Grading the FO moves and coaching so far

[bwgood77]

I will say that I questioned a lot of the FO moves, and I still think some of the questions were valid. Obviously I don't think what they gave up to trade TJ was worth it, but that's fine. I definitely didn't like the draft.

I liked the trade but figured we would draft Clarke and obviously that was an enormous miss. I do like Cam and I love good shooting but probably not a lot of upside there. There may nto be a lot of upside with Clarke either but he more fits our needs in my opinion.

The Rubio signing was decent and has worked out well. I wish they would have tried to convince Brogdon to sign, but perhaps they did. I also think they were targeting Rozier, especially after it was reported Rubio was going to sign with Indiana, which would have been a disaster in my opinion, and when Charlotte decided to likely give Rozier more money than we wanted to give, and Indiana made the deal for Brogdon, we luckily ended up with Rubio.

I didn't like taking on the Baynes contract while giving up the Bucks pick for Jerome, and thought the small cap hold with Holmes allowed us much more flexibility and I liked Holmes. However, at first I more accepted that trade because I came around on Jerome even though I didn't know much, but now obviously it is because of Baynes, who I thought was not worth taking on, but he has been big for us...not so much lately but a huge difference maker early. And if Jerome comes around (which I expect to some extent) that was a good move. Still would have loved to hold onto Holmes, but that might be more of hindsight with Ayton getting the drug suspension and Baynes missing games.

Oubre contract - I thought it was ok...he likely isn't worth that much money but I liked the short deal.

I have stated this a lot, but Bridges is really under utilized, especially now that his shooting and cutting have come around...finishes almost 70% at the rim which is crazy for a wing and also has shot 50% from 3 in December.

I don't like Okobo not playing, or even Carter, and I would even play Tyler Johnson over Jerome right now, but preferably Okobo mostly with a dose of Carter.

Diallo perhaps should get some more time. That one for me is tougher to navigate. Diallo doesn't seem to play well against starting units though the other bigs when Baynes were out had ups and downs and 1 or 2 games they couldn't finish.

I can empathize with Monty for losing both of his centers, and Rubio for a time, but still think he should play Okobo and especially Bridges more.

[lilfishi22]

Went C for both coaching and front office

I think our coaching started off an A+ with the disciplined yet potent style we played and also the effort and toughness we showed. But it's been a little poor as of late so I dropped it down to a C.

For front office, they did a good job putting together a competitive team so I gave them a C which is an improvement from what I gave them in the offseason. The problem is that while we are improved there are things like not taking Clarke when we needed a big, taking Cam when we already had a bunch of wings and doing nothing with the 2-way contract which could've really helped add front court depth when Baynes went down.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Went C for both coaching and front office

I think our coaching started off an A+ with the disciplined yet potent style we played and also the effort and toughness we showed. But it's been a little poor as of late so I dropped it down to a C.

For front office, they did a good job putting together a competitive team so I gave them a C which is an improvement from what I gave them in the offseason. The problem is that while we are improved there are things like not taking Clarke when we needed a big, taking Cam when we already had a bunch of wings and doing nothing with the 2-way contract which could've really helped add front court depth when Baynes went down.

Same grade, same thoughts regarding decisions made too.

[Revived]

Went C for both coaching and front office

I think our coaching started off an A+ with the disciplined yet potent style we played and also the effort and toughness we showed. But it's been a little poor as of late so I dropped it down to a C.

For front office, they did a good job putting together a competitive team so I gave them a C which is an improvement from what I gave them in the offseason. The problem is that while we are improved there are things like not taking Clarke when we needed a big, taking Cam when we already had a bunch of wings and doing nothing with the 2-way contract which could've really helped add front court depth when Baynes went down.

Basically exactly what I was going to say word for word.

[JDJ26]

I will say that I questioned a lot of the FO moves, and I still think some of the questions were valid. Obviously I don't think what they gave up to trade TJ was worth it, but that's fine. I definitely didn't like the draft.

I liked the trade but figured we would draft Clarke and obviously that was an enormous miss. I do like Cam and I love good shooting but probably not a lot of upside there. There may nto be a lot of upside with Clarke either but he more fits our needs in my opinion.

The Rubio signing was decent and has worked out well. I wish they would have tried to convince Brogdon to sign, but perhaps they did. I also think they were targeting Rozier, especially after it was reported Rubio was going to sign with Indiana, which would have been a disaster in my opinion, and when Charlotte decided to likely give Rozier more money than we wanted to give, and Indiana made the deal for Brogdon, we luckily ended up with Rubio.

I didn't like taking on the Baynes contract while giving up the Bucks pick for Jerome, and thought the small cap hold with Holmes allowed us much more flexibility and I liked Holmes. However, at first I more accepted that trade because I came around on Jerome even though I didn't know much, but now obviously it is because of Baynes, who I thought was not worth taking on, but he has been big for us...not so much lately but a huge difference maker early. And if Jerome comes around (which I expect to some extent) that was a good move. Still would have loved to hold onto Holmes, but that might be more of hindsight with Ayton getting the drug suspension and Baynes missing games.

Oubre contract - I thought it was ok...he likely isn't worth that much money but I liked the short deal.

I have stated this a lot, but Bridges is really under utilized, especially now that his shooting and cutting have come around...finishes almost 70% at the rim which is crazy for a wing and also has shot 50% from 3 in December.

I don't like Okobo not playing, or even Carter, and I would even play Tyler Johnson over Jerome right now, but preferably Okobo mostly with a dose of Carter.

Diallo perhaps should get some more time. That one for me is tougher to navigate. Diallo doesn't seem to play well against starting units though the other bigs when Baynes were out had ups and downs and 1 or 2 games they couldn't finish.

I can empathize with Monty for losing both of his centers, and Rubio for a time, but still think he should play Okobo and especially Bridges more.

I think Bridges should be starting eventually this season. Oubre should be our 6th man but I don't know if he would be open to that.

[bwgood77]

I will say that I questioned a lot of the FO moves, and I still think some of the questions were valid. Obviously I don't think what they gave up to trade TJ was worth it, but that's fine. I definitely didn't like the draft.

I liked the trade but figured we would draft Clarke and obviously that was an enormous miss. I do like Cam and I love good shooting but probably not a lot of upside there. There may nto be a lot of upside with Clarke either but he more fits our needs in my opinion.

The Rubio signing was decent and has worked out well. I wish they would have tried to convince Brogdon to sign, but perhaps they did. I also think they were targeting Rozier, especially after it was reported Rubio was going to sign with Indiana, which would have been a disaster in my opinion, and when Charlotte decided to likely give Rozier more money than we wanted to give, and Indiana made the deal for Brogdon, we luckily ended up with Rubio.

I didn't like taking on the Baynes contract while giving up the Bucks pick for Jerome, and thought the small cap hold with Holmes allowed us much more flexibility and I liked Holmes. However, at first I more accepted that trade because I came around on Jerome even though I didn't know much, but now obviously it is because of Baynes, who I thought was not worth taking on, but he has been big for us...not so much lately but a huge difference maker early. And if Jerome comes around (which I expect to some extent) that was a good move. Still would have loved to hold onto Holmes, but that might be more of hindsight with Ayton getting the drug suspension and Baynes missing games.

Oubre contract - I thought it was ok...he likely isn't worth that much money but I liked the short deal.

I have stated this a lot, but Bridges is really under utilized, especially now that his shooting and cutting have come around...finishes almost 70% at the rim which is crazy for a wing and also has shot 50% from 3 in December.

I don't like Okobo not playing, or even Carter, and I would even play Tyler Johnson over Jerome right now, but preferably Okobo mostly with a dose of Carter.

Diallo perhaps should get some more time. That one for me is tougher to navigate. Diallo doesn't seem to play well against starting units though the other bigs when Baynes were out had ups and downs and 1 or 2 games they couldn't finish.

I can empathize with Monty for losing both of his centers, and Rubio for a time, but still think he should play Okobo and especially Bridges more.

I think Bridges should be starting eventually this season. Oubre should be our 6th man but I don't know if he would be open to that.

Not really up to him.

[Dual]

Oubre is not a starter in this league for the moment as his IQ is very low tbh. But he can be a great 6th man, if he has good game, more minutes, if not more bench.
The thing about IQ is that maybe is the thing more difficult to improve in a player.

[WeekapaugGroove]

On the oubre starting vs bench thing. If Bridges wouldn't have been in some weird funk this fall that might already be happening. He admitted himself he was 'messed up'. He's started to play better now and Monty is playing him more.

Oubre is important from a leadership standpoint, booker is great but he's not the ra ra leader type and oubre fills that role and brings energy. He's also one of the few guys in the team that can create offense for himself. Of course he needs to make better decisions at times, that's always been a work in progress for him and he has gotten incremental better.

Overall the fo/coaching has been fine but 'incomplete' is probably the correct grade. Everything they did this summer was with the main goal of building around Booker and Ayton. For better or worse they hitched their wagon to these two and the moves they made were for players that compliment these two guys. They've played one game with the two of them, let's see how it looks after 20+ games with them together and that will be a better guage of their plan.

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[sunsbg]

The choice Oubre vs Bridges comes down to fit vs chemistry. Do you risk team chemistry(Oubre becomes disgruntled with decreased role after getting paid to start) so you get a better fit in the starting lineup ? Bridges didn't have any arguments for starting early in the season, he was bad, but with current play it's reasonable. Don't forget Cam, he'll be a good fit next to Ayton and Rubio as well.

I think the team makes the playoffs, so my grades are B.

[WeekapaugGroove]

People get too hung up on who starts in general. It's far more important to look at minutes and who finishes games.

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[handsome salary]

Overall the fo/coaching has been fine but 'incomplete' is probably the correct grade. Everything they did this summer was with the main goal of building around Booker and Ayton. For better or worse they hitched their wagon to these two and the moves they made were for players that compliment these two guys. They've played one game with the two of them, let's see how it looks after 20+ games with them together and that will be a better guage of their plan.

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I would use incomplete as well. Passing on Clarke and taking Cam was probably because you had your "big" guy in Ayton and shooters around him was wanted more.

Would like to see some real fire from Monty. Rubio is quiet, Booker zones out, Oubre is looking in a mirror and Bridges/Cam are new timers. Fire up this team when they get passive.

[GoodBehavior]

With spacing bigs like Baynes and Kaminsky, Oubre is more valuable. With DA, Bridges makes more sense, assuming he can shoot the 3 ball. The problem is Bridges has not been able to prove that he can consistently hit from downtown. While he has shot better as of late, I don't think it's clear if he's indeed a better shooter than Oubre. Oubre for example is guarded more closely than Bridges on the 3pt, so the % doesn't really tell the entire story. I think Monty stick with Oubre, until Bridges' shot improves. The hope is for DA to take away some of Oubre's usage, especially those mind-boggling drives and heaves.

Grade for the FO is incomplete. It's next to impossible to grade them at this point. I think the first ten games or so were a fluke. Guys were defending extremely well. Booker for example was playing borderline elite defense. Kaminsky and Saric were balling on D. And guys were hit everything beyond the arc: Carter, Baynes, Booker, Oubre, etc. The NBA has adapted to what the Suns are doing, so hoping the Suns will get back to that level might require some overhaul. On the other hand, I don't think we're as bad the last ten games suggest either. D is extremely sloppy, and we can't buy a bucket when we need it. It's either feast or famine for Booker/Oubre, and if its famine, we're losing.

[Dual]

Overall the fo/coaching has been fine but 'incomplete' is probably the correct grade. Everything they did this summer was with the main goal of building around Booker and Ayton. For better or worse they hitched their wagon to these two and the moves they made were for players that compliment these two guys. They've played one game with the two of them, let's see how it looks after 20+ games with them together and that will be a better guage of their plan.

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I would use incomplete as well. Passing on Clarke and taking Cam was probably because you had your "big" guy in Ayton and shooters around him was wanted more.

Would like to see some real fire from Monty. Rubio is quiet, Booker zones out, Oubre is looking in a mirror and Bridges/Cam are new timers. Fire up this team when they get passive.

Ricky is talking every time, on court and of the court. I dont know where you get that tbh.

[spanishninja]

Overall the fo/coaching has been fine but 'incomplete' is probably the correct grade. Everything they did this summer was with the main goal of building around Booker and Ayton. For better or worse they hitched their wagon to these two and the moves they made were for players that compliment these two guys. They've played one game with the two of them, let's see how it looks after 20+ games with them together and that will be a better guage of their plan.

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I would use incomplete as well. Passing on Clarke and taking Cam was probably because you had your "big" guy in Ayton and shooters around him was wanted more.

Would like to see some real fire from Monty. Rubio is quiet, Booker zones out, Oubre is looking in a mirror and Bridges/Cam are new timers. Fire up this team when they get passive.

Ricky is talking every time, on court and of the court. I dont know where you get that tbh.

He must have not been watching all of those times when Rubio would literally pull guys in on the court to have meetings. I haven't seen that since Nash.

[WeekapaugGroove]

From Zach Lowe's article today:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28243840/ten-nba-things-like-including-miami-motion-blur

. Phoenix's all-arms wing combination

Phoenix's performance with Mikal Bridges and Kelly Oubre Jr. together doesn't budge from their overall numbers, but damn is it fun -- if only for the sheer amount of arms happening. Oubre's shooting has never matched his boundless confidence -- he has hit 32% from deep as a Sun -- but he is channeling his mania in more productive directions.

Oubre pulsates with hyperactive energy. When he doesn't have the ball, he bounces and vibrates in anticipation of getting it again. In past seasons, he would catch the ball and pause, overwhelmed at all the possibilities before him (the more adventurous, the better). Now he is directing that pent-up excitement into lightning-quick, catch-and-go attacks that dust flat-footed defenders:

He is an addicted ball-watcher on defense. He can barely take his eyes off that thing. The thirst is palpable. Over his career, that has led to lots of steals -- and lots of opposing players sneaking behind him for layups. He has been more attentive this season, without any drop-off in steals or deflections.

Bridges' arms are preposterous. They are somehow in multiple passing lanes at once. (He and Oubre both rank among the top-40 rotation players in deflections.) Bridges is one of the league's best cutters. Turn your back, and he's gone.

Bridges rarely gets in the way or jumbles the paint at the wrong moment. He knows how to cut in ways that trigger specific rotations and unlock shots for teammates -- as he does for Cameron Johnson above. His cuts are more acts of sacrifice than avarice.

Alas, solid defense and heady cuts are not enough to make Bridges into a starter-level player. He has to, like, do stuff with the ball. If only the basketball gods had split confidence a little more evenly between Oubre and Bridges.

But over the past three weeks, Bridges has dipped his toe into more on-ball aggression. He is hunting pump-and-go drives. He has bumped his usage rate over the past 10 games from "wait, did Mikal Bridges play tonight?" levels to those of a Danny Green-type fourth/fifth option. Progress!





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[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Coaching: B. Okobo and Diallo have earned more minutes, and for whatever reason, they're not getting the minutes they've earned. Don't like that. I think Monty prizes consistency and is reluctant to adjust his rotations. I also suspect that he prefers to play only those players who will continue to be part of the rotation at the end of the season when we're at full strength, hence no Diallo, and Jerome rather than Okobo. Hopefully Jerome picks it up, or Okobo takes his minutes.

We do pretty well coming out of timeouts, but the focus and intensity isn't there for every game. Hard to know how much of the latter is attributable to coaching. As for Booker's stupid ****ing iso's, that's on the coach. Maybe Monty's just letting Booker discover for himself that he's not James Harden - a worthwhile lesson if it sinks in, I suppose.

FO: C+. nothing bothers me more than the one thing that seems to have carried over from the previous administration: rejecting common sense; trying to outsmart everyone. Specifically, not taking Brandon Clarke, when it was such an obvious selection. I won't take heart in the fact that many other FO's made the same mistake, especially when they guy we took was not one of the players who, it seems, would have been the cleverer selection - specifically, Herro or Washington.

How much blame for selecting Ayton and Bridges, and not ending up with say, Doncic and SGA, can be attributed to this FO? We've never really gotten the straight story about who was responsible for what draft decisions, but I'm not convinced that the responsible parties consisted entirely of McD and his staff. If Sarver has a say in these decisions, then he's part of the FO, and so this FO bears some of the blame.

As for free agency, I'm not sure how much I care about the contracts we signed. Rubio was a brilliant signing. The FO was spot on when it predicted that he would have his best years here, it seems. But overall, what much does it matter? The FO inherited a core of Booker, Ayton and Bridges, and they added Rubio to it.

It's kind of like, the prior admin was earning an F for the class, and now at the end, the FO is bringing that grade up to a D. An improvement for sure, but does it matter? We're screwed if Ayton doesn't show himself to a Future All-NBA First Teamer no matter what we do at this point. He better come out swinging, and he better keep swinging!

[bwgood77]

Oubre is not a starter in this league for the moment as his IQ is very low tbh. But he can be a great 6th man, if he has good game, more minutes, if not more bench.
The thing about IQ is that maybe is the thing more difficult to improve in a player.

Yeah, not too many places he'd likely start. The thing is, a guy like Bridges has chemistry with Rubio and Ayton, but Oubre doesn't really have chemistry with anyone since he kind of does his own thing on offense as people watch. Unless he spreads the floor and hits a 3, but you can't really run plays for him or expect him to find anyone in the offense.

[bwgood77]

The choice Oubre vs Bridges comes down to fit vs chemistry. Do you risk team chemistry(Oubre becomes disgruntled with decreased role after getting paid to start) so you get a better fit in the starting lineup ? Bridges didn't have any arguments for starting early in the season, he was bad, but with current play it's reasonable. Don't forget Cam, he'll be a good fit next to Ayton and Rubio as well.

I think the team makes the playoffs, so my grades are B.

I don't know why everyone assumes certain players will become disgruntled if they can't start. I can understand with some, as I heard Saric does, and obviously stars, but most players when told they won't start, or we need their energy off the bench, or whatever, they are fine with it...probably not real happy, but the main thing is getting minutes and making the most of them.

I don't care about disgruntled as much as him taking as many or even close to as many shots as Booker and Ayton. Or more, which he sometimes does.

[sunsbg]

The choice Oubre vs Bridges comes down to fit vs chemistry. Do you risk team chemistry(Oubre becomes disgruntled with decreased role after getting paid to start) so you get a better fit in the starting lineup ? Bridges didn't have any arguments for starting early in the season, he was bad, but with current play it's reasonable. Don't forget Cam, he'll be a good fit next to Ayton and Rubio as well.

I think the team makes the playoffs, so my grades are B.

I don't know why everyone assumes certain players will become disgruntled if they can't start. I can understand with some, as I heard Saric does, and obviously stars, but most players when told they won't start, or we need their energy off the bench, or whatever, they are fine with it...probably not real happy, but the main thing is getting minutes and making the most of them.

I don't care about disgruntled as much as him taking as many or even close to as many shots as Booker and Ayton. Or more, which he sometimes does.

I didn't assume it, we'll never know until it happens that's why I said there is a risk. An argument could be made CJ is a better fit for his shooting alone next to Ayton and Rubio, but I don't think Bridges and Oubre will be happy with having a rookie in the starting lineup over them. Warren supposedly also didn't accept bench role.

Team chemistry matters. Cedric Ceballos was commenting a game and he talked about how the year the Suns signed AC Green the team underachieved because the other players were jealous of him getting paid the most and chemistry was bad that year.

That being said, I would like to see Bridges in the starting lineup with Oubre in a 6th man role. Doesn't look like Monty likes to experiment though, so probably not going to happen this season.

[bwgood77]

The choice Oubre vs Bridges comes down to fit vs chemistry. Do you risk team chemistry(Oubre becomes disgruntled with decreased role after getting paid to start) so you get a better fit in the starting lineup ? Bridges didn't have any arguments for starting early in the season, he was bad, but with current play it's reasonable. Don't forget Cam, he'll be a good fit next to Ayton and Rubio as well.

I think the team makes the playoffs, so my grades are B.

I don't know why everyone assumes certain players will become disgruntled if they can't start. I can understand with some, as I heard Saric does, and obviously stars, but most players when told they won't start, or we need their energy off the bench, or whatever, they are fine with it...probably not real happy, but the main thing is getting minutes and making the most of them.

I don't care about disgruntled as much as him taking as many or even close to as many shots as Booker and Ayton. Or more, which he sometimes does.

I didn't assume it, we'll never know until it happens that's why I said there is a risk. An argument could be made CJ is a better fit for his shooting alone next to Ayton and Rubio, but I don't think Bridges and Oubre will be happy with having a rookie in the starting lineup over them. Warren supposedly also didn't accept bench role.

Team chemistry matters. Cedric Ceballos was commenting a game and he talked about how the year the Suns signed AC Green the team underachieved because the other players were jealous of him getting paid the most and chemistry was bad that year.

That being said, I would like to see Bridges in the starting lineup with Oubre in a 6th man role. Doesn't look like Monty likes to experiment though, so probably not going to happen this season.

People said it about Warren with no merit to it either all because he was asked an odd question about the next season on his way out of an exit interview for the season.

Cam's not starting caliber, unless you're talking for a team not aiming at playoffs. I do agree people feel this way about pay and AC Green. But I don't understand the "risk" part. If you want to be a malcontent because you are not starting, you won't last long. Pros who were far better like Manu, Harden and Iguodala accepted it. Oubre doesn't really seem to be that he is the type to be disgruntled, and if so, probably would get over it in about 24 hours.

I don't necessarily expect it to happen either...I'm just saying what I think would make the team better.