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

[bwgood77]

Even after a failed comeback attempt against lowly Detroit, Monty Williams openly acknowledged that his players regularly scan the Western Conference standings and still eyed a playoff spot.

Forget all that, the Suns coach then proclaimed later Saturday night. Roughly 24 hours after the Pistons snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating Phoenix, Golden State halted an eight-game skid by blasting the Suns 115-99 with a depleted eight-man roster featuring two 10-day players and zero point guards.

It was, by far, the Suns’ worst weekend of the season. The Pistons and Warriors are a combined 33-88 following their victories in Phoenix. And Saturday’s disastrous result left Williams saying his team played uncharacteristically “selfish,” while second-year wing Mikal Bridges described the group as “mentally weak.”

Williams blamed himself, saying “I didn’t have them ready to play” Saturday night. Devin Booker shot 6-of-16 from the floor, extending his rough nine-game stretch (38.6 field-goal percentage) in the midst of an All-Star season defined by impressive offensive efficiency.

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[WeekapaugGroove]

Even after a failed comeback attempt against lowly Detroit, Monty Williams openly acknowledged that his players regularly scan the Western Conference standings and still eyed a playoff spot.

Forget all that, the Suns coach then proclaimed later Saturday night. Roughly 24 hours after the Pistons snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating Phoenix, Golden State halted an eight-game skid by blasting the Suns 115-99 with a depleted eight-man roster featuring two 10-day players and zero point guards.

It was, by far, the Suns’ worst weekend of the season. The Pistons and Warriors are a combined 33-88 following their victories in Phoenix. And Saturday’s disastrous result left Williams saying his team played uncharacteristically “selfish,” while second-year wing Mikal Bridges described the group as “mentally weak.”

Williams blamed himself, saying “I didn’t have them ready to play” Saturday night. Devin Booker shot 6-of-16 from the floor, extending his rough nine-game stretch (38.6 field-goal percentage) in the midst of an All-Star season defined by impressive offensive efficiency.

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Bridges 'mentally weak' comment raises an eyebrow for me. He's not the type to say much so really wonder who that's directed at. I agree with him.

I do think they are missing Oubres confidence. It gets him in trouble at times but he at least always plays to win and with swagger.

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[bwgood77]

Even after a failed comeback attempt against lowly Detroit, Monty Williams openly acknowledged that his players regularly scan the Western Conference standings and still eyed a playoff spot.

Forget all that, the Suns coach then proclaimed later Saturday night. Roughly 24 hours after the Pistons snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating Phoenix, Golden State halted an eight-game skid by blasting the Suns 115-99 with a depleted eight-man roster featuring two 10-day players and zero point guards.

It was, by far, the Suns’ worst weekend of the season. The Pistons and Warriors are a combined 33-88 following their victories in Phoenix. And Saturday’s disastrous result left Williams saying his team played uncharacteristically “selfish,” while second-year wing Mikal Bridges described the group as “mentally weak.”

Williams blamed himself, saying “I didn’t have them ready to play” Saturday night. Devin Booker shot 6-of-16 from the floor, extending his rough nine-game stretch (38.6 field-goal percentage) in the midst of an All-Star season defined by impressive offensive efficiency.

Read on Twitter

Bridges 'mentally weak' comment raises an eyebrow for me. He's not the type to say much so really wonder who that's directed at. I agree with him.

I do think they are missing Oubres confidence. It gets him in trouble at times but he at least always plays to win and with swagger.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

Well, Bridges has won a championship and you know he is disciplined on both sides. Every time he came out of the game last night the other team seemed to go on a run. It wouldn't shock me if Ayton and Bridges got a little tired of Booker dominating the ball. I am sure most of the new guys who have played in the NBA for a while don't particularly like it.

It's just too unpredictable for them at that point. You run an offense and everyone stays engaged and ready to do their part. You have a guy dribble for 20 seconds, they are just going to naturally get out of sync and not know what to expect...it leads to turnovers, people not getting back, being less engaged, etc.

You are right, they miss Oubre, especially if they ARE going to play more street ball type of game, he likes to kind of play that way anyway too, so it helps if he is there when we are not playing team ball because he kind of does his own thing at times too.

I will say he had been a lot better at playing team ball for a number of games now though before his injury. But he does provide Booker with that bail out option if he gets double teamed and there is only a limited amount of time on the shot clock...since Kelly will try and create with confidence, for better or worse.

But we shouldn't even play that type of ball to where we "need" that energy/bail out guy there because others have gotten out of sync.

If we played disciplined team ball and hustled on defense and on the boards, we'd have won with ease.

[bigfoot]

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Bridges 'mentally weak' comment raises an eyebrow for me. He's not the type to say much so really wonder who that's directed at. I agree with him.

I do think they are missing Oubres confidence. It gets him in trouble at times but he at least always plays to win and with swagger.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

Well, Bridges has won a championship and you know he is disciplined on both sides. Every time he came out of the game last night the other team seemed to go on a run. It wouldn't shock me if Ayton and Bridges got a little tired of Booker dominating the ball. I am sure most of the new guys who have played in the NBA for a while don't particularly like it.

It's just too unpredictable for them at that point. You run an offense and everyone stays engaged and ready to do their part. You have a guy dribble for 20 seconds, they are just going to naturally get out of sync and not know what to expect...it leads to turnovers, people not getting back, being less engaged, etc.

You are right, they miss Oubre, especially if they ARE going to play more street ball type of game, he likes to kind of play that way anyway too, so it helps if he is there when we are not playing team ball because he kind of does his own thing at times too.

I will say he had been a lot better at playing team ball for a number of games now though before his injury. But he does provide Booker with that bail out option if he gets double teamed and there is only a limited amount of time on the shot clock...since Kelly will try and create with confidence, for better or worse.

But we shouldn't even play that type of ball to where we "need" that energy/bail out guy there because others have gotten out of sync.

If we played disciplined team ball and hustled on defense and on the boards, we'd have won with ease.

The problem is Booker doesn't play disciplined team defense or disciplined team offense. Team mates are surely tired of covering for him on the defensive end and then get pissed when goes ISO mode.

[Ghost of Kleine]

How would people feel about making a run for Simmons? Straight up Booker/Simmons swap.
Booker gives them the shooting/scoring they need while Simmons gives us the playmaker/defender we need (long terms).

We would probably then have to move Rubio but that's where maybe we move him and our first for LeVert if the Nets would be interested.

Simmons
LeVert
Bridges
Oubre
Ayton

I love what Booker tries to be for us, However, IF we could get Simmons and maybe another asset ( pick) for Booker, Then I'd absolutely do that trade 9/10 times. I just see Simmons as a more unique talent, And I feel that he'd be a much more dynamic pick/roll duo with Ayton than Booker would. And IF he can just improve his shooting, They'd be unstoppable. Plus Simmons defense would really help things for us.

[BobbieL]

Jordan McCrae per Woj

[bwgood77]

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[itlnsunsfan]

How would people feel about making a run for Simmons? Straight up Booker/Simmons swap.
Booker gives them the shooting/scoring they need while Simmons gives us the playmaker/defender we need (long terms).

We would probably then have to move Rubio but that's where maybe we move him and our first for LeVert if the Nets would be interested.

Simmons
LeVert
Bridges
Oubre
Ayton

I love what Booker tries to be for us, However, IF we could get Simmons and maybe another asset ( pick) for Booker, Then I'd absolutely do that trade 9/10 times. I just see Simmons as a more unique talent, And I feel that he'd be a much more dynamic pick/roll duo with Ayton than Booker would. And IF he can just improve his shooting, They'd be unstoppable. Plus Simmons defense would really help things for us.

I'd love to get Simmons, however it appears Simmons and Embiid may not be a good fit. We might run into the same thing here with Ayton and Simmons.

[Kerrsed]

How about Booker for Jrue Holiday or Beal? I would have tried to trade him for Klay Thompson, but the warriors already traded Russell. Then trade for Markanenn.

Rubio, Holiday, Bridges, Markannen, Ayton, should be pretty good.

No go for me on those two Booker trade proposals. I want multiple players, including at least one good prospect, and picks. Call the Knicks.

ATTL brought up the Wolves, mentioning Beasley. I think something like their 1st round pick (would have to be on draft night since they already traded their 21 pick), James Johnson, Culver, Beasley and Hernangomez could be an ok package. No real big names, but a few talented young players at different positions. Obviously it's not the phenomenal packages Kerrsed came up with but you know I found those unlikely.

It's hard for me to come to the conclusion to trade Booker though, but I guess it depends on the price. He's been a better player this season in multiple ways, but it just hurts when you know at any time, against any type of team, we can get out of the flow of good team ball and lose to the worst team in the NBA since we are not playing NBA level ball if we don't stick to a game plan.

I just want to hope the progress we have seen from him playing more team ball at times and putting more effort in defensively can continue.

Im at a point where i would approach the Wolves this offseason. Give me their 1st (Currently #4), the Brooklyn 1st (Currently #15), Culver, Johnson, Hernangomez.

Its comparable to what they gave for DLO, but with the higher pick (And an extra late lotto pick) making up for the lack of talent that they sent out to GS in Wiggins. I also think Booker has more trade value than DLO does/did.

Culver gives us a Mikal Bridges-like defender at the SG position. One of the guys i was really interested in in the draft and someone that we brought in multiple times to work out.

James Johnson....i have always liked. Super solid defender and can stretch the floor. Stats have gone down down down due to age, but he's here to make the money work. He's also one of those guys who doesnt take **** on the court, and will knock guys down for trying to embarrass him, something our guys should learn from him, to have that edge.

Hernangomez is just a big that can rebound and spread the floor....and is cheap.

The Wolves 1st could land us our PG of the future. My favorite is Haliburton. He checks all the boxes, good size, strong floor leader with great passing skills, solid defender, hits shots with great percentages, its all there. We also might be able to land Ball if you so like (Im not a fan).

With our pick and the Nets 1st i would load up on PF's. Grab Toppin and grab Reed or Smith. Grab Carey Jr if we are losing Baynes in the offseason to back-up Ayton, i dont care.

Theres the rebuild.

Haliburton/Rubio/Jerome
Culver/Carter/Lecque
Bridges/Oubre/Cam
Toppin/Saric/Frank
Ayton/CareyJr./Diallo

Bookers frustrated. He's been frustrated for years. Its only a matter of time. This is probably him at his highest value with us. There used to be a time he was clutch. You though every shot was going in. Not anymore. 4th quarter rolls around and he starts melting, trying to take everything on himself, and he cant do it. Also quick to jump on teammates when the opponent scores on someone, but he lets his man by all the time. Too much do-as-i-say-and-not-as-i-do. If we dont trade him sooner rather than later, he will ask out, and his value will be much much lower. We cant make that mistake. Get some fresh guys straight out of college and a rookie in the league that havent been conditioned to what we've been going through and that are still coach-able. Let Monty work with that.

[bwgood77]

How would people feel about making a run for Simmons? Straight up Booker/Simmons swap.
Booker gives them the shooting/scoring they need while Simmons gives us the playmaker/defender we need (long terms).

We would probably then have to move Rubio but that's where maybe we move him and our first for LeVert if the Nets would be interested.

Simmons
LeVert
Bridges
Oubre
Ayton

I love what Booker tries to be for us, However, IF we could get Simmons and maybe another asset ( pick) for Booker, Then I'd absolutely do that trade 9/10 times. I just see Simmons as a more unique talent, And I feel that he'd be a much more dynamic pick/roll duo with Ayton than Booker would. And IF he can just improve his shooting, They'd be unstoppable. Plus Simmons defense would really help things for us.

I'd love to get Simmons, however it appears Simmons and Embiid may not be a good fit. We might run into the same thing here with Ayton and Simmons.

If they'd trade Simmons for Booker that's interesting, and Simmons is an absolute stud at what he does, but his lack of shooting combined with our lack of outside shooting would hurt tremendously. As mentioned, we would have to trade Rubio, and I don't see a market. The Nets would not want him..Kyrie will be their primary ball handler and KD the secondary.

[Saberestar]

Jordan McCrae per Woj

Now? For what?

What a dumb move. The season is over and we need to play Cam and Bridges a lot.

We needed to trade or signed a good backup PG or SG way before, we knew we needed one since November.

James Jones is a meh GM for me. This last couple of losses have been terrible and unexpected, and we can easily go on a big losing streak now.

Not sure if we will get to 30 wins at this point.

[Fo-Real]

Jordan McCrae per Woj

Now? For what?

What a dumb move. The season is over and we need to play Cam and Bridges a lot.

We needed to trade or signed a good backup PG or SG way before, we knew we needed one since November.

James Jones is a meh GM for me. This last couple of losses have been terrible and unexpected, and we can easily go on a big losing streak now.

Not sure if we will get to 30 wins at this point.

McCrae wont interfere with Bridges or Cams playing time. McCrae is a scoring guard off of the bench so we can stop asking Javon Carter to do so and hoping Okobo has his best scoring game in the last 35 which only amounts to a whopping 14 huge ones. The Suns need someone who can come off the bench, get ACTUAL HOT sometimes and influence the game, Jordan is a scorer.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

No go for me on those two Booker trade proposals. I want multiple players, including at least one good prospect, and picks. Call the Knicks.

ATTL brought up the Wolves, mentioning Beasley. I think something like their 1st round pick (would have to be on draft night since they already traded their 21 pick), James Johnson, Culver, Beasley and Hernangomez could be an ok package. No real big names, but a few talented young players at different positions. Obviously it's not the phenomenal packages Kerrsed came up with but you know I found those unlikely.

It's hard for me to come to the conclusion to trade Booker though, but I guess it depends on the price. He's been a better player this season in multiple ways, but it just hurts when you know at any time, against any type of team, we can get out of the flow of good team ball and lose to the worst team in the NBA since we are not playing NBA level ball if we don't stick to a game plan.

I just want to hope the progress we have seen from him playing more team ball at times and putting more effort in defensively can continue.

Im at a point where i would approach the Wolves this offseason. Give me their 1st (Currently #4), the Brooklyn 1st (Currently #15), Culver, Johnson, Hernangomez.

Its comparable to what they gave for DLO, but with the higher pick (And an extra late lotto pick) making up for the lack of talent that they sent out to GS in Wiggins. I also think Booker has more trade value than DLO does/did.

Culver gives us a Mikal Bridges-like defender at the SG position. One of the guys i was really interested in in the draft and someone that we brought in multiple times to work out.

James Johnson....i have always liked. Super solid defender and can stretch the floor. Stats have gone down down down due to age, but he's here to make the money work. He's also one of those guys who doesnt take **** on the court, and will knock guys down for trying to embarrass him, something our guys should learn from him, to have that edge.

Hernangomez is just a big that can rebound and spread the floor....and is cheap.

The Wolves 1st could land us our PG of the future. My favorite is Haliburton. He checks all the boxes, good size, strong floor leader with great passing skills, solid defender, hits shots with great percentages, its all there. We also might be able to land Ball if you so like (Im not a fan).

With our pick and the Nets 1st i would load up on PF's. Grab Toppin and grab Reed or Smith. Grab Carey Jr if we are losing Baynes in the offseason to back-up Ayton, i dont care.

Theres the rebuild.

Haliburton/Rubio/Jerome
Culver/Carter/Lecque
Bridges/Oubre/Cam
Toppin/Saric/Frank
Ayton/CareyJr./Diallo

Bookers frustrated. He's been frustrated for years. Its only a matter of time. This is probably him at his highest value with us. There used to be a time he was clutch. You though every shot was going in. Not anymore. 4th quarter rolls around and he starts melting, trying to take everything on himself, and he cant do it. Also quick to jump on teammates when the opponent scores on someone, but he lets his man by all the time. Too much do-as-i-say-and-not-as-i-do. If we dont trade him sooner rather than later, he will ask out, and his value will be much much lower. We cant make that mistake. Get some fresh guys straight out of college and a rookie in the league that havent been conditioned to what we've been going through and that are still coach-able. Let Monty work with that.

Yeah, I really like the Wolves idea. I like Hernangomez a lot. Him, Beasley or Culver, their first, and Johnson for cap reasons. I would do a deal like that. I'd be a little surprised if the Wolves wouldn't.

And yeah, with Book gone, I'm eager to add a backup PG and C combo to back up Rubio/Ayton.

[Fo-Real]

ATTL brought up the Wolves, mentioning Beasley. I think something like their 1st round pick (would have to be on draft night since they already traded their 21 pick), James Johnson, Culver, Beasley and Hernangomez could be an ok package. No real big names, but a few talented young players at different positions. Obviously it's not the phenomenal packages Kerrsed came up with but you know I found those unlikely.

It's hard for me to come to the conclusion to trade Booker though, but I guess it depends on the price. He's been a better player this season in multiple ways, but it just hurts when you know at any time, against any type of team, we can get out of the flow of good team ball and lose to the worst team in the NBA since we are not playing NBA level ball if we don't stick to a game plan.

I just want to hope the progress we have seen from him playing more team ball at times and putting more effort in defensively can continue.

Im at a point where i would approach the Wolves this offseason. Give me their 1st (Currently #4), the Brooklyn 1st (Currently #15), Culver, Johnson, Hernangomez.

Its comparable to what they gave for DLO, but with the higher pick (And an extra late lotto pick) making up for the lack of talent that they sent out to GS in Wiggins. I also think Booker has more trade value than DLO does/did.

Culver gives us a Mikal Bridges-like defender at the SG position. One of the guys i was really interested in in the draft and someone that we brought in multiple times to work out.

James Johnson....i have always liked. Super solid defender and can stretch the floor. Stats have gone down down down due to age, but he's here to make the money work. He's also one of those guys who doesnt take **** on the court, and will knock guys down for trying to embarrass him, something our guys should learn from him, to have that edge.

Hernangomez is just a big that can rebound and spread the floor....and is cheap.

The Wolves 1st could land us our PG of the future. My favorite is Haliburton. He checks all the boxes, good size, strong floor leader with great passing skills, solid defender, hits shots with great percentages, its all there. We also might be able to land Ball if you so like (Im not a fan).

With our pick and the Nets 1st i would load up on PF's. Grab Toppin and grab Reed or Smith. Grab Carey Jr if we are losing Baynes in the offseason to back-up Ayton, i dont care.

Theres the rebuild.

Haliburton/Rubio/Jerome
Culver/Carter/Lecque
Bridges/Oubre/Cam
Toppin/Saric/Frank
Ayton/CareyJr./Diallo

Bookers frustrated. He's been frustrated for years. Its only a matter of time. This is probably him at his highest value with us. There used to be a time he was clutch. You though every shot was going in. Not anymore. 4th quarter rolls around and he starts melting, trying to take everything on himself, and he cant do it. Also quick to jump on teammates when the opponent scores on someone, but he lets his man by all the time. Too much do-as-i-say-and-not-as-i-do. If we dont trade him sooner rather than later, he will ask out, and his value will be much much lower. We cant make that mistake. Get some fresh guys straight out of college and a rookie in the league that havent been conditioned to what we've been going through and that are still coach-able. Let Monty work with that.

Yeah, I really like the Wolves idea. I like Hernangomez a lot. Him, Beasley or Culver, their first, and Johnson for cap reasons. I would do a deal like that. I'd be a little surprised if the Wolves wouldn't.

And yeah, with Book gone, I'm eager to add a backup PG and C combo to back up Rubio/Ayton.

NO, dont let the Wolves Jedi mind trick us into trading Booker to them.

[itlnsunsfan]

Maybe if this draft wasnt terrible, but it is. Culver looks really bad. As dark as it seems right now, remember earlier in the season when Book was unstoppable. I don't know what's going on with him, but he is still that player. I'm not giving that up for a pupu platter when he's locked in for four more years.

[IzzyT]

I’m not ready to give up on Book before he turns 25.

[bwgood77]

Jordan McCrae per Woj

Now? For what?

What a dumb move. The season is over and we need to play Cam and Bridges a lot.

We needed to trade or signed a good backup PG or SG way before, we knew we needed one since November.

James Jones is a meh GM for me. This last couple of losses have been terrible and unexpected, and we can easily go on a big losing streak now.

Not sure if we will get to 30 wins at this point.

Well he might be that PG/SG we were looking for. Sure, Denver waived him but they are deep. If we get his bird rights, then maybe he is a nice future piece. He killed it it in the G league last year.

Sure it would have been nice if we had him the last couple of games, but he wasn't cut at that point. Seems like they anticipated it happening via his agent and were holding that roster spot open.

[TeamTragic]

I love what Booker tries to be for us, However, IF we could get Simmons and maybe another asset ( pick) for Booker, Then I'd absolutely do that trade 9/10 times. I just see Simmons as a more unique talent, And I feel that he'd be a much more dynamic pick/roll duo with Ayton than Booker would. And IF he can just improve his shooting, They'd be unstoppable. Plus Simmons defense would really help things for us.

I'd love to get Simmons, however it appears Simmons and Embiid may not be a good fit. We might run into the same thing here with Ayton and Simmons.

If they'd trade Simmons for Booker that's interesting, and Simmons is an absolute stud at what he does, but his lack of shooting combined with our lack of outside shooting would hurt tremendously. As mentioned, we would have to trade Rubio, and I don't see a market. The Nets would not want him..Kyrie will be their primary ball handler and KD the secondary.

I would do Booker for Simmons. No hesitation. However I think the Sixers might be shopping Embiid.

[WeekapaugGroove]

It's worth giving McCrae a look these last 25 games. They needed the wing depth and another bucket getter off the bench. They really needed some athleticism. If he plays well maybe you resign him this summer.

About as good as they were going to do with that open roster spot.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[bwgood77]

ATTL brought up the Wolves, mentioning Beasley. I think something like their 1st round pick (would have to be on draft night since they already traded their 21 pick), James Johnson, Culver, Beasley and Hernangomez could be an ok package. No real big names, but a few talented young players at different positions. Obviously it's not the phenomenal packages Kerrsed came up with but you know I found those unlikely.

It's hard for me to come to the conclusion to trade Booker though, but I guess it depends on the price. He's been a better player this season in multiple ways, but it just hurts when you know at any time, against any type of team, we can get out of the flow of good team ball and lose to the worst team in the NBA since we are not playing NBA level ball if we don't stick to a game plan.

I just want to hope the progress we have seen from him playing more team ball at times and putting more effort in defensively can continue.

Im at a point where i would approach the Wolves this offseason. Give me their 1st (Currently #4), the Brooklyn 1st (Currently #15), Culver, Johnson, Hernangomez.

Its comparable to what they gave for DLO, but with the higher pick (And an extra late lotto pick) making up for the lack of talent that they sent out to GS in Wiggins. I also think Booker has more trade value than DLO does/did.

Culver gives us a Mikal Bridges-like defender at the SG position. One of the guys i was really interested in in the draft and someone that we brought in multiple times to work out.

James Johnson....i have always liked. Super solid defender and can stretch the floor. Stats have gone down down down due to age, but he's here to make the money work. He's also one of those guys who doesnt take **** on the court, and will knock guys down for trying to embarrass him, something our guys should learn from him, to have that edge.

Hernangomez is just a big that can rebound and spread the floor....and is cheap.

The Wolves 1st could land us our PG of the future. My favorite is Haliburton. He checks all the boxes, good size, strong floor leader with great passing skills, solid defender, hits shots with great percentages, its all there. We also might be able to land Ball if you so like (Im not a fan).

With our pick and the Nets 1st i would load up on PF's. Grab Toppin and grab Reed or Smith. Grab Carey Jr if we are losing Baynes in the offseason to back-up Ayton, i dont care.

Theres the rebuild.

Haliburton/Rubio/Jerome
Culver/Carter/Lecque
Bridges/Oubre/Cam
Toppin/Saric/Frank
Ayton/CareyJr./Diallo

Bookers frustrated. He's been frustrated for years. Its only a matter of time. This is probably him at his highest value with us. There used to be a time he was clutch. You though every shot was going in. Not anymore. 4th quarter rolls around and he starts melting, trying to take everything on himself, and he cant do it. Also quick to jump on teammates when the opponent scores on someone, but he lets his man by all the time. Too much do-as-i-say-and-not-as-i-do. If we dont trade him sooner rather than later, he will ask out, and his value will be much much lower. We cant make that mistake. Get some fresh guys straight out of college and a rookie in the league that havent been conditioned to what we've been going through and that are still coach-able. Let Monty work with that.

Yeah, I really like the Wolves idea. I like Hernangomez a lot. Him, Beasley or Culver, their first, and Johnson for cap reasons. I would do a deal like that. I'd be a little surprised if the Wolves wouldn't.

And yeah, with Book gone, I'm eager to add a backup PG and C combo to back up Rubio/Ayton.

All of this gets me to thinking about the Kidd days and how we were a solid team, but not a contender, but he made our players better. Then we traded him to the lowly Nets for Marbury, to get that scoring first PG (and because of Kidd's legal issues) but he quickly took a bottom feeder with largely the same players to the NBA finals a couple years in a row, while we regressed, despite having a dominating rookie of the year. Kidd with Amare would have been interesting. Sure we had that season with Marbury in the playoffs where we luckily won two games at the buzzer but obviously were barely a playoff team.

I remember the following year when we were playing terribly and traded Marbury and Penny for cap space basically, people were calling the FO idiots. I remember watching a bunch of interviews on tv how we had no idea what we were doing, then we sign Nash, and again, largely with the same players plus Q, Voila, a 62 win team, going back to a guy, like Kidd, who focused more on getting other players involved. In later years, particulary when Amare was out, perhaps Nash should have shot more, but we were still a contender for the better part of 6 straight years.

I would push for Culver, Beasley AND Juancho though, plus the salary filler of Johnson. We could send small pieces back, but they'd still have Okogie, Spellman, Evans, Layman, etc. I am not sure if all that works with Beasley and Juancho set to be RFA I think though.