Rank the players you'd most like to still be on the team two years from now

[LukasBMW]

Booker
Chriss

Bender
Warren
Ulis

Bledsoe

Len
Dudley
Barbosa
Jones
Chandler
Williams
Tucker
Knight

[GMATCallahan]

Booker
Chriss

Bender
Warren
Ulis

Bledsoe

Len
Dudley
Barbosa
Jones
Chandler
Williams
Tucker
Knight

... good assessment, except I am not sure if Tucker's inclusion is a mistake on your part or your way of saying that you want him back on the roster ...

[GMATCallahan]

Ulis' True Shooting Percentage this season is .446, which is absolutely atrocious for any kind of significant sample; despite Chriss' inconsistency, I would say that he has outplayed Ulis by a significant margin. In fact, when Chriss has played at least 30 minutes, he has averaged 15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, a .527 field goal percentage, a .382 three-point field goal percentage, and a .618 True Shooting Percentage, while also averaging over one blocked shot and one steal.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chrisma01/splits/2017

And when he has played at least 20 minutes, Chriss has shot .373 on threes.

Ulis sports a terrific assists-to-turnover ratio and a decent steals rate. He can distribute the ball—he is averaging 9.1 assists when he plays at least 30 minutes—but given his defensive vulnerabilities, he is going to need to become a much more efficient scorer in order to be anything better than a backup or even a marginal backup. Otherwise, Ulis is basically no better than a pint-sized passer that Phoenix briefly featured last season: Phil Pressey.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201602220LAC.html

I am not saying that Ulis cannot improve; I am just saying that he has not been especially effective as a rookie, despite his natural ability to distribute the ball.

In fairness, Chriss' statistical splits may be a little "self-selecting" in the sense that he plays more minutes when he plays better. Still, given his youth, he has done a good job of profiling as either a "stretch four" or a tall small forward with athleticism to spare either way. I also feel that his "Basketball IQ" is higher than people give him credit for. At times, he shows good awareness. The issue is that he also suffers frequent lapses, which is not surprising given that he is a teenager.

Man, this guy is young—he was not even alive when Rex Chapman hit his phenomenal three in the playoffs twenty years ago. Where he needs to improve, as much as anything, is as a competitor; he needs to become more consistently engaged, and not just in occasionally trying to accost opponents in order to establish toughness that he clearly does not yet possess.

[sleepyvato]

Main core:
Booker
Bender
Chriss

Role players:
Warren
Ulis
Jones Jr.
Williams

Ship out for a good offer/let walk in FA if they are asking for too much:
Bledsoe
Len

Won't be on the team:
Dudley
Barbosa
Chandler
Knight

[batsmasher]

I agree that Booker is not going to score the Suns to a championship (or even a playoff berth) by himself, but the same is true of Warren, only he cannot create his own offense like Booker and cannot nearly pass as well as Booker, either. Plus, he is three years older.

I believe that Booker should be untouchable; the only way that he would be worth trading would be for a player that will not be available, anyway. Granted, I suppose that one could look back at the Suns trading a twenty-three-year old, second-year Michael Finley to Dallas twenty seasons ago as part of a package that netted a twenty-three-year old Jason Kidd. Finley was not nearly the pure shooter that Booker happens to be, but he was much more athletic, far better defensively, and a better all-around player. However, I do not see the equivalent to a twenty-three-year old Kidd in today's game. Today's rising point guards are much better shooters and scorers than Kidd, but they do not pass like him. The closest analogy among a relatively young point guard would be John Wall, but he turns twenty-seven before next season, and even Wall attempts a lot of field goals by traditional standards. (For instance, his career average for FGA per game is higher than Kevin Johnson's single-season high—despite not being remotely as good of a shooter.)

Now that Warren has mercifully reduced his three-point volume, he is indeed "extremely good at what he does," but whether "what he does" can make a major impact on winning games remains uncertain.

As for Bender, I would go with Booker over him in large part because Booker is a known quantity. Bender's upside could be greater, but he also could be a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none complementary type. Truth be told, we may not know for about four more years, at least.

I absolutely agree. My Booker pessimism stems from a bigger issue - I think we're going to have a very hard time building a championship team around Book. His limitations are very real and I fear within the org we may start overlooking those limitations. A championship team undoubtedly needs an elite wing defender next to Book, as well as a good/ above average defender PG.

My thinking is- if we have a chance at a top 15 player who has at least a few more years in their prime, I'm not hesitating to add Book to a deal to get it over the line. So many non-player assets can only get you so far. These chances come around so rarely that Book is in the "almost certainly staying" category for me.

I don't believe long term TJ is a starter. He's untouchable because we can plug and play him in so many lineups. His game keeps us humming offensively. He has no baggage. He's strictly business. There's even an outside chance he gets better than he is right now.

I guess you could look at my rankings as a "projected role vs player ceiling vs trade value" ranking. Book no doubt is likely the best player we have, but as a piece to build everything around- I have my doubts.

Bender is in the untouchable category because he's a 7'1" two-way player. If he figures out how to play he can be miles better than Book.

So yeah... if I were to do the "projected role vs player ceiling vs trade value"
for Book, it'd be "Best player on the team / Not good enough to be the best player on the team / Sky high"
... TJ would be " Plug and play 3/4 (if we find a shot blocking 5) / Almost at his ceiling / not high enough"
... and Dragan would be "Eventual starter / a unicorn / basement value".

[GMATCallahan]

I absolutely agree. My Booker pessimism stems from a bigger issue - I think we're going to have a very hard time building a championship team around Book. His limitations are very real and I fear within the org we may start overlooking those limitations. A championship team undoubtedly needs an elite wing defender next to Book, as well as a good/ above average defender PG.

My thinking is- if we have a chance at a top 15 player who has at least a few more years in their prime, I'm not hesitating to add Book to a deal to get it over the line. So many non-player assets can only get you so far. These chances come around so rarely that Book is in the "almost certainly staying" category for me.

I don't believe long term TJ is a starter. He's untouchable because we can plug and play him in so many lineups. His game keeps us humming offensively. He has no baggage. He's strictly business. There's even an outside chance he gets better than he is right now.

I guess you could look at my rankings as a "projected role vs player ceiling vs trade value" ranking. Book no doubt is likely the best player we have, but as a piece to build everything around- I have my doubts.

Bender is in the untouchable category because he's a 7'1" two-way player. If he figures out how to play he can be miles better than Book.

So yeah... if I were to do the "projected role vs player ceiling vs trade value"
for Book, it'd be "Best player on the team / Not good enough to be the best player on the team / Sky high"
... TJ would be " Plug and play 3/4 (if we find a shot blocking 5) / Almost at his ceiling / not high enough"
... and Dragan would be "Eventual starter / a unicorn / basement value".

I appreciate your thoughtful perspective, and I agree that simply building around a high-volume shooting guard probably does not amount to a championship formula. (I have offered this point myself on other occasions.) But potentially, Booker could function as the leading scorer on a perennial championship contender. The model might be Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers from 1994-2000, when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals five times in a seven-year span and ultimately made the NBA Finals. Miller proved fairly mediocre outside of shooting and scoring, but on a deep roster with a talented scoring center in Rik Smits and strong rebounders and/or defenders such as Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, and Derrick McKey, his scoring ability constituted a difference-maker.

Of course, Miller was also extremely efficient—for his career, he posted a .614 True Shooting Percentage and a .516 two-point field goal percentage. Booker is very young with a ton of room for growth, but he has a long way to go to reach those levels; his career True Shooting Percentage is .534 (.535 last season, .533 this year), and his career two-point field goal percentage is .455 (a little lower this year than last year). Those figures are not terrible, but they are not exactly good, especially in the regular season for a player whose calling card is scoring. Still, Booker is a building block—he could certainly be part of a "Big Three" one day or an excellent guard-big man scoring tandem.

Would I swap Booker for Karl Anthony-Towns or Anthony Davis? Yes. For Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo? Yes. For LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, or Russell Westbrook (much as I dislike his style of play)? Yes—simply because in today's NBA, with the spacing and rules and concepts, if you build around any of those players quickly and effectively, you could potentially compete for a championship in short order. But none of those players are remotely available, hence rendering Booker untouchable in my view. I would not, conversely, trade Booker for guys like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, and DeMarcus Cousins, all of whom are arguably top-fifteen players. How about you? (Of course, Green and Thompson are not available, but Butler and even Cousins still could be.)

I was recently viewing part of Game Six of the 2000 NBA Finals between the Pacers and Lakers, which Indiana could have won—to force a Game Seven—had Los Angeles not received a couple of dubious calls at the end of the game. Ironically, the Pacers started three players who were quite sketchy or weak as perimeter defenders: thirty-four-year old point guard Mark Jackson, thirty-four-year old shooting guard Reggie Miller, and small forward Jalen Rose. But Indiana still came close to the championship, so there are many ways to make something work, so long as you possess a sufficient depth and breadth of talent.

Of course, Jackson, Miller, and Rose, along with Rik Smits, were all good offensive players, and Indiana ranked first in the NBA in Offensive Rating (points scored per possession) that season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/IND/2000.html

Certainly, that ranking would have been bolstered by playing in the Eastern Conference in that era, but there was a lot of offensive talent on that club regardless.

My point is that I am not sure that Booker will necessarily need to be paired with an "elite" wing defender moving forward for the Suns to be championship-caliber. I do agree, though, that the Suns will not be able to simply gun their way to a title behind Booker. Potentially, he could win a scoring title and Phoenix could still fail to make the playoffs.

[batsmasher]

I appreciate your thoughtful perspective, and I agree that simply building around a high-volume shooting guard probably does not amount to a championship formula. (I have offered this point myself on other occasions.) But potentially, Booker could function as the leading scorer on a perennial championship contender. The model might be Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers from 1994-2000, when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals five times in a seven-year span and ultimately made the NBA Finals. Miller proved fairly mediocre outside of shooting and scoring, but on a deep roster with a talented scoring center in Rik Smits and strong rebounders and/or defenders such as Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, and Derrick McKey, his scoring ability constituted a difference-maker.

Of course, Miller was also extremely efficient—for his career, he posted a .614 True Shooting Percentage and a .516 two-point field goal percentage. Booker is very young with a ton of room for growth, but he has a long way to go to reach those levels; his career True Shooting Percentage is .534 (.535 last season, .533 this year), and his career two-point field goal percentage is .455 (a little lower this year than last year). Those figures are not terrible, but they are not exactly good, especially in the regular season for a player whose calling card is scoring. Still, Booker is a building block—he could certainly be part of a "Big Three" one day or an excellent guard-big man scoring tandem.

Would I swap Booker for Karl Anthony-Towns or Anthony Davis? Yes. For Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo? Yes. For LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, or Russell Westbrook (much as I dislike his style of play)? Yes—simply because in today's NBA, with the spacing and rules and concepts, if you build around any of those players quickly and effectively, you could potentially compete for a championship in short order. But none of those players are remotely available, hence rendering Booker untouchable in my view. I would not, conversely, trade Booker for guys like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, and DeMarcus Cousins, all of whom are arguably top-fifteen players. How about you? (Of course, Green and Thompson are not available, but Butler and even Cousins still could be.)

I was recently viewing part of Game Six of the 2000 NBA Finals between the Pacers and Lakers, which Indiana could have won—to force a Game Seven—had Los Angeles not received a couple of dubious calls at the end of the game. Ironically, the Pacers started three players who were quite sketchy or weak as perimeter defenders: thirty-four-year old point guard Mark Jackson, thirty-four-year old shooting guard Reggie Miller, and small forward Jalen Rose. But Indiana still came close to the championship, so there are many ways to make something work, so long as you possess a sufficient depth and breadth of talent.

Of course, Jackson, Miller, and Rose, along with Rik Smits, were all good offensive players, and Indiana ranked first in the NBA in Offensive Rating (points scored per possession) that season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/IND/2000.html

Certainly, that ranking would have been bolstered by playing in the Eastern Conference in that era, but there was a lot of offensive talent on that club regardless.

My point is that I am not sure that Booker will necessarily need to be paired with an "elite" wing defender moving forward for the Suns to be championship-caliber. I do agree, though, that the Suns will not be able to simply gun their way to a title behind Booker. Potentially, he could win a scoring title and Phoenix could still fail to make the playoffs.

So much to say.

Draymond Green is an outright superstar. He is incredibly versatile, has an unbelievable defensive toolkit (rebounding, hustle, quickness, IQ). Without a doubt he sits in the "wouldn't bat an eyelid" category. That versatility makes Golden State so good. They can get different looks and tinker with different lineups as they please. Smart players like Draymond can take advantage of these situations.

That's primarily where Book lacks. He's a shooting guard who might be able to play spot minutes at the 3 - the physical limitations prevent him from doing any more than that. He can surprise with the quality of passes - particularly out of PnRs, so there is an outside chance he ends up as a Harden level talent offensively. His USG% is currently at 28% with an AST% of 16%. Harden's first two years in the league had him post an average AST% of 12.5%... but on a much lower usage of ~20%. Harden's first year in Houston with a USG% similar to Book's had him at 25%... which is a marked difference. Obviously we need Book to make a similar jump if he wants to be anything more than a scorer. It's in the realm of possibilities, but I wouldn't say it is likely.

The rest of the players you mentioned I'd hesitate in trading Booker for. Jimmy Buckets is the best of the rest... but again, you'd only consider a trade like that if at a bare minimum we could get 2 years of him under contract.

The Pacers team is interesting. Looking at the Booker-Reggie comp - it's very easy to see Book getting up to the TS% of Reggie, that'll come as he gets more seasons under his belt. Reggie at least, from what I understand had around a 7 foot wingspan which at least gave him a chance defensively.

How that 2000 Pacers team would fare in the current era is another matter. I haven't been following the NBA for long so I can't say with any authority but the skill of the average player has gone through the roof - at least from what I understand. Are there any other examples of a genuine championship contenders that didn't have an elite wing defender - at least in recent history? How replicable that Pacers team is in the current NBA is questionable.

[bwgood77]

I appreciate your thoughtful perspective, and I agree that simply building around a high-volume shooting guard probably does not amount to a championship formula. (I have offered this point myself on other occasions.) But potentially, Booker could function as the leading scorer on a perennial championship contender. The model might be Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers from 1994-2000, when they reached the Eastern Conference Finals five times in a seven-year span and ultimately made the NBA Finals. Miller proved fairly mediocre outside of shooting and scoring, but on a deep roster with a talented scoring center in Rik Smits and strong rebounders and/or defenders such as Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, and Derrick McKey, his scoring ability constituted a difference-maker.

Of course, Miller was also extremely efficient—for his career, he posted a .614 True Shooting Percentage and a .516 two-point field goal percentage. Booker is very young with a ton of room for growth, but he has a long way to go to reach those levels; his career True Shooting Percentage is .534 (.535 last season, .533 this year), and his career two-point field goal percentage is .455 (a little lower this year than last year). Those figures are not terrible, but they are not exactly good, especially in the regular season for a player whose calling card is scoring. Still, Booker is a building block—he could certainly be part of a "Big Three" one day or an excellent guard-big man scoring tandem.

Would I swap Booker for Karl Anthony-Towns or Anthony Davis? Yes. For Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo? Yes. For LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, James Harden, or Russell Westbrook (much as I dislike his style of play)? Yes—simply because in today's NBA, with the spacing and rules and concepts, if you build around any of those players quickly and effectively, you could potentially compete for a championship in short order. But none of those players are remotely available, hence rendering Booker untouchable in my view. I would not, conversely, trade Booker for guys like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, and DeMarcus Cousins, all of whom are arguably top-fifteen players. How about you? (Of course, Green and Thompson are not available, but Butler and even Cousins still could be.)

I was recently viewing part of Game Six of the 2000 NBA Finals between the Pacers and Lakers, which Indiana could have won—to force a Game Seven—had Los Angeles not received a couple of dubious calls at the end of the game. Ironically, the Pacers started three players who were quite sketchy or weak as perimeter defenders: thirty-four-year old point guard Mark Jackson, thirty-four-year old shooting guard Reggie Miller, and small forward Jalen Rose. But Indiana still came close to the championship, so there are many ways to make something work, so long as you possess a sufficient depth and breadth of talent.

Of course, Jackson, Miller, and Rose, along with Rik Smits, were all good offensive players, and Indiana ranked first in the NBA in Offensive Rating (points scored per possession) that season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/IND/2000.html

Certainly, that ranking would have been bolstered by playing in the Eastern Conference in that era, but there was a lot of offensive talent on that club regardless.

My point is that I am not sure that Booker will necessarily need to be paired with an "elite" wing defender moving forward for the Suns to be championship-caliber. I do agree, though, that the Suns will not be able to simply gun their way to a title behind Booker. Potentially, he could win a scoring title and Phoenix could still fail to make the playoffs.

So much to say.

Draymond Green is an outright superstar. He is incredibly versatile, has an unbelievable defensive toolkit (rebounding, hustle, quickness, IQ). Without a doubt he sits in the "wouldn't bat an eyelid" category. That versatility makes Golden State so good. They can get different looks and tinker with different lineups as they please. Smart players like Draymond can take advantage of these situations.

That's primarily where Book lacks. He's a shooting guard who might be able to play spot minutes at the 3 - the physical limitations prevent him from doing any more than that. He can surprise with the quality of passes - particularly out of PnRs, so there is an outside chance he ends up as a Harden level talent offensively. His USG% is currently at 28% with an AST% of 16%. Harden's first two years in the league had him post an average AST% of 12.5%... but on a much lower usage of ~20%. Harden's first year in Houston with a USG% similar to Book's had him at 25%... which is a marked difference. Obviously we need Book to make a similar jump if he wants to be anything more than a scorer. It's in the realm of possibilities, but I wouldn't say it is likely.

The rest of the players you mentioned I'd hesitate in trading Booker for. Jimmy Buckets is the best of the rest... but again, you'd only consider a trade like that if at a bare minimum we could get 2 years of him under contract.

The Pacers team is interesting. Looking at the Booker-Reggie comp - it's very easy to see Book getting up to the TS% of Reggie, that'll come as he gets more seasons under his belt. Reggie at least, from what I understand had around a 7 foot wingspan which at least gave him a chance defensively.

How that 2000 Pacers team would fare in the current era is another matter. I haven't been following the NBA for long so I can't say with any authority but the skill of the average player has gone through the roof - at least from what I understand. Are there any other examples of a genuine championship contenders that didn't have an elite wing defender - at least in recent history? How replicable that Pacers team is in the current NBA is questionable.

This 2000-01 team always comes to mind, who took Philly to 7 in the ECF and were kind of a fun team, and Booker maybe analagous to Ray Allen, who led the team in scoring (at 22 ppg) along with Glenn Robinson, who was basically an offensive forward, who could not hit the 3, similar to TJ in that respect, although he was a much bigger name (overall #1 pick) and did some other things better like passing..but TJ is probably a more efficient scorer from short-mid range.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIL/2001.html

[Weemsickew14]

Booker
Chriss
Bender

Ulis
TJ

Sauce
DJJr

Bled
Tyson
Dudley
Barb
Price

Len
Eddie





Knight

[TheBobster]

Booker
Warren
Chriss
Bender
Ulis
Len
Williams
Bledsoe
Jones
Barbosa
Chandler
Eddie
Dudley
Price
Knight

They need to get good value for Bledsoe, and they need to get something (anything) for Knight.

[MrMiyagi]

Devin Booker
Eric Bledsoe
Marquese Chriss
Dragan Bender
Tyler Ulis
Derrick Jones Jr
Alan Williams
Jared Dudley (Coach)

[Frank Lee]

I see McDo inking up some of these youngsters. Instant millionaires to guys who are just damn happy to be playing in the bigs. Sauce could get a 3 yr 10mill or less deal (total), same for DJJ and Ulis. Adding these guys keeps a sizable amount for the big ticket boys who are necessary to compete/contend. He should be able to buy these guys at bargain deals this off season, before too many take notice. Right now they are over achievers on a bad team. Plus, we will be faced with some big re-signs soon too and loading up the 7-13 roster spots economically looks to be the a desirable path to go. Kind of glad Sarver tightened the purse this year and didn't go the route of quite a few teams. Knight appears to be our worst and may be only truly bad contract.

The real question here is who remains on this team next yr? McDo has a flush and go track record with usually 5-6 new faces. His incessant tinkering has limited results. May be he has learned. With this whole family love and togetherness theme/gimmick/? how can McDo part with anyone without a massive hug out and cry fest? I could see everyone accept Chandler on this team next yr. Keep in mind, the roster expands to a max of 17 now. that leaves 3-4 spots to revolve in and out of the D League. You will need some cheap deals now and in the future to balance out the hefty cash thats going to bleed out of some of these franchises.

[darealjuice]

I see McDo inking up some of these youngsters. Instant millionaires to guys who are just damn happy to be playing in the bigs. Sauce could get a 3 yr 10mill or less deal (total), same for DJJ and Ulis. Adding these guys keeps a sizable amount for the big ticket boys who are necessary to compete/contend. He should be able to buy these guys at bargain deals this off season, before too many take notice. Right now they are over achievers on a bad team. Plus, we will be faced with some big re-signs soon too and loading up the 7-13 roster spots economically looks to be the a desirable path to go. Kind of glad Sarver tightened the purse this year and didn't go the route of quite a few teams. Knight appears to be our worst and may be only truly bad contract.

The real question here is who remains on this team next yr? McDo has a flush and go track record with usually 5-6 new faces. His incessant tinkering has limited results. May be he has learned. With this whole family love and togetherness theme/gimmick/? how can McDo part with anyone without a massive hug out and cry fest? I could see everyone accept Chandler on this team next yr. Keep in mind, the roster expands to a max of 17 now. that leaves 3-4 spots to revolve in and out of the D League. You will need some cheap deals now and in the future to balance out the hefty cash thats going to bleed out of some of these franchises.

McD gave DJJ and Ulis what amounts to a 4-year late-first round rookie scale deals (about $4M total for each of them over the next 4 years), so we've got them pretty much locked up for the next 3 years before we need to start thinking about giving them money, but I am curious to see if/what we pay Big Sauce. I'm also curious to see if we try getting Warren an extension at some point this offseason or early into next season, despite struggling after that weird injury he played some good ball after the All Star break and to start the season.

I think Chandler depends on what we do with Alex Len and Big Sauce though, Len will probably command about the same amount of money as what Chandler is getting right now, and I'd be surprised to see the Suns have $26M a year on the books for 2 centers that aren't the biggest roles on the team. I'd like to see us get Knight off the books too, but I don't foresee too many biters on his contract.

[bwgood77]

I see McDo inking up some of these youngsters. Instant millionaires to guys who are just damn happy to be playing in the bigs. Sauce could get a 3 yr 10mill or less deal (total), same for DJJ and Ulis. Adding these guys keeps a sizable amount for the big ticket boys who are necessary to compete/contend. He should be able to buy these guys at bargain deals this off season, before too many take notice. Right now they are over achievers on a bad team. Plus, we will be faced with some big re-signs soon too and loading up the 7-13 roster spots economically looks to be the a desirable path to go. Kind of glad Sarver tightened the purse this year and didn't go the route of quite a few teams. Knight appears to be our worst and may be only truly bad contract.

The real question here is who remains on this team next yr? McDo has a flush and go track record with usually 5-6 new faces. His incessant tinkering has limited results. May be he has learned. With this whole family love and togetherness theme/gimmick/? how can McDo part with anyone without a massive hug out and cry fest? I could see everyone accept Chandler on this team next yr. Keep in mind, the roster expands to a max of 17 now. that leaves 3-4 spots to revolve in and out of the D League. You will need some cheap deals now and in the future to balance out the hefty cash thats going to bleed out of some of these franchises.

McD gave DJJ and Ulis what amounts to a 4-year late-first round rookie scale deals (about $4M total for each of them over the next 4 years), so we've got them pretty much locked up for the next 3 years before we need to start thinking about giving them money, but I am curious to see if/what we pay Big Sauce. I'm also curious to see if we try getting Warren an extension at some point this offseason or early into next season, despite struggling after that weird injury he played some good ball after the All Star break and to start the season.

I think Chandler depends on what we do with Alex Len and Big Sauce though, Len will probably command about the same amount of money as what Chandler is getting right now, and I'd be surprised to see the Suns have $26M a year on the books for 2 centers that aren't the biggest roles on the team. I'd like to see us get Knight off the books too, but I don't foresee too many biters on his contract.

We signed Jones Jr for that long? That's pretty surprising.

[darealjuice]

I see McDo inking up some of these youngsters. Instant millionaires to guys who are just damn happy to be playing in the bigs. Sauce could get a 3 yr 10mill or less deal (total), same for DJJ and Ulis. Adding these guys keeps a sizable amount for the big ticket boys who are necessary to compete/contend. He should be able to buy these guys at bargain deals this off season, before too many take notice. Right now they are over achievers on a bad team. Plus, we will be faced with some big re-signs soon too and loading up the 7-13 roster spots economically looks to be the a desirable path to go. Kind of glad Sarver tightened the purse this year and didn't go the route of quite a few teams. Knight appears to be our worst and may be only truly bad contract.

The real question here is who remains on this team next yr? McDo has a flush and go track record with usually 5-6 new faces. His incessant tinkering has limited results. May be he has learned. With this whole family love and togetherness theme/gimmick/? how can McDo part with anyone without a massive hug out and cry fest? I could see everyone accept Chandler on this team next yr. Keep in mind, the roster expands to a max of 17 now. that leaves 3-4 spots to revolve in and out of the D League. You will need some cheap deals now and in the future to balance out the hefty cash thats going to bleed out of some of these franchises.

McD gave DJJ and Ulis what amounts to a 4-year late-first round rookie scale deals (about $4M total for each of them over the next 4 years), so we've got them pretty much locked up for the next 3 years before we need to start thinking about giving them money, but I am curious to see if/what we pay Big Sauce. I'm also curious to see if we try getting Warren an extension at some point this offseason or early into next season, despite struggling after that weird injury he played some good ball after the All Star break and to start the season.

I think Chandler depends on what we do with Alex Len and Big Sauce though, Len will probably command about the same amount of money as what Chandler is getting right now, and I'd be surprised to see the Suns have $26M a year on the books for 2 centers that aren't the biggest roles on the team. I'd like to see us get Knight off the books too, but I don't foresee too many biters on his contract.

We signed Jones Jr for that long? That's pretty surprising.

Yeah we basically treated it like we drafted him. I'm not mad though, he's got a ton of potential to work with, it's only $1M a year, and the 4th year is non-guaranteed with a team option, so if it's clear he isn't working out we can cut bait before that.

[bwgood77]

McD gave DJJ and Ulis what amounts to a 4-year late-first round rookie scale deals (about $4M total for each of them over the next 4 years), so we've got them pretty much locked up for the next 3 years before we need to start thinking about giving them money, but I am curious to see if/what we pay Big Sauce. I'm also curious to see if we try getting Warren an extension at some point this offseason or early into next season, despite struggling after that weird injury he played some good ball after the All Star break and to start the season.

I think Chandler depends on what we do with Alex Len and Big Sauce though, Len will probably command about the same amount of money as what Chandler is getting right now, and I'd be surprised to see the Suns have $26M a year on the books for 2 centers that aren't the biggest roles on the team. I'd like to see us get Knight off the books too, but I don't foresee too many biters on his contract.

We signed Jones Jr for that long? That's pretty surprising.

Yeah we basically treated it like we drafted him. I'm not mad though, he's got a ton of potential to work with, it's only $1M a year, and the 4th year is non-guaranteed with a team option, so if it's clear he isn't working out we can cut bait before that.

Oh, I thought you meant $4 million a year.

[Frank Lee]

Didn't know that BGood.... I see now that DDJ and Ulis are locked in for the next three on cheapity cheap deals. Great values for what production they bring. Bravo McDidsomethingright. The kids found out a bird in the hand sings when you squeeze it.

Big Sauce is Big Expendable imo...he comes back cheap or he goes. offer up 3 mill per and see what happens. He just might like mamma's cooking.

[rsavaj]

from "please stay" to "please go":

1. Booker
2. Bender
3. Chriss
4. Warren
5. Ulis
6. Bledsoe
7. Williams
8. Len
9. Jones
10. Barbosa
11. Dudley
12. Chandler
13. Knight

[lilfishi22]

from "please stay" to "please go":

1. Booker
2. Bender
3. Warren
4. Chriss
5. Ulis
6. Bledsoe
7. Williams
8. Len
9. Jones
10. Barbosa
11. Dudley
12. Chandler
13. Knight

Mostly agree with your list. Only swapped Warren and Chriss

[rsavaj]

from "please stay" to "please go":

1. Booker
2. Bender
3. Warren
4. Chriss
5. Ulis
6. Bledsoe
7. Williams
8. Len
9. Jones
10. Barbosa
11. Dudley
12. Chandler
13. Knight

Mostly agree with your list. Only swapped Warren and Chriss

yeah I had a tough time with that one. could go either way for me...only reason I value Warren a tiny bit higher is that I'm still not sure how Chriss's skillset will develop/what role he'll ultimately play