2020 Preseason Speculation - Lineup battles underway

RedIndian · Post #4501 » by **RedIndian** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:07 pm

Dzanan Musa got waived by the Pistons. He's really young, and hasn't got much playing time anywhere, but I've always thought he's pretty talented.

I actually wouldn't mind taking a flier on him on a 2 way or minimum deal.

Potentially a very good young scoring and playmaking big guard / wing.

NTB · Post #4502 » by **NTB** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:10 pm

RedIndian wrote:Dzanan Musa got waived by the Pistons. He's really young, and hasn't got much playing time anywhere, but I've always thought he's pretty talented.

I actually wouldn't mind taking a flier on him on a 2 way or minimum deal.

Potentially a very good young scoring and playmaking big guard / wing.

I would like Suns to use that open roster spot for a backup big.

RedIndian · Post #4503 » by **RedIndian** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:12 pm

Don't we have a couple of spots open?

Barkley6 · Post #4504 » by **Barkley6** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:44 pm

RedIndian wrote:Don't we have a couple of spots open?

We have one two-way spot and one full roster spot available.

Mulhollanddrive · Post #4505 » by **Mulhollanddrive** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:51 pm

Jones averaged almost 2 dunks a game last season at 89% FG.

If he can finish 2 PnRs with Chris Paul in the 5-10 minutes they're out there he's got a role.

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #4506 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:10 pm

Mulhollanddrive wrote:Jones averaged almost 2 dunks a game last season at 89% FG.

If he can finish 2 PnRs with Chris Paul in the 5-10 minutes they're out there he's got a role.

Yeah, honestly, I don't understand the hate for Jones around here. He's looked ok to me. Waaaaaay better than Motley.

My guess is we'll spend at least one roster spot spent on a valuable vet that gets waived by a lotto team right after the trade deadline.

bigfoot · Post #4507 » by **bigfoot** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:02 pm

Saberestar wrote:
bigfoot wrote:
Saberestar wrote:Four guys to play just one position are not enough?

At PF we will play Crowder and Cam. Sporadically sometimes Bridges, Nader, Saric or Smith.

Smith isn't ready and Jones is really questionable.

It's better to have the #15 roster spot open because that way we can adjust and sign whoever we really need after analysing a bit more our roster.

Imagine that CP3 or Payne has an injury that will put him out at least for a month...they will sign quickly a pure PG without disrupting the chemistry cutting (and paying) any player. They could sign Napier or Isaiah, for example.

The same can be said about having a big injury at other position or someone playing way worse than what was expected.

And if there are not injuries (hopefully) we can just sign whoever is available right before the playoffs that can help us to be a more rounded team. Non playoff teams will waived solid veteran players for sure.

I'd really rather have someone here learning the system now ... be it PG or C. Suns should fill both the empty spot and the other two-way spot to complete their roster. This is needed for practice, injuries, and maybe COVID. The league allowed for 15 players dressed for each game this season instead of the usual 13. In blowout wins/losses, I would rather be playing the third-string guys than any starters or bench players.

Also, I feel much more comfortable that Booker, Payne, and Carter can all play the PG spot for a small window of time. We still have Galloway, Moore, and Alexander too. I worry about the falloff at C after Ayton and Saric. I guess we could run Crowder and/or Johnson as a small-ball center.

King4Day · Post #4508 » by **King4Day** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:28 pm

Play-in favorites: West's No. 7
Phoenix Suns

I love Phoenix's starting five. I'm a hair worried about their bench beyond Cameron Johnson and Dario Saric, who killed it as the Suns' backup center in the bubble. Was the Cameron Payne bubble explosion real, or some sort of pandemic hallucination?

The center options beyond Saric are question marks. E'Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway are fine fourth wings, but overtaxed as candidates for third wing status after Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges (assuming Johnson is the backup power forward).

Phoenix can mitigate that by staggering Chris Paul and Booker, and maybe finding ways to play Bridges, Johnson, and Crowder together. Booker is an ascendant star, Paul a flat-out winner. Phoenix could challenge for No. 6 or even No. 5 -- above the play-in -- but I'm not ready to list them ahead of those six more established rivals. They get their own tier.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30523584/eight-nba-tiers-rating-all-30-teams-top-bottom

matt131 · Post #4509 » by **matt131** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:33 pm

King4Day wrote:
Play-in favorites: West's No. 7
Phoenix Suns

I love Phoenix's starting five. I'm a hair worried about their bench beyond Cameron Johnson and Dario Saric, who killed it as the Suns' backup center in the bubble. Was the Cameron Payne bubble explosion real, or some sort of pandemic hallucination?

The center options beyond Saric are question marks. E'Twaun Moore and Langston Galloway are fine fourth wings, but overtaxed as candidates for third wing status after Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges (assuming Johnson is the backup power forward).

Phoenix can mitigate that by staggering Chris Paul and Booker, and maybe finding ways to play Bridges, Johnson, and Crowder together. Booker is an ascendant star, Paul a flat-out winner. Phoenix could challenge for No. 6 or even No. 5 -- above the play-in -- but I'm not ready to list them ahead of those six more established rivals. They get their own tier.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30523584/eight-nba-tiers-rating-all-30-teams-top-bottom

Thank you for posting this. I can't believe how much content is behind a paywall at ESPN now. They don't make enough money? Come on

NTB · Post #4510 » by **NTB** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:05 pm

Read on Twitter

BVPN · Post #4511 » by **BVPN** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:12 pm

What’s wrong with Saric? I thought he was just rusty, why would his body not respond well?

NTB · Post #4512 » by **NTB** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:20 pm

Read on Twitter

matt131 · Post #4513 » by **matt131** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:27 pm

So Saric is actually injured. Would have been interesting if the team could have just said that.

Sounds weird that it happened "right before" he came over here.

Also, he says it only bothers him when he runs.....so he's saying it shouldn't really bother him during a game? Lol

Crives · Post #4514 » by **Crives** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:32 pm

Crap.. sounds like Dario is going to be out a few games... and probably take a month+ to get back into shape.

cberry78 · Post #4515 » by **cberry78** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:40 pm

matt131 wrote:So Saric is actually injured. Would have been interesting if the team could have just said that.

Sounds weird that it happened "right before" he came over here.

Also, he says it only bothers him when he runs.....so he's saying it shouldn't really bother him during a game? Lol

Well, he's been on the Injury Report since at least the 16th with "Sore Right Quad"....so they did kind of mention it already.

https://www.rotoworld.com/basketball/nba/player/30049/dario-saric

LV-Suns · Post #4516 » by **LV-Suns** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:41 pm

If Dario is really injured, maybe bringing in Frank wouldn't be a bad idea. We are super thin up front, I don't want to go into the season with Damion Jones as the first big off the bench.

Crives · Post #4517 » by **Crives** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:48 pm

LV-Suns wrote:If Dario is really injured, maybe bringing in Frank wouldn't be a bad idea. We are super thin up front, I don't want to go into the season with Damion Jones as the first big off the bench.

I think I would prefer small ball 5 with Cam or Crowder

NTB · Post #4518 » by **NTB** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:51 pm

LV-Suns wrote:If Dario is really injured, maybe bringing in Frank wouldn't be a bad idea. We are super thin up front, I don't want to go into the season with Damion Jones as the first big off the bench.

I and-1'd but not because of Frank suggestion. I also don't want Jones as primary backup C.

There are many more backup FA bigs. Why Frank?

Post #4519 » by **bwgood77** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:04 pm

I think Saric is a fine backup big. People should have confidence in him. The 3/4 spot is actually thinner with 3 guys to play those two spots, unless people like Nader more than Jalen Smith.

I think Smith will be fine after a few games. And if Dario is out, a few minutes of Jones and/or Smith is fine.

matt131 · Post #4520 » by **matt131** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:05 pm

cberry78 wrote:
matt131 wrote:So Saric is actually injured. Would have been interesting if the team could have just said that.

Sounds weird that it happened "right before" he came over here.

Also, he says it only bothers him when he runs.....so he's saying it shouldn't really bother him during a game? Lol

Well, he's been on the Injury Report since at least the 16th with "Sore Right Quad"....so they did kind of mention it already.

https://www.rotoworld.com/basketball/nba/player/30049/dario-saric

Monty all off-season long has said that no one has a serious injury other than "camp soreness". This injury actually sounds like he pulled something.

Either way, now we desperately need a better backup big because if we think that Jones is gonna play legit minutes, we're kinda screwed