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[Mulhollanddrive]

I think it's more beneficial to get a top 5 pick than get swept in the playoffs.

[lilfishi22]

Boston does have the Net's pick which is currently #4. They have their own pick as well as Dallas' 1st rounder and they have a great young coach going forward. They are in a great situation.

#3, right?

You're right. We have #4 (statistically).

[Damkac]

If Booker, Warren and Len could lead Suns to 8th spot next year it's amazing.
But adding some mediocre veterans to make 8th spot is stupid.

[Jdiddy701]

Can't believe Dragic is getting paid 18 mil a year.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[bwgood77]

I think it's more beneficial to get a top 5 pick than get swept in the playoffs.

Depends on the circumstances. If you are full of 25 and younger guys and get swept, it is a taste of the playoffs, like when the Thunder lost to the Lakers while young in their first season making the playoffs.

There is not going to be a rebuilding team that automatically vaults into a team that makes a really deep playoff run barring crazy injuries. Now it wouldn't shock me if Minnesota got to the 2nd round next year if they make it, but I'm guessing they'd have to get to at least the 6 seed to do it.

A vet team trying to patch together a team like we did in the post Amare years to make the 8th seed is not a smart goal. Getting to the playoffs with a team made up mostly of guys in rookie contracts is a worthy goal.

[saintEscaton]

And you were saying? Suns fans need to be really get over the Dragic butthurt, acting like spurned lovers

[saintEscaton]

Of course the Fakers ink Luke Walton, while we settle for nobodies

[Gorilla Warfare]

Luke Walton better enjoy that 39-4 record as a head coach while he can, because by this time next year his record will be like 51-74

[saintEscaton]

Kemba Walker plays with such heart, hope Charlotte closes this one out

[darealjuice]

Of course the Fakers ink Luke Walton, while we settle for nobodies

Luke Walton is a nobody. What experience does he have that Earl Watson doesn't lol? Don't let 39-4 fool you or whatever, I guarantee that you could have trotted out that GSW team and came out with 30+ wins over that span.

[saintEscaton]

Of course the Fakers ink Luke Walton, while we settle for nobodies

Luke Walton is a nobody. What experience does he have that Earl Watson doesn't lol? Don't let 39-4 fool you or whatever, I guarantee that you could have trotted out that GSW team and came out with 30+ wins over that span.

The Dubs aren't an autopilot self-coached team as many think they are. If Mark Jackson took reigns from Kerr they would revert to back to what they previously were. Walton actualy drew up novel in bounds plays and wisely used the death squad lineup, he just had questionable hockey substitutions and refused to call timeout to preserve momentum.

[bwgood77]

Kemba Walker plays with such heart, hope Charlotte closes this one out

It's interesting. I read an article in espn the magazine (which I couldn't find online because I was going to post here) that listed the 5 guards (or maybe point guards) taken in the draft he came out in....they listed them with RPM (real plus minus) and Kemba was by far ahead with a significant plus....and then I think IT was second....I can't remember who the two in third and fourth were, but a distant fifth, with a negative RPM was Brandon Knight.

The thing is, no one ever mentions Kemba. Probably a small market thing, but he is the real deal.

[saintEscaton]

Of course the Fakers ink Luke Walton, while we settle for nobodies

Luke Walton is a nobody. What experience does he have that Earl Watson doesn't lol? Don't let 39-4 fool you or whatever, I guarantee that you could have trotted out that GSW team and came out with 30+ wins over that span.

The Dubs aren't an autopilot self-coached team as many think they are. If Mark Jackson took reigns from Kerr they would revert to back to what they previously were. Walton actualy drew up novel in bounds plays and wisely used the death squad lineup, he just had questionable hockey substitutions and refused to call timeout to preserve momentum. So who is Watson a protege of ? Sloan because he played in Utah for a while or Pop because he briefly coached the Spurs DLeague affiliate?

[bwgood77]

Luke Walton is a nobody. What experience does he have that Earl Watson doesn't lol? Don't let 39-4 fool you or whatever, I guarantee that you could have trotted out that GSW team and came out with 30+ wins over that span.

The Dubs aren't an autopilot self-coached team as many think they are. If Mark Jackson took reigns from Kerr they would revert to back to what they previously were. Walton actualy drew up novel in bounds plays and wisely used the death squad lineup, he just had questionable hockey substitutions and refused to call timeout to preserve momentum. So who is Watson a protege of ? Sloan because he played in Utah for a while or Pop because he briefly coached the Spurs DLeague affiliate?

Walton hasn't proved a damn thing, just like Watson. Now we can see who appears to be a better real coach with a project team now that he isn't coaching the Warriors. I love Walton, and he has always been super high iq, so he is good. He probably didn't have any interest in the Suns job...because there was certainly buzz that Sarver was interested in him, and you can be sure he checked out Walton's interest before committing to Watson.

And if you want to talk about protege, you can talk about John Wooden, Bob Iger, Gary Payton, Jerry Sloan, Jerry West, and I could go on, but it's probably a pretty long list with some big names.

Next month, the youngest head coach in the NBA will walk into a courtroom in Kansas City, Kan. He will wear a suit and he will sit with his parents and siblings for what they all hope is the final time.

The trial of the man accused of killing Earl Watson’s brother has been delayed long enough.

Earl Watson, 36, became the youngest head coach in the NBA when the Phoenix Suns officially promoted him this month.
Earl Watson, 36, became the youngest head coach in the NBA when the Phoenix Suns officially promoted him this month. Matt York The Associated Press
Watson buried his brother 18 months ago. The whole thing was a shock. An argument between one of Watson’s brothers and his stepdaughter turned into an altercation between the brother and another man. That confrontation ended in gunshots.

Dwayne Hooks, a retired police officer, was one of three people shot. He developed blood clots from treatment, and died three days later. Tremayne Quinn is charged with voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery.

Hooks had been pushing Watson to go into coaching, but Watson had been resisting his brother. Retirement is difficult for any athlete. But two days after the funeral, Watson interviewed for the lowest coaching job in the NBA — as an assistant in its developmental league. When he walks into that courtroom to support his family, he will do so as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns — a move made official this week.

“If you lose a brother who passes away way before his time, it’s always on your mind,” Earl Watson says. “It’s random. You can’t control it. My greatest revenge has always been success. I want to do right and live right. That’s the best thing I can do as far as mourning my brother.”

Watson graduated in 1997 from Washington High. He is 36 years old, younger than a handful of players in the league, and not far removed from some of the men he will lead in the fall in his first official season as the Suns’ head coach.

He finished a 13-year professional playing career in 2014, and seems to be the only one who doesn’t think his rise — seldom-used reserve for Portland in 2014, assistant coach in the NBA Development League in 2015, and now a head coach in the NBA — has been particularly rapid.

“I knew I would be a head coach two to three years after I retired,” Watson says. “How did I know that? I don’t know. Maybe belief is stronger than reality.”

The Suns making Watson’s position official — he had been the interim coach since February — means two former Kansas City high school basketball stars are now NBA head coaches. Tyronn Lue, who graduated from Raytown High in 1995, took the Cleveland Cavaliers’ job this season.

Watson and Lue knew each other in Kansas City, and have since reminisced about the similarities in their paths. Lue was overshadowed by Derek Hood in high school. For Watson, it was JaRon Rush.

“I’m not surprised,” Earl Watson Sr. said. “I know my son. Once he goes after something, he’s going to get it.”

The younger Watson has been going after this far longer than two years. He knew he wanted to be a coach even as a teenager, when he was a high school star recruited by many of the nation’s biggest programs.

Teachers at Washington High used to roll their eyes while grading Watson’s homework. He was a decent enough student, but his grades surely could’ve been better. It’s just that many of his tests were turned in with basketball plays scribbled in the margins — diagrams on how to beat a 1-3-1 press crowding an English composition.

Earl, he heard more than once, stop drawing basketball players on your homework.

“I did not listen,” Watson said. “Thank God.”

He chose UCLA over Kansas and other colleges at least in part for the opportunity to learn from John Wooden, who after retirement had made himself available as a resource to all UCLA coaches and players.

Watson would spend hours at Wooden’s condo, with visits at least once a week, listening to guidance about life beyond basketball. They talked about everything from how to be a better man to Watson’s worries about what would be required after backcourt mate Baron Davis left early for the NBA.

Watson’s entire basketball life has been like this, equal parts serendipity and choice leading him to relationships with a remarkably diverse and accomplished list of basketball minds.

He was drafted by Seattle 39th overall in 2001, and quickly learned from Gary Payton that 45 minutes early isn't early enough to be at practice. Watson’s career created friendships and relationships with Larry Bird, R.C. Buford, George Karl, Bob Hill, Nate McMillan, and so many others.

Many of these came from conscious decisions Watson made to prepare himself for the job he just took. He signed with Memphis, for instance, to learn from Jerry West. Watson went to Utah because that meant playing for Jerry Sloan. Learn from the best, and implement that knowledge immediately. This is how Watson has lived.

Watson was a full-time starter for just two seasons, but those who worked with him could see his future. When he played a year with Indiana, then-Pacers coach Jim O’Brien encouraged Watson to make his ambitions known. Bird told him he would make a great coach someday.

“Larry Bird is not a man of much conversation,” Watson said. “But hearing that from someone like him is motivating and inspiring.”

There are people in the basketball world who thought it strange that Watson took a job as an assistant in the D-League. He made $1.4 million his last season as a player, and more than $40 million in his career. The job with the Austin Spurs required ditching chartered flights and five-star hotels for eight-hour bus rides and motels. The $30,000 salary was not enough to cover his expenses, and who among us goes out of pocket to work?

Well, here’s where an entirely serendipitous meeting changed Watson’s life. This was four or five years ago. Watson played for the Jazz then, and was in Los Angeles for a game. He was eating a sandwich on Hollywood Boulevard when a man who’d been staring for a while finally approached.

“Hey Earl, I went to UCLA with you,” Watson remembered hearing. “My boss is having a birthday party, and I’d love for you to come.”

“I’m sorry,” Watson said. “You can’t really rent me out for birthday parties, but tell your boss I said Happy Birthday.”

“You don’t understand,” the man said. “My boss is the CEO of Disney.”

Watson was skeptical, but it turned out to be legitimate. Watson showed up, and Bob Iger thanked him and said if there’s anything he could do, to let him know. Watson figured that meant Disney tickets or tours, but instead he asked the only question he cared about.

“Can you tell me something that will change my life?”

Iger said yes, actually, he could. Iger told Watson about starting at the bottom and making professional advancement the only criteria for his decisions. He took some new jobs for the same money, some with raises, and others with a paycut. But he only did it if it made sense for his career.

Too many people, Iger said, let short-term financial worries dictate their professional lives. Iger went the other way, and ended up as the CEO of Disney.

Watson had that chance meeting on his mind when the San Antonio Spurs asked him to interview for their lowest coaching job. So if it seemed strange that he would turn down a seven-figure salary as an NBA player for less than the starting salary of most college graduates, the Iger story helps explain.

As for why he pursued coaching so hard in the first place, don’t forget the brother he will honor by walking into that court room next month.

“Nothing I’ve done is by accident,” Watson said. “This has always been the plan.”

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article73515637.html

[darealjuice]

Luke Walton is a nobody. What experience does he have that Earl Watson doesn't lol? Don't let 39-4 fool you or whatever, I guarantee that you could have trotted out that GSW team and came out with 30+ wins over that span.

The Dubs aren't an autopilot self-coached team as many think they are. If Mark Jackson took reigns from Kerr they would revert to back to what they previously were. Walton actualy drew up novel in bounds plays and wisely used the death squad lineup, he just had questionable hockey substitutions and refused to call timeout to preserve momentum. So who is Watson a protege of ? Sloan because he played in Utah for a while or Pop because he briefly coached the Spurs DLeague affiliate?

Maybe they're not self-coached, but I'm not ready to act like Luke Walton is the next great NBA coach because he walked into a good record with one of the best teams in NBA history. Nothing he did was revolutionary, the Warriors had their culture already instilled and hardly changed how they played in the transition between Walton and Kerr. I seriously doubt he would have done any better than Earl Watson if he were dropped in the same situation with the Suns midseason last year.

Also, my point isn't that Watson is a better hire than Walton, it's that neither are actually proven, so there's no reason to act like Walton is a game-changing signing and Watson is some scrub off the streets. Either way, Walton's the protege to Steve Kerr, who's been a head coach since what 2014? And before that he was an assistant for the LA D-League team? Is his coaching resume really that much better than Earls because he got to take over a historic team while their real coach was out lol?

[saintEscaton]

The Dubs aren't an autopilot self-coached team as many think they are. If Mark Jackson took reigns from Kerr they would revert to back to what they previously were. Walton actualy drew up novel in bounds plays and wisely used the death squad lineup, he just had questionable hockey substitutions and refused to call timeout to preserve momentum. So who is Watson a protege of ? Sloan because he played in Utah for a while or Pop because he briefly coached the Spurs DLeague affiliate?

Maybe they're not self-coached, but I'm not ready to act like Luke Walton is the next great NBA coach because he walked into a good record with one of the best teams in NBA history. Nothing he did was revolutionary, the Warriors had their culture already instilled and hardly changed how they played in the transition between Walton and Kerr. I seriously doubt he would have done any better than Earl Watson if he were dropped in the same situation with the Suns midseason last year.

Also, my point isn't that Watson is a better hire than Walton, it's that neither are actually proven, so there's no reason to act like Walton is a game-changing signing and Watson is some scrub off the streets. Either way, Walton's the protege to Steve Kerr, who's been a head coach since what 2014? And before that he was an assistant for the LA D-League team? Is his coaching resume really that much better than Earls because he got to take over a historic team while their real coach was out lol?

Thats reasonable, some are saying the Walton hire was nepotism I don't see that job as that much more attractive, besides the allure of a storied franchise and big market. I want to give Earl a chance, he seems like a great guy who has overcome some tragic adversities . I just feel like he's a friendlier Lindsay Hunter on a pulpit

[GMATCallahan]

I think it's more beneficial to get a top 5 pick than get swept in the playoffs.

... depends on the situation and the state of the team. A top-five pick is not necessarily a panacea, especially in the contemporary age where one-and-done prospects undermine and dilute the utility of college basketball (not that I blame the players for leaving early) and very few top prospects remain in college for more than two years. And regardless of the era, many teams end up in the lottery for a very long time, even with high picks. Look at Minnesota, which has not made the playoffs since 2004. The Wolves may end up turning the corner soon, but even in that scenario, how long would they have taken to reach that point? Golden State never made the playoffs from 1995-2006, and clubs going seven, eight, or nine years in a row without reaching the postseason has not been uncommon historically.

The Suns drafted Alex Len, of course, with a top-five pick in 2013. Three years later, the jury is still out as to whether Len will even establish himself as a worthwhile starting center. The chances of him emerging as a franchise center are extremely slim, and Phoenix would not necessarily have been better off with any of the other primary options in that draft, either. Even if Len proves to have constituted a commendable choice, one could draft five or ten "Alex Lens" (regardless of position) in a row and still not escape the lottery. And in that case, at least making the First Round may be more worthwhile.

Now, if a club's core players are too old, and a team possesses no chance of wining a series once it reaches the playoffs and no upside in terms of gaining valuable experience that can be usefully employed down the road, then the point of making the postseason is questionable—especially in the case of a sweep. Of course, the Celtics and even the Mavericks were not swept, and the Grizzlies surely would have earned a higher seed had their starting point guard and starting center not gone down with season-ending injuries.

As an aside, losing in the First Round is not the worst thing in the world—especially if you are not swept. The goal is never to lose in the First Round, but a playoff berth of any kind can still provide good fun, a good experience, and good (or vivid and palpable) memories. Often times, you also learn a lot more about players and a team in the playoffs, although there is always the danger of overreacting to those results, too. Even though Phoenix fell to Portland in a sweep in the 1999 First Round, I am glad that the Suns at least reached that stage, and I feel that I learned something greater about the team and some of the players. Even in a sweep, those memories are clear and useful. Of course, Phoenix had already traded its first round pick that season, and the Suns had acquired Dallas' lottery selection the previous summer in exchange for Steve Nash, so the team would not have accomplished anything by missing the playoffs. But again, the experience was worthwhile in my opinion.

The NBA, one could argue, is really a playoffs league. Over half the teams make the playoffs, and regular season games are generally unexciting and unmemorable. Without making the playoffs, a club really is not relevant at all. That said, there are obviously times when playing for a high lottery pick makes sense. One of them would have been the 2012 lockout-shortened season, when the Suns tried to score the eighth seed with a thirty-eight-year old Steve Nash and a thirty-nine-year old Grant Hill, both of whom were set to become free agents. Hill, who had undergone knee surgery before the season (and whom Phoenix had re-signed to a one-year contract nonetheless), could not finish the lockout-compressed regular season without needing another knee surgery, one that kept him out for the final stretch drive. Phoenix missed the playoffs on the last day of the regular season and ended up with the second-to-last lottery pick, which the team used to select Kendall Marshall. Had they played their cards differently, the Suns might have managed to draft Anthony Davis—or at least Damian Lillard, Andre Drummond, or Bradley Beal.

[GMATCallahan]

He was drafted by Seattle 39th overall in 2001, and quickly learned from Gary Payton that 45 minutes early isn't early enough to be at practice.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article73515637.html

... good article, but just as an aside, that part seems kind of strange, because Gary Payton, by his own admission, was not really one for practice.

Payton told the story of when he explained to Iverson that his Seattle SuperSonics coach, George Karl, didn't make him practice. Iverson was looking for an edge, a way to give his all in games but stay healthy. Apparently, Payton had the remedy.

Payton told Iverson, "You have to stop practicing," in order to stay healthy.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba-news/4518873-allen-iverson-practice-76ers-larry-brown-gary-payton-george-karl-stats-net-worth

[GMATCallahan]

There are people in the basketball world who thought it strange that Watson took a job as an assistant in the D-League. He made $1.4 million his last season as a player, and more than $40 million in his career. The job with the Austin Spurs required ditching chartered flights and five-star hotels for eight-hour bus rides and motels. The $30,000 salary was not enough to cover his expenses, and who among us goes out of pocket to work?

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article73515637.html

Watson made over $40M as a journeyman backup point guard who never played on high-profile teams?

... good work if you can get it.

[GMATCallahan]

It is a matter of frequency. Spurs are always in the hunt, always capable of competing. We obviously pay attention to the times in which luck went in their favor, but the truth is they are always around for such opportunities to happen in the first place.

Spurs are in the hunt (always it seems), due to their organizational core values.

Popovic is a big factor and Buford too.


Thats why talent is not just the ONLY factor when choosing players... you have to choose players willing to sacrifice for the team.

Kobe Bryant is a top 5 SG all time, but would NEVER be welcomed to the Spurs.... would he accept a role like Parker, Ginobili or Duncan current does?... NOPE.


Popovic wants coachable system players FIRST, then talent comes a close second....
He wants players willing to sacrifice individual stats and roles for the team.

Suns need that in the front office.

... reminds me of what Magic Johnson has written about the Lakers in the 1980s. After all, with that much talent, guys needed to make sacrifices in order for everything to work.

Quick question: who was the Lakers' leading scorer on their last title team (1988) of the "Showtime" era? Answer? Not Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or James Worthy, but Byron Scott. Why? Even though he never made an All-Star team, Scott was a heck of a player, an outstanding shooter who could run and jump like a deer. But more than that, the Lakers, like the Spurs now, allowed the flow of the game to create the numbers rather than letting numbers dictate the flow of the game. And, yeah, you do need team-oriented players for that to happen.