Suns shouldn't spend a lot in the summer of 2014

[sunskerr]

My belief is that Markieff can be better than Frye, if he isn't already. While I don't want to discount Frye's defensive improvement (however marginal), I think Markieff can bring more toughness inside. I also think that Frye's year-long injury has made him something of an odd man out on a roster that has gone from vets to young in the span that he's been out. If we're developing our young guys (might as well - they're all we've got for the moment) then Frye is not going to get very much playing time, if at all.

If we're going by how the roster is right now (approximate):

Markieff/Marcus
Gortat/Len/Plumlee

Right now the only way I can see Frye get minutes is playing behind Gortat at the backup 5 while Len recovers (probably won't be in a rush to get Len minutes anyway). Does he outplay Markieff or Marcus getting major minutes at the 4 on a rebuilding team when he's just coming back from a life threatening injury? It's pretty unlikely. Now, some of these guys won't be here past next year presumably, but does that mean you don't play them? That's wasting an opportunity to develop a young player.

All the stuff I wrote above is still under the assumption that Frye comes back healthy enough to play.

[phrazbit]

The Markieff of last year was sneaky bad. His stats were not good on their own but his on court off court stats paint a picture of a true disaster. I hope he can get better but he has a looooooong way to go.


And SF88, I dont like either of their contracts, but Anderson does not make 10 mil a year. If I had to choose between the two, Frye or Anderson for an extra ~2 mil, its Anderson by a mile.

[TASTIC]

The Markieff of last year was sneaky bad. His stats were not good on their own but his on court off court stats paint a picture of a true disaster. I hope he can get better but he has a looooooong way to go.


And SF88, I dont like either of their contracts, but Anderson does not make 10 mil a year. If I had to choose between the two, Frye or Anderson for an extra ~2 mil, its Anderson by a mile.

I'd rather Ilyasova @ $8m than Anderson or Frye. He's tough, very good rebounder and if he actually got 32-35min consistently he could be a 17-10 guy, easily. Second half stats were

If Bledsoe really comes on and develops as a playmaker, I wouldn't be against moving Dragic for Ilyasova. Talent wise it might be a sideways move, but Ily would fit a need much more as a good rebounding PF on a reasonable contract. That's not to say I'm not keen to see what Dragic + Bledsoe can do first, I just think Dragic would likely be the odd man out as McD got "his guy" Bledsoe here as his first big move as GM.

[DRK]

If we're talking big men around the 8 million per year scale, give me Paul Millsap.

[EB2]

If we're talking big men around the 8 million per year scale, give me Paul Millsap.

He makes 9.5 million. His previous contract was about 8 million per I believe.

[thamadkant]

Milsap once he loses a bit of his athleticism will become mediocre.

He isn't Marion who played big during his prime but now is a damn good SF defender.


Ilyasova is interesting... But geez I just realise... Len / Plumlee / Ilyasova or Anderson front court would be European style as they come.

[Durins Baynes]

The best blueprint I see, is doing something like Indiana did. Hopefully we have our big man like they got first, then next year hopefully we get our centerpiece (kind of like their Paul George) and then maybe we can find an undervalued PF (if we draft a SF...or go for the SF if we draft a PF) that teams are kind of sleeping on (like when they signed David West).

Indiana spent 5 years mired in mediocrity with sub-500 records. They had most things break their way, and they still are arguably not really contenders. Yes, they pushed the Heat in the playoffs to a 7 game series, before the Heat turned it up a notch and won. But then so did the 37 win Hawks against the 66 win Celtics in 2008. It didn't necessarily indicate the 2008 Hawks were contenders though did it. In reality the Pacers had the 8th best record last year, the 9th best SRS and the 8th best differential. If they played in the West I doubt they'd have made it out of the 1st round, certainly not the 2nd, and this year with the improved East I doubt they make it out of the 2nd round there either. Trying to build that way is not a sensible approach to rebuilding a team (i.e. try to win as much as possible, luck out on a few things, and take 5 years of mediocrity before it goes anywhere). Especially not for you guys, since you play in the West.

[phrazbit]

I agree that expecting to land franchise players in the teens, like Indy has, is an unrealistic goal... but I dont see the "improved" East.

Of last year's playoff teams Boston, Milwaukee, New York and Atlanta are all arguably much worse. Chicago is getting Rose back but their bench is a wasteland, I dont think they will be near as good as they were in 2011/12. Brooklyn is the only team that an argument can be made for, and I am not crazy about a team relying on so many guys in their 30s. Not to mention a rookie head coach trying to juggle that many dominant personalities.

As for the 2008 Hawks comparison... Boston massacred Atlanta in their 4 wins, I dont know why Boston sleep walked through 3 defeats but they clearly had about 3 more gears to work with than Atlanta did. And last year was not Indy's first time making noise in the playoffs either.

[Durins Baynes]

I agree that expecting to land franchise players in the teens, like Indy has, is an unrealistic goal... but I dont see the "improved" East.

Of last year's playoff teams Boston, Milwaukee, New York and Atlanta are all arguably much worse. Chicago is getting Rose back but their bench is a wasteland, I dont think they will be near as good as they were in 2011/12. Brooklyn is the only team that an argument can be made for, and I am not crazy about a team relying on so many guys in their 30s. Not to mention a rookie head coach trying to juggle that many dominant personalities.

As for the 2008 Hawks comparison... Boston massacred Atlanta in their 4 wins, I dont know why Boston sleep walked through 3 defeats but they clearly had about 3 more gears to work with than Atlanta did. And last year was not Indy's first time making noise in the playoffs either.

The Nets won the same number of games as the Pacers last year, and would have been a lot better had they fired Avery Johnson before the season started (check out the huge contrast in records). They then added to a presumptive 50 win team- KG, Pierce, Terry, AK-47, etc, and lost nothing. In contrast the Pacers made a few trivial upgrades, getting a decent bench big and are relying on Granger coming back and playing well, something I have little to no confidence happens (and I am doubtful he even fits on the team). The guy is 30 and has shot knees, he looked washed up last year, and nobody should be counting on him to do much of anything. Is he even still a better player than the middling Lance Stephenson? Who knows. Meanwhile any of the 4 Nets acquisitions I named is more valuable than either of the Pacers guys are likely to be, and what's more they fit the needs of the Nets far, far better.

The Bulls get back D.Rose to add to a team who was already worth about 50 wins if healthy-ish. That team should be better than the Pacers too.

Throw in the Heat, and I'd expect the Pacers to be 4th in the East despite being marginally improved from last year, and a 2nd round exit. I'd say that qualifies for an improved East (at the top anyway). The Pacers might get eliminated without even playing the Heat (who will still beat them anyway, even if they have to grind it out after sleepwalking early).

[phrazbit]

The Heat will be good, obviously. I didnt mention them because I thought it was a given they were the top.

I disagree about Chicago. Its not a given that they're better than Indy and I think their roster is quite a bit worse. Their bench is dreadful, and given the injury issues they've had with their starters... having a better bench seems in their best interest. I think the Pacers should be heavily favored to finish ahead of Chicago.

The Nets, like I said, are debatable. But its not a slam dunk. They added a bunch of old men and a rookie coach, with no coaching experience of any kind, at any level. I didnt like their team last year and getting beat by Nate Robinson is embarrassing. I dont think adding KG, Piece and the remains of Jason Terry is enough to put them over the top. They might win more games in the regular season than last year... if their army of old men stay healthy, but I think its more likely they have an extremely difficult time adjusting to so many dominant personalities, as many similarly assembled teams do.

[Durins Baynes]

The Bulls are basically as good this year as last, and last year they won 45 and beat the Nets. They would have won more, if not for injuries. so they're already basically a 50 win team, plus they add Derrick Rose. The Pacers won 49 last year and are not likely to win much more next season.

[phrazbit]

The Bulls are basically as good this year as last, and last year they won 45 and beat the Nets. They would have won more, if not for injuries. so they're already basically a 50 win team, plus they add Derrick Rose. The Pacers won 49 last year and are not likely to win much more next season.

The Pacers have some young stud players who are still getting better. They could have kept the same roster entirely and I would not have been surprised to see them win more games next year.

The Bulls have, other than Rose, older players who there is no reason to expect to improve, they lost their two best bench players who both played HUGE roles for them last season. Their bench is a disaster, and they're playing behind a bunch of serious injury risks in the starting lineup. Even if the starters stay healthy that bench is going to cost them a lot of wins... and if a key starter goes down they will be in big trouble.

[thamadkant]

After watching more of Randle.

Initially I was sceptical if he would be effective in the NBA because he is slightly under sized.
6'9 240 with average wing span.
And having a face up game.

Thoughts of Beasley, Derrick Williams etc comes to mind.


But after watching recent vids and the amount of size he has managed to put on AND at the same time get more explosive and aggressive.... He MAY become what Beasley and Derrick Williams should of been.

NBA draft compares him Chris Webber.
But I see Tom Chambers and a little Barkley.


If he can put on another 10 pounds... We'll be looking at a 245-250 pound 6'9 hard bodied PF with face up skills, aggression with sufficient back to basket game.

Basically I'll be watching him closely in the next year.
It's not just about Wiggins...

[DirtyDez]

After watching more of Randle.

Initially I was sceptical if he would be effective in the NBA because he is slightly under sized.
6'9 240 with average wing span.
And having a face up game.

Thoughts of Beasley, Derrick Williams etc comes to mind.


But after watching recent vids and the amount of size he has managed to put on AND at the same time get more explosive and aggressive.... He MAY become what Beasley and Derrick Williams should of been.

NBA draft compares him Chris Webber.
But I see Tom Chambers and a little Barkley.


If he can put on another 10 pounds... We'll be looking at a 245-250 pound 6'9 hard bodied PF with face up skills, aggression with sufficient back to basket game.

Basically I'll be watching him closely in the next year.
It's not just about Wiggins...

I'll gladly sign up for the #2 pick and Julius Randle right now. What separates him from Beasley/Williams is he's a bulldog with a finesse game, not a finesse player in a big body. On HS vids he dribbles a lot because it's HS and nobody can stop him. Against legit competition he brings his lunchpale and hard-hat to work.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybc5YxhNi-E[/youtube]

Still 18 and built like a tractor. He LOVES contact in the paint...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfyEWV0DXZ4[/youtube]

[DRK]

Milsap once he loses a bit of his athleticism will become mediocre.

He isn't Marion who played big during his prime but now is a damn good SF defender.


Ilyasova is interesting... But geez I just realise... Len / Plumlee / Ilyasova or Anderson front court would be European style as they come.

Since when did Paul Millsap's game rely on Athleticism?

[thamadkant]

Milsap once he loses a bit of his athleticism will become mediocre.

He isn't Marion who played big during his prime but now is a damn good SF defender.


Ilyasova is interesting... But geez I just realise... Len / Plumlee / Ilyasova or Anderson front court would be European style as they come.

Since when did Paul Millsap's game rely on Athleticism?

Milsap isn't aerial type athletic (like Lebron) But he relies on his quick jumping, quickness etc. combined with strenght to get around his lack of height. Ben Wallace type athleticism... Look at what happened to Ben Wallace when he lost that extra spring and quickness he previously had when he was in his prime...

As Milsap gets older he won't be able to react as quick or jump as quick..

[Ryu]

After watching more of Randle.

Initially I was sceptical if he would be effective in the NBA because he is slightly under sized.
6'9 240 with average wing span.
And having a face up game.

Thoughts of Beasley, Derrick Williams etc comes to mind.


But after watching recent vids and the amount of size he has managed to put on AND at the same time get more explosive and aggressive.... He MAY become what Beasley and Derrick Williams should of been.

NBA draft compares him Chris Webber.
But I see Tom Chambers and a little Barkley.


If he can put on another 10 pounds... We'll be looking at a 245-250 pound 6'9 hard bodied PF with face up skills, aggression with sufficient back to basket game.

Basically I'll be watching him closely in the next year.
It's not just about Wiggins...

Basically, getting anyone of Wiggins/Parker/Randle would be like striking jackpot. You can`t go wrong with that kind of talent. I am in love with their game, all 3 of them and cannot wait NCAA season to start. It should be the most interesting college season since I am into the game of basketball.