2016-17 Phoenix Suns Preseason Thread

[bwgood77]

I was thinking, if we wanted to trade Len at the deadline, because we decided to stick with Chandler for the next couple years - who would be interested? Similarly, if we simply wait til this summer for RFA - who would be interested (and capable of making an offer)? There simply aren't that many teams who would appear to be in the market for a guy like Alex. Given that, we might be able to sign him at a bargain. No matter what you think of Len, if we can retain him for under $10 mil/yr, that's a bargain.

I would prefer to trade Chandler at the deadline. I like Chandler, but now might be the time to get something for him. He would be a great fit for the Warriors.

IDK. Obviously, the Warriors don't have the contracts to move for Chandler, and Pachulia's underrated. Len's salary makes him easier to deal.

I prefer Len to Chandler. Keeping Chandler over Len would be more palatable if there were some solid C prospects in next year's draft, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

If we could keep Len on a reasonable deal, we might be able to hang onto both for a while. I could see both the Suns and Tyson being happy with a divorce. But in terms of trade partners, I think our options are very few.

Yeah, the Warriors in no way could trade for Chandler unless they gave up a major piece which isn't happening. Not even sure if Len worked. However, you know if we traded Len to them he would blow up and become an all star within a year.

[bwgood77]

It might make sense due to the fact we are guard heavy, though I don't know enough about him and don't mind Jenkins.

Does anyone know why he came out after one year in college? These numbers are hardly eye popping.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/derrick-jonesjr-1.html

Was he a top recruit out of HS I don't remember or something?

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/14886154/unlv-derrick-jones-shocked-loss-eligibility

BTW, Jones would be our 4th teenager on the roster. Super-young 76ers have 0 of them

Looks like he was the 49th rated recruit last year, 7 spots higher than Chriss.

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals150/2015

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

It might make sense due to the fact we are guard heavy, though I don't know enough about him and don't mind Jenkins.

Does anyone know why he came out after one year in college? These numbers are hardly eye popping.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/derrick-jonesjr-1.html

Was he a top recruit out of HS I don't remember or something?

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/14886154/unlv-derrick-jones-shocked-loss-eligibility

BTW, Jones would be our 4th teenager on the roster. Super-young 76ers have 0 of them

Looks like he was the 49th rated recruit last year, 7 spots higher than Chriss.

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals150/2015

He's also skinny AF.

[Villalobos]

Interesting prospect. He can't shoot the 3 well and he has a bad freethrow rating yet his TS% is a high .611 because of his ridiculous 2pt % at 67%. Rebounds really well. Seems a decent defender at least from a stats perspective.

Worth a throw of the dice. I don't know what Jenkins adds besides being a high-character lockerroom guy.

[Zelaznyrules]

Derrick Jones is similar to Archie Goodwin in that if he hits, he'll be an impact player. But he's probably just as much of a long shot as Goodwin was when we acquired him on draft night. If we keep him I hope we hire a full time coach to work on his shot and his handles in addition to sending him to Flagstaff often.

[NTB]

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[kennydorglas]

Interesting prospect. He can't shoot the 3 well and he has a bad freethrow rating yet his TS% is a high .611 because of his ridiculous 2pt % at 67%. Rebounds really well. Seems a decent defender at least from a stats perspective.

Worth a throw of the dice. I don't know what Jenkins adds besides being a high-character lockerroom guy.

He's probably a better dunker/athlete than Chriss. Raw as **** but he was fairly productive in UNLV

[NTB]

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[NTB]

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[NTB]

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Earl Watson retweeted this.

[TeamTragic]

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Earl Watson retweeted this.

After all the Knight praise Watson retweets exactly what makes Knight expendable?

[lilfishi22]

PLAYERS: Only 17% of points in the NBA last year came from FT's...but keep practicing your FT's with your trainer.

[MrMiyagi]

PLAYERS: Only 17% of points in the NBA last year came from FT's...but keep practicing your FT's with your trainer.

Seriously, 19% is nearly 1/5 of all shots. Seems a little ridiculous to chastise being a able to score off the dribble. I wonder how many assisted shots come from possessions by players who take more than 3 dribbles. Nash would dribble through the defense to find an open player for a catch and shoot. That field goal gets logged as a catch and shoot, but it was set up by a ball-handler dribbling the ball. Sometimes people don't contextualize statistics.

[lilfishi22]

PLAYERS: Only 17% of points in the NBA last year came from FT's...but keep practicing your FT's with your trainer.

Seriously, 19% is nearly 1/5 of all shots. Seems a little ridiculous to chastise being a able to score off the dribble. I wonder how many assisted shots come from possessions by players who take more than 3 dribbles. Nash would dribble through the defense to find an open player for a catch and shoot. That field goal gets logged as a catch and shoot, but it was set up by a ball-handler dribbling the ball. Sometimes people don't contextualize statistics.

I get that he's trying to highlight passing and ball movement over over-handling the ball but it's still a skill you should work on. Big men nowadays can take it basket to basket not because that's what we're expecting from them on a nightly basis but because it's a skill that could come in handy if you run in the right situation. Similarly, I don't really wanna see Knight or even Booker take 10-12 dribbles to score but there are situations (e.g shot clock running down) where being ABLE to get to your spot to shoot is the best course of action. Also how does he think players get to the line most of the time?

[LV-Suns]

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It looks like the Suns are considering keeping Derrick Jones instead of Jenkins for the season. Jones has a 4-year non-guaranteed contract with the Suns ($42.5k guaranteed this season).

It might make sense due to the fact we are guard heavy, though I don't know enough about him and don't mind Jenkins.

Does anyone know why he came out after one year in college? These numbers are hardly eye popping.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/derrick-jonesjr-1.html

Was he a top recruit out of HS I don't remember or something?

He got disqualified from competing because of the location he took his SATs. That place got flagged by NCAA and he became inelgible in play. He was actually one of the high recruits we landed recently that actually wanted to stay after a year(Bennet, Vaughn, Zimmerman).

Before he got disqualified, he was starting to look like our best player for stretches

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/derrick-jonesjr-1/gamelog/2016/

Blocks a lot of shots(1.3 in 21 mins), and rebounds pretty well for a wing. His shooting mechanics are there, but he doesn't really take that many shots outside his comfort zone.

and he can do a lot of this

Watch on YouTube

[NavLDO]

He gets at least John Henson money. Since there's more money to be had now... it has to be at least $12M.

I agree, and in this market, that's worth about what Kieff got a few years back at $8M per, which is fair money for Len if he plays similar to last year (9 Pts / 7.5 TRebs).

If we assume he is the 4th/5th best starter (and hopefully improves to at least 11/8), $12M will be a fair price.

If we assume he's our Bench big that gives us 18-20 mpg, then I let him go, because he never seems to do well in that role, and our 5th overall pick should not be a Bench player. This, of course coming from the guy who watches highlights and box scores, but am I wrong? Doesn't Len usually play better when he's getting starter minutes rather than piece-meal minutes?

If he (which is not looking likely) comes out guns a blazin' and puts it all together by Mid-Season, then we should expect to pay at least $16-$18M. To me, that would be the best case scenario, obviously. I still hold out hope for Len to become a 32 mpg, slashing 14 / 9, and averaging about 1.5-2 Blks. I know, not likely, but not impossible either.

Coming into the season 2 years ago there was a lot of talk from the coaching staff, players and management about how much Len had improved and how he was going to surprise the fans. He showed glimpses of that improvement but injuries, as always, slowed him down and limited his opportunities. Last preseason, the GM, Chandler and others again raved about Len's growth and potential but again, mostly due to injuries, we saw little of the new Len.

So I figured this is the season Len breaks out and dominates but after 3 preseason games I'm at a loss. IMO Williams has outplayed him and that should never happen. But it isn't about stats. Sure it would be nice if he hit your numbers for points and rebounds but mostly I want to see him impact our defense (positively, if that must be said). Right now, I assure you there is no opposing coach out there trying to figure out how to neutralize Len as a defender. And that should not be the case with a guy as long, big and agile as Alex is. Somebody somewhere must know what's going on in this kid's head, I just hope that person works for us and knows a way to get past whatever it is.

I completely agree; hate using #s to define success, but it’s hard to judge ‘impact’ otherwise—not impossible, but difficult.

And yes, I have no idea why Len hasn’t put it all together yet; he showed so much promise in his first 2 seasons, then late last year, he started putting up some pretty good numbers, but apparently, his numbers were better than his actual play on the court.

I hope this season he turns the corner and becomes our Center of the future, but as poorly as he has shown so far, maybe Len never puts it all together.

[bwgood77]

PLAYERS: Only 17% of points in the NBA last year came from FT's...but keep practicing your FT's with your trainer.

Seriously, 19% is nearly 1/5 of all shots. Seems a little ridiculous to chastise being a able to score off the dribble. I wonder how many assisted shots come from possessions by players who take more than 3 dribbles. Nash would dribble through the defense to find an open player for a catch and shoot. That field goal gets logged as a catch and shoot, but it was set up by a ball-handler dribbling the ball. Sometimes people don't contextualize statistics.

I get that he's trying to highlight passing and ball movement over over-handling the ball but it's still a skill you should work on. Big men nowadays can take it basket to basket not because that's what we're expecting from them on a nightly basis but because it's a skill that could come in handy if you run in the right situation. Similarly, I don't really wanna see Knight or even Booker take 10-12 dribbles to score but there are situations (e.g shot clock running down) where being ABLE to get to your spot to shoot is the best course of action. Also how does he think players get to the line most of the time?

I think Knight has been doing that his whole life though (probably worshipped Kobe) and wants Knight to focus less on that and more on passing or shooting. I think that's the right approach.

He's probably been preaching ball movement and no more than 3 dribbles in practice and is therefore retweeting further comfirmation to what he is preaching in practice.

[lilfishi22]

Seriously, 19% is nearly 1/5 of all shots. Seems a little ridiculous to chastise being a able to score off the dribble. I wonder how many assisted shots come from possessions by players who take more than 3 dribbles. Nash would dribble through the defense to find an open player for a catch and shoot. That field goal gets logged as a catch and shoot, but it was set up by a ball-handler dribbling the ball. Sometimes people don't contextualize statistics.

I get that he's trying to highlight passing and ball movement over over-handling the ball but it's still a skill you should work on. Big men nowadays can take it basket to basket not because that's what we're expecting from them on a nightly basis but because it's a skill that could come in handy if you run in the right situation. Similarly, I don't really wanna see Knight or even Booker take 10-12 dribbles to score but there are situations (e.g shot clock running down) where being ABLE to get to your spot to shoot is the best course of action. Also how does he think players get to the line most of the time?

I think Knight has been doing that his whole life though (probably worshipped Kobe) and wants Knight to focus less on that and more on passing or shooting. I think that's the right approach.

He's probably been preaching ball movement and no more than 3 dribbles in practice and is therefore retweeting further comfirmation to what he is preaching in practice.

I was more referencing the guys tweet rather than Watson's retweet. I'm totally down with more ball movement and less dribbling for us. But for the guy's tweet, I think it's either totally out of context or it's an incredibly bad use of statistics to justify not working on a certain basketball skill.

[bwgood77]

I get that he's trying to highlight passing and ball movement over over-handling the ball but it's still a skill you should work on. Big men nowadays can take it basket to basket not because that's what we're expecting from them on a nightly basis but because it's a skill that could come in handy if you run in the right situation. Similarly, I don't really wanna see Knight or even Booker take 10-12 dribbles to score but there are situations (e.g shot clock running down) where being ABLE to get to your spot to shoot is the best course of action. Also how does he think players get to the line most of the time?

I think Knight has been doing that his whole life though (probably worshipped Kobe) and wants Knight to focus less on that and more on passing or shooting. I think that's the right approach.

He's probably been preaching ball movement and no more than 3 dribbles in practice and is therefore retweeting further comfirmation to what he is preaching in practice.

I was more referencing the guys tweet rather than Watson's retweet. I'm totally down with more ball movement and less dribbling for us. But for the guy's tweet, I think it's either totally out of context or it's an incredibly bad use of statistics to justify not working on a certain basketball skill.

That's true, but he may be preaching it too, as he looks like he's a high school coach or something. https://twitter.com/JBAugustine

[NavLDO]

I have been saying it for awhile now but everyone thought I was just picking on him. This forum thought so high of him. I will ALWAYS view him has a backup center in this league. He plays like a girl and is too inconsistent.

He has a good game here and there and everyone thinks he's better than Chandler. I still think we need to get cousins. Sign me up to a Cousins and Chriss front-court for years to come.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

“I’ll take ‘Over-Generalizations & Hyperboles’ for 500, Alex.”

C’mon now, I self-admittedly don’t even watch the games as often as I should, but that’s just a weak analysis. “Plays like a girl” and “I will ALWAYS view him as a backup center” is a bit overboard. He’s about an Average-level talent at the position, and while he’s not likely to ever see an All-Pro game, he’s certainly better than a fair amount of Centers in this league.