Trade & FA Ideas & Discussion

[bigfoot]

Read on Twitter

Read that article.
They consider Booker a pillar, Chriss and Bender as a pillar together and Jackson as the third pillar.

Warren not mentioned.


Suns potentially could get another major pillar of they draft a big man. I am hopeful it's Ayton. He really does remind me of David Robinson. And David Robinson would dominate today in both ends. Imagine a bigger, faster more athletic Anthony Davis.

The operative word is "They" consider Booker, etal pillars, where they is clearly the writer identifying the pillars and not the Suns front office. McD was being interviewed about the Summer league players Chriss, Jackson, and Bender. Homer blog writers are going to give their opinions on the foundation of the team.

Personally, Warren and Ulis both had stellar numbers in the close of the 16/17 season.

Ulis put up 13+ points and 7+ assists over the last 22 games of the season. Very few players have done that their rookie seasons
http://bkref.com/tiny/DgZSJ

Warren put up 18 points and 8 rebounds with 42% 3-point shooting over the last 15 games. His overall shooting percentage was 52.8% so he was shooting mid 50% for his 2-pointers. Those are elite numbers ... all-star numbers. TJ started the season hot and ended it on fire with a "head" injury in between. Right now I would say our pillars are

1) Bledsoe
2) Warren
3) Booker
4) Jackson
5) Ulis
6) Bender
7) Chriss

Bledsoe is still the best player on the team with Warren a close second. Warren plays better defense and has better shooting percentage numbers than Booker. Until Booker improves on his offensive shooting numbers and starts playing some defense he is not the best player on the team.

[bwgood77]

Read on Twitter

Read that article.
They consider Booker a pillar, Chriss and Bender as a pillar together and Jackson as the third pillar.

Warren not mentioned.


Suns potentially could get another major pillar of they draft a big man. I am hopeful it's Ayton. He really does remind me of David Robinson. And David Robinson would dominate today in both ends. Imagine a bigger, faster more athletic Anthony Davis.

The operative word is "They" consider Booker, etal pillars, where they is clearly the writer identifying the pillars and not the Suns front office. McD was being interviewed about the Summer league players Chriss, Jackson, and Bender. Homer blog writers are going to give their opinions on the foundation of the team.

Personally, Warren and Ulis both had stellar numbers in the close of the 16/17 season.

Ulis put up 13+ points and 7+ assists over the last 22 games of the season. Very few players have done that their rookie seasons
http://bkref.com/tiny/DgZSJ

Warren put up 18 points and 8 rebounds with 42% 3-point shooting over the last 15 games. His overall shooting percentage was 52.8% so he was shooting mid 50% for his 2-pointers. Those are elite numbers ... all-star numbers. TJ started the season hot and ended it on fire with a "head" injury in between. Right now I would say our pillars are

1) Bledsoe
2) Warren
3) Booker
4) Jackson
5) Ulis
6) Bender
7) Chriss

Bledsoe is still the best player on the team with Warren a close second. Warren plays better defense and has better shooting percentage numbers than Booker. Until Booker improves on his offensive shooting numbers and starts playing some defense he is not the best player on the team.

Yeah, whenever I hear McD talk he talks about the core being between 19 and 23. The article even starts with that (8 players between 19 and 23). Warren is the only one that is 23, so in McD's mind, he is clearly part of the core. It's just that all the writers and many of the young twitter fans and stuff are just focused on the new guys, as they want to project them as future stars, and Warren is more of a known commodity but vastly undervalued by casual fans.

Those that watched the games in this losing season saw Warren's value, or at least most who watched, because it's undeniable how good he looked outside of that injured stretch. He was easily our best most consistent scorer and player for much of the season. Bledsoe and Booker had great games as well, but were more up and down on a nightly basis with poor shooting nights mixed in with good or great ones.

Obviously those are our best 3 players right now. Jackson may join that group, but I'll have to see him in nba action before making that assessment, as plenty of guys look great in summer league and it's very rare that any rookie makes a huge immediate impact in year one....or especially right off the bat in year one.

[bigfoot]

I will say Jackson's handles and moves around the bucket remind of Dr J. He his a knack for those sweeping reverse layups. Damn nice handles for someone his size.

[jcsunsfan]

Booker. Ok. Pillar. I buy it. But you can only have one of your three pillars that does not play two ways.
Jackson. Pillar. Too early to tell, but I am optimistic. My concern is not with his D but his O. Two ways.
Chriss. D is a problem.
Bender. Has the D potential, AND the O potential. I think Bender is a more likely pillar than Chriss for this reason.
TJ. His O is great. He D is improving. I think he will rise to "top contributor" status but not high enough to be considered "Big three". Hope I am wrong and he blows it up.

[King4Day]

Regarding Gay not being a dropoff from Simmons, while I agree, I'm not sure if he will stay on the court all season and if he even fits Pops' style.
I still feel like they have regressed a bit this offseason. At the very least, they aren't much improved where they'll contend for a title.

[thamadkant]

Read on Twitter

Read that article.
They consider Booker a pillar, Chriss and Bender as a pillar together and Jackson as the third pillar.

Warren not mentioned.


Suns potentially could get another major pillar of they draft a big man. I am hopeful it's Ayton. He really does remind me of David Robinson. And David Robinson would dominate today in both ends. Imagine a bigger, faster more athletic Anthony Davis.

The operative word is "They" consider Booker, etal pillars, where they is clearly the writer identifying the pillars and not the Suns front office. McD was being interviewed about the Summer league players Chriss, Jackson, and Bender. Homer blog writers are going to give their opinions on the foundation of the team.

Personally, Warren and Ulis both had stellar numbers in the close of the 16/17 season.

Ulis put up 13+ points and 7+ assists over the last 22 games of the season. Very few players have done that their rookie seasons
http://bkref.com/tiny/DgZSJ

Warren put up 18 points and 8 rebounds with 42% 3-point shooting over the last 15 games. His overall shooting percentage was 52.8% so he was shooting mid 50% for his 2-pointers. Those are elite numbers ... all-star numbers. TJ started the season hot and ended it on fire with a "head" injury in between. Right now I would say our pillars are

1) Bledsoe
2) Warren
3) Booker
4) Jackson
5) Ulis
6) Bender
7) Chriss

Bledsoe is still the best player on the team with Warren a close second. Warren plays better defense and has better shooting percentage numbers than Booker. Until Booker improves on his offensive shooting numbers and starts playing some defense he is not the best player on the team.

Agreed.

I like Warren, especially during the first few weeks of the season where he was looking like a 20ppg player with pesky defense.

Booker is the prettier one so he gets more attention, but to me Warren looked like the goods until that mysterious injury.

[thamadkant]

Regarding Gay not being a dropoff from Simmons, while I agree, I'm not sure if he will stay on the court all season and if he even fits Pops' style.
I still feel like they have regressed a bit this offseason. At the very least, they aren't much improved where they'll contend for a title.

Spurs look like they are avoiding committing contracts this off season. To me, 2018 FA looks like a target time frame for them to load up with talent around Leonard.

[NTB]

Read on Twitter

[Moochthemonkey]

1) Bledsoe: I agree that he is our best player, and would be great to have as a starting PG for the future. However, keep in mind what Jrue Holiday was paid. Keep in mind the 6 players left on this list, as well as 2-3 more potential solid lottery picks. And there's still potential free agents to add to the core. If you figure at least four of these players will reach their trajectory, they are due 15-20 million per in the open market. It doesn't seem like a Sarver thing to give Bledsoe that 25+/yr contract alongside this timeline. Instead, the best option in regards to the future is to trade him ASAP while his value is at its highest.

2) Warren: it would take a dismal season for Warren not to be offered something similar to an Otto Porter extension, and the Suns should match it

3) Booker: obviously a keeper right now...but midway through his max deal, if we're not contenders- there's likely to be a large vocal amount of fans that are whinging about inefficient offensive or lack of defense, and wanting to trade him and start a new rebuild. Just like there was with Stoudemire in his later years, Gortat, and Dragic.

4) Jackson: unknown, who knows. His summer league play wasn't that impressive.

5) Ulis: very underrated. By the minute, I think he was actually our best rookie last season. In fact, if he was given consistent, good minutes all season, I think there's a case to be made for ROY...yes I said it. I don't he's that much far behind from Malcolm Brogdon. He just needs to improve his 3PT shot foremost. His defense is decent given for his height.

Edit: not to say that the guards that made the all rookie teams (Brogdon, Hield, Ferrell, Murray) have equal or lesser value than Ulis, though

6) Bender: promising versatility, but still raw and unknown. I just hope he can improve more than Len did over the course of his rookie contract.

7) Chriss: had a solid rookie season, but often it seems like he's not giving full effort and/or is lost. That seemed to change midway through last season though. Hopefully he turns out to be more than Markieff Morris caliber, but if 2 or 3 of our prospects become all-stars, it wouldn't be too bad.

[DaleyBlind]

Warren better at least develop a 3pt shot if he wants MAX money, or not be one of the worst defenders in the league, or show some playmaking skills. My god Warren at MAX money is not something i want to see.

[Villalobos]

1) Bledsoe: I agree that he is our best player, and would be great to have as a starting PG for the future. However, keep in mind what Jrue Holiday was paid. Keep in mind the 6 players left on this list, as well as 2-3 more potential solid lottery picks. And there's still potential free agents to add to the core. If you figure at least four of these players will reach their trajectory, they are due 15-20 million per in the open market. It doesn't seem like a Sarver thing to give Bledsoe that 25+/yr contract alongside this timeline. Instead, the best option in regards to the future is to trade him ASAP while his value is at its highest.

That's a unique situation though. If Jrue left they had no way to replace him because of their cap situation. If he left that team gets even worse next season and Boogie would be a lock to leave, so they were forced to pay him whatever he wanted.

Bledsoe/Rich Paul can demand whatever they want, but if it's something ridiculous the Suns can just tell him to walk and he (an injury prone non-allstar, non-superstar PG) won't get big money elsewhere unless some team desperately needs a PG and will pay a ton for it.

Look at what the PGs who weren't in a situation like Jrue got. Seems like everyone thought George Hill would get a bunch of money but he didn't. Teague got a small contract. There's too many good PGs in this league.

[Kerrsed]

Read on Twitter

[Moochthemonkey]

1) Bledsoe: I agree that he is our best player, and would be great to have as a starting PG for the future. However, keep in mind what Jrue Holiday was paid. Keep in mind the 6 players left on this list, as well as 2-3 more potential solid lottery picks. And there's still potential free agents to add to the core. If you figure at least four of these players will reach their trajectory, they are due 15-20 million per in the open market. It doesn't seem like a Sarver thing to give Bledsoe that 25+/yr contract alongside this timeline. Instead, the best option in regards to the future is to trade him ASAP while his value is at its highest.

That's a unique situation though. If Jrue left they had no way to replace him because of their cap situation. If he left that team gets even worse next season and Boogie would be a lock to leave, so they were forced to pay him whatever he wanted.

Bledsoe/Rich Paul can demand whatever they want, but if it's something ridiculous the Suns can just tell him to walk and he (an injury prone non-allstar, non-superstar PG) won't get big money elsewhere unless some team desperately needs a PG and will pay a ton for it.

Look at what the PGs who weren't in a situation like Jrue got. Seems like everyone thought George Hill would get a bunch of money but he didn't. Teague got a small contract. There's too many good PGs in this league.

real good points there. Hadn't considered all that.

[Kerrsed]

Brandon Knight is "one name that came up in conversation" between the Knicks and Suns, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
Knight's trade value is almost negative at this point as the Suns would likely want to get him off their books to play guys like Tyler Ulis or really any other young guard. The former Buck and Piston is under contract until 2019-20 for a total of around $44 million, so the remaining money on the deal could help in a Carmelo Anthony trade. The Suns would probably do this for any decent asset, so it's more about the Knicks and if they think a change of scenery can help Knight.

[Puff]

Read on Twitter

Why not Knight for Noah?

We add a little in salary but we don't sign Len and Noah comes in to help teach our kids how to play. He always has been a good rebounder & defender as well as a willing and able passer. He should fit where we are trying to go, ball movement and defense, and be a bridge to our future.

[sunskerr]

I hope the FO values TJ properly, but I get the sense he's a bit of an afterthought. If TJ gets minutes he'll average 18-20ppg on 50% and that's no afterthought. Would rather him be getting good minutes and a fair share of shots than Booker shooting in the low 40's again. I'd really hate for a team to come in and get him as part of a throw-in or we package him to dump salary. He's so much better than that.

[asudevil]

Read on Twitter

Why not Knight for Noah?

We add a little in salary but we don't sign Len and Noah comes in to help teach our kids how to play. He always has been a good rebounder & defender as well as a willing and able passer. He should fit where we are trying to go, ball movement and defense, and be a bridge to our future.

3/55.5
vs
3/43.8

For me, i'd rather pay Knight to be the 3rd man at SG/PG instead of paying Noah even more to do the same at C.

Suns trade: Knight/2018 2nd
Suns get: Asik/Pels Protected 1st

Suns clear a bit of cap space. Asik sits at the end of the bench. They upgrade from an early 2nd to a potentially mid first.

Knicks trade: Noah/Rose (S&T)
Knicks get: Hill/Knight/Suns 2018 2nd

IF NY is intent on keeping Melo, they need to fight for the playoffs. Rose probably wont be resigned, as he hasnt thus far. Noah is the 3rd at C behind Hernab/O'Quinn. They upgrade their SF with Hill, and gain a SG/PG in Knight.

Pels trade: Asik/Hill/Protected 1st
Pels get: Noah/Rose (S&T)

Pels MUST compete for the playoffs. Rose gives them a SG beside Holiday/Davis/Cousins. Noah, when healthy and not suspended, is a clear upgrade over Asik.

[Saberestar]

Noah is probably the worst contract in the league, basically because he is always injured and when healthy he has regressed A LOT. He can not play at all.

[thamadkant]

With Knicks getting a new GM.
And the East being at its most shallow state for a while so shallow that a team with under 40 wins can make the playoffs.

I think they may try to retain Anthony or at least trade for pieces that will help win games.

Them looking for veteran point guards tell me they want to push for playoffs. Hornacek has proven he can establish a system with high usage point guards.

With that mentioned, we know Cavs have been pushing heavily as well to add another piece or at least swap out for better defenders and go to guys come playoffs.

How about...

Cavs/Knicks/Suns


Suns
In: Porzingis, Noah, Shumpert, 2018 Cavs Pick
Out: Knight, Bledsoe, Chriss, Chandler

Knicks
In: Bledsoe, Knight, Chriss, Love
Out: Anthony, Noah, Porzingis

Cavs
In: Chandler, Anthony
Out: Love, Shumpert, Frye, 2018 Pick


Cavs new line up
C: Chandler / Thompson
F: Anthony / Williams
F: James / Green
G: Smith / Korver / Jones
G: Irving / Calderon / Felder

Knicks
C: Hernangomez / O'Quinn
F: Love / Chriss / Frye
F: Lee / Kuzminskas / Thomas
G: Hardaway / FA
G: Bledsoe / Knight


Suns
C: Porzingis / Williams / Noah
F: Bender / Dudley / Peters
F: Jackson / Warren
G: Booker / Reed / Jones
G: Shumpert / Ulis / James

Then 2018 draft, get Ayton, move Porzingis down to PF. Make Bender the main backup for C and PF.



Then I woke up...

[Frank Lee]

Can't see NY trading away one of the top young Pfs in the league. Why even bother to go down this road.... repeatedly???

Zingus is their booker.... only better

You want to dangle bled... the best you might get is Love if the Cavs push for melo