2024-25 Season Discussion and Speculation Part III

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[MartinsIzAfraud]

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24 minutes a night 9 points 8 boards and at least 1 block, had some double digit rebounding game off the bench, good energy, smart defender very instinctive.

The Magic needs offense though and Allen aint it

If be shocked if Goga gets included as it would leave Orlando with 1 C. An injury prone C at that in WCJ.

[BobbieL]

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Reading the tweet - somebody proposed the suns giving up three FRPs , trading Beal and the Suns getting Butler

I hope they are wrong

[sunskerr]

It's getting too tough. I was thinking a while back, asking a question about Jalen Williams vs Book, but I figured it wouldn't make sense on the forum since most probably don't know Jalen Williams game well. It's good to see he made it. OKC is certainly deserving of two all stars and will probably have 3 the next few years, but I'm a bit surprised he made it over guys like Kyrie and Book even though I think he is a phenomenal player (heck, I traded Jokic for him in fantasy dynasty. Well, him and Sengun).

Jalen Williams is not better than Book, he is bigger and stronger and more versatile defender than Book is but the gap in their offense is pretty big imo. JDub is their second shot maker and creator on that team but there's level to this. That said the Suns can't have two all-star, that's just the reality. And he hasn't been good.

Yeah, I think Book is better. It would have been more of a trade value thing, length, age, cost, control, versatility. If they were to be swapped, and I don't think OKC would trade Jalen for him, what would equal the value in trade.

If the Thunder owner was willing to pay lux tax, and I was the Thunder gm, Id think long and hard about parting with Jdub for Booker. Booker is an elite offensive talent, and you have to like his defensive pedigree when he played with a lot of other guys on team USA. Like you'd think coach might get more out of him on OKC when he plays with great players like Shai/Chet/Hart.

He'd instantly make them the best back court in the league as a second creator. And assuming OKC can keep some picks they'd still have enough to get cheap talent in the draft in the future while capped out.

For fantasy/dynasty Jdub obviously worth more but irl given the circumstances, maybe you can make a case that Booker is in an offensive tier Jdub never gets to.

[bullsaficianado]

All this trade talk if there was a deal in the works with Spurs, Sac, Heat, etc Beal would not be out there playing right now. Spurs played most of their players tonight to. All these rumors....

[TeamTragic]

All this trade talk if there was a deal in the works with Spurs, Sac, Heat, etc Beal would not be out there playing right now. Spurs played most of their players tonight to. All these rumors....

Why would they say anything if the trades are not yet finalized?

[Slim Charless]

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That's awful for him. Hope he recovers. They have to be looking at Harper on the draft....and not at trading for Jimmy you'd assume...?

Them trading for Jimmy Butler is so weird to begin with. Don't know what to think of that


Also. Not to be completely cold harded about this but I would consider buying low on him in the off-season. If we decide to blow it up that is

[sunsbum]

Jalen Williams is not better than Book, he is bigger and stronger and more versatile defender than Book is but the gap in their offense is pretty big imo. JDub is their second shot maker and creator on that team but there's level to this. That said the Suns can't have two all-star, that's just the reality. And he hasn't been good.

Yeah, I think Book is better. It would have been more of a trade value thing, length, age, cost, control, versatility. If they were to be swapped, and I don't think OKC would trade Jalen for him, what would equal the value in trade.

If the Thunder owner was willing to pay lux tax, and I was the Thunder gm, Id think long and hard about parting with Jdub for Booker. Booker is an elite offensive talent, and you have to like his defensive pedigree when he played with a lot of other guys on team USA. Like you'd think coach might get more out of him on OKC when he plays with great players like Shai/Chet/Hart.

He'd instantly make them the best back court in the league as a second creator. And assuming OKC can keep some picks they'd still have enough to get cheap talent in the draft in the future while capped out.

For fantasy/dynasty Jdub obviously worth more but irl given the circumstances, maybe you can make a case that Booker is in an offensive tier Jdub never gets to.

KD and or Book are not getting traded. Once again, Ishbia makes a WNBA trade for another “star”. This is like 2 in 2 weeks. Dude has zero interest in building a basketball team from the inside out.

[bigfoot]

This team only needs another quality big man (PF/C) to shore up interior defense. Suns look so much better with Richards. Beal off the bench was a move we all thought was better in the offseason. FO needs to move Nurk and draft capital for a another big.

[Mulhollanddrive]

10-4 since Beal benched and we did the team first thing we should have.

Still dont think we can beat the young top seeds over 7 games though.

[sunskerr]

Yeah, I think Book is better. It would have been more of a trade value thing, length, age, cost, control, versatility. If they were to be swapped, and I don't think OKC would trade Jalen for him, what would equal the value in trade.

If the Thunder owner was willing to pay lux tax, and I was the Thunder gm, Id think long and hard about parting with Jdub for Booker. Booker is an elite offensive talent, and you have to like his defensive pedigree when he played with a lot of other guys on team USA. Like you'd think coach might get more out of him on OKC when he plays with great players like Shai/Chet/Hart.

He'd instantly make them the best back court in the league as a second creator. And assuming OKC can keep some picks they'd still have enough to get cheap talent in the draft in the future while capped out.

For fantasy/dynasty Jdub obviously worth more but irl given the circumstances, maybe you can make a case that Booker is in an offensive tier Jdub never gets to.

KD and or Book are not getting traded. Once again, Ishbia makes a WNBA trade for another “star”. This is like 2 in 2 weeks. Dude has zero interest in building a basketball team from the inside out.

I'm evaluating it from a possible Thunder standpoint, not Ishbia. We already know Ish ain't doing anything like that. It's a given at this point.

[Qwigglez]

This team only needs another quality big man (PF/C) to shore up interior defense. Suns look so much better with Richards. Beal off the bench was a move we all thought was better in the offseason. FO needs to move Nurk and draft capital for a another big.

I know the Magic want some shooters, but I might be okay trading a 1st and Nurkic to get Goga Bitazde, if that moves the needle enough for them, or some sort of 3-team deal where Nurkic goes to the 3rd team.
I'd also be fine getting someone like Obi Toppin, though I think I prefer a center, someone a bit different than what we got, Kelly Olynyk is fine. Actually, I think Olynyk and Grayson off the bench would pack a punch (or a kick).

[sashaturiaf]

Seeing these trades of Allen or a 1st for Goga Bitadze is crazy. He was on the scrapheap available for the min a season ago. Same as Yabusele this offseason. Im just your average fan but I watched Bidatdze play 10 minutes about 2 seasons ago and suggested immediately my team then pick him up, he was 7 foot, could shoot the 3, knew how to play and was getting no minutes. That's value right there. If a fan can figure that out in 10 minutes why is our FO so hopeless. I know a NBA front office is a bloated mass of bureaucracy and office politics but there's no good in overcomplicating basketball, if a guy looks good and is cheap, go and get him, if our team looks slow and small, go out and get some athletes, it's not that hard. The results speak for themselves, the front office is dysfunctional, James Jones should go.

Getting value at the fringes is how you remain a good team with these cap rules. Lakers found Caruso in the G league and won a title with him, then got Austin Reaves undrafted and turned him into an impactful player. I have zero confidence our FO can do that


If our FO were any good we wouldn't be discussing giving up all these assets for useful but ultimately average players. So many good basketball players in the world. Yet we go all in for guys AFTER they've shown they're good in the NBA. Infuriating

[bullsaficianado]

That Murray injury quite sad. He was just making a normal basketball play. no contact. Damn.

[Saberestar]

Seeing these trades of Allen or a 1st for Goga Bitadze is crazy. He was on the scrapheap available for the min a season ago. Same as Yabusele this offseason. Im just your average fan but I watched Bidatdze play 10 minutes about 2 seasons ago and suggested immediately my team then pick him up, he was 7 foot, could shoot the 3, knew how to play and was getting no minutes. That's value right there. If a fan can figure that out in 10 minutes why is our FO so hopeless. I know a NBA front office is a bloated mass of bureaucracy and office politics but there's no good in overcomplicating basketball, if a guy looks good and is cheap, go and get him, if our team looks slow and small, go out and get some athletes, it's not that hard. The results speak for themselves, the front office is dysfunctional, James Jones should go.

Getting value at the fringes is how you remain a good team with these cap rules. Lakers found Caruso in the G league and won a title with him, then got Austin Reaves undrafted and turned him into an impactful player. I have zero confidence our FO can do that


If our FO were any good we wouldn't be discussing giving up all these assets for useful but ultimately average players. So many good basketball players in the world. Yet we go all in for guys AFTER they've shown they're good in the NBA. Infuriating

28 other teams could have traded for Goga when his value was all time low. And the Lakers are an example of a good FO now? They won a chip with KCP and Caruso and then traded them making a big mistake...and here they are yet not being contenders for the last several years even being the favorite team in the country and a FA destination.

You talk about value at the fringes, OK. We signed Tyus for the minimum. We drafted Dunn at #28 getting a couple of 2nds next to him for free. We got Richards for Okogie + 2 2ns...all these moves aren't great?

Yeah, sometimes we can talk about the successful moves that our FO does, it's not illegal or something.

[sashaturiaf]

Seeing these trades of Allen or a 1st for Goga Bitadze is crazy. He was on the scrapheap available for the min a season ago. Same as Yabusele this offseason. Im just your average fan but I watched Bidatdze play 10 minutes about 2 seasons ago and suggested immediately my team then pick him up, he was 7 foot, could shoot the 3, knew how to play and was getting no minutes. That's value right there. If a fan can figure that out in 10 minutes why is our FO so hopeless. I know a NBA front office is a bloated mass of bureaucracy and office politics but there's no good in overcomplicating basketball, if a guy looks good and is cheap, go and get him, if our team looks slow and small, go out and get some athletes, it's not that hard. The results speak for themselves, the front office is dysfunctional, James Jones should go.

Getting value at the fringes is how you remain a good team with these cap rules. Lakers found Caruso in the G league and won a title with him, then got Austin Reaves undrafted and turned him into an impactful player. I have zero confidence our FO can do that


If our FO were any good we wouldn't be discussing giving up all these assets for useful but ultimately average players. So many good basketball players in the world. Yet we go all in for guys AFTER they've shown they're good in the NBA. Infuriating

28 other teams could have traded for Goga when his value was all time low. And the Lakers are an example of a good FO now? They won a chip with KCP and Caruso and then traded them making a big mistake...and here they are yet not being contenders for the last several years even being the favorite team in the country and a FA destination.

You talk about value at the fringes, OK. We signed Tyus for the minimum. We drafted Dunn at #28 getting a couple of 2nds next to him for free. We got Richards for Okogie + 2 2ns...all these moves aren't great?

Yeah, sometimes we can talk about the successful moves that our FO does, it's not illegal or something.

Sabrestar, I appreciate your optimism and I acknowledge the Tyus Jones for a minimum signing as a win for the team.

But we have traded every single pick we have until 2032, we got swept in the 1st round last season and are currently sitting 8th in the conference.

That's the reality of our situation which is not sunshine and rainbows. The front office has a lot to answer for, I suggest there's no point defending them at this stage.

[BobbieL]

This team only needs another quality big man (PF/C) to shore up interior defense. Suns look so much better with Richards. Beal off the bench was a move we all thought was better in the offseason. FO needs to move Nurk and draft capital for a another big.

This is where I am at
Don't do something stupid that could really rip the future
Do something small - maybe use one, ONE, FRP from the Utah trade and see what you can do to improve the team

I don't want to dump Nurkic with a pick
I would be happy trading allen for Goga straight up and sending Nurkic home

[Ghost of Kleine]

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Allen trade incoming if they can't land Fox or Cam Johnson themselves?

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[bigfoot]

Moving Grayson would be a bad idea this season. He is shooting .435 for threes. In January he shot .530 from three. If you are truly trying to compete, you don't give up a sharpshooter in a league that is based on three point shooting. When the Suns blow it up in a year or two, he would be worth a first round pick and a couple seconds.