Season Speculation, Trade Ideas & Discussion Pt. 6

[bwgood77]

I know some of these creative extension scenarios with booker sound good in theory but its not going to happen. The first big extension is a life changing amount of money and no player or anyone advising them will do anything but want to get that done as soon as its available. Theres a reason no player has EVER turned down a max rookie extension.

Its easy for us fans to say 'just wait and sign that extension in the summer of 19' but when you have the chance to guarantee yourself over $100mil you do it. Lifes unpredictable and injuries happen its just too big of a risk to ask of a guy.

If they believe in booker you just get it done this summer. I know these aren't exactly the same circumstances but a couple teams in recent history have hurt themselves with messing around extending stars. Love was pissed they wouldn't give him the 5 year max and that started his eventual leaving. Gordon hayward would still be under contract with the jazz had they extended him instead of letting him hit RFA and matching his deal.

I think there is not a big chance he does wait...it more depends on how badly he wants to add outside talent and win. He will get the max either way. But I'm sure him and his agent will jump at the chance to sign it and he will hope to compete anyway. We probably wouldn't need all that cap space anyway, and as I demonstrated on my capulator link we can easily create over $20 million without moving any key 1st round draftee or pick, even with the early extension. But our best hope of improving is with our draft picks and development, and as you've mentioned, it's far more likely that if we go outside of our own developing players, to acquire a difference maker, it's via trade rather than free agency.

[bwgood77]

Watched the game on ESPN tonight teams are putting a long defender on him which he is struggling to adjust against. He is a little guy very slight build its going to take him a few years to fill out not saying he won't but those that think he is going to come in and light the nba up not happening.

Nothing is a sure thing as far as that goes. In the NBA he won't be teams' primary focus and he's also just a freshman guard. He was doing it with ease before teams could specifically gear their defense on him which won't happen in the NBA. But the slump is a big discouraging. But I think he was likely always going to be there at 4-7 or so and was a good option somewhere in that range for sure. I still like him far better than any PG last year. Way better shooter and passer (except maybe Ball here) than any of them.

How many players come out of college as freshmen that really play well in the NBA? its just not many and how many of those that play well dont have an NBA "body" so far its none. Can it happen maybe but all im saying is its not likely and like with all of these guys you are drafting you need to give them 3 years to develop they are basically high school kids so dont assume they are going to come in and help turn a franchise around right away because the odds are thats not happening.

Oh I definitely don't think a rookie will make too much immediate impact*. But I think they can have major impact over the 8-9 years of control we have. And the best chance of having a guy make that impact in today's nba is through shooting and passing.

There probably haven't been many, if any college freshmen who have led all of college basketball in points and assists and had over a 60% TS%. Even with his slump, it's still that high.

*Chris Paul had major immediate impact though, and Trae is probably the best PG prospect since him. The team increased the win total by 20 games with him and he averaged 16/8/5/2 and played the most minutes. Also is a couple inches shorter than Young and not nearly the shooter.

He did play two years in college though.

[NavLDO]

Anybody saying to cut Ulis needs to relax. He is not a bad backup. Many are judging him for his play when he’s started. He deserves to be in the NBA, just not a starter.

Let him run the second unit and you’ll change your mind about him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It depends what we do in the draft and if we sign Payton. With his height, he really needs to be a great shooter, which he is not. It’s too easy to back him down, for almost any guard. I don’t hate him, but he will most likely not be needed.

I want to have Ulis on the roster next season. He is young, cheap and he is a great teammate to have around.

No reason to cut him, he is not an starter player but he can be a good backup or, at least, a third string PG.

But if Payton works out, and we draft one, I think he likely needs to go if the rookie shows to be a likely better NBA fit, since we know we can always slide Booker in at PG, in an emergency situation.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I know some of these creative extension scenarios with booker sound good in theory but its not going to happen. The first big extension is a life changing amount of money and no player or anyone advising them will do anything but want to get that done as soon as its available. Theres a reason no player has EVER turned down a max rookie extension.

Its easy for us fans to say 'just wait and sign that extension in the summer of 19' but when you have the chance to guarantee yourself over $100mil you do it. Lifes unpredictable and injuries happen its just too big of a risk to ask of a guy.

If they believe in booker you just get it done this summer. I know these aren't exactly the same circumstances but a couple teams in recent history have hurt themselves with messing around extending stars. Love was pissed they wouldn't give him the 5 year max and that started his eventual leaving. Gordon hayward would still be under contract with the jazz had they extended him instead of letting him hit RFA and matching his deal.

I think there is not a big chance he does wait...it more depends on how badly he wants to add outside talent and win. He will get the max either way. But I'm sure him and his agent will jump at the chance to sign it and he will hope to compete anyway. We probably wouldn't need all that cap space anyway, and as I demonstrated on my capulator link we can easily create over $20 million without moving any key 1st round draftee or pick, even with the early extension. But our best hope of improving is with our draft picks and development, and as you've mentioned, it's far more likely that if we go outside of our own developing players, to acquire a difference maker, it's via trade rather than free agency.

There's absolutely a risk for Booker in waiting. If he sustained a super serious injury he could lose it all. Hell if even if he just plain struggled next year that offer probably drops to around $20M per year. I guess the Suns could have a wink wink we'll give you the max anyway type agreement with him but you need to be careful with that since the Wolves lost like 4 1st round picks for having an off the record agreement with Joe Smith back in the day.

[bwgood77]

Suns are now generally viewed by basketball fans as having the third worst front office only trailing the Magic and Kings.

I don't know about the Magic. Their FO is brand new and has a good reputation. They built the Bucks into a perennial lottery team into a playoff team with a superstar. It seems you worry too much about what other fans think though.

More so than other fans, I care about the general reputation about the Suns which just is not good at the moment.

And you’d be surprised but many don’t like the new Magic front office starting with the Payton trade. But you’re right, I don’t think many realize that the people in charge now weren’t responsible for Oladipo and Harris trades.

Way too early to judge the Orlando front office based on pretty much their first move. Most of the other nba fans don't have much real knowledge about what's going on with the Suns. McD's reputation isn't real good at the moment, but outside fans don't care as much. I care more about how are die hard fans and current players view them.

[BobbieL]

It depends what we do in the draft and if we sign Payton. With his height, he really needs to be a great shooter, which he is not. It’s too easy to back him down, for almost any guard. I don’t hate him, but he will most likely not be needed.

I want to have Ulis on the roster next season. He is young, cheap and he is a great teammate to have around.

No reason to cut him, he is not an starter player but he can be a good backup or, at least, a third string PG.

But if Payton works out, and we draft one, I think he likely needs to go if the rookie shows to be a likely better NBA fit, since we know we can always slide Booker in at PG, in an emergency situation.

Tyler Ulis is not stopping me from making a move to help the roster - that's what it boils down too

I am not cutting him to just cut cap space and than not use it. But if it involves getting a player that potentially can be better - yes, I would waive or include in a train without hesitation. Same with Sauce, same with Daniels. But as stated - I would prefer to hold onto Chandler, Dudley, Sauce and Daniels another year for summer of 2019 -

[bwgood77]

Suns are now generally viewed by basketball fans as having the third worst front office only trailing the Magic and Kings.

I don't know about the Magic. Their FO is brand new and has a good reputation. They built the Bucks into a perennial lottery team into a playoff team with a superstar. It seems you worry too much about what other fans think though.

In my case, I do not care about what other fans think about our team, I care about facts.

We are 18-40, so we are really bad on the court and we are getting worse and worse every year. Facts. That is why I am not positive about our front office.

But I think that was management's intent. To play our young guys all season for the first time even (last year we started this in some respect with Chriss) and likely be bad like the Thunder were and get another premier prospect and start to take a major step and be competitive by 2020.

That was the clear message by management in the off season. Things are going according to plan for them. They may not be going according to plan for fans who expected the team to fight for the playoffs, but you are not going to get their in your 1st year of playing mostly all young guys the majority of minutes for the whole year.

If the real rebuild had started 5 years ago things might look a bit different, but Sarver has admitted he was impatient for too long and wishes he would have been on board with starting it sooner in hindsight.

Now if in 19-20 we are 18-40 and McD is still here, he's gonna have to go after that season. He should probably be gone after next if we don't take a pretty big step next year, and that will depend on how good his own draft picks have developed. The next coach hire and this offseason is very important.

I also think if we had had even an nba caliber pg for most of the year we would have looked a lot better overall. I think once the team gets a few more practices with Payton and Booker back they will look much better.

[NavLDO]

Sure but these may be our only options depending on our draft position. They are raw and would need more tutelage behind better players for a year or two.

I don't know, this article sort of sold me...

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/2/6/16976438/jaren-jackson-jr-best-big-man-draft

I know. the author found a topic to write about, and is not going to put much in the way of disputable evidence going against his assertion. But JJJ was barely discussed early on in the process as a potential Top 5 pick, yet now, he's moved ahead of Bamba and a couple others to be seriously considered as a Top 5 pick.

I like the option of having a guy that can play PF or Center equally well, if need be, and have the body/skillset to do either, and not be over-matched either way.

I've seen him listed 6'10" and 6'11" in shoes, but seeing that he's just now 18.4-YO, I suspect the 'smallest' he'll be. I've also seen him listed 225 to 242 lbs. Point being, with his 7'4" Wingspan and 9' Reach, he's big enough to play Center, yet he's mobile enough, and a good enough outside shooter (shooting 42.3% from 3 and 79.1% at the FT line) to play the PF position...a stretch 4 even...which we could use.

I know, I know. We have Bender and Chriss already, but that's the point. I'm convinced Bender can spend some time at the 5, as can Chriss; why lose that flexibility by getting straight Center in the draft. If we could rotate those three in and out, with Sauce thrown in for good measure (as our future, not just next season with Chandler), then that might work out pretty well.

With Elfrid in the fold, I'm hoping Chriss and Bender take some strides. Then we have JJ and Warren. Then Booker and Elfrid, and maybe Reed, depending. Anyway, we can leave the remaining 4 picks to add a PG, SG, and another, more mature big that will help alleviate any immediate issues with young, Jaren's development.

Did you listen to the podcast gaspar posted in the draft thread? He talks about that. They talk about Doncic too..compare upside to Larry Bird. It's a pretty short one and plays right on the post if you just click on it.

No, I didn't, but I will. Thanks for the heads up. I need to look at some other threads, more, but I can barely keep up with this one.

[bwgood77]

Even if I didn't convey my message correctly - I think we are on the same page. I think I am more on board with keeping both draft picks this summer; trying to get Payton on board for like you state, the MLE ish range ($8m +/-) and than signing a guy for a smaller amount 6-7m ( I can waive Ulis to give a bit more this summer). But if things go in the right order - the Suns like you said could have a lot of space depending on the Booker deal/

I am not opposed to dumping Daniels on somebody to open up 3m; or waiving Sauce to save 5m - both this summer - I just don't know the players to do that for. Whereas summer of 2019 - that class is deeper.

Well it didn't and still doesn't sound like you are on the same page, since you are talking about signing guys this summer, which kills our 19 space...plus we likely have a shortage of roster spots. I don't think with our young guys and our development we should sign anyone...if we sign Payton that is our FA signing. MAYBE we could sign a C for 1 year...with whatever cap space we have but we likely draft one and may have Williams back....and probably Chandler.

How is signing Mario Hezonja for one year for 7m kill our cap space?

Your Capulator showed 5.1m in cap space I do believe - and if you waive Ulis - that's almost 7m dollars. And really if you have Booker, Knight, Payton - you don't need Ulis if you can use his 1.5m better this summer.

I didn't know you meant one year since it wasn't specified. What would be the point of signing a young developing player like Hezonja for one year with no rights the next year? If he plays well you lose him without bird rights. If they want to use cap space this year and like him they should sign him longer term, though I think they will look more for vets. He has been a good shooter though so I wouldn't be opposed on using the cap space on him. He will be in his 4th year so he could take a big step next year.

[bwgood77]

I know some of these creative extension scenarios with booker sound good in theory but its not going to happen. The first big extension is a life changing amount of money and no player or anyone advising them will do anything but want to get that done as soon as its available. Theres a reason no player has EVER turned down a max rookie extension.

Its easy for us fans to say 'just wait and sign that extension in the summer of 19' but when you have the chance to guarantee yourself over $100mil you do it. Lifes unpredictable and injuries happen its just too big of a risk to ask of a guy.

If they believe in booker you just get it done this summer. I know these aren't exactly the same circumstances but a couple teams in recent history have hurt themselves with messing around extending stars. Love was pissed they wouldn't give him the 5 year max and that started his eventual leaving. Gordon hayward would still be under contract with the jazz had they extended him instead of letting him hit RFA and matching his deal.

I think there is not a big chance he does wait...it more depends on how badly he wants to add outside talent and win. He will get the max either way. But I'm sure him and his agent will jump at the chance to sign it and he will hope to compete anyway. We probably wouldn't need all that cap space anyway, and as I demonstrated on my capulator link we can easily create over $20 million without moving any key 1st round draftee or pick, even with the early extension. But our best hope of improving is with our draft picks and development, and as you've mentioned, it's far more likely that if we go outside of our own developing players, to acquire a difference maker, it's via trade rather than free agency.

There's absolutely a risk for Booker in waiting. If he sustained a super serious injury he could lose it all. Hell if even if he just plain struggled next year that offer probably drops to around $20M per year. I guess the Suns could have a wink wink we'll give you the max anyway type agreement with him but you need to be careful with that since the Wolves lost like 4 1st round picks for having an off the record agreement with Joe Smith back in the day.

Yeah, there is certainly risk. Given that I've figured out we could fairly easily carve out max cap space in 19 even with an extension and not likely losing a key player, it's not as big of concern as I thought before if we wanted to have that space in 19. Very very unlikely we'd get a max guy though anyway.

[BobbieL]

Well it didn't and still doesn't sound like you are on the same page, since you are talking about signing guys this summer, which kills our 19 space...plus we likely have a shortage of roster spots. I don't think with our young guys and our development we should sign anyone...if we sign Payton that is our FA signing. MAYBE we could sign a C for 1 year...with whatever cap space we have but we likely draft one and may have Williams back....and probably Chandler.

How is signing Mario Hezonja for one year for 7m kill our cap space?

Your Capulator showed 5.1m in cap space I do believe - and if you waive Ulis - that's almost 7m dollars. And really if you have Booker, Knight, Payton - you don't need Ulis if you can use his 1.5m better this summer.

I didn't know you meant one year since it wasn't specified. What would be the point of signing a young developing player like Hezonja for one year with no rights the next year? If he plays well you lose him without bird rights. If they want to use cap space this year and like him they should sign him longer term, though I think they will look more for vets. He has been a good shooter though so I wouldn't be opposed on using the cap space on him. He will be in his 4th year so he could take a big step next year.

I guess I used the name Hezonja as he was talked about yesterday. And he seemed like he might be in that 7m range. I also mentioned a guy like Lamb from the Hornets - he expires next year but can he be a guy that comes in, one year deal, helps the team get better while allowing the young players another year to mature. Maybe the Hornets want to save some cash so they take a second round pick for him and call it good.

If the Suns are holding off until 2019 for being a major player in free agency/trade market - than I still think they need to make inroads towards getting to the playoffs and that means getting a guy to help. One can hope the younger players continue to develop, maybe Knight comes back, Payton and the draft pick so the team improves that way.

[NavLDO]

More on the market possibly re-setting...from cleaningtheglass...

we have some early evidence of that. The Lou Williams extension may help reset the market. Williams will be coming off two consecutive career seasons where he has played with sky-high usage and sky-high efficiency — the stuff of offensive stars. And these don’t just seem to be empty stats: his offensive Real Plus-Minus ranks 7th in the entire NBA this year, and ranked 16th last year. His defense may be a disaster, but for a 31 year old who seemed to be slated to sign his last big contract this offseason, you couldn’t ask for better timing for these incredible numbers.

And yet Williams signed a contract for below the mid-level exception with a small, partial guarantee in the final year. Generally when players sign extensions, they do so because they feel they’re getting a deal they know is good for them. Otherwise they’re not being compensated for avoiding testing the market. But if this contract is a premium on what Williams would get this summer, there are a lot of players in for a rude awakening.

My guess is there will be a lot of Opt-Outs that don't get exercised this summer. DAJ ain't getting $24 mil per this summer.

I was saying the same thing a couple of months ago, but more based upon the sheer number of young, prospering Centers there are in the league right now, and the crop of, IMO, 5 NBA-starter-level Centers coming in... maybe more.

But now, with market conditions league-wide?? Yeah, he's just not young enough a piece to build around, and he's really more of a 3rd-4th option on a contender.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Suns got a MUCH better deal for Bledsoe than what the Clippers were offered for Deandre Jordan.

[Walt_Uoob]

I think there is not a big chance he does wait...it more depends on how badly he wants to add outside talent and win. He will get the max either way. But I'm sure him and his agent will jump at the chance to sign it and he will hope to compete anyway. We probably wouldn't need all that cap space anyway, and as I demonstrated on my capulator link we can easily create over $20 million without moving any key 1st round draftee or pick, even with the early extension. But our best hope of improving is with our draft picks and development, and as you've mentioned, it's far more likely that if we go outside of our own developing players, to acquire a difference maker, it's via trade rather than free agency.

There's absolutely a risk for Booker in waiting. If he sustained a super serious injury he could lose it all. Hell if even if he just plain struggled next year that offer probably drops to around $20M per year. I guess the Suns could have a wink wink we'll give you the max anyway type agreement with him but you need to be careful with that since the Wolves lost like 4 1st round picks for having an off the record agreement with Joe Smith back in the day.

Yeah, there is certainly risk. Given that I've figured out we could fairly easily carve out max cap space in 19 even with an extension and not likely losing a key player, it's not as big of concern as I thought before if we wanted to have that space in 19. Very very unlikely we'd get a max guy though anyway.

Is there any chance McD just doesn't even offer Booker an extension this summer? That's within his options, right? Just because Booker is eligible for an extension doesn't mean the team has to open those negotiations now. We'd still have the ability to offer the biggest contract in 2019 and to match any offer sheet he signs. There's obviously the risk that it pisses Booker off but for it to really go wrong it would have to piss him off so much that he asks the team not to match, or tries to force a sign-and-trade, or takes the qualifying offer. None of those seems very likely to me. It's not quite a Joe Johnson situation where we're lowballing him on an extension so he signs with another team the following year and asks us not to match, nor is it even like an Eric Gordon situation where he asked the Hornets not to match so he could be the featured guy here (and that all seemed to wash over just fine anyway after they ignored his request and matched our offer). Seems to me it's pretty clearly in the team's best interest to wait until 2019 and we've done everything else possible to prove to Booker that he's our centerpiece, so if McD explained the decision properly to Booker he could just go that route. It's a gutsy play but the cold hard logic of it sounds like McD's style.

[BobbieL]

There's absolutely a risk for Booker in waiting. If he sustained a super serious injury he could lose it all. Hell if even if he just plain struggled next year that offer probably drops to around $20M per year. I guess the Suns could have a wink wink we'll give you the max anyway type agreement with him but you need to be careful with that since the Wolves lost like 4 1st round picks for having an off the record agreement with Joe Smith back in the day.

Yeah, there is certainly risk. Given that I've figured out we could fairly easily carve out max cap space in 19 even with an extension and not likely losing a key player, it's not as big of concern as I thought before if we wanted to have that space in 19. Very very unlikely we'd get a max guy though anyway.

Is there any chance McD just doesn't even offer Booker an extension this summer? That's within his options, right? Just because Booker is eligible for an extension doesn't mean the team has to open those negotiations now. We'd still have the ability to offer the biggest contract in 2019 and to match any offer sheet he signs. There's obviously the risk that it pisses Booker off but for it to really go wrong it would have to piss him off so much that he asks the team not to match, or tries to force a sign-and-trade, or takes the qualifying offer. None of those seems very likely to me. It's not quite a Joe Johnson situation where we're lowballing him on an extension so he signs with another team the following year and asks us not to match, nor is it even like an Eric Gordon situation where he asked the Hornets not to match so he could be the featured guy here (and that all seemed to wash over just fine anyway after they ignored his request and matched our offer). Seems to me it's pretty clearly in the team's best interest to wait until 2019 and we've done everything else possible to prove to Booker that he's our centerpiece, so if McD explained the decision properly to Booker he could just go that route. It's a gutsy play but the cold hard logic of it sounds like McD's style.

I think if Ryan were not to offer Booker a contract extension - he would need to do this. Now we are talking about a Sarver-lead organization so the odds of making the right move might be less. But Sarver says he is a better owner - but what Ryan would need to do is have Booker and his agent come to a meeting. have a power point presentation and go step by step

We want to keep you but for cap reasons and other things outlined in this presentation - this is why we want to hold off a year

and go bullet point by bullet point, player by player - list the guys on the list and show Booker this is the plan for the future

I wouldn't just not offer the guy an extension but explain in a professional way the possible advantages if he waits.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Yeah, there is certainly risk. Given that I've figured out we could fairly easily carve out max cap space in 19 even with an extension and not likely losing a key player, it's not as big of concern as I thought before if we wanted to have that space in 19. Very very unlikely we'd get a max guy though anyway.

Is there any chance McD just doesn't even offer Booker an extension this summer? That's within his options, right? Just because Booker is eligible for an extension doesn't mean the team has to open those negotiations now. We'd still have the ability to offer the biggest contract in 2019 and to match any offer sheet he signs. There's obviously the risk that it pisses Booker off but for it to really go wrong it would have to piss him off so much that he asks the team not to match, or tries to force a sign-and-trade, or takes the qualifying offer. None of those seems very likely to me. It's not quite a Joe Johnson situation where we're lowballing him on an extension so he signs with another team the following year and asks us not to match, nor is it even like an Eric Gordon situation where he asked the Hornets not to match so he could be the featured guy here (and that all seemed to wash over just fine anyway after they ignored his request and matched our offer). Seems to me it's pretty clearly in the team's best interest to wait until 2019 and we've done everything else possible to prove to Booker that he's our centerpiece, so if McD explained the decision properly to Booker he could just go that route. It's a gutsy play but the cold hard logic of it sounds like McD's style.

I think if Ryan were not to offer Booker a contract extension - he would need to do this. Now we are talking about a Sarver-lead organization so the odds of making the right move might be less. But Sarver says he is a better owner - but what Ryan would need to do is have Booker and his agent come to a meeting. have a power point presentation and go step by step

We want to keep you but for cap reasons and other things outlined in this presentation - this is why we want to hold off a year

and go bullet point by bullet point, player by player - list the guys on the list and show Booker this is the plan for the future

I wouldn't just not offer the guy an extension but explain in a professional way the possible advantages if he waits.

All this sounds good in theory but if I'm Booker or his agent the first question I ask is if I have a career altering or ending injury next year are you still giving me a max contract?

If the Suns answer "yes" they are in violation of the CBA and if god forbid it did happen the league would know some funny business went on and will investigate and as we saw with Joe Smith they can come down really really hard on teams that make under the table agreements.

If the Suns answer 'no' then what's to prevent Booker from going into RFA and getting an offer sheet with an opt out after year 3. At that point he's passing up a little guaranteed money but still landing a 100M contract so the risk isn't nearly as big. So now the Suns have a guy who's annoyed with how this is handled and can leave in 3 years instead of 5.

The reason the league has the early extension rule is it gives the player financial security and allows the team to lock up their guy on a real 5 year deal.

[ATTL]

I think the wolves got in so much trouble because it was more than a wink deal. They wrote it down on paper and they could prove they broke the rules.

[BobbieL]

Is there any chance McD just doesn't even offer Booker an extension this summer? That's within his options, right? Just because Booker is eligible for an extension doesn't mean the team has to open those negotiations now. We'd still have the ability to offer the biggest contract in 2019 and to match any offer sheet he signs. There's obviously the risk that it pisses Booker off but for it to really go wrong it would have to piss him off so much that he asks the team not to match, or tries to force a sign-and-trade, or takes the qualifying offer. None of those seems very likely to me. It's not quite a Joe Johnson situation where we're lowballing him on an extension so he signs with another team the following year and asks us not to match, nor is it even like an Eric Gordon situation where he asked the Hornets not to match so he could be the featured guy here (and that all seemed to wash over just fine anyway after they ignored his request and matched our offer). Seems to me it's pretty clearly in the team's best interest to wait until 2019 and we've done everything else possible to prove to Booker that he's our centerpiece, so if McD explained the decision properly to Booker he could just go that route. It's a gutsy play but the cold hard logic of it sounds like McD's style.

I think if Ryan were not to offer Booker a contract extension - he would need to do this. Now we are talking about a Sarver-lead organization so the odds of making the right move might be less. But Sarver says he is a better owner - but what Ryan would need to do is have Booker and his agent come to a meeting. have a power point presentation and go step by step

We want to keep you but for cap reasons and other things outlined in this presentation - this is why we want to hold off a year

and go bullet point by bullet point, player by player - list the guys on the list and show Booker this is the plan for the future

I wouldn't just not offer the guy an extension but explain in a professional way the possible advantages if he waits.

All this sounds good in theory but if I'm Booker or his agent the first question I ask is if I have a career altering or ending injury next year are you still giving me a max contract?

If the Suns answer "yes" they are in violation of the CBA and if god forbid it did happen the league would know some funny business went on and will investigate and as we saw with Joe Smith they can come down really really hard on teams that make under the table agreements.

If the Suns answer 'no' then what's to prevent Booker from going into RFA and getting an offer sheet with an opt out after year 3. At that point he's passing up a little guaranteed money but still landing a 100M contract so the risk isn't nearly as big. So now the Suns have a guy who's annoyed with how this is handled and can leave in 3 years instead of 5.

The reason the league has the early extension rule is it gives the player financial security and allows the team to lock up their guy on a real 5 year deal.

Very good answer and I do not have anything to your point. Can Booker take out an insurance policy as prevention

I guess my point to the above though was - don't be a normal Sarver move - or as a Chargers fan, BW, knows about this - be a Spanii and do the wrong thing from a PR, business stand point. Don't just be a d**k in the media or to Booker and not offer him the extension. Sit down with him, do it right - if he says "nope I want it now" -give him the paper and get it done. But at least present it to Booker in a way that shows "sure, we have been bad but we have a plan in place"

[bwgood77]

There's absolutely a risk for Booker in waiting. If he sustained a super serious injury he could lose it all. Hell if even if he just plain struggled next year that offer probably drops to around $20M per year. I guess the Suns could have a wink wink we'll give you the max anyway type agreement with him but you need to be careful with that since the Wolves lost like 4 1st round picks for having an off the record agreement with Joe Smith back in the day.

Yeah, there is certainly risk. Given that I've figured out we could fairly easily carve out max cap space in 19 even with an extension and not likely losing a key player, it's not as big of concern as I thought before if we wanted to have that space in 19. Very very unlikely we'd get a max guy though anyway.

Is there any chance McD just doesn't even offer Booker an extension this summer? That's within his options, right? Just because Booker is eligible for an extension doesn't mean the team has to open those negotiations now. We'd still have the ability to offer the biggest contract in 2019 and to match any offer sheet he signs. There's obviously the risk that it pisses Booker off but for it to really go wrong it would have to piss him off so much that he asks the team not to match, or tries to force a sign-and-trade, or takes the qualifying offer. None of those seems very likely to me. It's not quite a Joe Johnson situation where we're lowballing him on an extension so he signs with another team the following year and asks us not to match, nor is it even like an Eric Gordon situation where he asked the Hornets not to match so he could be the featured guy here (and that all seemed to wash over just fine anyway after they ignored his request and matched our offer). Seems to me it's pretty clearly in the team's best interest to wait until 2019 and we've done everything else possible to prove to Booker that he's our centerpiece, so if McD explained the decision properly to Booker he could just go that route. It's a gutsy play but the cold hard logic of it sounds like McD's style.

I thought about that. They could just wait, but I seriously doubt it will happen and I expect Booker's agent to press McD for that extension. In some ways it would be like McD to wait, but since he did give Warren one, and this is Booker, there is little chance he does. I don't know if agreeing to a max and signing later is prohibited. In Joe Smith's case, this was agreed to BEFORE he signed minimum deals to allow them to sign more free agents...not when he was already under contract and discussing the extension and contract. It seems like many players these days have known they were going to sign a max offer but waited to let the team sign other free agents first. But waiting a whole season and playing comes with his risks if he did suffer a major injury.

[bwgood77]

I think if Ryan were not to offer Booker a contract extension - he would need to do this. Now we are talking about a Sarver-lead organization so the odds of making the right move might be less. But Sarver says he is a better owner - but what Ryan would need to do is have Booker and his agent come to a meeting. have a power point presentation and go step by step

We want to keep you but for cap reasons and other things outlined in this presentation - this is why we want to hold off a year

and go bullet point by bullet point, player by player - list the guys on the list and show Booker this is the plan for the future

I wouldn't just not offer the guy an extension but explain in a professional way the possible advantages if he waits.

All this sounds good in theory but if I'm Booker or his agent the first question I ask is if I have a career altering or ending injury next year are you still giving me a max contract?

If the Suns answer "yes" they are in violation of the CBA and if god forbid it did happen the league would know some funny business went on and will investigate and as we saw with Joe Smith they can come down really really hard on teams that make under the table agreements.

If the Suns answer 'no' then what's to prevent Booker from going into RFA and getting an offer sheet with an opt out after year 3. At that point he's passing up a little guaranteed money but still landing a 100M contract so the risk isn't nearly as big. So now the Suns have a guy who's annoyed with how this is handled and can leave in 3 years instead of 5.

The reason the league has the early extension rule is it gives the player financial security and allows the team to lock up their guy on a real 5 year deal.

Very good answer and I do not have anything to your point. Can Booker take out an insurance policy as prevention

I guess my point to the above though was - don't be a normal Sarver move - or as a Chargers fan, BW, knows about this - be a Spanii and do the wrong thing from a PR, business stand point. Don't just be a d**k in the media or to Booker and not offer him the extension. Sit down with him, do it right - if he says "nope I want it now" -give him the paper and get it done. But at least present it to Booker in a way that shows "sure, we have been bad but we have a plan in place"

Yes, I think it is good to go over it with him like that and leave it up to him. That way he will always know they would have had more cap space for moves if we waited but we ultimately left it up to him and it was his decision. That way it would sit well with him and he'd have a little less reason to ever blame them for not going out and making the team better because they took care of him first and had left some of that potential possibility up to him.