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

[TheLogician]

Now giving up a lotto pick + Cam (former lotto pick) for Aaron Gordon? We should have just drafted Brandon Clarke.

[Saberestar]

With Ayton out with another ankle injury Baynes will have a great opportunity to show his value around the league.

Taking into account his age and health's problems it gonna be pretty difficult for him to find a team that will offer over $10M per year. I think that he will not get more than that.

I am interested in bringing back Baynes, but not sure about him being a better option than Saric.

I just can not see the option of bringing back both players.

Who would you prefer?

I think that I prefer Saric a bit more for now.

[SunsRback4Good]

You always go with the younger player even if the older one out plays him. There's an 8 year age gap which is significantly high so Saric should remain here. I worry about Baynes injuries at this latter part of his career.

[Saberestar]

You always go with the younger player even if the older one out plays him. There's an 8 year age gap which is significantly high so Saric should remain here. I worry about Baynes injuries at this latter part of his career.

I think that they have similar value on the court, Baynes is not outplaying Saric IMO.

Baynes was clearly the better player at the beginning of the season, but other than those first 10 games of the season both have been inconsistent as a starters but good enough as a backup players.

Statistically they are pretty similar:

Baynes : 11.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists. Shooting .360 from three and .743 from the FT line. 21.7 minutes per game.

Saric: 9.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists. Shooting .324 from three and .843 in FTs. 24.6 minutes per game.

Baynes commits more fouls and plays only C. Saric is more versatile and can play minutes at PF and C.
On the other hand Baynes is more athletic and can finish plays over the rim.

So overall... I would go with Saric for now.

[DirtyDez]

Gordon would be nice if Kelly would commit to a 6th-man role but in a contract year I could see it being an issue. If we could get him for Cam/pick I’d Clockwork Orange his eyes open and force him to watch Shawn highlights.

Watch on YouTube

Bridges can be our Matrix and I'm not trading Cam. The man has the potential to be another Klay

If anyone’s Klay it’s Mikal. We should deal Cam before teams realize he’s got the durability of a 40 year old man.

[RiRuHoops]

Rubio/Ayton/Gordon is a disaster offensively waiting to happen imo. The only way you could convince me to go after Gordon would be if he or Ayton would be guaranteed to start knocking down threes, or we did something like trade Ayton and run Gordon at the 5 or acquire a starting center who can knock down 2 threes per game, but that latter scenario is like never going to happen and seems kind of silly to do.

Here's a fun scenario though, although it isn't serious at all:

somehow trade for Simmons (maybe flip Oubre lol), acquire Gordon, flip Ayton for a 3&D wing/forward of equivalent talent/value.

Simmons
Booker
Bridges
hypothetical
Gordon

The Rockets model with Simmons as Russ but with far better defenders, and much better size and rebounding. You can still switch on every play. Booker is the only defensive hole but all the other defenders seem like they could cover him. Trade his ass for a package if it doesn't work. But in this scenario he plays off ball more to his strength, which Harden seems to not do so spectacularly. This lineup could definitely be a contender if Book improves to league average defensively, which, after taking the ball out of his hands, should be possible since he could focus on defense more. We do less iso than the rockets, however, and look to push push push.

Bonus points for the team also being revival of the SSOL years.

this whole post is LOL

It’s almost like you have poor reading skills and didn’t understand the part where I said it would never happen/is not a serious scenario.

Exactly, that's why it was a joke post all around. You know it yourself, yet you got butt-hurt for some reason.

[Blonde]

Grizzlies (smart team) made a no risk high reward play and signed Jontay Porter. Suns (not smart team) made the no risk no reward play by doing nothing, yet again.

[Wilber85]

Grizzlies (smart team) made a no risk high reward play and signed Jontay Porter. Suns (not smart team) made the no risk no reward play by doing nothing, yet again.

What has Jontay Porter done? What would he do for us?

[bwgood77]

Grizzlies (smart team) made a no risk high reward play and signed Jontay Porter. Suns (not smart team) made the no risk no reward play by doing nothing, yet again.

Damn Grizzlies reading our forum again. I swear I hadn't heard a thing about him in a long while and he popped into my head the other day as an intriguing signing. Of course the Grizz sign him.

[bwgood77]

Grizzlies (smart team) made a no risk high reward play and signed Jontay Porter. Suns (not smart team) made the no risk no reward play by doing nothing, yet again.

What has Jontay Porter done? What would he do for us?

Maybe nothing but when you have a roster spot and a guy who would have been a lottery pick if healthy out there and you could sign him for minimum it's almost like a free draft pick. His brother is killing it after getting healthy.

If he never turns into anything, nothing lost...just waive him.

I think he would have signed with us over them too because we have more of a long term need at PF. They have JJJ and Clarke.

[Wilber85]

Grizzlies (smart team) made a no risk high reward play and signed Jontay Porter. Suns (not smart team) made the no risk no reward play by doing nothing, yet again.

What has Jontay Porter done? What would he do for us?

Maybe nothing but when you have a roster spot and a guy who would have been a lottery pick if healthy out there and you could sign him for minimum it's almost like a free draft pick. His brother is killing it after getting healthy.

If he never turns into anything, nothing lost...just waive him.

I think he would have signed with us over them too because we have more of a long term need at PF. They have JJJ and Clarke.

Porter will not crack the roster or do anything. I would rather get a shooter for that roster spot

[sunskerr]

this whole post is LOL

It’s almost like you have poor reading skills and didn’t understand the part where I said it would never happen/is not a serious scenario.

Exactly, that's why it was a joke post all around. You know it yourself, yet you got butt-hurt for some reason.

Come on man, you know you took it seriously "lol he said trade ayton". That's all you processed before you replied.

[bwgood77]

With Ayton out with another ankle injury Baynes will have a great opportunity to show his value around the league.

Taking into account his age and health's problems it gonna be pretty difficult for him to find a team that will offer over $10M per year. I think that he will not get more than that.

I am interested in bringing back Baynes, but not sure about him being a better option than Saric.

I just can not see the option of bringing back both players.

Who would you prefer?

I think that I prefer Saric a bit more for now.

I like Saric more than most, but I'd rather keep Baynes if he wants to be back. He and Rubio provide so much vet leadership. Baynes' screens are huge for the offense, he brings us toughness and I think he's had a big impact on Ayton improving. He also just started shooting 3s this year at a high volume and will probably only get better with the increased reps and hitting them in games.

Think of guys like Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol who started shooting them late. They have only seemed to get better. I don't know if he will want to stay, but I think it's very important to have a solid backup behind Ayton, especially since we seem to play fine playing another wing at the 4 spot.

We have done really well when Baynes and Rubio both start, with or without Oubre.

I think A LOT of teams will be after Baynes though.

[bigfoot]

With Ayton out with another ankle injury Baynes will have a great opportunity to show his value around the league.

Taking into account his age and health's problems it gonna be pretty difficult for him to find a team that will offer over $10M per year. I think that he will not get more than that.

I am interested in bringing back Baynes, but not sure about him being a better option than Saric.

I just can not see the option of bringing back both players.

Who would you prefer?

I think that I prefer Saric a bit more for now.

I like Saric more than most, but I'd rather keep Baynes if he wants to be back. He and Rubio provide so much vet leadership. Baynes' screens are huge for the offense, he brings us toughness and I think he's had a big impact on Ayton improving. He also just started shooting 3s this year at a high volume and will probably only get better with the increased reps and hitting them in games.

Think of guys like Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol who started shooting them late. They have only seemed to get better. I don't know if he will want to stay, but I think it's very important to have a solid backup behind Ayton, especially since we seem to play fine playing another wing at the 4 spot.

We have done really well when Baynes and Rubio both start, with or without Oubre.

I think A LOT of teams will be after Baynes though.

It makes sense to keep both Saric and Baynes ... Frank and Carter too. If we renounce rights to those four we'd have $26M in cap space but then have to find at least that many replacements. I rather keep four quality players and use the $10M mid-level exception to sign one more decent player. Roll with the idea that Ayton, Bridges, Johnson, Jerome, and our 2020 rookie make improvements.

I would think we could offer Baynes a nice fat one year contract that might keep him around.

[bwgood77]

With Ayton out with another ankle injury Baynes will have a great opportunity to show his value around the league.

Taking into account his age and health's problems it gonna be pretty difficult for him to find a team that will offer over $10M per year. I think that he will not get more than that.

I am interested in bringing back Baynes, but not sure about him being a better option than Saric.

I just can not see the option of bringing back both players.

Who would you prefer?

I think that I prefer Saric a bit more for now.

I like Saric more than most, but I'd rather keep Baynes if he wants to be back. He and Rubio provide so much vet leadership. Baynes' screens are huge for the offense, he brings us toughness and I think he's had a big impact on Ayton improving. He also just started shooting 3s this year at a high volume and will probably only get better with the increased reps and hitting them in games.

Think of guys like Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol who started shooting them late. They have only seemed to get better. I don't know if he will want to stay, but I think it's very important to have a solid backup behind Ayton, especially since we seem to play fine playing another wing at the 4 spot.

We have done really well when Baynes and Rubio both start, with or without Oubre.

I think A LOT of teams will be after Baynes though.

It makes sense to keep both Saric and Baynes ... Frank and Carter too. If we renounce rights to those four we'd have $26M in cap space but then have to find at least that many replacements. I rather keep four quality players and use the $10M mid-level exception to sign one more decent player. Roll with the idea that Ayton, Bridges, Johnson, Jerome, and our 2020 rookie make improvements.

I would think we could offer Baynes a nice fat one year contract that might keep him around.

Yeah, if we are going to keep one of them anyway, you are right that it makes sense to just keep all of them, or most of them, because if we keep one they will likely get more than $10 million which wouldn't leave us with much more cap space than the MLE. But for me it would probably depend on what FAs are out there (or trade possibilities) and if Baynes wants to come back.

If Baynes is leaving anyway, then I'd prefer $26 million in cap space than bringing back Saric, Frank and Carter. And if we bring Baynes back, we could still maybe try a S&T with Saric...if anyone wants him.

[DirtyDez]

Somehow I came across this on a Bill Simmons article from 2007:

Of course, the Suns can guarantee immortality with one move: Thanks to the Diaw-Johnson trade, they own Atlanta's 2007 No. 1 pick unless it falls in the top three. Say they packaged that pick with Kurt Thomas' expiring contract and/or Banks' contract for one more blue-chipper. What would happen if they added Rashard Lewis or Mike Miller, gave one of them James Jones' minutes (20-25 a game), then went seven-deep the rest of the way? Starting Nash, Stoudemire, Diaw, Bell and Marion, with Miller/Lewis and Barbosa coming off the bench, nobody would play more than 38 minutes or less than 25, and there wouldn't be a bad shooter or a bad all-around player in the bunch. Five of the seven players would be shooting over 40 percent from 3-pointers. They could go small, they could go big, they could play fast or slow, they could do anything they wanted. They'd be the Dirk Diggler of NBA teams.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070117


My goodness we should’ve traded that pick...

[darealjuice]

Yeah I don’t get why we aren’t kicking the tires on whatever young talent is available. It seems like they’re looking for a backup guard based on their pursuit of McRae, but why not bring in a young big and see if they can beat out Diallo?

This is a huge offseason for us. Plenty of directions we can go with this. Free agency doesn’t have much high-end talent, but we weren’t getting that anyways. We should be able to fill out a solid bench and add a solid starting power forward if we don’t believe in the Oubre-Bridges pairing working full-time. The draft is the real wild card, I’m not crazy about anyone in our range and Jones doesn’t seem to interested in continuing to build through the draft with how young we are. I expect us to trade our pick, but I have no idea what that will look like.

Plenty of frustrations this season, but coming out somewhere around 35 wins would be good given the circumstances. This team might have been in the playoffs if Ayton wasn’t a bonehead.

[ATTL]

Somehow I came across this on a Bill Simmons article from 2007:

Of course, the Suns can guarantee immortality with one move: Thanks to the Diaw-Johnson trade, they own Atlanta's 2007 No. 1 pick unless it falls in the top three. Say they packaged that pick with Kurt Thomas' expiring contract and/or Banks' contract for one more blue-chipper. What would happen if they added Rashard Lewis or Mike Miller, gave one of them James Jones' minutes (20-25 a game), then went seven-deep the rest of the way? Starting Nash, Stoudemire, Diaw, Bell and Marion, with Miller/Lewis and Barbosa coming off the bench, nobody would play more than 38 minutes or less than 25, and there wouldn't be a bad shooter or a bad all-around player in the bunch. Five of the seven players would be shooting over 40 percent from 3-pointers. They could go small, they could go big, they could play fast or slow, they could do anything they wanted. They'd be the Dirk Diggler of NBA teams.

https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070117


My goodness we should’ve traded that pick...

If that pick landed at 4 I think we were drafting Noah.

Noah
Amare
Shawn
Bell
Nash

[bigfoot]

Yeah I don’t get why we aren’t kicking the tires on whatever young talent is available. It seems like they’re looking for a backup guard based on their pursuit of McRae, but why not bring in a young big and see if they can beat out Diallo?

This is a huge offseason for us. Plenty of directions we can go with this. Free agency doesn’t have much high-end talent, but we weren’t getting that anyways. We should be able to fill out a solid bench and add a solid starting power forward if we don’t believe in the Oubre-Bridges pairing working full-time. The draft is the real wild card, I’m not crazy about anyone in our range and Jones doesn’t seem to interested in continuing to build through the draft with how young we are. I expect us to trade our pick, but I have no idea what that will look like.

Plenty of frustrations this season, but coming out somewhere around 35 wins would be good given the circumstances. This team might have been in the playoffs if Ayton wasn’t a bonehead.

I think pursuit of a guard is a top priority. Even more than a PF. Our offense looks so ugly when Rubio and Booker are off the floor when we have to rely on a two-man combo of Carter/Jerome/Okobo. We really need a near-starter-quality backup PG. That would be my call for a free agent acquisition this summer with our MLE. Keep Baynes/Saric/Frank/Carter and go after a nice PG.

[Desertfox]

I think pursuit of a guard is a top priority. Even more than a PF. Our offense looks so ugly when Rubio and Booker are off the floor when we have to rely on a two-man combo of Carter/Jerome/Okobo. We really need a near-starter-quality backup PG. That would be my call for a free agent acquisition this summer with our MLE. Keep Baynes/Saric/Frank/Carter and go after a nice PG.

TJ Mconnell... He could have been signed really cheap last year. Or a trade for Markannen that includes Sato coming back as well.