KD to the Suns

[matt131]

More than the whole Sarvers journey? I don't know about that. We haven't done anything yet. So far Ishbia has been little reckless (though to be fair to him he probably had a little liquid courage being that he was out for drinks the night after buying the team and called Jones at 11:30 to make the trade).

We obviously know your views on the trade but this is one hell of a statement to make. You don't like the trade so you chop it up to him being drunk when he called for the trade?

I said "probably", but actually should have phrased it a little differently as I more think there was probably a good chance there were a few drinks in there that gave him a little liquid courage since he changed his mind late at night while out after making an early decision. They say not to make big decisions after 8 pm, and definitely probably not after a couple drinks since he was out with friends. But perhaps there were none and that making a monumental decision altering the next decade of the Suns while out with friends is his normal operating procedure. I think he wanted to make that big splash and do it though even if earlier his senses told him it was best not to move forward. But his statements would make a bit more sense saying that he "wasn't going to sacrifice the future for the now", and then proceeding; and then later he said in an interview that he wasn't going to meddle in Jones' job, which he did that night, by calling him back telling him what to do.

At this point it doesn't matter either way though, given that the deal is long done, but I was just saying he may have a little excuse for the reckless move.

If I recall correctly based on the Windhorst story you posted, the decision made later that night after dinner and drinks was to go through with the trade after the Jae Crowder demand. It seemed like everyone was on board (at least externally that’s what they said) about moving bridges and cam and the picks for KD prior to that night’s events. So it seems the “monumental decision affecting the next decade” for the Suns was already agreed to in part among the suns biggest decision makers. It was just giving up the last bit that Ishbia decided on his own. And honestly, if a month ago we heard that the thing preventing us from getting KD was Jae Crowder…? Man he’d be more hated than he was now and no one would understand Jones’ thought process (or at least would have been frustrated)

[lilfishi22]

More than the whole Sarvers journey? I don't know about that. We haven't done anything yet. So far Ishbia has been little reckless (though to be fair to him he probably had a little liquid courage being that he was out for drinks the night after buying the team and called Jones at 11:30 to make the trade).

We obviously know your views on the trade but this is one hell of a statement to make. You don't like the trade so you chop it up to him being drunk when he called for the trade?

I said "probably", but actually should have phrased it a little differently as I more think there was probably a good chance there were a few drinks in there that gave him a little liquid courage since he changed his mind late at night while out after making an early decision. They say not to make big decisions after 8 pm, and definitely probably not after a couple drinks since he was out with friends. But perhaps there were none and that making a monumental decision altering the next decade of the Suns while out with friends is his normal operating procedure. I think he wanted to make that big splash and do it though even if earlier his senses told him it was best not to move forward. But his statements would make a bit more sense saying that he "wasn't going to sacrifice the future for the now", and then proceeding; and then later he said in an interview that he wasn't going to meddle in Jones' job, which he did that night, by calling him back telling him what to do.

At this point it doesn't matter either way though, given that the deal is long done, but I was just saying he may have a little excuse for the reckless move.

Given front offices are more than likely on-call 24hrs a day leading up to the trade deadline, it does not at all surprise me that there is wheeling and dealing going on late into the night. I think your suggestion he was probably drunk when the decision was made is neither fair nor paint a very good picture of the trade you clearly didn't like.

[bwgood77]

I think he wanted to make that big splash and do it though even if earlier his senses told him it was best not to move forward. But his statements would make a bit more sense later at night after drinks saying that he "wasn't going to sacrifice the future for the now", and then proceeding; and then later he said in an interview that he wasn't going to meddle in Jones' job, which he did that night, by calling him back telling him what to do.

At this point it doesn't matter either way though, given that the deal is long done, but I was just saying he may have a little excuse for the reckless move.

If I recall correctly based on the Windhorst story you posted, the decision made later that night after dinner and drinks was to go through with the trade after the Jae Crowder demand. It seemed like everyone was on board (at least externally that’s what they said) about moving bridges and cam and the picks for KD prior to that night’s events. So it seems the “monumental decision affecting the next decade” for the Suns was already agreed to in part among the suns biggest decision makers. It was just giving up the last bit that Ishbia decided on his own. And honestly, if a month ago we heard that the thing preventing us from getting KD was Jae Crowder…? Man he’d be more hated than he was now and no one would understand Jones’ thought process (or at least would have been frustrated)

Yeah, I know. It was odd to hear that was the sticking point, but my guess is that they barely decided to go in with Bridges and really didn't want to include him (Jones obviously didn't because it was apparently their same proposal as earlier in the summer), with all the unprotected picks, the unprotected swap in 28 when these guys won't be around (or some of them), Bridges, and Cam.

So Jones obviously didn't like even that deal, and at the time, even this board, with a lesser package than that, the majority was against giving up nearly that much, understandably.

So when they kept squeezing for more, after they were getting a lopsided package anyway, we finally drew a line.

Now if, a month after the trade went down (which I guess is now), the same things that have happened held true, and Mikal was averaging over 25 ppg since then on elite efficiency (I know that is unlikely but he HAD broken out and CP3 HAD told him to stay aggressive and has backed off his own), and Ayton was more involved with high efficiency play, this team would have looked better than it ever had with a great young nucleus, future, Cam, whatever we got for Crowder, and all our picks.

And KD would have been injured once again

Now had we found out we were close to making the trade, yet all the above was happening, I imagine many would be glad we dodged that bullet and happy where we were. Even after the trade in the poll, it was around 50/50 on good grades vs bad, ranging from A to F (I think I was voted D).

So there would have been some who hated that we didn't go through with it and some who are glad we didn't. Time will tell if it is worth it and how people view whether it was worth it and which side got the better end of the deal. And regardless of what happens, views will still range all over the place.

[matt131]

I said "probably", but actually should have phrased it a little differently as I more think there was probably a good chance there were a few drinks in there that gave him a little liquid courage since he changed his mind late at night while out after making an early decision. They say not to make big decisions after 8 pm, and definitely probably not after a couple drinks since he was out with friends. But perhaps there were none and that making a monumental decision altering the next decade of the Suns while out with friends is his normal operating procedure. I think he wanted to make that big splash and do it though even if earlier his senses told him it was best not to move forward. But his statements would make a bit more sense saying that he "wasn't going to sacrifice the future for the now", and then proceeding; and then later he said in an interview that he wasn't going to meddle in Jones' job, which he did that night, by calling him back telling him what to do.

At this point it doesn't matter either way though, given that the deal is long done, but I was just saying he may have a little excuse for the reckless move.

If I recall correctly based on the Windhorst story you posted, the decision made later that night after dinner and drinks was to go through with the trade after the Jae Crowder demand. It seemed like everyone was on board (at least externally that’s what they said) about moving bridges and cam and the picks for KD prior to that night’s events. So it seems the “monumental decision affecting the next decade” for the Suns was already agreed to in part among the suns biggest decision makers. It was just giving up the last bit that Ishbia decided on his own. And honestly, if a month ago we heard that the thing preventing us from getting KD was Jae Crowder…? Man he’d be more hated than he was now and no one would understand Jones’ thought process (or at least would have been frustrated)

Yeah, I know. It was odd to hear that was the sticking point, but my guess is that they barely decided to go in with Bridges and really didn't want to include him (Jones obviously didn't because it was apparently their same proposal as earlier in the summer), with all the unprotected picks, the unprotected swap in 28 when these guys won't be around (or some of them), Bridges, and Cam.

So Jones obviously didn't like even that deal, and at the time, even this board, with a lesser package than that, the majority was against giving up nearly that much, understandably.

So when they kept squeezing for more, after they were getting a lopsided package anyway, we finally drew a line.

Now if, a month after the trade went down (which I guess is now), the same things that have happened held true, and Mikal was averaging over 25 ppg since then on elite efficiency (I know that is unlikely but he HAD broken out and CP3 HAD told him to stay aggressive and has backed off his own), and Ayton was more involved with high efficiency play, this team would have looked better than it ever had with a great young nucleus, future, Cam, whatever we got for Crowder, and all our picks.

And KD would have been injured once again

Now had we found out we were close to making the trade, yet all the above was happening, I imagine many would be glad we dodged that bullet and happy where we were. Even after the trade in the poll, it was around 50/50 on good grades vs bad, ranging from A to F (I think I was voted D).

So there would have been some who hated that we didn't go through with it and some who are glad we didn't. Time will tell if it is worth it and how people view whether it was worth it and which side got the better end of the deal. And regardless of what happens, views will still range all over the place.

There’s so many angles to this trade that it’s easy to spin it as bad or good or even a net neutral trade. One could argue that even if we win the title this year, could we have won the next three years with Mikal playing like he is? I think ultimately this trade came down to a few things: opening the floor for Devin a bit more, and having someone other than Booker who will take and make the last shot. No matter how good Mikal got, I can’t see Booker deferring to him late in a game. We’ve already seen it with KD.

Finally, I know Mikal has the ability to break out, but post season scoring and figuring out how to be a legit scoring threat when teams heavily game plan for you, is a big deal. Again, something KD already has down. I know you like to bring up one of Mikals games against the pelicans last year, and I agree he was good and has the possibility to be awesome this postseason, but I think this trade was viewed as known vs slightly unknown quantities, no matter how small those are. It’s the slight improvements that push us into contention.

[bwgood77]

If I recall correctly based on the Windhorst story you posted, the decision made later that night after dinner and drinks was to go through with the trade after the Jae Crowder demand. It seemed like everyone was on board (at least externally that’s what they said) about moving bridges and cam and the picks for KD prior to that night’s events. So it seems the “monumental decision affecting the next decade” for the Suns was already agreed to in part among the suns biggest decision makers. It was just giving up the last bit that Ishbia decided on his own. And honestly, if a month ago we heard that the thing preventing us from getting KD was Jae Crowder…? Man he’d be more hated than he was now and no one would understand Jones’ thought process (or at least would have been frustrated)

Yeah, I know. It was odd to hear that was the sticking point, but my guess is that they barely decided to go in with Bridges and really didn't want to include him (Jones obviously didn't because it was apparently their same proposal as earlier in the summer), with all the unprotected picks, the unprotected swap in 28 when these guys won't be around (or some of them), Bridges, and Cam.

So Jones obviously didn't like even that deal, and at the time, even this board, with a lesser package than that, the majority was against giving up nearly that much, understandably.

So when they kept squeezing for more, after they were getting a lopsided package anyway, we finally drew a line.

Now if, a month after the trade went down (which I guess is now), the same things that have happened held true, and Mikal was averaging over 25 ppg since then on elite efficiency (I know that is unlikely but he HAD broken out and CP3 HAD told him to stay aggressive and has backed off his own), and Ayton was more involved with high efficiency play, this team would have looked better than it ever had with a great young nucleus, future, Cam, whatever we got for Crowder, and all our picks.

And KD would have been injured once again

Now had we found out we were close to making the trade, yet all the above was happening, I imagine many would be glad we dodged that bullet and happy where we were. Even after the trade in the poll, it was around 50/50 on good grades vs bad, ranging from A to F (I think I was voted D).

So there would have been some who hated that we didn't go through with it and some who are glad we didn't. Time will tell if it is worth it and how people view whether it was worth it and which side got the better end of the deal. And regardless of what happens, views will still range all over the place.

There’s so many angles to this trade that it’s easy to spin it as bad or good or even a net neutral trade. One could argue that even if we win the title this year, could we have won the next three years with Mikal playing like he is? I think ultimately this trade came down to a few things: opening the floor for Devin a bit more, and having someone other than Booker who will take and make the last shot. No matter how good Mikal got, I can’t see Booker deferring to him late in a game. We’ve already seen it with KD.

Finally, I know Mikal has the ability to break out, but post season scoring and figuring out how to be a legit scoring threat when teams heavily game plan for you, is a big deal. Again, something KD already has down. I know you like to bring up one of Mikals games against the pelicans last year, and I agree he was good and has the possibility to be awesome this postseason, but I think this trade was viewed as known vs slightly unknown quantities, no matter how small those are. It’s the slight improvements that push us into contention.

True. I don't remember a big Mikal game against the Pelicans. Ayton had a big one when Book was out. Mikal was more breaking out this year but I'm sure you know I am the one who always said he had the potential offensively to be a Paul George type or Kawhi lite player.

Booker had actually shown more over the last year of being willing to make the right play or at least give up the last shot for a better shot from someone else. I think Bridges even missed one at the end (though can't remember if Book was back then). But yeh, Booker probably would have not been as willing to give it up, even though I feel he has gotten better at playmaking for others in big situations if he is going to be facing tough D at the end of a potential game winning shot. I have no reason though to think that Bridges would not be fine in the playoffs.

If anything, in Brooklyn right now he IS being guarded by the top defender every night and still is averaging over 25ppg on elite efficiency. In Phx with Book and also Ayton attracting attention, I think it would be easier for him, even in the playoffs.

But yeah, there will always be many takes on the trade, even if KD ends up getting injured often and never really has a healthy season, some will say it was worth the risk at the time, even though there were clear red flags about his health since he left GS.

[Saberestar]

Yeah, I know. It was odd to hear that was the sticking point, but my guess is that they barely decided to go in with Bridges and really didn't want to include him (Jones obviously didn't because it was apparently their same proposal as earlier in the summer), with all the unprotected picks, the unprotected swap in 28 when these guys won't be around (or some of them), Bridges, and Cam.

So Jones obviously didn't like even that deal, and at the time, even this board, with a lesser package than that, the majority was against giving up nearly that much, understandably.

So when they kept squeezing for more, after they were getting a lopsided package anyway, we finally drew a line.

Now if, a month after the trade went down (which I guess is now), the same things that have happened held true, and Mikal was averaging over 25 ppg since then on elite efficiency (I know that is unlikely but he HAD broken out and CP3 HAD told him to stay aggressive and has backed off his own), and Ayton was more involved with high efficiency play, this team would have looked better than it ever had with a great young nucleus, future, Cam, whatever we got for Crowder, and all our picks.

And KD would have been injured once again

Now had we found out we were close to making the trade, yet all the above was happening, I imagine many would be glad we dodged that bullet and happy where we were. Even after the trade in the poll, it was around 50/50 on good grades vs bad, ranging from A to F (I think I was voted D).

So there would have been some who hated that we didn't go through with it and some who are glad we didn't. Time will tell if it is worth it and how people view whether it was worth it and which side got the better end of the deal. And regardless of what happens, views will still range all over the place.

There’s so many angles to this trade that it’s easy to spin it as bad or good or even a net neutral trade. One could argue that even if we win the title this year, could we have won the next three years with Mikal playing like he is? I think ultimately this trade came down to a few things: opening the floor for Devin a bit more, and having someone other than Booker who will take and make the last shot. No matter how good Mikal got, I can’t see Booker deferring to him late in a game. We’ve already seen it with KD.

Finally, I know Mikal has the ability to break out, but post season scoring and figuring out how to be a legit scoring threat when teams heavily game plan for you, is a big deal. Again, something KD already has down. I know you like to bring up one of Mikals games against the pelicans last year, and I agree he was good and has the possibility to be awesome this postseason, but I think this trade was viewed as known vs slightly unknown quantities, no matter how small those are. It’s the slight improvements that push us into contention.

True. I don't remember a big Mikal game against the Pelicans. Ayton had a big one when Book was out. Mikal was more breaking out this year but I'm sure you know I am the one who always said he had the potential offensively to be a Paul George type or Kawhi lite player.

Booker had actually shown more over the last year of being willing to make the right play or at least give up the last shot for a better shot from someone else. I think Bridges even missed one at the end (though can't remember if Book was back then). But yeh, Booker probably would have not been as willing to give it up, even though I feel he has gotten better at playmaking for others in big situations if he is going to be facing tough D at the end of a potential game winning shot. I have no reason though to think that Bridges would not be fine in the playoffs.

If anything, in Brooklyn right now he IS being guarded by the top defender every night and still is averaging over 25ppg on elite efficiency. In Phx with Book and also Ayton attracting attention, I think it would be easier for him, even in the playoffs.

But yeah, there will always be many takes on the trade, even if KD ends up getting injured often and never really has a healthy season, some will say it was worth the risk at the time, even though there were clear red flags about his health since he left GS.

We have seen so many times players that have a nice stretch of games averaging over 20 ppg and then teams start to figure out how to stop him and his numbers and efficiency goes down.

Mikal needs to do it at least for a full season to know for sure that he is a serious threat offensively and he can be a premier offensive player.

So far he is exceeding expectations, but we don't know if it's sustainable for him.

[garrick]

I really don't see anything about Ishbia yet that shows him as a savvy owner and we just don't know how knowledgeable he is when it comes to evaluating trades because he has zero experience managing a basketball team and hanging out at NBA games doesn't count.

He is clearly a risk taker and while taking risks in business often pays out well basketball is another beast and some problems can't be solved by simply throwing more money at the problem. The luxury tax and a limited amount of draft picks really limit the moves you can make and if you're carelessly giving away your 1st round draft picks for nothing that is a move that will set you back a few years.

The smart move is he should have waited to trade for KD in the offseason, we already had BIG questions about KD's health even before the trade and Ishbia was just too damn impatient to get a trade done now. He may have already screwed up this franchise for the foreseeable future as we are way over the cap and can't nab any cheap prospects via the draft.

We still have half of those future draft picks untill 2030, so there is no suns future in danger.
With Booker/ Paul in our team there is only one way to get a championship and that is not college kids. The tactic for a cursed franchise is to be aggressive and ready to reach the small gap of a future success story just like Toronto did .

I don't know many hall of famers to want to be traded to the valley, so patience is not a useful tactic.

I understand everyone's upset about the high value of our package but :
-Nets had another deals from Miami, Toronto or Celtics ( teams with rings and no high pressure championship)
- Suns will only be upgraded even though Durant's health issues, because good players will come next to KD and Book the next summer.

If Ishbia wants a championship, a possible worst case scenario about KD health will be fixed in a way better than Sarver's plan to save his $$$.

2026 Bridges back date.

Good players will go to teams that can pay them. We don't have any cap space.

This is what many fans are overlooking.

It doesn't matter how much Ishbia wants to go over the cap we just simply can't sign any free agents to anything besides the veterans minimum or MLE.

The league simply doesn't want to allow the richer owners to flaunt the salary cap rules and build a stacked team by outspending the other teams, like it or not there are rules in place that keep teams somewhat competitive with each other.

[bwgood77]

There’s so many angles to this trade that it’s easy to spin it as bad or good or even a net neutral trade. One could argue that even if we win the title this year, could we have won the next three years with Mikal playing like he is? I think ultimately this trade came down to a few things: opening the floor for Devin a bit more, and having someone other than Booker who will take and make the last shot. No matter how good Mikal got, I can’t see Booker deferring to him late in a game. We’ve already seen it with KD.

Finally, I know Mikal has the ability to break out, but post season scoring and figuring out how to be a legit scoring threat when teams heavily game plan for you, is a big deal. Again, something KD already has down. I know you like to bring up one of Mikals games against the pelicans last year, and I agree he was good and has the possibility to be awesome this postseason, but I think this trade was viewed as known vs slightly unknown quantities, no matter how small those are. It’s the slight improvements that push us into contention.

True. I don't remember a big Mikal game against the Pelicans. Ayton had a big one when Book was out. Mikal was more breaking out this year but I'm sure you know I am the one who always said he had the potential offensively to be a Paul George type or Kawhi lite player.

Booker had actually shown more over the last year of being willing to make the right play or at least give up the last shot for a better shot from someone else. I think Bridges even missed one at the end (though can't remember if Book was back then). But yeh, Booker probably would have not been as willing to give it up, even though I feel he has gotten better at playmaking for others in big situations if he is going to be facing tough D at the end of a potential game winning shot. I have no reason though to think that Bridges would not be fine in the playoffs.

If anything, in Brooklyn right now he IS being guarded by the top defender every night and still is averaging over 25ppg on elite efficiency. In Phx with Book and also Ayton attracting attention, I think it would be easier for him, even in the playoffs.

But yeah, there will always be many takes on the trade, even if KD ends up getting injured often and never really has a healthy season, some will say it was worth the risk at the time, even though there were clear red flags about his health since he left GS.

We have seen so many times players that have a nice stretch of games averaging over 20 ppg and then teams start to figure out how to stop him and his numbers and efficiency goes down.

Mikal needs to do it at least for a full season to know for sure that he is a serious threat offensively and he can be a premier offensive player.

So far he is exceeding expectations, but we don't know if it's sustainable for him.

I don't think scoring that many on THAT high of efficiency is sustainable, likely for anyone, outside of someone like KD, but it's promising with the way he was doing it on the Suns before the trade and moreso after becoming a #1 option. I think he will get better at many other things as he becomes more familiar with his teammates, improving as a distributor and getting to the line, which he's already shown.

He's always had very high efficiency. Another HUGE thing, when it comes down to evaluating the trade, is his availability, which is extremely important, and how many years he has left compared to KD. KD won't be nearly as available or around for nearly as long. Those are pretty much sure things.

[Revived]

There’s so many angles to this trade that it’s easy to spin it as bad or good or even a net neutral trade. One could argue that even if we win the title this year, could we have won the next three years with Mikal playing like he is? I think ultimately this trade came down to a few things: opening the floor for Devin a bit more, and having someone other than Booker who will take and make the last shot. No matter how good Mikal got, I can’t see Booker deferring to him late in a game. We’ve already seen it with KD.

Finally, I know Mikal has the ability to break out, but post season scoring and figuring out how to be a legit scoring threat when teams heavily game plan for you, is a big deal. Again, something KD already has down. I know you like to bring up one of Mikals games against the pelicans last year, and I agree he was good and has the possibility to be awesome this postseason, but I think this trade was viewed as known vs slightly unknown quantities, no matter how small those are. It’s the slight improvements that push us into contention.

True. I don't remember a big Mikal game against the Pelicans. Ayton had a big one when Book was out. Mikal was more breaking out this year but I'm sure you know I am the one who always said he had the potential offensively to be a Paul George type or Kawhi lite player.

Booker had actually shown more over the last year of being willing to make the right play or at least give up the last shot for a better shot from someone else. I think Bridges even missed one at the end (though can't remember if Book was back then). But yeh, Booker probably would have not been as willing to give it up, even though I feel he has gotten better at playmaking for others in big situations if he is going to be facing tough D at the end of a potential game winning shot. I have no reason though to think that Bridges would not be fine in the playoffs.

If anything, in Brooklyn right now he IS being guarded by the top defender every night and still is averaging over 25ppg on elite efficiency. In Phx with Book and also Ayton attracting attention, I think it would be easier for him, even in the playoffs.

But yeah, there will always be many takes on the trade, even if KD ends up getting injured often and never really has a healthy season, some will say it was worth the risk at the time, even though there were clear red flags about his health since he left GS.

We have seen so many times players that have a nice stretch of games averaging over 20 ppg and then teams start to figure out how to stop him and his numbers and efficiency goes down.

Mikal needs to do it at least for a full season to know for sure that he is a serious threat offensively and he can be a premier offensive player.

So far he is exceeding expectations, but we don't know if it's sustainable for him.

Mikal’s not rookie player that’s having a good run. He’s an established veteran player, teams have more than enough film on him from his 5 years in the league. He’s not doing something brand new with the Nets, he’s doing the same stuff he did here except instead of being very efficient on limited shots, he’s being very efficient on a higher frequency of shots.

Read on Twitter

Both him and Johnson have been incredible at being aggressive and getting to the FT line with the Nets as well.

[MrMiyagi]

True. I don't remember a big Mikal game against the Pelicans. Ayton had a big one when Book was out. Mikal was more breaking out this year but I'm sure you know I am the one who always said he had the potential offensively to be a Paul George type or Kawhi lite player.

Booker had actually shown more over the last year of being willing to make the right play or at least give up the last shot for a better shot from someone else. I think Bridges even missed one at the end (though can't remember if Book was back then). But yeh, Booker probably would have not been as willing to give it up, even though I feel he has gotten better at playmaking for others in big situations if he is going to be facing tough D at the end of a potential game winning shot. I have no reason though to think that Bridges would not be fine in the playoffs.

If anything, in Brooklyn right now he IS being guarded by the top defender every night and still is averaging over 25ppg on elite efficiency. In Phx with Book and also Ayton attracting attention, I think it would be easier for him, even in the playoffs.

But yeah, there will always be many takes on the trade, even if KD ends up getting injured often and never really has a healthy season, some will say it was worth the risk at the time, even though there were clear red flags about his health since he left GS.

We have seen so many times players that have a nice stretch of games averaging over 20 ppg and then teams start to figure out how to stop him and his numbers and efficiency goes down.

Mikal needs to do it at least for a full season to know for sure that he is a serious threat offensively and he can be a premier offensive player.

So far he is exceeding expectations, but we don't know if it's sustainable for him.

Mikal’s not rookie player that’s having a good run. He’s an established veteran player, teams have more than enough film on him from his 5 years in the league. He’s not doing something brand new with the Nets, he’s doing the same stuff he did here except instead of being very efficient on limited shots, he’s being very efficient on a higher frequency of shots.

Read on Twitter

Both him and Johnson have been incredible at being aggressive and getting to the FT line with the Nets as well.

Or have they just finally been getting a fair or favorable whistle?

[MrMiyagi]

FYI 6.9 FTA is more than Booker gets. Are we really saying that Mikal has turned into a more aggressive offensive player than Book?

[sunsbg]

This confident version of Mikal in last two playoffs and Suns have a title and don't get embarrassed by the Mavs. He's shooting technical FTs for the Nets and handling the ball more leading to more fouls are the reasons for increased FT attempts IMO. Good to see the Nets making the playoffs. He kinda disappeared in 4th qtr vs Nuggets so still need to prove himself in higher pressure situations.

[suns12345]

This confident version of Mikal in last two playoffs and Suns have a title and don't get embarrassed by the Mavs. He's shooting technical FTs for the Nets and handling the ball more leading to more fouls are the reasons for increased FT attempts IMO. Good to see the Nets making the playoffs. He kinda disappeared in 4th qtr vs Nuggets so still need to prove himself in higher pressure situations.

Mikal being a good regular season scores hasn't been in question the last season and a half IMO, so i'm not suprised to see what he's doing as a number 1 option and no question I miss him on the suns.

But last years playoffs showed we missed that extra creator/scorer in the playoffs and mikal just didn't cut it in that scenario... Maybe he will get there, but for now this team needed more juice to compete for a title.

[bwgood77]

This confident version of Mikal in last two playoffs and Suns have a title and don't get embarrassed by the Mavs. He's shooting technical FTs for the Nets and handling the ball more leading to more fouls are the reasons for increased FT attempts IMO. Good to see the Nets making the playoffs.

It would have been hard to see this version of Mikal since they just had him stand at the 3pt line to spread the floor and had one of he best mid range players ever in Paul and another great one in Booker doing all of the scoring, with Ayton being the guy in the middle to go to.

I think at this point after he kind of broke out while all the players were out and the decline of Paul he would have been the #2 option and Paul was urging to continue being aggressive even though Booker was back..and to not just let Booker do his thing and watch.

[bwgood77]

This confident version of Mikal in last two playoffs and Suns have a title and don't get embarrassed by the Mavs. He's shooting technical FTs for the Nets and handling the ball more leading to more fouls are the reasons for increased FT attempts IMO. Good to see the Nets making the playoffs. He kinda disappeared in 4th qtr vs Nuggets so still need to prove himself in higher pressure situations.

Mikal being a good regular season scores hasn't been in question the last season and a half IMO, so i'm not suprised to see what he's doing as a number 1 option and no question I miss him on the suns.

But last years playoffs showed we missed that extra creator/scorer in the playoffs and mikal just didn't cut it in that scenario... Maybe he will get there, but for now this team needed more juice to compete for a title.

Well Paul and Booker were the creators/scorers mostly until something happened with Paul after the first two games of the Mavs series. The coaching staff hadn't really put Bridges into that kind of role ever and strictly used him as a 3&D.

[KdoubleDees23]

This confident version of Mikal in last two playoffs and Suns have a title and don't get embarrassed by the Mavs. He's shooting technical FTs for the Nets and handling the ball more leading to more fouls are the reasons for increased FT attempts IMO. Good to see the Nets making the playoffs.

It would have been hard to see this version of Mikal since they just had him stand at the 3pt line to spread the floor and had one of he best mid range players ever in Paul and another great one in Booker doing all of the scoring, with Ayton being the guy in the middle to go to.

I think at this point after he kind of broke out while all the players were out and the decline of Paul he would have been the #2 option and Paul was urging to continue being aggressive even though Booker was back..and to not just let Booker do his thing and watch.

I think Suns were enamored by KD and didnt do anything with hopes at trade deadline we landed KD.

I do wish we either got Markannen and added to our depth

CP3
Booker
Bridges
Markannen
Ayton

[sunsbg]

This confident version of Mikal in last two playoffs and Suns have a title and don't get embarrassed by the Mavs. He's shooting technical FTs for the Nets and handling the ball more leading to more fouls are the reasons for increased FT attempts IMO. Good to see the Nets making the playoffs.

It would have been hard to see this version of Mikal since they just had him stand at the 3pt line to spread the floor and had one of he best mid range players ever in Paul and another great one in Booker doing all of the scoring, with Ayton being the guy in the middle to go to.

I think at this point after he kind of broke out while all the players were out and the decline of Paul he would have been the #2 option and Paul was urging to continue being aggressive even though Booker was back..and to not just let Booker do his thing and watch.

Well, it's same with Ayton and most everybody here will tell you it's all about him not being more aggressive rather than put any blame on coaching/Booker/Paul. Not sure why CP3 was not urging him to continue being aggressive after he had big game here and there in the playoffs(20+ vs Bucks in the finals, 20+ vs Pels). Anyway, I think the reasons for Mikal not breaking out earlier are complex and he has responsibility too.

[Saberestar]

True. I don't remember a big Mikal game against the Pelicans. Ayton had a big one when Book was out. Mikal was more breaking out this year but I'm sure you know I am the one who always said he had the potential offensively to be a Paul George type or Kawhi lite player.

Booker had actually shown more over the last year of being willing to make the right play or at least give up the last shot for a better shot from someone else. I think Bridges even missed one at the end (though can't remember if Book was back then). But yeh, Booker probably would have not been as willing to give it up, even though I feel he has gotten better at playmaking for others in big situations if he is going to be facing tough D at the end of a potential game winning shot. I have no reason though to think that Bridges would not be fine in the playoffs.

If anything, in Brooklyn right now he IS being guarded by the top defender every night and still is averaging over 25ppg on elite efficiency. In Phx with Book and also Ayton attracting attention, I think it would be easier for him, even in the playoffs.

But yeah, there will always be many takes on the trade, even if KD ends up getting injured often and never really has a healthy season, some will say it was worth the risk at the time, even though there were clear red flags about his health since he left GS.

We have seen so many times players that have a nice stretch of games averaging over 20 ppg and then teams start to figure out how to stop him and his numbers and efficiency goes down.

Mikal needs to do it at least for a full season to know for sure that he is a serious threat offensively and he can be a premier offensive player.

So far he is exceeding expectations, but we don't know if it's sustainable for him.

I don't think scoring that many on THAT high of efficiency is sustainable, likely for anyone, outside of someone like KD, but it's promising with the way he was doing it on the Suns before the trade and moreso after becoming a #1 option. I think he will get better at many other things as he becomes more familiar with his teammates, improving as a distributor and getting to the line, which he's already shown.

He's always had very high efficiency. Another HUGE thing, when it comes down to evaluating the trade, is his availability, which is extremely important, and how many years he has left compared to KD. KD won't be nearly as available or around for nearly as long. Those are pretty much sure things.

Yeah, I give you props for projecting a superhigh ceiling for Mikal and now he is getting closer to that status for real...BUT he needs to do it much more time to stablish himself as a premier scorer in the league.

He has been outstanding on offense for 30-35 games, but not more than that.

I want to watch him on that role for at least a full season, with more games teams will adapt their defensive schemes to him and he will have a tough time scoring the ball.

[Saberestar]

James Jones talking about KD's ankle sprain:

Are you concerned at all because Durant has had a history of injures?

“No. Players that play and play a lot it get banged up, but it’s a sprained ankle. It’s the type of thing that if we’re in the playoffs, if the playoffs were to start today, he’d be out there. He’d be struggling a little bit. I’m always concerned for our players’ health when guys are hurt. I’ve been in that seat where you’re hurt. You’re always concerned about health, but anything long-term, severe, no, not (concerned) at all.”

Read on Twitter

[sunsbg]

All I'm hoping for is 55 game regular seasons and no injuries in the playoffs from KD. Probably too much to ask for. They can load manage him and CP3 as much as they want late in the regular seasons. Even if Suns don't win a title in next 2-3 seasons I hope he signs a friendly contract after this one so Suns can bring another star and stay a title favorite.