2021-22 Season/Offseason Speculation

[RunDogGun]

Man, looking at that TJ trade is just insane. So we sent TJ to Indiana, a second rounder to Miami, and the Pacers got TJ, and the Pacers got three second rounders from Miami? Is that really what happened?

[Saberestar]

He is the player on the market that makes more sense for the Suns.

Jalen Smith + Saric for Thad Young it is the most simple and solid trade... but I would hate to lose Jalen this early.

Its simple but it does give up pretty quickly on Smith when he is cheap for three more years. From SArvers position - trading Young for Saric and Smith would possibly get him under the Tax Apron - though still above the lux tax. And if you have YOungs right - could sign him to a longer term deal - maybe 2/12 or something.

But still - I am not sure I want to give up Smith too soon but if it happens - so be it. You move on.

Sidery mentioned Larry Nance Jr. as another possible option. Salary wise that’s a perfect fit. Dont really know if these guys have legit sources, but they sure do know more than any of us.

Sidery was first on the Payton news.

Anyway, if this is the way the FO decides to go, then yeah, so be it. I’d rather have Nance that Thad though.

Nance is younger and with 2 years left on his contract...I like him but I think that Thad is even better than him and more versatile. Better shot creator than Nance and we lack shot creators.

[bwgood77]

It is Elfrid Payton, no one wants him, so a leak about his potential signing does not really matter.

Payton probably asked for a few days to find a better offer or more playing time, but he knows that is a long shot at this point of the off-season...so he surely will sign with us.

I don't think we really know if he was even offered a contract. That was my point.

So now we know for sure that the Suns offered a contract to Payton. So yeah, Gambo was right.

I am not a Payton's fan but I need to say that he is more than adequate to be a third string PG. He is talented, hopefully he plays hard all the time.

Yeah, he's fine for emergency 3rd string PG, but just awful shooting and negative OBPM and OWS last year. So he can't score efficiently at all. So given he would be unlikely to be guarded we would be 4 on 5 for the rest of the offense.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Man, looking at that TJ trade is just insane. So we sent TJ to Indiana, a second rounder to Miami, and the Pacers got TJ, and the Pacers got three second rounders from Miami? Is that really what happened?

You're either being obtuse or just trolling if after all this time you still dont understand the salary reasons behind this deal or what it ultimately lead to.

Oh and TJ missing all last year sure wouldn't have helped the suns. Good player but rarely healthy and wasn't a great fit with either booker or Ayton.

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[Saberestar]

Not against trading Smith, but not particularly high on moving him for Thad Young. He's solid, not really a needle mover though. Feels really short sighted moving Dario and Smith for a 33 year old back-up power forward on an expiring contract.

I would say that 33 is old for some other player, but Thad Young is in amazing physical condition. He is not slowing down at all.

And he would be our third big more than only a backup.

I wouldn't consider him a third big. He's not playing much center, if any. Unless Mikal (Regular Season 32.5 mpg, Playoffs 32.1 mpg), Crowder (27.5, 33), and Cam (24, 21) are playing less minutes next year, he's only playing 10-15 minutes per game. And again, he's on an expiring contract, so it'd potentially be a patch job with Ayton and Mikal's pay day coming up.

Last year on the Bulls he played some C for them and he was successful doing it.

There will be minutes available for sure. We are contenders, we need big depth.

[bwgood77]

Its simple but it does give up pretty quickly on Smith when he is cheap for three more years. From SArvers position - trading Young for Saric and Smith would possibly get him under the Tax Apron - though still above the lux tax. And if you have YOungs right - could sign him to a longer term deal - maybe 2/12 or something.

But still - I am not sure I want to give up Smith too soon but if it happens - so be it. You move on.

Sidery mentioned Larry Nance Jr. as another possible option. Salary wise that’s a perfect fit. Dont really know if these guys have legit sources, but they sure do know more than any of us.

Sidery was first on the Payton news.

Anyway, if this is the way the FO decides to go, then yeah, so be it. I’d rather have Nance that Thad though.

Nance is younger and with 2 years left on his contract...I like him but I think that Thad is even better than him and more versatile. Better shot creator than Nance and we lack shot creators.

I think Nance is now more versatile since he can shoot 3s, but the 2 years left is kind of a killer (though if swapping Saric it would be a wash there).

I still doubt they are that eager to make a PF move like that, especially if it cost another 1st/Jalen/Ty-Shon.

[RunDogGun]

Man, looking at that TJ trade is just insane. So we sent TJ to Indiana, a second rounder to Miami, and the Pacers got TJ, and the Pacers got three second rounders from Miami? Is that really what happened?

You're either being obtuse or just trolling if after all this time you still dont understand the salary reasons behind this deal or what it ultimately lead to.

Oh and TJ missing all last year sure wouldn't have helped the suns. Good player but rarely healthy and wasn't a great fit with either booker or Ayton.

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Really? That was a lot of assumptions on your part, which is not like you. Someone else brought up the TJ trade.

And what I was thinking in my head, which you would have no idea what that was, was that the Pacers did great in that trade, a starter and three second rounders for cash.

[NapoleonII]

Saric and Jalen Smith with a future first for....Marvin Bagely III

[RunDogGun]

Saric and Jalen Smith with a future first for....Marvin Bagely III

That is an interesting idea.

[LV-Suns]

Its just depressing watching us pass over Hailburton to draft Smith to trade him for frickin Thad Young a year later

[bwgood77]

Cam Johnson shot 50/45/90 for the playoffs.

CamJo has gotta be utilized more. His 3pt% dipped this year, but as others mentioned, he had that wrist injury?

But to me, his biggest leap this year was his defense, his hustle, his intangibles which probably came from spending so much time with Bridges.

I'm predicting the biggest leap from him this year actually, because as Ayton/Booker/Bridges improve, CamJo will be getting more corner and open threes. But we should stagger him a bit with the bench, give him more screened mid-ranges and play off Payne, more drives.

Yeah, he had it from like mid April to May. Before that he was fairly inconsistent. I remember early in the season saying it looks like Bridges and Cam helped each other...Cam improved on D and got worse on O and vice versa. Then Cam finally got hot in the playoffs.

[RaisingArizona]

JJ sure is emptying the cabinets of young talent. Nobody will care in the short term but trading pick after pick will eventually catch up to us. Even McD hit on 4 draft picks over his reign.

[BobbieL]

Saric and Jalen Smith with a future first for....Marvin Bagely III

That is an interesting idea.

I would pretty much hate that trade.. Bagley just has not shown much. Especially the extra first

I can deal with Nance for Smith & SAric

[WeekapaugGroove]

Man, looking at that TJ trade is just insane. So we sent TJ to Indiana, a second rounder to Miami, and the Pacers got TJ, and the Pacers got three second rounders from Miami? Is that really what happened?

You're either being obtuse or just trolling if after all this time you still dont understand the salary reasons behind this deal or what it ultimately lead to.

Oh and TJ missing all last year sure wouldn't have helped the suns. Good player but rarely healthy and wasn't a great fit with either booker or Ayton.

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Really? That was a lot of assumptions on your part, which is not like you. Someone else brought up the TJ trade.

See I don't have any doubts that the poster who originally brought it up is an obtuse troll.

I just get a little 'we're really still doing this?!?' when I see that deal brought up.

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[bwgood77]

Anything to get rid of Payton and smith.

Those 2 make up about a 3rd of Rubio's salary. Doubt they'd want Saric too. They won't have the roster room to add all of them.

Yea. I’m dreaming. James Jones has traded more for less. Remember Josh jackson and Melton and tj Warren? Why is he hoarding guys like smith and Alexander. I don’t understand

Need cheap guys given our bloated contracts and upcoming extensions for Ayton and Bridges. Alexander and Smith wouldn't net you much anyway if you think they suck, plus they only make like a combined $4-5 million so that's all you could trade them for...not a lot of great players making that money.

[RunDogGun]

You're either being obtuse or just trolling if after all this time you still dont understand the salary reasons behind this deal or what it ultimately lead to.

Oh and TJ missing all last year sure wouldn't have helped the suns. Good player but rarely healthy and wasn't a great fit with either booker or Ayton.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Really? That was a lot of assumptions on your part, which is not like you. Someone else brought up the TJ trade.

See I don't have any doubts that the poster who originally brought it up is an obtuse troll.

I just get a little 'we're really still doing this?!?' when I see that deal brought up.

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I was thinking how well the Pacers did in that deal. A starter and three second rounders for cash.

[Barkley6]

JJ sure is emptying the cabinets of young talent. Nobody will care in the short term but trading pick after pick will eventually catch up to us. Even McD hit on 4 draft picks over his reign.

I understand your point, but we still have Payne, Booker, Shamet, Bridges, Johnson and Ayton all 26 or under and team controlled for the foreseeable future.

It's not like we are lacking in the youth department.

In theory, we have 2 or 3 years before we really start needing to restock the cupboard. I'd be fine with either Nance Jr or Young, both help us get better.

[matt131]

I kind of wish we were playing basketball instead of chess OR checkers, but oh well. Lol

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?s=20

[RunDogGun]

Saric and Jalen Smith with a future first for....Marvin Bagely III

That is an interesting idea.

I would pretty much hate that trade.. Bagley just has not shown much. Especially the extra first

I can deal with Nance for Smith & SAric

But wouldn't they just be a back up four? I could handle taking a flyer and team change for a young guy like Bagley. I like Nance, but he is about the same size as Crowder. (6'7") I agree about not giving up draft picks though.

Here are their stats from last year:
https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1=nancela02&p1yrfrom=2021&player_id2=baglema01&p2yrfrom=2021

[BobbieL]

I kind of wish we were playing basketball instead of chess OR checkers, but oh well. Lol

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But if the Suns trade for Young - not sure what buyout candidate makes sense - unless its a guard. But glad the Suns are running the Queens Gambit on the rest of the NBA. NBA just a bunch of suckahs!!!!

I think Saric + Smith for Young is a lot

The Spurs will probably buy out Young at some point