2014 Official FA Thread 2

[letsgosuns]

It seems like this has gone from being a promising and most exciting offseason, to a complete let down in a matter of one day.

Speak for yo self!! I want to watch the kids play!!!!!!!

The only place I'd be willing to add a new piece is at PF, where I don't see anything exciting happening (sorry MoBros). That's why Love would be such an excellent fit. I still think we have a shot at him, if not now, then next offseason.

Do not get me wrong, I am still excited about the Suns young players a lot. I am just annoyed that the Heat players are supposedly taking giant pay cuts which kills the Suns chance at Lebron. I had no expectation that the Suns were going to sign him, but it seems it is already over before it even began, which takes away all the excitement.

[letsgosuns]

What good does it do? Well, for starters, it completely opens the floor for both Bledsoe and Dragic to get into the lane and either finish or kick out for a higher percentage three.

No I fully understand. But the ability to stretch the defense on offense is negated when you have a guy like Channing Frye playing defense and trying to grab rebounds. It is not possible to win the championship if you are a bad defensive and rebounding team.

Last season, the Suns had a better defensive rebounding percentage than the Heat...and Charlotte led the league.

C'mon you know what I am saying. Frye does one thing well and that is stretch the defense. There is no way that anybody can legitimately say the Suns are a good defensive team. Their interior defense sucked. You do not need stats to prove or disprove that, you just need to watch the games. Teams destroyed the suns inside this past year, and pretty much every year before that.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

No I fully understand. But the ability to stretch the defense on offense is negated when you have a guy like Channing Frye playing defense and trying to grab rebounds. It is not possible to win the championship if you are a bad defensive and rebounding team.

Last season, the Suns had a better defensive rebounding percentage than the Heat...and Charlotte led the league.

C'mon you know what I am saying. Frye does one thing well and that is stretch the defense. There is no way that anybody can legitimately say the Suns are a good defensive team. Their interior defense sucked. You do not need stats to prove or disprove that, you just need to watch the games. Teams destroyed the suns inside this past year, and pretty much every year before that.

I tend to think that the benefits we derive from Frye on offense outweigh the negatives on the glass. And while there are bigs he struggles against, there are some notable ones he does very well against (like Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge). His rebounding is below average, for sure. But he boxes out, which is nice.

I just think you have to put it all together and compare him to reasonable alternatives. Solid interior defenders are not always good rebounders (like Ekpe Udoh). And a lot of them are bad offensively. So it's a trade-off, one that I think runs in our favor.

Granted, we probably won't contend with him as our starting 4. But I don't see Charles Barkley walking through those doors!!

[SSOL]

"You do not need stats to prove or disprove that." And, with that, I will bow out of this conversation to spare my sanity.

[ray ray]

The Suns FO are still trying to confirm that report.. They haven't been able to confirm it. So until this point, there's no truth to that tweet

[letsgosuns]

"You do not need stats to prove or disprove that." And, with that, I will bow out of this conversation to spare my sanity.

Give me a break. I just do not like Frye. I am not the only one. When I think of Frye, I think of the 2010 WCF when he shot 1-21 the first three games. I think about how the Suns have missed the playoffs the past four years with him on the team. I think about how late this past season he was being benched in the second half in favor of Markieff Morris because he was playing so bad. I understand it all, Frye's ability to stretch the defense so Dragic and Bledsoe can penetrate and kick out or finish. Well I also look at all the past champions and I do not see the winners having power forwards that are bad at defense and rebounding.

[harshey1388]

The Suns FO are still trying to confirm that report.. They haven't been able to confirm it. So until this point, there's no truth to that tweet

Thanks for all the updates Ray Ray!

[King4Day]

The Suns FO are still trying to confirm that report.. They haven't been able to confirm it. So until this point, there's no truth to that tweet

What tweet are you referring to?

[harshey1388]

The Suns FO are still trying to confirm that report.. They haven't been able to confirm it. So until this point, there's no truth to that tweet

What tweet are you referring to?

I'm guessing the one from the dude in Oregon.

[SSOL]

He's referring to the Oregon tweet which then turned into a "report." Until it's confirmed by league sources, the players, or their reps, there is nothing to see here.

[Revived]

The Suns FO are still trying to confirm that report.. They haven't been able to confirm it. So until this point, there's no truth to that tweet

Neither Miami or LeBron will admit to it til the Heat reach deals with other players like Lowry, Deng, Gasol etc.

[Sunsdeuce]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/wojyahoonba/status/484076537772122112[/tweet]
Damn it. We missed out on him. Oh well. Lol

EDIT: If meeks was able to make that silly salary, imagine what Tucker is going to make. I think I am safe to say he is gone.

[LV-Suns]

If this is any sign of any contracts being handed out this summer, Jodie Meeks just landed 3/19

[Sunsdeuce]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/wojyahoonba/status/484080530527232000[/tweet]
"As the Miami Heat pursue a meeting with free agent Kyle Lowry on Tuesday night, free agency's best point guard is huddling with his agent Andy Miller and mulling offers to return to Toronto and Houston, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Miami president Pat Riley has been pushing for a sit-down meeting with Lowry, but Lowry is taking time on Tuesday afternoon to consider his next step in the process. Lowry met with Toronto general manager Masai Ujiri and coach Dwane Casey on Tuesday afternoon in Philadelphia after meeting with Houston GM Daryl Morey and coach Kevin McHale in the early morning hours.

Lowry has long been enthusiastic about returning to the Raptors, and nothing has happened in free agency to derail that momentum, sources said.

Miami has the framework of contract extensions for LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and are now using available salary-cap space to reshape the roster to James' approval, sources told Yahoo Sports. Once James is satisfied with the direction of Riley's roster makeover, he plans to sign a max-contract extension – or something close – and his Big Three teammates will follow his lead, sources said.

Nevertheless, the Miami stars haven't been active in recruiting Lowry, league sources told Yahoo Sports. The Heat have interest in free-agent forward Luol Deng, who is traveling in Europe and may not be available for face-to-face meetings for several days, a source told Yahoo Sports. Miami could try to arrange a sign-and-trade agreement with Cleveland to acquire Deng, but nothing has started in that process, sources said.

Securing Lowry, a cornerstone of the Raptors' revival, has been Ujiri's No. 1 priority in the offseason. Keeping Lowry promises to be a coup for a franchise that had struggled in years past to get frontline NBA players to commit long-term.

Lowry stands to become an even more popular and marketable figure in Toronto with his decision to return to the team.

In his second full season in Toronto, Lowry had a borderline All-Star season, averaging 17.9 points, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. He led Toronto to the playoffs for the first time in five years, losing in a seven-game series to Brooklyn."

[bwgood77]

@WindhorstESPN "Heat telling free agents they will have $12+ million to spend, indicating Wade & Bosh ready to take huge pay cuts, sources told ESPN"

If people though lebron was actually leaving Miami..
You don't have wade,bosh,Haslem opt out and lose money for nothing..

I never once believed it. Like I've been saying we have a real shot at melo/love but don't know if melo is interested

I never really believed it either, but when he said he'd wait until Riley could do, and then said Deng wouldn't take less, and Lowry looks like he may get good money in Toronto, it started to look like there might be a chance.

The real winner here if LeBron stays is Arison. He gets under the tax, saves money, and still has his stars.

I don't think we will get anyone, which is fine. I'm fine with the team as is. If we can get Love later, great. If not, hopefully our rookies are superstars in the making.

[bwgood77]

Bosh SAID he wanted $15-16 million.

Link of him SAYING it?

Cause there are now reports out that he signed for $10M-11M/yr contract.

You calling me a liar? This was like at least a week ago, but I can look for a link. If he took that he obviously changed his mind, and I can't believe he took less than Wade, but perhaps Wade wouldn't allow himself to be making less than Bosh because in his mind he hasn't declined at all yet.

Here are a bunch of links. None from totally reputable sites, but I see one of them quotes Windhorst as saying it. https://www.google.com/#q=bosh+%2415-%2416+million

Here is one that has some tweets from Windhorst and Broussard. We all know Broussard is EXTREMELY reliable.http://fansided.com/2014/06/28/hris-bos ... on/#!6Z9SZ

Edit: Sorry I see this was responded to multiple times. I should have read all posts before responding. I had just remembered reading it. I didn't know where. It might have been in hoopshype and I didn't know the ultimate source.

[Qwigglez]

It looks like LBJ might stay in Miami afterall... The Suns FO are trying to confirm it. If it's true, the suns 2nd option is as follow;

Pau Gasol
**Sorry - Hayword- RFA
Lou Deng
resign Bledsoe
Reign Tucker

That list isn't bad at all.
I'm trying to figure out how some of you guys would hate to have Pau around. Again let's look at what he would bring. A much needed post game, a reliable mid-range shot for a big man, he can rebound, he blocks shots. By the time his contract expires we let him go or sign him for cheap and give Len a big contract if he starts to live up to his potential. But by doing absolutely nothing, the Suns would resign Bledsoe, giving up a lot of our cap room for "home improvement". Kieff would get an extension this upcoming year, and Dragic will get a newer contract worth 8 figures. Hopefully we also keep Gerald Green around. We'll have the same exact roster except we won't have any money for free agents. That doesn't sound like a recipe for success.
If Pau doesn't work out chemistry wise, fine, he's still a valuable 7 footer that many teams would love to have. Another asset. I feel like this is the summer we have to capitalize on free agency because we won't get this opportunity again, and I think that is how the front office views this too.

[JDLAW]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/wojyahoonba/status/484076537772122112[/tweet]
Damn it. We missed out on him. Oh well. Lol

EDIT: If meeks was able to make that silly salary, imagine what Tucker is going to make. I think I am safe to say he is gone.

Meeks is not a scrub. He is a good long distance shooter (3Pt). He averaged 15.7 ppg and shot 40% from the 3 pt line. He gives the Pistons needed long distance shooting and floor spacing they did not have because their guards did not have range. This is an very good signing for Detroit , but they probably had to give him an extra $1M to go from LA to putrid Detroit.

[Qwigglez]

Has any team contacted Bledsoe yet?

[King4Day]

He's referring to the Oregon tweet which then turned into a "report." Until it's confirmed by league sources, the players, or their reps, there is nothing to see here.

Yea but all that said was they have 12mil to spend right? What's that gonna buy? One really good player (Lowry, Gortat, or Deng) or a couple decent ones (Carter, Marion, Nelson, M Williams). I just don't see how that'll make LeBron excited to stay at all.