Suns Acquire Isaiah Thomas- 4 years, 27 million

drewsprocket · Post #21 » by **drewsprocket** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:57 pm

Great point Tastic! I can buy it now, I'll still be pissed if Dragic or Bled are sold off because I firmly don't see IT as a starting point guard who will help his team deep in the playoffs.
I can see him really keeping the pressure on as 6th man -- giving insurance for Dragic and Bledsoe when they have their aches and pains or need the rest. He's straight scoring punch who will do well. My question is who will he be playing alongside mostly?
So far the bench looks like crazy log jammed at the swing spot between Green, Goodwin, Marcus Morris, and Warren. I think much will depend on how Len and Goodwin turn out this year. I know Kieff is likely to get the nod as a starter blah blah blah but if Len turns it up we could be in for a crazy twin towers lineup.
In that event I think the Morri -- who have amazballs chemistry together as a bench unit -- will sort of be the center piece of the bench alongside IT and Green:
IT
Green
The Morrii
-------------------
I can't wait for preseason to check out some crazy high octane small ball lineups which could torch opponents as a bench:
IT
Goodwin
Green
Marcus/Warren
Kief

that's some quickness there. We'll see. Bled just needs to get signed.

It's more likely that Marcus will be the odd man out if Kief in fact becomes the starting PF and Goodwin or Warren turn in good performances. I think the primary strength Marcus has is playing alongside his brother and knocking down open shots.

Goodwin
Green/Marcus Morris/TJ Warren
AND
Len

ImNotMcDiSwear · Post #22 » by **ImNotMcDiSwear** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:58 pm

Front-loaded contracts really make the most sense for all parties. Teams value flexibility, and players should appreciate the time-value of money. Glad to see us doing it

spanishninja · Post #23 » by **spanishninja** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:58 pm

So long, Ish Smith!

Post #24 » by **TASTIC** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:58 pm

JasonDaPsycho wrote:Here's what I hate. Drafting a player and not playing him. What about Tyler Ennis? We have four point guards now... It's just puzzling. Are we going to trade Dragic again? Are we letting Bledsoe walk?

I think McD is genuinely accruing assets and he acquires parts he thinks have the highest value. Ennis will have plenty of suitors as a 19yr old floor general - if he can be used to sweeten a deal for a bigger player I'm sure he will. He, Len, Warren and Goodwin are all so young - you NEED youth, we want to win to attract talent so they can develop without being pushed...

starbosa10 · Post #25 » by **starbosa10** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:32 am

Great pick up. Never hurts to have assests

Gorilla Warfare · Post #26 » by **Gorilla Warfare** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:46 am

I like this....I like this a lot. I would like this offseason more if we picked up Deng, but that now seems unlikely. Love is as good as gone to Cleveland because Minny is gonna fold like origami without getting Wiggins which should be the minimum offer from the Cavs now that they have LeBron back, but Minny is weak.

I'm confused by Ennis at this point, but I still don't hate the pick. I hate to say it but I think Ennis is long term to replace Dragic in a couple seasons, unless Dragic plays out of his mind again this season.

sunskerr · Post #27 » by **sunskerr** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:46 am

Holy smokes. This guy averaged 20/6 last season. I understand his team wasn't good but damn, that is a steal. Glad to have him here. We can run teams out the building and really put the hurt on other teams' second units.

Bledsoe/Thomas/Ennis
Dragic/Green/Goodwin
Tucker/Green/Warren
Markieff/Marcus
Plumlee/Len

We need to make the minutes for this guy to shine though.

Post #28 » by **lilfishi22** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:53 am

That's pretty damn good value for 20/6! I'm still not a fan of undersized scoring PG's but I think IT would be the most likely player to change my mind. I hope this move didn't signal a Bledsoe trade though

thamadkant · Post #29 » by **thamadkant** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:19 am

Good point guards and shooting guards… are becoming the KEY to the modern NBA.

Look at Spurs..
Parker, Mills, Ginobili, Green, Bellineli

Sometimes they run 3 of them at the same time.
I think the purpose is to have 3 players who can drive, dish, create at all times… which means the ball is always moving. They also had Diaw.. so sometimes… they had 4 players who could drive, penetrate, dish and shoot mid ranges/long ranges….. its beautiful basketball.

Having 3 ball handlers on the court for the Suns and shooters and slashers.. would be beautiful basketball I hope.. lol

Blackification · Post #30 » by **Blackification** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:22 am

Looking past the great contract I like this signing because he really wants to be here. Mutual want, I like it, he didn't just come here to cash out

GetYourPHX · Post #31 » by **GetYourPHX** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:47 am

If there's any FO that understand the importance of having value players under contract for trade assets its the Suns.

Scola -> Plumlee, Green, Bogdan
Dudley -> Bledsoe

Barkley6 · Post #32 » by **Barkley6** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:47 am

I'm pretty high on him. Love the idea that our bench unit is going to keep the heat on.

It also means we can run a lot of the same type of offense when one of Bledsoe or Dragic sits, whereas Gerald Green is not a ball handler. I think GG is the most impacted by this, I hope we don't get rid of him, but I think he might be the odd man out.

Also, on another note, this really will help us in limiting Dragic and Bledsoe's minutes, which will hopefully mean they stay healthier.

TheSunGod · Post #33 » by **TheSunGod** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:49 am

Welcome to the Suns Mr. Isaiah Thomas!

Post #34 » by **Qwigglez** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:50 am

I am happy we got him, he looks like he loves to play ball and wasn't just in it for the contract. I think he has that "I wanna prove it to you" type mentality, he will continually get better.
I think throughout the season we might get frustrated with him with his shot selection, but I think Horny is gonna give him the green light along with Green/Kieff off the bench. Damn we will be deep. Can't wait for the season.

drewsprocket · Post #35 » by **drewsprocket** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 2:59 am

I can accept that Dragic is a shooting guard. Stop calling him only a point guard after having turned in his best year as a combo guard. His game closely resembles that of Ginobli who himself is a combo guy. We do, however, have 3 point guards -- 2 of which receive most of the minutes. Ennis was a good pick based upon the talent as McD saw fit. He goes after the talent and apparent deal without priority to team positional need. The question regards whether we will make it with our current bigs. It seems so far they're open to rolling out Len, Plumlee, and Kief as our only bigs. at this rate, unless McD finds a good deal, I think we're standing pat after re-signing Bled.

I am still keeping the faith -- that is unless we're trading Bled or Dragic and IT becomes a starting PG. If the worst case scenario is that Ennis doesn't get a whole lot of playing time, I'll be fine. Yall are just upset we didn't get Anderson.

Marz11 · Post #36 » by **Marz11** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:00 am

With the "superstars" not wanting to come to Phoenix, the next best option is to get super deep.

It appears that's what the Suns are doing. Good young players are always tradable.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Phystic · Post #37 » by **Phystic** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:10 am

sunsfever68 wrote:Drafting tyler Ennis made no sense now especially since we have IT2.

Move Ennis, Gerald Green, Marcus morris, and maybe Warren in a trade for Kevin Love asap

I really, REALLY hope you aren't trying to say that package is anywhere NEAR getting Kevin Love. That package wouldn't even make them answer the phone let alone listen.

Cash · Post #38 » by **Cash** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:11 am

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't like this signing at all. PPG is the most overrated stat ever, especially on a turrible team. IT won't help our D or rebounding, and he's paid a lot for a backup. Our offense was already really good last year, particularly at guard. The diminishing marginal return on yet another PG doesn't seem worth it to me. And how are we supposed to develop Goodwin and Ennis now? To justify IT's contract, he needs to be the third guard in a 3 guard rotation. If Drago and EB each play around 35 min, that leaves around 26 for IT, and none for any other guard. Are we planning on another injury-heavy year for EB, or planning on moving Drago, or some kind of 3-for-1 trade? I have to assume this is the precursor to another move. We currently have 3 NBA caliber bigs (being generous and counting Len), 5 wings, and 4 point guards. What happens if a big gets in foul trouble or gets hurt? Are we rolling with Bledsoe as our PF?

Now, if the Suns plan to straight up put Ennis and Goodwin in the D-league all year, then at least there seems to be a plan of some sort. But if all they get are those standard 2-3 game stints, that's not going to develop their games.

If this move is the precursor to a Bledsoe for Love trade, the. I'll feel a lot differently. If it's a precursor to a Dragic for Love trade, then I'll be pretty torn.

ryanball · Post #39 » by **ryanball** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:21 am

I'm a person who doesn't believe in scoring point guards as major centerpieces of a team, ala Rose and Westbrook. However at this price (less than half of what Westbrook makes?) its hard to argue with this signing. Thomas is a tremendous value if he can maintain his productivity.

thamadkant · Post #40 » by **thamadkant** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:22 am

Marz11 wrote:With the "superstars" not wanting to come to Phoenix, the next best option is to get super deep.

It appears that's what the Suns are doing. Good young players are always tradable.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

just like what Spurs have proven against the Thunder, Heat.. who are heavy star dependent teams.