Season Speculation, Trade Ideas & Discussion 3: About Last Knight

[TeamTragic]

As do I. And I doubted we'd get a second lottery pick last season too, now I just wish we'd traded into this draft instead. I think Lauri's NBA future far exceeds that of Chriss. I've seen too little of Bender to be comfortable saying one way or the other about him. But yeah, I doubt we get a second high pick again this season although adding a late first round pick or two for Tucker and Chandler opens the door a bit.

Bledsoe is worth a draft pick in the upcoming draft. I can see Minnesota/New Orleans pulling the trigger.

I could see that middle group of Sac, Dallas, NO possibly trading for bled. For me its not even about respect for him, its about getting the best value and right now hes probably higher than he'll ever been in terms of worth. I am not worried about having vets on the team anymore because A.) next year Booker will be in his 3rd year and is ready to take on that role...even at 21. B.) We still have and will have Dudley and Ronnie Price along with Watson who seems to if nothing else connect with his players.

Thibs doesn't want to develop rookies. Pelicans need to keep AD happy. That's why I suggested Wolves/Pelicans. I can see Cuban making the trade since they are winning games. I think that we purposely ignore Vlade unless he takes our offer for Cousins.

[LukasBMW]

-Knight and Len for Noel
-Max Noel

-Chandler and Tucker for mid 1st rounders.
-Flp the 2 Mid First Rounders to Atlanta for Milsap.
-Max Milsap

Try to convince a few others to join us while we have Milsap and Noel on cap holds.

Bledsoe/Ulis
Booker/Barbosa
TJ/Bender
Milsap/Chriss
Noel/Milsap

Plus we still have our pick.

Milsap will age well. Noel is a risk but I'd rather pay him then Len. Maybe we get lucky and land a top free agent.

Worst case, Milsap walks and we sign no one. We save cap space.

[JJ13]

-Knight and Len for Noel
-Max Noel

-Chandler and Tucker for mid 1st rounders.
-Flp the 2 Mid First Rounders to Atlanta for Milsap.
-Max Milsap

Try to convince a few others to join us while we have Milsap and Noel on cap holds.

Bledsoe/Ulis
Booker/Barbosa
TJ/Bender
Milsap/Chriss
Noel/Milsap

Plus we still have our pick.

Milsap will age well. Noel is a risk but I'd rather pay him then Len. Maybe we get lucky and land a top free agent.

Worst case, Milsap walks and we sign no one. We save cap space.

Millsap is 32, he has aged well..."will age well" still a question past 32. Still not nearly enough talent to go older.

[bwgood77]

I doubt we get a 2nd lottery pick. People plan for this here every year. I can't see any bad team trading a lottery pick (why would they?). Also, they keep talking about not wanting to add TOO much youth and we already have a ton.

In the Ringer's last ranking, Lauri was up to like 5 and on DX he is like 7. Any team needing a 7 foot stretch 4/5 will snag him though. His skillset is what the NBA is all about. He could maybe work with our bigs though because he is a better rebounder/worse shot blocker and has more muscle to bang inside. Still not much D though.

As do I. And I doubted we'd get a second lottery pick last season too, now I just wish we'd traded into this draft instead. I think Lauri's NBA future far exceeds that of Chriss. I've seen too little of Bender to be comfortable saying one way or the other about him. But yeah, I doubt we get a second high pick again this season although adding a late first round pick or two for Tucker and Chandler opens the door a bit.

Bledsoe is worth a draft pick in the upcoming draft. I can see Minnesota/New Orleans pulling the trigger.

Depends on what their view on Holiday is. If they can keep him, he is better at assists, steals and shooting than Bledsoe...particularly 3 pt shooting 39% to 32.5%.

I assume shooting and passing are desirable traits for most teams and PGs. But he is a FA.

Minnesota needs to figure out what do with the rest of their PGs. They don't really need a score first PG who isn't a good shooter from deep either. It seems they'd have better options than trading a high lottery pick for a 4th PG. Their biggest problem is defense.

Chicago would be a team that might trade a pick, though, again, they already have guards who can't shoot the 3 which is their problem now. Chicago lacks spacing.

It's too bad the Kings don't have their pick, because that makes the most sense.

[bwgood77]

-Knight and Len for Noel
-Max Noel

-Chandler and Tucker for mid 1st rounders.
-Flp the 2 Mid First Rounders to Atlanta for Milsap.
-Max Milsap

Try to convince a few others to join us while we have Milsap and Noel on cap holds.

Bledsoe/Ulis
Booker/Barbosa
TJ/Bender
Milsap/Chriss
Noel/Milsap

Plus we still have our pick.

Milsap will age well. Noel is a risk but I'd rather pay him then Len. Maybe we get lucky and land a top free agent.

Worst case, Milsap walks and we sign no one. We save cap space.

I seriously doubt Noel gets traded, particularly now with another Embiid injury. Okafor will be the one to trade.

[bwoolf2]

All in Trade:

Phx

Len
Warren
1st

Sac

Cousins

Phx

Chandler
Tucker
1st
Knight

Bulls

Butler

Would need filler to Make it work. Odds next to 0% . but not completely out of the question

Suns

Cousins
Chriss/Williams/Bender
Butler
Booker
Bledsoe

Bench is thin... but that would be a competitive team for awhile.

[TeamTragic]

- Bulls aren't trading Butler unless they get a killer offer (i.e. they won't get it from this team)
- Kings are maybe trading Cousins but it depends on the 2017 pick (i.e. the higher the pick the better)

Besides Butler and Cousins who do we go after in a trade? Maybe McD get fired if this team doesn't change by this upcoming offseason.

[LukasBMW]

Top 2017 Free Agents:

1. Steph Curry - Not going anywhere
2. KD - Not going anywhere
3. Blake Griffin - I wouldn't be shocked if he moved, but he won't come to us.
4. Chris Paul - I wouldn't be shocked if he moved, but he won't come to us.
5. Gordon Hayward - Very unlikely he leaves Utah.
6. Kyle Lowery - I'd go all in on him if we lose or trade Bledsoe
7. Paul Milsap - I bet he takes the most money given his age
8. Jrue Holiday - His injury history is too scary.
9. Danilo Gallinari - I bet he takes the most money.
10. Serge Ibaka - I bet he takes the most money
11. George Hill - I bet he takes the most money.

Given the new cap, the current teams holding bird rights are going to be holding the cards. As long as they pay up, these guys stay put. The only way we snag one is if we overpay and their current team lets them walk.

It really makes sense for us to build through the draft and trade. The new cap is going to restrict free agency movement on star players and force teams to overpay for middle of the road type guys.

[alphagorilla]

Top 2017 Free Agents:

1. Steph Curry - Not going anywhere
2. KD - Not going anywhere
3. Blake Griffin - I wouldn't be shocked if he moved, but he won't come to us.
4. Chris Paul - I wouldn't be shocked if he moved, but he won't come to us.
5. Gordon Hayward - Very unlikely he leaves Utah.
6. Kyle Lowery - I'd go all in on him if we lose or trade Bledsoe
7. Paul Milsap - I bet he takes the most money given his age
8. Jrue Holiday - His injury history is too scary.
9. Danilo Gallinari - I bet he takes the most money.
10. Serge Ibaka - I bet he takes the most money
11. George Hill - I bet he takes the most money.

Given the new cap, the current teams holding bird rights are going to be holding the cards. As long as they pay up, these guys stay put. The only way we snag one is if we overpay and their current team lets them walk.

It really makes sense for us to build through the draft and trade. The new cap is going to restrict free agency movement on star players and force teams to overpay for middle of the road type guys.

If I was Mcd I'd offer CP3 some crazy money to play here. Would be very good for Booker and Chriss to play with him. But like u said not going to happen.

[Saberestar]

Top 2017 Free Agents:

1. Steph Curry - Not going anywhere
2. KD - Not going anywhere
3. Blake Griffin - I wouldn't be shocked if he moved, but he won't come to us.
4. Chris Paul - I wouldn't be shocked if he moved, but he won't come to us.
5. Gordon Hayward - Very unlikely he leaves Utah.
6. Kyle Lowery - I'd go all in on him if we lose or trade Bledsoe
7. Paul Milsap - I bet he takes the most money given his age
8. Jrue Holiday - His injury history is too scary.
9. Danilo Gallinari - I bet he takes the most money.
10. Serge Ibaka - I bet he takes the most money
11. George Hill - I bet he takes the most money.

Given the new cap, the current teams holding bird rights are going to be holding the cards. As long as they pay up, these guys stay put. The only way we snag one is if we overpay and their current team lets them walk.

It really makes sense for us to build through the draft and trade. The new cap is going to restrict free agency movement on star players and force teams to overpay for middle of the road type guys.

If I was Mcd I'd offer CP3 some crazy money to play here. Would be very good for Booker and Chriss to play with him. But like u said not going to happen.

I would love to have CP3 on the Suns, but another 20 teams in the NBA are gonna want to sign him too and our team is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the league.

Obviously he is gonna get the max, that is not even a question, so we do not have any advantage at all.

[Damkac]

I'm sure 31 years old ringless Chris Paul would love to sign with the Suns.

I think Suns should keep Bledsoe for the rest of the season and trade him on the draft day. That's the only way to get guaranteed lottery pick. There is a lot of teams that may prefer veteran over prospect currently in the middle lottery range.

One team that would give a lot for Bledsoe are Kings for obvious reasons. If they would draft a player with their pick (or Philly's pick as Philly has right to swap) could they trade him on the draft day for Bledsoe?

[bhawk]

I feel like Chris Paul wouldn't fit our young core. He will want a team that is contending not rebuilding through a youth and draft movement. We'd be better off sticking with Bled. Better yet, take one of the 3 franchise guards - Fultz, Ball or Smith. They will be just as good if not better than Paul.

[suns91fan]

I feel like Chris Paul wouldn't fit our young core. He will want a team that is contending not rebuilding through a youth and draft movement. We'd be better off sticking with Bled. Better yet, take one of the 3 franchise guards - Fultz, Ball or Smith. They will be just as good if not better than Paul.

I think it's more reasonable to expect all three will be busts, than expect they'll be better than CP3.

[TheFire]

I feel like Chris Paul wouldn't fit our young core. He will want a team that is contending not rebuilding through a youth and draft movement. We'd be better off sticking with Bled. Better yet, take one of the 3 franchise guards - Fultz, Ball or Smith. They will be just as good if not better than Paul.

I think it's more reasonable to expect all three will be busts, than expect they'll be better than CP3.

This.

CP3 is arguably a top 5 PG of all time.

[bhawk]

I feel like Chris Paul wouldn't fit our young core. He will want a team that is contending not rebuilding through a youth and draft movement. We'd be better off sticking with Bled. Better yet, take one of the 3 franchise guards - Fultz, Ball or Smith. They will be just as good if not better than Paul.

I think it's more reasonable to expect all three will be busts, than expect they'll be better than CP3.

This.

CP3 is arguably a top 5 PG of all time.

Fair. I am overselling Fultz, Ball and Smith. CP3 is great. Can we agree that Fultz, Ball and Smith will have "comparable" careers? The "potential" for comparable careers?

[Saberestar]

I feel like Chris Paul wouldn't fit our young core. He will want a team that is contending not rebuilding through a youth and draft movement. We'd be better off sticking with Bled. Better yet, take one of the 3 franchise guards - Fultz, Ball or Smith. They will be just as good if not better than Paul.

Wow, I think that you underestimate CP3 big time.

[GotEm]

-Knight and Len for Noel
-Max Noel

-Chandler and Tucker for mid 1st rounders.
-Flp the 2 Mid First Rounders to Atlanta for Milsap.
-Max Milsap

Try to convince a few others to join us while we have Milsap and Noel on cap holds.

Bledsoe/Ulis
Booker/Barbosa
TJ/Bender
Milsap/Chriss
Noel/Milsap

Plus we still have our pick.

Milsap will age well. Noel is a risk but I'd rather pay him then Len. Maybe we get lucky and land a top free agent.

Worst case, Milsap walks and we sign no one. We save cap space.

Knight is seen as a bad contract so it will likely take trading a pick just to get rid of him.

Denver had to give up a 1st rd pick to rid themselves of Nurkic who is much cheaper and better than Knight so I'd imagine Phoenix would have to do the same.

[LukasBMW]

Calling Chris Paul a top 5 PG of all time is a stretch, but saying that there are 3 guys in this draft who will all be better then him is also a stretch.

[LukasBMW]

-Hang on to Bledsoe until draft day

-Offer a draft day package for Boogie.

-If they accept, we likely lose our lottery pick but get back the best bigman in the league to pair with Bledsoe and Booker.

-If they do not accept, we move Bledsoe for the best package of young talent which may be sending him to the Kings or Wolves for their 17 lottery pick.

-We either start out 17-18 with a loaded team ready to compete OR we start out 17-18 as the youngest and most pathetic in the league ready to tank 17-18 away knowing we have the Miami pick and our own lottery pick waiting for us.

This really is the best plan.

[bhawk]

Calling Chris Paul a top 5 PG of all time is a stretch, but saying that there are 3 guys in this draft who will all be better then him is also a stretch.

I exaggerated to make a point. Sorry. Tough crowd.

As I said above, I do believe Fultz, Ball, Smith have potential for "Chris Paul - like" NBA careers. Very low odds of these 3 guys busting in my opinion.