Season Speculation, Free Agency & Trade Ideas: Our Johnson is finally working

[Crives]

I think we all agree Bridges is our favorite long term wing of the 4 and should be considered a cornerstone with Ayton/Book.

But I think his trade value is so much higher then our other wings who can give us similar value on the court.

starting to feel that if we get Oubre on a reasonable deal this summer, we should be open to packaging Bridges + picks for a high value powerforward. There could be some interesting names that become available depending on who wins Zion. Would you trade Bridges + our 2019 4/5 for a pf like JJJ,Collins,Lauri or Siakam?

[grumpysaddle]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

[TeamTragic]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

Maybe. Not if we get Zion.

[grumpysaddle]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

Maybe. Not if we get Zion.

Well, yeah, basically the question was Zion or Doncic.

[Crives]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

I probably would because Doncic doesn’t have the injury risk of Zion, even if it’s a low risk.

[Desertfox]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

Totally. You know what Doncic gives you, Zion is still an unknown. I'd even do it for Holiday + pick or Gordon + pick (that is then used to get Holiday). Give me two birds in hand than one in the bush.

[spanishninja]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

I probably would because Doncic doesn’t have the injury risk of Zion, even if it’s a low risk.

I don't know if I would make that move, solely because we would not be criticized again if we don't trade for Doncic and Zion ends up being subpar, but if we do trade for Doncic and Zion ends up being even better, we would look bad two years in a row.

[lilfishi22]

63 games in and now officially once again missing the playoffs. Very bottom of the entire league. On pace for very worst season in franchise history. So **** tired of hearing excuse after excuse after excuse after each loss and how lessons are learned for next game.

It's extremely hard to give any **** about any player or coach on this team. They all look like total losers with many years of bottom dwelling ahead.
Congratulations on pissing on any flame of hope, Suns front office.

From the ashes the Phoenix will RISE! (next season, again. No seriously, it'll be different this time, again.)

[sunskerr]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

Maybe. Not if we get Zion.

lmao of course you make that trade 100% of the time. Dallas would laugh though.

[Crives]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

I probably would because Doncic doesn’t have the injury risk of Zion, even if it’s a low risk.

I don't know if I would make that move, solely because we would not be criticized again if we don't trade for Doncic and Zion ends up being subpar, but if we do trade for Doncic and Zion ends up being even better, we would look bad two years in a row.

Honestly if we win Zion who cares. If we add Zion or Luka to this team.... watch out league

[Revived]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

Maybe. Not if we get Zion.

lmao of course you make that trade 100% of the time. Dallas would laugh though.

As good as Zion may be, Doncic is a proven thing.

Suns could offer Booker and #1 overall for Doncic and the Mavs would still decline.

[Crives]

Maybe. Not if we get Zion.

lmao of course you make that trade 100% of the time. Dallas would laugh though.

As good as Zion may be, Doncic is a proven thing.

Suns could offer Booker and #1 overall for Doncic and the Mavs would still decline.

I’m also not sure Zion would fit with Zinger defensively.

[lilfishi22]

I think we all agree Bridges is our favorite long term wing of the 4 and should be considered a cornerstone with Ayton/Book.

But I think his trade value is so much higher then our other wings who can give us similar value on the court.

starting to feel that if we get Oubre on a reasonable deal this summer, we should be open to packaging Bridges + picks for a high value powerforward. There could be some interesting names that become available depending on who wins Zion. Would you trade Bridges + our 2019 4/5 for a pf like JJJ,Collins,Lauri or Siakam?

I'm not sure Bridges and a pick would net those guys. Maybe Lauri but honestly, I would prefer to keep Bridges. I think Bridges has high value because he can fit into any team, in any offense, right now and in the future. He's on a super cap friendly rookie contract and will be under team control for the next 6-7years. Unless it can land us a JJJ, Collins or Siakam, I don't think there's any other 4 out there that I like.

[Crives]

How many wins do you guys think we need next year to keep Book happy? Will he be happy with 35+ wins or is it playoffs or bust?

[lilfishi22]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

I'm guessing you were listening to the Game Theory Podcast with Sam Vecenie and Cole Zwicker. They posed that exact question. I think it's one of those situations where if you have Zion, you wouldn't trade him for Luka but if you had Luka, you wouldn't trade him for Zion either. I think those two are nearly equal in value. I'd give Doncic more value because he's proven and until Zion has an NBA body of work that proves he can play and is effective/impactful, Doncic will always have that in his backpocket

[lilfishi22]

How many wins do you guys think we need next year to keep Book happy? Will he be happy with 35+ wins or is it playoffs or bust?

Playoff is so far away I think he'd be happy with just 30-35 wins (which I thought was realistic before the start of the season)

[bwgood77]

I look at the draft this way:

1. We get the top pick and take Zion.
2. We get the 2nd pick and take Ja.
3. We get the 3rd pick and take Ja (Its almost certain that if a team besides us gets #2 they are going Barrett)
4. We get the 4th pick and there is a 50/50 chance that Ja is there. Teams will be split between him and Reddish.
5. Ja wont be there so trade down for Clarke and a win now player.

The biggest issue with #5 is that no one knows where Clarke will be going. Out of all the updated sites i have checked, Tankathon has him the highest at #11. Pretty much every other site has him going in the mid to late 20's with even a few knocking him back to the 2nd round. 247sports has him st #20, SI has him at #27, thebiglead.com has him at #24, draftsite.com has him at #30, nbcsports doesnt even have him in the 1st round, and NBA draft has him at #43. For the few that dont have mocks and just rankings or bigboards, The Stepien has him buried somewhere in tier 4 (Behind 25+ other players) and the Ringer has him at #14 on their "Big Board".

I think its pretty safe to say that he will be taken somewhere between #14-#45. So what teams in that rather large spot (Most likely playoff teams) would be willing to part with a nice player for us along with their pick for a young hopeful stud in Reddish/Culver/Hayes/Langford/Hunter ?

One idea that could prove to be rather interesting is dealing with Boston. They have 3 non lotto 1st round picks, ones that will be included in the rumored Anthony Davis trade. Unfortunately the draft (June 20th) is way before the FA and trade moratorium (July 6th) so we couldnt deal with the Pelicans in a 3 way. We could do a trade with the Pelicans straight up once we find out where we stand at the lotto, and offer something like Johnson/#4-#6 for Holiday/And the Pelicans pick (So far slated to be around #10), which gives them the option of then maybe flipping (Getting out of) Johnsons expiring in the Davis trade with Boston taking both Davis and Johnson for Whatever they are offering.

Other teams in that late lottery/mid 1st we could target would be (And who i would be interested in):
Miami - Dragic/#10 for #4/Johnson
Cleveland - Love/#21 for #4/Johnson

Other than those 2 its rather slim picking. But if we could walk away with Dargic/Clarke or Love/Clarke for missing out on Zion and Ja (While also shedding Johnsons dead weight), i would consider that a major win.

Why I like Clarke in what I feel is a fairly weak draft is that he is very high floor and you know he has things that will translate. And he is ready. I know age is something that usually hurts their stock, but take a guy like Siakam who went far lower than he should...I don't think we can afford to pass up on likely sure talent at something we need (a defensive PF) for some guy who is younger who might someday have more upside just because a few sites have him ranked lower in their mocks.

The smart teams, like Denver, identify the players they want and just draft them. The smart scouts should ignore rankings.

thestepien hasn't even done a big board yet. They still have their draft watch list done before the season even started.

Tankathon's big board has Brandon Clarke at 6. Most of those sites don't even update anything or have draft analysts...or maybe just one. http://www.tankathon.com/big_board

The Ringer has draft analysts and they have him at 14 on their big board...and these are updated. He's not some stud young super athlete but he is a premier defender with a nice touch on his shot...think Siakam..

14. Brandon Clarke
Forward/center, Gonzaga, redshirt junior (6-foot-8, 215 pounds, 22 years old)
Chau: Clarke will turn 23 before the start of next season, making him one of the oldest lottery-caliber prospects in recent memory. He’ll be drafted for his defense, which might be elite, even by NBA standards. Like Williams, Clarke would have been a hopeless 3/4/5 tweener in a past life—think Dominic McGuire: a similarly built, similarly athletic center in an athletic wing’s body who languished on the fringes of the league a decade ago. Today, Clarke could easily serve as an omnipositional defender; a player equally adept at protecting the rim, blowing up pick-and-rolls, and roaming away from the ball as a weakside threat. Clarke, in theory, is a high-floor play. You know exactly what you’re getting.

Yet I can’t help but think about what upside might still be untapped. He might be relatively old compared to his peers, but players with his speed and explosiveness afford themselves a wider margin for error. Pascal Siakam was one of the oldest players in the 2016 draft yet managed to completely redirect his career trajectory in two short years. Clarke, who possesses many of Siakam’s strengths, could see more growth than expected in a system that allows him to grow organically. The next time Clarke makes a nifty pass in the half court, or the next time he takes the ball from the top of the key down to the teeth of the defense with a vigorous spin move, know that there is certainly a precedent for him to exceed a mere defensive specialist role.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/2/20/18232463/2019-nba-draft-big-board-february

I know one stepien writer, Ben Rubin has him #2. https://www.thestepien.com/2019/01/03/ben-rubins-mid-season-big-board/

Here is a longer write up on him https://www.thestepien.com/2019/01/18/draft-notes-easy-case-brandon-clarke/

[bwgood77]

Was listening to a podcast yesterday while driving for work and they had an interesting question. If Suns landed the number 1 pick, would you trade it to Dallas straight up for Doncic?

That's a tough one.

I'm guessing you were listening to the Game Theory Podcast with Sam Vecenie and Cole Zwicker. They posed that exact question. I think it's one of those situations where if you have Zion, you wouldn't trade him for Luka but if you had Luka, you wouldn't trade him for Zion either. I think those two are nearly equal in value. I'd give Doncic more value because he's proven and until Zion has an NBA body of work that proves he can play and is effective/impactful, Doncic will always have that in his backpocket

Yes, you trade him. Though Dallas wouldn't so it's moot. Zion is awesome and devastating talent, but Luka is tailor made for the NBA, makes others better, would make Ayton a lot better, would make Booker a lot better (by taking pressure off of him)...Booker would probably make Luka better too. With Zion we would still have to hope we have a great ball handler to get everyone the ball.

[timetoshinebaby]

I think Doncic is good but his reputation is starting to exceed his out put.

If I said we could get a primary ball handler that is 43% from the field, 34.9% from 3pt, has 5.6 assists per game but 3.4 turnovers and is relatively high usage. most of you would say no.

Yes, he has upside but I'm not sure how high is upside is, he is fairly polished from playing professionally for years.

[bwgood77]

^^Good take Kerrsed!
I would only add 2 things, which are far form sure: If Chicago lands Zion, they might be tempted to trade Lauri for the 3rd/4th pick and one of our wings. I'd do that in a heartbeat, maybe even put TJ in the trade if they insist. 4th+TJ for Lauri is a good haul for them, they would have 4 of 5 of their starters. PG/LaVine/TJ/Zion/Carter. Not bad. For us as well. PG/Book/Bridges/Lauri/Ayton.

If we slide back to 4-5 then Orlando could be our partner at late lottery, Gordon + 12 (to 15th) for 4 and JJ+ ((Mil pick)+ our 2nd). We could either pick up Garland or Clarke/Porter/Hachimura/Bol (or even Grant Williams if he continues to kick azz like he did yday) there, and be set at PF, and get rid of our logjam at wing.

Chicago already has Otto Porter and Lauri is their guy. Orlando might be open to trading Gordon. I'd probably give them our pick (2 or later) and Tyler Johnson but the priority should be PG.

If I'm Chicago I think Lauri/Zion/WCJ is the perfect rotation at frontcourt, and Lauri pairs perfectly with either. The worst pairing is probably the other two. You just rotate them. They are on rookie contracts and have a premier wing, a stud 2 in LaVine (maybe not super stud but similar #s to Book with better 3pt shooting, D, and a little worse passing)....and Dunn.

If Bulls like Morant though and get 2 or 3 that could be a really fun lineup.