The One And Only Offseason Thread 3

[mikefly3113]

Three team with Minny and the Cavs

Minn In: Bledsoe, Wiggins, Thompson, Mia 1st
Minn out: Love, Martin, Lavine

Cavs in: Love, Martin
Cavs out: Wiggins, Thompson, Bennet, Mia 1st

PHX in: Lavine, Bennet
PHX out: Bledsoe

I can dig it. Maybe reality hasn't hit me yet on Bennet because I've been high on him ever since he was drafted and I thought for sure he was going to fall to us. He clearly wasn't in NBA shape and I don't think the cavs used him properly last year by not playing him at PF, really used him as a swing player off the bench which he clearly isn't. I think you put him in as PF and let him go to work in our up tempo system ala poor man's charles barkley. I still think he good be a really good player in the league. As far as Lavine goes, yes please. This guy is just pure potential like most our team. Keep adding these young athletic assets to our squad, this is never a bad thing.

and bledsoe... I feel like I've defended him all year because why shouldn't he get as much money as he possibly can? but you really can't be serious with that $80 million right bro? I honestly imagine a meeting with Rich Paul, Ryan, Jeff, and Sarver. 'Ryan offers the 4 years $48 mil and rich paul counters back with 5 years $80 and Ryan, Jeff and Sarver all start laughing their asses off.'

[mikefly3113]

If Bledsoe is really demanding 5 years, 80 million, then I think he does not want to be here. That is ridiculous. He has done nothing to deserve that contract. Sounds to me like he just wants off the team and wants the Suns to trade him. If that is the case, fine with me. He can leave and go be happy somewhere else. The Suns should work out a sign and trade for him with someone. I would rather have a player that wants to be on the Suns instead of a player that does not want to be here. The Suns have so many young players so I think they will be fine.

He must really hate the Suns, that's why he wants to sign a 5-year contract with them.

I'm looking forward to seeing this board's reaction when Dragic inevitably asks for 5/90 next summer.

I'd be more comfortable giving Dragic a $100 mil next year than giving bledsoe anything even close to his ridiculous request of $80 mil. I'm sure the guy actually enjoys playing here he just wants the most money possible and I can't get mad at him for that but its a little absurd because there is no way he even gets close to that amount.

[Superhuman]

I might get flamed on here but I think a lot of ppl are underating Bledsoe. Yes he might not be worth that much right now, but with his talent and potential,we would miss the hell out of him if he left. And yes, he has some injury concerns, but are we not the suns?

He's only 24 yrs old and avged 17/5. Dragic is 28,not old at all, but had his first great season with 20/6. When Dragic was 24, he didn't even come close to Bledsoe's numbers. I know Goran is a fan favorite and all but is it that crazy to believe when it is all said and done, that Bledsoe could have a better career? Not to mention he's a MUCH better defender.

[mikefly3113]

I might get flamed on here but I think a lot of ppl are underating Bledsoe. Yes he might not be worth that much right now, but with his talent and potential,we would miss the hell out of him if he left. And yes, he has some injury concerns, but are we not the suns?

He's only 24 yrs old and avged 17/5. Dragic is 28,not old at all, but had his first great season with 20/6. When Dragic was 24, he didn't even come close to Bledsoe's numbers. I know Goran is a fan favorite and all but is it that crazy to believe when it is all said and done, that Bledsoe could have a better career? Not to mention he's a MUCH better defender.

Trust me I'm in the camp where I would love to keep them both but it just looks like thats not possible and I feel like you have to keep Dragic. The dude was the MIP last year and you could make a case that even he still has some untapped potential. Coming over from Europe to play in the NBA is probably a little harder of a transition than coming from Kentucky where they breed NBA talent. The dude has gotten better every single year statistically but most impressive was his shooting people forget he shot over 50% from the field and over 40% from 3. He was the ONLY GUARD to put up those percentages while scoring over 20 points a game. I really like Bledsoe and want to keep him but for a player who has a history of injuries he just isn't worth the potential.

[LukasBMW]

At best Bledsoe is Russell Westbrook. At worst he is Brandon Roy.

Westbrook isn't even worth more then 12-15 million per season in my book.

If someone offers Bledsoe the max, match it.

If he pouts like a little bish, showcase him for the first half of the season and trade him before the deadline.

If he comes back fired up, let him run wild for 2 or 3 years and then think about trading him before his knee blows up, or extend him because he's played so well for us and has given management no choice but to hope his knee holds up.

[Safety Pickle]

At best Bledsoe is Russell Westbrook. At worst he is Brandon Roy.

Westbrook isn't even worth more then 12-15 million per season in my book.

If someone offers Bledsoe the max, match it.

If he pouts like a little bish, showcase him for the first half of the season and trade him before the deadline.

If he comes back fired up, let him run wild for 2 or 3 years and then think about trading him before his knee blows up, or extend him because he's played so well for us and has given management no choice but to hope his knee holds up.

[so_nashty]

As expected, Golden State willing to up the ante for Love as well. Thompson, Lee and Barnes for Love. I can almost picture McDonough raising his hand in the corner of the room saying, "hey fellas, can I help make the deal work? Let's make this a three team deal."

https://twitter.com/BrightSideSun/statu ... 0685742080

[PhxSuns1]

At best Bledsoe is Russell Westbrook. At worst he is Brandon Roy.

Westbrook isn't even worth more then 12-15 million per season in my book.

If someone offers Bledsoe the max, match it.

If he pouts like a little bish, showcase him for the first half of the season and trade him before the deadline.

If he comes back fired up, let him run wild for 2 or 3 years and then think about trading him before his knee blows up, or extend him because he's played so well for us and has given management no choice but to hope his knee holds up.

Yeah. There is something wrong with your book then. Not a sound argument.

[LukasBMW]

At best Bledsoe is Russell Westbrook. At worst he is Brandon Roy.

Westbrook isn't even worth more then 12-15 million per season in my book.

If someone offers Bledsoe the max, match it.

If he pouts like a little bish, showcase him for the first half of the season and trade him before the deadline.

If he comes back fired up, let him run wild for 2 or 3 years and then think about trading him before his knee blows up, or extend him because he's played so well for us and has given management no choice but to hope his knee holds up.

BronBron: $25-30 mil per year (best player in the world)
Melo, Kevin Love, Durrant: $20-25 mil per year (superstars)
Blake Griffin, Aldridge, Chris Paul: $15-20 mil per year (consistent all stars)
Dragic, Westbrook, Parker, Ginobli, Bosh : $12-15 mil per year (borderline all stars)
<insert names here> (Key role players): $8-$12 mil per year

That's how the cap SHOULD play out if GM's didn't get into bidding wars. Where do you place Bledsoe?

[matt131]

As expected, Golden State willing to up the ante for Love as well. Thompson, Lee and Barnes for Love. I can almost picture McDonough raising his hand in the corner of the room saying, "hey fellas, can I help make the deal work? Let's make this a three team deal."

https://twitter.com/BrightSideSun/statu ... 0685742080

Would a third team even be necessary in this situation? And I'd really prefer Love to head East if he's going anywhere.

[JTrain]

I'm sure most Minny fans hate to see Love go, but they are going to end up with a great deal.

[LukasBMW]

Boozer was kind of a pointless move by the Lakers. Takes minutes from Randle Davis and hill. It's not a trade asset because you can't trade amnesty guys for a yr and that's all the longer it's for.

Boozer is washed up and terrible so it might be a sneaky stealth tank move on there part to keep their pick.

Sent from my SM-N900V using RealGM Forums mobile app

Exactly. It looks like a stealth tank job to me. To the casual fans, it looks good, as they added in a semi-big name in Boozer, but where is the defense in their starting 5?

Lin?
Kobe
Swaggy P?
Boozer?
Hill?

Its a bit comical as they will be relying on Kobe for all of their defense and at least 50% of their offense.

My prediction: Swaggy P and Kobe have a publicly known "falling out" by Christmas.

If the Lakers are in the playoff hunt, Kobe will force Swaggy P to be traded by the deadline.
If the Lakers are not in the playoff hunt, Kobe will try to force his way out to a contender.

[Kerrsed]

As expected, Golden State willing to up the ante for Love as well. Thompson, Lee and Barnes for Love. I can almost picture McDonough raising his hand in the corner of the room saying, "hey fellas, can I help make the deal work? Let's make this a three team deal."

https://twitter.com/BrightSideSun/statu ... 0685742080

This was after that tweet came out.

[tweet]http://twitter.com/timkawakami/status/490006597993635840[/tweet]

When it comes to the Bay Area, Tim Kawakami is the man. He has much better sources, many of whom are inside the FO. Him and Alex Kennedy are kinda going back and forth with each other on Twitter right now due to this. My guess is the report that Alex got, that GS is willing to include Thompson, came from Minny, trying to up Clevelands offer. They are getting greedy and now want more than just Wiggins. The want Wiggins/Bennett/Waiters/Picks.

[Puff]

I might get flamed on here but I think a lot of ppl are underating Bledsoe. Yes he might not be worth that much right now, but with his talent and potential,we would miss the hell out of him if he left. And yes, he has some injury concerns, but are we not the suns?

He's only 24 yrs old and avged 17/5. Dragic is 28,not old at all, but had his first great season with 20/6. When Dragic was 24, he didn't even come close to Bledsoe's numbers. I know Goran is a fan favorite and all but is it that crazy to believe when it is all said and done, that Bledsoe could have a better career? Not to mention he's a MUCH better defender.

Quite frankly none of the Stats, age, or previous injuries mean anything at this point.

Both EB and the Suns are trying to determine his value. With no offers from anyone other than us, his value is what we have offered. We should not raise that offer one bit, IMO.

Most of this board and other boards thought Sarver undervalued Joe Johnson. No one really knew his value. As I remember he had one bid and that was from Billy King, if I am correct. That guy has overpaid for players over and over. Sarver was probably in the ball park against every GM not named Billy King. Unless a Billy King shows up then we are bidding against ourselves and the goods we are bidding on has been injured more than once.

I love Bledsoe but quite frankly I was pretty disappointed in the way he played down the stretch. Several games he did not show up in the first half. After Tucker chewed out the team at halftime, that was the rumor anyway, he came out firing on all cylinders. Why did it take Tucker to get him fired up? What type of player will we see after he signs a contract?

The shame is that a guy we thought was going to be a problem to keep from other teams is a man without a team at this point and I have seen no indication that he really wants to be a Phoenix Sun.

Maybe the Clippers did the right thing to trade him, when they did.

Hopefully we kiss and make up soon.

[so_nashty]

As expected, Golden State willing to up the ante for Love as well. Thompson, Lee and Barnes for Love. I can almost picture McDonough raising his hand in the corner of the room saying, "hey fellas, can I help make the deal work? Let's make this a three team deal."

https://twitter.com/BrightSideSun/statu ... 0685742080

This was after that tweet came out.

[tweet]http://twitter.com/timkawakami/status/490006597993635840[/tweet]

When it comes to the Bay Area, Tim Kawakami is the man. He has much better sources, many of whom are inside the FO. Him and Alex Kennedy are kinda going back and forth with each other on Twitter right now due to this. My guess is the report that Alex got, that GS is willing to include Thompson, came from Minny, trying to up Clevelands offer. They are getting greedy and now want more than just Wiggins. The want Wiggins/Bennett/Waiters/Picks.

Where there's smoke, there's generally fire but I can definitely see Minny stirring it up though. Smart by them if it's true. Gotta love the offseason.

[letsgosuns]

If Bledsoe is really demanding 5 years, 80 million, then I think he does not want to be here. That is ridiculous. He has done nothing to deserve that contract. Sounds to me like he just wants off the team and wants the Suns to trade him. If that is the case, fine with me. He can leave and go be happy somewhere else. The Suns should work out a sign and trade for him with someone. I would rather have a player that wants to be on the Suns instead of a player that does not want to be here. The Suns have so many young players so I think they will be fine.

He must really hate the Suns, that's why he wants to sign a 5-year contract with them.

I'm looking forward to seeing this board's reaction when Dragic inevitably asks for 5/90 next summer.

Oh c'mon, you are missing the point of what I said. He knows the Suns do not want to give him max and that is what he is demanding. Him and the Suns are 32 million dollars apart. That is a pretty wide gap. I take that as hey, I could care less about what team I am on, all I care about is the money. Do you remember when the Suns maxed Amare out and then it was found that he needed microfracture knee surgery a few months later? Well Eric Bledsoe has already had two knee surgeries on the same knee. I am not saying he is frail, but the Suns are being cautious. How horrible would it be if the Suns give him a true max contract and then something bad happens (I certainly hope this does not happen). It would be very bad. Look at the contract the Knicks gave Amare after he left the Suns. That has turned out to be one of the worst contracts in sports. The big difference too is Amare at least was a proven all star scoring machine. What has Eric Bledsoe ever done to warrant such a massive contract. Absolutely nothing.

Look at Eric Gordon. Lance Blanks psychotically offered him the max. Thankfully in the Suns case it was matched by the other team. Gordon was a little guard that had knee issues. He was explosive and had all the potential you could want. Now his contract has virtually become dead weight. I am telling you, Bledsoe unfortunately is liable to become injured again. He is only 6'1" and he constantly gets hit very hard. That is similar to Gordon and also Derrick Rose, who has already lost two years of his NBA career because of knee problems. And who knows if Rose will ever be anything like he used to be.

This is my biggest concern. When was the last time a point guard led his team to the championship? Isiah Thomas is the one that comes to mind. Do you think Bledsoe is as good as Isiah Thomas? I do not. So if the Suns invest a huge amount of money on a point guard, it better damn well be for someone who has at least made the all star team or all NBA team. Did Bledsoe do that? No. Not even close. He never even started until this year and he missed half the season. Do not forget either, part of the reason he missed games was because of a bruised shin prior to his knee injury. He has been injured before. Little guys that play like he does sadly are prone to getting hurt. It is just the way the NBA is. If I could get a guarantee that Bledsoe will be fine, sure, give him big money, that is the way things work. But there is no guarantee of that, and the Suns know it, and they do not want to get burned.

[so_nashty]

As expected, Golden State willing to up the ante for Love as well. Thompson, Lee and Barnes for Love. I can almost picture McDonough raising his hand in the corner of the room saying, "hey fellas, can I help make the deal work? Let's make this a three team deal."

https://twitter.com/BrightSideSun/statu ... 0685742080

Would a third team even be necessary in this situation? And I'd really prefer Love to head East if he's going anywhere.

Not necessarily, but I can see McDonough trying to somehow work his way in to get more assets. At some point in the next few years we're probably going to have 6 first round draft picks in a single draft.

[JTrain]

The Suns could play hardball back. Since the situation is effecting their strategy in the FA market, they want to know one way or the other, as soon as possible. Let him know if he doesn't accept the offer by 8/1 it goes down $4M.

[Revived]

What would you guys prefer?

Matching a 4/$63 offer or S&T of Bledsoe with that contract to the Bucks for Ilyasova and John Henson?

Max Bledsoe BUT.....if you ask nicely, we will give you Tyler Ennis for Harris straight up. If you act now we will even throw in Shavlik Randolph!

[Dr Manute]

The Suns could play hardball back. Since the situation is effecting their strategy in the FA market, they want to know one way or the other, as soon as possible. Let him know if he doesn't accept the offer by 8/1 it goes down $4M.

The longer he waits for an overpriced contract (when a more than fair contract is on the table), the more his image with fans is tarnished - this lowers his value. So the Suns' offer should reduce as well. He will be easier to trade on a low-ball contract if he's unhappy and pouts because he was disrespected by not getting his max contact. I personnaly don't want players on this team who care more about themselves and money than their team and winning. The fact that Bledsoe has not signed with the Suns yet has left a sour taste in my mouth.