The One And Only Offseason Thread 3

[asudevil]

S&T Bledsoe for a S&T Evan Turner and David West. Would really have a solid rotation of players. Turner can play the 2 and 3 spot.

Dragic/Green/Turner/West/Plumlee
Thomas/Archie/Tucker/Kieff/Len

no way.

a.) West is 33 and has MAYBE 2 good years left in him
b.) Turner is garbage
c.) IF we really wanted Turner we'd just sign him outright.

so this deal is essentially Bledsoe for a 33 year old David West. I'd rather had David Lee (and i dont really want him either)

[thamadkant]

Let's take a step back and look why Rich Paul and Bledsoe even pushed for a max...

third option players like Parsons, Hayward, heck even Thompson are getting paid first option money.

Thompson wanting 80 million 5 year contract whilst an MVP candidate like Steph Curry is making 12 is sickening.

The entire NBA is making me sick... To think back players like Hakeem, Admiral, Barkley got paid max 7 million dollars and you see these third option (at best) players make 3 times more than them makes me sick.
Yes I am aware of cost of living differences 15+ years ago and inflation etc, but just to grasp that these third option players would make three-four times more money in their career than players 3-4 times better than them is sickening.

Lebron, Kobe etc I understand... These guys jersey sales bring in 50 million a year themselves, plus TV rights and advertisement value during their games etc.

But Parsons?, Hayward (who I like as a player but not at max money), and a gloried Danny Green in Thompson.


The irony in all these?

Spurs.... Last player they offered max contract was Duncan who without a doubt was worth 150% of his contract back then. Spurs are defending champions who doesn't have max salary on their roster.
Kawhi Leonard... I can already smell it... Will resign 75% of his market value... (5 year 70 million I estimate).

Why?
Because of very first thing the Spurs do... They draft smart players.
Players who understand sacrifice.

I think McD, Sarver and Babby are following that footstep... Just look at their signings and players they are targeting. Bledsoe at max would set a precedent... And it will go against what the Suns are trying to do.
If Bledsoe gets max so does Dragic, Green would demand 8 million, Markieff would also demand 8+ etc

I will call it now.. If Bledsoe gets maxed, Dragic goes... Simply because no one would trade for Bledsoe and Dragic would want the same if not more than Bledsoe... New tv deal or not... Can't have two maxed players on the same spot... Championship can only be attained two ways... Have a top 3 player and two other stars on your team and play elite defense... Or have depth and balance...

Suns tried for option 1... And failed. Option 2 is always where they need to go anyways.

[gaspar]

The longer this drags on, the more I am beginning to dislike Bledsoe. He was one of my favorite players, but this situation has been eyeopening. There have been subtle hints he doesn't really seem to like playing here. Before he got traded he wrote in his twitter bio that he played for the Clippers, after getting traded here, no mention of playing for the Suns. He also favorites that tweet about how the Lakers should sign him. I think he has good chemistry with the rest of the guys on the team, but not to the point where he hangs out with them off the court.

I feel like him and Rich Paul have some agenda to try to push him to the Lakers so he can try to build himself and market himself into a "superstar." Guys like the Morris bros, Dragic, Tucker and Archie are guys who you want on this team. Guys who rep the Suns on and off the court and are glad to be here. Remember McD and Babby said they're trying to build a culture here, and while Bledsoe may not have any known attitude problems (other than maybe hanging around some questionable figures), his unenthusiastic attitude towards being here isn't something that that fits that culture. I think him and Paul came at the Suns with some ridiculous offer like 5/80, knowing they would say no, and hoping they would try to trade him to another team (Lakers or Heat), without outright asking for a trade (in the off chance they actually accept the 5/80 offer).

Trading Bledsoe for a big would probably be the best course of action. Green and Dragic is still a great backcourt, and it addresses our terrible front court depth. I really hope we don't trade Green, he's an exciting player on a currently great contract. He plays with a lot of emotion, which Bledsoe lacks.

Baseless speculation and jumping to conclusions based on no evidence whatsoever.

[tgtm_24]

I agree that we're trying to establish a champion team as opposed to a team of champions. Surprised that Lakers would wait until now to go after Bledsoe. Disappointing situation with Bledsoe in terms of lack of desire but it's not all on him. Least it's giving us plenty to talk about!

[batsmasher]

S&T Bledsoe for a S&T Evan Turner and David West. Would really have a solid rotation of players. Turner can play the 2 and 3 spot.

Dragic/Green/Turner/West/Plumlee
Thomas/Archie/Tucker/Kieff/Len

Yuck yucky yuck yuck.

YUCK!!

[TASTIC]

S&T Bledsoe for a S&T Evan Turner and David West. Would really have a solid rotation of players. Turner can play the 2 and 3 spot.

Dragic/Green/Turner/West/Plumlee
Thomas/Archie/Tucker/Kieff/Len

That is AWFUL.

Evan Turner could probably be had for the minimum and West - while a nice player - is not what we need.

We can/could get more for Bledsoe from elsewhere.

Another thing I'm slightly worried about is if a Joe Johnson scenario happens, ie Bledsoe signs with say MIL for $50m over 4yr and says to the Suns 'don't match it' - that would REALLY be frustrating. If they do match, we have a guy who clearly doesn't want to be a Sun, and if they don't match we get nothing for him...

[TASTIC]

Why doesn't the NBA institute a LEGIT hard cap by introducing tier contracts like they do with MLE etc meaning EVERY team needs to be responsible about who they're signing, for how long and for how much.

Something like this:
Max 1 - ie one per team, this is for the absolute Alpha Dogs - Lebron, Davis, Love, Paul etc start at $15m per, max 7.5% increases yearly, max 5yrs.

Max 2 - ie max of two players per team, salaries start $10m, 7.5% increases yearly, max 4yrs. Players such as Bosh, Griffin, Dragic, Bledsoe - guys who are 1a options essentially.

Big MLE - ie max of three players per team, salaries start $6m with 7.5% increases yearly. Guys like David West, Lance Stephenson, Pau Gasol, IThomas etc

MLE - ie no max of number of these players, same as current $5m though not just for teams who fit the 'exception' criteria, so you'd change the name obviously. Players like Gerald Green would get this next year, or the Pistons would sign Meeks to this rather than that absurd $7m a year thing.

Small MLE - ie no limit on these guys either, essentially 2-3 of these guys are your guys just off rookie deals that will be happy with anything, ie Evan Turner, Ed Davis,

Vet Min - same as current

Rookie deals - this is where it would get interesting; they'd essentially have same Bird Rights so you could go over the cap to retain them, but like current system the Suns for example couldn't sign Monroe unless they still had a 'slot' to put him in at that deal, ie a Max 2 or Big MLE type deal, depending what they offered him.

Just call them Grades, so Grade 1 for the top dogs and filter down.

This makes sense in my head, but for some reason after re-reading it, it's not that clear!

Basically give each team a total of 15 'slots' that they fill their roster out with. It would eliminate the super team thing unless players took a legit paycut/unless the team had Bird rights etc.

There's holes in it, interested what other people think cos I doubt the players would go for it but it's the only sort of limit/cap that would prevent this Nets type fiasco with the 'cap'...

[King4Day]

Why doesn't the NBA institute a LEGIT hard cap by introducing tier contracts like they do with MLE etc meaning EVERY team needs to be responsible about who they're signing, for how long and for how much.

Something like this:
Max 1 - ie one per team, this is for the absolute Alpha Dogs - Lebron, Davis, Love, Paul etc start at $15m per, max 7.5% increases yearly, max 5yrs.

Max 2 - ie max of two players per team, salaries start $10m, 7.5% increases yearly, max 4yrs. Players such as Bosh, Griffin, Dragic, Bledsoe - guys who are 1a options essentially.

Big MLE - ie max of three players per team, salaries start $6m with 7.5% increases yearly. Guys like David West, Lance Stephenson, Pau Gasol, IThomas etc

MLE - ie no max of number of these players, same as current $5m though not just for teams who fit the 'exception' criteria, so you'd change the name obviously. Players like Gerald Green would get this next year, or the Pistons would sign Meeks to this rather than that absurd $7m a year thing.

Small MLE - ie no limit on these guys either, essentially 2-3 of these guys are your guys just off rookie deals that will be happy with anything, ie Evan Turner, Ed Davis,

Vet Min - same as current

Rookie deals - this is where it would get interesting; they'd essentially have same Bird Rights so you could go over the cap to retain them, but like current system the Suns for example couldn't sign Monroe unless they still had a 'slot' to put him in at that deal, ie a Max 2 or Big MLE type deal, depending what they offered him.

Just call them Grades, so Grade 1 for the top dogs and filter down.

This makes sense in my head, but for some reason after re-reading it, it's not that clear!

Basically give each team a total of 15 'slots' that they fill their roster out with. It would eliminate the super team thing unless players took a legit paycut/unless the team had Bird rights etc.

There's holes in it, interested what other people think cos I doubt the players would go for it but it's the only sort of limit/cap that would prevent this Nets type fiasco with the 'cap'...

Hard cap then presents the problem of players not agreeing with the tier they were designated. Would love it too though

[NTB]

Boring. No news.

[RaisingArizona]

S&T Bledsoe for a S&T Evan Turner and David West. Would really have a solid rotation of players. Turner can play the 2 and 3 spot.

Dragic/Green/Turner/West/Plumlee
Thomas/Archie/Tucker/Kieff/Len

Placeholder for a that's terrible GIF...

[carey]

Baseless speculation and jumping to conclusions based on no evidence whatsoever.

I think there's plenty of evidence. The fact that they shut down negotiations last year. The fact that they haven't been in Phoenix this entire off-season. There is the "favorite" of the tweet suggesting the Lakers sign him. The reports coming out from a "source" suggesting that he wants the full 5-year max when anyone with half a brain knows he doesn't deserve that off half a season of starting. You can ignore these signs if you like, but the rest of us can connect the dots fairly easily.

[noelphx]

So KTAR is saying there is a press conference for the Suns at 12 noon. They seem to be speculating its about Bledsoe. Anyone have any inside info? Or are they off base.

[RaisingArizona]

So KTAR is saying there is a press conference for the Suns at 12 noon. They seem to be speculating its about Bledsoe. Anyone have any inside info? Or are they off base.

It's the Thomas signing.

[noelphx]

So KTAR is saying there is a press conference for the Suns at 12 noon. They seem to be speculating its about Bledsoe. Anyone have any inside info? Or are they off base.

It's the Thomas signing.

You would think they would know that and stop the stupid speculation crap then. Idiots. Sigh.

[carey]

You would think they would know that and stop the stupid speculation crap then. Idiots. Sigh.

Isaiah Thomas even reported that he was flying in for the press conference today on Twitter.

[noelphx]

You would think they would know that and stop the stupid speculation crap then. Idiots. Sigh.

Isaiah Thomas even reported that he was flying in for the press conference today on Twitter.

Guess I'm going to have to spend more time on da twitta.

[noelphx]

It took them until 725a to admit it was about IT. I missed what was said was before but it sounded like it was some super surprise to them lol.

[NTB]

Can someone tell me how can we spend exactly? How much cap space do we have?

[carey]

Can someone tell me how can we spend exactly? How much cap space do we have?

With Tolliver, Thomas, Tucker, and Bledsoe as a cap hold. $14,419,176.

[JJ13]

Can someone tell me how can we spend exactly? How much cap space do we have?

With Tolliver, Thomas, Tucker, and Bledsoe as a cap hold. $14,419,176.

We can spend that $14+M prior to signing Bledsoe, right...and then go over to sign Bledsoe? Or no?