Official Free Agent Thread: What to do with our cap space

[TASTIC]

NO NO NO to Tristan Thompson.

That guy can rebound but is one step away from being JJ Hickson.

He turned down $52m for 4yrs? What an idiot, him and his agent.

[Saberestar]

I don't think Tristan Thompson is good enough to be an starting PF. Good big coming of the bench, not more than that.

[carey]

I really do not understand why so many want to let Green go. I certainly do not want to overpay for him but it was clear that this team had trouble scoring after we traded two of our top two scorers in Dragic and Thomas. I like Goodwin but he must earn his minutes and his outside shot still looks terrible. Every team can use an explosive 6th man to come in off the bench and provide a lift. Green did that job in 13/14 and we won 48 games. This year was a mess and so was Green for the most part. I think it all goes back to the 3PG system that we tried to employ. It really hurt a lot of players. The backcourt roles were never clearly defined. Players that led the team to 48 wins, Dragic and Green were hurt the most.

I think that both Bledsoe and Knight will be back next year. I want to get Goodwin minutes but I also want Green in the mix. I really do not want to see Tucker as our staring two guard again, ever. If healthy I would love to see Danny Granger replace Tucker's minutes entirely.

While I have generally been a supporter of the Twins I would trade them in a heartbeat along with Tucker. All three of those guys seem to set a very bad tone with the refs and just are not that good. Unfortunately I do not know what other team would want any of them.

You're wrong on Green. He was fantastic as a spot starter, which he did a lot of, but pretty terrible coming off the bench. I think that's a big part of why he struggled this year. He just can't function in a bench role.

[Mulhollanddrive]

“We’ve tried to do something that’s not easy to do,” McDonough said. “We tried to turn over the roster with talented, young players who have some potential but probably aren’t ready to win yet at the highest levels. But we also tried to stay competitive in a brutal Western Conference. Usually, teams try to do one or the other. They load up on veteran guys and trade draft picks and go all in or they completely blow up and gut the team and try to acquire and play a bunch of young guys.”

What does all that mean for the off-season? I have no idea either.

[carey]

He turned down $52m for 4yrs? What an idiot, him and his agent.

Well, Rich Paul did ok by Bledsoe.

[In Len We Trust]

Archie is 20 times the defender Green is and his 3 pointer has improved a lot. He's become an underrated shooter.

[thamadkant]

Cannot have Tucker and Green, if Suns want Warren and Goodwin to step it up and become the best they can be.

[LukasBMW]

Your 2015-2016 Phoenix Suns:

Eric Bledsoe/
Brandon Knight/Archie Goodwin
PJ Tucker/TJ Warren
Markieff Morris/Marcus Morris
Alex Len/Brandon Wright

We need:

A young PG with potential in case Bledsoe doesn't get any better -
A REAL shooting guard
Veteran leadership
Fortify the 4/5 position

[LukasBMW]

The other option is that since the free agent pool and draft is loaded with 4 & 5's but limited on 2's:

Trade the twins for something of value.

Max Al Jefferson or DeAndre Jordan
Resign Brandon Wright
Sign Thad Young
Draft Myles or Frank.


Bledsoe
Knight/Archie
PJ/TJ
Thad Young/Brandon Wright/
Al Jefferson/Alex Len/Rookie (Myles Turner or Frank Kaminiski)

Al and Thad give us a solid front line and more importantly, veteran leadership. Yet we also get to bring along Len and our rookie of choice. Brand Wright still gives us insurance.

TJ can take over for PJ when the time comes.

Blesdoe and Knight share back court duties and Archie is cut loose.

Then add in whatever we get from the Morris twins. AKA Assault and Battery.

[Saberestar]

Your 2015-2016 Phoenix Suns:

Eric Bledsoe/
Brandon Knight/Archie Goodwin
PJ Tucker/TJ Warren
Markieff Morris/Marcus Morris
Alex Len/Brandon Wright

We need:

A young PG with potential in case Bledsoe doesn't get any better -
A REAL shooting guard
Veteran leadership
Fortify the 4/5 position

This is the same team that we had this last 25 games of the season...I don't think it's good enough to be a 39-43 team next year, a ton of wins were before trade deadline. If we sign, for example, Anthony Morrow and Reggie Evans ( a pure shooter and a big rebounder with experience) we will be slightly better, but our core is not good enough to be a playoff team for sure.
I think we need BIG changes on our roster.

[bwgood77]

Well, if he is set on two driving point guards to work together, and thinks Knight can hit 40%+ from 3, and TJ Warren is our future 3, with Len at the 5, he has mentioned 2 things.....vet leadership and shooting. All that points to is a PF that has good range and is a solid vet leader.

Once again I will say Millsap would be perfect. Love fits everything except leadership but adds rebounding (which is another thing they've mentioned). We don't really have space for Love and I don't think he'd sign with us.....Millsap is a FA, so if we could clear the cap space he would be ideal, but I'm sure he loves Atlanta and they likely love him.

Then if you have the twins as super subs off the bench along with Tucker that would be a killer second unit.... Archie/Tucker/Morris/Morris/Wright. Lacks shooting and playmaking so maybe switch things up a bit unless Archie can be more of a playmaker.

Though to make the cap space to sign a guy like Millsap some of those guys would have to be dealt to teams that could absorb them or something.

[Saberestar]

Millsap will sign for the max in Atlanta, they don't have a ton of players with big contracts. Even Horford only makes $12M per year.
It's a shame, because Millsap would be perfect here.

[KLEON]

The Suns' front office should do this:
1.Trade Bledsoe or Knight, Len, The twins, draft picks and whatever the hell the Kings want for Cousins.

2.Max DeAndre Jordan

3.Re-sign Wright

4. Sign Danny Green,Cory Joseph and Amare

Bledsoe or Knight/ Cory Joseph
Green/Archie
Warren/ Tucker
Cousins/Amare
Jordan/Wright

[Puff]

I really do not understand why so many want to let Green go. I certainly do not want to overpay for him but it was clear that this team had trouble scoring after we traded two of our top two scorers in Dragic and Thomas. I like Goodwin but he must earn his minutes and his outside shot still looks terrible. Every team can use an explosive 6th man to come in off the bench and provide a lift. Green did that job in 13/14 and we won 48 games. This year was a mess and so was Green for the most part. I think it all goes back to the 3PG system that we tried to employ. It really hurt a lot of players. The backcourt roles were never clearly defined. Players that led the team to 48 wins, Dragic and Green were hurt the most.

I think that both Bledsoe and Knight will be back next year. I want to get Goodwin minutes but I also want Green in the mix. I really do not want to see Tucker as our staring two guard again, ever. If healthy I would love to see Danny Granger replace Tucker's minutes entirely.

While I have generally been a supporter of the Twins I would trade them in a heartbeat along with Tucker. All three of those guys seem to set a very bad tone with the refs and just are not that good. Unfortunately I do not know what other team would want any of them.

You're wrong on Green. He was fantastic as a spot starter, which he did a lot of, but pretty terrible coming off the bench. I think that's a big part of why he struggled this year. He just can't function in a bench role.

So start him and trade either Bledsoe or Knight.

I don't trust either of those guys but I guess we will keep at least one of them.

[norcalsuns]

Don't post on here often for various reasons but love to read the forum when I have time. It's been extremely painful to watch how this season has unfolded. I think it's pretty obvious that the Suns are never going to contend in the Western Conference with this current core of players. Something has to change and here is what I’m realistically proposing:

PHX Trades-Bledsoe, Morris Twins
SAC Trades-1st round pick, (6th overall), Landry, D.Williams

Bledsoe and the Morrii are good players and can certainly play a part on a winning team but they will never be good enough to be the alpha dogs of a contending team. On Sacramento they would be surrounded with some very talented pieces like Cousins and Gay. There is no doubt in my mind Sacramento would do this trade in a heartbeat to win now with an aging George Karl and Cousins who’s never sniffed the playoffs.

For Phoenix, it allows them to start fresh with a high lottery pick while maintaining several young pieces like Knight (who would be re-signed), Warren, Goodwin, and Len. Carl Landry is a very serviceable PF capable of spot starting in injury situations. He is also a good teammate and a veteran voice that this team desperately needs. D-Williams is more of flier but he is still a 23 year old former #2 pick that has been in a lot of bizarre situations. If he sucks (which he probably will), then he is a nice expiring contract for next year. This is what I would envision the team looking like next year:

Knight (re-sign), Lin (free agent)
Hezonja (draft pick), Goodwin, Bullock
Warren, Tucker, D-Williams
Kaminsky (draft pick), Landry, D-Williams
Len, Wright (re-sign),

With the Sacramento lottery pick I would do everything in my power to draft Mario Hezonja. If you don’t know anything about him just watch this highlight video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4vqiqSMOY. This kid can really do it all, I think he’s going to be a star in the NBA. Then with the 13th pick I’d go with Frank Kaminsky, a 7 footer who can shoot and post up in the right situations. I know many people are on the fence about Kaminsky as a pro prospect but he moves really well for his size and has nice fundamental skills in the post with an array of spin moves. I think he would fit well next to Len with his shooting ability and is a smart player.

[lilfishi22]

Archie is 20 times the defender Green is and his 3 pointer has improved a lot. He's become an underrated shooter.

Unfortunately neither is true.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Do you want to exist, or do you want to win championships?

Most things I read barely have an above average player. Maybe that's the reality, and I'm in denial, I don't know, someone tell me.

[RedIndian]

1. Trade Len/Knight/Morris Twins/pick for Cousins/filler
2. Sign Amir Johnson, Tobias Harris and Kirk Hinrich
3. Re-sign Wright

Cousins/Wright
Amir/Wright
Harris/Warren
Tucker/Goodwin
Bledsoe/Hinrich

[Saberestar]

The Suns' changes will start with those already at the end, or potential end, of contracts.

Of the seven current roster players in that situation, the only three with a good chance of returning are Brandon Knight, Brandan Wright and Danny Granger.

Because Knight is a restricted free agent, the Suns can control that situation by either matching an offer sheet to retain him or negotiating a long-term deal directly.

With Wright, the Suns will have competition because he is an unrestricted free agent. They do have Bird rights on Wright to exceed their salary, if necessary. With a locker room in need of more experience, maturity and size, Wright is an ideal fit to bring back. He averaged 7.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 21.5 minutes per game and was just starting to become more of a pick-and-roll threat as a starter toward the end of the season. In 40 Suns appearances, he shot 58 percent from the field, which is actually low for him.

"It's a good, young, talented group that can grow together," said Wright, who will be 28 next season. "We've obviously got to make some improvements as a team but I think we're on the right track.

"My family loves it here. Nice weather. I like Jeff (Hornacek) as a coach. The organization is really pushing to make this a strong place to be."

Wright said he and Granger could be players who lead by example. Each has been on playoff teams. Granger has logged 35 postseason games, more than twice that of any Suns player.

Granger has a $2.1 million player option for next season but did not reveal his plans for that. He joined the Suns in early March to work with the athletic training staff to improve his health, working on his twice-surgically repaired left knee and the associated body imbalances.

This summer, Granger, his wife and two kids will stay in the Valley where they are building a house. and he'll continue working with Suns athletic trainers. Granger, who turns 32 on Monday, is three years removed from being a perennial 20-points-per-game scorer, including a 2009 All-Star season.

"Talent wins in this league," Granger said. "That's one thing you can't win without. I think this team has a lot of that, a lot of young, promising talent. It's just getting it all on the same page is what you need. As they get older and experience comes, they'll be even better than they've been these past two years."

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /25911663/

[sunskerr]

I hope Granger sticks and contributes and can be a leader. We didn't have anybody close to that role and I think it showed at times. I think the key phrase in that paragraph is body imbalances, which should give us some confidence that Granger will be healthy next season. If he can be a steady guy like David West (Pacers) or Grant Hill was for us that is even better.