2020 Season/Offseason (FA/Trade) Speculation - the Season Resumes

[Ghost of Kleine]

Memphis is hiring Darko Rajakovic as an assistant. Wasn't he very good with our players this year? Think Mikal credited him with fixing his shot.

Might explain why we hired Brian Randle.

He has a very good reputation as an assistant, so this looks like another move to reduce costs.

Ugh... this better be because we are brining in some big name assistant coaches... I got a bad feeling about what this means for the rest of the summer.

Are you implying that our notoriously tight owner ( as deemed by many, Greta says Hi by the way Bobby!)
Banker Bob will look to further reduce payroll spending in the interest of his bottomline and profit margin!

Now who would ever believe that?

[Ghost of Kleine]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/hoopshype.com/2018/08/29/this-coach-wants-to-change-the-way-nba-players-train/amp/

Seriously though!
We let Darko go, But can we really go hard after Nick Nurses nephew David Nurse? Even if it means overpaying a bit! But costing cost elsewhere if necessary? This guy is supposedly amazing as a shooting/ development guru.

David Nurse has created an “athlete-of-the-future” training regimen for players who are willing to make extreme lifestyle changes in hopes of tapping into their full potential. David, the nephew of Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, uses wearable technology and customized plans to ensure that each player he works with is “functioning at optimal capacity.”

After he finished his playing career, he became a highly respected shooting coach. Nurse, a HoopsHype contributor several years ago, holds two Guinness World Record for three-point shooting: most threes made with one basketball in one minute (20) and in five minutes (81). He worked with players individually, helping them tweak their jump-shot, and hosted clinics around the world. He also consulted with UCLA’s basketball teams and ran shooting clinics for USA Basketball (and many other national teams).

In 2016, the Brooklyn Nets hired Nurse to work with their players and improve their shooting. The Nets went from being one of the worst shooting squads at the start of the season to ranking first in the NBA in three-point shooting in February and March of 2016, but Nurse left after the campaign concluded.

“I used to only train players on the court and focus on their individual skills in the basketball realm, but after working with many guys, I started realizing that there’s so much more that goes into their success and development,” Nurse told HoopsHype. “The on-court stuff is a small piece of the puzzle. There’s much more that determines how an athlete can perform at their highest level every single day. That’s how it started. I became a nut for self-improvement. I wanted to know: How can I make myself the very best version of myself and reach my full potential? And how can I help others do the same thing?”

He has worked with many players over the years; this summer, he’s focused on training Jeremy Lin, Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis, Aron Baynes, Bismack Biyombo and Kyle Singler among others. He wants clients who are willing to completely buy in to his athlete-of-the-future protocol because he believes it will increase their production and extend their career.


“He’s really been able to help me this summer, in all facets of my game and life,” Olynyk said. “He really helps his players squeeze out every last drop of their potential, whether it’s by working with them on the floor – where he’s helped me expand my game – or by helping with sleep, recovery, nutrition or helping you have a clear mind. He loves diving into other people’s minds and seeing what he can learn from them. Then, he loves to not only implement that stuff into his own life, but also spread that knowledge to the people around him. He always want to make other people’s lives better and help them. I think David attacks basketball and life in general in a way that’s different from most trainers, and it’s really refreshing.”

All things important to a young prospects overall development and trajectory.

And apparently we were highly interested in him a short time ago too.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.brightsideofthesun.com/platform/amp/2019/5/28/18643106/report-phoenix-suns-pursuing-coach-david-nurse

Ian Begley (@IanBegley) Tweeted:
Suns have strongly pursued David Nurse to become their shooting coach/player development head to help build their young core of players, per sources. Nurse previously worked as shooting coach for BKN, privately trains several NBA players w/a focus on skills work & mental approach

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[Saberestar]

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House will be available in the trade market.

He has a good cheap contract. $3.7M in 2020-21 and $3.9M in 2021-22.

Good option as a backup SG/SF/PF.

[King4Day]

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House will be available in the trade market.

He has a good cheap contract. $3.7M in 2020-21 and $3.9M in 2021-22.

Good option as a backup SG/SF/PF.

I have a hard time buying that losing house caused the Rockets to get hit hard those final 2 games.
LAL figured out the tiny Houston team and made them pay. Simple as that.
Rockets will have Weestbrook for 3 more years. I don't see them dealing Harden anytime soon. They'll probably try to trade what they can (House, like you suggested, or Tucker/Covington) to add another name that can help them. I don't even know what they need but their time is seriously running out. Maybe one or 2 more seasons and they'll need to trade Harden.

[nevetsov]

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House will be available in the trade market.

He has a good cheap contract. $3.7M in 2020-21 and $3.9M in 2021-22.

Good option as a backup SG/SF/PF.

I have a hard time buying that losing house caused the Rockets to get hit hard those final 2 games.
LAL figured out the tiny Houston team and made them pay. Simple as that.
Rockets will have Weestbrook for 3 more years. I don't see them dealing Harden anytime soon. They'll probably try to trade what they can (House, like you suggested, or Tucker/Covington) to add another name that can help them. I don't even know what they need but their time is seriously running out. Maybe one or 2 more seasons and they'll need to trade Harden.

With small ball messiah D'antoni leaving Houston, I wonder if they abandon their small ball ways and look to a more conventional lineup.

Also, the talk of Mike D potentially ending up in Philly has to be a prank - that lineup is the antithesis of D'antoni ball. Cant wait.

[King4Day]

Read on Twitter

House will be available in the trade market.

He has a good cheap contract. $3.7M in 2020-21 and $3.9M in 2021-22.

Good option as a backup SG/SF/PF.

I have a hard time buying that losing house caused the Rockets to get hit hard those final 2 games.
LAL figured out the tiny Houston team and made them pay. Simple as that.
Rockets will have Weestbrook for 3 more years. I don't see them dealing Harden anytime soon. They'll probably try to trade what they can (House, like you suggested, or Tucker/Covington) to add another name that can help them. I don't even know what they need but their time is seriously running out. Maybe one or 2 more seasons and they'll need to trade Harden.

With small ball messiah D'antoni leaving Houston, I wonder if they abandon their small ball ways and look to a more conventional lineup.

Also, the talk of Mike D potentially ending up in Philly has to be a prank - that lineup is the antithesis of D'antoni ball. Cant wait.

I bet he already has a job lined up with Indy. Philly just popped up in conversations but yea, unless they deal Simmons, SSOL will never work there.

[Chicagoat]

Hello everyone, I come from the Bulls board.

Just wanting to get a temperature of how your fan base feels about Lauri? Him being a local guy and being a position of need would be a good bonus.

[Mjee]

Hello everyone, I come from the Bulls board.

Just wanting to get a temperature of how your fan base feels about Lauri? Him being a local guy and being a position of need would be a good bonus.

lets make a deal .... Oubre for Lauri straight up?

What gets it done in your opinion ????

[RedIndian]

I have no interest in Lauri. He's a 7 foot PF who neither protects the rim nor is quick enough to defend guys on the perimeter.

The 7 foot pure stretch PF might have been in vogue a few years ago with the likes of Love, Ryan Anderson, Mirotic, Frye, Ilyasova, but nobody has them anymore.

Pretty much all the teams have started playing with two long SFs instead of a classic 3 and a classic 4.

Let's see -

Miami - Butler, Crowder
Boston - Tatum, Brown
Clippers - Kawhi, George, Morris
Nuggets - Grant, Millsap /MPJ
Rockets - Covington, Tucker
Raptors - Siakam, Anunoby

The only 7 foot PFs are Giannis, AD and Porzingis, and all of them are transcendental defenders, offering both rim protection and switchability.

Lauri isn't that. In fact, he isn't even a very good 'stretch' 4, given that his 3P shooting has been fairly average so far in the NBA.

I frankly think Oubre is not just the better defensive player, but also the better offensive player.

[King4Day]

Not Suns related but if Houston decides they want to get a do-over with Westbrook, I wonder if they'd consider moving him to Charlotte for Rozier and Batum.
Someone suggested it on a general board and it's a move I think Charlotte makes just because it would give them a star player to draw fans without severely interrupting their rebuild.
Houston prob would want a protected first back too but I think it's something they may consider depending on what their owner wants to do.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Hello everyone, I come from the Bulls board.

Just wanting to get a temperature of how your fan base feels about Lauri? Him being a local guy and being a position of need would be a good bonus.

I for my part still like him and have definite interest for the right price of course. It's weird though as many of us Suns fans can't yet identify what direction your Bulls front office/ fanbase is headed and more importantly, If your front office prioritizes him as an integral piece going forward. But I currently ( given his struggles) have his trade value at either equal to Oubre in a swap for better positional fit? Or the 10th pick. But not both. That's again where I see his trade value at personally! His upside is still pretty solid though.

But I would probably given his current value,
Only entertain one of three trades really:

1- Oubre/ Kaminsky for Markannen/ Sato?
2- Oubre for Markannen straight up?
3- I might go as high as Oubre / Kaminsky/ 10 for Markannen/ White/ 44th pick?
But I could of course understand if you guys might choose to decline any of those offers.

One interesting trade idea that I've been toying around with a bit is the framework for:

Phoenix/ Chicago/ Milwaukee/ Oklahoma city
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y3na5e7a
************************************************
( Picks exchanged).
- Chicago gets the 10th pick ( Phoenix).
- Phoenix gets the 24th pick ( Milwaukee), And the 25th pick from Oklahoma city.
- Oklahoma city gets a 2021 first from Milwaukee, A future ( 2023) lottery protected first from Phoenix, And the 45th pick from Chicago this draft?

[JDJ26]

Suns should just keep almost the same team and run it back next season. They still need a backup SG for Booker and they may be able to either find that player in the draft or free agency. Or maybe Cam Payne could play backup SG but that may be too small with Jevon Carter at backup PG.

Based on watching teams in the playoffs, this should be our starting lineup next season:

PG: Rubio
SG: Booker
SF: Bridges
PF: Oubre
C: Ayton

Backups should be:

PG: Carter
SG: Payne(?) - if not draft pick or FA pickup here (Aaron Holiday, Wesley Matthews, etc.)
SF: Johnson
PF: Saric
C: Baynes

Thunder will not be in the playoffs next season, Rockets might not be in either (Lakers set up the blueprint to stop them, plus if Westbrook and/or Harden get injured, its over), Blazers barely got in and their defense is worse than the Suns. Warriors will get in but be a 3rd seed at best, 5th seed at worst. Baring injury/suspension/poor play the Suns should at least be able to get an 8th, possibly 6th or 7th seed in the playoffs next season.

Grizzlies will be a threat but I don't think the Pelicans will get in, even with the league wanting Zion in the playoffs.

[Slim Charless]

I have a hard time buying that losing house caused the Rockets to get hit hard those final 2 games.
LAL figured out the tiny Houston team and made them pay. Simple as that.
Rockets will have Weestbrook for 3 more years. I don't see them dealing Harden anytime soon. They'll probably try to trade what they can (House, like you suggested, or Tucker/Covington) to add another name that can help them. I don't even know what they need but their time is seriously running out. Maybe one or 2 more seasons and they'll need to trade Harden.

With small ball messiah D'antoni leaving Houston, I wonder if they abandon their small ball ways and look to a more conventional lineup.

Also, the talk of Mike D potentially ending up in Philly has to be a prank - that lineup is the antithesis of D'antoni ball. Cant wait.

I bet he already has a job lined up with Indy. Philly just popped up in conversations but yea, unless they deal Simmons, SSOL will never work there.

Simmons would be fine imo. His shooting is an issue but he would give pringles his best passer and PG since Nash and by far his best defender ever. I think that Embiid would be the 1 that would have to go. Maybe trade him to Washington for Beal and the pick/Bryant. Then run w/ Simmons and 4 guys that can all shoot.

Indy makes sense too but theres alot to work with in Philly. All of their guys are locked up already in Indy he still has Dipo to worry about staying and doesn't turner have a deal up soon too?

[Ghost of Kleine]

Not Suns related but if Houston decides they want to get a do-over with Westbrook, I wonder if they'd consider moving him to Charlotte for Rozier and Batum.
Someone suggested it on a general board and it's a move I think Charlotte makes just because it would give them a star player to draw fans without severely interrupting their rebuild.
Houston prob would want a protected first back too but I think it's something they may consider depending on what their owner wants to do.

So are you curious as to how we might get in on the deal and possibly get something good back?

[Slim Charless]

Suns should just keep almost the same team and run it back next season. They still need a backup SG for Booker and they may be able to either find that player in the draft or free agency. Or maybe Cam Payne could play backup SG but that may be too small with Jevon Carter at backup PG.

Based on watching teams in the playoffs, this should be our starting lineup next season:

PG: Rubio
SG: Booker
SF: Bridges
PF: Oubre
C: Ayton

Backups should be:

PG: Carter
SG: Payne(?) - if not draft pick or FA pickup here (Aaron Holiday, Wesley Matthews, etc.)
SF: Johnson
PF: Saric
C: Baynes

Thunder will not be in the playoffs next season, Rockets might not be in either (Lakers set up the blueprint to stop them, plus if Westbrook and/or Harden get injured, its over), Blazers barely got in and their defense is worse than the Suns. Warriors will get in but be a 3rd seed at best, 5th seed at worst. Baring injury/suspension/poor play the Suns should at least be able to get an 8th, possibly 6th or 7th seed in the playoffs next season.

Grizzlies will be a threat but I don't think the Pelicans will get in, even with the league wanting Zion in the playoffs.

Speaking of the Pels, I've mentioned it before but I would absolutely offer Ingram a max deal and either force them to match it or let him go. He on paper would be the perfect 4 to play with Ayton. His size and length and obvious shooting ability would fit here like a glove. He's also pretty decent defender as well so we gain there.

We'd still have Cam to be 6th man and neither one of them would affect Ayton's ability to do dmg in the paint. I think he'd leave. He has a home here and NO just fired the coach who he thanked for bringing out his best season so far. He might be down for a change of scenery with a team on the rise.

[King4Day]

Not Suns related but if Houston decides they want to get a do-over with Westbrook, I wonder if they'd consider moving him to Charlotte for Rozier and Batum.
Someone suggested it on a general board and it's a move I think Charlotte makes just because it would give them a star player to draw fans without severely interrupting their rebuild.
Houston prob would want a protected first back too but I think it's something they may consider depending on what their owner wants to do.

So are you curious as to how we might get in on the deal and possibly get something good back?

Ugg sorry. I live in Charlotte so I got excited and had no one to talk to about it

[Ghost of Kleine]

Not Suns related but if Houston decides they want to get a do-over with Westbrook, I wonder if they'd consider moving him to Charlotte for Rozier and Batum.
Someone suggested it on a general board and it's a move I think Charlotte makes just because it would give them a star player to draw fans without severely interrupting their rebuild.
Houston prob would want a protected first back too but I think it's something they may consider depending on what their owner wants to do.

So are you curious as to how we might get in on the deal and possibly get something good back?

Ugg sorry. I live in Charlotte so I got excited and had no one to talk to about it

It's cool man! You did actually mention that to me a while back. I just spaced it for some reason. My bad! ... lol.
But yes, Definitely that could be cool!

[King4Day]

So are you curious as to how we might get in on the deal and possibly get something good back?

Ugg sorry. I live in Charlotte so I got excited and had no one to talk to about it

It's cool man! You did actually mention that to me a while back. I just spaced it for some reason. My bad! ... lol.
But yes, Definitely that could be cool!

The fact you even remember is impressive (I don't even remember mentioning it). I don't even note where I'm from (unless people get the Borderlands reference ).

[Ghost of Kleine]

Ugg sorry. I live in Charlotte so I got excited and had no one to talk to about it

It's cool man! You did actually mention that to me a while back. I just spaced it for some reason. My bad! ... lol.
But yes, Definitely that could be cool!

The fact you even remember is impressive (I don't even remember mentioning it). I don't even note where I'm from (unless people get the Borderlands reference ).

Thanks man. To be honest, My memory isn't all that it once was since my traumatic injury a few years back. There've of course been some significant cognitive setbacks, memory loss, Hemiplesia, etc. But I do try and remember things....lol. out of respect for everyone on here, As I do appreciate you all. Anyways. Definitely would love to see the Hornets pull a quality young star for their team.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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