never heard from Jones...this was when everyone was expecting him to get the max, thought he deserved it...I even remember listening to the Timeline guys and Max/David and they all thought he deserved it...Chris Paul said he'd get the bag. Then they never heard from Jones, according to his agent (even though Jones said he would have been open to a 4 year max). Then the next summer when he was a FA, again, they tell him to go find a deal elsewhere...then they match it. Just kind of a strange way to treat the situation.

I think he put it behind him for the most part but being the youngest guy always seemed to be a scapegoat for losses and any mistakes were amplified, especially by the fans. I think most appreciated Ayton until the team expectations went through the roof after the finals play, and even though he made some improvements the following year, expectations were so high it was hard for people to live up to, but they still won the 64 games, but Paul suddenly got old after 2 games in the Mavs series and became a different player and our team looked different due to Paul. Paul was the biggest reason that series changed, and then everyone choked in game 7, yet it was an argument with Monty after they were down 30 or 40 in the 4th (but had been down over 30 at halftime), that people focused on, even though the reasons we lost that series were Chris Paul and NO ONE showing up in game 7. Ayton helped save us in the Pelicans series when Book was out.

Then last year our whole team is injured, but losses were again blamed on Ayton. Jokic dominated him, but he dominates everyone.

I think he just wanted a situation where he felt more valued...not so much that he wanted to be the #1 guy or anything. He's never really cared about that.

You can work at a great company, but if you are not valued, and you feel they have tried to lowball you on pay, you are probably not going to be happy.

Nurk had a good interview. Hopefully he gets rejuvenated too and plays better than he has the last few 4-5 years.

We can agree to disagree. To me, there's enough smoke for there not to be fire in my books. I'm over debating about a guy who is no longer a Sun and I'm trying to stay neutral on anything DA related going forward
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1943 » by bwgood77 » Tue Oct 3, 2023 2:52 am

lilfishi22 wrote:We can agree to disagree. To me, there's enough smoke for there not to be fire in my books. I'm over debating about a guy who is no longer a Sun and I'm trying to stay neutral on anything DA related going forward


That's the problem with social media these days. Someone makes up something and it becomes truth because it spreads like fire, but yeah, better to put this to bed.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1944 » by bwoolf2 » Tue Oct 3, 2023 2:58 am

kennydorglas wrote:
Calvin Klein wrote:
matt131 wrote:James Jones likes Nurkic's chemistry with our guards.

"Can your big guy be a pressure relief valve? Will he make the right reads, will he roll to the basket and score, will he make the right pass but understand that he's a big and that we need him in the paint and at the rim. We need him to get the rest of our guys open. If we need him to punish the switch, he does it. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE DOESNT COMPLAIN AND HE EMBRACES IT. Our guys respect the heck out of him."



I would bold every single sentence in that quote. Specially "understand that he's a big and that we need him in the paint and at the rim".


Only blind Ayton stans don't undestand what was going on.


Still cant believe people said Ayton was a good teammate because Jock said so hahahaha


I would certainly say he has more credibility than a bunch of people on social media and forums deciding they know.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1945 » by Fo-Real » Tue Oct 3, 2023 3:13 am

bwoolf2 wrote:Like that Nurk is slimmed down that should help some with his mobility and lift. He looks like he is in better shape than the past few years.


He's got a great vibe, dude is good for chemistry.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1946 » by Jdiddy701 » Tue Oct 3, 2023 3:31 am

I did not know Nurk is a Rich Paul client, is this the first since Eric Bledsoe? Good to repair that relationship with the Suns and Klutch Sports.


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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1947 » by sunsbum » Tue Oct 3, 2023 3:50 am

bwoolf2 wrote:
kennydorglas wrote:
Calvin Klein wrote:

I would bold every single sentence in that quote. Specially "understand that he's a big and that we need him in the paint and at the rim".


Only blind Ayton stans don't undestand what was going on.


Still cant believe people said Ayton was a good teammate because Jock said so hahahaha


I would certainly say he has more credibility than a bunch of people on social media and forums deciding they know.
book sent him on his way too. Nothing but good things to say about the guy but also gave ishbia the ok to get rid of his ass.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1948 » by bwoolf2 » Tue Oct 3, 2023 5:12 am

sunsbum wrote:
bwoolf2 wrote:
kennydorglas wrote:
Still cant believe people said Ayton was a good teammate because Jock said so hahahaha


I would certainly say he has more credibility than a bunch of people on social media and forums deciding they know.
book sent him on his way too. Nothing but good things to say about the guy but also gave ishbia the ok to get rid of his ass.


Either way a bunch of people on the internet have no idea. I'll take the word of an actual teammate or someone who at least was in the building.

Anyway He is gone and doesn't play for the Suns so don't really care anymore just don't get the joy people take in beating someone down especially once they aren't part of your team any longer.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1949 » by garrick » Tue Oct 3, 2023 6:25 am

bwoolf2 wrote:
sunsbum wrote:
bwoolf2 wrote:
I would certainly say he has more credibility than a bunch of people on social media and forums deciding they know.
book sent him on his way too. Nothing but good things to say about the guy but also gave ishbia the ok to get rid of his ass.


Either way a bunch of people on the internet have no idea. I'll take the word of an actual teammate or someone who at least was in the building.

Anyway He is gone and doesn't play for the Suns so don't really care anymore just don't get the joy people take in beating someone down especially once they aren't part of your team any longer.


It's human nature to want to pin failures and and frustrations onto a single point of failure but in real life there are just a multitude of reasons things don't go the way we want or expect it to and it's not always tied to a single person.

I also can't understand how greedy some Suns fans are after a decade or more we start winning and all of a sudden it's like the Suns are an absolute failure because we couldn't bring home the trophy. Maybe some of the loudest on here are bandwagon fans because I don't see most of the old timers posting here who used to post here regularly.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1950 » by sunsbum » Tue Oct 3, 2023 6:44 am

Holy frick. I never finished watching the rest of that blazer’s interview untill now. I’m no body language reader but the last question someone asked DA about walking the “dominayton” talk…..he absolutely shut down. Looking at the podium, shoulders shrugging in, stumbling of words. That was hard to watch. Very confident and different demeanor utill that question
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1951 » by grumpysaddle » Tue Oct 3, 2023 6:59 am

sunsbum wrote:

Just now watching this, interesting at the 4ish min mark someone asked how he found out, he said Matt took him up and told him. DA went on to say "I was thankful he accommodated my wishes". So looks like DA asked out privately as well.

I liked when he said "I'm going to show this team how hard it is to win in this league" toward the beginning. I agree, he'll be doing a lot of losing as the "man" in Portland.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1952 » by sunsbum » Tue Oct 3, 2023 8:09 am

grumpysaddle wrote:
sunsbum wrote:

Just now watching this, interesting at the 4ish min mark someone asked how he found out, he said Matt took him up and told him. DA went on to say "I was thankful he accommodated my wishes". So looks like DA asked out privately as well.

I liked when he said "I'm going to show this team how hard it is to win in this league" toward the beginning. I agree, he'll be doing a lot of losing as the "man" in Portland.

I will say I’m curious to see how he does at the 4 with someone like Robert Williams. But I personally don’t think DA has enough in his arsenal to be a 4. I can see shades of lamarcus aldridge but LA could actually put it in the floor and post up, along with DA not having a 3pt shot yet….I can’t see it working right now.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1953 » by sasquatchBob » Tue Oct 3, 2023 8:54 am

Image

:lol:
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1954 » by Puff » Tue Oct 3, 2023 8:56 am

When will the Ayton defenders SHUT UP.

He did want to be here now or in the past when we did not give him a max contract.

He's gone and we have a new center yet far too many of you continue to yearn for him and try to compare him to Nurkic.

BW you have always said that you would have preferred that we would have drafted Doncic rather than Ayton. I just do not understand why you continue to support this guy even though he legitimately did not want to be on our team.

That goes for you as well SLUM.

I want players that want to be part of our team. I like our team. Hopefully they bring us a title. The NBA is loaded with very good teams at the top and a lot of teams that could be better than the favorites. We are going to need all hands on deck just to be competitive this year. Ayton was not going to be a positive influence on or off the court.

Matty made the right decision.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1955 » by Ryu » Tue Oct 3, 2023 9:10 am

bwgood77 wrote:
lilfishi22 wrote:
TeamTragic wrote:
This will go down as the dumbest trade request in NBA history. That clown looked at our current lineup with brand new ownership and a new coach and decided that he wants to go to a rebuilding team where centers go to die.

Mindblowing. DA needs multiple therapists and someone that can put him on the right path.

It worked out for all sides. He got to go to a team where he'll likely have more freedom to do what he wants out on the court, likely not have elite players like Book/KD/CP3 (at the time) stare him down for not doing what he should be doing and just being in a much lower pressure environment. I've said for a while now that I thought the best place for him and his character is on a team where he can be featured as the #1 or #2 guy, it's in a small-medium NBA city without the national spotlights and relatively low stakes. I thought Detroit, Indiania Orlando would've been a good landing spot for him.

You could say he's taking the Jeremi Grant route of going from a contender to a smaller market where he could be featured (coincidently, Detroit) and give himself an opportunity to be the man. I think Grant did a good job in Detroit, he was their go-to guy on a low stakes rebuilding team, generally got no pressure from the press/media and occasionally he'd get a mention or a highlight reel on the ESPN's when he has the occasional 30+, 40+ pt games. He'll now be playing with Ayton, ironically.

Portland is rebuilding but they already have some pieces in place with Scoot, Grant and Sharpe so he won't be the #1 guy but there's a chance he's no worse than #3 and potentially could be #2 depending on how well Scoot acclimates and if they move Grant


I don't think it was so much about being a #1 guy or a lot of shots. Even in that interview, just like he said in countless Suns interviews, he doesn't care about a lot of shots, will sacrifice his shots for others, etc, and will do what he needs to do, etc.

I think it mainly comes down to where he didn't feel valued, even maybe going back to the summer he was eligible for a max extension and never heard from Jones...this was when everyone was expecting him to get the max, thought he deserved it...I even remember listening to the Timeline guys and Max/David and they all thought he deserved it...Chris Paul said he'd get the bag. Then they never heard from Jones, according to his agent (even though Jones said he would have been open to a 4 year max). Then the next summer when he was a FA, again, they tell him to go find a deal elsewhere...then they match it. Just kind of a strange way to treat the situation.

I think he put it behind him for the most part but being the youngest guy always seemed to be a scapegoat for losses and any mistakes were amplified, especially by the fans. I think most appreciated Ayton until the team expectations went through the roof after the finals play, and even though he made some improvements the following year, expectations were so high it was hard for people to live up to, but they still won the 64 games, but Paul suddenly got old after 2 games in the Mavs series and became a different player and our team looked different due to Paul. Paul was the biggest reason that series changed, and then everyone choked in game 7, yet it was an argument with Monty after they were down 30 or 40 in the 4th (but had been down over 30 at halftime), that people focused on, even though the reasons we lost that series were Chris Paul and NO ONE showing up in game 7. Ayton helped save us in the Pelicans series when Book was out.

Then last year our whole team is injured, but losses were again blamed on Ayton. Jokic dominated him, but he dominates everyone.

I think he just wanted a situation where he felt more valued...not so much that he wanted to be the #1 guy or anything. He's never really cared about that.

You can work at a great company, but if you are not valued, and you feel they have tried to lowball you on pay, you are probably not going to be happy.

Nurk had a good interview. Hopefully he gets rejuvenated too and plays better than he has the last few 4-5 years.


Such a good post which pefectly describes DA situation with the Suns.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1956 » by sunsbum » Tue Oct 3, 2023 10:16 am

sasquatchBob wrote:Image

:lol:


Oh gosh wait till Enegmatic gets a whiff of this. Everything is playing out exactly like we said it was and I’m loving every second of it. I’m like a pig in **** right now, bring me more scraps so I can wallow in my glorious filth.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1957 » by kennydorglas » Tue Oct 3, 2023 12:31 pm

sasquatchBob wrote:Image

:lol:


great teammate tho
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1958 » by Dzon Dilindzer » Tue Oct 3, 2023 12:57 pm

grumpysaddle wrote: I liked when he said "I'm going to show this team how hard it is to win in this league" toward the beginning. I agree, he'll be doing a lot of losing as the "man" in Portland.

he wont be 1st option in rip city, thats simons, then you have scoot, shae & grant, all of whom want their shots

i guess it depends on how they play and how many turnovers they have, less turnovers + fast tempo = more shots for everyone

as a portland fan, i want scoot & shae to shoot the most, they are two main pieces for the future, simons & ayton are not
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1959 » by sunsbg » Tue Oct 3, 2023 1:00 pm

kennydorglas wrote:
sasquatchBob wrote:Image

:lol:


great teammate tho


Well, he may be a good teammate to everybody else and not to Booker and KD, the players with most competitive fire, who will usually make life harder for you. Like a boss in your job, who will push you to do extra work. Not everybody likes those. :lol:

Still need to have some respect though, so if he did that it looks pretty childish.
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Re: 2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 3 - Post Free Agency Discussion 

Post#1960 » by garrick » Tue Oct 3, 2023 1:12 pm

sunsbum wrote:
sasquatchBob wrote:Image

:lol:


Oh gosh wait till Enegmatic gets a whiff of this. Everything is playing out exactly like we said it was and I’m loving every second of it. I’m like a pig in **** right now, bring me more scraps so I can wallow in my glorious filth.


Some of you guys really need some help to get over your insane obsession for anything negative about Ayton. :crazy:

People unfollow and follow people on social media all the time so I don't think anyone really can really come to any definitive conclusion why people do what they do.

I took a look at both his twitter and IG accounts and he hardly ever posts anything besides what looks like a PR person is posting for him from his photo shoots. He isn't like KD that comments a lot on social media and follows thousands of accounts.

It would be one thing if he was throwing shade on his former teammates but nowhere in his posts did he ever insinuate anything like that, if you want to prove me wrong and dig up some juicy social media posts of his that show that be my guest. It's time to move on and find a new target for your hate.

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