The One And Only Offseason Thread 5: Dinnertime!

[King4Day]

Would you guys rather keep Bledsoe and barely make the playoffs or get rid of Bledsoe and give minutes to Ennis and Goodwin and barely miss the playoffs?

On another note if we keep Bledsoe and somehow don't get Dragic back next year Bledsoe and IT would be a terrible combo.

At this point I want to get rid of Bledsoe throw the money at Dragic and develop our young guys.

I feel like IT and Dragic will be a better combo than Dragic and Bledsoe. Not because IT is better than Bledsoe but I think He will pair better with Dragic.

I think in the long run our team will be better without Bledsoe.

I'd rather keep him so we can deal him later. Even if it's on the QO, a team out there will want him and his low price tag would benefit us big time.

[Sunsdeuce]

Luol Deng at $20M/ 2 years is a great contract. We could have make an slightly better offer and upgrade our team at F and PF.

Bingo. This guy gets it.


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[ThatBoyNick]

Is there any legitimate talk of trading Jones? I've seen quite a few Houston fans happy to let him go.

Yeah, word is that either Jones or Motiejunas who will be packaged with other assets (like the Pelicans pick, Johnson, Capela, Papanikolaou) for and upgrade at PG, specifically, one of - Bledsoe, Dragic, Rubio, Rondo.

It's not that we're necessarily happy to let Jones go, he is a very nice young talent, but if it's for an upgrade like one of the PG's that our insiders have named, we can't really be upset.

[Nando88]

McD and Babby had been hyping our draft picks, young talent and cap space coming into this offseason. the offseason came and those assets weren't used to improve our team over last years team. That's why I am disappoint with this offseason


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[JTrain]

Is there any legitimate talk of trading Jones? I've seen quite a few Houston fans happy to let him go.

Yeah, word is that either Jones or Motiejunas who will be packaged with other assets (like the Pelicans pick, Johnson, Capela, Papanikolaou) for and upgrade at PG, specifically, one of - Bledsoe, Dragic, Rubio, Rondo.

It's not that we're necessarily happy to let Jones go, he is a very nice young talent, but if it's for an upgrade like one of the PG's that our insiders have named, we can't really be upset.

I think most of us would take Jones, Johnson and Pelican's 1st for Bledsoe. Bledsoe is probably better than Rubio too, when healthy. I also think Bledsoe would accept 4/55 to go to Houston.

[Sunsdeuce]

McD and Babby had been hyping our draft picks, young talent and cap space coming into this offseason. the offseason came and those assets weren't used to improve our team over last years team. That's why I am disappoint with this offseason


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Wow, I wrote that same thing many pages back. Ryan Mcd and babby keep saying they are position to make a big trade. They were quoted over and over about all the cap space, assets, and building a contender. And what happens......Isaiah Thomas and tolliver. Not exactly mind blowing.


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[jcsunsfan]

Is there any legitimate talk of trading Jones? I've seen quite a few Houston fans happy to let him go.

Yeah, word is that either Jones or Motiejunas who will be packaged with other assets (like the Pelicans pick, Johnson, Capela, Papanikolaou) for and upgrade at PG, specifically, one of - Bledsoe, Dragic, Rubio, Rondo.

It's not that we're necessarily happy to let Jones go, he is a very nice young talent, but if it's for an upgrade like one of the PG's that our insiders have named, we can't really be upset.

I think most of us would take Jones, Johnson and Pelican's 1st for Bledsoe. Bledsoe is probably better than Rubio too, when healthy. I also think Bledsoe would accept 4/55 to go to Houston.

Not sure about this. Reports say that he refused all s&t offers that were less than the max. He is convinced he is a max player. Wonder if he is willing to take the QO to prove it.

[Kerrsed]

I think TOO much time, and effort was wasted going after Lebron for this front office once free agency began. The Suns might have been calling Paul about Lebron instead of Eric out of the free agency gate. That might have rubbed Bledsoe the wrong way since he was FO's top priority in the offseason.


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What i believe rubbed Bledsoe the wrong way was us using him. Here is my Bled-2-Death Theory.

We tried to use his connection to Lebron and Rich Paul to net us Lebron. We informed Bledsoe of our ill-advised plan that kind of screwed Bledsoe in the long run.

I believe that we told Bledsoe we would love to sign him to a nice deal, but first things first and that was trying to lock Lebron down. Bledsoe was cool with the idea and didnt meet with any other teams, as if he did and they offered a contract to him we would then have to match right away, taking out our ability to spend the cash to get Lebron and others. Lebron took his sweet-ass time and teams started signing other FA's while Bledsoe sat on the sidelines waiting to find out what Lebron and the Suns were going to do. Once Lebron signed with Cleveland, Bedsoe was then looking at us for the deal we said we would give, but by that time there was only a few teams left that could offer Bledsoe a max deal, so thats when we started playing hardball. We knew those teams had PG's and wouldnt offer him sh*t, and they didnt, they went for other players. At last it was just down to 2 teams that could offer him max deals, us and Philly.

Bledsoe was trying to help us out by not looking for deals in FA, thus giving us time to sign Lebron and re-sign Bledsoe. It backfired on him. From there we ended up using his RFA status against him, just like he said in that interview.

That is my theory at least.

[jcsunsfan]

McD and Babby had been hyping our draft picks, young talent and cap space coming into this offseason. the offseason came and those assets weren't used to improve our team over last years team. That's why I am disappoint with this offseason


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Wow, I wrote that same thing many pages back. Ryan Mcd and babby keep saying they are position to make a big trade. They were quoted over and over about all the cap space, assets, and building a contender. And what happens......Isaiah Thomas and tolliver. Not exactly mind blowing.


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I think Bledsoe messed that up. They wanted to get a commitment from him early, and then sign someone else just before they inked Bledsoe. But when they did not hear from him, not only did they have to devote attention to him, they also did not have answer for other free agents who asked what the situation was with Bledsoe.

This league is no longer about destination cities or franchises, its about destination players. If you do not have your core sewn up, its hard to attract free agents.

[Jdiddy701]

If anybody forgot how important these players are to Phoenix, check these videos out..

Eric Bledsoe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEIYLU9WyFY & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=febi9mE3Ki4

Gerald Green - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZK6HcSXq4Q & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13LwHcYmtpk

Markieff Morris - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HP51Dfj4TQ & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4k3uSGCjn4

Bledsoe is just amazing. Green when he's hot, theres nothing cooling him off. Markieff is just efficient.

[Sunsdeuce]

Remember when we were talking about having enough money to sign two max players? Seems like forever ago.

Cardinals game is about to start. Gotta go!

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[JTrain]

Yeah, word is that either Jones or Motiejunas who will be packaged with other assets (like the Pelicans pick, Johnson, Capela, Papanikolaou) for and upgrade at PG, specifically, one of - Bledsoe, Dragic, Rubio, Rondo.

It's not that we're necessarily happy to let Jones go, he is a very nice young talent, but if it's for an upgrade like one of the PG's that our insiders have named, we can't really be upset.

I think most of us would take Jones, Johnson and Pelican's 1st for Bledsoe. Bledsoe is probably better than Rubio too, when healthy. I also think Bledsoe would accept 4/55 to go to Houston.

Not sure about this. Reports say that he refused all s&t offers that were less than the max. He is convinced he is a max player. Wonder if he is willing to take the QO to prove it.

The well is drying up. If Houston is willing to give something like 4/55 and the Suns are ready to pull the trigger, I think Bled and Paul finally give in at that point. That offer also makes it impossible for Bledsoe to make as much over the next four years by signing the QO (most he could get would be about 52.5). Plus I am guessing he would like Houston a lot better and he seems to want nothing to do with Phoenix.

[Frank Lee]

McD and Babby had been hyping our draft picks, young talent and cap space coming into this offseason. the offseason came and those assets weren't used to improve our team over last years team. That's why I am disappoint with this offseason


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Wow, I wrote that same thing many pages back. Ryan Mcd and babby keep saying they are position to make a big trade. They were quoted over and over about all the cap space, assets, and building a contender. And what happens......Isaiah Thomas and tolliver. Not exactly mind blowing.


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The 'Grass is greener ' crowd should take into consideration that what we did, though not as splashy and impactful as what some would have liked, is still an upgrade. We drafted well and added two FAs who will contribute positively.
We lost Frye, but IMO, it was expected. Time for our young bigs to step up.

The Bled-saga is the only black eye so far, and there is still plenty-O-time for that to be resolved with either EB or additional assets. The Off Season Fat Lady hasn't sung just yet.

[NoKneeBledsoe]

Bledsoe is not worth a max.... Let him take QO and hopefully he balls out and if not he loses a lot of money! Any injury he will be lucky to get 9 mill

[lilfishi22]

I think TOO much time, and effort was wasted going after Lebron for this front office once free agency began. The Suns might have been calling Paul about Lebron instead of Eric out of the free agency gate. That might have rubbed Bledsoe the wrong way since he was FO's top priority in the offseason.


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What i believe rubbed Bledsoe the wrong way was us using him. Here is my Bled-2-Death Theory.

We tried to use his connection to Lebron and Rich Paul to net us Lebron. We informed Bledsoe of our ill-advised plan that kind of screwed Bledsoe in the long run.

I believe that we told Bledsoe we would love to sign him to a nice deal, but first things first and that was trying to lock Lebron down. Bledsoe was cool with the idea and didnt meet with any other teams, as if he did and they offered a contract to him we would then have to match right away, taking out our ability to spend the cash to get Lebron and others. Lebron took his sweet-ass time and teams started signing other FA's while Bledsoe sat on the sidelines waiting to find out what Lebron and the Suns were going to do. Once Lebron signed with Cleveland, Bedsoe was then looking at us for the deal we said we would give, but by that time there was only a few teams left that could offer Bledsoe a max deal, so thats when we started playing hardball. We knew those teams had PG's and wouldnt offer him sh*t, and they didnt, they went for other players. At last it was just down to 2 teams that could offer him max deals, us and Philly.

Bledsoe was trying to help us out by not looking for deals in FA, thus giving us time to sign Lebron and re-sign Bledsoe. It backfired on him. From there we ended up using his RFA status against him, just like he said in that interview.

That is my theory at least.

My understanding from the beginning was that we were going to concentrate on Lebron (like many teams were) and Rich Paul's job is to go find his client a deal. At the same time, while the whole Lebron fiasco was going on, Paul was probably busy making Lebron his priority anyway.

In the end, I really don't think any promises were made and if they were, it certainly wasn't for a contract more than the 48/4 being offered right now.

[sunsbum]

If you come to this board to tradturbate, do yourselves a favor and leave Goran's name out of it.

On another note for those talking about being disappointed MCD didn't make any moves. What moves was there to make? We tried for KL and we got outbid. I can't think of anyone that has been traded besides Love that would have been worth losing a substantial amount of assets. Chill out.
This board seriously irritates me with the lack of patience day after day. If its not trashing Len or Plumlee or Archie, it's crying about trades we didn't make that wouldn't improve the team. Get some grips.

[SSOL]

McD and Babby had been hyping our draft picks, young talent and cap space coming into this offseason. the offseason came and those assets weren't used to improve our team over last years team. That's why I am disappoint with this offseason


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You will not be dissapointed with Warren.

[AtheJ415]

Luol Deng at $20M/ 2 years is a great contract. We could have make an slightly better offer and upgrade our team at F and PF.

Bingo. This guy gets it.


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And if we use that space to sign someone who can help us more next year, what will your opinion be then? People act as if the opportunity cost of missing on Deng was simply not having him. Really it's his value vs. whoever we end up with given that additional $10 mil/season through the life of his deal. Either way, if your expectation was only Lebron, Dirk, Love, or Deng makes our offseason successful then your expectations were out of whack.

[bwgood77]

If you come to this board to tradturbate, do yourselves a favor and leave Goran's name out of it.

On another note for those talking about being disappointed MCD didn't make any moves. What moves was there to make? We tried for KL and we got outbid. I can't think of anyone that has been traded besides Love that would have been worth losing a substantial amount of assets. Chill out.
This board seriously irritates me with the lack of patience day after day. If its not trashing Len or Plumlee or Archie, it's crying about trades we didn't make that wouldn't improve the team. Get some grips.

Yeah, I agree. Seriously, Bledsoe's agent, or even the guy he has working for him to do the contracts may have said the Suns won't budge until Sept 30th, if at all, so we need to stand firm and he is simply following directions. So every day that passes in such a scenario means nothing and people's increasing frustration and speculation of what Bledsoe is thinking or if he is even pissed off at all at the Suns (I think he is to an extent because he wants a better offer as does everyone) is just speculation. I mean Eric Gordon and Nic Batum BOTH said they DO NOT want to go back to NO/POR respectively, and Bledsoe has never said much of anything. Those guys are fine now that they are where they are.

And about other free agents, I agree....it was basically Love or bust. I actually would have been happy to sign Hawes even for a decent amount of money, just because he was better than Frye at 3 and at blocking and would have allowed Kief to flourish if they played together and given our center/PF rotation a little depth. But we did get Tolliver so we will see how that works out. And I think the IT signing was a great one. It seemed odd at the time, but the more I think about it, and with our system, it was a great one and he seems like a great dude.

[bwgood77]

What i believe rubbed Bledsoe the wrong way was us using him. Here is my Bled-2-Death Theory.

We tried to use his connection to Lebron and Rich Paul to net us Lebron. We informed Bledsoe of our ill-advised plan that kind of screwed Bledsoe in the long run.

I believe that we told Bledsoe we would love to sign him to a nice deal, but first things first and that was trying to lock Lebron down. Bledsoe was cool with the idea and didnt meet with any other teams, as if he did and they offered a contract to him we would then have to match right away, taking out our ability to spend the cash to get Lebron and others. Lebron took his sweet-ass time and teams started signing other FA's while Bledsoe sat on the sidelines waiting to find out what Lebron and the Suns were going to do. Once Lebron signed with Cleveland, Bedsoe was then looking at us for the deal we said we would give, but by that time there was only a few teams left that could offer Bledsoe a max deal, so thats when we started playing hardball. We knew those teams had PG's and wouldnt offer him sh*t, and they didnt, they went for other players. At last it was just down to 2 teams that could offer him max deals, us and Philly.

Bledsoe was trying to help us out by not looking for deals in FA, thus giving us time to sign Lebron and re-sign Bledsoe. It backfired on him. From there we ended up using his RFA status against him, just like he said in that interview.

That is my theory at least.

Good thoughts. He was probably caught between a rock and a hard place. He may have known Paul wanted LeBron back in Cleveland too....it was rumored.....so in that case you'd think he'd know. In that case it makes it tough. The Suns want him to wait for offers but he could know LeBron is unlikely to come to the Suns. Then again, as quiet as he is, my guess is that with all the LeBron thought for Rich Paul....I mean this huge Cleveland sports fan who miraculously became an agent may have thought only about LeBron 24/7 until he got LeBron to commit and then thought "What's next" and then it was too late for Bledsoe, who likely had only a couple of suitors anyway. Then he just tells him. Hold out until we get the max or close to it.

Bledsoe doesn't strike me as the guy to say "Paul, just get it done!" He could be frustrated as hell, even thinking he would be happy making 12 million a year but feeling like he shouldn't speak up.