The 2016 Offseason Thread (Post Draft)

[Mulhollanddrive]

List of the top FA's:

Staying:
Drummond, Whiteside, DeRozan, Batum, Beal, Clarkson

Likely Staying:
Durant, James, Wade, Nowitzki

Unsure:
Horford, Barnes, Deng, Conley

Likely Leaving:
Howard, Parsons, Gasol, Rondo, Jefferson, Anderson

Gone:
Noah - NY

[NavLDO]

In what way is Marquise Chriss ever going to be an NBA SF? Bender I can somewhat understand, but no freaking way on Chriss. Chriss is a PF through and through. He's closer to a future 5 than a 3. The NBA is trending positionless with guys playing up, not forcing bigs to play the 3.

I'd be okay with Carroll, so long as Tucker is moved. Move Chandler too. Carroll could bring Warren along and Bender and Chriss can man the 4 with some backup 5 minutes to Len.

So you can see the less athletic, 2.5" taller Rookie as a possibility at SF, but the guy who's proven to be able to shoot from outside (in games for long stretches), and by all accounts, is more athletic and if coached up properly, will be able to 'cover' the smaller, more agile 3s--that player you can't see as a 3?

LeBron James is nearly 6'9" and 250lbs. I don't know, but I'd feel better having the hyper-athletic, 6'10" 235lb guy covering LeBron more so than the average athletic, 7'.5" 216lb "bean pole" try to cover LeBron.

Chriss is closer in height and closer in athleticism than Bender, so I don't see how you can see Bender as being the better SF candidate.

No. I'm saying the guy who is already an unusually good defender and who has proven he can guard wings in spurts and who can handle the ball and pass like a wing is a better fit for SF than a super athletic but incredibly raw guy who has proven to foul at a near historic rate because he tries to block everything in site and has never played the 3 or on the wing in his entire basketball life, which is a whopping 5 years long.

If you want Chriss playing the 3 from scratch and learning an entirely new position while transitioning to the NBA. Okay, but that's a near guarantee to cap his upside and kill his career.

Ah, but that is not what you said...you are 'moving the goal-posts' now.

There's a big difference in what you said originally, to what you changed your story to later. Just because at one point in your career when you are 6'10" at the U16 level, you can guard "wings" in "spurts" does NOT make you the better candidate long-term to play the 3.

And I'm not talking out of the gate, either. You said "ever going to be", not "playing the 3 from scratch".

You might call it semantics, but I disagree. You are arguing separate points here. RIGHT NOW...as in their ROOKIE year, if I had to choose one, sure, in SMALL SPURTS. But 3-4 years down the road, when Chriss has the ability to learn the nuances of the game and defense...THAT is when I believe Chriss will be the better candidate to play/defend the 3 on a whole than Bender will be able to. Sure, Bender moves well for a 7' 1" dude, and yes, he understands the game better now which will get him by I short spurts, but Chriss has the athleticism edge on Bender, and let's face it, neither has great 'bend' to their game, but Chriss already has more of a "man's body" than Bender, and would expect that as Bender starts to transform more into a 'man's body'. He's going to have one heck of a time in keeping up with SF-types.

So again--big difference between "ever going to be" and "already better in short spurts".

[King4Day]

Tucker, Knight, and some draft picks to get Blake Griffin if Durant wants to sign with Clippers ... hmmm a possible one year rental. I'm not sold on it.

http://valleyofthesuns.com/2016/06/30/kevin-durant-help-suns-get-blake-griffin/

The Clips are bringing Blake to their meeting with Durant so I don't them trading him. He's a selling point.
Nullifies that article. Fun to think about though

[Mulhollanddrive]

If Tucker, Knight and 3 draft picks got Blake Griffin, every team should be able to get 3 All-Stars and win a championship.

[Frank Lee]

you guys (or rather a couple of you stubborn fantasizes) are sure asking a lot for a 'run faster / jump higher' guy (Chriss)

he is virtually unskilled aside from an average jump shot and excessive springs. The guy does not know how to play basketball...yet. Until he shows the ability to stay on the court at this level (he couldn't do it in the Pac12) the comparisons to TyThomas, HWarick, Stromile will be accurate. None of them could play SF... btw.



Oh god... did I just step in 'the rabbit hole' ?

[King4Day]

Go get Jared Dudley and Derrick Williams on the cheap two year deals. Call it a day. Bazemore please no. Barnes, no. Oh, I also guarantee we will offer Len an extension as soon as possible to try and avoid giving him the max.

I'd be OK with this, but I'd rather Dudley. Love that guy.
Sign them to tradable contracts.

[lilfishi22]

Bed time now. I hope the world doesn't end when I awake

(Please no max deals)

[JMac1]

you guys (or rather a couple of you stubborn fantasizes) are sure asking a lot for a 'run faster / jump higher' guy (Chriss)

he is virtually unskilled aside from an average jump shot and excessive springs. The guy does not know how to play basketball...yet. Until he shows the ability to stay on the court at this level (he couldn't do it in the Pac12) the comparisons to TyThomas, HWarick, Stromile will be accurate. None of them could play SF... btw.



Oh god... did I just step in 'the rabbit hole' ?

Actually for the first time ever, no. Well, at least in a long while Although he can shoot way better than the guys you mentioned and isn't dependent on getting to the basket by athleticism only to get buckets, which will hopefully make his floor better than those guys; but mentally (basketball wise) and athletically they are the same. Don't forget Frank, the game has changed and that shooting may set Chris free.

[Frank Lee]

Im not sure there is a such a thing as a 'cheap, two yr deal'

Williams will want a 4 yr, so will Dud... they both will get them.

McMully is waiting for the eye of this storm. Looks like there could be some trade possibilities as the plans falter for other GMs. Practically every team can absorb Chandler outright. If we could get a future first for him AND sign Aldrich (or). The 'second tier' of Free agents can help us just as much. We only really need to add one if no trades are made.

[Frank Lee]

you guys (or rather a couple of you stubborn fantasizes) are sure asking a lot for a 'run faster / jump higher' guy (Chriss)

he is virtually unskilled aside from an average jump shot and excessive springs. The guy does not know how to play basketball...yet. Until he shows the ability to stay on the court at this level (he couldn't do it in the Pac12) the comparisons to TyThomas, HWarick, Stromile will be accurate. None of them could play SF... btw.



Oh god... did I just step in 'the rabbit hole' ?

Actually for the first time ever, no. Well, at least in a long while Although he can shoot way better than the guys you mentioned and isn't dependent on getting to the basket by athleticism only to get buckets, which will hopefully make his floor better than those guys; but mentally (basketball wise) and athletically they are the same. Don't forget Frank, the game has changed and that shooting may set Chris free.

Defense is still a glaring issue. But I don't see the need to run him at SF. I really can't get excited about him till I see something tangible. I see some Dleaguing in his future, where as Bender could get some PT much sooner. I guess that will also depend on if/who we sign to play some PF.

Acknowledge the game changes though... seems like sf/pf/c are morphing/meshing together

[NBA Fiend]

Exactly what I'm thinking Frank. McD is waiting for the dust to settle to see which teams could be trageted for potential victimization, Mickey D style.

[King4Day]

Im not sure there is a such a thing as a 'cheap, two yr deal'

Williams will want a 4 yr, so will Dud... they both will get them.

McMully is waiting for the eye of this storm. Looks like there could be some trade possibilities as the plans falter for other GMs. Practically every team can absorb Chandler outright. If we could get a future first for him AND sign Aldrich (or). The 'second tier' of Free agents can help us just as much. We only really need to add one if no trades are made.

If it's true that Ish Smith only got 6per over 3 years, I wouldn't be surprised if we can snag Dudley at maybe 10mil per over 3.

[King4Day]

And if we do get Dudley, does that mean we trade away Tucker? They ultimately play the same position. Or do we just let Mirza walk?

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

bw - love your Archie trade proposals in the mock offseason. Archie +2d for Thabo would be terrific.

Would've preferred Mirza to Leuer, but to each his own. Good job, mate

[bwgood77]

I rather SUNS not do anything at all.... than sign meh players at RIDICULOUS money.

Wait for next season and offer 60 Million (per year) for 2 All-Stars...

I agree. Probably not gonna happen, but hopefully we don't give out a crazy contract. Don't mind waiving Goodwin though. He will never move a needle either.

I'm not a Goodwin fan, but I'd have to think he could net us a little something in a trade

Maybe we could get a second. Most likely not though. The draft was so deep there are probably better free agents out there. If some team trades for him he probably wouldn't get the QO, or a deal next year, considering how deep THAT draft is and how much cheaper rookies will than guys coming off rookie contracts.

[King4Day]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/748877146240745473[/tweet]

For mobile users:

Adrian Wojnarowski
✔ ‎@WojVerticalNBA

Rival teams starting to take Dwyane Wade's free agency seriously, w/ GM's telling @TheVertical they've made multi-year offers to his reps.

Anyone interested?

[bwgood77]

I completely disagree here. Pekovic is awful, and while expiring, Tyson's deal is going to become normal in 5 hours once Noah inks that $18 mil and TJ his $10 mil. We ought to be able to, at worst, dump Tyson for nothing.

Knight has value. He's only 24, and while we all hate watching him, he's worth a pick or 2 today imo, and probably worth more in 5 hours when Tyler Johnson sets the market.

Rubio does everything well except shoot, but that shot is a mammoth, mammoth negative that makes him a barely above neutral player.

if you check his RPM and on/off numbers he actually has a high positive impact, much moreso than Knight

He plays for a team with no depth. That inflates his on/off numbers, and even then his VORP and WS kinda suck. He's worse than Bledsoe with less upside. Comparing him to Knight, who we know was awful last year, is a stupid way to go about analyzing whether Rubio is desireable. Knight holds value in the league, probably more than he should. In this environment, with his contract, we could trade him for a couple picks or a decent young player on a rookie deal. I would much rather have either picks or the rookie than Rubio. Hell, I'd almost take Knight over him just because Knight's issues are shot selection, so you could argue upside there. Regardless, trading one middling point guard for another middling point guard (and Rubio is that. He's glorified and overrated by every "beautiful game" type basketball fan out there. His actual impact does not and has NEVER made him elite) is not the way to go.

Pekovic is a guy who should hold 0 value to a team like us. It would make sense if we were desperate to move Tyson, but we should be able to move him on his own after FA sorts out.

I could understand this trade if 0 other deals were ever available, but that's simply not likely to be the case given this market and how it's playing out. Trade for picks.

I wouldn't trade for him because we have Bledsoe, and I think Bledsoe is better and consider him "all star caliber" even though he is never really considered or gets votes for the all star game. Of course it's because he misses half the season 2/3 of the time. I used to be lower on Rubio and thought of him like you did, but he's better than you consider him to be.

[bwgood77]

You guys know timofy had a career before last year right? When the guy gets around 30 min a game he will give you 10/8/1.5. Tristan thompson just got maxed out last yea in case you forgot.

What would the math be if he was getting this same contract on last years salary cap?

Yeah, he's not as bad as people are making him out to be either. I'm guessing he will be far more consistent than Chandler is, who also hasn't been consistent or very good for years.

[bwgood77]

I really hope we stand pat.

The only available PF I would max out is Al Horford. With Horford, maybe we make the playoffs.

Oherwise let's take a bargain contract or place holder contract that is frontloaded with a team option for next year on either a guy like T Jones or Mirza.

No way should we go for Horford. He's too old and wouldn't consider us anyway. Sign Leuer to a reasonable deal (though we will probably sign Telly for almost twice we could get Leuer for) and maybe try and find a decent defensive wing and maybe, depending sign someone like Ish if he is really cheap.

[bwgood77]

With the current market I hope we sign nobody. Literally just take a scrap guy at the vet minimum.

I'd still take Solomon Hill or Derrick Williams at the right price.

I bet Solomon Hill gets a deal that is quite a bit higher than people would guess.