2022-23 Season Discussion and Review - the Blockbuster trade and playoff downfall

[Hitachi77]

Crazy, everyone 6-12 has 36 or 37 losses, and the Clippers at 5 have 35. Honestly, even if we lost the next 3 games (which, we better not) we still should get the 4 seed considering the Clippers loss and Paul George injury, and KD coming back. I think everyone in the 5-12 bunch will lose at least 3 more games.

[Mr Puddles]

Lol at the Jalen Brown talk. If he feels under appreciated in Boston, imagine how he'd feel being the third option on offense in Phoenix, behind two of the top offensive weapons in the game.

Even if he was realistically attainable, he'd be a one year rental who'd flee to whatever team will make him their main guy the moment free agency hits.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Lol at the Jalen Brown talk. If he feels under appreciated in Boston, imagine how he'd feel being the third option on offense in Phoenix, behind two of the top offensive weapons in the game.

Even if he was realistically attainable, he'd be a one year rental who'd flee to whatever team will make him their main guy the moment free agency hits.

I believe that the " underappreciated comment primarily stemmed from the fact that they offered him up in trades ( for Durant) without telling him after he helped their run to the finals and he thought he was deemed an untouchable core piece. Also a little side note discussed much during the playoffs was that it also bothered him that Boston fans criticized/ blamed him heavily for their struggles. Possibly a large part of his non committal position with them currently.

As for his being featured here, with Paul gone, and Durant missing ( typically) a large portion of games going forward each season as he ages/ has increasing durability issues, at worst, I could see Brown sharing featured duties with Booker as " the guy" anyways so at worst not predominantly a 3rd option that option. Especially not also considering Booker's unselfish nature and willingness to defer in interest of winning games. But it all depends on many various factors and is likely not a tangible option based on those variables of course.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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[bwgood77]

That was 1 of the worst hyperextensions I've ever seen. Might've changed the math on the Clips. That looked ugly. Hope he's OK as I do wanna see a healthy playoffs for all teams (except the Mavs)

They have to be the unluckiest team for playoff injuries or other the last few years. Kawhi going down two years ago and out last year. Then Paul George getting COVID last year....now this. Hopefully he is ok.

[Slim Charless]

That was 1 of the worst hyperextensions I've ever seen. Might've changed the math on the Clips. That looked ugly. Hope he's OK as I do wanna see a healthy playoffs for all teams (except the Mavs)

They have to be the unluckiest team for playoff injuries or other the last few years. Kawhi going down two years ago and out last year. Then Paul George getting COVID last year....now this. Hopefully he is ok.

3 weeks they say. Sprained knee. Probably the best case scenario for them.

I'm still worried they have enough depth and the much better coach so I wouldn't be suprised to see them beat us in round 1 if we met up. Again, it all comes down to KD and if he can out play Monty doing Monty things......

[bwgood77]

That was 1 of the worst hyperextensions I've ever seen. Might've changed the math on the Clips. That looked ugly. Hope he's OK as I do wanna see a healthy playoffs for all teams (except the Mavs)

They have to be the unluckiest team for playoff injuries or other the last few years. Kawhi going down two years ago and out last year. Then Paul George getting COVID last year....now this. Hopefully he is ok.

3 weeks they say. Sprained knee. Probably the best case scenario for them.

I'm still worried they have enough depth and the much better coach so I wouldn't be suprised to see them beat us in round 1 if we met up. Again, it all comes down to KD and if he can out play Monty doing Monty things......

I wouldn't be surprised if we won it all or lost in the first round. It will mostly come down to players getting hot from 3, maybe free throws, etc..and of course health.

I do think KD would struggle the most with JJJ and Kawhi on him though so those are probably the teams that are most equipped to hurt the efficiency of him. I don't particularly trust many of our role players either, like Okogie for example, who has played well at times but how is he going to be in a playoff atmosphere. Or Ish or Ross? Payne and Shamet have some though, as well as Craig.

[Sunlight]

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I bet A.Davis break first time in his career 60pts.

[Slim Charless]

They have to be the unluckiest team for playoff injuries or other the last few years. Kawhi going down two years ago and out last year. Then Paul George getting COVID last year....now this. Hopefully he is ok.

3 weeks they say. Sprained knee. Probably the best case scenario for them.

I'm still worried they have enough depth and the much better coach so I wouldn't be suprised to see them beat us in round 1 if we met up. Again, it all comes down to KD and if he can out play Monty doing Monty things......

I wouldn't be surprised if we won it all or lost in the first round. It will mostly come down to players getting hot from 3, maybe free throws, etc..and of course health.

I do think KD would struggle the most with JJJ and Kawhi on him though so those are probably the teams that are most equipped to hurt the efficiency of him. I don't particularly trust many of our role players either, like Okogie for example, who has played well at times but how is he going to be in a playoff atmosphere. Or Ish or Ross? Payne and Shamet have some though, as well as Craig.

I'm not worried about J³ that much. He blocks shots and benefits from having Clarke and Adams more than ppl want to admit. If he wins DPOTY it's a travesty imo, Lopez is a MUCH better choice. I also have little faith in their ability to create offense in the half court. MEM doesn't worry me at all tbh.

Kawhi is a problem, but less so if he doesn't have pg13 to help out defensively. He can't guard Booker and KD at the same time. Still, they have alot of depth and can attack cp3 and Tavares's complete refusal to make changes in both his substations and his timeouts.

Like you said it comes down to health as our bench is shakey. Even more so since Tavares refuses to play TJ Warren.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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scalable value perception on Ayton being viewed as elite?

[grumpysaddle]

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scalable value perception on Ayton being viewed as elite?

Let's hope he does that in the playoffs this year.

People just want him to be more consistent(ly good). He's all over the place in terms of production and effort.

[bwgood77]

Our next 6 games are tough. Actually 9 of our last 10 are. Or 8 if you don't count Utah.

It seems like we are likely to finish 6th, though it's so tight..could even fall further. 6th and facing the Kings might not be too bad though.

We might be lucky to go 5-5.

Spoiler:

We have had fortune of stars sitting a lot against us (but of course we've obviously had our share of injuries), but OKC is closer to the end..we only faced Shai once in 3 meetings so far. And then with the Lakers and Clips so late, LeBron and George might be back unless things are set and they are resting. But things are so tight that may not happen, for anyone. Big difference between 6/7, 7/8, 8/9, 9/10 and obviously 10/11.

6 obviously avoids play in. 7 gets home game for play in. 8 only has to win one to secure 7 seed. But if 8 loses, THEY get home game in 2nd play in game. 9 gets home game in play in. 10 makes it and 11 misses.

So there is a pretty big reason to want to be one spot up no matter where you are from 7-11. Which means the 4/5/6 teams can't rest much either.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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scalable value perception on Ayton being viewed as elite?

Let's hope he does that in the playoffs this year.

People just want him to be more consistent(ly good). He's all over the place in terms of production and effort.

I agree with everything you've said! His hot/cold motor admittedly drives me nuts. Mostly because I recognize his absurd potential and elite arch potential IF he can only find his switch to stay dialed in and consistent and become more aggressive. My hope was that being in ?Durant's presence might stoke that fire/ hunger in him. But even I am starting to lose hope and patience for an optimal growth outcome.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I have a confession to make.

For the first time in 30 years, for the past month or maybe two, I've barely been watching our games. I watched the three games KD played. Otherwise, it's just painful to watch Craig, Okogie, Wainwright, Landale... all these bums who can't score going out for a jog with old man Chris Paul.

If KD and Book don't light the league on fire, there will be little to look forward to in this team for a decade or more given what we paid for KD.

One major injury to KD would be all it takes to make this the worst trade in Suns history. I bet Ishbia's not sleeping very well these days.

[King4Day]

I remember this happening but didn't realize it was so long ago. This was the last time a protest was won.

Dec. 19, 2007: Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks

Shaquille O'Neal was incorrectly ruled to have six fouls when he had only five. The game was resumed on March 8, 2008, but no one scored in the 51.9 seconds that were replayed from overtime.

The Hawks won 114-111, and O'Neal didn't play -- he was traded to the Suns before the game was resumed.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35921864/mavericks-protest-loss-dallas-join-exclusive-club-mark-cuban-gets-wish

Side note: I believe the Mavs will win their protest. However, if not (we don't really know what happened), that will go down as one of the most blunderous plays ever. Coaching/players/everyone on the mavs side

[Hitachi77]

I predict we lose the next 3, and win the final 7 (6 of which with KD). We would almost certainly keep the 4 seed in this case. Course, losing the next 3 would be brutal.

[Iceman36]

I have a confession to make.

For the first time in 30 years, for the past month or maybe two, I've barely been watching our games. I watched the three games KD played. Otherwise, it's just painful to watch Craig, Okogie, Wainwright, Landale... all these bums who can't score going out for a jog with old man Chris Paul.

If KD and Book don't light the league on fire, there will be little to look forward to in this team for a decade or more given what we paid for KD.

One major injury to KD would be all it takes to make this the worst trade in Suns history. I bet Ishbia's not sleeping very well these days.

Nearly the same with me. I loved our team the last few seasons and atm there is absolute no desire to watch the games...

[Qwigglez]

I have a confession to make.

For the first time in 30 years, for the past month or maybe two, I've barely been watching our games. I watched the three games KD played. Otherwise, it's just painful to watch Craig, Okogie, Wainwright, Landale... all these bums who can't score going out for a jog with old man Chris Paul.

If KD and Book don't light the league on fire, there will be little to look forward to in this team for a decade or more given what we paid for KD.

One major injury to KD would be all it takes to make this the worst trade in Suns history. I bet Ishbia's not sleeping very well these days.

In the same boat. Just not the 30 years part...
It is very difficult to watch Craig, Wainwright, Landale play. I'd say Terrence Ross too because his defensive awareness is terrible. Warren is a shell of his former self and I was secretly hoping he was going to be a key factor for the Suns run before the playoffs. I don't dislike Okogie that much because he hustles and plays extremely hard, plus his on-ball defense is one of the best in the league. However he needs to find his 3 again. If I am an opposing team I will live and die by Okogie hitting wide open 3s since it's better than Booker getting taking any shot.

But yup... this team is difficult to watch. What is most unfortunate is Suns don't have any picks, but I am hoping they perhaps get someone in the 2nd round, or the very least... get young free agents with some upside. These veterans sound nice, but when they don't perform they are terrible. Younger players still have that heart and are itching for a bigger payday.

[Hitachi77]

Is one championship all it takes to make it the best trade in Suns history? I would say yes.

[Jdiddy701]

I know a lot of fans are frustrated with how the season has gone this season but I believe the KD trade was made more on how we would look next year vs this year.

The more I think about it, the more I’m willing to trade Ayton for Kyrie this offseason. A trio of Kyrie, Book, and KD is lethal. What worries me is Kyrie the person is all over the place. Kyrie, the player is one of the best guards in the league.

I don’t understand much of cap space, but if we were able to get Kyrie without giving up DA, that would be of course the way to do it but not sure if that’s even possible. I wonder what the Suns do with CP3’s contract this offseason.


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