2021 Playoff and Offseason Speculation - the playoffs. PLAYOFFS????

[Adrao]

Let's imagine we win the ring. Wouid CP3 stay here?

Let's reverse that question.

We win a chip. Why and for what situation do you think is better for him than us? I'm truly curious as to why he would leave AFTER we win the title-in his first year no less.

Floor is yours.

I guess if he would consider his job done. In that case he could try to move to LA with his family.

[Adrao]

I think Payne could find a decent contract this summer, he 26 and a guy who can hit 3s and get to the hole on a pick and roll is valuable in today's NBA. It's possible he gets something above the $10ish mil the suns can offer with early bird rights and if he does I wouldn't blame him for taking it.

Is he better than Rubio? I think so. Ricky is earning 17 millons. No doubt Cam can ask 15M a year.

[lilfishi22]

I don't think he's going to pull a Lebron after winning in Cleveland and saying I'm done here then F's off to LA. CP3 chose to come to Phoenix for Monty, for Book and because he could help us compete because HE wants to compete. We've lowkey built around him and it's the perfect situation for him with young guys and roster depth to help take the load off of him.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I don't think he's going to pull a Lebron after winning in Cleveland and saying I'm done here then F's off to LA. CP3 chose to come to Phoenix for Monty, for Book and because he could help us compete because HE wants to compete. We've lowkey built around him and it's the perfect situation for him with young guys and roster depth to help take the load off of him.

I would be absolutely shocked if CP wasn't back next year. The suns just went and won two games in the WCF without him, something none of past teams could do. It's a great situation for him to close out his career.

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[lilfishi22]

I don't think he's going to pull a Lebron after winning in Cleveland and saying I'm done here then F's off to LA. CP3 chose to come to Phoenix for Monty, for Book and because he could help us compete because HE wants to compete. We've lowkey built around him and it's the perfect situation for him with young guys and roster depth to help take the load off of him.

I would be absolutely shocked if CP wasn't back next year. The suns just went and won two games in the WCF without him, something none of past teams could do. It's a great situation for him to close out his career.

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Likewise. I think this is an amazing situation for him, close to home (LA), great young and ever improving roster that he could lean on as Father Time continues to knock and we've gotten to a stage where we're competitive without him.

The only reason he leaves is if we can't agree to a new deal with him. He's absolutely on the resign at all cost list.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) Tweeted:
The 2020-21 Suns are the 2013 Seahawks:

"You're not being fooled here. This is not lightning in a bottle." — @ColinCowherd https://t.co/sqFY970o0H

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[lilfishi22]

I know nothing about NFL, I don't understand the comparison.....can someone enlighten me?

[irish22022]

Not saying I don't love our team because I do. But the money isn't there to sign all these guys long term, and frankly, we could stand to get a little better too. We are playing some less than full strength teams and while that isn't our fault, it is the case.

If bridges wants 25 mil a year and ayton wants the max, we are in real trouble in terms of keeping these guys. Guys who will take the BAE or minimum can stay. But no more jevon carter contracts. We don't have the cash.

CP 3/100 is fine, but it'll need to be frontloaded. And c'mon guys, cam Payne isn't playing for under 10 mil next season.

[Puff]

I really like Nader. I actually think CP3 wanted him to come with him in the trade with OKC. He should be cheap, I love his energy and potential upside, along with his 7' wing span on defense.

Anyone missing Oubre?

[suns12345]

I really like Nader. I actually think CP3 wanted him to come with him in the trade with OKC. He should be cheap, I love his energy and potential upside, along with his 7' wing span on defense.

Anyone missing Oubre?

Yeh i'm high on Nader and we should be able to bring him back cheap.

I missed Oubre's dunks, but now DA dunks so its all good lol

[Mulhollanddrive]

I think we're ok salary cap wise because we can pay our core players 95% of the luxury cap and fill out with minimums from James Jones specials.

Luxury tax in 2023 may be around $143m.

Booker 34
Paul 30
Ayton 29
Bridges 20
Crowder 9
Payne 9
Johnson 6
= $137m

Plus 8 Minimums gets us roughly to $152m.

If we believe Sarver then $9m over the luxury cap is probably a relief to him and on the lighter side.

The player cost of this would be losing Saric, Carter and Smith.

[Saberestar]

I really like Nader. I actually think CP3 wanted him to come with him in the trade with OKC. He should be cheap, I love his energy and potential upside, along with his 7' wing span on defense.

Anyone missing Oubre?

I am not missing him at all.

Yeah, sometimes he was fun to watch because of his energy and dunks, but he on a big role doesn't play winning basketball.

[Mulhollanddrive]

I miss TJ Warren more, funnily enough Booker plays like him now.

[Barkley6]

I don't see Craig worth that much. He's been good for us in spurts as a great energy guy who can defend, rebound and cut but he isn't a substantially different player to what he was with the Nuggets and he signed with the Bucks for basically a minimum deal. I don't think he's played himself into a $7m contract. Maybe BAE level?

I think Craig and the BAE make too much sense. He'll appreciate the pay raise, and the 2 year security, and we'll appreciate the hustle, tough D and shooting.

As for Nader, being out with a knee injury this long is going to really depress his market. No one is paying above the minimum unless he somehow returns in the playoff, plays decent minutes and plays well.

Kaminsky for me is easy to bring back on the minimum. He's a great insurance big and can play some solid minutes from time to time.

If there were a Dwight Howard, or Carmelo Anthony that wanted to come here, I think we let Frank and/or Nader walk. But barring that, wee keep those guys.

We then have the MLE and our draft pick to add to the team to replace Galloway and Moore. I think we add a guard and a big with those two slots, but depending on the big market, we might not even need to use the full MLE, could probably snag a serviceable one for 2/10.

Yeah I think BAE sounds about right for him. I just like the energy and random 8 rebound/2 block games in 15min from him. I'm also a fan of Nader from his contributions from before his injury but given he and Craig are largely the same type of energy defender/rebounder, I don't think we need to keep him.

I'm all for bringing Tank back.

I'm intrigued by Melo. I was never a fan of his during his prime years (Nuggets were unlikeable during the late 2000's and early 2010's) but after his redemption seasons when he was fighting to stay in the league I thought he was humbled and I gained a level of respect for him. Wouldn't mind bringing him in for some veteran leadership and to shore up the front court although he probably won't get much PT. He and CP3 are long time good mates and they had discussed playing together in NY in the past. Would make sense imo.

I want nothing to do with Dwight. Never liked him as a player and I don't think he's a good character to bring into the locker room.

As far as Nader being similar to Craig, I think Nader is a good guy to have in case of injury to one of our rotation wings, and I think when he got playing time he played pretty well. I was excited to see Nader and Craig play some minutes together before Nader went down, and I think they still can.

I think Melo is definitely an option with Portland looking to shake things up, new coach coming in, and the chance to really chase a championship here. I think we'd find some minutes for him. I think if Melo comes we don't bring back Frank, and give Melo some of the backup 4 minutes. I did see the Lakers were planning to pursue him, but I think I might choose Phoenix over the situation in LA. You never know what LeBron is going to do, and when he's going to demand you be traded, AD is never healthy, and I don't really think Vogel is that great of a coach.

[Barkley6]

Not saying I don't love our team because I do. But the money isn't there to sign all these guys long term, and frankly, we could stand to get a little better too. We are playing some less than full strength teams and while that isn't our fault, it is the case.

If bridges wants 25 mil a year and ayton wants the max, we are in real trouble in terms of keeping these guys. Guys who will take the BAE or minimum can stay. But no more jevon carter contracts. We don't have the cash.

CP 3/100 is fine, but it'll need to be frontloaded. And c'mon guys, cam Payne isn't playing for under 10 mil next season.

What backup PG contract from the last few years is going to be used as the model for Payne? No backup point not named Jordan Clarkson has gotten a multiyear deal for over about $9m/per in the last few seasons. Teams use the market, and previous contracts to determine player value. It would be very our of character for anyone to come and offer Payne more than the top end of the backup PG market at this point.

I think he'll get close to $10m/per, but I also think the Suns are more than happy to pay him that.

Unless some team thinks he can be a starter from Day 1 (which would be wild considering the sample size of him starting, is I think 3 games), he'll get $10million or less.

[nevetsov]

I would hate to lose Bridges, but if it does become a game of dollars I think he's the easiest minutes to cover.

Craig, Nader
Crowder, Johnson

Are all reasonably interchangeable at both forward spots, are all 2 way players and are all on reasonable deals.

That said, I think we allow Bridges a "show me" fourth year, which is probably a mistake, but if I'm paying a guy $20+ million I want to make sure he can get me 20+ on a nightly basis.

[Mulhollanddrive]

For $20m Bridges > Saric and Crowder

Right now we have enough scoring so we don't need him to expand his game too much, but there will come a time.

[Barkley6]

I would hate to lose Bridges, but if it does become a game of dollars I think he's the easiest minutes to cover.

Craig, Nader
Crowder, Johnson

Are all reasonably interchangeable at both forward spots, are all 2 way players and are all on reasonable deals.

That said, I think we allow Bridges a "show me" fourth year, which is probably a mistake, but if I'm paying a guy $20+ million I want to make sure he can get me 20+ on a nightly basis.

Look at Kawhi's first 3-4 years in the league. His stat line looks very similar to Bridges. Bridges definitely has that kind of potential as a two way player. I think a prove it year is a mistake. If Bridges is healthy next season, he'll make an All Defense team, and get some DPOY votes. That's going to be pricey. Best to lock him up now for $18-22m a season for 5 years and hope he continues.

Look at Gobert. In his 4th season he made All NBA 2nd team, and then was DPOY the next year which meant Utah paid way over market for him ($20m/per for a guy who scores 14/game and cant switch on the perimeter).

Bridges is a much more versatile defender and is crucial to winning in today's NBA. If you fail to lock him up now and he makes All Defense or gets a lot of DPOY votes, he's going to be asking for max money, or close to it.

[NapoleonII]

I would hate to lose Bridges, but if it does become a game of dollars I think he's the easiest minutes to cover.

Craig, Nader
Crowder, Johnson

Are all reasonably interchangeable at both forward spots, are all 2 way players and are all on reasonable deals.

That said, I think we allow Bridges a "show me" fourth year, which is probably a mistake, but if I'm paying a guy $20+ million I want to make sure he can get me 20+ on a nightly basis.

Look at Kawhi's first 3-4 years in the league. His stat line looks very similar to Bridges. Bridges definitely has that kind of potential as a two way player. I think a prove it year is a mistake. If Bridges is healthy next season, he'll make an All Defense team, and get some DPOY votes. That's going to be pricey. Best to lock him up now for $18-22m a season for 5 years and hope he continues.

Look at Gobert. In his 4th season he made All NBA 2nd team, and then was DPOY the next year which meant Utah paid way over market for him ($20m/per for a guy who scores 14/game and cant switch on the perimeter).

Bridges is a much more versatile defender and is crucial to winning in today's NBA. If you fail to lock him up now and he makes All Defense or gets a lot of DPOY votes, he's going to be asking for max money, or close to it.

This.

Next year's team will have even greater chemistry, and Bridges has added to his game every year.

You lock up Ayton/Bridges/Booker and hope for the best.

[BobbieL]

I would hate to lose Bridges, but if it does become a game of dollars I think he's the easiest minutes to cover.

Craig, Nader
Crowder, Johnson

Are all reasonably interchangeable at both forward spots, are all 2 way players and are all on reasonable deals.

That said, I think we allow Bridges a "show me" fourth year, which is probably a mistake, but if I'm paying a guy $20+ million I want to make sure he can get me 20+ on a nightly basis.

Look at Kawhi's first 3-4 years in the league. His stat line looks very similar to Bridges. Bridges definitely has that kind of potential as a two way player. I think a prove it year is a mistake. If Bridges is healthy next season, he'll make an All Defense team, and get some DPOY votes. That's going to be pricey. Best to lock him up now for $18-22m a season for 5 years and hope he continues.

Look at Gobert. In his 4th season he made All NBA 2nd team, and then was DPOY the next year which meant Utah paid way over market for him ($20m/per for a guy who scores 14/game and cant switch on the perimeter).

Bridges is a much more versatile defender and is crucial to winning in today's NBA. If you fail to lock him up now and he makes All Defense or gets a lot of DPOY votes, he's going to be asking for max money, or close to it.

This.

Next year's team will have even greater chemistry, and Bridges has added to his game every year.

You lock up Ayton/Bridges/Booker and hope for the best.

This is where I am at! Lock up those three and figure out the rest if need be. Sure I want to keep Payne but I am keeping Bridges over Payne. If the Suns have CP3 too for the next few years - and there are concerns about lux tax and what not - its probably Payne that might be odd man out. And its not next year where Paynes salary is a concern is longer down the road.

I also think backup PG is one of those positions where the NBA usually has decent options for the money. Are they better than the way Payne has improved? probably not. Have to make the choices and pick your poison