The Official 2025 Offseason Thread #4 Free Agency Opens!

[lilfishi22]

Royce and Nick for Rui. I have always thought Rui had more potential than he was being misused for. In a contract year with a more active role (rather than being a Doncic/Bron and formerly Davis/Bron sidekick), he might play his ass off. He is 27, athletic, shoots threes almost at a Grayson Allen percentage and actually has a post game that he isn't allowed to use very much.

I'd much rather Rui than Kuminga. Rui has comfortably shot above 40% in each of the last two seasons, nearly 60% from 2PT, is a career 76% FT shooter and in his 3 seasons with the Lakers, has never averaged more than 0.7 turnovers a game. He's got decent size for the 4, he can create a little and has been a really efficient player over the last couple of years.

He really does do a lot of things well. Its rare to be both a good shooter and good and smart cutter. He is an intuitive passer and he even plays decent defense. He is basically a 3 level scorer in he strokes 3's, has an effective post game and sticks midranget jumpers at a high clip. At 27, he is smack in his prime basically, has been healthy and has legit pf size. Underrated in my opinion.

I've always been a fan of Rui, and fully recognise his limitations as a bit of a soft PF without much of a rebounding game. But I like what he brings to the table now, which is solid floor spacing, a bit of shot creation, efficient scoring and low turnovers.

[sunskerr]

There is more evidence Kuminga is not very good than there is evidence that he is waiting to break out.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing value of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

[Sunsdeuce]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing value of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

Has there ever been a team maxed out on salary, with no draft picks, and projected to be a bottom five team? Like
Are we making history?

[KdoubleDees23]

TBH . I am going to put $5k over 30 wins.

[KdoubleDees23]

Not sure why I laughed so hard at this

[bigfoot]

State of this board

[sunsfan1o1]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing value of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

Has there ever been a team maxed out on salary, with no draft picks, and projected to be a bottom five team? Like
Are we making history?

This is why you should stop listening to people who know nothing about basketball. There’s at least 13 teams worse than the Suns.
Celtics
Nets
Hornets
Bulls
Pacers
Heat
Sixers
Blazers
Kings
Raptors
Jazz
Wizards
Pelicans

Honorable mentions: warriors, lakers, bucks, spurs, grizzlies, mavericks, clippers, Pistons, twolves

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing value of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

Has there ever been a team maxed out on salary, with no draft picks, and projected to be a bottom five team? Like
Are we making history?

This is why you should stop listening to people who know nothing about basketball. There’s at least 13 teams worse than the Suns.
Celtics
Nets
Hornets
Bulls
Pacers
Heat
Sixers
Blazers
Kings
Raptors
Jazz
Wizards
Pelicans

Honorable mentions: warriors, lakers, bucks, spurs, grizzlies, mavericks, clippers, Pistons, twolves

Based on your assessment, that would put us solidly in playoff territory next season. I'd be pleasantly surprised if we weren't a bottom 8 team.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

[sunsfan1o1]

Has there ever been a team maxed out on salary, with no draft picks, and projected to be a bottom five team? Like
Are we making history?

This is why you should stop listening to people who know nothing about basketball. There’s at least 13 teams worse than the Suns.
Celtics
Nets
Hornets
Bulls
Pacers
Heat
Sixers
Blazers
Kings
Raptors
Jazz
Wizards
Pelicans

Honorable mentions: warriors, lakers, bucks, spurs, grizzlies, mavericks, clippers, Pistons, twolves

Based on your assessment, that would put us solidly in playoff territory next season. I'd be pleasantly surprised if we weren't a bottom 8 team.

Only 3 teams I would guarantee would be better than the Suns.
OKC, Denver and Houston.
Suns have a really good team and a coach who came from a really good program. Everyone is sleeping on the Suns. Another reason I think we probably get in the playoffs. We have defense, offense, rebounding,
Hustle, grit.

[sunsbg]

TBH . I am going to put $5k over 30 wins.

Safely put all your savings. Suns Pelicans WCF as I said in previous post.

Last time I checked it was 31.5, seems bookies adjusted expecting the Suns to make a trade.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

He wasn't talking about basketball. The Dbacks.

[Mr Puddles]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing valuie of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

Has there ever been a team maxed out on salary, with no draft picks, and projected to be a bottom five team? Like
Are we making history?

Add the historical level of dead salary we have on our roster as well, and we're making history all of the place. Imagine if the Stephien Rule and the 15% max dead salary rule didn't exist, we'd probably be trading our 2035 unprotected for Kuminga right now, and buying out and stretching Grayson Allen to reduce the second apron hit. I'd give it 3 season before we're a first apron team on dead salary alone, and our earliest draft pick would be in the next century.

[King4Day]

Read on Twitter

He wasn't talking about basketball. The Dbacks.

Yep. MLB trade deadline day.

[King4Day]

This feels a lil satisfying. I don't get into it with people on twitter so it's nice to see this guy being a jerk wasn't warranted (not warranted regardless but still)

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

And the person still hasn't responded to my last comment.

[garrick]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing value of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we don't have the 2026 pick which after the WAS swap the worst pick out of them will go to CHA as part of the Nurkic trade. Also if the Suns trade for Kuminga that is going to make the Bradley Beal waive and stretch meaningless because we will be way up over the 2nd apron again with a highly overrated player in Kuminga.

There's a reason why only the Kings and Suns really want him and that's because these two teams have the worst owners in the league.

We still have a 2nd round pick next year though it's going to be a swapped pick from the worst of Indy, Bos or Miami.

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/future_drafts/team

[garrick]

I would have taken the trade in a heartbeat. But we all gonna see if this from office either was right to stay put and draft Maluach or regret it. Josh Jackson is my lesson learned when it comes to players with “potential” vs players more NBA ready.

I learned a lesson just this past season with Dunn. I thought the guy was gonna get like 10-15mpg max because his lack of offense is going to make him a weak link. But credit to him for working hard and working on his shot and while he still wasn't a good shooter by any definition of the word, it was enough to keep him in games long enough to be a menace defensively.

What we got in the guys we've drafted this year and the last are talented and hard working prospects with seemingly the right attitude and at least one projectable elite NBA skill/measurable. If we're talking about a guy who is more polished, could probably play right away, that's probably someone like Queen. But the guy has engagement and motor issues and as importantly, he's not very good defensively. And we've seen dudes with a bad motor and poor defense fade out as well despite being polished and ready to play on the offensive end. There's trade offs no matter who you go with. And I think taking the consensus BPA in the 2nd half of the lottery is a reasonably sound approach.

Let me preference by saying, I like Dunn. I think he’s going to be in the league a long time. But if he doesn’t develop an offensive game, I’m not sure what he’s role will be long term in this league. He was on a rollercoaster all year. Sometimes he was unplayable and other times he looked like a bonafide starter. To be quite frank, I’m still not sure who or what Dunn is yet. What I liked: his defense ethic. What I didn’t like, his standing around on offense, waiting to shoot threes in the corner. He’s bread and butter on offense should be endless movement. Cutting, driving, dunking. Last year, his bread and butter was corner threes (which were not exactly a sure thing). With his shooting limitations he should be poor mans Shawn Marion. He should live and breathe by cuts, put backs and offensive rebounding. Threes should be secondary.

He's a taller Josh Okogie.

Looks amazing when they're hitting their threes but if they aren't they're a huge liability on offense and sometimes unplayable. For Dunn I think his poor free throw shooting really limits him in cuts to the basket because when you can't even hit over 50 percent of your free throws teams you probably aren't going to want to get fouled for fear of missing so many free throws.

[Saberestar]

This feels a lil satisfying. I don't get into it with people on twitter so it's nice to see this guy being a jerk wasn't warranted (not warranted regardless but still)

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

And the person still hasn't responded to my last comment.

If that's correct we definitely have 3 2nds available.

2026
2029
2032

[dremill24]

Read on Twitter

This is why it's critically important to at minimum try and be as competitive as possible to minimize the outgoing value of that 26' 1st that Memphis will get to cash in on.

We've done great in the draft (on the margins), although I for my part would've taken that NOP trade to get that unprotected 26' 1st.


Because although I like Maluach and believe he has potential, and we desperately need the acquisition of some high end assets. And a shot in one of the more loaded drafts of these next few years. And even at 23, we'd still have some really solid options to address positional needs, swing talent.

But to the original point, the 27 draft is considered to be one of the weakest in awhile. And we've already missed out on numerous free agent acquisitions as a result of waiting on the Beal buyout (which was an impulsive mistake to a degree).

Some on this board would prefer us to just wait and see how our trade deadline plays out with the taxpayer midlevel, trade options, buyouts. But really to what end has waiting benefited us in free agency the last few years.

We need to engineer good trades that we'll help us have the best chance to sneak into the playoffs and minimize that outgoing pick value for next season.

And with Allen's and O'neales' values being poor, and having no legit assets left to package too, exploring options to take back a less desirable option to also acquire picks, better pieces?? is a viable option to achieve this.

This next season needs to be strong for us competitively to mitigate lost value from that pick, and create a springboard towards relevancy again.

Has there ever been a team maxed out on salary, with no draft picks, and projected to be a bottom five team? Like
Are we making history?

This is why you should stop listening to people who know nothing about basketball. There’s at least 13 teams worse than the Suns.
Celtics
Nets
Hornets
Bulls
Pacers
Heat
Sixers
Blazers
Kings
Raptors
Jazz
Wizards
Pelicans

Honorable mentions: warriors, lakers, bucks, spurs, grizzlies, mavericks, clippers, Pistons, twolves

So when you're wrong, we get to definitively say that you know nothing about basketball?