Season Speculation, Trade Ideas and Discussion

[lilfishi22]

16 mil a year for Dieng? Stupid Lakers destroyed the centers market with this ridiculous Mozgod deal... Prepare yourselves for a similar contract for Len next year.

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

[Villalobos]

Only team that might throw a huge contract at Len is Brooklyn after they strike out on other FA/RFAs. They were throwing poison pilled maxes at guys like Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson.

[AtheJ415]

16 mil a year for Dieng? Stupid Lakers destroyed the centers market with this ridiculous Mozgod deal... Prepare yourselves for a similar contract for Len next year.

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

I get the sentiment, but Miles Plumlee, Dieng, Mozgov, etc. continue to get big deals. Mozgov was one of the worst looking centers I had ever seen his last year in Cleveland. Len will get at least 8 figures and probably something on par with Plumlee. Whether we should be the team to do that is an open question, but the idea that he won't get paid doesn't fly imo.

[AtheJ415]

Only team that might throw a huge contract at Len is Brooklyn after they strike out on other FA/RFAs. They were throwing poison pilled maxes at guys like Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson.

Yeah. Our only hope in not giving Len a deal that most posters here would vomit at is if we run into a Bledsoe type scenario, where other teams already have guys they like and he's an RFA so they just let him sit there. If that happens maybe we get a reasonable deal.

[AtheJ415]

Honestly, it's pretty impressive that someone as terrible as BK (by letsgosuns accord) could manage to be borderline All-Star.

Maybe, just maybe, he isn't actually that bad? His game is awful to look at (particularly when nothing is working for him), but he's a 3 pt shooter who isn't terrible defensively and has decent (but not great) passing skills. Those are all good things to have in the modern NBA.

My biggest gripe is more with how we're using him. THE MAN DOES NOT NEED ANY CREATIVE LICENSE. He shouldn't be a primary decision maker, let alone responsible for creating our entire bench's offense. The solution is either:

1. Get Earl to stop telling him to yolo freestyle and actually start running a rigid offensive system. ISO's get you benched. We need the ball moving more. The more the ball moves, the easier the decision making is. The same issues came about with Horny. His system was designed for super high IQ players who could identify situations to take advantage of quickly.

2. Start him. This won't sit well with most fans. The caveat is BK would play solely off the ball as a 2 guard. Have him as a shooter. That's it. Keep it simple. No fancy ball handling. No sets where BK is the primary ball handler. We could then give Book the yolo freestyle keys to the second unit and also play him with Bled.

I actually believe the success of BK is a good barometer for the success of our offense. If he's being asked to create, it's an indication that we're not running our offense properly.

So yeah, you can blame BK for being bad. But you should also blame Earl for making him look bad.

PS. The long term plan is to trade him. Book can do what BK and more. But we can still pump up his trade value in the mean time.

If Knight actually went to the hoop when he attacks a closeout instead of moronically taking a step back 3 he'd average 6 more points a game and his FG% would probably be 50%. I'm not sure if we can look this up, but I'd love to see his shooting % on that step back 3. And he takes it when he has an open layup or a 2 on 1 near the hoop (thus he could throw a lob or wrap around to Len/Chandler for a dunk), but no, he loves that step back 3.

[lilfishi22]

16 mil a year for Dieng? Stupid Lakers destroyed the centers market with this ridiculous Mozgod deal... Prepare yourselves for a similar contract for Len next year.

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

I get the sentiment, but Miles Plumlee, Dieng, Mozgov, etc. continue to get big deals. Mozgov was one of the worst looking centers I had ever seen his last year in Cleveland. Len will get at least 8 figures and probably something on par with Plumlee. Whether we should be the team to do that is an open question, but the idea that he won't get paid doesn't fly imo.

All of these C's have been able to put the ball in the basket one way or another whereas Len has struggled majorly on that end. Defensively, I don't think Len is much better than any of them honestly and I don't think much of Mozgov at all.

I don't see much of a market for Len. Certainly not at that price range.

[MrMiyagi]

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

I get the sentiment, but Miles Plumlee, Dieng, Mozgov, etc. continue to get big deals. Mozgov was one of the worst looking centers I had ever seen his last year in Cleveland. Len will get at least 8 figures and probably something on par with Plumlee. Whether we should be the team to do that is an open question, but the idea that he won't get paid doesn't fly imo.

All of these C's have been able to put the ball in the basket one way or another whereas Len has struggled majorly on that end. Defensively, I don't think Len is much better than any of them honestly and I don't think much of Mozgov at all.

I don't see much of a market for Len. Certainly not at that price range.

Someone will. Just pray it isn't us.

[bwgood77]

16 mil a year for Dieng? Stupid Lakers destroyed the centers market with this ridiculous Mozgod deal... Prepare yourselves for a similar contract for Len next year.

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

Dieng is worth that. Anyone see his #s? Why let a player like that you hold rights to get away?

[bwgood77]

16 mil a year for Dieng? Stupid Lakers destroyed the centers market with this ridiculous Mozgod deal... Prepare yourselves for a similar contract for Len next year.

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

I get the sentiment, but Miles Plumlee, Dieng, Mozgov, etc. continue to get big deals. Mozgov was one of the worst looking centers I had ever seen his last year in Cleveland. Len will get at least 8 figures and probably something on par with Plumlee. Whether we should be the team to do that is an open question, but the idea that he won't get paid doesn't fly imo.

What teams do you think would give him that type of offer?

[LukasBMW]

I'm willing to give up Len and prime assets (Miami picks and/or our own picks are on the table) if we can move Len in exchange for a LEGIT young center with potential.

I'd rather max out a player that deserves it then spend $12-$15 mil a season on Len.

I really hope by the trade deadline, we find a team with a all-star caliber center willing to do a trade.

\

[Zelaznyrules]

Dieng's contract is good.


Gobert is fine.


Adams is not worth 25 million dollars a year... 17-18 million is fair.


Len's agent right now is salivating.

Len on another team that he fits in may be worth 15 or more... But on the Suns he is worth 8 million.

It's a bit of an overpay but I'd give Adams 25 in a heartbeat. He's a month younger than Alex Len so he's likely not a finished product yet. And he looks to be the type that won't be prone to injury. He'll probably never rack up the stats, he's more like a young Tyson Chandler in that regard. But in today's NBA, that's what it takes to keep someone like him. He's long, strong and mobile and how many players in today's game can guard the real dangerous big men without help all the time? He's worth the investment IMO.

[Zelaznyrules]

I'm willing to give up Len and prime assets (Miami picks and/or our own picks are on the table) if we can move Len in exchange for a LEGIT young center with potential.

I'd rather max out a player that deserves it then spend $12-$15 mil a season on Len.

I really hope by the trade deadline, we find a team with a all-star caliber center willing to do a trade.

I would prefer this too but it won't be easy. It will have to be someone like Denver with Jokic and Nurkic or Philly with their group. But teams with 2 or more centers with all star potential are few and far between. Plus it usually takes them a few years of experimenting before they're willing to abandon the idea they can get full value by playing them together.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Frankly, I'd rather have Len at $10 than Adams at $25. On that note, I'll take Tyson at $13 over either.

Silver lining for the day.

[lilfishi22]

16 mil a year for Dieng? Stupid Lakers destroyed the centers market with this ridiculous Mozgod deal... Prepare yourselves for a similar contract for Len next year.

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

Dieng is worth that. Anyone see his #s? Why let a player like that you hold rights to get away?

Dieng is definitely worth it.

[thamadkant]

The Adams deal makes the Dwight Howard 3 year 70 million deal very good.

I like Adams... But Howard has a good 3 to 4 years left and at less money.

[RaisingArizona]

If Len keeps sucking it up, I don't want him for 100k.

[Zelaznyrules]

Frankly, I'd rather have Len at $10 than Adams at $25. On that note, I'll take Tyson at $13 over either.

Silver lining for the day.

Tyson's contract was written with an eye to this explosion, just as Bledsoe's deal was. They are both steals right now (injuries notwithstanding). I don't know why so many are down on the Adams signing though. He's great at defending both the big power centers and the athletic ones too. How much is that worth to a a team? I think OKC made a solid deal with Adams although I would question the Oladipo deal if I were a Thunder fan.

[NavLDO]

Sure if they think he is a good player. I don't. I don't think you do. So I certainly don't think team scouts do. Maybe they do though. You're right they need a guard but have at least one very high pick in a pg heavy draft and maybe two if they get the Lakers pick.

If I were them I wouldn't. I hold out for something better.

Okay they can have Tucker too.

If Knight gets on fire before Noel comes back from surgery than maybe it's a possibility, but even in the unlikely scenario that Philly is really high on Knight, our FO might be a little worried about giving him that huge deal in the offseason. He WILL likely get a huge offer in the $20 million or more range, regardless of where he is. Dieng will probably get a big one too. Both before Len will actually.

I'm just worried that McD passed on Noel in favor of Len 3 years ago, so I'm not sure how likely McD would trade for Noel, especially since his concern coming in was his knees, and oh look, he just had knee surgery. I know, not the exact 'concern' McD had, but still, I don't see McD having a lot of interest in Noel, which is frustrating, as we'll likely just sit with Chandler and Len through the season, hoping Len will improve greatly throughout, into the starter we thought we were drafting.

And by gauging the frustration level Sun's fans on this board, have with Len, I can only assume the feeling is the same for the casual Suns' fan as well. McD, at some point, has to understand this, and if Len hasn't drastically improved by the trade deadline, he needs to go out and find another young Center, and Noel would fit that bill perfectly.

[NavLDO]

Posters keep saying this but who is honestly offering a 7 footer who can barely touch .50fg% and only plays OK but inconsistent defense?

I get the sentiment, but Miles Plumlee, Dieng, Mozgov, etc. continue to get big deals. Mozgov was one of the worst looking centers I had ever seen his last year in Cleveland. Len will get at least 8 figures and probably something on par with Plumlee. Whether we should be the team to do that is an open question, but the idea that he won't get paid doesn't fly imo.

All of these C's have been able to put the ball in the basket one way or another whereas Len has struggled majorly on that end. Defensively, I don't think Len is much better than any of them honestly and I don't think much of Mozgov at all.

I don't see much of a market for Len. Certainly not at that price range.

Not all together true. Last year, he was fine until Mar/Apr (percentage-wise). But even Mar, it was really only a handful of games that really brought his average down. And it's really thanks to him thinking he was a stretch 4/5.

If Watson set some limits, like, if he sees Len shooting anything over 12Ft, he gets pulled. He starts shooting a bunch of hooks, he gets pulled. Get the 'offense' out of his head, and have him concentrate on Defense, or Offensive put-backs--get the NASTY back in him. That's what he really needs, IMO. I'd much rather he be a 9/14 guy with a .550 fg%, than a 14/9 guy with a .380 fg%. Get him down low and keep him there. He knows how to do this; he just needs to get back to it. If he wants to get paid, quit the jump shots.

I'm not sure if this will work, but what's going on now certainly isn't. He used to be able to go toe-to-toe with just about any Center in the league. Sure, he had foul problems, but he also got quite a few Blks back then as well...

[Sunsss]

If he averages 17-18ppg with good efficiency, a year from now TJ will be getting a similar deal Gobert and Adams got.