2021-22 Season/Offseason Speculation

[Ghost of Kleine]

I wonder what the Spurs are asking for from us.
I'm guessing they are trying to pry more than just Smith to take back Saric.
I'm thinking we told them, Saric & Smith. That's it. The offer will remain on the table if they reconsider at a later time.

Yeah! Smith being part of the trade is something that I personally just wouldn't do myself as IF sending out both Smith and Saric, We got back a good and versatile veteran in Young. But Young is what..........6'8 at best. So we've now successfully gotten smaller. Our size and lack of athleticism was a major factor in our finals loss. So I'm not sure losing size and further frontcourt depth in a two for one is really a good deal for us. Especially with what Smith had shown to be capable of when finally recieving playing time in the summer league.

If the trade is something around Saric/ Kaminsky and a 2nd, Then it becomes a good trade for us. But if it becomes Saric/ Smith, etc. Including Smith, And thusly losing critical frontcourt size/ length and rim protection, May surely come back to bite us in the azz!

[Saberestar]

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[King4Day]

I wonder what the Spurs are asking for from us.
I'm guessing they are trying to pry more than just Smith to take back Saric.
I'm thinking we told them, Saric & Smith. That's it. The offer will remain on the table if they reconsider at a later time.

Yeah! Smith being part of the trade is something that I personally just wouldn't do myself as IF sending out both Smith and Saric, We got back a good and versatile veteran in Young. But Young is what..........6'8 at best. So we've now successfully gotten smaller. Our size and lack of athleticism was a major factor in our finals loss. So I'm not sure losing size and further frontcourt depth in a two for one is really a good deal for us. Especially with what Smith had shown to be capable of when finally recieving playing time in the summer league.

If the trade is something around Saric/ Kaminsky and a 2nd, Then it becomes a good trade for us. But if it becomes Saric/ Smith, etc. Including Smith, And thusly losing critical frontcourt size/ length and rim protection, May surely come back to bite us in the azz!

That's still not enough salary to make the deal work. But the Spurs aren't idiots. They are taking back a bad contract (because of the ACL and likely not having him play this season) and giving up the best player in the deal. They need to be compensated for it and Smith is the compensation.
Wanting more is where I draw the line.

[Barkley6]

I think the framework of the Suns offer has to be Saric+Smith. There really aren't any other options. Not sure why the Spurs would want Crowder, if they don't want Young as they fill similar roles at this point. And there's no way we trade Mikal or CamJo for Thad Young.

So it's Saric+Smith. If I'm the Spurs, I'm asking for draft compensation because you're sending me an injured player with additional years of salary and a second year project. If I'm the Suns I'm saying not a chance, this is our best offer. If there aren't better offers from the Spurs point of view, they can either make the trade with the Suns or go the buyout route.

The fact that nothing has materialized so far probably bodes well for Phoenix. Wouldn't surprise me if the Spurs leaked the story now to try to get another team to bid for Young to either force Phoenix to up their offer, or get more out of someone who felt like they could just wait Young to be bought out.

[Desertfox]

I feel like we could have gotten Nance for less, feels like JJ is always two steps behind everyone. Everyone was basically begging for a backup big last trade deadline and JJ did nothing while Theis was traded for scraps, turns out that bit us big time in the finals. Now all that is left is Young and its going to take Smith to get him.

[RunDogGun]

We need a better starting pf. Unless we are trading to improve our starting line up, I just don't see the point in trading right now. All a move for a back up pf spot will do now is limit CamJ's minutes.

[Barkley6]

I feel like we could have gotten Nance for less, feels like JJ is always two steps behind everyone. Everyone was basically begging for a backup big last trade deadline and JJ did nothing while Theis was traded for scraps, turns out that bit us big time in the finals. Now all that is left is Young and its going to take Smith to get him.

Gotten Nance for less than Lauri Markkanen? Maybe. But Cleveland ended up getting a very good deal there. It's very possible we inquired, but nothing we offered was going to top Markkanen, plain and simple. I don't think that's JJ being a step behind, we just got outbid.

In terms of not signing a backup big, I understood it at the time. Craig played incredibly well for us down the stretch and in the playoffs. Better than I think most predicted. The injury to Saric was unfortunate and happened at the worst possible time, because we didn't have a chance to adjust to it easily while battling in the Finals. Again, I don't think that's necessarily a slight on Jones. He took a gamble on Craig instead of a big man, and mostly it worked out. I don't think that if we had signed Gorgui Dieng that somehow we'd be NBA champs right now.

[Barkley6]

We need a better starting pf. Unless we are trading to improve our starting line up, I just don't see the point in trading right now. All a move for a back up pf spot will do now is limit CamJ's minutes.

I don't really think it hurts Cams minutes too much. The one whose minutes will likely see a reduction is Crowder, and I think that's justified. He's a great player to have on our team and plays his role well, but he shouldn't be playing 28 minutes a game, unless he's on fire from deep. Having a rotation of Crowder, Cam and Thad also allows you to play the hot hand, and make guys fight for minutes which always ends up producing better results. If Cam and/or Crowder are off, then Thad is going to play more. If they are both firing, Thad will play less. Thad also has a 7'1'' wingspan which suggests he can definitely be a small ball 5 at times.

I'm not worried about it hurting Cam's minutes.

[King4Day]

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[Mulhollanddrive]

Saric, Smith for Young is huge upside for Spurs.

If they hit those 2 players have 15 seasons in them vs 1 from Young.

[bwgood77]

I am not happy with the moves we did this summer.

I am happy that we got a back up center, but McGee was not the player I would have chosen a different player, as he has no understanding of the game and once he enters the court, everybody has to adapt to this.
Ayton can set screens, receive ally oops, shoot... Javale cannot do most of those things, except the alleys.

In second place, I would have get ridden of Crowder. I would like to have someone taller and more athletic, as we lack players blocking shots, getting rebounds in traffic (my feeling, not based on statistics).

I am happy with the returning of Paul, Payne, Frank. But I would try to move Crowder and Saric for a real PF. Nance would have been perfect. They are too similar.

I did. Bring back CP3 and Payne were HUGE great moves. Getting Shamet as a huge upgrade at backup 2 and sharpshooter to bolster the lineup and a C to make us less vulnerable when Ayton is off the floor with his rebounding and rim protection. He averaged over 14 boards per 36 and 3 blocks per 36 last year. We needed that in a big way...and a guy with olympic experience.

Bringing back CP3 and Payne was a prerequisite. We had no way to replace them so bringing them back was a must, not really an addition. I like the Shamet move.

The one area that wasn't really addressed last season and somewhat addressed this offseason was front court depth. The issue I have with it isn't so much that McGee isn't a nice piece but more that I wanted him last season when he would be an insurance big behind Saric (he was still decent at the time). This season he's going to be a rotation big (1st big off the bench?) and the level of player you need there is different. It's the difference between really needing Frank to contribute because he's your 1st big off the bench vs him being an insurance big who may or may not play at all.

I still think we need one more veteran big (MILSAP PLEASE!). When you're a championship caliber team, the margin for error is tiny because only 1 team can win it all and that team has to go through a murderer's row of great teams just for a chance at the title. It's the reason why championship caliber teams stack their roster. I feel like we're running a very lean team

I still think we have better depth than most in the west. Off the top of my head I don't know who I'd think is better. The Lakers depleted sold rotation depth and the backups are mostly fringe guys. Denver usually has more depth. The Clips might have solid depth but lost their star. Utah has ok depth, but mostly just Clarkson.

We are a legit 9-10 deep. Few teams play more than that in a playoff series and the Cams didn't play enough minutes last season anyway, and both will improve. People mention having no Craig, but I'd much prefer to play Cam more. I think he is much much better.

Our 3 guard rotation staggering Book and Paul was fine except when Paul was injured, but now with Shamet we are fine there. Our depth was fine last year outside of backup guard but unfortunately Saric didn't live up to expectations. If he played backup C like he did in the bubble we would have been fine and had Frank as the 3rd string. The biggest botched signing was Damian Jones.

[Fo-Real]

Sidery quoting Shams

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I am sticking with my trade when I first thought of this:

Saric, a couple 2nds and $2m for Young

From a dollar standpoint, the Spurs get a year of Saric for basically $4m and they get a couple seconds for their trouble

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:

The Suns are among the contenders who have pursued Spurs forward Thaddeus Young, sources said. San Antonio acquired Young in a sign-and-trade — along with a first-round pick and two second-round picks — and now are expected to receive strong interest in the veteran forward from competitive teams. Young averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while playing in 68 games (23 starts) and shooting 55.9 percent from the field a season ago.

I just don’t see how he fits… unless McGee is going to be 3rd string center. I can’t see Monty playing Thad and McGee together

Thad IS NOT a center.

[bwgood77]

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:

The Suns are among the contenders who have pursued Spurs forward Thaddeus Young, sources said. San Antonio acquired Young in a sign-and-trade — along with a first-round pick and two second-round picks — and now are expected to receive strong interest in the veteran forward from competitive teams. Young averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while playing in 68 games (23 starts) and shooting 55.9 percent from the field a season ago.

I just don’t see how he fits… unless McGee is going to be 3rd string center. I can’t see Monty playing Thad and McGee together

Thad IS NOT a center.

No, but neither was Craig. He's not a good fit on the floor with Ayton or McGee so it's tough to see how we would benefit with him.

[bwgood77]

Sidery quoting Shams

Read on Twitter

I am sticking with my trade when I first thought of this:

Saric, a couple 2nds and $2m for Young

From a dollar standpoint, the Spurs get a year of Saric for basically $4m and they get a couple seconds for their trouble

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:

The Suns are among the contenders who have pursued Spurs forward Thaddeus Young, sources said. San Antonio acquired Young in a sign-and-trade — along with a first-round pick and two second-round picks — and now are expected to receive strong interest in the veteran forward from competitive teams. Young averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while playing in 68 games (23 starts) and shooting 55.9 percent from the field a season ago.

I find Sidery's tweet to be a bit sensationalized compared to the source information

He also could just be reporting that out based on info he heard from someone who saw Flex/Sidery's tweets piggybacking one another. It's kind of a footnote in that article. I don't doubt we have had conversations but we probably monitor all sorts of stuff.

As I've said many times, I do not think Jones/Bukstein/Monty call up anyone and tell them what we are doing...or if they did tell a player it's in confidence. I doubt anyone says "Let me give Flex a ring to keep him in the loop". This could all be fake news, especially since you know they are very high on Jae and Cam.

[Saberestar]

Sidery quoting Shams

Read on Twitter

I am sticking with my trade when I first thought of this:

Saric, a couple 2nds and $2m for Young

From a dollar standpoint, the Spurs get a year of Saric for basically $4m and they get a couple seconds for their trouble

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:

The Suns are among the contenders who have pursued Spurs forward Thaddeus Young, sources said. San Antonio acquired Young in a sign-and-trade — along with a first-round pick and two second-round picks — and now are expected to receive strong interest in the veteran forward from competitive teams. Young averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while playing in 68 games (23 starts) and shooting 55.9 percent from the field a season ago.

I find Sidery's tweet to be a bit sensationalized compared to the source information

He also could just be reporting that out based on info he heard from someone who saw Flex/Sidery's tweets piggybacking one another. It's kind of a footnote in that article. I don't doubt we have had conversations but we probably monitor all sorts of stuff.

As I've said many times, I do not think Jones/Bukstein/Monty call up anyone and tell them what we are doing...or if they did tell a player it's in confidence. I doubt anyone says "Let me give Flex a ring to keep him in the loop". This could all be fake news, especially since you know they are very high on Jae and Cam.

There are leaks all the time in sports news, we have see it so many times.

[Barkley6]

I just don’t see how he fits… unless McGee is going to be 3rd string center. I can’t see Monty playing Thad and McGee together

Thad IS NOT a center.

No, but neither was Craig. He's not a good fit on the floor with Ayton or McGee so it's tough to see how we would benefit with him.

I think he can. He's not an incredible shooter from 3, but he's passable. For reference, he has an identical career 3pt% as Shawn Marion (33.1%), who was definitely able to play with non-shooting 5s.

It's not the perfect pairing, but I think it works well enough.

[bwgood77]

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:



I find Sidery's tweet to be a bit sensationalized compared to the source information

He also could just be reporting that out based on info he heard from someone who saw Flex/Sidery's tweets piggybacking one another. It's kind of a footnote in that article. I don't doubt we have had conversations but we probably monitor all sorts of stuff.

As I've said many times, I do not think Jones/Bukstein/Monty call up anyone and tell them what we are doing...or if they did tell a player it's in confidence. I doubt anyone says "Let me give Flex a ring to keep him in the loop". This could all be fake news, especially since you know they are very high on Jae and Cam.

There are leaks all the time in sports news, we have see it so many times.

Not from the Suns. There was speculation on McGee. Nothing on anything last year outside of CP3 which was due to himself talking to Wilbon about buying a house in Phx well before the news. Heck, according to Rubio, he was assured he wasn't going anywhere and him and Oubre were shocked when they found out.

Nothing really on the Shamet trade and multiple others.

I do imagine agents leak things sometimes (though Flex probably isn't their go-to), but I seriously doubt Jones/Bukstein/Monty do.

[bwgood77]

Thad IS NOT a center.

No, but neither was Craig. He's not a good fit on the floor with Ayton or McGee so it's tough to see how we would benefit with him.

I think he can. He's not an incredible shooter from 3, but he's passable. For reference, he has an identical career 3pt% as Shawn Marion (33.1%), who was definitely able to play with non-shooting 5s.

It's not the perfect pairing, but I think it works well enough.

If he could get his %s back up, yes. His 3pt shots lasts year were actually on extremely low volume. He wouldn't start though. Crowder was likely promised a starting role when he signed and regardless of some not liking him, he was an integral part to two consecutive finals teams...and it has been reported a number of times the Heat's big issue with not being as good was because they have not been able to replace what Crowder gave them.

Heck, Monty really increased his minutes in the playoffs too. 27 mpg in the regular season but 32 mpg in 3 of the series and over 37 mpg in the finals. Monty obviously is very high on him and has stated it is very hard to take him off the floor given what he brings.

[Barkley6]

Sidery quoting Shams

Read on Twitter

I am sticking with my trade when I first thought of this:

Saric, a couple 2nds and $2m for Young

From a dollar standpoint, the Spurs get a year of Saric for basically $4m and they get a couple seconds for their trouble

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:

The Suns are among the contenders who have pursued Spurs forward Thaddeus Young, sources said. San Antonio acquired Young in a sign-and-trade — along with a first-round pick and two second-round picks — and now are expected to receive strong interest in the veteran forward from competitive teams. Young averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while playing in 68 games (23 starts) and shooting 55.9 percent from the field a season ago.

I find Sidery's tweet to be a bit sensationalized compared to the source information

He also could just be reporting that out based on info he heard from someone who saw Flex/Sidery's tweets piggybacking one another. It's kind of a footnote in that article. I don't doubt we have had conversations but we probably monitor all sorts of stuff.

As I've said many times, I do not think Jones/Bukstein/Monty call up anyone and tell them what we are doing...or if they did tell a player it's in confidence. I doubt anyone says "Let me give Flex a ring to keep him in the loop". This could all be fake news, especially since you know they are very high on Jae and Cam.

I don't know, or care, much about Flex and whether he's legit or not. The fact that Shams is reporting this now, to me, looks like the Spurs are leaking info. Particularly the language "other contenders". They want to either draw a team in to make a bid, or make it seem like there are numerous bids coming in by leaking this news, so that they can get a better offer than what's on the table for Young.

I kind of scrolled through to see exactly which other contenders might be able to put together a decent offer for Young, and salary matching becomes very difficult for pretty much everyone else. LAC, LAL, Denver, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Utah, GSW....none of them would be able to salary match without giving up a pretty decent piece (i.e. Looney), or losing guys at positions they need depth in (i.e. Monte Morris and Campazzo gets it done, but why would Denver trade 2 PGs with Murray injured?).

Really makes it seem like we might be the only one bidding and the Spurs are trying to get us to sweeten the pot by leaking this report that 'contenders' are bidding for Young.

[bwgood77]

This is what Shams said in the Athletic:



I find Sidery's tweet to be a bit sensationalized compared to the source information

He also could just be reporting that out based on info he heard from someone who saw Flex/Sidery's tweets piggybacking one another. It's kind of a footnote in that article. I don't doubt we have had conversations but we probably monitor all sorts of stuff.

As I've said many times, I do not think Jones/Bukstein/Monty call up anyone and tell them what we are doing...or if they did tell a player it's in confidence. I doubt anyone says "Let me give Flex a ring to keep him in the loop". This could all be fake news, especially since you know they are very high on Jae and Cam.

I don't know, or care, much about Flex and whether he's legit or not. The fact that Shams is reporting this now, to me, looks like the Spurs are leaking info. Particularly the language "other contenders". They want to either draw a team in to make a bid, or make it seem like there are numerous bids coming in by leaking this news, so that they can get a better offer than what's on the table for Young.

I kind of scrolled through to see exactly which other contenders might be able to put together a decent offer for Young, and salary matching becomes very difficult for pretty much everyone else. LAC, LAL, Denver, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Utah, GSW....none of them would be able to salary match without giving up a pretty decent piece (i.e. Looney), or losing guys at positions they need depth in (i.e. Monte Morris and Campazzo gets it done, but why would Denver trade 2 PGs with Murray injured?).

Really makes it seem like we might be the only one bidding and the Spurs are trying to get us to sweeten the pot by leaking this report that 'contenders' are bidding for Young.

If the Spurs or more likely his agent leaked, I think it would be to get other teams interested in bidding, since Thad would probably not want to go to the Suns.

Lowe has reported multiple times that many teams around the league are interested in Thad. I am not sure who would be interested though.

Shams could mention something like this in a footnote based on what he's heard that originated with Flex or jumped on by Sidery after reading from Flex...heck, most of the Suns fanbase is tweeting about it.

There is really no downside for Shams to mention it because if nothing happens, that happens often. It's not like he is reporting it as some sort of done deal which he absolutely needs to be accurate about to retain the rep he has.