McD 3rd offseason whats his vision?

[WeekapaugGroove]

Roster building and sustaining is really hard in the NBA. **** look at Portland they won 50+ the last two years and can pay Aldridge the most money and are still gonna lose him for nothing. That's brutal.

[Jarlaxle0204]

I believed in McD 100%...
But with the latest draft... I have a little doubt now.
Yes, the Suns need sharp shooting... But from a 18 year old? He won't be a factor until he is 20... WHICH I am fine with.

But I heard McD and Hornacek is pressured by Sarver to make the playoffs....
So why didn't he drafted a more ready player now and signed a dead eye shooter instead?

I know it's just the start of the free agency period... And things might fall into places by start of the season... But the suns are competing with hungry, desperate teams with better assets....

Is McD hoping for a miracle? Hoping Knight becomes Arenas? Len become Bogut?

Not trying to criticize you but who would you have liked them to pick up at 13? All reports said he tried to trade up for Kamminsky (more ready now player) but Charlotte refused to trade. All the players I had wanted were off the board by our turn. McD always said he'd select best player available and I believe he did. We didn't draft for need and will probably be quite happy with the pick when all is said and done.

[bigfoot]

Roster building and sustaining is really hard in the NBA. **** look at Portland they won 50+ the last two years and can pay Aldridge the most money and are still gonna lose him for nothing. That's brutal.

It's time to allow teams to designate a franchise player like the NFL. This will stop all this collusion between players to create super teams and kill the big market advantage over the small markets.

[BobbieL]

Overall I think mcd has done a good job. He inherited a pretty depressing roster from banks.

His plan got a little thrown off when the overachieved that first year. When he dealt dudely gortat and Scola the idea was they would be in the running for Wiggins, parker or embiid. Now it didn't work out that way and that year was fun. One could argue that he should have dealt away fry and Goran that trade deadline while their value was high but he would have been killed by the media and some fans for sabotaging that surprising team and by that point they had won too much already to have a good shot at a top pick.

Last summer was not a good one for him. I get why they signed IT because it was a good value contract but it just didn't work out. The biggest mistake was not trading Goran then but who knows maybe they tried and the offers sucked.

They knight trade was the biggest gamble he's made so far as a gm. Jury is still out on that until where that pick ends up and how knight progresses as a player.

I get some of you criticizing him but what realistic move should he have done? Sure it would have been great to sign LeBron but it's hardly mcds fault it didn't happen.

I disagee on IT. I never like that move. If I posted anything positive - it was because I was thinking positive. Thought IT was a team killer on offense. He put up stats at the expense of the team

Knight on the other - you say a gamble but look at it.
1) Goran was not coming back and I know he was kind of jacked by the IT move, he is also not a 80/5 guy to me
2) The Lakers pick - I just didn't have much faith in Phoenix ever getting it

So, McD used that pick to get a guy that over the next five years - will be hitting his good years and should improve. I am bullish on that move.

[LukasBMW]

I think the McDonough plan has not changed.

- Maintain future flexibility and cap space
- Acquire assets or low risk /high reward players
- Strike when the iron is hot.


He's banking that the Morris twins get off totally free or plea to a lesser charge and get a slap on the wrist from the league.

He's then banking on Keef, Bledsoe, and Knight being our top performers. He's also banking on Warren and Len improving. He's hoping Archie and Booker push each-other for playing time. He may also acquire a few vets to put up numbers and mentor the youngsters.

If we surprise teams and Keef, Bledsoe, and Knight play consistently and keep the elite players on their toes AND Len and Warren continue to improve AND it looks like 2014 all over again (we are one piece away from competing). Then we are STILL in a great position to swing for the fences and try to acquire a disgruntled superstar.

Is it totally unreasonable to expect
Blesdoe - 18ppg game
Knight - 18 ppg game
Warren - 10 ppg game
Keef - 16ppg game
Len 10 ppg game

Add in some solid bench production and we are right back in the mix.

If we end up sucking and fall out of the playoff race, then McDonough will showcase our vets and then move them for picks and young players. We will tank the rest of the season, develop our young players, and rebuild through the draft.


That's what I would do at least.

[LukasBMW]

I should add...

Right now we have so many question marks with our current players.

Keef - Has shown he can be a 16/8 guy or even a 18/10 guy. Can he keep his head cool? Can he play consistently? Is he a punk that is going to cause trouble or is he the guy we saw torch Kevin Love last season?

Blesdoe - Is he going to continue to improve and be Westbrook 2.0? Or is his knee going to fall apart? Will his performance drop off when he stops taking HGH? Will he continue to lay on the ground after "no calls" like his pussy-ass friend Lebron? Will he play hard? Or is he just a diva?

Knight - Will he get his stroke back and become an allstar in our uptempo offense? Or were his numbers inflated in the weak east?

TJ - Will he get better with more minutes?

Len - Can he stay healthy? If he does, can he become a top 10 center? Or is he a double double guy at best?

Archie - Will this be his breakout year? Or is this the year we all give up on him.

That's 6 big question marks. Only way to find out is to let things play out.

[LukasBMW]

One more thing, unless we can land a big name free agent it doesn't make sense to overpay for a borderline all-star at any position.

The best bet is to sign some vet bargains to keep the pressure on our guys.

PJ will keep the pressure on TJ

But we need some front court guys to keep the pressure on Len and Keef (and give us injury insurance).

I don't think we need any vets in the back court. We have enough young guys that need time.

If we end up tanking the season away, the bargain vets can be traded for young assets.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Overall I think mcd has done a good job. He inherited a pretty depressing roster from banks.

His plan got a little thrown off when the overachieved that first year. When he dealt dudely gortat and Scola the idea was they would be in the running for Wiggins, parker or embiid. Now it didn't work out that way and that year was fun. One could argue that he should have dealt away fry and Goran that trade deadline while their value was high but he would have been killed by the media and some fans for sabotaging that surprising team and by that point they had won too much already to have a good shot at a top pick.

Last summer was not a good one for him. I get why they signed IT because it was a good value contract but it just didn't work out. The biggest mistake was not trading Goran then but who knows maybe they tried and the offers sucked.

They knight trade was the biggest gamble he's made so far as a gm. Jury is still out on that until where that pick ends up and how knight progresses as a player.

I get some of you criticizing him but what realistic move should he have done? Sure it would have been great to sign LeBron but it's hardly mcds fault it didn't happen.

I disagee on IT. I never like that move. If I posted anything positive - it was because I was thinking positive. Thought IT was a team killer on offense. He put up stats at the expense of the team

Knight on the other - you say a gamble but look at it.
1) Goran was not coming back and I know he was kind of jacked by the IT move, he is also not a 80/5 guy to me
2) The Lakers pick - I just didn't have much faith in Phoenix ever getting it

So, McD used that pick to get a guy that over the next five years - will be hitting his good years and should improve. I am bullish on that move.

1) I agree with you Goran needed to be traded but that's separate from knight. He could have stopped after dealing Goran and IT and just kept ennis and the pick

2) the pick will come eventually, probably in 2016. This is where it's a gamble. What if the Lakers had won a few more games down the stretch and got unlucky in the lotto and picked 6th? That was a possibility when the trade went down and I would have rather had the 6th pick than knight.

Like any gamble that knight trade might turn out great. If he improves and that Lakers pick turns out to be in the teens next year in what doesn't look like a great draft class then mcd will look like a genius. But I still think it was the biggest risk he's taken as a gm.

[Flying Colors]

that Knight is looking better for sure, especially with the Lakers being in the the prime position to nab just about every free agent

[sunsbum]

that Knight is looking better for sure, especially with the Lakers being in the the prime position to nab just about every free agent

yea, so many people where pooping on MCD for trading the pick. Fast forward to now its looking downright genius. haters wont admit that though.

[DirtyDez]

that Knight is looking better for sure, especially with the Lakers being in the the prime position to nab just about every free agent

Not judging that trade until we see what Knight does here. If Brandon Knight gets a huge deal from the Suns and doesn't live up to it this could get ugly for McD. If we remain in this current state of mediocrity I'd probably favor the unknown of that pick.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Roster building and sustaining is really hard in the NBA. **** look at Portland they won 50+ the last two years and can pay Aldridge the most money and are still gonna lose him for nothing. That's brutal.

It's time to allow teams to designate a franchise player like the NFL. This will stop all this collusion between players to create super teams and kill the big market advantage over the small markets.

it's not a bad idea. Another way to prevent super teams is do a hard cap and do away with max contracts. That would distribute the talent more equally because the true stars would have a hard time turning down 40+ mil deals. Right now with the max it's really hard for the non major market teams to get a star since they can only offer the same amount as a big market team.

I don't think either of these things will ever happen though.

[bwgood77]

Roster building and sustaining is really hard in the NBA. **** look at Portland they won 50+ the last two years and can pay Aldridge the most money and are still gonna lose him for nothing. That's brutal.

It's time to allow teams to designate a franchise player like the NFL. This will stop all this collusion between players to create super teams and kill the big market advantage over the small markets.

Yes, something like this needs to happen. The NBA is ridiculous in that there is no parity whatsoever. It will likely never happen though.

[TeamTragic]

that Knight is looking better for sure, especially with the Lakers being in the the prime position to nab just about every free agent

Not judging that trade until we see what Knight does here. If Brandon Knight gets a huge deal from the Suns and doesn't live up to it this could get ugly for McD. If we remain in this current state of mediocrity I'd probably favor the unknown of that pick.

If I'm not mistaken he wanted more than what the Bucks were offering him. They couldn't reach an agreement and he ended up being traded to Phoenix. How much do we expect to pay him assuming that he is offered a starting position?

Are we actually going to spend money this off-season? I heard McD saying they want to sign two players. I don't see anyone making this team better with our current cap space.

[AtheJ415]

He's making about $7M to $8M coaching the Wildcats for the next seven years. You think Sarver would pay Calipari $10M per year?

Obvious trolling not so obvious?

Actually Calipari has coached in the NBA for the Nets. Would he come back? I'm sure he would if the price is right. Would certainly be a feather in the cap for any NBA team that could afford him.

How so? Cal was absolutely dreadful as an NBA coach. He now is killing it in college where he gets to recruit players and, since that is what he is best at, he gets to field a team with an ungodly talent advantage against all but 2 or 3 teams in the country. In the NBA, due to salary caps, there is no similar talent advantage. He has to win through X's and O's and discipline, which are his weakest attributes.

I'd be absolutely horrified if Hornacek got replaced by Cal.

[AtheJ415]

that Knight is looking better for sure, especially with the Lakers being in the the prime position to nab just about every free agent

Not judging that trade until we see what Knight does here. If Brandon Knight gets a huge deal from the Suns and doesn't live up to it this could get ugly for McD. If we remain in this current state of mediocrity I'd probably favor the unknown of that pick.

If I'm not mistaken he wanted more than what the Bucks were offering him. They couldn't reach an agreement and he ended up being traded to Phoenix. How much do we expect to pay him assuming that he is offered a starting position?

Are we actually going to spend money this off-season? I heard McD saying they want to sign two players. I don't see anyone making this team better with our current cap space.

I fully expect Knight to get 11-14 million in FA. With the cap going up, everyone will get paid, and despite PG being a strong position league-wide, he's best PG in the league his age or younger, meaning he has upside and will get paid accordingly.

[TeamTragic]

Not judging that trade until we see what Knight does here. If Brandon Knight gets a huge deal from the Suns and doesn't live up to it this could get ugly for McD. If we remain in this current state of mediocrity I'd probably favor the unknown of that pick.

If I'm not mistaken he wanted more than what the Bucks were offering him. They couldn't reach an agreement and he ended up being traded to Phoenix. How much do we expect to pay him assuming that he is offered a starting position?

Are we actually going to spend money this off-season? I heard McD saying they want to sign two players. I don't see anyone making this team better with our current cap space.

I fully expect Knight to get 11-14 million in FA. With the cap going up, everyone will get paid, and despite PG being a strong position league-wide, he's best PG in the league his age or younger, meaning he has upside and will get paid accordingly.

Would he accept 12M if we offered?

[thamadkant]

I believed in McD 100%...
But with the latest draft... I have a little doubt now.
Yes, the Suns need sharp shooting... But from a 18 year old? He won't be a factor until he is 20... WHICH I am fine with.

But I heard McD and Hornacek is pressured by Sarver to make the playoffs....
So why didn't he drafted a more ready player now and signed a dead eye shooter instead?

I know it's just the start of the free agency period... And things might fall into places by start of the season... But the suns are competing with hungry, desperate teams with better assets....

Is McD hoping for a miracle? Hoping Knight becomes Arenas? Len become Bogut?

Not trying to criticize you but who would you have liked them to pick up at 13? All reports said he tried to trade up for Kamminsky (more ready now player) but Charlotte refused to trade. All the players I had wanted were off the board by our turn. McD always said he'd select best player available and I believe he did. We didn't draft for need and will probably be quite happy with the pick when all is said and done.

In my opinion, "ready" now players who will provide meaningful minutes.
2 players come to mind immediately.
Portis: PF, rebounds, high energy player who can come in help immediately.
Payne: Ready to play meaningful minutes at the 1, although he isnt a "catch and shoot" guy. Might repeat the issues with Thomas. But I like his ability to score, dish and nail the 3.

Trade down options or buying picks
Harrell: McD didnt even try to buy an early second rounder to nab him, allows Rockets get richer.
Looney: Same as Harrell, but not as ready as Harrell.

[Qwigglez]

I'm glad the route we took in the draft. Getting Booker over a "ready" now player is the smart play. Booker has high upside, especially because his age. If he ends up getting an extension or a new contract, he'll be 22-23 years old.

[Revived]

that Knight is looking better for sure, especially with the Lakers being in the the prime position to nab just about every free agent

Not judging that trade until we see what Knight does here. If Brandon Knight gets a huge deal from the Suns and doesn't live up to it this could get ugly for McD. If we remain in this current state of mediocrity I'd probably favor the unknown of that pick.

Yea way too early to judge on that. And LAL can sign all the FAs they want but I doubt their getting any star FAs.