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

[spanishninja]

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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I have all but given up on a deep playoff run at this point, regardless of KD's return. at some point you just have to see the real picture and realize that this is too much adversity for one season and still hope to be a true contender. I don't know if I want Kyrie though.

[spanishninja]

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

yes, one ring is definitely enough when we have none. even the lakers destroyed their team for several years just to get their 17th ring, and the raptors took a one year rental to get their first one.

[bwgood77]

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...

Yeah, I think everyone is well aware of my trade thoughts, but my enthusiasm has waned even far more than I expected. It's good the vast majority of the fanbase is very happy about the trade, and it's not the other way around. It will be interesting to see if that maintains. For Ishbia's sake, I hope it does.

I really hope we find some diamond in the rough in the draft, have a great Ayton trade, or when KD gets back and CP3 further declines, they really make use of Ayton, players finally pass him the ball up high consistently and not pass it to a 7 footer between his knees and waste (no matter how many complain about balls passed to him being deflected, knocked off course, hard to handle, but also should be able to at least admit if a ball is thrown near or above his head, he catches it), and he is able to be that 3rd player (or 2nd if there is injury to top 2) that gets a high workload consistently on offense. Maybe he can't create his shot as much or well as people like, but it's a far better optioin than the Okogie, Craig and Wainwrights of the world.

[Hitachi77]

Kyrie is on his best behavior. Once he gets his contract, he will be back to the crazy.

KD and Booker are enough for bulk scoring. That was evidenced by how they did those 3 games. You can’t double both. All you need is 3 and D guys around them. That’s it. Ayton should also get a lot of opportunities, but that’s where chemistry comes in.

CP3 is basically unmovable because he has 2 years left on his contract. I’m not sure how many teams want Ayton either with his contract. But we do need a rim protector, so I wouldn’t want to move him for just anything.

[bwgood77]

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

That's entirely based on what you want out of your team. If you are a fan of watching a team you are really vested in, watching players grow, having unity, gradually getting past previous faults, learning from mistakes and get over the hump, maybe. Given they already went further than ever in the playoffs with many of the core playing in their VERY FIRST playoffs, and then the following year had the best team in regular season history, but Paul's game drastically changed in the Mavs series causing us to default, I was never of the opinion of "this team will never win anything" given this very young team had just started to crack success after years and were making noise in the playoffs.

If you are a fan of winning a championship at all costs, even if it's watching a team with mostly players you haven't been vested in at all (KD will have played in less than 10 Suns game before the playoffs), winning a championship is nice, but to me, would feel a little more hollow.

I know most view sports this way in this day and age though, so if we do happen to win, I can see that view. I do think our chances are now slightly better to win one if healthy (though our chances of staying healthy are far worse), this year and next (but not THAT much better, especially as much as Bridges had grown), but our overall chances at winning more championships over the next 10 years or being more successful overall being competitive during that time will go way down. I know some will assume we will find some other star come 26 or 27, but that's rare in the grand scheme.

Also, I don't know if people realize, when you win a championship, it's not like you are done...that nothing matters. All that comes next is you want/need to win another one and it's even MORE important..that is truly your measuring stick.

I'd MUCH rather watch an entertaining group of young men I've watched grow compete and have a chance every year for the next decade than it be like the DBacks winning a championship in 2000 and mostly sucking since then (or even just not being very good for awhile).

We had built the best core we had since 2004...almost 20 years. But now rely on one player to be healthy, one who has been injured far more often than not over the past 4 years.

[MrMiyagi]

Kyrie is on his best behavior. Once he gets his contract, he will be back to the crazy.

KD and Booker are enough for bulk scoring. That was evidenced by how they did those 3 games. You can’t double both. All you need is 3 and D guys around them. That’s it. Ayton should also get a lot of opportunities, but that’s where chemistry comes in.

CP3 is basically unmovable because he has 2 years left on his contract. I’m not sure how many teams want Ayton either with his contract. But we do need a rim protector, so I wouldn’t want to move him for just anything.

CP3 is only partially guaranteed next season, and non guaranteed the season after. Hardly unmovable.

[bwgood77]

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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Can't see the Mavs wanting anything we have (that we'd trade) aside from Ayton. Now if they are losing him for nothing, getting ANYTHING helps, so if they wanted one year of Paul at $30 million with the team option for the following year, that would be the only possibility unless they wanted Payne, Shamet, Craig, Ish, Bazley or some combination of those guys.

[MrMiyagi]

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

That's entirely based on what you want out of your team. If you are a fan of watching a team you are really vested in, watching players grow, having unity, gradually getting past previous faults, learning from mistakes and get over the hump, maybe. Given they already went further than ever in the playoffs with many of the core playing in their VERY FIRST playoffs, and then the following year had the best team in regular season history, but Paul's game drastically changed in the Mavs series causing us to default, I was never of the opinion of "this team will never win anything" given this very young team had just started to crack success after years and were making noise in the playoffs.

If you are a fan of winning a championship at all costs, even if it's watching a team with mostly players you haven't been vested in at all (KD will have played in less than 10 Suns game before the playoffs), winning a championship is nice, but to me, would feel a little more hollow.

I know most view sports this way in this day and age though, so if we do happen to win, I can see that view. I do think our chances are now slightly better to win one if healthy (though our chances of staying healthy are far worse), this year and next (but not THAT much better, especially as much as Bridges had grown), but our overall chances at winning more championships over the next 10 years or being more successful overall being competitive during that time will go way down. I know some will assume we will find some other star come 26 or 27, but that's rare in the grand scheme.

Also, I don't know if people realize, when you win a championship, it's not like you are done...that nothing matters. All that comes next is you want/need to win another one and it's even MORE important..that is truly your measuring stick.

I'd MUCH rather watch an entertaining group of young men I've watched grow compete and have a chance every year for the next decade than it be like the DBacks winning a championship in 2000 and mostly sucking since then (or even just not being very good for awhile).

We had built the best core we had since 2004...almost 20 years. But now rely on one player to be healthy, one who has been injured far more often than not over the past 4 years.

It really sucks. I really felt like this was our year given Mikal's development. Now I think we're play-in bound and a 1st round exit.

[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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Can't see the Mavs wanting anything we have (that we'd trade) aside from Ayton. Now if they are losing him for nothing, getting ANYTHING helps, so if they wanted one year of Paul at $30 million with the team option for the following year, that would be the only possibility unless they wanted Payne, Shamet, Craig, Ish, Bazley or some combination of those guys.

Any chance we can decline CP3’s contract (eat the 15 million) and sign Kyrie outright? Is that even possible?


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[Hitachi77]

Kyrie is on his best behavior. Once he gets his contract, he will be back to the crazy.

KD and Booker are enough for bulk scoring. That was evidenced by how they did those 3 games. You can’t double both. All you need is 3 and D guys around them. That’s it. Ayton should also get a lot of opportunities, but that’s where chemistry comes in.

CP3 is basically unmovable because he has 2 years left on his contract. I’m not sure how many teams want Ayton either with his contract. But we do need a rim protector, so I wouldn’t want to move him for just anything.

CP3 is only partially guaranteed next season, and non guaranteed the season after. Hardly unmovable.

Interesting, didn’t know that thanks.

[spanishninja]

Kyrie is on his best behavior. Once he gets his contract, he will be back to the crazy.

KD and Booker are enough for bulk scoring. That was evidenced by how they did those 3 games. You can’t double both. All you need is 3 and D guys around them. That’s it. Ayton should also get a lot of opportunities, but that’s where chemistry comes in.

CP3 is basically unmovable because he has 2 years left on his contract. I’m not sure how many teams want Ayton either with his contract. But we do need a rim protector, so I wouldn’t want to move him for just anything.

CP3 is only partially guaranteed next season, and non guaranteed the season after. Hardly unmovable.

yeah I can actually see CP3 as being a prime trade target for salary dump purposes, should other teams look to get out of long contracts.

[MrMiyagi]

Kyrie is on his best behavior. Once he gets his contract, he will be back to the crazy.

KD and Booker are enough for bulk scoring. That was evidenced by how they did those 3 games. You can’t double both. All you need is 3 and D guys around them. That’s it. Ayton should also get a lot of opportunities, but that’s where chemistry comes in.

CP3 is basically unmovable because he has 2 years left on his contract. I’m not sure how many teams want Ayton either with his contract. But we do need a rim protector, so I wouldn’t want to move him for just anything.

CP3 is only partially guaranteed next season, and non guaranteed the season after. Hardly unmovable.

yeah I can actually see CP3 as being a prime trade target for salary dump purposes, should other teams look to get out of long contracts.

Issue is we don't exactly have any other assets to pair with him...

[bwgood77]

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

yes, one ring is definitely enough when we have none. even the lakers destroyed their team for several years just to get their 17th ring, and the raptors took a one year rental to get their first one.

I don't think the Lakers planned on destroying their team for a few years when they made that trade. In hindsight would they have made a run for someone else like George who wanted LA or another star? Who knows?

The Raptors trade was a no brainer. Masai was smart only giving up DeRozan and Poeltl for a much younger Kawhi. No way he would have given up 4 unprotected picks, and all we did.

One ring is very nice for players and their legacy. Fans can cheer for a night or week and then it's on to next season. Book will be happy with a ring, but will he want to stick around 3 years into his supermax when KD and Paul or gone and he has Ayton and role players? Time will tell.

Is it worth it to people if we lose him?

Would a ring have been satisfactory for people if we had given up Book in the trade even though KD is obviously an upgrade and gave us a better chance with him than with Book?

I assume if it is in this case it would have been if we gave up Book too.

[MrMiyagi]

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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Can't see the Mavs wanting anything we have (that we'd trade) aside from Ayton. Now if they are losing him for nothing, getting ANYTHING helps, so if they wanted one year of Paul at $30 million with the team option for the following year, that would be the only possibility unless they wanted Payne, Shamet, Craig, Ish, Bazley or some combination of those guys.

Any chance we can decline CP3’s contract (eat the 15 million) and sign Kyrie outright? Is that even possible?


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That's gonna be a no from me, dawg.

[spanishninja]

CP3 is only partially guaranteed next season, and non guaranteed the season after. Hardly unmovable.

yeah I can actually see CP3 as being a prime trade target for salary dump purposes, should other teams look to get out of long contracts.

Issue is we don't exactly have any other assets to pair with him...

I guess I had assumed that we would be pairing him with Ayton in such a move

[bwgood77]

Kyrie is on his best behavior. Once he gets his contract, he will be back to the crazy.

KD and Booker are enough for bulk scoring. That was evidenced by how they did those 3 games. You can’t double both. All you need is 3 and D guys around them. That’s it. Ayton should also get a lot of opportunities, but that’s where chemistry comes in.

CP3 is basically unmovable because he has 2 years left on his contract. I’m not sure how many teams want Ayton either with his contract. But we do need a rim protector, so I wouldn’t want to move him for just anything.

CP3 is only partially guaranteed next season, and non guaranteed the season after. Hardly unmovable.

But Dallas would certainly rather have no salary than pay CP3 $15 million not to play. Same with any other team, outside of one wantng to dump some huge contract that they don't want to save money. Don't see us moving him.

[MrMiyagi]

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

yes, one ring is definitely enough when we have none. even the lakers destroyed their team for several years just to get their 17th ring, and the raptors took a one year rental to get their first one.

I don't think the Lakers planned on destroying their team for a few years when they made that trade. In hindsight would they have made a run for someone else like George who wanted LA or another star? Who knows?

The Raptors trade was a no brainer. Masai was smart only giving up DeRozan and Poeltl for a much younger Kawhi. No way he would have given up 4 unprotected picks, and all we did.

One ring is very nice for players and their legacy. Fans can cheer for a night or week and then it's on to next season. Book will be happy with a ring, but will he want to stick around 3 years into his supermax when KD and Paul or gone and he has Ayton and role players? Time will tell.

Is it worth it to people if we lose him?

Would a ring have been satisfactory for people if we had given up Book in the trade even though KD is obviously an upgrade and gave us a better chance with him than with Book?

I assume if it is in this case it would have been if we gave up Book too.

People talking about rings making it worth it like we're even going to get one, lmao.

[MrMiyagi]

yeah I can actually see CP3 as being a prime trade target for salary dump purposes, should other teams look to get out of long contracts.

Issue is we don't exactly have any other assets to pair with him...

I guess I had assumed that we would be pairing him with Ayton in such a move

Lol

[Jdiddy701]

Can't see the Mavs wanting anything we have (that we'd trade) aside from Ayton. Now if they are losing him for nothing, getting ANYTHING helps, so if they wanted one year of Paul at $30 million with the team option for the following year, that would be the only possibility unless they wanted Payne, Shamet, Craig, Ish, Bazley or some combination of those guys.

Any chance we can decline CP3’s contract (eat the 15 million) and sign Kyrie outright? Is that even possible?


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That's gonna be a no from me, dawg.

Kyrie - Booker - KD - Ayton is a no for you?


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[spanishninja]

yes, one ring is definitely enough when we have none. even the lakers destroyed their team for several years just to get their 17th ring, and the raptors took a one year rental to get their first one.

I don't think the Lakers planned on destroying their team for a few years when they made that trade. In hindsight would they have made a run for someone else like George who wanted LA or another star? Who knows?

The Raptors trade was a no brainer. Masai was smart only giving up DeRozan and Poeltl for a much younger Kawhi. No way he would have given up 4 unprotected picks, and all we did.

One ring is very nice for players and their legacy. Fans can cheer for a night or week and then it's on to next season. Book will be happy with a ring, but will he want to stick around 3 years into his supermax when KD and Paul or gone and he has Ayton and role players? Time will tell.

Is it worth it to people if we lose him?

Would a ring have been satisfactory for people if we had given up Book in the trade even though KD is obviously an upgrade and gave us a better chance with him than with Book?

I assume if it is in this case it would have been if we gave up Book too.

People talking about rings making it worth it like we're even going to get one, lmao.

of course nothing is guaranteed, but the longer the league continues its existence, it will look worse and worse for teams that continue to not win even one championship. and as a reminder we are the longest existing team to still not have a ring. that dubious distinction isn't going away until we win one.