Official Suns Free Agent/Trade/Transaction Thread

[grumpysaddle]

Why are people so into getting big, plodding big men? I'd rather stick with Plumlee, who is one of the most athletic big men I can think of. He can guard the Cs in the league, and use his quickness to frustrate them. He might not always put up huge point numbers, but he's always putting up a decent amount of rebounds, and his defense has been top notch. He was abused by Cousins in the first two games against Sacramento, but he figured it out for the third game, and you could tell that he was the reason Cousins was mentally out of the game. He kept making a fool of Cousins. I'd rather stick with Plumlee than grab a slow, older C to bog things down for the Suns.

I'd obviously love to have Love here as the PF, and he's the only one I'd be willing to give up Frye for, as he replaces Frye's production and then some. If McD can get that to happen, I'd be happy running with Bledsoe/Dragic/Tucker/Love/Plumlee for the next few seasons. If he can make even crazier things happen, I'd be ecstatic with adding Hayward, or Deng, on top of that. Bledsoe/Dragic/Hayward or Deng/Love/Plumlee is a ridiculous starting 5. Only issue is what would need to be given up to make something like that happen. You can't completely dismantle the bench. I'd want the Morris twins to be the leaders off the bench, and hopefully keep one or two more pieces.

I realize the above scenario is total fantasy... but gods damn it, I want it to happen.

[Ring_Wanted]

Why are people so into getting big, plodding big men?

Dunno about plodding big men. But I do like skilled big men with fundamentals on both sides of the court. If surrounded by the right players (which I believe we have), a slower center is not a felony.

[Frank Lee]

And Memphis does this because ???? Boy, you guys are filling up that letter to Santa.

[thamadkant]

Getting Love means Wolves rebuild or get a replacement star... They signed Martin and Pekovic long term to Slot next to Love... They'd have to be blowing it up if Love is available.

[grumpysaddle]

Why are people so into getting big, plodding big men?

Dunno about plodding big men. But I do like skilled big men with fundamentals on both sides of the court. If surrounded by the right players (which I believe we have), a slower center is not a felony.

I'd still rather roll with Plumlee, and keep things athletic from 1-5 (Frye isn't the most athletic, but he's athletic enough for what he needs to do). I'd rather have a center off the bench that can help in things like half-court offense when need be, although, this team should NEVER get into half-court offensive games.

Hornacek has noted multiple times that the Suns need to push the tempo to be successful, and they have for the most part. I remember clearly hearing him during the GSW game yelling on the broadcast for the Suns to push the pace when Bledsoe was walking the ball up the court. The Suns should be running on every possession, whether it be after a miss, or a make. I'm sure they are working on their conditioning, and that will improve as the season goes on and they get used to the effort they need to give night in and night out. A slow big man, no matter how skilled, puts a heavy damper on that. How many times has Plumlee run the floor this year for an impressive dunk, beating the other team's slow, plodding center? It's happened a ton, even this early in the year.

[jcsunsfan]

Why are people so into getting big, plodding big men?

Dunno about plodding big men. But I do like skilled big men with fundamentals on both sides of the court. If surrounded by the right players (which I believe we have), a slower center is not a felony.

Then we should have kept Scola and Gortat.

[jcsunsfan]

Getting Love means Wolves rebuild or get a replacement star... They signed Martin and Pekovic long term to Slot next to Love... They'd have to be blowing it up if Love is available.

Love would be great, but I do not think Minny is trading him within the next couple of years.

[BurningHeart]

Do people not realize that the Suns are "better than expected" because of athleticism, spacing, and running?

Why would we get some slow loser to completely ruin that? Marc Gasol? Please. LOL.

[Qwigglez]

Why are people so into getting big, plodding big men?

Dunno about plodding big men. But I do like skilled big men with fundamentals on both sides of the court. If surrounded by the right players (which I believe we have), a slower center is not a felony.

I'd still rather roll with Plumlee, and keep things athletic from 1-5 (Frye isn't the most athletic, but he's athletic enough for what he needs to do). I'd rather have a center off the bench that can help in things like half-court offense when need be, although, this team should NEVER get into half-court offensive games.

Hornacek has noted multiple times that the Suns need to push the tempo to be successful, and they have for the most part. I remember clearly hearing him during the GSW game yelling on the broadcast for the Suns to push the pace when Bledsoe was walking the ball up the court. The Suns should be running on every possession, whether it be after a miss, or a make. I'm sure they are working on their conditioning, and that will improve as the season goes on and they get used to the effort they need to give night in and night out. A slow big man, no matter how skilled, puts a heavy damper on that. How many times has Plumlee run the floor this year for an impressive dunk, beating the other team's slow, plodding center? It's happened a ton, even this early in the year.

The problem with that is teams tend to slow down a little bit during the playoffs, and if things get stagnant on offense it would be nice to have a legitimate big man who can score on the block. Getting someone of Gasol's caliber would balance out our offensive attack and make the defense better.

[rsavaj]

Gotta disagree with you on this one, BH. Marc Gasol is one of the very best centers in the league. Incredible defensive player, one of the best passing bigs in the league, and a more skilled offensive player than people give him credit for.

[grumpysaddle]

Dunno about plodding big men. But I do like skilled big men with fundamentals on both sides of the court. If surrounded by the right players (which I believe we have), a slower center is not a felony.

I'd still rather roll with Plumlee, and keep things athletic from 1-5 (Frye isn't the most athletic, but he's athletic enough for what he needs to do). I'd rather have a center off the bench that can help in things like half-court offense when need be, although, this team should NEVER get into half-court offensive games.

Hornacek has noted multiple times that the Suns need to push the tempo to be successful, and they have for the most part. I remember clearly hearing him during the GSW game yelling on the broadcast for the Suns to push the pace when Bledsoe was walking the ball up the court. The Suns should be running on every possession, whether it be after a miss, or a make. I'm sure they are working on their conditioning, and that will improve as the season goes on and they get used to the effort they need to give night in and night out. A slow big man, no matter how skilled, puts a heavy damper on that. How many times has Plumlee run the floor this year for an impressive dunk, beating the other team's slow, plodding center? It's happened a ton, even this early in the year.

The problem with that is teams tend to slow down a little bit during the playoffs, and if things get stagnant on offense it would be nice to have a legitimate big man who can score on the block. Getting someone of Gasol's caliber would balance out our offensive attack and make the defense better.

Teams do tend to slow down in the playoffs, but that doesn't mean the Suns have to do that. I realize teams try harder on defense once they get to the playoffs, but if you keep your team far more athletic than the other team, you should be able to impose your will on them, as long as you stick to the game plan. If anything, the Suns should be going out of their way to quicken the pace IF they make the playoffs. That should be their first priority. If you have the pieces to do that, then it works... if you replace what works for YOUR team by being reactive to what another team might do, then that is how you get yourself in trouble. The team is built to run, and that is what they should do. Impose the fast pace on the other team, don't make deals to deal with how another team might want to play.

[grumpysaddle]

I also agree that Marc Gasol is a hell of a player... he's just not the player the Suns need.

[Ring_Wanted]

Then we should have kept Scola and Gortat.

Pfff, not even close.

[ShawnBronald]

I also agree that Marc Gasol is a hell of a player... he's just not the player the Suns need.

But is he the player the Suns deserve?

[Ring_Wanted]

Gotta disagree with you on this one, BH. Marc Gasol is one of the very best centers in the league. Incredible defensive player, one of the best passing bigs in the league, and a more skilled offensive player than people give him credit for.

That seems to be the case.

For those who like watching bball with fundamentals (which seems to be one of the signatures of our coach, by the way), simply take a look at how Spain has played since Marc blossomed into a legit all nba center.

I don't get the oil/water treatment here.

[Ring_Wanted]

But is he the player the Suns deserve?

Maybe Suns fans who have screamed for decades 'Fix the Paint'.

[BurningHeart]

Gotta disagree with you on this one, BH. Marc Gasol is one of the very best centers in the league. Incredible defensive player, one of the best passing bigs in the league, and a more skilled offensive player than people give him credit for.

Oh I'm not saying he's a bad player by any stretch. But he wouldn't fit in here because of our style.

[bwgood77]

I love Gasol, but Memphis isn't going to trade him. I've mentioned as much before. I don't think Love gets traded either, as I've mentioned. Even if they fade from the playoff race, they may wait to see if they get lucky and get Wiggins or something, and that maybe Love would be intrigued if the lineup suddenly became Rubio/Martin/Wiggins/Love/Pekovic. So if they do trade him, I think the earliest is next summer after the draft, and more likely before the trade deadline if they are not playing well.

Afflalo intrigues me a little bit, because I think he could always be on the floor as the other guard when Bledsoe or Dragic sit (and maybe Bledsoe could rest a little more, so when he IS in the game, his intensity is at the level he got used to over the years). Then we could also run three guard lineups often as well. He's a good defender and shoots 41% from 3.

I wouldn't offer much for him though, because he has a pretty sizeable salary, so I'd probably approach Orlando with something like this. "I know you guys might be winning more than you'd like, and we will give you cap relief for Afflalo by giving you Okafor and how about the Indy pick?" I would probably stick to an offer like that and if they asked for more just say he is overpaid and we are giving a fair offer to take that money.

It sounds as if they want to move him so I don't know how much it would take to get him, but I doubt teams are knocking down the door to get him. Most teams are either set, or are trying to go young, so with many of the vets on the table like him and Turner, etc, there just isn't much of a market for them.

If McD likes any of these guys, he can just lowball them, because I think more teams are wanting to move vets like this, than there are teams wanting to trade for them, unless they are stars like Love.

I'm not completely sure I'd want Afflalo and his salary with how much the rest of our backcourt would cost, but I think he'd fit in well and probably make us a little better.

However, the cap space might be more important if they want to upgrade us at the 4.

But it seems that supply is greater than demand for some fairly solid vets, so prices may be way down. Do we try and bid low and hope someone bites? Or hang onto that cap space.

[jcsunsfan]

I love Gasol, but Memphis isn't going to trade him. I've mentioned as much before. I don't think Love gets traded either, as I've mentioned. Even if they fade from the playoff race, they may wait to see if they get lucky and get Wiggins or something, and that maybe Love would be intrigued if the lineup suddenly became Rubio/Martin/Wiggins/Love/Pekovic. So if they do trade him, I think the earliest is next summer after the draft, and more likely before the trade deadline if they are not playing well.

Afflalo intrigues me a little bit, because I think he could always be on the floor as the other guard when Bledsoe or Dragic sit (and maybe Bledsoe could rest a little more, so when he IS in the game, his intensity is at the level he got used to over the years). Then we could also run three guard lineups often as well. He's a good defender and shoots 41% from 3.

I wouldn't offer much for him though, because he has a pretty sizeable salary, so I'd probably approach Orlando with something like this. "I know you guys might be winning more than you'd like, and we will give you cap relief for Afflalo by giving you Okafor and how about the Indy pick?" I would probably stick to an offer like that and if they asked for more just say he is overpaid and we are giving a fair offer to take that money.

It sounds as if they want to move him so I don't know how much it would take to get him, but I doubt teams are knocking down the door to get him. Most teams are either set, or are trying to go young, so with many of the vets on the table like him and Turner, etc, there just isn't much of a market for them.

If McD likes any of these guys, he can just lowball them, because I think more teams are wanting to move vets like this, than there are teams wanting to trade for them, unless they are stars like Love.

I'm not completely sure I'd want Afflalo and his salary with how much the rest of our backcourt would cost, but I think he'd fit in well and probably make us a little better.

However, the cap space might be more important if they want to upgrade us at the 4.

But it seems that supply is greater than demand for some fairly solid vets, so prices may be way down. Do we try and bid low and hope someone bites? Or hang onto that cap space.

We really do not need any more tinking and dinking with the roster. Its a pretty good looking group top to bottom right now.
We really need just one player.

We have a pile of picks that will only gum up things if we actually draft players. We need a forward or center in the star category. Since finding a star center is nearly impossible, we need a forward. Since PJ Tucker has become a quite efficient 3 and D player, the preference would be a pf. Since Channing Frye's game seems to mesh well with the talent on the court, a player with Frye's skill set (but better) is the ideal.

We are looking for a Dirk/Kevin Love type of player. If Kevin Love is not available, maybe there is a Euro who would fill the bill.

[RunDogGun]

The problem with that is teams tend to slow down a little bit during the playoffs, and if things get stagnant on offense it would be nice to have a legitimate big man who can score on the block. Getting someone of Gasol's caliber would balance out our offensive attack and make the defense better.

Teams do tend to slow down in the playoffs, but that doesn't mean the Suns have to do that. I realize teams try harder on defense once they get to the playoffs, but if you keep your team far more athletic than the other team, you should be able to impose your will on them, as long as you stick to the game plan. If anything, the Suns should be going out of their way to quicken the pace IF they make the playoffs. That should be their first priority. If you have the pieces to do that, then it works... if you replace what works for YOUR team by being reactive to what another team might do, then that is how you get yourself in trouble. The team is built to run, and that is what they should do. Impose the fast pace on the other team, don't make deals to deal with how another team might want to play.

I was about to say the same thing. If we do have to go to half court sets, we better have some plays to run, that maximize our players in the set.

But overall, we need to push the tempo, and get other teams out of their comfort zones.