bwgood77 wrote:After our KD trade, and maybe getting rid of Allen and O'Neale for probably not much, do people think Book will have a better supporting cast than when we were winning 20-30 games from 2015-2019 (Bledsoe, TJ Warren, Derrick Jones Jr, Tyson Channdler in 16-17 when we won 24. In 15-16 when we won 23 we also had PJ Tucker, Markieff Morris and Alex Len)...in 17-18 we only had Bledsoe and DJJ for a few games, but later got Elfrid Payton. We still have Booker, TJ (played in 65 games, 11 more than Book), Tyson Chandler and Alex Len. Though we also had rookie Josh Jackson, and 2nd year Chriss and Len (though still won 21 games, only a few games less than the prior 2 years).
Then in 18-19, we added Oubre, Tyler Johnson, rookies DA and MIkal, Richaun Holmes, De'Anthony Melton, and 43 games of TJ Warren.
Now, with Booker, Oubre, TJ, DA, Mikal, Melton and Johnson, that wasn't a terrible mix of talent...we also had Crawford, Jackson...
This season, with a return on KD, along with Book and whoever else, will we be better? I don't think we will likely have a better C duo than Ayton and Holmes, or wing trio of Bridges, Oubre and TJ where one could play PF. Tyler Johnson was decent a times as was Melton....so PG wasn't terrible.
We won 19 games that year. Will our roster look better this year? If so, by how much?
I think there is a case to be made that blowing it up isn't necessarily the only option though when the Suns do in fact trade KD. Warriors kept 32 year-old Curry in 2020-21 season after the Warriors finished 8th in the West but ending up losing in the play-in, and then the following season in 2021-22 season they won the championship. They did have Klay Thompson return in the 2nd half of the season, but they had incredible play from role players such as Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins.
I'm not trying to compare Booker to Curry, I'm just stating that a retool isn't out of the realm of possibility. Suns just have to nail draft picks, grab players that are interested in winning and not just making money. Players that are not just interested in the one-year prove it deals to get more the following season either, players that want to be part of a winning culture.
I do agree though that Booker likely won't have a better supporting cast than some he has had in previous seasons, I suppose I'm just being optimistic. I do think Royce O'Neal and Grayson Allen might need to go and ideally Booker is able to build a winning culture with a new set of players around him. It would be Kobe-esque to see Booker build something up with a brand new team.