The 2016 Offseason Thread

[bigfoot]

I think that we want to start the season with fourteen players on the roster (including Alan Williams getting one spot in September) to have flexibility regarding trades or absorbing contracts.

That would mean not keeping Goodwin as well.

Fixed

[carey]

I think that we want to start the season with fourteen players on the roster (including Alan Williams getting one spot in September) to have flexibility regarding trades or absorbing contracts.

That would mean not keeping Goodwin as well.

Fixed

Not a big fan of doing that to people's posts.

Anyway, we picked up this year's option last year so his contract is guaranteed. I don't really see us waiving him. Possibly a trade to another team for a 2nd rounder.

[bwgood77]

If Barbosa played 15 minutes per game last season on a legendary team he is gonna play at least around those minutes on our team.

I think that our team is gonna surprise a ton of people... I sincerely think that we are going to fight for a playoff spot until the end of the regular season and I wouldn't be shocked if we end seventh or eighth in the West and finally go to the playoffs.

Nothing would totally shock me. I think Barbosa only plays that many minutes if we trade a guard or have injuries again. He's a perfect garbage time player on a historic team. I just don't think he makes much sense for a rebuilding team who has 4 young guards (3 at least who are already better than him and deserve 30 minutes a game).

I guess you never really know with the west. Portland made it last year with their two guards being the only real big factors on the team. They keep surprising me though.

But I think most of the rest of the teams in the west made quite a few improvements as well. If we are completely healthy we could be semi competitive when our shots are sinking.

[Zelaznyrules]

That would mean not keeping Goodwin as well.

Fixed

Not a big fan of doing that to people's posts.

Anyway, we picked up this year's option last year so his contract is guaranteed. I don't really see us waiving him. Possibly a trade to another team for a 2nd rounder.

When I first started seeing FTFY it was being used as a way to turn a straight line into a humorous one and I kind of liked it. But when you simply use it to re-write someone's position, it just seems wrong. And that looks to be the more common usage these days. So, I agree, not a fan.

[bwgood77]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/07/23/bickley-phoenix-suns-stoking-fires-optimism-after-23-win-season/87485574/?hootPostID=803c1f0abeac2ef1d92dda584b98ea01

[NTB]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1VlBDPh3Q[/youtube]

[Frank Lee]

Earl as a young boy

[Jarlaxle0204]

Devin took 2 dumps yesterday.... Average NBA players take one.

He is special

He's only 19!!!!!! Just imagine how many dumps he'll take when he hits his prime.

[LukasBMW]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/07/23/bickley-phoenix-suns-stoking-fires-optimism-after-23-win-season/87485574/?hootPostID=803c1f0abeac2ef1d92dda584b98ea01

I like how the article says that Knight is willing to be our 6th man, and then quotes Knight who gives no indication that he will be OK coming off the bench.

But still...good article.

[LukasBMW]

And just when you thought Brandon Knight was going to resist a potential sixth-man role off the bench, he is saying just the opposite.

“Something special is really happening in Phoenix,” Knight told a reporter earlier in the week. “And that’s how we’re going to make it work, just by being brothers off the court. And on the court, we’ll find a way to make it work.”

"Being brothers off the court" & "finding a way to make it work" does not mean "I'm ready to be the 6th man this season"

[darealjuice]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/757621513877069824[/tweet]

Portland moves to keep CJ out of RFA after next season. It seems like a bit of a risk to me to give him a max extension after 1 year of actually playing, but they clearly don't want to risk losing him. I'm just a little confused where they're headed right now, they have an average of $95 million per year in cap space locked up through 2020 in just Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe and are well over the cap next year. $106.5 million spent on those 5 in the 2019-2020 season if Crabbe opts in. Sure, that's an elite offensive backcourt for the next 4 years, but throwing large contracts at role/bench players like Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe just played themselves out of being competitors in FA for a good bit of time. I don't see them jumping much higher than a perrenial 4 seed with the way the West looks right now, but I could be wrong.

[bwgood77]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/757621513877069824[/tweet]

Portland moves to keep CJ out of RFA after next season. It seems like a bit of a risk to me to give him a max extension after 1 year of actually playing, but they clearly don't want to risk losing him. I'm just a little confused where they're headed right now, they have an average of $95 million per year in cap space locked up through 2020 in just Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe and are well over the cap next year. $106.5 million spent on those 5 in the 2019-2020 season if Crabbe opts in. Sure, that's an elite offensive backcourt for the next 4 years, but throwing large contracts at role/bench players like Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe just played themselves out of being competitors in FA for a good bit of time. I don't see them jumping much higher than a perrenial 4 seed with the way the West looks right now, but I could be wrong.

I won't necessarily doubt them because they continue to surprise me. My guess is that they will look to trade Crabbe at some point, but didn't want to lose him for nothing.

However having said that, I guess I'm still more skeptical about how good they can be this year than you are (despite it not sounding like that with my reply).

I expect GS, SA, LAC, MEM and UTAH to likely be the top 5 seeds. Who knows about Houston but if Harden comes ready to play, they should definitely make it. I also think OKC definitely makes it (unless they trade Westbrook and take a step back). That's 7 teams. I also think Dallas and Minnesota to be competitive as well. Stotts is going to have to keep coaching this team to over achievement, because I don't think they have overall as much talent as any of those teams except maybe Dallas who still has Dirk and Carlisle, so they should be fringe.

[King4Day]

Don't forget that the Blazers still have to worry about Harkless' contract. Sounds like he'll get a nice chunk this summer too. They are relying heavily on the youth they have now and that they'll become special someday soon. If they don't, they will struggle to get back up top. I'm glad we didn't do this when we had our surprise season.

[darealjuice]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/757621513877069824[/tweet]

Portland moves to keep CJ out of RFA after next season. It seems like a bit of a risk to me to give him a max extension after 1 year of actually playing, but they clearly don't want to risk losing him. I'm just a little confused where they're headed right now, they have an average of $95 million per year in cap space locked up through 2020 in just Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe and are well over the cap next year. $106.5 million spent on those 5 in the 2019-2020 season if Crabbe opts in. Sure, that's an elite offensive backcourt for the next 4 years, but throwing large contracts at role/bench players like Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe just played themselves out of being competitors in FA for a good bit of time. I don't see them jumping much higher than a perrenial 4 seed with the way the West looks right now, but I could be wrong.

I won't necessarily doubt them because they continue to surprise me. My guess is that they will look to trade Crabbe at some point, but didn't want to lose him for nothing.

However having said that, I guess I'm still more skeptical about how good they can be this year than you are (despite it not sounding like that with my reply).

I expect GS, SA, LAC, MEM and UTAH to likely be the top 5 seeds. Who knows about Houston but if Harden comes ready to play, they should definitely make it. I also think OKC definitely makes it (unless they trade Westbrook and take a step back). That's 7 teams. I also think Dallas and Minnesota to be competitive as well. Stotts is going to have to keep coaching this team to over achievement, because I don't think they have overall as much talent as any of those teams except maybe Dallas who still has Dirk and Carlisle, so they should be fringe.

Yeah, I can see those 5 being the top 5 seeds if they remain healthy. If Houston can keep Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson relatively healthy (which I doubt), they'll be a very good offensive team as well and probably able to sneak into the playoffs. I'm a bit skeptical of OKC right now considering they lost KD and Ibaka and only really brought in Oladipo, but I count them as a contender for the 7/8 seed right now for sure. Westbrook/Oladipo/Morrow/Sabonis or Ilyasova/Adams just doesn't scream playoffs to me right now, I don't know why. I think that New Orleans will work their way back into the playoff race this year if they don't get devastated by injuries again like they did last year, but we'll see. Minnesota might still be a year or two from the playoffs right now, but they're destined to get there soon. Dallas will be a fringe playoff team too, although I don't think they got any better this offseason.

If I were asked to guess how things shape up next year, I'd probably say I see the West looking something like: 1. GSW 2. SAS 3. LAC 4. MEM 5. POR 6. UTA 7. OKC 8. HOU 9. NOP 10. DAL 11. MIN 12. PHX 13. DEN 14. SAC 15. LAL, assuming all teams are healthy and nothing major happens at the deadline, with MIN, PHX, and DEN being pretty tightly knit.

[darealjuice]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/APkrawczynski/status/757650674121314304[/tweet]

Replacing DWade with Kobe Wade lol

[bwgood77]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/757621513877069824[/tweet]

Portland moves to keep CJ out of RFA after next season. It seems like a bit of a risk to me to give him a max extension after 1 year of actually playing, but they clearly don't want to risk losing him. I'm just a little confused where they're headed right now, they have an average of $95 million per year in cap space locked up through 2020 in just Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe and are well over the cap next year. $106.5 million spent on those 5 in the 2019-2020 season if Crabbe opts in. Sure, that's an elite offensive backcourt for the next 4 years, but throwing large contracts at role/bench players like Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe just played themselves out of being competitors in FA for a good bit of time. I don't see them jumping much higher than a perrenial 4 seed with the way the West looks right now, but I could be wrong.

I won't necessarily doubt them because they continue to surprise me. My guess is that they will look to trade Crabbe at some point, but didn't want to lose him for nothing.

However having said that, I guess I'm still more skeptical about how good they can be this year than you are (despite it not sounding like that with my reply).

I expect GS, SA, LAC, MEM and UTAH to likely be the top 5 seeds. Who knows about Houston but if Harden comes ready to play, they should definitely make it. I also think OKC definitely makes it (unless they trade Westbrook and take a step back). That's 7 teams. I also think Dallas and Minnesota to be competitive as well. Stotts is going to have to keep coaching this team to over achievement, because I don't think they have overall as much talent as any of those teams except maybe Dallas who still has Dirk and Carlisle, so they should be fringe.

Yeah, I can see those 5 being the top 5 seeds if they remain healthy. If Houston can keep Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson relatively healthy (which I doubt), they'll be a very good offensive team as well and probably able to sneak into the playoffs. I'm a bit skeptical of OKC right now considering they lost KD and Ibaka and only really brought in Oladipo, but I count them as a contender for the 7/8 seed right now for sure. Westbrook/Oladipo/Morrow/Sabonis or Ilyasova/Adams just doesn't scream playoffs to me right now, I don't know why. I think that New Orleans will work their way back into the playoff race this year if they don't get devastated by injuries again like they did last year, but we'll see. Minnesota might still be a year or two from the playoffs right now, but they're destined to get there soon. Dallas will be a fringe playoff team too, although I don't think they got any better this offseason.

If I were asked to guess how things shape up next year, I'd probably say I see the West looking something like: 1. GSW 2. SAS 3. LAC 4. MEM 5. POR 6. UTA 7. OKC 8. HOU 9. NOP 10. DAL 11. MIN 12. PHX 13. DEN 14. SAC 15. LAL, assuming all teams are healthy and nothing major happens at the deadline, with MIN, PHX, and DEN being pretty tightly knit.

Minnesota will be interesting. They probably added the most ready rookie, have two or three young players that will take another major step, and then Thibs made world of difference in Chicago so I don't know how he doesn't do the same in Minnesota. But it's tough to pick between like 7 and 11 on your list. I was just re-looking at Houston and with Gordon and Anderson and injury prone as they are, not really having a good center, and they will be AWFUL defensively, not only because they are talking about playing Anderson in small ball lineups at center, but he's a terrible defender whatever position he plays. And it's not like D'Antoni will help much in that regard. They have to shoot top 5 or 6 in 3 pt % to have a shot.

[darealjuice]

I won't necessarily doubt them because they continue to surprise me. My guess is that they will look to trade Crabbe at some point, but didn't want to lose him for nothing.

However having said that, I guess I'm still more skeptical about how good they can be this year than you are (despite it not sounding like that with my reply).

I expect GS, SA, LAC, MEM and UTAH to likely be the top 5 seeds. Who knows about Houston but if Harden comes ready to play, they should definitely make it. I also think OKC definitely makes it (unless they trade Westbrook and take a step back). That's 7 teams. I also think Dallas and Minnesota to be competitive as well. Stotts is going to have to keep coaching this team to over achievement, because I don't think they have overall as much talent as any of those teams except maybe Dallas who still has Dirk and Carlisle, so they should be fringe.

Yeah, I can see those 5 being the top 5 seeds if they remain healthy. If Houston can keep Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson relatively healthy (which I doubt), they'll be a very good offensive team as well and probably able to sneak into the playoffs. I'm a bit skeptical of OKC right now considering they lost KD and Ibaka and only really brought in Oladipo, but I count them as a contender for the 7/8 seed right now for sure. Westbrook/Oladipo/Morrow/Sabonis or Ilyasova/Adams just doesn't scream playoffs to me right now, I don't know why. I think that New Orleans will work their way back into the playoff race this year if they don't get devastated by injuries again like they did last year, but we'll see. Minnesota might still be a year or two from the playoffs right now, but they're destined to get there soon. Dallas will be a fringe playoff team too, although I don't think they got any better this offseason.

If I were asked to guess how things shape up next year, I'd probably say I see the West looking something like: 1. GSW 2. SAS 3. LAC 4. MEM 5. POR 6. UTA 7. OKC 8. HOU 9. NOP 10. DAL 11. MIN 12. PHX 13. DEN 14. SAC 15. LAL, assuming all teams are healthy and nothing major happens at the deadline, with MIN, PHX, and DEN being pretty tightly knit.

Minnesota will be interesting. They probably added the most ready rookie, have two or three young players that will take another major step, and then Thibs made world of difference in Chicago so I don't know how he doesn't do the same in Minnesota. But it's tough to pick between like 7 and 11 on your list. I was just re-looking at Houston and with Gordon and Anderson and injury prone as they are, not really having a good center, and they will be AWFUL defensively, not only because they are talking about playing Anderson in small ball lineups at center, but he's a terrible defender whatever position he plays. And it's not like D'Antoni will help much in that regard. They have to shoot top 5 or 6 in 3 pt % to have a shot.

Yeah Minnesota will be interesting to watch, but they have no shooters on their team besides kind of LaVine and kind of Wiggins if he can pick up where he left off in the second half of the season. I think they'll improve a lot, but I'm skeptical of them being a playoff team this year without things shaking up. Houston is going to suck on defense, but I think they'll have one of the best offenses in the league if they stay healthy, and the name of the game is put the ball in the bucket. Assuming they get hurt, which Gordon and Anderson probably will, I don't think they'll make the playoffs and will probably drop to 10/11 with New Orleans and Dallas fighting for the 8 seed.

[bwgood77]

Yeah Minnesota will be interesting to watch, but they have no shooters on their team besides kind of LaVine and kind of Wiggins if he can pick up where he left off in the second half of the season. I think they'll improve a lot, but I'm skeptical of them being a playoff team this year without things shaking up. Houston is going to suck on defense, but I think they'll have one of the best offenses in the league if they stay healthy, and the name of the game is put the ball in the bucket. Assuming they get hurt, which Gordon and Anderson probably will, I don't think they'll make the playoffs and will probably drop to 10/11 with New Orleans and Dallas fighting for the 8 seed.

Oh yeah, I forgot about their shooting. Even though Dunn is the better player, I thought adding a shooter like Hield or Murray to be 6th man sniper off the bench might make more sense for their team. They should keep Rubio too.

[LukasBMW]

I can't believe there was no interest in Waiters. $2.9mil for him was a steal.

[NTB]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/UKCoachCalipari/status/757656142323576832[/tweet]