2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation - Free Agency Begins

[sunskerr]

Well, that's why I mentioned Dort. His deal goes for another 4 years, so he'd need to leave. If we added in another couple of their guys thay will need to be paid here soon they'll do it. Or 1 of their bad cap dudes-that would mean they have to pay up in pick form. They'll need a center to play next to Chet who they don't even know whether or not can stay healthy. They were the smallest team in the league last year by a long shot. They can use Ayton.

Either way OKC is the move. Whether we trade them Ayton or not, we need to be trying to steal some value from a team that literally will have to give away players/picks for nothing soon.

Im pretty sure Presti will look for a cheaper option before considering Ayton. On a team like that Ayton is averaging 10 ppg with non-elite defense for $30m.

And yeah they've already got potential cheaper options they're looking to pair with Chet on their roster already (JRE, Jay Williams). Obviously that may not work out but it's a pretty clear indication Presti already knows whats necessary. The thing is, with a guy who has that length that Chet has (and his blocking, and the 3 ball that he will develop more), you don't necessarily need a "true big" next to him. You certainly need someone to help with the bumps and bruises as he gains weight from being a twig, but you can put a shorter but physical guy next to Chet particularly once he's gained more weight.

In other words having a guy like Ayton is less necessary as OKC becomes a real contender over the next few years.

[KdoubleDees23]

Well, that's why I mentioned Dort. His deal goes for another 4 years, so he'd need to leave. If we added in another couple of their guys thay will need to be paid here soon they'll do it. Or 1 of their bad cap dudes-that would mean they have to pay up in pick form. They'll need a center to play next to Chet who they don't even know whether or not can stay healthy. They were the smallest team in the league last year by a long shot. They can use Ayton.

Either way OKC is the move. Whether we trade them Ayton or not, we need to be trying to steal some value from a team that literally will have to give away players/picks for nothing soon.

Im pretty sure Presti will look for a cheaper option before considering Ayton. On a team like that Ayton is averaging 10 ppg with non-elite defense for $30m.

And yeah they've already got potential cheaper options they're looking to pair with Chet on their roster already (JRE, Jay Williams). Obviously that may not work out but it's a pretty clear indication Presti already knows whats necessary. The thing is, with a guy who has that length that Chet has (and his blocking, and the 3 ball that he will develop more), you don't necessarily need a "true big" next to him. You certainly need someone to help with the bumps and bruises as he gains weight from being a twig, but you can put a shorter but physical guy next to Chet particularly once he's gained more weight.

In other words having a guy like Ayton is less necessary as OKC becomes a real contender over the next few years.

Ayton would avg 25 ppg on the Thunder , what are you smoking ? Pass it over here

[Slim Charless]

Well, that's why I mentioned Dort. His deal goes for another 4 years, so he'd need to leave. If we added in another couple of their guys thay will need to be paid here soon they'll do it. Or 1 of their bad cap dudes-that would mean they have to pay up in pick form. They'll need a center to play next to Chet who they don't even know whether or not can stay healthy. They were the smallest team in the league last year by a long shot. They can use Ayton.

Either way OKC is the move. Whether we trade them Ayton or not, we need to be trying to steal some value from a team that literally will have to give away players/picks for nothing soon.

Im pretty sure Presti will look for a cheaper option before considering Ayton. On a team like that Ayton is averaging 10 ppg with non-elite defense for $30m.

And yeah they've already got potential cheaper options they're looking to pair with Chet on their roster already (JRE, Jay Williams). Obviously that may not work out but it's a pretty clear indication Presti already knows whats necessary. The thing is, with a guy who has that length that Chet has (and his blocking, and the 3 ball that he will develop more), you don't necessarily need a "true big" next to him. You certainly need someone to help with the bumps and bruises as he gains weight from being a twig, but you can put a shorter but physical guy next to Chet particularly once he's gained more weight.

In other words having a guy like Ayton is less necessary as OKC becomes a real contender over the next few years.

Ayton's contract is inconsequential because by the time Jalen Williams, Chet and Giddey's deals kick in, he'll have ended his contract. What matters is turning these picks/players into something sooner rather than later. Helping Chet as best you can while getting rid of players that will want extensions that will fall into the same window of the other guys. In other words they don't want a bunch of guys within the same 2 classes all needing deals at the same time.

Trading a bunch of dudes needing deals at the same time for a guy who's deal already happened is the move. SGA/Chet/Jalen/Giddey are locked in, everyone else is up for grabs since 3 of those guys will all have new deals kicking in at virtually the same time. They should wanna trade dudes picked in the same classes as those dudes along with some of the incoming picks.

[darealjuice]

Well, that's why I mentioned Dort. His deal goes for another 4 years, so he'd need to leave. If we added in another couple of their guys thay will need to be paid here soon they'll do it. Or 1 of their bad cap dudes-that would mean they have to pay up in pick form. They'll need a center to play next to Chet who they don't even know whether or not can stay healthy. They were the smallest team in the league last year by a long shot. They can use Ayton.

Either way OKC is the move. Whether we trade them Ayton or not, we need to be trying to steal some value from a team that literally will have to give away players/picks for nothing soon.

Im pretty sure Presti will look for a cheaper option before considering Ayton. On a team like that Ayton is averaging 10 ppg with non-elite defense for $30m.

And yeah they've already got potential cheaper options they're looking to pair with Chet on their roster already (JRE, Jay Williams). Obviously that may not work out but it's a pretty clear indication Presti already knows whats necessary. The thing is, with a guy who has that length that Chet has (and his blocking, and the 3 ball that he will develop more), you don't necessarily need a "true big" next to him. You certainly need someone to help with the bumps and bruises as he gains weight from being a twig, but you can put a shorter but physical guy next to Chet particularly once he's gained more weight.

In other words having a guy like Ayton is less necessary as OKC becomes a real contender over the next few years.

Ayton would avg 25 ppg on the Thunder , what are you smoking ? Pass it over here

There's no universe where Ayton averages 25 points lmao

[Slim Charless]

Im pretty sure Presti will look for a cheaper option before considering Ayton. On a team like that Ayton is averaging 10 ppg with non-elite defense for $30m.

And yeah they've already got potential cheaper options they're looking to pair with Chet on their roster already (JRE, Jay Williams). Obviously that may not work out but it's a pretty clear indication Presti already knows whats necessary. The thing is, with a guy who has that length that Chet has (and his blocking, and the 3 ball that he will develop more), you don't necessarily need a "true big" next to him. You certainly need someone to help with the bumps and bruises as he gains weight from being a twig, but you can put a shorter but physical guy next to Chet particularly once he's gained more weight.

In other words having a guy like Ayton is less necessary as OKC becomes a real contender over the next few years.

Ayton would avg 25 ppg on the Thunder , what are you smoking ? Pass it over here

There's no universe where Ayton averages 25 points lmao

They have no one really that could score 20+ on the team aside from SGA and no one who can work inside like DA. With Giddey feeding him and Sga drawing dbl teams, Ayton would absolutely EAT. Like buffet-style. I already said his contract makes no difference over there too. Presti is smart enough to know all of this and to know that he needs to get rid of players/picks that are coming up soon. I think we could clean up off trading Ayton there-even more so if we'd agree to take on Bertans as he'd be worth another 2 firsts himself.

Honestly, I think we could completely reload ALL of the picks we lost in the Kd/Beal deals just from trading Ayton to OKC. Every single one. Which means that we basically got Beal and Durant for free....

[KdoubleDees23]

Im pretty sure Presti will look for a cheaper option before considering Ayton. On a team like that Ayton is averaging 10 ppg with non-elite defense for $30m.

And yeah they've already got potential cheaper options they're looking to pair with Chet on their roster already (JRE, Jay Williams). Obviously that may not work out but it's a pretty clear indication Presti already knows whats necessary. The thing is, with a guy who has that length that Chet has (and his blocking, and the 3 ball that he will develop more), you don't necessarily need a "true big" next to him. You certainly need someone to help with the bumps and bruises as he gains weight from being a twig, but you can put a shorter but physical guy next to Chet particularly once he's gained more weight.

In other words having a guy like Ayton is less necessary as OKC becomes a real contender over the next few years.

Ayton would avg 25 ppg on the Thunder , what are you smoking ? Pass it over here

There's no universe where Ayton averages 25 points lmao

He avg 18:10 and gave 60% lol u guys are truly not basketball players and only fans and it shows

[KdoubleDees23]

Ayton would avg 25 ppg on the Thunder , what are you smoking ? Pass it over here

There's no universe where Ayton averages 25 points lmao

They have no one really that could score 20+ on the team aside from SGA and no one who can work inside like DA. With Giddey feeding him and Sga drawing dbl teams, Ayton would absolutely EAT. Like buffet-style. I already said his contract makes no difference over there too. Presti is smart enough to know all of this and to know that he needs to get rid of players/picks that are coming up soon. I think we could clean up off trading Ayton there-even more so if we'd agree to take on Bertans as he'd be worth another 2 firsts himself.

Honestly, I think we could completely reload ALL of the picks we lost in the Kd/Beal deals just from trading Ayton to OKC. Every single one. Which means that we basically got Beal and Durant for free....

If we gave Ayton 3 more touches a game last year he would have been avg 20 ppg as a 3rd option . He can get 25

[KdoubleDees23]

Tbh y’all act like aytons some scrub. Nah he was just in a system he wasn’t motivated in with a coach he wasn’t motivated to play under.

Dude doesn’t suck, he just didn’t give it his all.

[Slim Charless]

There's no universe where Ayton averages 25 points lmao

They have no one really that could score 20+ on the team aside from SGA and no one who can work inside like DA. With Giddey feeding him and Sga drawing dbl teams, Ayton would absolutely EAT. Like buffet-style. I already said his contract makes no difference over there too. Presti is smart enough to know all of this and to know that he needs to get rid of players/picks that are coming up soon. I think we could clean up off trading Ayton there-even more so if we'd agree to take on Bertans as he'd be worth another 2 firsts himself.

Honestly, I think we could completely reload ALL of the picks we lost in the Kd/Beal deals just from trading Ayton to OKC. Every single one. Which means that we basically got Beal and Durant for free....

If we gave Ayton 3 more touches a game last year he would have been avg 20 ppg as a 3rd option . He can get 25

I agree, but his touches are about to go down, not up.

I think OKC is the move as we can probably get roughly 5-7 picks from them along with some young players. That can in turn be used to get more young guys here or as stuff to use for another player if we need it. The Thunder have to do something, they can't keep all of those picks and players. We should try and cash them out and bleed some XT value out of an over-leveraged team.

[KdoubleDees23]

They have no one really that could score 20+ on the team aside from SGA and no one who can work inside like DA. With Giddey feeding him and Sga drawing dbl teams, Ayton would absolutely EAT. Like buffet-style. I already said his contract makes no difference over there too. Presti is smart enough to know all of this and to know that he needs to get rid of players/picks that are coming up soon. I think we could clean up off trading Ayton there-even more so if we'd agree to take on Bertans as he'd be worth another 2 firsts himself.

Honestly, I think we could completely reload ALL of the picks we lost in the Kd/Beal deals just from trading Ayton to OKC. Every single one. Which means that we basically got Beal and Durant for free....

If we gave Ayton 3 more touches a game last year he would have been avg 20 ppg as a 3rd option . He can get 25

I agree, but his touches are about to go down, not up.

I think OKC is the move as we can probably get roughly 5-7 picks from them along with some young players. That can in turn be used to get more young guys here or as stuff to use for another player if we need it. The Thunder have to do something, they can't keep all of those picks and players. We should try and cash them out and bleed some XT value out of an over-leveraged team.

I know so he needs to know his role. But these idiots saying if he went to another team and couldn’t get mid 20s as a better option. They are dumb and just haters

Dude avg 18/10 getting under 20% usage

[bwoolf2]

If we gave Ayton 3 more touches a game last year he would have been avg 20 ppg as a 3rd option . He can get 25

I agree, but his touches are about to go down, not up.

I think OKC is the move as we can probably get roughly 5-7 picks from them along with some young players. That can in turn be used to get more young guys here or as stuff to use for another player if we need it. The Thunder have to do something, they can't keep all of those picks and players. We should try and cash them out and bleed some XT value out of an over-leveraged team.

I know so he needs to know his role. But these idiots saying if he went to another team and couldn’t get mid 20s as a better option. They are dumb and just haters

Dude avg 18/10 getting under 20% usage

Target numbers for Ayton should be 22 and 12, he can get that on the same or lower touches by just chasing more rebounds and put backs this year going to be a lot of open space with teams trying to close out on everyone else.

[lilfishi22]

I was also part of the contingent who only watched highlights, a few games and thought why the hell not but over the past few days, I have done more research and watched more games and come to the conclusion his attitude might be the biggest red flag. The attitude is just not what you want to deal with especially when he's not going to get the kind of playing time he thinks he deserves.

One has to consider the idea he might have thought that on a chitty Magic team and was trying to showout too much.

On this Suns team? It's pretty obvious things would be different. Not saying that's certain, but he's not going to get away with any of the stuff shown in his lowlights - not with the veterans on the roster. The Magic didn't have any of that to reign him in. That team is literally a bunch of youngins playing for their next contract or max extension.

All in all if he come here he's basically just going to be asked to be a guy who on isolated occasions poses as a freak matchup offensively or mop up duty. Come to think of it maybe a guy you bring out against Wemby lol.

Listening to in-game analysts say "UnBOLievable" or "BOLercoaster" would be hilarious.

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I think the best place for him is on a team that will give him minutes, will be patient with him and give him opportunities to make mistakes. Orlando was kinda a good spot for him but even they had enough of the dude. Quite frankly, whether it's the 5th starter or the 13th man, I don't want dudes who are out there just trying to get theirs while trying to out-talent their current skill set which imo the BOLercoaster has been doing.

To your point about him being on a vet team like ours meaning he won't be able to get away with doing all that extra stuff he's trying to show case, the problem is that the guy doesn't seem to have a good basketball IQ either to figure out when he's hurting the team. Like he doesn't know how to play without the ball in his hand nor does he have a real bankable NBA skill right now. He has decent handles for a big man but you don't want him out there trying to create from the perimeter, he has elite length, but he doesn't want to play near the rim nor grab rebounds, he has good shot blocking traits but very poor defensive fundamentals (and effort)....Attitude and maturity is important on a team with a unified goal of a championship and that applies whether a guy is getting starter minutes or only playing 3min of garbage time once a week.

Given what I've read about the dude and getting an understanding of the kinda guy he is from Orlando and Denver fans, I'm more inclined to pass on him. If we do sign him though, hey I'll certainly root for the guy to get it together and enjoy the human victory cigar with other Suns fans but if you asked me now whether we should give the guy a contract...it'll be a no.

Someone mentioned Frank the Tank before and I would rather give him that last spot over Bol Bol any day of the week. He doesn't have freakish measurements or the ball handling of Bol Bol but really, do we want/need it? I'd much rather have Frank's effort, 3PT shooting and attitude/maturity.

[Sunsdeuce]

Tbh y’all act like aytons some scrub. Nah he was just in a system he wasn’t motivated in with a coach he wasn’t motivated to play under.

Dude doesn’t suck, he just didn’t give it his all.

Ayton drops 20/10 in his sleep where he isn’t even the 1/2 option. He’s easily a 25/12 on a team where he’s the first option. People saying he can’t just have extreme hate for him.

[lilfishi22]

Have a hard time seeing DA average 25/12 even on a garbage team where he gets all the shots. Even KAT only managed that once he's a far superior offensive player to DA.

[sunskerr]

Have a hard time seeing DA average 25/12 even on a garbage team where he gets all the shots. Even KAT only managed that once he's a far superior offensive player to DA.

He'd be like the 5th option on that Thunder team, too...just people who dont know anything about the Thunder talking about them.

Anyway, I like this Obaji guy on the Blazers SL team. Good activity, 7'1", moves pretty well, and already has a bit of muscle at 20 years old.

[bigfoot]

Tbh y’all act like aytons some scrub. Nah he was just in a system he wasn’t motivated in with a coach he wasn’t motivated to play under.

Dude doesn’t suck, he just didn’t give it his all.

Ayton drops 20/10 in his sleep where he isn’t even the 1/2 option. He’s easily a 25/12 on a team where he’s the first option. People saying he can’t just have extreme hate for him.

Ayton plays likes he's asleep most of the time.

[Sunsdeuce]

Tbh y’all act like aytons some scrub. Nah he was just in a system he wasn’t motivated in with a coach he wasn’t motivated to play under.

Dude doesn’t suck, he just didn’t give it his all.

Ayton drops 20/10 in his sleep where he isn’t even the 1/2 option. He’s easily a 25/12 on a team where he’s the first option. People saying he can’t just have extreme hate for him.

Ayton plays likes he's asleep most of the time.

Yeah and he’s still dropping 17/10 with no plays called for him. Chris just wanted him to be DeAndre Jordan (set screens all day).

[KdoubleDees23]

Have a hard time seeing DA average 25/12 even on a garbage team where he gets all the shots. Even KAT only managed that once he's a far superior offensive player to DA.

yall think DA is soft. KAT is a cupcake and the most overrated player in the league. Dude is A$%%

[lilfishi22]

Have a hard time seeing DA average 25/12 even on a garbage team where he gets all the shots. Even KAT only managed that once he's a far superior offensive player to DA.

yall think DA is soft. KAT is a cupcake and the most overrated player in the league. Dude is A$%%

Not really a DA vs KAT comparison on who's "TUFF" lol

Just saying 25/12 isn't some cake walk and that a superior offensive player in KAT could only manage it once.

Players who averaged 25/12:
2022-2023: Anthony Davis (Giannis, Jokic on the verge)
2021-2022: Jokic (Embiid/Giannis on the verge)
2020-2021: No one (Vuc, Westbrook, Giannis on the verge)
2019-2020: Giannis (Embiid on the verge)
2018-2019: Embiid, Giannis, Anthony Davis (KAT on the verge)

So we're talking majority MVPs or MVP level players.

[KdoubleDees23]

Have a hard time seeing DA average 25/12 even on a garbage team where he gets all the shots. Even KAT only managed that once he's a far superior offensive player to DA.

yall think DA is soft. KAT is a cupcake and the most overrated player in the league. Dude is A$%%

Not really a DA vs KAT comparison on who's "TUFF" lol

Just saying 25/12 isn't some cake walk and that a superior offensive player in KAT could only manage it once.

Players who averaged 25/12:
2022-2023: Anthony Davis (Giannis, Jokic on the verge)
2021-2022: Jokic (Embiid/Giannis on the verge)
2020-2021: No one (Vuc, Westbrook, Giannis on the verge)
2019-2020: Giannis (Embiid on the verge)
2018-2019: Embiid, Giannis, Anthony Davis (KAT on the verge)

So we're talking majority MVPs or MVP level players.

Where the F did I say 25/12. I said 25 ppg. As a 2nd option on the OKC Thunder he can easily do 25 points.

Run the numbers on who has avg 25/10