Game 44: Suns (14-30) @ Raptors (28-15)

[grumpysaddle]

Great game by Bledsoe and that Chriss alley-oop... dear jeebus. I had to rewind that about twenty times.

I feel kind of bad that my favorite part of the game was Knight getting TKO'd. Sort of...

[thamadkant]

Haven't posted in a while, just checked to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.

What has befallen our tank commanders?

Although I have been pleasantly surprised that the team is actually fairly watchable this year, especially seeing Booker develop.

Bledsoe playing well.


And most of us here who wants a high draft pick were (are) afraid this would happen....

Bledsoe pushing Suns out to Pick 8+.....

[NTB]

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[m1chal]

Haven't posted in a while, just checked to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.

What has befallen our tank commanders?

Although I have been pleasantly surprised that the team is actually fairly watchable this year, especially seeing Booker develop.

Bledsoe playing well.


And most of us here who wants a high draft pick were (are) afraid this would happen....

Bledsoe pushing Suns out to Pick 8+.....

This is the best time to trade Bled/Chandler making sure our draft pick is in top3 and netting another high pick. Even if we somehow make the playoffs we will lose to the Warriors/Spurs in a quick manner. It just doesn't make sense in the long run.

[bigfoot]

Haven't posted in a while, just checked to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.

What has befallen our tank commanders?

Although I have been pleasantly surprised that the team is actually fairly watchable this year, especially seeing Booker develop.

Bledsoe playing well.


And most of us here who wants a high draft pick were (are) afraid this would happen....

Bledsoe pushing Suns out to Pick 8+.....

This is the best time to trade Bled/Chandler making sure our draft pick is in top3 and netting another high pick. Even if we somehow make the playoffs we will lose to the Warriors/Spurs in a quick manner. It just doesn't make sense in the long run.

Yeah I think the Jazz should do the same. I mean Diaw, Johnson, and Hill are old vets keeping the young guys down. Also, Hayward is only four months younger than Bledsoe so they should move him too. They won't beat the Warrior or Spurs either. Doesn't make sense for them in the long run.

[suns91fan]

Check all top eight teams currently in the west and tell me how many of those teams are lead by a "franchise player who was secured by a top 3 pick"?

GSW - Curry, Thompson and Green picked outside top 5, and Durant acquired via FA.
SAS - Kawhi Leonard picked outside of top 5, as well as their vets Parker and Ginobili.
Rockets - Harden acquired through trade, and Houston gave up a few young players picked outside of top 5.
Clippers - Griffin was a 1st overall pick, and CP3 was acquired through FA.
Jazz - None of their leading players were among the top 5 picks. Ironically, their only top 5 pick was Exum, and he is not good.
Thunder - Led by Westbrook (a top 5 pick) right now and were ultimately unable to win it with KD.
Grizzlies - No recent top 5 picks.
Nuggets - Best player Jokic was picked in the 2nd round.

So apart from Griffin and Westbrook, all other players who lead their teams, were not top 5 picks. So tell me again, why exactly we need to secure a top pick?

I beg to differ. Durant was a top pick. Harden was a top 5 pick. Chris Paul was a top 5 pick. Conley was a top 5 pick. Gallinari was #6. Favors was the #3 pick. But you somehow found a way to excuse them from being on the list. Yes, Durant/Harden/CP3 were acquire through FA/Trades, but they were still top picks. Conley doesnt count....i guess because you added "recent" to their explanation for some reason. Favors? Played half of his rookie season for the Nets before spending the next 6 years with the Jazz. I guess he didnt make your list because technically he wasnt drafted by Utah? Gallinari has been pretty good for Denver, and except for his time spent injured, has been one of their best players, but he was left off your list because...you decided to ONLY list their best player. Your logic is flawed and the post is slanted to try to make whatever point you are insinuating look like out of all the playoff contenders, there are only 2 top 5 players, so having a top 5 pick really doesnt matter in the NBA, when that is not factual at all.

High draft picks get you a chance to draft a higher caliber of player. Its the FO who decides where they rank on the board. and having a higher pick allows the FO to get one of the guys that they have ranked higher and maybe a better fit than the rest. Thats why you need a good FO that can really scout these guys (and i think McD has done a STELLAR job doing that). Sure guys who have been drafted high sometimes fail, but that was on whatever FO decided to draft them that high. Bennett? Waiters? Would 25 out of 30 teams have drafted them as high as Cleveland did? I highly doubt it. Its because their FO sucked when it came to scouting. And because of one or two teams drafting bad, it causes the better players to fall in the draft and get picked a bit lower than they should. Hell, thats the whole reason why a top 5 pick is WAY more valuable than a #7 pick in trade bait. I mean by what your post was trying to insinuate, why would a team care to get a top 3 pick in trade when they can get a top 10 pick instead? I mean as your post pointed out, a top 5 drafted player really doesnt matter, right?

You completely missed the context here. I didn't excuse anyone (except Conley maybe, but we can all agree that their success comes from well established system as much as from their players). Warriors, Rockets and Clippers didn't have to tank to get KD, Harden or CP3. That was the point. I never said they weren't top 5 picks. And are you aware that Derrick Favors plays only 23 mpg? That's hardly a guy who's leading his team. Hayward and Gobert are the leaders of that team, not him (you can easily add Hill and Hood in front of him as well). No point talking about Gallinari, because as you said, he was a 6th pick, so neither top 3, nor top 5 (but close), so you don't need to be one of the absolute worst teams to get him. He doesn't fit the whole "franchise player" narrative anyway (but Jokic might). I am amazed that we've got from "that dreaded 13th/14th pick" line from few years ago, to "that dreaded 6th/7th pick" line right now. I swear, in the future, every pick but 1st overall pick will be considered a "threadmill" pick if this keeps going. Just when i remember the overreaction by some people last season, when "two meaningless wins" pushed Suns to the 4th worst record. How dare we win those! Franchise player in Jaylen Brown was missed because of those two games! Oh wait, that didn't happen. McD would still probably pick Bender. Not a jab at Brown at all, both him and Bender are still projects with nice upside.

[m1chal]

Bledsoe playing well.


And most of us here who wants a high draft pick were (are) afraid this would happen....

Bledsoe pushing Suns out to Pick 8+.....

This is the best time to trade Bled/Chandler making sure our draft pick is in top3 and netting another high pick. Even if we somehow make the playoffs we will lose to the Warriors/Spurs in a quick manner. It just doesn't make sense in the long run.

Yeah I think the Jazz should do the same. I mean Diaw, Johnson, and Hill are old vets keeping the young guys down. Also, Hayward is only four months younger than Bledsoe so they should move him too. They won't beat the Warrior or Spurs either. Doesn't make sense for them in the long run.

There's a difference between us and the Jazz, who have established players on every position while our starting 4 is a 19yo rookie and TJ has been extremely inconsistent. One might even think the Jazz are underperforming right now. The Jazz have a strong defensive identity and might have a realistic chance against the Warriors or Spurs.

Chandler is an aging vet who has been playing great this season and Bled has been plagued with serious injuries every second season. I have serious doubts about his health in the long term. It's a good moment ot cash in.

We don't agree, fine. I feel like we need that franchise player and supposedly there are several of them in this year's draft. It's a wrong season for fluke performances and perfect for bottoming out, maximizing assets and building a strong foundation for future success.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

This is the best time to trade Bled/Chandler making sure our draft pick is in top3 and netting another high pick. Even if we somehow make the playoffs we will lose to the Warriors/Spurs in a quick manner. It just doesn't make sense in the long run.

Yeah I think the Jazz should do the same. I mean Diaw, Johnson, and Hill are old vets keeping the young guys down. Also, Hayward is only four months younger than Bledsoe so they should move him too. They won't beat the Warrior or Spurs either. Doesn't make sense for them in the long run.

There's a difference between us and the Jazz, who have established players on every position while our starting 4 is a 19yo rookie and TJ has been extremely inconsistent. One might even think the Jazz are underperforming right now. The Jazz have a strong defensive identity and might have a realistic chance against the Warriors or Spurs.

Chandler is an aging vet who has been playing great this season and Bled has been plagued with serious injuries every second season. I have serious doubts about his health in the long term. It's a good moment ot cash in.

We don't agree, fine. I feel like we need that franchise player and supposedly there are several of them in this year's draft. It's a wrong season for fluke performances and perfect for bottoming out, maximizing assets and building a strong foundation for future success.

Same was believed about the 2014 draft. I like Fultz, Ball excites me, and I would love to add Tatum. But I'm confident we'd be able to make a good selection in the middle of the first, and I too feel we have more to gain by winning than we have by tanking.

[Twuan89]

The Suns Next 3 Games Are Winnable:

Minnesota & Denver (Twice)

[ATTL]

Bledsoe playing well.


And most of us here who wants a high draft pick were (are) afraid this would happen....

Bledsoe pushing Suns out to Pick 8+.....

This is the best time to trade Bled/Chandler making sure our draft pick is in top3 and netting another high pick. Even if we somehow make the playoffs we will lose to the Warriors/Spurs in a quick manner. It just doesn't make sense in the long run.

Yeah I think the Jazz should do the same. I mean Diaw, Johnson, and Hill are old vets keeping the young guys down. Also, Hayward is only four months younger than Bledsoe so they should move him too. They won't beat the Warrior or Spurs either. Doesn't make sense for them in the long run.

Not the same situation.
If the suns make the playoffs we would be below .500. The jazz will be a 50+ win team. Hayward doesn't have a bomb ticking in his knees. Gobert is their most important player. Their older guys supplement the youth that is leading the way.

[bigfoot]

This is the best time to trade Bled/Chandler making sure our draft pick is in top3 and netting another high pick. Even if we somehow make the playoffs we will lose to the Warriors/Spurs in a quick manner. It just doesn't make sense in the long run.

Yeah I think the Jazz should do the same. I mean Diaw, Johnson, and Hill are old vets keeping the young guys down. Also, Hayward is only four months younger than Bledsoe so they should move him too. They won't beat the Warrior or Spurs either. Doesn't make sense for them in the long run.

There's a difference between us and the Jazz, who have established players on every position while our starting 4 is a 19yo rookie and TJ has been extremely inconsistent. One might even think the Jazz are underperforming right now. The Jazz have a strong defensive identity and might have a realistic chance against the Warriors or Spurs.

Chandler is an aging vet who has been playing great this season and Bled has been plagued with serious injuries every second season. I have serious doubts about his health in the long term. It's a good moment ot cash in.

We don't agree, fine. I feel like we need that franchise player and supposedly there are several of them in this year's draft. It's a wrong season for fluke performances and perfect for bottoming out, maximizing assets and building a strong foundation for future success.

It's the same story every year ... we need to do poorly to get a franchise player. Yet the Jazz are a perfect example of why you don't need to lose. Since 2010-2011 they have been a mediocre team playing roughly .500 ball. Drafting typically in the middle of the pack with the exception of Kanter and Exum. Kanter is gone to OKC and Exum is not a star player. Their stars were 9 and 27 picks.

We have a 5, 4, and 8 pick in Len, Bender, and Chriss. Of course none of them are at Booker level who was picked at 13. Yet you propose to trade Bledsoe and Chandler so we get a top 3 pick this year. You clearly don't see the problem with your logic. We should hope the team wins and let the chips fall where they may on the draft. We still have Miami picks in our back pocket too.

This team and front office needs to build some positive credit/karma by not treating players as poker chips. Bledsoe, Chandler, and Tucker should stick around unless they request to be moved.

[Twuan89]

Can The Suns Make The Playoffs Pretty Soon?