Suns Looking To Balance Guard Heavy Roster

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 6:00 am

The Phoenix Suns have a glut of guards in the backcourt and Ryan McDonough admitted the team's balance is slightly off.

"I think our roster balance is a little off, and that's my fault," McDonough said Wedneday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. "We are a little too backcourt heavy, especially in terms of guys who, you know, I think you'd define primarily as scorers in the backcourt.

"So I think at some point we'll need to balance that out, try to get a little more size, a little more frontcourt scoring and rebounding."

The Suns are in the playoff picture but have lost seven of their last 10 games.

"At the same time it's a challenge because we do have talented players, they've all had success individually and team success in the NBA," McDonough said, "so those are some of the decisions we'll kind of mull over the next week or so and we'll see where we are on the 19th next week."

Via Adam Green/Arizona Sports

Post #2 » by **bwgood77** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 6:23 am

Well, it's nice they now realize that the two pg system, which was a success, didn't mean you had to draft one and sign another in FA, taking the ball out of the best playmaker's hands the year before he becomes a FA. Hope it's not too little too late and that Dragic is the one who is gone after an All NBA year.

texasholdem · Post #3 » by **texasholdem** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 8:38 am

Even in that picture Dragic doesn't look happy to be there.
C'mon Suns. We want the Dragon back in Houston. You traded him to us once before.

malgus · Post #4 » by **malgus** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:27 pm

texasholdem wrote:Even in that picture Dragic doesn't look happy to be there.
C'mon Suns. We want the Dragon back in Houston. You traded him to us once before.

We'd give em back to you if you had AAron Brooks again to give us back! Just kidding, that was so dumb of us back in the day. I'm glad Lance Blanks (the guy who made that trade) was let go.

DarthDiggler69 · Post #5 » by **DarthDiggler69** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:33 pm

They just need to trade Thomas and Green for size or picks. OKC is going to pass them soon anyway

koogiking · Post #6 » by **koogiking** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:23 pm

They should pick up Amar'e Stoudemire if he gets a buyout

DEEP3CL · Post #7 » by **DEEP3CL** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:37 pm

Now he figures that out now that their playoff chances are looking like they'll be caught.

Ballerhogger · Post #8 » by **Ballerhogger** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:40 pm

trade one of your guards for kanter

ADDinChicago · Post #9 » by **ADDinChicago** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:42 pm

So signing 3 guys who are PGs in both size and skill to be your guard rotation hasn't been the answer? Color me shocked...

Dragic's going to be gone this summer. I get Bledsoe. What I don't get was the big contract for someone like Isaiah Thomas when you had far more glaring needs. Phoenix is one of those teams you look at and kind of understand what they're doing in some capacities and then you look at the big picture and go "WTF?".

ADDinChicago · Post #10 » by **ADDinChicago** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:43 pm

Ballerhogger wrote:trade one of your guards for kanter

I think Utah has enough guards to play with.

kenwood3333 · Post #11 » by **kenwood3333** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:16 pm

The roster is flawed and the fact that they are still in the playoff hunt speaks volume about their coach.

caronimo · Post #12 » by **caronimo** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:48 am

free tyler ennis

ADDinChicago · Post #13 » by **ADDinChicago** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 12:53 am

kenwood3333 wrote:The roster is flawed and the fact that they are still in the playoff hunt speaks volume about their coach.

I agree. Hornacek has proven to be quite an effective coach that I don't think anyone saw coming. What's infuriating about the Suns is their roster, while indeed "flawed", has a lot of talent on it. They just don't have a true star in that talent. They get a lot out of what they have. But they're going to be one of those teams stuck in "NBA Purgatory" because of it. Never good enough to contend and never bad enough to land a major player at the top of the draft and they won't ever attract the top free agents because of it.

movingaz · Post #14 » by **movingaz** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:24 pm

I have watched just about every Suns game this year. 3 Things the Suns have done poorly lately. #1 Turn the ball over stupid turnovers like loosing their dribble and really bad passes that are easily stolen. #2 They take bad shots too much one on one then take a bad contested shot or a fadeway not very good team ball I dont' know what plays they are running if any. #3 They really don't play very good defense overall I don't see maximum effort from most of the team the whole game. The suns have plenty of talent just not plenty of effort.

mawbsta · Post #15 » by **mawbsta** » Sat Feb 14, 2015 5:55 pm

You can't win in the west without big men - PERIOD

Suns would be first in the east with that guard heavy roster and soft interior big men, but that doesn't play in the west.
Having already paid Bledsoe as a franchise player, the only benefit to having added Thomas this past summer was to trade Dragic by improving the overall talent pool, so that the Suns could trade from a position of power.

Problem is they last that power when they opted not to trade Dragic this summer. A year ago Dragic was the hottest commodity on the team playing a career year. Teams were more likely to deal for him at that point knowing they would have a full season to convince him to sign an extension. Now this season is half over, the Suns are struggling and Dragic is not shining as bright on a 3-guard rotation as he was as the primary option last season. As a potential free agent, carrying a player option for 2016, his trade value is nowhere near as high as it was last season.

With every passing day the Suns fall further from the playoff picture and lose valuable leverage in any trade where they want to improve their interior presence.

Hibbert would seem to be the best option available via trade as he is also holding a player option to return to Indiana, however having fallen out of starters minutes this season, he could benefit from a change of scenery. Likewise, the pacers could benefit from adding a playmaker like Dragic.