2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation - Free Agency Begins

[sunsbum]

But if there’s one question about the 2023-24 team, Majerle knows that pressure remains on Ayton to take the next step.

“For me, when you pay a guy over $100 million, you know, it’s on you. It really is,” Majerle said. “The guy is a grown man … if he wants to change the perception of what he is, that’s what he’s got to do. For him, all he’s got to do is play with a great motor … rebound the basketball, set great picks, roll, finish, play defense and all those things, and if you win those things are going to come.

“All the accolades are going to come your way. He’s out of excuses, he’s got to bucket down and not worry about what everybody thinks about him.”

https://arizonasports.com/story/3529069/majerle-difference-in-breakup-of-suns-2021-1993-finals-rosters/

Tough to argue with Thunder Dan. Anyone here still defending Ayton? Ya... probably not. Wish DA would grow up already.

Dan Majerle doesnt know basektball though

[sunsbum]

Just listened to that interview. Curious what Dan would say about DA if he wasn't on radio churching it up. I can only imagine how playing with him feels.

[Jdiddy701]

But if there’s one question about the 2023-24 team, Majerle knows that pressure remains on Ayton to take the next step.

“For me, when you pay a guy over $100 million, you know, it’s on you. It really is,” Majerle said. “The guy is a grown man … if he wants to change the perception of what he is, that’s what he’s got to do. For him, all he’s got to do is play with a great motor … rebound the basketball, set great picks, roll, finish, play defense and all those things, and if you win those things are going to come.

“All the accolades are going to come your way. He’s out of excuses, he’s got to bucket down and not worry about what everybody thinks about him.”

https://arizonasports.com/story/3529069/majerle-difference-in-breakup-of-suns-2021-1993-finals-rosters/

Tough to argue with Thunder Dan. Anyone here still defending Ayton? Ya... probably not. Wish DA would grow up already.

Former Suns players have said the same thing about Ayton.. Eddie Johnson, Tom Chambers, Charles Barkley, Shaq. If you open it up to all former NBA players, that list is pretty long, but I guess they all must be haters.


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[Saberestar]

The Phoenix Suns remain interested in trading for T.J. McConnell of the Indiana Pacers, sources tell Marc Stein.

The Suns have no readily tradeable players currently on their roster until December 15th when new free agent signings become trade eligible.

McConnell is hopeful of remaining with the Pacers. McConnell, who is represented by Mark Bartelstein and Kieran Piller, cannot become a free agent until 2025.

[spanishninja]

The Phoenix Suns remain interested in trading for T.J. McConnell of the Indiana Pacers, sources tell Marc Stein.

The Suns have no readily tradeable players currently on their roster until December 15th when new free agent signings become trade eligible.

McConnell is hopeful of remaining with the Pacers. McConnell, who is represented by Mark Bartelstein and Kieran Piller, cannot become a free agent until 2025.

ok then let's stop talking about this?

[lilfishi22]

But if there’s one question about the 2023-24 team, Majerle knows that pressure remains on Ayton to take the next step.

“For me, when you pay a guy over $100 million, you know, it’s on you. It really is,” Majerle said. “The guy is a grown man … if he wants to change the perception of what he is, that’s what he’s got to do. For him, all he’s got to do is play with a great motor … rebound the basketball, set great picks, roll, finish, play defense and all those things, and if you win those things are going to come.

“All the accolades are going to come your way. He’s out of excuses, he’s got to bucket down and not worry about what everybody thinks about him.”

https://arizonasports.com/story/3529069/majerle-difference-in-breakup-of-suns-2021-1993-finals-rosters/

Tough to argue with Thunder Dan. Anyone here still defending Ayton? Ya... probably not. Wish DA would grow up already.

Former Suns players have said the same thing about Ayton.. Eddie Johnson, Tom Chambers, Charles Barkley, Shaq. If you open it up to all former NBA players, that list is pretty long, but I guess they all must be haters.


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Haters and they don't know basketball like dudes on a basketball forum

[garrick]

Theres really no1 else to talk about on this team besides Ayton... And he gave us another reason to talk about him....

Obviously we will talk more about the other players once the season starts up. We have to watch them play...

Everyone on this team is pretty much new besides Ayton and Booker. And Booker is the face of the franchise...

its not suprising Ayton is the only thing being talked about right now. And hes definitely under a microscope next season too.

Im surprised people are shocked that the biggest x-factor and ??? on this team is being talked about.

Maybe people get tired of it but theres really nothing else to talk about.

You'd think people would be talking about the new players. Looking at Beal in the past and others. Ayton won't be the reason we win or don't win a championship. That is on the shoulders of the stars. They are the difference in winning or losing those games. Centers outside of Jokic rarely are some reason a team wins. How well we shoot, are they clutch, are they healthy, do they have bad turnovers? They wil be taking 50+ shots between them and doing most all the passing.

Ayton won’t be the reason that we win a championship or don’t win a championship? You cannot be serious. He’s probably the most important part of our success. I know what I’m going to get from Beal, Booker, and Durant.. I have no idea what Ayton will give us. Everything starts with DA.. it always has. Really can’t believe you said that honestly.


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If KD, Booker and Beal perform at the level they're expected to then we win and those are our max contract guys so the onus is on them to bring it and they have to stay healthy and perform at an all star level or we have no hope of winning a championship.

I'm actually pretty surprised KD gets a pass for his terrible showing against Denver, got stripped numerous times and bricked open 3's that are normally easy makes for him. Booker also had an atrocious game 6 but maybe he was injured but it wasn't a good look to have our max players completely invisible in an elimination game.

[lilfishi22]

The Phoenix Suns remain interested in trading for T.J. McConnell of the Indiana Pacers, sources tell Marc Stein.

The Suns have no readily tradeable players currently on their roster until December 15th when new free agent signings become trade eligible.

McConnell is hopeful of remaining with the Pacers. McConnell, who is represented by Mark Bartelstein and Kieran Piller, cannot become a free agent until 2025.

It's weird this keeps popping up. News like this normally don't pop up unless it's potentially possible for a deal to be done but we don't even have the assets available until mid-Dec to make it happen.

[lilfishi22]

You'd think people would be talking about the new players. Looking at Beal in the past and others. Ayton won't be the reason we win or don't win a championship. That is on the shoulders of the stars. They are the difference in winning or losing those games. Centers outside of Jokic rarely are some reason a team wins. How well we shoot, are they clutch, are they healthy, do they have bad turnovers? They wil be taking 50+ shots between them and doing most all the passing.

Ayton won’t be the reason that we win a championship or don’t win a championship? You cannot be serious. He’s probably the most important part of our success. I know what I’m going to get from Beal, Booker, and Durant.. I have no idea what Ayton will give us. Everything starts with DA.. it always has. Really can’t believe you said that honestly.


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If KD, Booker and Beal perform at the level they're expected to then we win and those are our max contract guys so the onus is on them to bring it and they have to stay healthy and perform at an all star level or we have no hope of winning a championship.

I'm actually pretty surprised KD gets a pass for his terrible showing against Denver, got stripped numerous times and bricked open 3's that are normally easy makes for him. Booker also had an atrocious game 6 but maybe he was injured but it wasn't a good look to have our max players completely invisible in an elimination game.

Ayton is also on a max contract.

It will be on the big money guys to lead this team to a championship.

[bwgood77]

Tough to argue with Thunder Dan. Anyone here still defending Ayton? Ya... probably not. Wish DA would grow up already.

Former Suns players have said the same thing about Ayton.. Eddie Johnson, Tom Chambers, Charles Barkley, Shaq. If you open it up to all former NBA players, that list is pretty long, but I guess they all must be haters.


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Haters and they don't know basketball like dudes on a basketball forum

I think everyone agrees with Majerle. It's just some whine daily about it. We all want to see him be more consistent with defense, rebounding, motor, etc. This is what we've been talking about.

[SkyBill40]

If Ayton has the blues from feeling unloved, I suggest he register for a realGM account and read some of the defenses of him here

He didn't contest a shot cus he could have hit his head on the backboard ..... That's all time

Nah all these suns fans on here are haters lol. They hate everyone on the suns minus booker

Blanket generalization is a logical fallacy. Don't do that.

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[bwgood77]

Ayton won’t be the reason that we win a championship or don’t win a championship? You cannot be serious. He’s probably the most important part of our success. I know what I’m going to get from Beal, Booker, and Durant.. I have no idea what Ayton will give us. Everything starts with DA.. it always has. Really can’t believe you said that honestly.


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If KD, Booker and Beal perform at the level they're expected to then we win and those are our max contract guys so the onus is on them to bring it and they have to stay healthy and perform at an all star level or we have no hope of winning a championship.

I'm actually pretty surprised KD gets a pass for his terrible showing against Denver, got stripped numerous times and bricked open 3's that are normally easy makes for him. Booker also had an atrocious game 6 but maybe he was injured but it wasn't a good look to have our max players completely invisible in an elimination game.

Ayton is also on a max contract.

It will be on the big money guys to lead this team to a championship.

Not a full max. Not even a full rookie max (or 2nd contract after rookie max). It's not like Gobert making $41 million or Sabonis averaging $46 million in his extension. Then the MVP centers make mid 50s. Towns extension averages $58 million, same as Book's.

But yes, he still needs to live up to the contract and get back to where he was a couple years ago defensively and get close to his shooting from a 21-22...plus bring the more consistent motor.

[SkyBill40]

I cheer on my team and for the best. Y’all old heads just hate and truly don’t know crap about basketball.

We won’t get anyone better than Ayton for a trade. You keep him, and hope for the best .

And here's another one. This is called arguing from a position of false authority.

Just stop.

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[Slim Charless]

You'd think people would be talking about the new players. Looking at Beal in the past and others. Ayton won't be the reason we win or don't win a championship. That is on the shoulders of the stars. They are the difference in winning or losing those games. Centers outside of Jokic rarely are some reason a team wins. How well we shoot, are they clutch, are they healthy, do they have bad turnovers? They wil be taking 50+ shots between them and doing most all the passing.

Theres not alot to talk about the new players...Highlight videos mean nothing... We have to see them play... Unless you want to go back in the past and watch every game beal or others have ever played...How much time u got? Opinions are formed by watching guys play. We have seen alot of Ayton and not the other guys...

Also interesting you dont think Ayton matters to this team....I think everyone on this roster matters and is the difference between winning a chip and not....

Of course Ayton matters. He's just not going to be the primary reason we win or lose. That comes down to the stars and their careers will be judged on if they were able to win championships. The team is stacked, so we should be able to.

Team is not stacked. We're mediocre as far as our bench is concerned. We have a lot of "guys" of varying levels of ability. No idea whatsoever if they can play together and in Vogels's system. None of them will be winning or vying for 6MOTY next season. So, like I said: mediocre.

Fortunately for us mediocre is still a large step up from where we previously these past few seasons. You can make a case that we had the worse bench in the league this past season, especially after the KD trade. Having goofpotamus coach us did no one any favors obviously as well.

This is why I still think an Ayton trade is on the table for this team.

[sunsbum]

Theres not alot to talk about the new players...Highlight videos mean nothing... We have to see them play... Unless you want to go back in the past and watch every game beal or others have ever played...How much time u got? Opinions are formed by watching guys play. We have seen alot of Ayton and not the other guys...

Also interesting you dont think Ayton matters to this team....I think everyone on this roster matters and is the difference between winning a chip and not....

Of course Ayton matters. He's just not going to be the primary reason we win or lose. That comes down to the stars and their careers will be judged on if they were able to win championships. The team is stacked, so we should be able to.

Team is not stacked. We're mediocre as far as our bench is concerned. We have a lot of "guys" of varying levels of ability. No idea whatsoever if they can play together and in Vogels's system. None of them will be winning or vying for 6MOTY next season. So, like I said: mediocre.

Fortunately for us mediocre is still a large step up from where we previously these past few seasons. You can make a case that we had the worse bench in the league this past season, especially after the KD trade. Having goofpotamus coach us did no one any favors obviously as well.

This is why I still think an Ayton trade is on the table for this team.

Coming from a guy who thinks Rui Hachimura is the gold standard for bench players lol.

[WeekapaugGroove]

At this point an Ayton depth trade doesn't really make sense. Literally the only tradable roster spots are KD, Booker, Ayton, Ish.. that's it. KD and Booker aren't going anywhere. So that leaves Ayton and Ish for two players. So you can technically get one player deeper upgrading the Ish roster spot but it would likely be at the expense of downgrading the Ayton spot.

If a depth trade was going to happen it would have happened when the suns had all those open roster spots.


I think they are going into the year with this roster. If at the deadline they feel they need depth then maybe you deal DA and at that point you can trade the guys you signed this summer.


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[garrick]

At this point an Ayton depth trade doesn't really make sense. Literally the only tradable roster spots are KD, Booker, Ayton, Ish.. that's it. KD and Booker aren't going anywhere. So that leaves Ayton and Ish for two players. So you can technically get one player deeper upgrading the Ish roster spot but it would likely be at the expense of downgrading the Ayton spot.

If a depth trade was going to happen it would have happened when the suns had all those open roster spots.


I think they are going into the year with this roster. If at the deadline they feel they need depth then maybe you deal DA and at that point you can trade the guys you signed this summer.


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KD's contract is pretty much untradable unless the Suns just accept a pure salary dump because no team is going to give up a boatload of first round picks due to the new CBA and since KD has looked pretty mediocre the past two playoffs his value is only going to go down each season as he gets up there in age.

An Ayton trade this season just doesn't make sense since they got a bunch of guys on minimum deals but that could change next season depending on whether the players opt out (likely) and take bigger paychecks to play elsewhere. I think next season's playoff success or lack thereof will really determine the quality of free agents we can sign on the cheap.

[lilfishi22]

If KD, Booker and Beal perform at the level they're expected to then we win and those are our max contract guys so the onus is on them to bring it and they have to stay healthy and perform at an all star level or we have no hope of winning a championship.

I'm actually pretty surprised KD gets a pass for his terrible showing against Denver, got stripped numerous times and bricked open 3's that are normally easy makes for him. Booker also had an atrocious game 6 but maybe he was injured but it wasn't a good look to have our max players completely invisible in an elimination game.

Ayton is also on a max contract.

It will be on the big money guys to lead this team to a championship.

Not a full max. Not even a full rookie max (or 2nd contract after rookie max). It's not like Gobert making $41 million or Sabonis averaging $46 million in his extension. Then the MVP centers make mid 50s. Towns extension averages $58 million, same as Book's.

But yes, he still needs to live up to the contract and get back to where he was a couple years ago defensively and get close to his shooting from a 21-22...plus bring the more consistent motor.

At this point, that's just semantics. As Thunder Dan said, he's a grown ass man on over $100m, he's out of excuses; you don't get to hide behind anything.

[bwgood77]

Theres not alot to talk about the new players...Highlight videos mean nothing... We have to see them play... Unless you want to go back in the past and watch every game beal or others have ever played...How much time u got? Opinions are formed by watching guys play. We have seen alot of Ayton and not the other guys...

Also interesting you dont think Ayton matters to this team....I think everyone on this roster matters and is the difference between winning a chip and not....

Of course Ayton matters. He's just not going to be the primary reason we win or lose. That comes down to the stars and their careers will be judged on if they were able to win championships. The team is stacked, so we should be able to.

Team is not stacked. We're mediocre as far as our bench is concerned. We have a lot of "guys" of varying levels of ability. No idea whatsoever if they can play together and in Vogels's system. None of them will be winning or vying for 6MOTY next season. So, like I said: mediocre.

Fortunately for us mediocre is still a large step up from where we previously these past few seasons. You can make a case that we had the worse bench in the league this past season, especially after the KD trade. Having goofpotamus coach us did no one any favors obviously as well.

This is why I still think an Ayton trade is on the table for this team.

I mean stacked with stars. Then Eric Gordon is very good. I agree the bench is not strong, but I think we did well with minimums. I would have kept Payne but maybe Goodwin ends up better. Yeah, I think an Ayton trade could definitely still happen.

[SunsRback4Good]

Watching the Dbacks play they are the replica of next years Suns team. All Offense but no defense. Had a one run lead in the 9th and our 2.7 ERA closer game up 5 runs. Dbacks are 5th in offense & 20th in defense. Suns will be around 3-5th offensively but defensively around 12-14th which is middle of the pack unless they get another stud to focus on defense & can hit a few shots here and there.