Free agency and trade ideas: Which wings do we go after this summer?

[Blonde]

If DeAndre Hunter is projected to be at least as good as Mikal I would just draft Hunter and find a way to parlay our young assets like Mikal and TJ into either a starting point or power forward. The problem I have with Mikal is that due to his slight body frame he will always get pushed around by stronger players but Hunter is not going to budge, that dude is built like a tank and he is projected to be someone like a kawhi or Jimmy Butler. A Booker-Hunter-Ayton core is much more promising than Booker-Oubre-Ayron or Booker-Mikal-Ayton.

Personal preference I guess but to me Bridges is a far superior prospect and we've already seen him defend at a high level in the NBA. He had an outstanding steal rate and great understanding of team D. Hunter can defend but is not a disruptive turnover creator.

Bridges does need to add strength but it's not like modern SFs like to play bully ball. Quickness and length are more important.

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Just wanted to tag on that Bridges was a much more highly regarded prospect last year than Hunter is now. Bridges would arguably go 2nd overall in this class. Just a much more cerebral player will ultra high bball IQ and more versatile shooting. That said, I do like Hunter and he would be in that same role as Bridges as a 3D wing, but more of a SF-PF than a SG-SF. I prefer other options at 6 though.

[lilfishi22]

Spoiler:

I agree with needing veterans to lead our young team man, I really do. However, last season, we really lacked roster depth nearing the end of the season. So it's always good to have additional roster depth.

And considering that we are severely limited in terms of cap space ( without big moves being made) it's of great value to have available talent at the lowest possible contractual price.

Also, as I mentioned in the last part of my post. We'd still look to veterans for our starting fives roster holes. And with the rookies contracts being so low cost, it really shouldn't impact our overall plans for adding veterans in free agency.

Personally, I'd be happy with just trading for Dinwiddie and the 17th pick. ( Taking Kabengele or Grant Williams at 17).

Then taking Zylan Cheatham or Chuma Okeke at 32( Stash in the G League for development).

Then trade Jackson and the Milwaukee pick to Cleveland for Smith's expiring.

Also, as it appears that Monty Williams is fond of what Tyler Johnson brings to our team, Hopefully we can renegotiate his contract?

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We lost a lot of key players to injuries down the stretch. Ayton missed the last 5-6 games, I think Booker reinjured himself towards the end, TJo basically played as many games as he missed with us, Oubre was done by mid-March, TJ was out for like half a season and even Holmes missed a handful of games. We didn't lack depth in the traditional sense that we had no one to come off the bench, we lacked depth because our bench basically became our starters towards the end and we actually started Bender, Spalding, Jackson, Bridges and Okobo. Only one of those players is a legit NBA rotation player right now.

#17 is off the table now anyway since that's been moved traded to ATL.

Valid points, But again, that's why having roster depth matters. And if your coaching and development staff is really good at their job, you can of course even have first year players that contribute to your team being competitive.

It can easily be argued that due to our coaching/ front office instability and lack of overall player development, That our cores progression has been delayed.

I mean don't you think that San Antonio, Toronto, or Denver , etc. Wouldn't have likely gotten greater results from our rookies by now?

And I'm ok with the 17th pick not being on the table, I'm also all for vets. I really just want us to address our positional roster holes with competent players, and players who are tough, gritty, and tenacious.

I'm just not quite sure how they plan to do that exactly with our current diminutive cap space.

And in considering that we're not just yet a free agent destination, and don't have the necessary cap space to realistically compete with all of the other teams in free agency ( in better situations and with more cap space).

I just look to the next most realistic and cost effective way for us to fill those positional needs.......The draft.

Although I still do like the bargain options at power forward: Noah Vonleh, Daniel Theiss, Aminu, Jamychal Green, Mike Muscala, Jonas Jerebko ( 1 -2 year deals).

And Point guard bargain options: Santoransky, McConnell, Cory Joseph, Beverly, Collison. But if we can accomplish trades for higher caliber impact vets, than I'm totally for that too.

While I agree a factor behind our lack of success and consistent player development has been the revolving door of coaching staff over the years (e.g 5 coaches in 5 seasons for Book), I don't think it can be doubted that a major factor has been the fact that we've trotted out squads of under-experienced and under qualified players game in and game out, season after season. Our longest tenured vet over the past few seasons was probably an old and unmotivated Chandler.

It's not because we lacked young talent that we sucked. It's because we've had too many to coach properly, effectively and without an on-court influence. This is the reason why McD said last season that we wouldn't have 3 rookies on the team (we ended up with 4 FFS). This was one of the few times he was right even though execution was completely wrong. Teams like San Antonio and Toronto already have a system and they can slot young players into. We BARELY had a consistent philosophy the last few seasons.

Perhaps I was wrong to say you're only about prospects but I'm fairly adamant that we should add no more than 1 rookie. Throwing rookies at problem rarely bears fruit

[Crives]

If DeAndre Hunter is projected to be at least as good as Mikal I would just draft Hunter and find a way to parlay our young assets like Mikal and TJ into either a starting point or power forward. The problem I have with Mikal is that due to his slight body frame he will always get pushed around by stronger players but Hunter is not going to budge, that dude is built like a tank and he is projected to be someone like a kawhi or Jimmy Butler. A Booker-Hunter-Ayton core is much more promising than Booker-Oubre-Ayron or Booker-Mikal-Ayton.

Personal preference I guess but to me Bridges is a far superior prospect and we've already seen him defend at a high level in the NBA. He had an outstanding steal rate and great understanding of team D. Hunter can defend but is not a disruptive turnover creator.

Bridges does need to add strength but it's not like modern SFs like to play bully ball. Quickness and length are more important.

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Just wanted to tag on that Bridges was a much more highly regarded prospect last year than Hunter is now. Bridges would arguably go 2nd overall in this class. Just a much more cerebral player will ultra high bball IQ and more versatile shooting. That said, I do like Hunter and he would be in that same role as Bridges as a 3D wing, but more of a SF-PF than a SG-SF. I prefer other options at 6 though.

I like hunter if the Oubre contract gets out of control.

[Blonde]

Personal preference I guess but to me Bridges is a far superior prospect and we've already seen him defend at a high level in the NBA. He had an outstanding steal rate and great understanding of team D. Hunter can defend but is not a disruptive turnover creator.

Bridges does need to add strength but it's not like modern SFs like to play bully ball. Quickness and length are more important.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

Just wanted to tag on that Bridges was a much more highly regarded prospect last year than Hunter is now. Bridges would arguably go 2nd overall in this class. Just a much more cerebral player will ultra high bball IQ and more versatile shooting. That said, I do like Hunter and he would be in that same role as Bridges as a 3D wing, but more of a SF-PF than a SG-SF. I prefer other options at 6 though.

I like hunter if the Oubre contract gets out of control.

What would be out of control to you?

[Crives]

Just wanted to tag on that Bridges was a much more highly regarded prospect last year than Hunter is now. Bridges would arguably go 2nd overall in this class. Just a much more cerebral player will ultra high bball IQ and more versatile shooting. That said, I do like Hunter and he would be in that same role as Bridges as a 3D wing, but more of a SF-PF than a SG-SF. I prefer other options at 6 though.

I like hunter if the Oubre contract gets out of control.

What would be out of control to you?

Probably starting at 16 per

[Crives]

Bledsoe...

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[WeekapaugGroove]

I like hunter if the Oubre contract gets out of control.

What would be out of control to you?

Probably starting at 16 per

The draft is 10 days before FA. I'm sure they have some feel for what his market is going to look like but if they let him hit the market they really won't know his price for a while.

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[SuperSunsFan]

If Clarke is better than Hunter than why is Hunter projected to be a better prospect and drafted much higher? offensively Hunter has the potential to become the next Kawhi scouts believe and should we pass up a chance like that for someone else? I understand that people used to say the same thing about Josh Jackson as well but Hunter can shoot and has proven to be a winner. How much does the lack of blocks and steals have to do with Hunter not gambling and taking unnecessary risks often defensively?

[Crives]

If Clarke is better than Hunter than why is Hunter projected to be a better prospect and drafted much higher? offensively Hunter has the potential to become the next Kawhi scouts believe and should we pass up a chance like that for someone else? I understand that people used to say the same thing about Josh Jackson as well but Hunter can shoot and has proven to be a winner. How much does the lack of blocks and steals have to do with Hunter not gambling and taking unnecessary risks often defensively?

Because Clarke’s older and did not shoot 3s in college. Hunter also led his team to win the title.

[WeekapaugGroove]

If Clarke is better than Hunter than why is Hunter projected to be a better prospect and drafted much higher? offensively Hunter has the potential to become the next Kawhi scouts believe and should we pass up a chance like that for someone else? I understand that people used to say the same thing about Josh Jackson as well but Hunter can shoot and has proven to be a winner. How much does the lack of blocks and steals have to do with Hunter not gambling and taking unnecessary risks often defensively?

Because Clarke’s older and did not shoot 3s in college. Hunter also led his team to win the title.

Honestly in this draft I don't think there's much separation from 5-20 so it's a really a crap shoot. Take pre draft rankings with a grain of salt. I like Washington as much as Hunter and Clarke.

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[lilfishi22]

If Clarke is better than Hunter than why is Hunter projected to be a better prospect and drafted much higher? offensively Hunter has the potential to become the next Kawhi scouts believe and should we pass up a chance like that for someone else? I understand that people used to say the same thing about Josh Jackson as well but Hunter can shoot and has proven to be a winner. How much does the lack of blocks and steals have to do with Hunter not gambling and taking unnecessary risks often defensively?

The next Kawhi is a stretch. I like Hunter too

[SuperSunsFan]

What's up with all these midgets of power forwards, gee in the past it used to be that no power forward shorter than 6-9 would ever be drafted first round. Ayton is a supreme rebounder so the fact that Hunter himself is not a good rebounder due to his bad anticipation instinct is not a concern to me as long as he works hard and blocks out. I could be totally wrong but I think his length and weight and 3pt shooting make Hunter a better fit for us than Clarke

[Frank Lee]

What are some red flags analytic wise that make Coby White such an undesirable pick for so many knowledgeable Suns fans.

I would worry about his shooting in pressure situations. In tournament games he was 7 for 41 (17%) behind the college three point line. His free throw shooting also dropped off to 71%. Add in the fact he is 18 years old. Drafting White because of the Suns need to fill a hole at PG is a concern when they should be taking the best player available.

What are some red flags for DeAndre Hunter then? He seems to be the best player available at our drafting position, if that is the case then why not just take him and let Oubre leave as FA and use that cap to sign a real power forward?

Why don’t you go look at the last 6/7 drafts and just see how many top ten picks amounted to anything. Then glance at how many over drafted who are still in the league. Or take a smaller sample size and see how our own picks have fared. It’s a GD crapshoot outside of may be 1 or 2 players each yr... you fall in love with the draft you will be disappointed.

[Saberestar]

Do upper class men usually have better advanced stats than freshmen just for having more experience? How is Coby White's stats compared to other freshman point guards drafted in the past who turned out find like Fox or Murray? analytically speaking Clarke is good but how much does that have to do with the fact that he is old, do the models factor in age and experience as well?

Across all of college basketball, yes, upper class men will have better advanced stats, but what happens is we compare the top recruits...like maybe the top 10 recruits and a couple surprise freshman to solid sophomores or upper class men who have really worked and progressed. Clarke, for example, obviously was helped with age, experience, etc, but his advanced #s were better than anyone outside of Zion in years...I think his BPM was 2nd of the last 10 years while AD and Towns were 3rd and 4th...or something like that. He had a TS% of 70%...finished better than guys like Ayton....blocked shots like a madman. Made a huge difference for his team. Ayton couldn't prevent people from getting to the rim in college so really struggled there.

It's just hard to know how much all of this translates. Culver and Hunter are two others who are helped by having more time to develop in college...and Morant.

What are some red flags analytic wise that make Coby White such an undesirable pick for so many knowledgeable Suns fans.

Look his handle, his hesitation moves, his fakes with the ball...he is not good at any of that. All of that is needed nowadays in a PG in the NBA, only if your name is Beverley or someone that special you can survive without being great with your ball handling tricks.

I think he is an OK prospect, I have him around #10 in my big draft board, but if you want a PG that is gonna create easily and is a great shooter then you draft Garland. He has all of that and he is probably available at #6.

I would be OK drafting Culver or Hunter...whoever is available. Clarke or Hachimura too. All of them are better prospects than White IMO.

[Saberestar]

If Clarke is better than Hunter than why is Hunter projected to be a better prospect and drafted much higher? offensively Hunter has the potential to become the next Kawhi scouts believe and should we pass up a chance like that for someone else? I understand that people used to say the same thing about Josh Jackson as well but Hunter can shoot and has proven to be a winner. How much does the lack of blocks and steals have to do with Hunter not gambling and taking unnecessary risks often defensively?

That is true.

Some of the best defenders in the history did not average a lot of steals/blocks....Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell and PJ Tucker come to my mind.

Hunter is very good on defense, but you need to watch complete games to see it. His numbers are low, but his impact is there on every possesion.

[Saberestar]

If Clarke is better than Hunter than why is Hunter projected to be a better prospect and drafted much higher? offensively Hunter has the potential to become the next Kawhi scouts believe and should we pass up a chance like that for someone else? I understand that people used to say the same thing about Josh Jackson as well but Hunter can shoot and has proven to be a winner. How much does the lack of blocks and steals have to do with Hunter not gambling and taking unnecessary risks often defensively?

The next Kawhi is a stretch. I like Hunter too

It is not uncommon to see that comparison...

Watching De’Andre Hunter, it’s hard to not see Kawhi Leonard in the way he plays. Both are elite defenders and don’t have any glaring flaws in their game. Leonard and Hunter were exactly the same height and weight coming out of school, which makes them the identical body type. Obviously, Kawhi is a tremendous All-NBA talent capable of carrying a team to the Finals.

Hunter may not be that guy; he isn’t as talented as Leonard. Leonard has much better handles and is a significantly more refined scorer, but their calm approach to the game and quiet, unrelenting intensity are very similar.

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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I thought Kawhi was the next Marion coming out of college. Turns out he was better. Hard to project that he would develop such a great jumper.

Don't think Hunter is in that conversation. Why? Statistical production: same thing I used to predict Kawhi and Marion would be great. Compare Hunter to PJ Tucker all you want; just expect PJ Tucker and not Kawhi Leonard if you draft him.

Now personally, I prefer the guy who gives you the points, rebounds, blocks, steals and super-high FG%. Nice that he's a local kid, as well. I don't understand why Hunter is almost universally projected to be taken ahead of Clarke.

[Crives]

One of my favorite new scenarios

Suns trade: #6 + #32 + Milwaukee 1st
Suns receive: Dinwiddie + #10

Nets trade: Dinwiddie
Nets receive: #17 + #32 + Milwaukee 1st

Hawks trade: #17 + #10
Hawks receive: #6

[RunDogGun]

One of my favorite new scenarios

Suns trade: #6 + #32 + Milwaukee 1st
Suns receive: Dinwiddie + #10

Nets trade: Dinwiddie
Nets receive: #17 + #32 + Milwaukee 1st

Hawks trade: #17 + #10
Hawks receive: #6

I don't think Dinwiddie can be traded until FA period starts though. Someone with better knowledge of contracts would have to look into this.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

One of my favorite new scenarios

Suns trade: #6 + #32 + Milwaukee 1st
Suns receive: Dinwiddie + #10

Nets trade: Dinwiddie
Nets receive: #17 + #32 + Milwaukee 1st

Hawks trade: #17 + #10
Hawks receive: #6

I don't think Dinwiddie can be traded until FA period starts though. Someone with better knowledge of contracts would have to look into this.

Dinwiddie can be traded 6/13.