FINAL Grade Phoenix Suns Off-Season

[sasquatchBob]

At this point Suns off-season is probably over, so naturally there's a lot of speculation about how well Phoenix did. Poll has been created for a better overview. I'm a European, so I'll use numbers instead of those silly letters (Sorry, but no sorry my American mates).

Personally I like how the team looks right now. For the first time in years it feels like we have identity and we're starting to go in a certain direction. My problem tho is how we got there. Very loose asset management. This is the reason why everyone is still taking a p*ss at us. Another concern for me is the rim protection. Saric and Ayton together on the floor could be a defensive disaster. Hopefully Ayton takes a step forward in that area.

To conclude, I have voted 6 but my actual vote is 6.5. I predict us to be a 30-35 win team this year.

[NTB]

Solid 7

[Sugarless]

I think a big part of how this offseason is perceived in the future will depend on the success of the PFs they got this summer.

I liked them getting Diallo as a third stringer, I like Saric as an NBA player in a vacuum, and I loved Kaminsky as a college player, but I think the PF rotation is the weakest link on this team and I'm not sold on how everything fits on the frontcourt, especially when it comes to complementing Ayton defensively. I think Jones should have gone for someone in the mold of Al-Farouq Aminu, Thad Young (though ultimately too expensive) or JaMychal Green, all solid veterans that can help on defense and hit the corner 3.

Beyond that, I love Rubio's fit on this team, I think him and Aron Baynes are going to be important in terms of building a culture of hard work (which is the Suns' biggest challenge right now, IMO, and far more important than winning some extra games), and I'm glad that they were able to keep Oubre under the terms that they did. It was a solid deal for a young player that has the chance to become a reliable third scorer in a key position, and one that won't get your hands tied if Oubre doesn't perform and improve as expected.

As for the draft, while I like Cam Johnson (though he'll suffer on defense. A lot.) and I think Jones did well in securing Ty Jerome, I wasn't a fan of him trading down from no. 6. Not at all, to be honest.

Overall, I think 7 is where I'd rate this offseason for the Suns. Hopefully better in the future, if Saric finally gains some consistency offensively and turns his all-around effort (which he's capable of bringing) into good defense.

[Damkac]

Don't like it. 3.

[MathiasPW]

While I like the direction the FO took (raise the floor, become competitive night in, night out), I do not like the moves they've made to get there (including changing coaches once again), nor some of the pieces and contracts they've acquired to do so (Kaminsky is meh, Baynes is costly and was a weird move cap-wise, Rubio's fit is a question mark, depending how coach uses him). I like the additions of Saric, Cam, Ty and Diallo, and also liked keeping Tyler Johnson and Oubre.

I'm slightly positive, so will go with a 6

[bwgood77]

I vote a 5. It was fine, and I have thought of it between a C and C- grade....now that is a huge step up for our franchise after a few years of F grades...or on this scale, 1s.

Now a 10 would be signing a couple of stars, but that really isn't possible, or really bold moves like trading Larry Nance, our best player, for KJ, West, Corbin and a 1st and then drafting Majerle with that first and signing Chambers in FA.

Or trading Hornacek, Perry and Lang for Barkley.

Or signing Nash and Q, though this could have been better with not signing Q, extending JJ and drafting Iguodala, so may be more like an 8 or 9.

Or drafting Marion or Stoudemire.

Of course most of that is hindsight to some extent, so if two of Cam, Jerome, Oubre or Saric become all stars, this rating in hindsight will go up...or if Rubio fits like a glove and we get extremely solid play from this other guys and win 45-50 games.

I think the bare minimum of what you should expect, and an average grade would be making sure you have depth at every position...you know...put an NBA team on the floor....make sure with 15 roster spots you don't have holes in your starting lineup or backups.

And we were at least able to do that, while improving our shooting and adding a capable PG, though even though I like Rubio, he wasn't nearly who I considered one of the best fits with our squad, but there are a lot of positives. I was a little surprised with the draft pick, but Cam is ready and an elite shooter, and I love elite shooters....so I can't complain too much there. Some of the moves were a bit surprising, but I am glad Baynes can push Ayton for at at least 40-50 games, if not the whole season....hopefully helping him learn to defend and set hard screens. I like Jerome. The upside doesn't seem real high unless Book and Ayton become all stars, and play defense (particularly Ayton, though Book has to at least play some...can't be among league's worst), but at least our team will be watchable, and competitive on hopefully many nights, so that's a huge step up from what we've seen the last couple of years, and moving from F grades up to a C or C- is a welcome improvement and move in the right direction.

I see the avg grade after 11 votes is a 5.54 which seems about right...I thought it might be higher because many seem really positive about the offseason, but I was hovering between 5 and 6, leaning a little bit towards 5.

[Desertfox]

As critical as I've been of this offseason, they did not pull a Knicks so no F, they did not trade for Chris Paul or John Wall so no D, they did pick up a starter quality PG and PF so at least a C. But they also did not pick up an All-star quality PG or PF like say Holiday so no A and did not draft starter quality PGs/PFs or pick up more than a 3rd string defensive PF so no B either. Their asset management was poor as well so nothing more than a C-. So that would be what? a 5?

All in all, they did the minimum required to become average, which admittedly was a very very low bar to cross. But they did cross the bar so they get a passing grade.

[Crives]

I think everyone is forgetting the suns most important move....

We entered the season with..
-19 wins
-Another HC vacancy
-Record high public criticism of Sarver and Suns Organization
- bad Lottery luck

And against those headwinds we convinced Monty Williams to join the suns over teams like LA. For the first time it looks like we are building stability in the FO and coaching staff.

[bwgood77]

I think everyone is forgetting the suns most important move....

We entered the season with..
-19 wins
-Another HC vacancy
-Record high public criticism of Sarver and Suns Organization
- bad Lottery luck

And against those headwinds we convinced Monty Williams to join the suns over teams like LA. For the first time it looks like we are building stability in the FO and coaching staff.

I don't think anyone is forgetting. It's hard not to, but obviously the highest grades would be signing all star caliber players or stars, and/or drafting a likely big difference maker. We signed a couple of average vets and drafted a couple of likely career backups, but nice role players. It was a nice move in the right direction, but I don't see how it's a really high grade, or even just high. It was a decent off season after putrid off seasons.

[Klomp]

From an outsider's perspective, I think Rubio is a great fit for your team culture and for the development of your young players, but I don't think it will translate into a major jump in wins.

I also think you guys were really hurt by the lottery luck. I know your front office couldn't do much about that, but they compounded the bad misfortune by I believe making a poor draft night trade.

I think Phoenix can make a decent jump from last year's 19 wins, but I still don't see much more than 25-30 wins this season.

[Saberestar]

5 for me. Mixed feelings.

[Crives]

I think everyone is forgetting the suns most important move....

We entered the season with..
-19 wins
-Another HC vacancy
-Record high public criticism of Sarver and Suns Organization
- bad Lottery luck

And against those headwinds we convinced Monty Williams to join the suns over teams like LA. For the first time it looks like we are building stability in the FO and coaching staff.

I don't think anyone is forgetting. It's hard not to, but obviously the highest grades would be signing all star caliber players or stars, and/or drafting a likely big difference maker. We signed a couple of average vets and drafted a couple of likely career backups, but nice role players. It was a nice move in the right direction, but I don't see how it's a really high grade, or even just high. It was a decent off season after putrid off seasons.

Definitely...
A better way of expressing my opinion above..
Given the headwinds we entered the offseason with... it feels like our offseason grade should have had a ceiling that was lower then where we ended up. Maybe a ceiling of ~5... yet we pulled off a 7 by getting Monty.

Compared to much of the league...sure... we are nowhere near a 10 which would require getting star FA... but I think we really raised our ceiling with Monty and the balanced roster which will set us up for future success.

[bwgood77]

I think everyone is forgetting the suns most important move....

We entered the season with..
-19 wins
-Another HC vacancy
-Record high public criticism of Sarver and Suns Organization
- bad Lottery luck

And against those headwinds we convinced Monty Williams to join the suns over teams like LA. For the first time it looks like we are building stability in the FO and coaching staff.

I don't think anyone is forgetting. It's hard not to, but obviously the highest grades would be signing all star caliber players or stars, and/or drafting a likely big difference maker. We signed a couple of average vets and drafted a couple of likely career backups, but nice role players. It was a nice move in the right direction, but I don't see how it's a really high grade, or even just high. It was a decent off season after putrid off seasons.

Definitely...
A better way of expressing my opinion above..
Given the headwinds we entered the offseason with... it feels like our offseason grade should have had a ceiling that was lower then where we ended up. Maybe a ceiling of ~5... yet we pulled off a 7 by getting Monty.

Compared to much of the league...sure... we are nowhere near a 10 which would require getting star FA... but I think we really raised our ceiling with Monty and the balanced roster which will set us up for future success.

I hope Monty is good. It's good that he is well respected.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

1. Firing Kokoskov; Hiring Monty: 8. Getting someone with experience, a former player, a leader, who focuses on developing good habits and a good locker room environment. It was the right move, and it's not clear there was really a better option. I think it added to our credibility with free agents, too, signaling that PHX is no longer a dumpster fire. So, very pleased overall.

2. Trading #6 for Saric + #11: 9. Loved this move. Got a bona fide young starter at a position of need who fits the needs of the team as well, while only moving back 5 spots in the process. #6 was a bad range for us, I thought. I suggested this trade myself, so how could I not love it?

3. Trading TJ + #32 for nada: 2. In terms of value, terrible. But it was pretty obvious we needed to move on and JJ didn't do the thing that our last FO did to hamstring the franchise, which was keeping players who didn't want to be here because they couldn't get the right value in trade. So I'm not mad we did this, but I just wish the pick was coming back instead of going out.

4. MIL 1st for #24 + Baynes: 5. Pretty neutral on its face, except when you consider that adding Baynes forced us into that MEM deal. The picks are pretty much a wash, but Baynes is a solid player, so... I like it, but I can't grade it too highly.

5. Drafting Cam Johnson @ #11: 5. Kid could be good; kid could be injured his whole career. Brandon Clarke was the obvious pick here, but the FO went with its gut and drafted the best shooter, and a guy ready to compete. With the rumor that DET would have taken him #15, I can't be too down on the value of the pick, at least not until we've seen some results. I think it was the right idea (drafting an older player whose rookie contract will hold value if he performs), but if I can't hand out a N/A, I'll have to go with a neutral number.

6. Drafting Ty Jerome @ #24: 8, and I'm restraining myself. The more I learn about this kid, the more I'm convinced he'll be a stud. I'm not even all that intrigued by next draft's slew of young PGs just because of how high I am on Ty. I think we got a huge steal here.

7. Rubio @ $51mil/3yrs: 5. Good fit with the rest of the team we've assembled, but the price was probably steeper than Rubio warrants. So probably the right player, just not a valuable contract.

8. Kaminsky @ $10mil/2 yrs w/TO: 6. I'm a bit conflicted because I'm not sure he fits in with our group. I understand the value of having another stretch 4 to take Saric's place if he goes down or he isn't hitting, and I understand the value of having a flamethrower you can throw out there when needed. The TO is what makes me happy about this add. And I return to the theme, which is that everyone we added looks to be a contributor. No more having to trot out unproven youngsters and hoping they don't "Tank" us.

9. Jackson, Melton + 2 Seconds for Carter: 4. Not a good deal, but a necessary one. Can't get mad at this FO for Jackson being such a f***up. Melton's contract held little value to us since we should know he'd want out next summer. Carter's a practice player, so no value there. At least we didn't have to give up any real value to move on from Jackson.

10. Oubre @ $34 mil/2 yrs: 5. Mostly, I'm just happy we avoided a protracted contract negotiation and found a solution satisfactory to both sides. The contract doesn't hold value, but keeping Oubre was a must if we wanted to compete next season.

11. Diallo @ $3.5 mil/2yrs w/TO: 8. That's a mighty fine contract for a guy who was exactly what we needed to round out our front line.

Overall grade: 7. Every move was us heading in the right direction, and we should finally field a competitive team next season. Given how massive were the holes we plugged, I could see us shocking the league next season. But looking beyond next year, it's hard to see many of these pieces being the long-term solution, with the possible exception of our draft picks. Perhaps Oubre and Saric work really well with this group, but I worry about our interior defense with Saric/Ayton, and it'll be hard to extract additional value out of any of our new non-draft additions. OTOH, we maintained cap flexibility into the future and still hold all our future firsts, and we were able to add two rookies who will almost certainly be better than the ones we added in 2016 and 2017. Winning ASAP and putting good pieces around our core duo to aid their development was the #1 priority, and that we achieved, no doubt about it. And in the end, I don't think we sacrificed anything of long-term value to get here. So overall, I'm very happy with the offseason and extremely excited to see how we do next season.

EDIT: Forgot the signing of Jalen Lecque. Was pretty impressed by how the youngster looked in summer leage. Nice minimum contract that gives us the upside if he does well. The kind of guy I think we'd all be happy if we drafted with a pick in the mid-second round. Finally, an FO that acquires upside potential using empty bench slots rather than using high draft picks. I give it an 8, but the weight on the overall grade is negligible.

[bigfoot]

Solid 9 for me. Just getting rid of Jackson is a 5 by itself. Solving the PG problem by bringing in Rubio is +1. Solving the lack of PFs with Saric, Kaminsky, and Diallo is another +1. The new coaching staff is another +1. Adding five vets and shooters is another +1. Draft picks are neutral because its hard to gauge how they will contribute this season. Could care less about losing 2nd round picks or Warren because of all the problems the team addressed. Jones did exactly what he promised ... obtain vets, shooters, and fill the PG and PF positions. We will be a much better team.

[darealjuice]

It seems like most of the gripes stem from asset management. Giving up #32 to get out of $35M/3 years for a solid player like TJ Warren. Drafting Cam Johnson at #11 instead of trading back closer to his projections and picking up another asset, or just not drafting Brandon Clarke for some. Trading our 2020 second round pick and a 2021 protected second round pick (supposedly #36 to #60) to dump a talented but extremely stupid player in Josh Jackson. I think it's pretty clear that we didn't maximize our assets, but in the end we're only losing out on second round dart throws that can be bought for cash on draft night.

I think a lot went right for the Suns this offseason. Monty was arguably the best head coaching hire of the offseason, and I like the coaching staff he's put together much more than Igor's. I really like Rubio's fit with Booker and Ayton, and it sounds like they'll let him run the show and push the pace on offense based on Monty and James' interviews. Saric was an underrated pick-up that I feel will solve our long-term power forward hole. I was a big fan of Ty Jerome, and we picked up a solid back-up center in Baynes while trading the Bucks pick for a better pick than it'll likely end up being. Kicking the tires on young guys like Kaminsky and Diallo while getting them on team-friendly deals was a very good way to fill out our front court rotation.

I gave us a 7. I feel good about the end result, but there was a better path to get here. We didn't get make any big splashes, but I feel that we significantly improved. I believe in Booker and Ayton being foundational pieces, and we put together a fairly deep and balanced roster with players that fit well and have experience contributing for playoff teams. Expectations are deservedly very low, but I can see this team surprising people.

[lilfishi22]

Off season moves

Fire Kokoskov: 4 - no PG, not PF and basically no support from the new front office
Hired Monty: 8 - great hire on paper. Wasn't particularly high level last time he was a HC but the league lovse him and thought we won the HC sweepstakes
TJ salary dump: 3 - did open up some cap space to sign Rubio but salary dumping wasn't a good move for a positive asset
Saric/draft move back trade: 8 - great move to move back 5 spots and picked up a useful and young player
Draft Cam Johnson: 4 - nice player but taken too high and when there's other better options
Traded 2020 Mil 1st for Baynes and Jerome: 5 - gave up a future 1st for a Baynes salary dump. Used a chunk of TJ's salary dump to take on Baynes salary dump which makes the TJ trade worse. Received a decent prospect back though
Traded JJ, Melton and two 2nd's for Korver (bought out) and Carter: 4 - initially thought it was fine because I liked Carter and we got rid of JJ but thinking about it now, it might have just been better to just stretch JJ's $7m contract. Would have only cost us about 2.3m a year and we could've kept Melton and the 2nd's for something more productive.
Signed Ricky Rubio: 7 - bit of an overpay but on paper should get our ducks in a row. Leadership and playmaking that we've needed
Resigned Oubre: 7 - I liked the years even though the individual year's salary is expensive but I think it's a good deal for both. He just needs to show he's worth it
Signed Kaminsky: 7 - not a big Kaminsky fan but he fits a need and should be a fit next to Ayton offensively. Cheap too
Signed Diallo: 8 - I like what he brings and on a great deal

Overall grade: 6 - I do like the balance of this team a lot more than the last few seasons and we've finally surrounded Booker and the core with an actual team of players that know how to play and are ready to contribute. How we got to where we are, what we gave up and what we had to pay is what got the lion's share of the lower votes

[Cutter]

1. Firing Kokoskov; Hiring Monty: 8. Getting someone with experience, a former player, a leader, who focuses on developing good habits and a good locker room environment. It was the right move, and it's not clear there was really a better option. I think it added to our credibility with free agents, too, signaling that PHX is no longer a dumpster fire. So, very pleased overall.

2. Trading #6 for Saric + #11: 9. Loved this move. Got a bona fide young starter at a position of need who fits the needs of the team as well, while only moving back 5 spots in the process. #6 was a bad range for us, I thought. I suggested this trade myself, so how could I not love it?

3. Trading TJ + #32 for nada: 2. In terms of value, terrible. But it was pretty obvious we needed to move on and JJ didn't do the thing that our last FO did to hamstring the franchise, which was keeping players who didn't want to be here because they couldn't get the right value in trade. So I'm not mad we did this, but I just wish the pick was coming back instead of going out.

4. MIL 1st for #24 + Baynes: 5. Pretty neutral on its face, except when you consider that adding Baynes forced us into that MEM deal. The picks are pretty much a wash, but Baynes is a solid player, so... I like it, but I can't grade it too highly.

5. Drafting Cam Johnson @ #11: 5. Kid could be good; kid could be injured his whole career. Brandon Clarke was the obvious pick here, but the FO went with its gut and drafted the best shooter, and a guy ready to compete. With the rumor that DET would have taken him #15, I can't be too down on the value of the pick, at least not until we've seen some results. I think it was the right idea (drafting an older player whose rookie contract will hold value if he performs), but if I can't hand out a N/A, I'll have to go with a neutral number.

6. Drafting Ty Jerome @ #24: 8, and I'm restraining myself. The more I learn about this kid, the more I'm convinced he'll be a stud. I'm not even all that intrigued by next draft's slew of young PGs just because of how high I am on Ty. I think we got a huge steal here.

7. Rubio @ $51mil/3yrs: 5. Good fit with the rest of the team we've assembled, but the price was probably steeper than Rubio warrants. So probably the right player, just not a valuable contract.

8. Kaminsky @ $10mil/2 yrs w/TO: 6. I'm a bit conflicted because I'm not sure he fits in with our group. I understand the value of having another stretch 4 to take Saric's place if he goes down or he isn't hitting, and I understand the value of having a flamethrower you can throw out there when needed. The TO is what makes me happy about this add. And I return to the theme, which is that everyone we added looks to be a contributor. No more having to trot out unproven youngsters and hoping they don't "Tank" us.

9. Jackson, Melton + 2 Seconds for Carter: 4. Not a good deal, but a necessary one. Can't get mad at this FO for Jackson being such a f***up. Melton's contract held little value to us since we should know he'd want out next summer. Carter's a practice player, so no value there. At least we didn't have to give up any real value to move on from Jackson.

10. Oubre @ $34 mil/2 yrs: 5. Mostly, I'm just happy we avoided a protracted contract negotiation and found a solution satisfactory to both sides. The contract doesn't hold value, but keeping Oubre was a must if we wanted to compete next season.

11. Diallo @ $3.5 mil/2yrs w/TO: 8. That's a mighty fine contract for a guy who was exactly what we needed to round out our front line.

Overall grade: 7. Every move was us heading in the right direction, and we should finally field a competitive team next season. Given how massive were the holes we plugged, I could see us shocking the league next season. But looking beyond next year, it's hard to see many of these pieces being the long-term solution, with the possible exception of our draft picks. Perhaps Oubre and Saric work really well with this group, but I worry about our interior defense with Saric/Ayton, and it'll be hard to extract additional value out of any of our new non-draft additions. OTOH, we maintained cap flexibility into the future and still hold all our future firsts, and we were able to add two rookies who will almost certainly be better than the ones we added in 2016 and 2017. Winning ASAP and putting good pieces around our core duo to aid their development was the #1 priority, and that we achieved, no doubt about it. And in the end, I don't think we sacrificed anything of long-term value to get here. So overall, I'm very happy with the offseason and extremely excited to see how we do next season.

EDIT: Forgot the signing of Jalen Lecque. Was pretty impressed by how the youngster looked in preseason. Nice minimum contract that gives us the upside if he does well. The kind of guy I think we'd all be happy if we drafted with a pick in the mid-second round. Finally, an FO that acquires upside potential using empty bench slots rather than using high draft picks. I give it an 8, but the weight on the overall grade is negligible.

Great post! 7 for me as well.

[Qwigglez]

Off-Season Moves

Firing Kokosov - 5 - I feel he wasn't given a fair shot since we didn't have a starting quality PG or PF. Give him this current roster and I think he fairs a lot better. I'm okay with firing him though because it seems like there was a lot of confusion on certain plays because of his accent or something. Also, it was mentioned that some players didn't view him as our head coach, so that doesn't leave me with a lot of confidence for the guy.

Hiring Monty - 7 - I like that this guy has a lot of respect amongst the players in the league. Though, we had someone like that as our coach not too long ago named Earl Watson. I'm not sure what system Monty will run, but I hope it's fast-paced and plays to the style of our players, most importantly Ricky Rubio. Booker I feel, can play in almost any system, and Ayton as long as he is getting fed in the post should be good too. I like that Monty chose us over the Lakers, because of that, it's an automatic plus 2.

TJ Warren & 32nd pick - 3 - I felt TJ Warren definitely had more value here. Given the circumstances though at the time, I can understand the front office trading him at the time they did, as opposed to waiting to try and deal him in free agency. They probably weren't sure if teams were willing to take the cap hit in free agency, so they went ahead and pulled the trigger during the draft to give us more cap flexibility. We aren't certain the Pacers, or any team for that matter would have been willing to take on TJ Warren's contract while the free agency market was hot. Where' I'm confused is we gained extra cap space, but we essentially used half of it trading for Aron Baynes (and for Saric), though I guess our front office had a plan in place and they were following it. I thought for sure we were targeting an all-star, but I guess the front office perhaps didn't want to swing for a home run and just go for a ground ball single. Also, I don't mind trading the 32nd pick since we haven't really hit on any of our 2nd round picks in recent memory. Moving on...

Trading the 6th pick for Saric & 11th pick - 9 - I really liked this move. I wasn't in love with any of the prospects in this range, especially since most of them were wings and despite trading Warren (and later Jackson) we are still in very good shape with Booker, Bridges, and Oubre. I didn't want us to plug in another rookie in the starting lineup at the PF spot, or even a rookie PG. Saric I believe is ready to play, ready to hit his prime, and is going into the season looking to maximize next year's free agency market. I'm hoping Saric is going to have his best year yet in the NBA. He doesn't strike me as a selfish player and I think he can be our ideal PF in the modern era. It helps that we have his former assistant coach as our head coach in Monty Williams too.

Drafting Cam Johnson at 11 - 5 - I didn't even know who the guy was if I'm being honest. His name sounded like a football player so I thought maybe for a second I was watching the NFL draft or something. After looking at several YT highlight videos I became very intrigued because I love shooters. If ya got it, ya got it. One reason I hated why we drafted Josh Jackson. I definitely wanted us to draft Brandon Clarke at 11 even though his shooting form is terrible because he has so many intangibles. Also, I really liked the combination of having a stretch four in Saric, and then pairing him with a gritty tough player in Clarke. That didn't happen though. Anyway, I think getting shooters is always a smart play because we will always need shooters. I give this grade only a five because while shooting is important we already got our wing players in Booker, Bridges, and Oubre. I find it difficult to give Cam Johnson any meaningful playing time this season unless an injury occurs or if Booker starts to run backup PG and we need shooters surrounding him.

Trading future Bucks 1st for Baynes and 24th pick - 8 - I really liked the energy that Holmes brought to our 2nd unit this past season, but to be brutally honest, the guy is very small, and likely got abused in practice by Ayton. Baynes will body Ayton on a daily basis and make him work in practice. Additionally he gives us that toughness, that edge so to speak. I like the addition, even though he cost us $5 mil. At the very least he's an expiring contract, possibly a trade chip. Trading the Bucks pick which is likely to be higher than 24th pick in next years draft I thought was great.

Drafting Ty Jerome - 9 - Looks to be a high IQ player, and where we drafted him is solid. Possibly a top 3 PG in this draft. He likely won't see huge minutes unless an injury occurs.

Signing Ricky Rubio - 8 - Initially didn't like this move, but that was mostly because I wanted us to go after D'Lo since I felt we had a legit shot of acquiring him thru free agency. not the flashiest signing, but likely the signing we needed, getting a veteran PG who is barely reaching their prime. He's going to get Devin Booker the shots he wants, he's going to get the ball to Ayton in position to succeed. If he can somehow learn to shoot with average efficiency this will be a steal of a signing IMO. My biggest concern was getting an over-the-hill player (CP3 maybe or D-Rose) or getting an inexperienced player, or a player that just isn't worth going after (Ish Smith, Jeremy Lin, Reggie Jackson).

Keeping Kelly Oubre - 9 - Huge fan of Oubre. He played extremely well for us, and I think he has a lot of potential to be more than just an average starter in the league. We got a solid deal done for both sides, and I think it's a deal that keeps Oubre hungry to improve and potentially earn a bigger contract.

Signed Frank Kaminsky - 2 - We are redundant grabbing another stretch 4 IMO. Would have preferred to keep Dragan Bender despite Bender needing a fresh start with another team. Sure Bender is the same mold as Saric, but Bender is at least a capable defender and isn't as flat-footed as Frank. Frank knows his role and what he provides so he has that going for him. I just don't expect much and keeping my expectations for him low.

Trading Josh Jackson, Melton for Carter - 7 - Addition by subtraction with trading Jackson. He had absolutely no value around the league and was a huge headache off the court. Melton I really liked, but I think Carter can play a similar backup role. Also, Carter's Mom seems to be pretty active on social media about her son, so that's always cool I guess. Carter seems to be a guy that is always going to work hard and will try his best to become a rotational player.


All in all, I give us a 7. Perhaps we could have done better, but our overall roster is balanced, and doesn't seem like we'll have any headaches off the court. For us to have gotten a 10, I think drafting Clarke at 11, and then signing D'Lo. I'm not unhappy with our roster though I'm very hopeful for the upcoming season.

[sunstrooper]

Gave an optimistic 6. Discarding Kokoskov, Warren and Josh was atrociously (Please Use More Appropriate Word), so a big minus there. Rubio was a very positive move, Baynes and Saric are solid signings. The draft is not worth commenting and not because of the players drafted, but because the idea that some kids from school will improve the team and are better than proven nba players is hilarious and delusional. Especially with the officiating the Suns get, they will be flat out humiliated on the court.
The biggest factor for the success of the off-season, however, is actually Booker. If he decides he is an all star, holds the ball the majority of the time and shoots 30+ attempts a game, everything else is irrelevant.