2014 Official FA Thread

[Fo-Real]

What if we added just Melo and an amnestied Boozer... along with like a Lavine at 14 to replace Barbosa and Capella at18 to develope? Starters Bled / Groan / Melo / Boozer / Plumlee ........ Ish...Archie...Lavine... Green... Fry...Morris x2....Len...Capella... would that team be any good?

[Qwigglez]

Boozer isn't a winner, and appears to be a non-factor in the playoffs, IMO. Don't think him and Melo would help turn this team into a title contender.

[McStunna]

Why would we play Boozer over Morris or even Frye?

[BobbieL]

Tucker isn't worth more than 4M$ a year maximum.

Now that's a bit ridiculous. He may not be worth much more, but he makes more of an impact than you seem to think.

I do think a team needs to be pretty sure about giving MLE contracts. Over the last ten years, the players getting MLE's have not really been that great - can't remember the article but it was Stein I believe.

I just remember when the Suns gave contracts to Warrick, Frye, and Childress. Only one of those worked out - and they were all that 4-6m range and long term. And at the time, I was leery of Frye

I love PJs game - but cannot overpay for him. If some team wants him at the MLE - he is gone.

There are guys that hustle and play hard that you can find for cheaper. I don't begrudge him leaving but if I am McD - I am looking to do three things: get Bledsoe back; get a low post defender rebounder and finally, get a guy who can score the ball in the last 6 minutes (yes, that sounds like Anthony but I am open) - Hayward or Deng I think would work.

[lilfishi22]

I do think a team needs to be pretty sure about giving MLE contracts. Over the last ten years, the players getting MLE's have not really been that great - can't remember the article but it was Stein I believe.

I just remember when the Suns gave contracts to Warrick, Frye, and Childress. Only one of those worked out - and they were all that 4-6m range and long term. And at the time, I was leery of Frye

I love PJs game - but cannot overpay for him. If some team wants him at the MLE - he is gone.

There are guys that hustle and play hard that you can find for cheaper. I don't begrudge him leaving but if I am McD - I am looking to do three things: get Bledsoe back; get a low post defender rebounder and finally, get a guy who can score the ball in the last 6 minutes (yes, that sounds like Anthony but I am open) - Hayward or Deng I think would work.

Agreed

I think he's worth about $6m MAX but I don't think we should pay him that either. He's a fantastic defender and always gives 100% but he's ideally a guy you bring off the bench and I think we're ovepaying if it's $6m and we don't get a scoring spark from him.

I don't think we can win with Tucker being a starter because we'll need more firepower eventually and if you give $6m to PJ it does limit our ability to get that 3rd impact player if we also have Bledsoe and Dragic on close to max. Ideally, we would sign Tucker to somewhere between $4-5m but considering impact SF in the NBA aren't exactly common, I think he'll probably get paid more than that just based on the success he had with us.

[Fo-Real]

Because Boozer has more of a post game and presence than Kief and Frye. Better rebounder... tougher... better in a wide open system than a slow plodding one he is in... he will be relativly cheap.... good all around game for a guy like Capella to learn while learning energy from the rest of the guys. Frye getting older and slower... can play more mins at C If Plumlee fades like he did toward the end of the year and Len isnt ready (usually takes longer for bigs to develope) and Kief spent way too many minutes at C. this year for my taste.... would rather have a re-energized Boozer there in a small ball line-up... he is strong and wide enough to do that where as Kief isnt.

Lets say our hailmary plan for Love dosnt work... What then? Do we roll Frye out again as our starting Pf. Starting pf was one of this teams glaring weak points... especially when Plum faded. We needed a strong vet, post presence, this year... most thought Gasol would fit the bill... others thought he was too soft.... others though Okafor coming back could help that, but while tough and a post presence... he has no ofensive game, so teams could just leave him to help on others, like they did plum a lot.

I think though old, Boozer is somewhere in the middle of that. He aint no punk.. is a strong post presence and rebounder... was once at allstar level....never been an injury problem, always healthy.... and most of all is a duel ofensive threat with a valid post game, AND .. can if left alone can stick the mid-range shots with regularity like they are layups and his release is actually quick (with Bled Goran Green and Archie attacking, he will see a lot of open shots and mismatches down low) . What other availab.e free agent would be better (AVAILABLE).

I know he isnt popular but the dude has always been solid and consistent. Constant vet... never a nucklehead... knows his role... dosnt go outside of his lane/knows his role. I never liked Boozer, but always respected his game. Playing with elite guards in this system with this energy with this coach (who seems to find ways to utilize players strengths... see G. GREEN, Plumlee, kief, Ish, Goran... a ll playing thier best ball!!!!) I think the dude can give what Gasol can give... cheaper... with better rebounding... leadership (no whining to the media about anything... Gasol) while being an added tough guy. We would still have Kief to hopefulky continue to develope and run the second unit(6th man) and if it dosnt work, its only a one year deal.

[Fo-Real]

Sorry... forgot to quote and let Stunna know that response was directed toward him.

[Sunsdeuce]

Because Boozer has more of a post game and presence than Kief and Frye. Better rebounder... tougher... better in a wide open system than a slow plodding one he is in... he will be relativly cheap.... good all around game for a guy like Capella to learn while learning energy from the rest of the guys. Frye getting older and slower... can play more mins at C If Plumlee fades like he did toward the end of the year and Len isnt ready (usually takes longer for bigs to develope) and Kief spent way too many minutes at C. this year for my taste.... would rather have a re-energized Boozer there in a small ball line-up... he is strong and wide enough to do that where as Kief isnt.

Lets say our hailmary plan for Love dosnt work... What then? Do we roll Frye out again as our starting Pf. Starting pf was one of this teams glaring weak points... especially when Plum faded. We needed a strong vet, post presence, this year... most thought Gasol would fit the bill... others thought he was too soft.... others though Okafor coming back could help that, but while tough and a post presence... he has no ofensive game, so teams could just leave him to help on others, like they did plum a lot.

I think though old, Boozer is somewhere in the middle of that. He aint no punk.. is a strong post presence and rebounder... was once at allstar level....never been an injury problem, always healthy.... and most of all is a duel ofensive threat with a valid post game, AND .. can if left alone can stick the mid-range shots with regularity like they are layups and his release is actually quick (with Bled Goran Green and Archie attacking, he will see a lot of open shots and mismatches down low) . What other availab.e free agent would be better (AVAILABLE).

I know he isnt popular but the dude has always been solid and consistent. Constant vet... never a nucklehead... knows his role... dosnt go outside of his lane/knows his role. I never liked Boozer, but always respected his game. Playing with elite guards in this system with this energy with this coach (who seems to find ways to utilize players strengths... see G. GREEN, Plumlee, kief, Ish, Goran... a ll playing thier best ball!!!!) I think the dude can give what Gasol can give... cheaper... with better rebounding... leadership (no whining to the media about anything... Gasol) while being an added tough guy. We would still have Kief to hopefulky continue to develope and run the second unit(6th man) and if it dosnt work, its only a one year deal.

I have to agree. The ability to post up in today's NBA is dying skill yet super important. Players that can post up are becoming very hard to find. I hate that about today's game it's all about the three point shot. Boozer has that skill. I won't mind having that on the suns. You all have seen the disaster when tucker tries to post up. Boozer would be an upgrade. Hate to say this but this is the pansy era of basketball. I would welcome boozer.

[King4Day]

Not sure why people are suddenly forgetting how important Tucker is to our team. He's a glue guy on championship teams. He's a cheaper version of Deng (not as good but gives us what we need).
He also shows he's not done learning and improving his game at his age.

Our D was terrible when Bledsoe went out. Imagine how bad it'd be if we lost Tucker?

I'd go as high as 5 per for 4 years. He is priming right now and that's a respectable deal that another team would trade for if need be.

[BobbieL]

I think one key thing this offseason is Frye. That is 6.5m of cap space. And probably not long term cap space. I think he opts out and tries to get an MLE from a team like OKC or Portland.

Suns might be needing two new forwards to replace Frye and Tucker.

[BobbieL]

Not sure why people are suddenly forgetting how important Tucker is to our team. He's a glue guy on championship teams. He's a cheaper version of Deng (not as good but gives us what we need).
He also shows he's not done learning and improving his game at his age.

Our D was terrible when Bledsoe went out. Imagine how bad it'd be if we lost Tucker?

I'd go as high as 5 per for 4 years. He is priming right now and that's a respectable deal that another team would trade for if need be.

I give him the Warrick contract as I think he is better than Warrick but I don't go crazy. Warrick was 4 years about 18m if I recall. I think that is do-able. IF you get into the MLE of 5 years 28m like Reddick got - I think that's a bit high priced.

[lilfishi22]

Not sure why people are suddenly forgetting how important Tucker is to our team. He's a glue guy on championship teams. He's a cheaper version of Deng (not as good but gives us what we need).
He also shows he's not done learning and improving his game at his age.

Our D was terrible when Bledsoe went out. Imagine how bad it'd be if we lost Tucker?

I'd go as high as 5 per for 4 years. He is priming right now and that's a respectable deal that another team would trade for if need be.

I don't think anyone is questioning Tucker's impact on the defensive end and he absolutely is a fantastic glue guy. What I'm saying is that we need to be mindful of the cap especially when we don't have the core of star players yet. You can very easily blow you cap on $5m on a Tucker, $5m for Frye or $7m for a Kieff. That's what happened with the whole Frye, Warrick and Childress fiasco. Individually it may not seem like much but when you don't have the stars locked in yet, you really just can't be spending that kind of money on Tucker before you have your core.

If McD has a solid plan and thinks he can work with $5m with Tucker than great but we shouldn't just give out these almost MLE level contracts just because a guy is worth it.

[BobbieL]

Not sure why people are suddenly forgetting how important Tucker is to our team. He's a glue guy on championship teams. He's a cheaper version of Deng (not as good but gives us what we need).
He also shows he's not done learning and improving his game at his age.

Our D was terrible when Bledsoe went out. Imagine how bad it'd be if we lost Tucker?

I'd go as high as 5 per for 4 years. He is priming right now and that's a respectable deal that another team would trade for if need be.

I don't think anyone is questioning Tucker's impact on the defensive end and he absolutely is a fantastic glue guy. What I'm saying is that we need to be mindful of the cap especially when we don't have the core of star players yet. You can very easily blow you cap on $5m on a Tucker, $5m for Frye or $7m for a Kieff. That's what happened with the whole Frye, Warrick and Childress fiasco. Individually it may not seem like much but when you don't have the stars locked in yet, you really just can't be spending that kind of money on Tucker before you have your core.

If McD has a solid plan and thinks he can work with $5m with Tucker than great but we shouldn't just give out these almost MLE level contracts just because a guy is worth it.

My prediction: Tucker will either be in OKC or maybe as reported Memphis. OKC because Thabo is a free agent and on his way out after the attroticous playoffs. Tucker would fill that team nicely. Granted, it would have to be the MLE as I think they are over the cap. I am sure OKC would love to get Frye - but I am not enamored enough with Kendrick Perkins and draft picks to do that deal if Frye opts in.

I am willing to be patient on guys like Tucker and Frye - if he opts out - to see what deals need to happen first for the better players.

[Sunsdeuce]

Not sure why people are suddenly forgetting how important Tucker is to our team. He's a glue guy on championship teams. He's a cheaper version of Deng (not as good but gives us what we need).
He also shows he's not done learning and improving his game at his age.

Our D was terrible when Bledsoe went out. Imagine how bad it'd be if we lost Tucker?

I'd go as high as 5 per for 4 years. He is priming right now and that's a respectable deal that another team would trade for if need be.

I'm in the mindset that everyone is replaceable. If you can improve, you do it. Tucker is very replaceable. As long as long as you have a strong core the role players can easily be replaced. Everyone wants to compare tucker to Bowen. So with that mindset, look at the spurs. Their core has and always be there "big" three. They replaced Bowen and look at them now. Two straight championship appearances. In my opinion their are sf in this draft that would be immediate upgrades over tucker.

Even Jeff hornacek said this is a star league driven league. You need stars more than role players. Don't get me wrong, the right role players play an important part to getting a ring but they can be found after you have stars. I'm sorry but saying tucker was key to the suns success is just silly. Sure him playing hard each night was great and all but far from "key" to the suns success. Thinking tucker is important to the suns success is just homerism.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Quick thought: Frye's gotta opt out, right? If he opts in, he's great trade bait, and his destination would be out of his control. If he opts out, he can go where he wants, here or elsewhere. He'd have a $10M cap hold if we keep his rights, but any S&T would eat into our cap space, so we'd probably trade him, right? But the spacing he provides as a stretch 4 is really hard to find, and is critical to Goran's game especially, so do we keep him if we can't land Love? Releasing him gives us $26M in cap space - enough to sign any FA outright. If we thought we had a chance at Lebron or Melo, we'd want to keep Frye; if the target is Bosh, obviously, we wouldn't.

In any case, he's opting out. I can't see why he wouldn't. FWIW

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2014/ ... ision-will

[BobbieL]

Quick thought: Frye's gotta opt out, right? If he opts in, he's great trade bait, and his destination would be out of his control. If he opts out, he can go where he wants, here or elsewhere. He'd have a $10M cap hold if we keep his rights, but any S&T would eat into our cap space, so we'd probably trade him, right? But the spacing he provides as a stretch 4 is really hard to find, and is critical to Goran's game especially, so do we keep him if we can't land Love? Releasing him gives us $26M in cap space - enough to sign any FA outright. If we thought we had a chance at Lebron or Melo, we'd want to keep Frye; if the target is Bosh, obviously, we wouldn't.

In any case, he's opting out. I can't see why he wouldn't. FWIW

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2014/ ... ision-will

I know what Ryan McD said in the presser about planning on keeping Frye - I think the team would like the cap space now. And from FRyes perspective - there should be suitors. I think OKC for one. Granted, OKC can probably only get Frye or Tucker. Suns perspective - one year deal so why not just move on this year and possibly use that 6.5m to get a longer term - younger fit.

The thing with Melo is both Houston (Asik and Lin) and Chicago (a guy like Gibson) would need to be moved. Personally, Gibson is the best player of the three

Suns do not need to move any players - so could sign him out right or if wanted, sign and trade with Bledsoe, Goran, Picks or players.

[Fo-Real]

If Golden State is interested in him, maybe we can work out something around Barnes and Frye?

[jcsunsfan]

I was listening to Gambo on the radio yesterday and he was openly rosterbating about the Suns and Warriors being the top teams to get KLove. He also said Suns should sign Pau Gasol to help entice Love here. If we did get Love and Gasol as the starting 4/5, I think we would need a strong defensive SF to help offset their defensive liabilities. Enter PJ Tucker. With Goran, Bledsoe, love and Gasol we will have no trouble scoring. This team needs defense, and lots of it. As a matter of fact, the lack of crunch time defense is what will prevent us from contending deeply in the playoffs. If we do trade Tucker, I want to get a defensive SF back.

How about, in this scenario, trading up for Aaron Gordon. I know he is projected as a pf, but he can guard both positions and he would be a perfect match with Love.

[Puff]

A lot of interesting discussion in regards to how much to pay Tucker. I like him but do not love him. I think he is no more than a more athletic version of Dudley. How well did we do when Dudley became a starter for us? Dudley only played for the Clippers when there were injuries. I would not offer or match much more than $3 Mil per year for him. The reason is that I see him no more than a bench player going forward.

If Tucker is your starter at the three you are probably not going to be a Championship quality team. I would be more than Ok with Green at the three of even Goodwin or Marcus Moris. In addition who knows who we are going to draft, trade for or sign as a free agent. I am not a fan of Melo but I would become one if he became a Phoenix Sun. In addition there seems to be several interesting prospects available where we are drafting at the three.

Almost every championship team has had an outright stud at the three or the two. Jordan, Kobe, Lebron. This is a league dominated by great wing players. You have to be able to score and defend from that position or have a stud somewhere else. I like our guards but they are not studs but very good. I like Len but I doubt he will turn into a stud.

If somehow we are able to acquire Love then I think Tucker would be a worthwhile long term investment. We would have our big three in Bledsoe, Dragic and Love. We will also have to give up some assets currently on our roster and draft picks that we could use to replace Tucker.

We are in for an interesting couple of months. I am anxious to see how Ryan handles all of the decisions he is about to make. I expect he will probably do exactly the opposite of what I have suggested. I know for sure that he will make a more that no one has thought of or suggested.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

The thing with Melo is both Houston (Asik and Lin) and Chicago (a guy like Gibson) would need to be moved. Personally, Gibson is the best player of the three.

Is Gibson's contract an asset? Is there any way we could squeeze a draft pick out of helping them clear cap space? As in, we take Dunleavy, pass Gibson off to a third team by taking back a second unwanted contract, and get the #16 in the deal? I do this if we have a plan to use #14 and #18 to move up: there are a lot of prospects in our range I like.

If Golden State is interested in him, maybe we can work out something around Barnes and Frye?

Not interested. Barnes was a ghost last year.

I was listening to Gambo on the radio yesterday and he was openly rosterbating about the Suns and Warriors being the top teams to get KLove. He also said Suns should sign Pau Gasol to help entice Love here. If we did get Love and Gasol as the starting 4/5, I think we would need a strong defensive SF to help offset their defensive liabilities. Enter PJ Tucker. With Goran, Bledsoe, love and Gasol we will have no trouble scoring. This team needs defense, and lots of it. As a matter of fact, the lack of crunch time defense is what will prevent us from contending deeply in the playoffs. If we do trade Tucker, I want to get a defensive SF back.

How about, in this scenario, trading up for Aaron Gordon. I know he is projected as a pf, but he can guard both positions and he would be a perfect match with Love.

Agreed. But the only way he drops into our range (8th pick and below, IMO) is if Randle and Smart go ahead of him. A lot of chatter about how good he's been in workouts, which casts doubt, in my mind, on our ability to get him.