Make the Suns into a playoff team this year...

[NotTraxxe]

Hypothetical:

Make the Suns a playoff team this year and moving forward:

Trade Suns 2014 first, Lakers 2015 first/Len/Marshall/Scola for Lamarcus Aldridge & Freeland
S&T for Iggy.
Resign Gortat.
Sign JR Smith
Sign JO

Bledsoe/Dragic/Iggy/LMA/Gortat
Goodwin/JR Smith/Butler/JO

Pick up a backup center with Minn 2014 pick.


I think that team makes the playoffs for a while. Doesn't contend but keeps us competitive.

[Revived]

I refuse to make the Suns a playoff team this year even if its hypothetically....

[bigfoot]

I refuse to make the Suns a playoff team this year even if its hypothetically....

Yeah ... well I refuse to take my eyes off of Kate's bouncing tatas.

[phrazbit]

Horray, you've made a team with no draft future and no cap space and that is, at best, early playoff fodder for legit contenders.

And that is about triple what Aldrigde is worth anyway.

[grumpysaddle]

Hypothetical:

Make the Suns a playoff team this year and moving forward:

Trade Suns 2014 first, Lakers 2015 first/Len/Marshall/Scola for Lamarcus Aldridge & Freeland
S&T for Iggy.
Resign Gortat.
Sign JR Smith
Sign JO

Bledsoe/Dragic/Iggy/LMA/Gortat
Goodwin/JR Smith/Butler/JO

Pick up a backup center with Minn 2014 pick.


I think that team makes the playoffs for a while. Doesn't contend but keeps us competitive.

Lance Blanks, is that you? Nice to see you created a profile on this site in secret.

[Fo-Real]

Too much for LMA........ Gortat+ Scola + Minny 2014 1st + signed and traded J O'neal filler (2nd rnd picks)Fixes their bench problems for Aldrige+ Withey. They could then re-sign Hickson who was a beast for them last year for much cheaper and move him to his real spot of Pf, at times he outplayed Aldrige.... Then Butler (8 mil expiring... salary dump) + both Morris brothers + Shannon The Cannon (salary dump, might as well get use out of his now larger expiring contract) for Rudy Gay. Yeah.... I said Rudy FU$#!NG GAY!!! ....... Starters Parker, Ginobili...... ****.... I mean Bledso/ Dragic (lol)/ Gay/ Lma/ Len....... Bench Marshall/ Goodwin/ Tucker/ Frye/ Oriahki/ Withey/ whoever else

[RunSunRun]

I like you NotTraxxe, but sometimes an idea that sounds good in your head just doesn't look good once you post it on an internet forum.

I'm not sure what the point is though to be a competitive team that doesn't contend, that sounds like hell to me, like being the Milwaukee Bucks who just aim for the 8th seed and to get swept out of the playoffs each year.

[DRK]

No offense to OP. But this is one of most pointless threads Ive ever seen on this board

[rsavaj]

I honestly don't think there's a way to make this team a playoff squad this year. Sure, you could pursue Horford or Aldridge, but you'd give up so much in the process that you'd be left with a shell of a team.

[Kerrsed]

I honestly don't think there's a way to make this team a playoff squad this year. Sure, you could pursue Horford or Aldridge, but you'd give up so much in the process that you'd be left with a shell of a team.

[Revived]

I refuse to make the Suns a playoff team this year even if its hypothetically....

Yeah ... well I refuse to take my eyes off of Kate's bouncing tatas.

Hahaha then don't

[NotTraxxe]

The point here is that you can make the suns a playoff team. But you mortgage the future. There are very few scenarios where we do anything but compete for a low playoff seed.

Superstars are essential for the NBA. We won't be attracting any. The modern NBA is all about markets for superstars.

The only way now you roll into your own star/superstar given the current NBA is as follows:

Draft one.
Get one on death's door in a trade.
Overpay for a borderline star.

The Thunder are the small market exception. They drafted their contenders. And their contenders stayed because they developed a team. The thunder got lucky too.

Tanking is now essential in the NBA. This is a product that suggests the following is needed: Contraction, salary cap changes, contractual changes...

Otherwise teams are stuck rebuilding through the draft. Only big market teams can retool anymore. And we don't have an owner (DALLLAS) that will offset the other factors against us.

You can rebuild this team a number of ways to compete. But in doing so you mortgage the future, stifle contention possibilities, and step on progress.

In today's NBA unless you are with a filthy rich market potential. Success comes through drafting and youth development. That's today's NBA.

Tank on.

[DRK]

Wait so...

The point of this thread was for OP to state a point and set a challenge for other posters to attempt, for then the OP to later contradict his original post and provide evidence to prove that his original post was indeed pointless by rebutting his original statement and providing an alternative solution to his original proposed idea?

I'ld hire you as my lawyer.

[NotTraxxe]

Wait so...

The point of this thread was for OP to state a point and set a challenge for other posters to attempt, for then the OP to later contradict his original post and provide evidence to prove that his original post was indeed pointless by rebutting his original statement and providing an alternative solution to his original proposed idea?

I'ld hire you as my lawyer.

Except the anti-tank people I was trying to goad into posting also know that it would be next to impossible to make the Suns relevant again this year and moving forward. They are idealists. They have blinders on to the nature oft he NBA and for the love of the game want to see it done the right way. The want the NBA to be a league they would proudly have their children in. They do not recognize that the NBA has become a financial institution self-serving its best interests. And the interests of the one's with the money and the one's without (the fans) only hold together as long as the social contract (the goodwill) between the NBA and their fans are maintained.

The talent in the NBA is spread too thin. Contraction is a necessity. I would start with two teams and then in two years take away two more. That's for the sake of the game. This will never happen. When the Sacremento Kings can get bids for half a billion to own. The capitalist side of the game will rape the free market for all its worth.

Large markets dominate because the elite talent is in high demand. The only way to improve this in my estimation without contraction is to lower the salary cap so that each team could afford one superstar at the most. You force spread the wealth through financial obligations of the clubs. The super superstars will still end up in the great markets but then you will see the rest of the markets grow.

Right now you see sub-stars being the people that go to the 'other' markets. Players like Iggy and LMA are prime example of where fringe players will filter through other teams due to the talent and salary holds they command. The problem in the NBA is that these sub-stars can be gobbled up by the larger markets in greater numbers. As they hit the elevated cap limits.

And outside of drafting a Love, Durant, Westbrook -- we will never attract players like that. And the Suns are in a better situation than most (absent Sarver). And it's still hard.

That leaves us, teams like the Suns.... at best, only able to land fringe top level talent at best. And forces us into relevancy and true competition through the Draft.

And so -- if you are a fan that wants to see the Suns embrace the new era of media ball. You must embrace tanking. Otherwise you will be ushered into a long depressing stand of irrelevance in today's NBA. You'll see a record number of teams tanking this year. The people with the money know what's up too.

[Fo-Real]

Am I the only one who actually followed the premis of the thread title and hypothetically threw an idea out there? I think some of you sensitive people missed the first damn word, it was HYPOTHETICAL. For all of you who are sympathetic to the tanking idea, he isn't trying to offend you, just trying to pick the brains of people on this board as to what you think it would take to get this team into the playoffs now. What quick fix move would make us relevant right now. He didn't say championship, he didn't say anything about beating the Thunder or Miami, just what pieces (while of course mortgaging our future because the draft is over), could be made with the players actually available could make us a fringe playoff team.

Now if you don't want to play the game, cool and understandable, don't play. But you are wasting your time and energy bitching about the thread and how crazy the idea is... and how none of this will happen... and how we shouldn't want to make the playoffs.. and how this thread is dumb..... then pass it up, why even post if you don't have something constructive to add to the thread. Yet we have guys on here who constantly throw our dream trades with no bad coming back to get guys like Horford and the likes. Drafting Wiggins and who ever is going to be a franchise saver when there are 29 other teams drafting too and the chances of us actually getting him is razor slim to nil, even if we had the worst record, we would get FU$#ED when the ping pong balls dropped.

For the guys who are making either noise themselves or the team might be looking to salary dump Not Traxxe, HYPOTHETICALLY!!!! while killing our future cap but getting guys who can fit together and ball I would go with my above trades and field a team of.... Bledso/ Dragic/ Gay/ Aldrige/ Len as our starters. I think that team would make the playoffs and be fun to watch. I think since Bledso is an above avg. defender, great athlete and has long arms he and dragic would work great in the backcourt together. The fact that neither one of Bledso or Dragic are great pure shooters, and both are more attacking guards/scorers while still getting decent assist numbers, I think Gay would be a perfect wing. Gay is a cold blooded shooter and bonified go to guy in the clutch. Aldrige would be a beast in the post, he can score at will, requiring a double team at all times, rebound his position, and defends very well. Len would be given the chance to develop around some talented players in that starting lineup, and at 7"1 and athletic could learn a hell of a lot from LMA.

That whole starting unit can defend their position (only concern would be Len because he is a skinny rook), Gay has always been a good defender. All would be considered starter material all around the league, not like when we started Wes, Duds, or Tucker, and you had to actually ask yourself if any of these guys would be able to start for ANY other team. All in the unit can score when given the opportunity, I would think between that group there would be some monster games from each throughout the year. For all of you "THAT WONT WORK" winers... I know there are holes, one being an unproven or bad bench and other things... yeah nothing can be fixed perfectly and there will always be holes, but I think that starting lineup makes THE PLAYOFFS!!! The premis of the thread is tweaks to make the playoffs, I at no time said they could do any better, or if this team was a sure thing to make the playoffs, just an idea and opinion because its hypothetical.

[Safety Pickle]

Holy christ. the point of this thread is to have fun and post hypothetical trades that would get us into the playoffs next year. None of this stuff is going to happen. It's for fun. Jesus