2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 4 - A Rocky Start

[dremill24]

I've always loved Vando but he can't be traded until the summer

[Slim Charless]

https://www.theringer.com/2024/1/28/24053884/most-interesting-teams-ahead-of-the-nba-trade-deadline-joel-embiid-ducks-nikola-jokic-again

A really good discussion about the suns and the trade deadline considerations on this ringer podcast ( aproximately 36 minutes in). They bring up some intersting names as well, and one that I did forget, But is intriuging for his perfect defensive fit and rebounding capabilities and basically fits almost all of our criteria at the 3/4 spot in Jared Vanderbilt. So my question to everyone being since Miles Bridges is such a polarizing/ controversial player to even discuss in a trade for us, Would anyone actually entertain a 3 team trade that'd have:

Flakers-
Miles Bridges.

Charlotte-
Wood /Hayes / Little / LA future 2nd/ 2 Phoenix 2nds.

Phoenix-
Jared Vanderbilt/ rights to Amari Bailey OR Leaky Black??

I remember you were all about Leaky. He's similar to Herb Jones I think you said? If that holds true, let's get him. Herb would be a massive help for this team.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Watch on YouTube

I appreciate Flexs' positivity when discussing the suns, But when he argues that this suns team ISN'T the one we've been seeing struggle and underperform in the 4th quarters, he sounds like he's either intentionally disingenuous or a deluded moron in denial! I mean clearly, anyone who's followed this team knows that the suns team that has consistently struggled in 4th quarters and that gets bullied by more physical teams and becomes passive and apathetic and always struggles against length and athleticism is absolutely is this suns team!!!!

It's comments like this from him that illicits no credibility whatsoever towards his perspectives.

[Ghost of Kleine]

https://www.theringer.com/2024/1/28/24053884/most-interesting-teams-ahead-of-the-nba-trade-deadline-joel-embiid-ducks-nikola-jokic-again

A really good discussion about the suns and the trade deadline considerations on this ringer podcast ( aproximately 36 minutes in). They bring up some intersting names as well, and one that I did forget, But is intriuging for his perfect defensive fit and rebounding capabilities and basically fits almost all of our criteria at the 3/4 spot in Jared Vanderbilt. So my question to everyone being since Miles Bridges is such a polarizing/ controversial player to even discuss in a trade for us, Would anyone actually entertain a 3 team trade that'd have:

Flakers-
Miles Bridges.

Charlotte-
Wood /Hayes / Little / LA future 2nd/ 2 Phoenix 2nds.

Phoenix-
Jared Vanderbilt/ rights to Amari Bailey OR Leaky Black??

I remember you were all about Leaky. He's similar to Herb Jones I think you said? If that holds true, let's get him. Herb would be a massive help for this team.

Yeah! I still am and still believe under the right circumstances (enviroment/opportunity/ development) he absolutely has that very similar (if not better ceiling trajectory). And I'd love to get him IF it's at all possible.

Leaky Black (6'9 205 lbs)
https://tarheelswire.usatoday.com/2023/01/26/leaky-black-named-to-naismith-mens-defensive-player-of-the-year-2023-watch-list/

Read on Twitter

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https://www.tarheelblog.com/2023/3/22/23647391/unc-basketball-tar-heels-defensive-player-of-the-year-2023-leaky-black

Brendan Marks-X
Hubert Davis says he believes Leaky Black's defense will earn him a chance in the NBA next season.

Can confirm. Have spoken with a few scouts this week, who remain interested in Black as a prospect. His defense is *that*good, plus some interesting ballhandling/passing chops.
12:10 PM · Mar 2, 2023

What most people don't know about Black is that he played guard early on and in college and has solid ball handling and passing/playmaking skills that can be strengthened to accentuate his impact/ceiling.

**AND IF we can't get Leaky Black, It would kind of suck. BUT there's still another few names coming up in this years' draft that could/should be easily attainable with similar size and defensive versatility skillset too. Names people might wanna look into briefly like: Tefale Leonard ( G League/ Texas Legends/ undrafted/unsigned), Aaron Scott ( North Texas), and Deandre Williams ( undrafted/Holy Cross Crusaders/ Massachusetts of the Patriot league). All of these 3/4s have great size at 6'8 - 6'9 with long wingspans, good athleticism, defensive versatility, and some guard skills too.

[Ghost of Kleine]

I've always loved Vando but he can't be traded until the summer

Well, That sucks but definitely thanks for the info man!

[garrick]

Watch on YouTube

I appreciate Flexs' positivity when discussing the suns, But when he argues that this suns team ISN'T the one we've been seeing struggle and underperform in the 4th quarters, he sounds like he's either intentionally disingenuous or a deluded moron in denial! I mean clearly, anyone who's followed this team knows that the suns team that has consistently struggled in 4th quarters and that gets bullied by more physical teams and becomes passive and apathetic and always struggles against length and athleticism is absolutely is this suns team!!!!

It's comments like this from him that illicits no credibility whatsoever towards his perspectives.

I hate him and the show has gone downwards since he joined.

He provides little basketball insight and is just a fanboy that allegedly has inside sources into the Suns and that's it.

[garrick]

21-4 since start of december... and really quality wins.
suns will not meet them until end of schedule. they have added a very valuable piece in theis. have a quality bench and play defense.

Theis is the kind of player we need backing up Nurkic but apparently no one in the Suns org seemed to have him on their radar and the Clips signed him off the waiver wire.

Again this goes back to GoK's post about JJ doing nothing to improve this roster and we absolutely should have made a push for Theis and he would have gotten major minutes with the way Eubanks has been stinking it up.

[Frank Lee]

This continues, as it likely will, how could the 3 Stooges NOT blow this **** up. They have fewer pathways to get better than last off season. We have a draft pick, and may be a biannual…idk for sure. So yeah we can retain Allen and may be a few others… but would you want to? This team doesn’t mesh well.

I wouldn’t give a crap if everyone was on the table. The Grim Sleeper first on the list. And get rid of Jones for Christ sakes… He’s done enough damage. He and the meddling Michiganders have taken a colossal steamer on center court, and the stench will linger for 3-4 yrs. I swear if we were about anywhere else the local media would be roasting these guys with Jones on the main spit rod.

NBA is about toasted anyway. Big money is destroying it. There is no fn way any of these dudes are worth $500k a game. Think about it. I believe I would enjoy euro basketball better, certainly the arena vibe is 10X more real. I’m about ready for hibernation from this mediocrity.


Seriously… there is no path forward other than deconstruction if these half-assers don’t get it together in the next 10-15 games. They looked checked out with each other. At least I had the foresight to put a chunky on the win total under. Yay …. (sigh)

[Calvin Klein]

Watch on YouTube

I appreciate Flexs' positivity when discussing the suns, But when he argues that this suns team ISN'T the one we've been seeing struggle and underperform in the 4th quarters, he sounds like he's either intentionally disingenuous or a deluded moron in denial! I mean clearly, anyone who's followed this team knows that the suns team that has consistently struggled in 4th quarters and that gets bullied by more physical teams and becomes passive and apathetic and always struggles against length and athleticism is absolutely is this suns team!!!!

It's comments like this from him that illicits no credibility whatsoever towards his perspectives.

I hate him and the show has gone downwards since he joined.

He provides little basketball insight and is just a fanboy that allegedly has inside sources into the Suns and that's it.

I had started watching those guys. They were fun at least and provided some catharsis after games. But why the **** did they get that fraud?? I just can't stomach listening or watching that dude so I barely listen to them anymore. He looks like a clown and talks like a clown. He conned a lot of people though.

[Calvin Klein]

This continues, as it likely will, how could the 3 Stooges NOT blow this **** up. They have fewer pathways to get better than last off season. We have a draft pick, and may be a biannual…idk for sure. So yeah we can retain Allen and may be a few others… but would you want to? This team doesn’t mesh well.

I wouldn’t give a crap if everyone was on the table. The Grim Sleeper first on the list. And get rid of Jones for Christ sakes… He’s done enough damage. He and the meddling Michiganders have taken a colossal steamer on center court, and the stench will linger for 3-4 yrs. I swear if we were about anywhere else the local media would be roasting these guys with Jones on the main spit rod.

NBA is about toasted anyway. Big money is destroying it. There is no fn way any of these dudes are worth $500k a game. Think about it. I believe I would enjoy euro basketball better, certainly the arena vibe is 10X more real. I’m about ready for hibernation from this mediocrity.


Seriously… there is no path forward other than deconstruction if these half-assers don’t get it together in the next 10-15 games. They looked checked out with each other. At least I had the foresight to put a chunky on the win total under. Yay …. (sigh)

The Grim Sleeper is great.

[Revived]

If Ishbia is serious about winning, he needs to fire James Jones immediately and pay Bob Myers how much ever it takes to leave ESPN and come replace him.

Bucks just did it with Doc Rivers.

[WeekapaugGroove]

This continues, as it likely will, how could the 3 Stooges NOT blow this **** up. They have fewer pathways to get better than last off season. We have a draft pick, and may be a biannual…idk for sure. So yeah we can retain Allen and may be a few others… but would you want to? This team doesn’t mesh well.

I wouldn’t give a crap if everyone was on the table. The Grim Sleeper first on the list. And get rid of Jones for Christ sakes… He’s done enough damage. He and the meddling Michiganders have taken a colossal steamer on center court, and the stench will linger for 3-4 yrs. I swear if we were about anywhere else the local media would be roasting these guys with Jones on the main spit rod.

NBA is about toasted anyway. Big money is destroying it. There is no fn way any of these dudes are worth $500k a game. Think about it. I believe I would enjoy euro basketball better, certainly the arena vibe is 10X more real. I’m about ready for hibernation from this mediocrity.


Seriously… there is no path forward other than deconstruction if these half-assers don’t get it together in the next 10-15 games. They looked checked out with each other. At least I had the foresight to put a chunky on the win total under. Yay …. (sigh)

This squad needs to figure some **** out and soon, no argument there.

I do find the 'league is ruined because players make too much' a weird take. Like would you rather the owners pocket more cash? Now if the argument is the league makes so god damn much off TV they should make the actual going to the game experience more affordable I can get behind that.

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[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

So size and athleticism!!
It seems that most everyone is beginning to understand that this whole skilled But small and unathletic older IQ over natural physical ability gimmick is not a recipe to win a championship. It's not the worst idea, BUT you definitely need a healthy mix of BOTH kinds of players to counter varying dynamics in specific matchups.

Especially when it comes to the much more physical grind it out chess match of the playoffs wherein our teams obvious weaknesses/ shortcomings will be schemed and picked apart strategically throughout various series. Our big three just isn't durable enough nor dominant ( consistent enough) to overcome our current size and athletic deficits. They're also way to finesse and passive to overcome the bigger and more physical teams that'll employ that strategy successfully against us in higher intensity playoff series.

We HAVE TO add more size, more athleticism, more tenacity, grit and physically aggressive or at least assertive and physically dominant players to our roster to mor end up a 2nd round to conference finals exit at best!

[spanishninja]

if our season is the movie The Dark Knight, this is the part where the mob bosses (us) get desperate enough to hire the Joker (Miles Bridges), isn't it?

[Saberestar]

Gambo

About KJ Martin

Very minimal amount of interest. I imagine if some of the players they are looking at don't happen then they could turn to KJ but I would say low interest.

About Royce O'Neale

Yes definitely interest in O’Neale - he would be a good fit.

[bwgood77]

Darn right we got him for CP3 and Shamet... an albatross of a contract to a guy that only plays half a season and is unproven in the playoffs.

Look at what Miami got for Lowry... Terry Rozier. Someone thats been on Suns radar since I can remember. And we wouldn't have him sucking down 46+ mil of Cap. Have at least some flexability when it comes to trades.

Not defending the KD trade, obviously gave up too much, but if you think Brad Beal is worth his contract... you're wrong. VERY wrong.

I don't think he's worth his deal.....same with alot of NBA players. It is what it is. Now, for what we gave up for him? Nothing. I assume you're not watching these games with blinders on and can see the impact Beal has had?

If there's a choice between the 2 and we can do over either trade, I take the Beal one all day every day over the KD one, and it's not remotely close.

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd make a poll to gauge the forum on it. Maybe BW or 1 of the other mods can edit this thread and ask if they're feeling bored lol.....

For what we paid, which player would you rather have: Beal or KD?

The question was if Beal is worth having on his current contract. Not what we paid for them. Good job turning the narrative your way.

Yeah, but that's irrelevant given our cap situation now and in the coming years.

[bwgood77]

Funny all this freaking out about what we need to do after a big winning streak and 2 losses to good teams on the road. Sucks we lost but not bad losses.

[sunsfan1o1]

Funny all this freaking out about what we need to do after a big winning streak and 2 losses to good teams on the road. Sucks we lost but not bad losses.

Have you noticed the trend? When Booker scores big we lose. When we don’t let Booker dominate the ball we win.
The winning streak was happening because of ball movement.
The current losing streak has KD averaging 17 ppg and Beal looking like a role player.

[bwgood77]

Funny all this freaking out about what we need to do after a big winning streak and 2 losses to good teams on the road. Sucks we lost but not bad losses.

Have you noticed the trend? When Booker scores big we lose. When we don’t let Booker dominate the ball we win.
The winning streak was happening because of ball movement.
The current losing streak has KD averaging 17 ppg and Beal looking like a role player.

Yes...it's hard to blame him when he is THAT efficient, but I do think any of those guys could have monster games with the other two attracting so much attention. But we need to move the ball a lot, keep everyone engaged, which will impact their offense and defense.

I saw a lot of similar complaints as yours on twitter, though, which I just posted in the game thread along with a video of a frustrated KD.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Funny all this freaking out about what we need to do after a big winning streak and 2 losses to good teams on the road. Sucks we lost but not bad losses.

This is just a brutal team to discuss on a day to day basis especially here since there's an underlying current of negativity at all times. More than any other suns team ever this is a work in progress group where all they will be judged on is their playoff performance.

They look great at times and other times they look like a group who's never played together.

I'm pretty optimistic but they really really need to figure out a couple more dudes they can trust in the rotation.

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