The 2016 Offseason Thread

alldayeveryday · Post #901 » by **alldayeveryday** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:05 am

Pretty bummed to see STAT retire as a Knick. Thinking a little a bit.. even if he wanted to play one more year with the Suns, I didn't want to see some type of last hurrah by him that could cause a distraction to the team. (Think Kobe farewell tour but on a much much smaller level)

Appreciate everything he gave the city of Phoenix on/off the court. Hope to see him in the ring of honor down the road.

Post #902 » by **bwgood77** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:19 am

gaspar wrote:In other news:
[tweet]https://twitter.com/DannyLeroux/status/758035705780068352[/tweet]

That's less than 1/3 of 1% of Paul Allen's net worth. Though he and all other NBA owners are going to profit so much from the new NBA money and tv deal, that alone likely covers the tax.

That is one team that likely won't care too much about luxury tax.

letsgosuns · Post #903 » by **letsgosuns** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:56 am

I do not see any similarity between Amare wanting to go out as a Suns player versus what Kobe did. Not at all. Kobe was the best shooting guard in the league for 15 years, won 5 championships, an MVP award, and was a global figure that inspired millions of people to play basketball. He was loved by fans and hated by rivals. His game was on an entirely different level far superior to most athletes ever. Amare has barely played basketball for the past few years and there would have been no swan song for him anywhere outside of Phoenix.

I would have looked at Amare coming back to the Suns the same way how Majerle came back to the Suns. Majerle averaged 4.6 pts and 2.7 rbs in 18.2 mpg his last year in 2001-02. Those are not good statistics, but I was happy to see him retire with the Suns. Was it a bad thing that he retired a Suns player? No way. It would have been nice to see Amare go out the way that Majerle did. Retire with the team that drafted him. In a city that loved him. And Idk why some fans think Amare would take playing time away or be a bad influence on the young guys. Like myself and some others said, it would be like what Garnett did last year. Just because Amare had flaws in his game does not mean he is a bad influence. Nash was an atrocious defender but does that mean you do not want him working with Bledsoe? I did not see any downside to letting Amare finish out his career with the Suns.

Post #904 » by **bwgood77** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:05 am

letsgosuns wrote:I do not see any similarity between Amare wanting to go out as a Suns player versus what Kobe did. Not at all. Kobe was the best shooting guard in the league for 15 years, won 5 championships, an MVP award, and was a global figure that inspired millions of people to play basketball. He was loved by fans and hated by rivals. His game was on an entirely different level far superior to most athletes ever. Amare has barely played basketball for the past few years and there would have been no swan song for him anywhere outside of Phoenix.

I would have looked at Amare coming back to the Suns the same way how Majerle came back to the Suns. Majerle averaged 4.6 pts and 2.7 rbs in 18.2 mpg his last year in 2001-02. Those are not good statistics, but I was happy to see him retire with the Suns. Was it a bad thing that he retired a Suns player? No way. It would have been nice to see Amare go out the way that Majerle did. Retire with the team that drafted him. In a city that loved him. And Idk why some fans think Amare would take playing time away or be a bad influence on the young guys. Like myself and some others said, it would be like what Garnett did last year. Just because Amare had flaws in his game does not mean he is a bad influence. Nash was an atrocious defender but does that mean you do not want him working with Bledsoe? I did not see any downside to letting Amare finish out his career with the Suns.

I thought of Majerle too when I saw all the reactions, and I wouldn't have minded having him here, but I'd rather have young guys who may turn into something, and ultimately it's just not that big of a deal to me.

TheSunGod · Post #905 » by **TheSunGod** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:12 am

TheBomb81 wrote:What are your best memories of Amare as a Phoenix Sun?

I'll try to get some YouTube links but off the top of my head:

Put back dunk in Rookie-Sophomore game.
Block on Duncan during the 04-05 playoffs.
Career high in points versus Portland.
Poster on Adonal Foyle or some center on Warriors (04-05 season I believe...)
Catches a lob from Nash while simultaneously dunking on Josh Howard versus Dallas...I believe it was 07-08.
Dunk on Richard Jefferson, Anthony Tolliver, etc.

Then once he left for New York, he was declared dead to me lol.

letsgosuns · Post #906 » by **letsgosuns** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:39 am

bwgood77 wrote:
letsgosuns wrote:I do not see any similarity between Amare wanting to go out as a Suns player versus what Kobe did. Not at all. Kobe was the best shooting guard in the league for 15 years, won 5 championships, an MVP award, and was a global figure that inspired millions of people to play basketball. He was loved by fans and hated by rivals. His game was on an entirely different level far superior to most athletes ever. Amare has barely played basketball for the past few years and there would have been no swan song for him anywhere outside of Phoenix.

I would have looked at Amare coming back to the Suns the same way how Majerle came back to the Suns. Majerle averaged 4.6 pts and 2.7 rbs in 18.2 mpg his last year in 2001-02. Those are not good statistics, but I was happy to see him retire with the Suns. Was it a bad thing that he retired a Suns player? No way. It would have been nice to see Amare go out the way that Majerle did. Retire with the team that drafted him. In a city that loved him. And Idk why some fans think Amare would take playing time away or be a bad influence on the young guys. Like myself and some others said, it would be like what Garnett did last year. Just because Amare had flaws in his game does not mean he is a bad influence. Nash was an atrocious defender but does that mean you do not want him working with Bledsoe? I did not see any downside to letting Amare finish out his career with the Suns.

I thought of Majerle too when I saw all the reactions, and I wouldn't have minded having him here, but I'd rather have young guys who may turn into something, and ultimately it's just not that big of a deal to me.

Honestly I figured Amare would sit on the bench and play every now and then. 10-15 mpg at most. It was a simple thing of having one of Nash, Amare, and Marion retire as a Suns player. That is all it was. Not about money or playing time or moving on. This organization has done some odd things in recent memory. However, I am not like crushed or something. I was far more angry at the Diamondbacks when those idiots in charge of the team in 2009 low balled Randy Johnson with a pathetic like 2 million dollar offer. He absolutely should have retired as a Diamondback. He wanted to stay and they did not want to re-sign him. Then he won his 300th game in a different uniform. What the Suns did with Amare is nowhere near that level of disrespect, but I cannot help thinking that Colangelo would never let things like that happen.

KLEON · Post #907 » by **KLEON** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:43 am

TheBomb81 wrote:What are your best memories of Amare as a Phoenix Sun?

The dunk on the Candy man with Marbury's reaction

Frank Lee · Post #908 » by **Frank Lee** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:17 am

Stat burned his bridge with me when he went on the 'Where am I going to sign' fest while he was finishing the season with us. Seems like I remember we were in Atlanta, and he goes on to say how it would be 'cool' to play for the Hawks because atlanta's a great town... blah blah tee blah. Regardless if we were going to resign him.... it was clear... Amare is all about Amare. Sure, it would have been fitting if he came back and retired, but he hampers flexibility McMully has set up. We couldn't trade or waive him once here. Wouldn't be right.

Post #909 » by **Qwigglez** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:28 am

Would have rather Amare just retired and didn't do a one day contract with NY. Regardless, the guy is as egotistical as they get, still one of my favorite players of all-time though.

asudevil · Post #910 » by **asudevil** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:39 am

I have no qualms about Amare not coming back to the sun's for one last year. I had some hope for it, but whatever. There have been TENS OF DOZENS of players who have retired without coming home for one last year. It's honestly not a big deal. It's not a matter of respect for organization vs. player or vice versa. In 3 years, and fans wont even remember it.

IMO Amare retiring as a Knick is a feeble attempt at 2 things:
1.) trying to make a run at the HOF. When he's up on the ballot, a TINY TINY thing he has going for him is that he retired as a member of one of the most storied franchises ever. In the end it wont matter in the least.....so again....whatever.
2.) throw more shade at our franchise. At the surface it looks like the suns didnt want him back in ANY regard, so he went back to the franchise that "respected" him, despite the YEARS of Knicks fans throwing dirt at him. We are lead to believe that the Knicks treated him better than the Suns ever did.

Ten years from now, Amare will be remembered pretty much ONLY as a sun. And those who remember his Knick days will see him as a burden to the franchise that had ONE good season, before he ruined Melo's chance at forming a big 3 that contended for a championship. Amare fell apart in NY. Was it his fault....certainly not.

And concerning him returning with the Suns we have no idea under what circumstances that were. There are a few reason we may not have been interested:

a.) Was he looking at more than the vet min? we had extra money to spend, but would it be worth it to pay him $5+ mil for nostalgia sake?
b.) Did he want to be more than a practice coach for the young guys? If he wanted more than the vet min that would imply that he wants to be more than a vet figure to the youth.
c.) Attitude: May his attitude with the above affected how the the franchise felt he would influence our young players. I mean, the guy did leave the franchise for the most money possible. Might he feed that kind of mindset to the young players.....forgoing the "loyalty mentality" that we are trying to instill.

The point is that there may have been a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff besides the "we dont want to bring him back for a year because screw him" that we are lead to.

Post #911 » by **TASTIC** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:24 am

Loved him on the Suns, an absolute freak of nature before injuries robbed him of that elite bounce, but then he added arguably the best big man mid-range jumper in the game to his arsenal.

Aaaaaand his 50pt game is being downloaded as we speak...

Watch on YouTube

Post #912 » by **bwgood77** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:55 pm

Amare may have felt slighted after seeing us sign guys that did not play nearly as big of a part on some of those teams like Dudley, and especially Barbosa, when we were already loaded at guard with no PF. But I'm sure if he had asked us to sign a one day contract we would have let him. But I don't care. Maybe he wants to live in NY and that had something to do with it too. Ultimately I still couldn't care in the least bit. I have far more things to worry about with this team. I didn't think it was worth signing him anyway. He would have clogged our roster and given us less flexibility in trades and potentially obtaining a useful player.

RaisingArizona · Post #913 » by **RaisingArizona** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:01 pm

Frank Lee wrote:Stat burned his bridge with me when he went on the 'Where am I going to sign' fest while he was finishing the season with us. Seems like I remember we were in Atlanta, and he goes on to say how it would be 'cool' to play for the Hawks because atlanta's a great town... blah blah tee blah. Regardless if we were going to resign him.... it was clear... Amare is all about Amare. Sure, it would have been fitting if he came back and retired, but he hampers flexibility McMully has set up. We couldn't trade or waive him once here. Wouldn't be right.

This. How quickly must we forget?

TheBomb81 · Post #914 » by **TheBomb81** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:34 pm

What are your best memories of Amare during his years in Phoenix?

NTB · Post #915 » by **NTB** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:56 pm

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/remaining-cap-space-projecting-summer-2017/

NTB · Post #916 » by **NTB** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:20 pm

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jared-dudley-suns-my-return-to-phoenix/

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JaredDudley619/status/758350950016835584[/tweet]

alldayeveryday · Post #917 » by **alldayeveryday** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:09 pm

NTB wrote:http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jared-dudley-suns-my-return-to-phoenix/

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JaredDudley619/status/758350950016835584[/tweet]

Just reading this took me back in time travel. The good ol` days. We will be back my friends. We will be back.

darealjuice · Post #918 » by **darealjuice** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:27 pm

Suns announced Watson's coaching staff today

Looks like we're running with Triano as associate HC, Corbin and Bjorkgren as assistants, Marlon Garnett as an assistant and player development coordinator, and Scott Duncan and Jason Fraser as player development coaches. I'm definitely happy with the experience that Triano and Corbin bring to Watson, and taking someone from the Spurs (Garnett) is typically a positive. The article goes into more detail on their credentials if you're interested.

saintEscaton · Post #919 » by **saintEscaton** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 7:01 pm

TheBomb81 wrote:What are your best memories of Amare as a Phoenix Sun?

2005 WCF vs Spurs where he averaged 37-10-1-1-2 on 55% shooting and 84% from the line in the

Zelaznyrules · Post #920 » by **Zelaznyrules** » Wed Jul 27, 2016 8:15 pm

My favorite Amare memory came about in preseason of his rookie year. He caught the ball just inside the free throw line with his body facing the sideline. I remember wondering what he was going to do there because he had no jumper at the time and no left handed hook shot either as far as I knew. Anyway, he then went up in the air and proceeded to try and dunk the ball. He missed, the ball just clipped the inside of the rim and went sailing. But still, the audaciousness to try a stand still dunk from just inside the free throw line simply floored me. I've never seen anyone else try it before or since.