2020 Offseason Speculation, free agency, summer trades (keep draft prospect talk in draft thread)

[lilfishi22]

Sucks to hear Oubre is probably out the rest of the season. We will sorely miss his scoring and ability to really rev up the offense with highlight plays when things are a bit stagnant. Also I think we'll really miss the energy and heart he brings every night. It's gonna be a long and tough drag to finish this season unless Cam and/or Mikal somehow explodes

[Slim Charless]

It's not really Mikal vs Oubre. It's Saric vs Oubre. Saric will take most of Kelly's minute. I just hope he can at least be productive shooting the ball.

It's also an issue with how the off-season plays out. If they were planning on trading KO for a PF (Lauri, Gordon, etc) then this has to hurt his value if he's out for the season. Also, if they wanna extend him then how does this effect how much you give him? I doubt Kelly's agent is gonna let him take any kind of a discount regardless of how his knee plays out. Kelly is really our only piece that we can consider trading and that other teams would value enough to give up something good. This sucks on multiple levels. It is good for Cam because he's about to get a TON more minutes so we'll finally a full picture of what we got with him.

Yeah, injuries suck for anyone, and even though we had only a very slim chance at the post season, that hurts, but being that he was likely our best trade asset if we wanted to look at potential deals, this is probably a blow to that.

I don't know what you do. I've torn my meniscus before and couldn't imagine him playing again this season with all the cutting and movement he uses in his game. If we were to get a discount for a new deal then this wouldn't be a terrible thing but we won't be getting that if we even want to resign him. His trade value is hurt more then anything. Hopefully the silver lining in all of this is Cam and Mikal playing up to their potential with XT min/responsibilities they'll be getting

[bwoolf2]

Sucks to hear Oubre is probably out the rest of the season. We will sorely miss his scoring and ability to really rev up the offense with highlight plays when things are a bit stagnant. Also I think we'll really miss the energy and heart he brings every night. It's gonna be a long and tough drag to finish this season unless Cam and/or Mikal somehow explodes

I would like us to start Cam for the rest of the season, Saric just is better served as the backup 5 , hopefully Kaminsky is back soon and could give some size at the back up 4.

[Fo-Real]

So, do the Suns sign someone else since Oubre is done for the season?

[Desertfox]

Yeah they'll sign "Cash Considerations"

[LukasBMW]

Who's softer? Saric or Bender?

[Barkley6]

Gonna be scraping the bottom of the barrel to try to find someone willing to sign for us.

[sasquatchBob]

Who's softer? Saric or Bender?

Trolling? Saric can't shoot, but you can't say that he doesn't play with energy.

[nevetsov]

Gone:
Oubre (trade due pending extension $)

We can't extend Oubre. He has one year left on his contract. Unless we get a player that can produce better than 18/6 with 1.4 steals per game, It seems like a bad idea to move him. I don't know why everyone wants him gone though. He is a solid two way player, and plays with heart every game.

I meant that next season he'll be expiring, and to keep him beyond that will cost us upwards of $20m. Maybe a lot more. With Book and DA maxed out the year after, and Bridges a more natural, cost effective complement at the SF spot, you'd want to be damn confident Kelly can play the PF spot full time, and play it well for the kind of money you'll be paying him.

He's improved a lot for sure, but I still think he plays his best as a true SF.

[nevetsov]

Sucks to have Kelly out. I guess now we'll get to see how this team functions with Bridges getting full time SF minutes, and how the depth will respond.

Rubio, Okobo (yuk) / Jerome
Booker, Carter
Bridges, Johnson
Saric, Johnson / Kaminsky
Ayton, Baynes

I see why we were trying to flip Carter and Okobo for Kennard, that would have changed the above lineup nicely.

[Fo-Real]

Who's softer? Saric or Bender?

Bender was a back up big averaging like 3 pts a game over seas when we drafted him, and is that to this point is his most meaningful basketball to this point (g league=failing league so those stats dont count). Saric was in the running for rookie of the year and is at the very least a serviceable back up big in the nba RIGHT NOW and spot starter. How is this even a question?!.!

[lilfishi22]

Saric isn't soft, he's just look it because he's awfully un-atheltic. But the guy plays hard, he's switched on and is pretty skilled too

[timetoshinebaby]

While I don't think Saric is a stud as once projected, I would love to keep him around where Bender I don't know whether to use him as a human guinea pig for Coronavirus or whether or feed him to sharks.

[sunskerr]

I think it would be foolish to move on from Saric without a replacement of equal or greater talent, provided the price is fair. He's a legit NBA player. We need more of those. He's probably the only actual rotation level player we have right now on the bench playing significant minutes. Maybe Carter and Cam Johnson can get there next year, but we should be adding to Saric on the bench.

[bwgood77]

One thing that sucks is that lineup we were running with Oubre and Bridges on the wings, obviously had one of the highest net ratings in the NBA, but man, given our seasons, do we rely on that for next year to make us feel good enough that running those 5 guys together can really compete with anyone? Was the sample size big enough? I thought it was perfect to have 25+ more games to see, but now, we won't.

If we run a similar thing back next year, do we expect a lot of improvement? Naturally with Ayton improving at the pace he is, and playing (hopefully) a full season, that will make a massive impact, but is the rest good enough?

Ultimately we are going to go as far as that Ayton/Bridges/Booker core takes us and they are all still improving....they have really all had massive improvement this year to different extents. Oubre has improved as well, and although his metrics across the advanced spectrum show he has more neutral impact, than a real difference maker, which would make paying him more than what he's making seem outrageous, that doesn't account for the energy he brings. I am not sure how much that is worth. He still is our best trade asset I think, but that might be out of the question this summer even though I think they probably were going to look into it, and probably still will.

I kind of do feel like the most likely trade would be an Oubre for Gordon swap. It just kind of seems to make sense for both teams. Gordon is more of a passer, defender and finisher, who could work well in our offense moving the ball, defending PFs, and finishing lobs...and then for Orlando Oubre would be a guy they need to provide scoring from the 3, allowing Isaac to play the 4.

[thamadkant]

Oubre sitting out is a blessing in disguised for Johnson and Bridges... And Ayton.

Now Ayton gets more shots... So does the other wings.... Who I feel are more suited with Rubio, Booker play making tandem... Now there will be less unplanned shots and more set up shots.

Saric also gets to play more minutes. He may be unathletic but he brings in IQ and good decision making. I just wished he was better in hitting those open shots... Hence why Markannen or Gallo are must chase players.

[Frank Lee]

Practice games left, the whole lot of them

The off season begins today

[sunshoopjunky]

The new training staff gets an F this year for sooooo many reasons.

[ATTL]

I expect more hydra lineups with Carter, okobo, and ty. What fun.

[starbosa10]

Yeah this Oubre news kills any slim shot there was at the playoffs. 30ish games without Ayton, 25 or so without Kelly. Frustrating season for sure