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

[Kerrsed]

The PF is very obviously Galo. I would like Wood or Gordon instead personally but Galo would be my 2nd best bet behind them.

It very well could be! I'd say there probably a bigger chance its him over anyone else.

Its kinda crazy, the 2 biggest reasons the Thunder did as well as they did last season were CP3 and Gallo, and here we could possibly be adding them to our team that juuuuuuuuussssssst missed out of the playoffs. I'd say our roster (Minus Rubio and Oubre) is twice or even 3 times as good as OKC (Minus CP3 and Gallo).

[Banana Milk]

Spoiler:

They were bad trades. We could have simply released Jackson for instance to accomplish the signings mentioned. Also, we traded for Oubre and he was already on the team so not sure what you are talking about. I'm guessing you meant Saric, but the major snafu was Jackson's trade, and it was and still is inexcusable.

No, I meant Oubre. Oubre was an RFA. The Melton/Jackson salary dump was to clear enough cap for his $9.6m cap hold, which they were $2m short of.
Not saying they were good trades, but they were a means to an end that resulted in Rubio, Saric, Oubre, Baynes, Cam J, Frank and Carter replacing Warren, Jackson, Melton, Jarret Culver and a few 2nds.
Could we have just dumped Jackson? Wasn't his $9m guaranteed?
Dumping JJ and TJ were addition by subtraction in my eyes. Ideally could've not compensated another team to do so, but I also don't place huge value on 2nds considering the hit rate. I don't see "elite potential" in every prospect

Anyway this is the 2020 offseason thread not 2019, so my apologies, I'll get back on topic.

Oubre was traded for in December, not the offseason. So yeah, why would that be a cap space move for an FA signing? Hell, he was at a position of need and we still have him, so I'm not sure how you could argue that when his expected salary was higher than just letting Ariza go.

Being a means to an end is much less beneficial than maximizing value. Vlade traded picks because he didn't know SAC could stretch a player and it still haunts them. Jackson was considered to have at least some value to a few teams according to Lowe and including Melton, who also had value, to dump both was incredibly dumb and universally laughed at. We could have gotten picks for both of them. Picks that could be used right now to improve the team via trade or draft.

And yes, we could've just dumped Jackson. TJ is drastically better than Oubre. No idea why people value Oubre's fist pumping enough to ignore the overwhelming gap in efficiency and the fact that Oubre is an even bigger black hole.

We could have still signed Rubio, had Saric, Oubre, and drafted Cam. Really all we're talking about is Warren, Melton, Culver, and a few 2nds for Carter, who is at best a replacement level player at this point. We could've grabbed damn near any vet min PG who would be as good as Jevon. I like the guy, but Warren is by far the best player of all the guys mentioned and we flat out dumped him. We could easily be looking at:

Rubio, Warren, Saric, Cam, Melton, with an additional 2nd (so like 3 extra seconds since we wouldn't be sending a couple out), which could be Grant Riller or Killian Tillie in this draft. That's a better team.

And while you may not value small things like 2nds based on hit rate, it's a GM's job to value them. They are tasked with maximizing the ability of the team to compete, and tossing out 2nds left and right when you could be gaining them is a giant problem.

Yeah I’m just gonna address 2 points. Everyone knows when Kelly O was acquired for the uninspired corpse of Ariza...point is, he was out of contract, we had his bird rights, extended him the QO which had a $9.6m cap hold, we needed $2m in space so dumped Melton and Jackson to create the space to fit the QO. Go read Lowe’s analysis of the Suns draft where he tee’d off, considering you already mentioned him, he addressed that directly.

2nd Jackson was a negative asset, considering he was owed $9m, off court trouble etc. you can think he had value but...he spent the year in the G League. So I’ll agree to disagree on that one. And we turned Melton in to Carter...maybe a wash, maybe we lost marginally but not something I’ll lose sleep on.

[Slim Charless]

Ok, so i just got done listening to that Podcast with Flex and this is what i took away from it:

CP3 is working his connections. That was straight out said. Talked about a player taking a lower amount to come here and play next to Paul. Kept making references to PF, so im thinking its either Gallinari or Millsap.

Now i didnt mention Melo there, and thats because he is already getting paid the minimum and wouldnt need to take a paycut. Even though he says he likes it in Portland, i tend to believe that if his good friend Chris gave him a call and said we going on a title run with the Suns and could use you as a spark off the bench, he probably would be down with the move.

But then a little bit later he mentioned that they were trying to put something big together and other teams were scared and something about a trade before the CP3 trade, bringing in a guy to put next to Ayton that would help Ayton turn into the monster that he can be, and a guy that just might push CP3 back towards being our #4 scorer (Behind Booker/Ayton and the Mystery man). Well i started looking at Rosters for PF's that we might be able to trade for that could be talking to CP3.......and i hate to say it but Aldridge popped into my mind. Spurs are looking to completely change up their team, if theres a way to get it done a CP3/Booker/Bridges/Aldridge/Ayton squad would be looked at as a top 4 team (Once again Flex mentioned what the Suns were trying to do would easily make us a top 4 team).

It seems like CP3 is really gun-ho about the Suns and made it sound like he is doing everything he can to not only get here, but get others to come here for cheap and a chance to win a ring. So if we could pull off something like i posted above, it wouldnt surprise me if we end up signing guys like Melo and Milsap, former all-stars at the end of the careers getting a season or two to try to finally win a title. Im trying to come up with a few more names that might fit the bill but am drawing a blank, so if anyone can think of one let me know. I was going to say Gay, but i see he still has a full guaranteed year left on his contract.

Also sounds like its a toss up if we keep the pick. We would like to keep it (Or just have a pick in the 1st be it ours or another teams), but we might need to use our #10 in a big 4 way to get CP3, or even in another trade that may be being put together (Sounds like we should know more about THAT deal in a few days).

Draft section wasnt really about any real Suns info, more so opinions about the guards.

Overall it was a real solid podcast, much better than a lot of the Suns podcasts i see. I would recommend.

Jae Crowder comes to mind in addition to Millisap. I'd also add Tristian Thompson even though I know he's already got 1 ring, I'm sure he'd love the PHX scene and he does do alot of the dirty things and is somewhat rugged- two traits that I'm sure we all would Ayton to pick up.

[Kerrsed]

Spoiler:

No, I meant Oubre. Oubre was an RFA. The Melton/Jackson salary dump was to clear enough cap for his $9.6m cap hold, which they were $2m short of.
Not saying they were good trades, but they were a means to an end that resulted in Rubio, Saric, Oubre, Baynes, Cam J, Frank and Carter replacing Warren, Jackson, Melton, Jarret Culver and a few 2nds.
Could we have just dumped Jackson? Wasn't his $9m guaranteed?
Dumping JJ and TJ were addition by subtraction in my eyes. Ideally could've not compensated another team to do so, but I also don't place huge value on 2nds considering the hit rate. I don't see "elite potential" in every prospect

Anyway this is the 2020 offseason thread not 2019, so my apologies, I'll get back on topic.

Oubre was traded for in December, not the offseason. So yeah, why would that be a cap space move for an FA signing? Hell, he was at a position of need and we still have him, so I'm not sure how you could argue that when his expected salary was higher than just letting Ariza go.

Being a means to an end is much less beneficial than maximizing value. Vlade traded picks because he didn't know SAC could stretch a player and it still haunts them. Jackson was considered to have at least some value to a few teams according to Lowe and including Melton, who also had value, to dump both was incredibly dumb and universally laughed at. We could have gotten picks for both of them. Picks that could be used right now to improve the team via trade or draft.

And yes, we could've just dumped Jackson. TJ is drastically better than Oubre. No idea why people value Oubre's fist pumping enough to ignore the overwhelming gap in efficiency and the fact that Oubre is an even bigger black hole.

We could have still signed Rubio, had Saric, Oubre, and drafted Cam. Really all we're talking about is Warren, Melton, Culver, and a few 2nds for Carter, who is at best a replacement level player at this point. We could've grabbed damn near any vet min PG who would be as good as Jevon. I like the guy, but Warren is by far the best player of all the guys mentioned and we flat out dumped him. We could easily be looking at:

Rubio, Warren, Saric, Cam, Melton, with an additional 2nd (so like 3 extra seconds since we wouldn't be sending a couple out), which could be Grant Riller or Killian Tillie in this draft. That's a better team.

And while you may not value small things like 2nds based on hit rate, it's a GM's job to value them. They are tasked with maximizing the ability of the team to compete, and tossing out 2nds left and right when you could be gaining them is a giant problem.

Yeah I’m just gonna address 2 points. Everyone knows when Kelly O was acquired for the uninspired corpse of Ariza...point is, he was out of contract, we had his bird rights, extended him the QO which had a $9.6m cap hold, we needed $2m in space so dumped Melton and Jackson to create the space to fit the QO. Go read Lowe’s analysis of the Suns draft where he tee’d off, considering you already mentioned him, he addressed that directly.

2nd Jackson was a negative asset, considering he was owed $9m, off court trouble etc. you can think he had value but...he spent the year in the G League. So I’ll agree to disagree on that one. And we turned Melton in to Carter...maybe a wash, maybe we lost marginally but not something I’ll lose sleep on.

[Kerrsed]

Ok, so i just got done listening to that Podcast with Flex and this is what i took away from it:

CP3 is working his connections. That was straight out said. Talked about a player taking a lower amount to come here and play next to Paul. Kept making references to PF, so im thinking its either Gallinari or Millsap.

Now i didnt mention Melo there, and thats because he is already getting paid the minimum and wouldnt need to take a paycut. Even though he says he likes it in Portland, i tend to believe that if his good friend Chris gave him a call and said we going on a title run with the Suns and could use you as a spark off the bench, he probably would be down with the move.

But then a little bit later he mentioned that they were trying to put something big together and other teams were scared and something about a trade before the CP3 trade, bringing in a guy to put next to Ayton that would help Ayton turn into the monster that he can be, and a guy that just might push CP3 back towards being our #4 scorer (Behind Booker/Ayton and the Mystery man). Well i started looking at Rosters for PF's that we might be able to trade for that could be talking to CP3.......and i hate to say it but Aldridge popped into my mind. Spurs are looking to completely change up their team, if theres a way to get it done a CP3/Booker/Bridges/Aldridge/Ayton squad would be looked at as a top 4 team (Once again Flex mentioned what the Suns were trying to do would easily make us a top 4 team).

It seems like CP3 is really gun-ho about the Suns and made it sound like he is doing everything he can to not only get here, but get others to come here for cheap and a chance to win a ring. So if we could pull off something like i posted above, it wouldnt surprise me if we end up signing guys like Melo and Milsap, former all-stars at the end of the careers getting a season or two to try to finally win a title. Im trying to come up with a few more names that might fit the bill but am drawing a blank, so if anyone can think of one let me know. I was going to say Gay, but i see he still has a full guaranteed year left on his contract.

Also sounds like its a toss up if we keep the pick. We would like to keep it (Or just have a pick in the 1st be it ours or another teams), but we might need to use our #10 in a big 4 way to get CP3, or even in another trade that may be being put together (Sounds like we should know more about THAT deal in a few days).

Draft section wasnt really about any real Suns info, more so opinions about the guards.

Overall it was a real solid podcast, much better than a lot of the Suns podcasts i see. I would recommend.

Jae Crowder comes to mind in addition to Millisap. I'd also add Tristian Thompson even though I know he's already got 1 ring, I'm sure he'd love the PHX scene and he does do alot of the dirty things and is somewhat rugged- two traits that I'm sure we all would Ayton to pick up.

Well Booker and Thompson could very well end up as Brothers!

Read on Twitter

[TheLogician]

More Flex
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cp3-to-the-suns/id1517894669?i=1000498314008

[Slim Charless]

Well Booker and Thompson could very well end up as Brothers!

Read on Twitter

Ha. I was actually wondering about that. Between all the Kardasians I'm not sure if TT and Booker would be cool in the locker room together. If so, he COULD actually offer us some good backup big mins and could teach Ayton a thing or 2. On a serious note though, all of this would depend on CP3 and his ability to basically be the same guy he was this past season; both health-wise and leader-wise. If he is that same guy....I mean we have way more talent than that OKC team he played with and he's also never played with a SG as good as Booker in his entire HOF career...J/S

[Kerrsed]

Ha. I was actually wondering about that. Between all the Kardasians I'm not sure if TT and Booker would be cool in the locker room together. If so, he COULD actually offer us some good backup big mins and could teach Ayton a thing or 2. On a serious note though, all of this would depend on CP3 and his ability to basically be the same guy he was this past season; both health-wise and leader-wise. If he is that same guy....I mean we have way more talent than that OKC team he played with and he's also never played with a SG as good as Booker in his entire HOF career...J/S

[Saberestar]

More Flex
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cp3-to-the-suns/id1517894669?i=1000498314008

The more interesting thing that he said lately about the trade is that no news are good news for the Suns.

There is a moratorium time and every team and agent are waiting to finalize or announce every trade, signing, etc...

[Saberestar]

Spoiler:

Ok, so i just got done listening to that Podcast with Flex and this is what i took away from it:

CP3 is working his connections. That was straight out said. Talked about a player taking a lower amount to come here and play next to Paul. Kept making references to PF, so im thinking its either Gallinari or Millsap.

Now i didnt mention Melo there, and thats because he is already getting paid the minimum and wouldnt need to take a paycut. Even though he says he likes it in Portland, i tend to believe that if his good friend Chris gave him a call and said we going on a title run with the Suns and could use you as a spark off the bench, he probably would be down with the move.

But then a little bit later he mentioned that they were trying to put something big together and other teams were scared and something about a trade before the CP3 trade, bringing in a guy to put next to Ayton that would help Ayton turn into the monster that he can be, and a guy that just might push CP3 back towards being our #4 scorer (Behind Booker/Ayton and the Mystery man). Well i started looking at Rosters for PF's that we might be able to trade for that could be talking to CP3.......and i hate to say it but Aldridge popped into my mind. Spurs are looking to completely change up their team, if theres a way to get it done a CP3/Booker/Bridges/Aldridge/Ayton squad would be looked at as a top 4 team (Once again Flex mentioned what the Suns were trying to do would easily make us a top 4 team).

It seems like CP3 is really gun-ho about the Suns and made it sound like he is doing everything he can to not only get here, but get others to come here for cheap and a chance to win a ring. So if we could pull off something like i posted above, it wouldnt surprise me if we end up signing guys like Melo and Milsap, former all-stars at the end of the careers getting a season or two to try to finally win a title. Im trying to come up with a few more names that might fit the bill but am drawing a blank, so if anyone can think of one let me know. I was going to say Gay, but i see he still has a full guaranteed year left on his contract.

Also sounds like its a toss up if we keep the pick. We would like to keep it (Or just have a pick in the 1st be it ours or another teams), but we might need to use our #10 in a big 4 way to get CP3, or even in another trade that may be being put together (Sounds like we should know more about THAT deal in a few days).

Draft section wasnt really about any real Suns info, more so opinions about the guards.

Overall it was a real solid podcast, much better than a lot of the Suns podcasts i see. I would recommend.

Jae Crowder comes to mind in addition to Millisap. I'd also add Tristian Thompson even though I know he's already got 1 ring, I'm sure he'd love the PHX scene and he does do alot of the dirty things and is somewhat rugged- two traits that I'm sure we all would Ayton to pick up.

Good point on Crowder, he would be a nice addition, but I expect him to sign for a good amount of money. He has not earned a lot during his career.

Millsap, Gallinari, Melo or Tristan...all of them make sense. They have got a lot of money and they are close to CP3.

Gallinari would be my favourite option out of those four, he is versatile and big enough to play PF and some backup C too. He is a legit 6'10, smart with terrific shooting.

Just imagine how difficult we would be to stop rotating Cam/Gallo/Saric/Ayton at 4/5.

My least favourite would be Millsap...but he is a solid player yet and he would help as a backup more than Kaminsky/Diallo...so I would be OK with him too.

[Walt_Uoob]

That Flex guy also mentioned, when talking about the Suns trying to keep #10, that maybe we'd end up with something like #15 instead. So, huge conjecture here, but maybe #15 specifically came to mind because he knows Orlando with Gordon and 15 is a possibility. Don't see how we could end up with Paul, Gordon, and #15, especially if Gambo is right that Saric will be back, but maybe they're trying to find a way.

Sent from my moto x4 using RealGM mobile app

[King4Day]

I think the talk about moving the 10th pick and possibly getting a mid or later first rounder has more to do with either:

- To save extra money we'd have to pay the rookie (even a couple million could be worth it when it comes to using it on Free Agency)

- We may be looking to acquire another player in a bigger CP3 deal (similar to Kerrsed's idea where we'd get Finney Smith from Dallas and I think the 18th pick, but dealing out the 10th).

When we hear that we're interested in Kira Lewis or Desmond Bane, if we truly want either of them, why pay 10th pick money when they will both probably fall to later in the first?

[Saberestar]

I think the talk about moving the 10th pick and possibly getting a mid or later first rounder has more to do with either:

- To save extra money we'd have to pay the rookie (even a couple million could be worth it when it comes to using it on Free Agency)

- We may be looking to acquire another player in a bigger CP3 deal (similar to Kerrsed's idea where we'd get Finney Smith from Dallas and I think the 18th pick, but dealing out the 10th).

When we hear that we're interested in Kira Lewis or Desmond Bane, if we truly want either of them, why pay 10th pick money when they will both probably fall to later in the first?

Yeah, we probably will need to add the #10 pick to make the trade but we can get back a later pick. I would be OK with that because this draft is not too good but has depth. We can add some decent player at #18 or even at #25.

[Frank Lee]

The is a desperate attempt by Paul to get out of OKC. He has very few options with his bloated contract and age. Going so far to convince others to may be take pay cuts to join him in his last hoorah??? I get it... these old guys want one more crack at relevancy. Going this hired gun route works with guys in their primes. But it has a high crash and burn factor when you are rolling out high mileagers. Sure, we could stack up a couple old but still decent vets on 1-2 yr deals...but then we’re left with an empty lot having to reup again. This is a two yr lease with no warranty or trade in value

I’m Leary, in an almost Timothy way.

[BobbieL]

The is a desperate attempt by Paul to get out of OKC. He has very few options with his bloated contract and age. Going so far to convince others to may be take pay cuts to join him in his last hoorah??? I get it... these old guys want one more crack at relevancy. Going this hired gun route works with guys in their primes. But it has a high crash and burn factor when you are rolling out high mileagers. Sure, we could stack up a couple old but still decent vets on 1-2 yr deals...but then we’re left with an empty lot having to reup again. This is a two yr lease with no warranty or trade in value

I’m Leary, in an almost Timothy way.

I don't want the two offseason moves to be CP3 and Millsap. Thats too old. Its one thing bringing in a guy like Melo for the vet minimum for the bench and spot minutes. Not part of the 8 man rotation. I can see a guy like my old buddy Mbah a Moute also being a guy on a veteran one year deal - I think he has history with CP3. But again, that is further down the rotation.

I am still not sold on CP3. I really like Rubio and if the four team trade that comes about in a version that Kerrsed presented - the team that did the best - the Clippers. If you can add Rubio to that mix to maximize the talents of Kawhi and Paul George - that is the best team because even though Doncic is very good - I still would give it to the Clippers to be a little better. But I digress..

I am kind of even leery about adding Gallo to the Suns with CP3 based on his age and injury factor. I can see the reasons why CP3 -he might get the team to the playoffs and maximize Ayton, Book, Bridges and Cam - which is important.

It will be interesting - but if the deal falls through, the Suns have KO and RR, the 10th pick and decent cap space to bring back SAric and find a 2 guard - well that might be good too.

[sunsbg]

If Paul can bring good veterans on discount with him that's another story. I'm in the group that thinks continuity and chemistry matter, but it was so long ago star FAs were coming to this team. If the new additions make the team look better than a first round exit team at best, I guess one should do this trade. Also being that Rubio will have a short offseason with the Olympics next summer makes me feel better about losing him.

[WeekapaugGroove]

More Flex
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cp3-to-the-suns/id1517894669?i=1000498314008

The more interesting thing that he said lately about the trade is that no news are good news for the Suns.

There is a moratorium time and every team and agent are waiting to finalize or announce every trade, signing, etc...

I agree with the no news is good news thing because this one is so widely out there we'd be hearing if there were problems. Hopefully they announce when the memoritoium ends, speculation is it will be Sunday or Monday but I haven't seen anything official.

Random note but if the suns do have to sweeten this deal with a pick I would much much rather swap 10 for 25 this season or something like that than give up a future pick even if it's protected. Keep those future assets they might need them.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[alamin330]

Well Booker and Thompson could very well end up as Brothers!

Read on Twitter

Ha. I was actually wondering about that. Between all the Kardasians I'm not sure if TT and Booker would be cool in the locker room together. If so, he COULD actually offer us some good backup big mins and could teach Ayton a thing or 2. On a serious note though, all of this would depend on CP3 and his ability to basically be the same guy he was this past season; both health-wise and leader-wise. If he is that same guy....I mean we have way more talent than that OKC team he played with and he's also never played with a SG as good as Booker in his entire HOF career...J/S

Someone please save that boy

[BobbieL]

More Flex
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cp3-to-the-suns/id1517894669?i=1000498314008

The more interesting thing that he said lately about the trade is that no news are good news for the Suns.

There is a moratorium time and every team and agent are waiting to finalize or announce every trade, signing, etc...

I agree with the no news is good news thing because this one is so widely out there we'd be hearing if there were problems. Hopefully they announce when the memoritoium ends, speculation is it will be Sunday or Monday but I haven't seen anything official.

Random note but if the suns do have to sweeten this deal with a pick I would much much rather swap 10 for 25 this season or something like that than give up a future pick even if it's protected. Keep those future assets they might need them.

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

I agree - I am good with moving 10 for 25 - at worst. I still don't think the Suns should give up a pick for that contract but if they drop to 18 (I think the Mavs pick) or 25 - I guess I can tolerate that.

From a cap perspective - if the Suns move from 10 to 25, waive Okobo and Jerome is included in the trade - thats extra cap space. Or essentially for the 10 -- they could have I would think Jerome and 25 or close to it. I don't want to quit Jerome yet but understand why he would be included.

[GoodBehavior]

Small market teams like the Suns have to make calculated gamble to win a championship. Keeping Oubre and Rubio would likely result in middle-of-the-pack mediocrity. Love them both, but if you have a chance to be a title contender, you take that chance. People are way, way underselling Chris Paul. He took a ragtag, mishmash of OKC talents to almost upsetting the Rockets. We're taking about a second-team all-nba player here, who is frankly better than Booker at this point.

Paul-Booker-Ayton is probably the best trio of stars in the league right now. Better than the Dubs trio IMO since few (if any teams) have two defensive guards that can keep up with Paul and Book, and there's few big men who can defend Ayton on the PNR. If Ayton can shoot the three (and it looks promising) and Bridges can lock down (or slow down) bigger forwards, I really, really like our chances.

Now there are risks... First, it keeps us paper-thin at the power forward position. Jones is going to have to find a cheap solution here. Maybe a Millsap and hope you can be okay with Millsap/Cam/Saric. Second, Booker's willingness to play second fiddle and sacrifice his personal goals (all star etc). Chris Paul is going to be 1a on this team, unlike a Rubio, he's going to be looking for his shot. Point Book and Booker usage is going to fall. I don't think Chris, after going through with what happened in Houston and Harden, will want to be 1B again.

Apparently you never witnessed the 1990s suns when EVERY star wanted to come to Phx. It has nothing to do with market size. What matters is ownership and reputation. Everyone wanted to play for Colangelo and the suns. Under Sarver, no one will ever want to come to Phx so yes, the Suns will have to over pay for stars.

I think James Jones and Monty counter this now, because Jones played with and was very good friends with LeBron and Love and others, and Monty coached Chris Paul and AD and they both liked playing for him along with others...and Monty also coached in other places like OKC (which is why he knew Payne) and Philly. The Lakers also wanted him which obviously meant LeBron and AD were all in on Monty to be their new coach.

The Spurs have one of the best organization in the league for the longest stretch of time. They have signed one whopping high profile free agent in that huge stretch: LMA. The 1990s Suns didn't attract "EVERY" star like Sundeuce claimed. How many stars did they sign over the time span? Cliff Robinson? Grant Hill?

The Suns going forward will have trouble attracting star players. All this rosturbating about Durant, Giannis, etc is just that, rosturbating.

IMO, Chris Paul picked the Suns because his options are very limited. Not because the Suns are a good organization, which I think they have turned the corner. And I should add, Chris Paul is a very strange character. The dude was willing to sacrifice a great chance at winning a championship with Harden, because he didn't want to play off-ball. How many player at his age would have sacrifice that opportunity?