2025-26 Season News & Discussion

[Mr Puddles]

ChatGPT says if Beal medically retires we might be able to remove dead cap after his new season ending injury?

I don't believe this is correct. Medical retirement cap relief can only be applied for by the team that employed the player when the injury occurred—not by a previous team that bought him out prior to signing with his new team.

There is no loophole that allows us to shed Beal's dead money - we're stuck with it till 2030.

[enigmatics]

Read on Twitter

Any chance he could become a buy low trade candidate by the deer deadline that we should consider?

Don't need him. They sold high for once.

[bullsaficianado]

Proof the Beal trade ruined the potential for Durant/Booker duo. Oh well. When I saw that news it did not surprise me dude seems made of glass glad he is way gone.

[NapoleonII]

Do we really want him if he is shooting like this? For some reason his shots hasn't been falling, I think he will be fine. Right now he is mostly standing on the perimeter looking for spot up opportunity and not yet integrated into their offense and I think he is better than that, base on his time in Brooklyn. Bottom line he needs to make his shots.

Read on Twitter

I do think he could be much better in our system here playing with Booker whom he's familiar with. Sure he's not my top frontcourt scoring option I'd choose. But I think his familiarity with our franchise/ Booker would yield much better results.

He's an upgrade over Royce in every way but sadly we don't have the assets to make the trade work both in talent and matching salaries.

Cam is too good of a shooter to shoot this poorly so it must be either a confidence thing or maybe something in Utah's water.

He's not an upgrade over Royce.

Royce is having a special season.

[garrick]

I do think he could be much better in our system here playing with Booker whom he's familiar with. Sure he's not my top frontcourt scoring option I'd choose. But I think his familiarity with our franchise/ Booker would yield much better results.

He's an upgrade over Royce in every way but sadly we don't have the assets to make the trade work both in talent and matching salaries.

Cam is too good of a shooter to shoot this poorly so it must be either a confidence thing or maybe something in Utah's water.

He's not an upgrade over Royce.

Royce is having a special season.

So far. How long do you think Royce is going to keep up his hot streak?

Royce has never averaged double digits in scoring over his long career and his averages will fall in line to his career average while Cam has had 6 seasons scoring in double digits.

Cam is simply the superior player in every aspect.

[Saberestar]

He's an upgrade over Royce in every way but sadly we don't have the assets to make the trade work both in talent and matching salaries.

Cam is too good of a shooter to shoot this poorly so it must be either a confidence thing or maybe something in Utah's water.

He's not an upgrade over Royce.

Royce is having a special season.

So far. How long do you think Royce is going to keep up his hot streak?

Royce has never averaged double digits in scoring over his long career and his averages will fall in line to his career average while Cam has had 6 seasons scoring in double digits.

Cam is simply the superior player in every aspect.

You have to take into consideration their contracts:

Royce is on a $32M/3 years contract...not even $11M per year.

Cam Johnson is on a $44M/2 years contract. $22M per year and he will be UFA one year before Royce.


He earns double the money playing the same position and having a similar role on the team.

Yeah, Cam Johnson is more dynamic on offense, but let's not fool ourselves... while he's decent on defense, he's worse and less tough than Royce on defense and on the glass.

Right now, Cam is not an upgrade over Royce and he's already a veteran player who won't improve his game. In my opinion, it's not even worth considering trading for him.

[sunsbg]

I thought it was risky to give Cam a new big contract when he was up for it. Remember he got injured with no contact. Then we got Beal for double to triple the money. Cam looked good on the Nets for a year or so. Now not so much with the Nuggets playing next to Jokic no less. I think I'm fine with Royce for half the money.

[Calvin Klein]

I thought it was risky to give Cam a new big contract when he was up for it. Remember he got injured with no contact. Then we got Beal for double to triple the money. Cam looked good on the Nets for a year or so. Now not so much with the Nuggets playing next to Jokic no less. I think I'm fine with Royce for half the money.

definitely, considering the money, but Cam should return to form in time, unless there's something I'm missing (injury or something else)

[KdoubleDees23]

I do think he could be much better in our system here playing with Booker whom he's familiar with. Sure he's not my top frontcourt scoring option I'd choose. But I think his familiarity with our franchise/ Booker would yield much better results.

He's an upgrade over Royce in every way but sadly we don't have the assets to make the trade work both in talent and matching salaries.

Cam is too good of a shooter to shoot this poorly so it must be either a confidence thing or maybe something in Utah's water.

He's not an upgrade over Royce.

Royce is having a special season.

CamJo is nothing special. He was just liked for his relationship with Bridges and the twins nickname.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

He's not an upgrade over Royce.

Royce is having a special season.

So far. How long do you think Royce is going to keep up his hot streak?

Royce has never averaged double digits in scoring over his long career and his averages will fall in line to his career average while Cam has had 6 seasons scoring in double digits.

Cam is simply the superior player in every aspect.

You have to take into consideration their contracts:

Royce is on a $32M/3 years contract...not even $11M per year.

Cam Johnson is on a $44M/2 years contract. $22M per year and he will be UFA one year before Royce.


He earns double the money playing the same position and having a similar role on the team.

Yeah, Cam Johnson is more dynamic on offense, but let's not fool ourselves... while he's decent on defense, he's worse and less tough than Royce on defense and on the glass.

Right now, Cam is not an upgrade over Royce and he's already a veteran player who won't improve his game. In my opinion, it's not even worth considering trading for him.

Have we not learned by now that the most important ability is availability? Cam has averaged 57 GP/season over the course of his career. Royce averages 76 GP. Even if all else were equal, that's a momumental difference.

FWIW, I don't think Cam would be a good fit in our offense. I'd rather have Booker, Allen, Gillespie (or Green) on the ball at the top of the key - or even Royce - deciding whether to take the first available long three or driving to the basket. Cam's not the guy you want attacking closeouts. And I don't want to pay $22 million to a guy we're just kicking it out to for open threes when the defense collapses or following a double-team. If your best player leads the league in assists (like Jokic, or Chris Paul a few years ago), then maybe. But for us? Naw, man.

There is one small silver lining to the limbo we're in as a franchise (not contending, unable to tank, but overperforming), which is that we can wait for opportunity to come knocking.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

By the way, how disgusting is it that the best team in the league (which is also one of the youngest), can expect this delicious buffet come July?

https://www.tankathon.com/

Even if we had all our picks, what hope does anyone but SAS have to stand up to this juggernaut in the foreseeable future?

[handsome salary]

Nice wins against some lousy teams but I'll hold off on genuine enthusiasm till after mid-late December.
Very soon it's gonna be game after game against the top Western teams for weeks. Let's see where they are at then.

[sunsbg]

By the way, how disgusting is it that the best team in the league (which is also one of the youngest), can expect this delicious buffet come July?

https://www.tankathon.com/

Even if we had all our picks, what hope does anyone but SAS have to stand up to this juggernaut in the foreseeable future?

Ishbia told us we should not care about 7th graders. OKC got lucky last season. Only way is down with so many youngsters.

[Calvin Klein]

By the way, how disgusting is it that the best team in the league (which is also one of the youngest), can expect this delicious buffet come July?

https://www.tankathon.com/

Even if we had all our picks, what hope does anyone but SAS have to stand up to this juggernaut in the foreseeable future?

They will have to pay everybody now so it won't be as simple as just acquiring new players. And if they keep winning, good for them. No superfriends BS and they built a roster that play like a proper team in a small market.

[Ghost of Kleine]

By the way, how disgusting is it that the best team in the league (which is also one of the youngest), can expect this delicious buffet come July?

https://www.tankathon.com/

Even if we had all our picks, what hope does anyone but SAS have to stand up to this juggernaut in the foreseeable future?

OKC is the standard and doing everything perfectly by giving their rookies valuable playing time for experience and to build value by playing alongside of their vets.

They built right through the draft giving them cost controlled talent/ assets and acquired limitless picks which are premium currency in today's NBA under this new CBA.

Their embarrassment of riches in the way of young talent and picks galore will allow them to maintain cost control and move off of players that become too expensive (outplaying their contracts value) but allowing them to trade those players for even more assets toward sustainability and cost control.

Our front office and many others needs to be taking notes!

[NapoleonII]

Yup, it's hard to hate on OKC. Terrific management and coaching for the last 4-5 years.

Now, SGA getting 15+ calls in a game, yeah that's pretty awful.

But hey, Jalen Green, get healthy, and drive to the rim 18.7 times a game like Shai (#2 in the league, second only to Cade and Zion who only plays 1/4 of games) and put that much pressure on defenses, you'll help us win.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Ideally, what I'm looking for would be a frontcourt scoring option with offensive versatility and floor spacing skillset.

Now of course, Markannen would be the ideal fit. But clearly we don't have the assets to really get him! I'd love to somehow create a mechanism to get one of:

1- Markannen.
2- Brandon Ingram.
3- Towns ( for his scoring abilities and size).

While still keeping Booker and Green to recreate a more functional big three of Booker/ Green/ frontcourt scoring option. But again we just don't have the assets.

Cheaper options being:
1- Zach Collins.
2- Santi Aldama.
3- Kelly Olynyk.

I would really love to find a way to trade for John Collins if the Clippers end up blowing things up soon if they can't find a way to turn things around. I believe both he and Olynyk will be free agents and are on expiring deals.

But I don't think we'd have enough cap to outright sign either really. Lastly, I'm not sure where our 2nd round pick ( Mavs) will actually end up! But I have scouted around 5-6 very good under the radar PF talents for if we choose to go in that direction for better cost control.

[NapoleonII]

-No more trades to any of our top 8-9 guys.

-No more big 3's


Internal development is our only hope, really.

-We need Dunn to reach Mikal Bridges level of impact - not impossible - and hit 3's above 35%.

-We need Fleming to become a solid rotation piece, capable of hitting 3's - not impossible.

-We need Gillespie/Allen/Royce to continue their bombing. They're performing beautifully against bad to solid teams, but can they do it against the best defenses?

-We need Green to become an all-star and fit next to Booker - it looked entirely possible.

-Maluach is the wildcard - he either takes us to another level with a Myles Turner level impact or not. Cost control on a young, promising center for 5-6 years might just save us.

Draft and pray that we hit a real PF for next year.

[lilfishi22]

He's not an upgrade over Royce.

Royce is having a special season.

So far. How long do you think Royce is going to keep up his hot streak?

Royce has never averaged double digits in scoring over his long career and his averages will fall in line to his career average while Cam has had 6 seasons scoring in double digits.

Cam is simply the superior player in every aspect.

You have to take into consideration their contracts:

Royce is on a $32M/3 years contract...not even $11M per year.

Cam Johnson is on a $44M/2 years contract. $22M per year and he will be UFA one year before Royce.


He earns double the money playing the same position and having a similar role on the team.

Yeah, Cam Johnson is more dynamic on offense, but let's not fool ourselves... while he's decent on defense, he's worse and less tough than Royce on defense and on the glass.

Right now, Cam is not an upgrade over Royce and he's already a veteran player who won't improve his game. In my opinion, it's not even worth considering trading for him.

The better comparison should be Dillon Brooks vs Cam Johnson given they can be straight up traded for each other unlike Royce who makes half the money of Cam. Brooks and Johnson also plays more or less similar positions at the 3/4 (Brooks has played 98% of his minutes at the 4), they do very similar things in terms of being a shooting/scoring role player but Cam is bigger, he's longer and I think his shot profile is a lot cleaner.

[bigfoot]

By the way, how disgusting is it that the best team in the league (which is also one of the youngest), can expect this delicious buffet come July?

https://www.tankathon.com/

Even if we had all our picks, what hope does anyone but SAS have to stand up to this juggernaut in the foreseeable future?

OKC is the standard and doing everything perfectly by giving their rookies valuable playing time for experience and to build value by playing alongside of their vets.

They built right through the draft giving them cost controlled talent/ assets and acquired limitless picks which are premium currency in today's NBA under this new CBA.

Their embarrassment of riches in the way of young talent and picks galore will allow them to maintain cost control and move off of players that become too expensive (outplaying their contracts value) but allowing them to trade those players for even more assets toward sustainability and cost control.

Our front office and many others needs to be taking notes!

I don't think OKC is giving the rookies very much playing time.

1) Nikola Topic has testicular cancer and hasn't played at all.
2) Thomas Sorber torn his ACL and hasn't played at all
3) Chris Youngblood is a 23-year old two-way rookie averaging 5.3 minutes per game
4) Brooks Barnhizer is a 23-year old two-way rookie averaging 7.6 minutes per game

Comparing playing time for Youngblood and Barnhizer to Malauch (19) and Fleming (21) doesn't square. Maybe Brea is a fair comparison because he is a 23-year old rookie. However, OKC is blowing out a lot of teams so their rookies are automatically getting more minutes. Add in that Joe, Dort, and Caruso have been injured gives them more opportunity. We came in four deep at center so Maluach getting much time is gonna take a bit. Brea is so far down in the guard pecking order its gonna take a miracle for him to get time. Fleming seems most likely to get time by the end of the season if Oso continues his weak play. I'd much prefer to home grow Fleming than get some free agent like Lauri.

If the Suns have turned a corner on the culture front and this team continues hard-nosed, defensive play there is no need to have more draft picks next season. Nine players are under contract, two more should certainly be resigned as free agents Gillispie and Williams. That makes 11. Then they need to decide what to do with Richards, Brea, Goodwin, Livers, and Huntley. I could see keeping all of them but Richards so that's 15. Once Richards is gone that makes playing time for Maluach next year.

In terms of the draft we don't need four picks a year. Overall the team is young at around 25 years old average. Also, the Suns have a second rounder and could buy another to fill out the roster. Finally, continuity is a big difference in the overall team performance. No need to make a major overhaul the roster with free agents and untested rookies unless it is underperforming (e.g., Durant, Beal, etc). The Suns seem to be picking up the "right" types of players now. Let it simmer for a long while and it will taste better.