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

[bwgood77]

Yeah, it's a bit weird.

Last season, Warren didn't come back from his right ankle injury because he didn't feel comfortable and IIRC there were some comments about that from James Jones. And he got traded.

I am not saying that Warren was traded only for that, but probably it was an important factor.

Yeah. Forgot about that. Feel like more than ever Oubre is legit on the block this offseason.

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No it doesn't feel at all like Oubre is "on the block". People are in their own echo chambers.

The Suns are trending upward and they know they need to build on the roster, NOT churn it like they have. There is huge difference between being placed "on the block" by a team and having another team approach you about your player. The Suns approached Orlando about Aaron Gordon and when the Magic demanded Oubre the conversation ended abruptly. If the Suns do decide to trade Oubre in the future, you can bet it will be for a player at least as good and who brings the hustle and intensity and skill Oubre brings - perhaps at another position. It won't be for back-ups and multiple draft choices from a poor-mediocre draft such as this one. Whether he plays or not will depend on his recovery from knee surgery. I suspect the Suns will start this "tournament" without him because he has not had a chance for a full rehab due to the COVID.

No reasonable orthopedic or rehab physician would release him for contract drills at this point without having seen and evaluating him.

I think they did expect him to play though, as the type of injury he had has had ample time to recover. But of course if he doesn't feel comfortable, it's understandable not to. I do assume that if they feel he will or demand so much that he'd be just as willing to leave as stay, that they might look at potential offers because they won't want to potentially lose him for nothing. But if there isn't a reasonable deal on the table, cap space could be preferable. Depth at a couple of positions and a decent pick would be better than losing him for nothing though. He's not at the level Bledsoe was when we got peanuts for him.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Yeah, it's a bit weird.

Last season, Warren didn't come back from his right ankle injury because he didn't feel comfortable and IIRC there were some comments about that from James Jones. And he got traded.

I am not saying that Warren was traded only for that, but probably it was an important factor.

Yeah. Forgot about that. Feel like more than ever Oubre is legit on the block this offseason.

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No it doesn't feel at all like Oubre is "on the block". People are in their own echo chambers.

The Suns are trending upward and they know they need to build on the roster, NOT churn it like they have. There is huge difference between being placed "on the block" by a team and having another team approach you about your player. The Suns approached Orlando about Aaron Gordon and when the Magic demanded Oubre the conversation ended abruptly. If the Suns do decide to trade Oubre in the future, you can bet it will be for a player at least as good and who brings the hustle and intensity and skill Oubre brings - perhaps at another position. It won't be for back-ups and multiple draft choices from a poor-mediocre draft such as this one. Whether he plays or not will depend on his recovery from knee surgery. I suspect the Suns will start this "tournament" without him because he has not had a chance for a full rehab due to the COVID.

No reasonable orthopedic or rehab physician would release him for contract drills at this point without having seen and evaluating him.

Don't think Kelly's on the block. I do think the FO and Kelly's agent are evaluating what the Suns can afford in terms of an extension, and whether it might make sense for both sides to make a move, but that's a different question. There's no way this FO doesn't do everything it can to give Booker a playoff series in the desert next season, before we have to start entertaining trade offers. To that end, I find it highly unlikely that we move Kelly this summer, as he's clearly integral to this team.

There is one and only one reason that I, personally, would entertain offers like the ones you decry - moving Kelly for backups and draft pick(s). And that is additional cap space this offseason to make the one acquisition that I think would give us more than Kelly has given us, and that's Christian Wood. I think the two players are pretty comparable in terms of value, the differences are (1) you can lock Christian up this summer on a longer-term deal and (2) Christian is a 4/5, a position of greater need (though Kelly I would describe as a 3/4, despite his light weight).

Free agency comes three days after the draft this year, so it's on the edge of possibility that we could arrange to sign Christian Wood before dealing Oubre in such a scenario. It is far more likely that we wouldn't be able to get the sort of confidence I would need that we'd be able to sign Wood before pulling the trigger on an Oubre deal. There is simply no other free agent I see who could make up for what we'd lose by moving Kelly.

I do worry about losing Kelly next summer, though. Imagine how loud would be the voices screaming for a Booker trade if we lost Kelly at the beginning of next summer in free agency. Of course, that might be an unlikely outcome if we had a little bit of playoff success next year with this group.

Overall, I'm sure you're correct that we plan to keep Kelly through next year. I'm just not so sure they have a great plan in place for what to do the summer the follows.

[Crives]

Yeah. Forgot about that. Feel like more than ever Oubre is legit on the block this offseason.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

No it doesn't feel at all like Oubre is "on the block". People are in their own echo chambers.

The Suns are trending upward and they know they need to build on the roster, NOT churn it like they have. There is huge difference between being placed "on the block" by a team and having another team approach you about your player. The Suns approached Orlando about Aaron Gordon and when the Magic demanded Oubre the conversation ended abruptly. If the Suns do decide to trade Oubre in the future, you can bet it will be for a player at least as good and who brings the hustle and intensity and skill Oubre brings - perhaps at another position. It won't be for back-ups and multiple draft choices from a poor-mediocre draft such as this one. Whether he plays or not will depend on his recovery from knee surgery. I suspect the Suns will start this "tournament" without him because he has not had a chance for a full rehab due to the COVID.

No reasonable orthopedic or rehab physician would release him for contract drills at this point without having seen and evaluating him.

Don't think Kelly's on the block. I do think the FO and Kelly's agent are evaluating what the Suns can afford in terms of an extension, and whether it might make sense for both sides to make a move, but that's a different question. There's no way this FO doesn't do everything it can to give Booker a playoff series in the desert next season, before we have to start entertaining trade offers. To that end, I find it highly unlikely that we move Kelly this summer, as he's clearly integral to this team.

There is one and only one reason that I, personally, would entertain offers like the ones you decry - moving Kelly for backups and draft pick(s). And that is additional cap space this offseason to make the one acquisition that I think would give us more than Kelly has given us, and that's Christian Wood. I think the two players are pretty comparable in terms of value, the differences are (1) you can lock Christian up this summer on a longer-term deal and (2) Christian is a 4/5, a position of greater need (though Kelly I would describe as a 3/4, despite his light weight).

Free agency comes three days after the draft this year, so it's on the edge of possibility that we could arrange to sign Christian Wood before dealing Oubre in such a scenario. It is far more likely that we wouldn't be able to get the sort of confidence I would need that we'd be able to sign Wood before pulling the trigger on an Oubre deal. There is simply no other free agent I see who could make up for what we'd lose by moving Kelly.

I do worry about losing Kelly next summer, though. Imagine how loud would be the voices screaming for a Booker trade if we lost Kelly at the beginning of next summer in free agency. Of course, that might be an unlikely outcome if we had a little bit of playoff success next year with this group.

Overall, I'm sure you're correct that we plan to keep Kelly through next year. I'm just not so sure they have a great plan in place for what to do the summer the follows.

Wood and FVV!

[Saberestar]

Easy win coming...

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The Pelicans are the only other team fighting for the playoffs who will face the Wizards.

[bwgood77]

Don't think Kelly's on the block. I do think the FO and Kelly's agent are evaluating what the Suns can afford in terms of an extension, and whether it might make sense for both sides to make a move, but that's a different question. There's no way this FO doesn't do everything it can to give Booker a playoff series in the desert next season, before we have to start entertaining trade offers. To that end, I find it highly unlikely that we move Kelly this summer, as he's clearly integral to this team.

There is one and only one reason that I, personally, would entertain offers like the ones you decry - moving Kelly for backups and draft pick(s). And that is additional cap space this offseason to make the one acquisition that I think would give us more than Kelly has given us, and that's Christian Wood. I think the two players are pretty comparable in terms of value, the differences are (1) you can lock Christian up this summer on a longer-term deal and (2) Christian is a 4/5, a position of greater need (though Kelly I would describe as a 3/4, despite his light weight).

Free agency comes three days after the draft this year, so it's on the edge of possibility that we could arrange to sign Christian Wood before dealing Oubre in such a scenario. It is far more likely that we wouldn't be able to get the sort of confidence I would need that we'd be able to sign Wood before pulling the trigger on an Oubre deal. There is simply no other free agent I see who could make up for what we'd lose by moving Kelly.

I do worry about losing Kelly next summer, though. Imagine how loud would be the voices screaming for a Booker trade if we lost Kelly at the beginning of next summer in free agency. Of course, that might be an unlikely outcome if we had a little bit of playoff success next year with this group.

Overall, I'm sure you're correct that we plan to keep Kelly through next year. I'm just not so sure they have a great plan in place for what to do the summer the follows.

I generally hate this thought process "There's no way this FO doesn't do everything it can to give Booker a playoff series in the desert next season"

How about the FO do everything it can to give THE FANS a playoff series in the desert next season. And how about Booker do everything he can to give THE FANS a playoff series the next season. After all, he is making just under $30 million next season, almost $5 million more than Tom Brady will make.

I don't see Detroit getting rid of Wood.

And what voices about a Booker trade? From Booker or more fans whining? I don't see Booker going anywhere or wanting to any time soon. I'm pretty certain he'd rather be the "star" in Phoenix than 2nd or 3rd fiddle on a more competitive team.

I don't know what they are willing to pay Oubre...he's basically had one pretty good season....nice energy guy, a little below avg efficiency, defense, offense, but some nice highlight energizing plays..not particularly good at moving the ball. He's a nice part of a nice starting unit, but probably the least important part of that unit, if not now, almost certainly soon. Is he really worth near $20 million?

He did improve more than I expected this year and if he did happen to have a similar jump, particularly with efficiency (fewer drives into heavy traffic), ball movement and team defense, I think he could be valuable, but those ingrained habits might be somewhat difficult to change.

[Ghost of Kleine]

A couple of good podcasts on the Suns today, Discussing many important topics.

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Enjoy everyone!

[jredsaz]

No it doesn't feel at all like Oubre is "on the block". People are in their own echo chambers.

The Suns are trending upward and they know they need to build on the roster, NOT churn it like they have. There is huge difference between being placed "on the block" by a team and having another team approach you about your player. The Suns approached Orlando about Aaron Gordon and when the Magic demanded Oubre the conversation ended abruptly. If the Suns do decide to trade Oubre in the future, you can bet it will be for a player at least as good and who brings the hustle and intensity and skill Oubre brings - perhaps at another position. It won't be for back-ups and multiple draft choices from a poor-mediocre draft such as this one. Whether he plays or not will depend on his recovery from knee surgery. I suspect the Suns will start this "tournament" without him because he has not had a chance for a full rehab due to the COVID.

No reasonable orthopedic or rehab physician would release him for contract drills at this point without having seen and evaluating him.

I assume he has been seen and evaluated.

Kelly said when asked if returning, “Depends. It has to be the right scenario,” he said to Cox. “Because if they’re giving us the short end of the stick, and [Suns] have to go through the trenches to give yourselves a possibility of being a postseason team, then it’s not gonna make sense for me to come back for five games, or 10 games.”

Sarver then comments June 4, “Yes... I expect he will play, yes.”

Oubre through shams states he will not play June 17
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James Jones said he expect Oubre to practice and be back to play when ready hopefully before Orlando.

That is likely to happen at a time when, referring back to the initial Oubre comment, the Suns do not have a shot at making the playoffs.

There is clearly a disconnect between the two parties. Their respective expectations are not congruent. I dont think the Suns will dump Oubre as they did Warren but I de believe, given this disconnect, that they are more willing to trade him than they were previously. Kelly has value. They can move him for value

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Or the Suns are using this to where he “might” play so other teams can prepare for him to play when the Suns already know he will not be playing. There is definitely no disconnect between Suns and Oubre, if any, Oubre and his agent. Oubre wants to play.


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There has consistently been a disconnect between Sarvers Suns and any number of players over the years. And read the quotes! Please! I posted them for you to read. Oubre literally said he didnt want to play in this scenario.

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[Jdiddy701]

I assume he has been seen and evaluated.

Kelly said when asked if returning, “Depends. It has to be the right scenario,” he said to Cox. “Because if they’re giving us the short end of the stick, and [Suns] have to go through the trenches to give yourselves a possibility of being a postseason team, then it’s not gonna make sense for me to come back for five games, or 10 games.”

Sarver then comments June 4, “Yes... I expect he will play, yes.”

Oubre through shams states he will not play June 17
[url]

Read on Twitter

?s=19[/url]

James Jones said he expect Oubre to practice and be back to play when ready hopefully before Orlando.

That is likely to happen at a time when, referring back to the initial Oubre comment, the Suns do not have a shot at making the playoffs.

There is clearly a disconnect between the two parties. Their respective expectations are not congruent. I dont think the Suns will dump Oubre as they did Warren but I de believe, given this disconnect, that they are more willing to trade him than they were previously. Kelly has value. They can move him for value

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

Or the Suns are using this to where he “might” play so other teams can prepare for him to play when the Suns already know he will not be playing. There is definitely no disconnect between Suns and Oubre, if any, Oubre and his agent. Oubre wants to play.


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There has consistently been a disconnect between Sarvers Suns and any number of players over the years. And read the quotes! Please! I posted them for you to read. Oubre literally said he didnt want to play in this scenario.

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You think Oubre would join the team in Orlando if he didn’t want to play? Please also see his recent tweet. He WANTS to play.


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[lilfishi22]

I get Oubre not playing as it's contract year next season and entering next season as healthy as possible is priority for him and it is disappointing but honestly, it's 8 games and probably 8 game we honestly shouldn't be playing. This 8 game restart isn't about playoffs to me, it's about Ayton and Booker, they are my sole focus.

[Saberestar]

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[nevetsov]

I think we definitely explore upgrading one of the forward spots if possible. Ideally, I think we need a reliable 20ppg (3rd option) two way player at one spot, and a reliable 3&D player at the other spot.

1) we could keep bridges as a 3&D SF and chase a 3rd Banana PF (like Gordon, maybe Gallinari).

2) we could keep Oubre as our 3rd Banana SF and look for a 3&D PF (limited options?)

If neither of these outcomes are possible, I can see us running with the Bridges-Oubre combo, as on paper it provides a fit for both skillsets. Probably why this combo has provided a decent net rating so far. The only flag is that they both have natural SF builds, which may be exploited in certain matchups.

[darmani]

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[King4Day]

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Booker looks chilly. I wonder if he's covered up because he's used to trying to shield himself from fans.

[sasquatchBob]

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At first glance I thought Ayton is carrying a rifle

[King4Day]

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At first glance I thought Ayton is carrying a rifle

Thought the same thing! Took a while to realize it is a monitor.

[Frank Lee]

Booker getting his ‘game’ face on... Ayton getting his ‘gamer’ face on.(?)

[sasquatchBob]

Booker getting his ‘game’ face on... Ayton getting his ‘gamer’ face on.(?)

Fair enough though. What else is there to do when you're not playing ball and being isolated from everyone?

[darmani]

Booker getting his ‘game’ face on... Ayton getting his ‘gamer’ face on.(?)

Fair enough though. What else is there to do when you're not playing ball and being isolated from everyone?

Porn.

[Saberestar]

Booker getting his ‘game’ face on... Ayton getting his ‘gamer’ face on.(?)

Booker is a gamer too.

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[bwgood77]

You think Oubre would join the team in Orlando if he didn’t want to play? Please also see his recent tweet. He WANTS to play.


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I guess you continue to miss this quote?

“Depends. It has to be the right scenario,” he said to Cox. “Because if they’re giving us the short end of the stick, and [Suns] have to go through the trenches to give yourselves a possibility of being a postseason team, then it’s not gonna make sense for me to come back for five games, or 10 games.”

It will have been over 5 months since his injury when we resume regular season play. He was seen practicing in his backyard or whatever a couple of months ago, jumping, etc. I don't think it's a "still not ready" type of thing...but a personal preference if he thinks it doesn't matter and we have little chance. Not the best attitude regarding the situation.