2021 Playoff and Offseason Speculation - the playoffs. PLAYOFFS????

[bwgood77]

With Bagley liking his own tweet asking out of Sac, here's a question. Would you trade our 1st this year and something minor for him? I don't think his value is high leaguewide. He's been injured and largely a nonfactor.

Yeah, I think i’d do it.

I wouldn't. He's not that great, will probably want more money than he's worth, and seems to be a complainer if he doesn't get time. With Ayton, stretch 4s are good. He isn't nearly as good as Crowder, or even Cam. He wouldn't be happy being a backup 4/5 obviously.

[bwgood77]

I'll also say this, we took Frank because we bungled the offseason big man market and needed a guy who knew the plays after another team cut him for sucking. He then proceeded to play well for maybe 3 weeks of this entire season. He's garbage, and if we keep him into next season (when we would have had an offseason to get another more capable big up to speed on the playbook) without upgrading his spot it will be a failure of James Jones to improve the roster. You can get a large number of vet min bigs who are better for the same amount. Frank does nothing well on the court. He's a bad rebounder, misses more shots near the basket than any big I can remember, is a terrible defender, and is still living off his college career / reputation as a shooter. Teams leave him wide the F open when he plays for a reason and they isolate him on D for a reason. He's a disaster and we're lucky other teams have gone so small in the playoffs and that Saric has rounded a little bit back into form so that Stanky Franky doesn't have to see the court.

I don't think Frank is back next year - there will be better options at the back up 5 spot - especially if the Suns make it to the Finals and more so if they win

As for the Bagley for the 1st and Saric - not too sure about that one. Saric has been balling this series -- and Denver. Playing very well.

But hopefully - a bit more time to ponder FA and trade questions!

Saric been balling!? ...I'd agree he went from terrible to slightly below average, but still definitely replacement level.

Yeah, expectations are very very low after the last few months, so play without turning it over a bunch and actually taking 3s and having some decent plays around the rim, almost earning his contract, is extraordinary based on what we've become accustomed to expect, but far from ideal.

[darealjuice]

I'd consider buying low on Bagley. If playing for his hometown team with Monty and CP3 doesn't get his basketball mentality right, I doubt anything will. Maybe there's some untapped talent there.

On the other hand, I was never particularly high on him. He's a pretty terrible defender and can be a ball stopper on offense.

[thamadkant]

Bagley has so much untapped potential. I see him becoming similar to Julius Randle. Once he finds a team that has the right fit he will be scoring 20 and grabbing 10 rebounds.

In a sense John Collins has become what Bagley should have been already. But I see Bagley still as being misused.

Would I want him on the Suns?

Highly dependent on his attitude and willingness to play wihh out getting much touches. I think he is determined to prove himself that he belongs but he may also want to show he's worth a lot of money so he might play selfishly affecting team chemistry.

[thamadkant]

With Bagley liking his own tweet asking out of Sac, here's a question. Would you trade our 1st this year and something minor for him? I don't think his value is high leaguewide. He's been injured and largely a nonfactor.

Yeah, I think i’d do it.

A part of me prefers Stix's tools over his but reality is the fact that Stix couldn't beat out Kaminsky makes me really question whether he'll be a difference maker down the line. Bagley's handles are way better than Stix but his shooting and size are worse. More of a four than Stix though. And then maybe they'd actually move Stix to backup 5 which imo is where he should be.

This is a highly risky take on Jalen Smith.

Frank Kaminsky getting minutes over Jalen is 100% based on experience. If you are a winning team and contending you want players who know and understand the X and Os. Jalen Smith is a rookie who needs to get his body right first... His legs mainly.

I would always pick a smart veteran regardless of their talent over a rookie when I want the team to play the system and enforce the plays I've drawn up. It's just logic.

[AtheJ415]

Yeah, I think i’d do it.

A part of me prefers Stix's tools over his but reality is the fact that Stix couldn't beat out Kaminsky makes me really question whether he'll be a difference maker down the line. Bagley's handles are way better than Stix but his shooting and size are worse. More of a four than Stix though. And then maybe they'd actually move Stix to backup 5 which imo is where he should be.

This is a highly risky take on Jalen Smith.

Frank Kaminsky getting minutes over Jalen is 100% based on experience. If you are a winning team and contending you want players who know and understand the X and Os. Jalen Smith is a rookie who needs to get his body right first... His legs mainly.

I would always pick a smart veteran regardless of their talent over a rookie when I want the team to play the system and enforce the plays I've drawn up. It's just logic.

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

[Saberestar]

A part of me prefers Stix's tools over his but reality is the fact that Stix couldn't beat out Kaminsky makes me really question whether he'll be a difference maker down the line. Bagley's handles are way better than Stix but his shooting and size are worse. More of a four than Stix though. And then maybe they'd actually move Stix to backup 5 which imo is where he should be.

This is a highly risky take on Jalen Smith.

Frank Kaminsky getting minutes over Jalen is 100% based on experience. If you are a winning team and contending you want players who know and understand the X and Os. Jalen Smith is a rookie who needs to get his body right first... His legs mainly.

I would always pick a smart veteran regardless of their talent over a rookie when I want the team to play the system and enforce the plays I've drawn up. It's just logic.

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

Frank Kaminsky is a solid bench player who helped us to win a good amount of games this current season.

He knows how to play the game. He is a good passer, decent 3p shooter, has some post moves...like Monty says he is a very good "connector" on our system.

Defensively he is not good but the guy is getting a minimum contract, so he gives you enough good production for that salary.

I hope he stays and give us nice depth at PF/C next season.

I expect Jalen Smith to play a bigger role, but is always good to have some savvy and cheap veterans on the bench because anything can happen on a long new season.

[AtheJ415]

This is a highly risky take on Jalen Smith.

Frank Kaminsky getting minutes over Jalen is 100% based on experience. If you are a winning team and contending you want players who know and understand the X and Os. Jalen Smith is a rookie who needs to get his body right first... His legs mainly.

I would always pick a smart veteran regardless of their talent over a rookie when I want the team to play the system and enforce the plays I've drawn up. It's just logic.

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

Frank Kaminsky is a solid bench player who helped us to win a good amount of games this current season.

He knows how to play the game. He is a good passer, decent 3p shooter, has some post moves...like Monty says he is a very good "connector" on our system.

Defensively he is not good but the guy is getting a minimum contract, so he gives you enough good production for that salary.

I hope he stays and give us nice depth at PF/C next season.

I expect Jalen Smith to play a bigger role, but is always good to have some savvy and cheap veterans on the bench because anything can happen on a long new season.

He had a WS of 2, which is his career high / 48. He has more seasons with a negative ORtg-Drtg differential than not, and his VORP is embarrassing for being on a great team. He would likely not get picked up if cut tomorrow. We openly cut him after giving him extended minutes last season and watching him give up 117 DRtf to 110 ORtg, and the only thing he supposedly does well is shoot but he's at 61% from the FT line this season and is consistently left open. He's a terrible (not just not good, but terrible) defender, a non-playmaking offensive player who struggles to shoot the ball consistently or even at a high clip basically ever. He's objectively one of the worst players in basketball and when the best thing you can say about him because there is no defense for anything else he does on the court, is that he's a "connector" because he can act like the coach warming up shooters and swing the ball, while not creating assists or requiring the other team to guard him because he can't shoot, then we're talking about Ben Simmons without the athleticism and we might as well play with an orange cone.

[bwgood77]

A part of me prefers Stix's tools over his but reality is the fact that Stix couldn't beat out Kaminsky makes me really question whether he'll be a difference maker down the line. Bagley's handles are way better than Stix but his shooting and size are worse. More of a four than Stix though. And then maybe they'd actually move Stix to backup 5 which imo is where he should be.

This is a highly risky take on Jalen Smith.

Frank Kaminsky getting minutes over Jalen is 100% based on experience. If you are a winning team and contending you want players who know and understand the X and Os. Jalen Smith is a rookie who needs to get his body right first... His legs mainly.

I would always pick a smart veteran regardless of their talent over a rookie when I want the team to play the system and enforce the plays I've drawn up. It's just logic.

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

Kamnisky is a vet who knows the system. He can be good and has played well at times. He averages 16,10 and 4 per 36 while shooting 36.5% from 3. Saric is at like 18,8 and 2.7 but he shoots worse from 3 and 2 than Kaminsky...and doesn't rebound or pass as well despite everyone thinking he's a great passer. Kaminsky is an awful defender though.

Kaminsky isn't good, but he's a vet who knows our system and the role.

It is very rare for any rookie to play on a top seed. The only time I've seen it recently is Maxey.

However, Smith was out with injury and COVID for a long time and was without at training camp, summer league, practice with the team while out with COVID and injury, he went to the G league to get off the rust instead of sitting on the bench.

Due to all the circumstances with COVID, injury, the depth of our team, etc, and not having played or practiced much at all with the team when Kaminsky was needed, obviously he wasn't going to beat out a guy who has been with the team a couple years and had to start a while last year and some this year (in which we won a bunch in a row I might add).

As I've said many times. FAR FAR too early to make any assessment on Smith..when everyone quarantined without summer league, open gyms, training camp, much for preseason, all the quarantine until December, then COVID, injury, G league since so little time with team and no conditioning, etc, #2 seed, depth, winning streak with Frank starting, etc..

No rookie bigs played that well this year...the guy on the Pistons who was the worst team played ok, and I think the guy on Memphis was decent, and Avdija was ok, but that's about it....and Avdija was MVP of the Israeli league.

Ultimately, I don't think it's good to throw guys into the fire too early anyway if you don't think they may be ready because you don't want to destroy their confidence...may be what happened to Cam Payne.

But especially on a very good team. You have CP3 calling out Ayton on occasion...imagine how that would be with Jalen Smith.

[AtheJ415]

This is a highly risky take on Jalen Smith.

Frank Kaminsky getting minutes over Jalen is 100% based on experience. If you are a winning team and contending you want players who know and understand the X and Os. Jalen Smith is a rookie who needs to get his body right first... His legs mainly.

I would always pick a smart veteran regardless of their talent over a rookie when I want the team to play the system and enforce the plays I've drawn up. It's just logic.

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

Kamnisky is a vet who knows the system. He can be good and has played well at times. He averages 16,10 and 4 per 36 while shooting 36.5% from 3. Saric is at like 18,8 and 2.7 but he shoots worse from 3 and 2 than Kaminsky...and doesn't rebound or pass as well despite everyone thinking he's a great passer. Kaminsky is an awful defender though.

Kaminsky isn't good, but he's a vet who knows our system and the role.

It is very rare for any rookie to play on a top seed. The only time I've seen it recently is Maxey.

However, Smith was out with injury and COVID for a long time and was without at training camp, summer league, practice with the team while out with COVID and injury, he went to the G league to get off the rust instead of sitting on the bench.

Due to all the circumstances with COVID, injury, the depth of our team, etc, and not having played or practiced much at all with the team when Kaminsky was needed, obviously he wasn't going to beat out a guy who has been with the team a couple years and had to start a while last year and some this year (in which we won a bunch in a row I might add).

As I've said many times. FAR FAR too early to make any assessment on Smith..when everyone quarantined without summer league, open gyms, training camp, much for preseason, all the quarantine until December, then COVID, injury, G league since so little time with team and no conditioning, etc, #2 seed, depth, winning streak with Frank starting, etc..

No rookie bigs played that well this year...the guy on the Pistons who was the worst team played ok, and I think the guy on Memphis was decent, and Avdija was ok, but that's about it....and Avdija was MVP of the Israeli league.

Ultimately, I don't think it's good to throw guys into the fire too early anyway if you don't think they may be ready because you don't want to destroy their confidence...may be what happened to Cam Payne.

But especially on a very good team. You have CP3 calling out Ayton on occasion...imagine how that would be with Jalen Smith.

An NBA player should be good. When the only positive you can say about him is that he knows the system, then you should get somebody else who is actually at least serviceable or good and teach them the system. Again, Frank is one of the worst players in basketball. He has played well for us for about 3 weeks in 2 seasons. If James Jones is smart he won't be on the team next season. I'd be shocked if another team signed him and actually kept him for a full season. If not for already knowing our system he would be in Europe right now or the G League.

[bwgood77]

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

Kamnisky is a vet who knows the system. He can be good and has played well at times. He averages 16,10 and 4 per 36 while shooting 36.5% from 3. Saric is at like 18,8 and 2.7 but he shoots worse from 3 and 2 than Kaminsky...and doesn't rebound or pass as well despite everyone thinking he's a great passer. Kaminsky is an awful defender though.

Kaminsky isn't good, but he's a vet who knows our system and the role.

It is very rare for any rookie to play on a top seed. The only time I've seen it recently is Maxey.

However, Smith was out with injury and COVID for a long time and was without at training camp, summer league, practice with the team while out with COVID and injury, he went to the G league to get off the rust instead of sitting on the bench.

Due to all the circumstances with COVID, injury, the depth of our team, etc, and not having played or practiced much at all with the team when Kaminsky was needed, obviously he wasn't going to beat out a guy who has been with the team a couple years and had to start a while last year and some this year (in which we won a bunch in a row I might add).

As I've said many times. FAR FAR too early to make any assessment on Smith..when everyone quarantined without summer league, open gyms, training camp, much for preseason, all the quarantine until December, then COVID, injury, G league since so little time with team and no conditioning, etc, #2 seed, depth, winning streak with Frank starting, etc..

No rookie bigs played that well this year...the guy on the Pistons who was the worst team played ok, and I think the guy on Memphis was decent, and Avdija was ok, but that's about it....and Avdija was MVP of the Israeli league.

Ultimately, I don't think it's good to throw guys into the fire too early anyway if you don't think they may be ready because you don't want to destroy their confidence...may be what happened to Cam Payne.

But especially on a very good team. You have CP3 calling out Ayton on occasion...imagine how that would be with Jalen Smith.

An NBA player should be good. When the only positive you can say about him is that he knows the system, then you should get somebody else who is actually at least serviceable or good and teach them the system. Again, Frank is one of the worst players in basketball. He has played well for us for about 3 weeks in 2 seasons. If James Jones is smart he won't be on the team next season. I'd be shocked if another team signed him and actually kept him for a full season. If not for already knowing our system he would be in Europe right now or the G League.

James Jones was smart and got rid of him but he was dumb and signed Damian Jones, so when Frank got cut by the Kings, he made sense since there were no options. You are right, he should get replaced. I don't mind him and think he has ability, and can play well offensively at times and plug in with injuries, but when you get cut by the Hornets and Kings and then no one wants you, yes, you are not long for the league.

Jalen Smith just never really had much time and he wasn't going to be in our regular rotation regardless, but when you have the injury and COVID problems it's hard to beat out a guy, if Monty even wanted to consider throwing a rookie into games. We also had the most close games in the NBA...there was a graphic showing we were never up or down much, relatively speaking, when compared to other teams, and in our blowouts we often didn't even play guys in garbage minutes until the last few.

Jalen Smith may not end up great, but I'd give him a real offseason once he knows what he has to work on, time with coaches, a summer league if they have one, a training camp, player coaching from Paul, etc. I still don't imagine he plays much if Saric happens to play well as our primary backup big, but hopefully can be a nice depth piece if one of the bigs gets injured. I doubt he will get much time at the 4 either when we play Crowder and Cam there all the time...

If we get to the end of next season and he hasn't played outside of garbage minutes, I'd give up, but guys develop at different rates.

Heck the Bulls, Raptors, Cavs, OKC, etc, all gave up on Payne and just thought he wasn't an NBA player and a year and a half ago he was in China.

[Saberestar]

If that was actually true then we wouldn't have cut Frank in the first place. The premise that good teams don't play any rookies anywhere in the rotation is inherently flawed. The reason they don't have rookies playing is because they usually pick low in the draft the prior year. Most lottery picks manage to crack the rotation particularly over guys who are a clear, unrelenting negative every time they touch the floor. Frank is literally one of the worst players in basketball. I can't state this enough. He is not some solid vet that held onto his spot. He's a guy we dumped and then tried to replace him with Damian freaking Jones for months because Frank was THAT bad. Stix not being able to beat him out is a negative. It's a big red flag. It doesn't mean he's doomed but to pretend it's meaningless or by design is just dumb.

Jones draft Stix to play PF and cited the size of LA with Lebron, AD, and their centers as the reason and then Stix was so bad he didn't even play against any of that size while we were forced to play Dario and even Frank who if he was forced to play 20 minutes a game in that series we likely lose. That's how bad Frank is.

Frank Kaminsky is a solid bench player who helped us to win a good amount of games this current season.

He knows how to play the game. He is a good passer, decent 3p shooter, has some post moves...like Monty says he is a very good "connector" on our system.

Defensively he is not good but the guy is getting a minimum contract, so he gives you enough good production for that salary.

I hope he stays and give us nice depth at PF/C next season.

I expect Jalen Smith to play a bigger role, but is always good to have some savvy and cheap veterans on the bench because anything can happen on a long new season.

He had a WS of 2, which is his career high / 48. He has more seasons with a negative ORtg-Drtg differential than not, and his VORP is embarrassing for being on a great team. He would likely not get picked up if cut tomorrow. We openly cut him after giving him extended minutes last season and watching him give up 117 DRtf to 110 ORtg, and the only thing he supposedly does well is shoot but he's at 61% from the FT line this season and is consistently left open. He's a terrible (not just not good, but terrible) defender, a non-playmaking offensive player who struggles to shoot the ball consistently or even at a high clip basically ever. He's objectively one of the worst players in basketball and when the best thing you can say about him because there is no defense for anything else he does on the court, is that he's a "connector" because he can act like the coach warming up shooters and swing the ball, while not creating assists or requiring the other team to guard him because he can't shoot, then we're talking about Ben Simmons without the athleticism and we might as well play with an orange cone.

We did not cut him, we had a player option on him for $5M and we did not want to pay him that much....that was an smart move. I would not pay him that much neither.

Then he signed an ungureented contract with the Kings but he was waived before the start of the season by the Kings (they have a terrible FO) and James Jones offered him a minimum deal to come back...not to replace Damian Jones at all, just to give us depth at PF/C knowing that Saric was injured and we needed to complete the roster.

Look at just for a minute some rosters around the league an compare their 14th and 15th players to Kaminsky....he is way better than most of them.

[Pachinko_]

Hey gents (and ladies?) I just wanted to say something now before the Finals start
IF the Bucks make it there I'm really happy it's against the Suns, I absolutely love that team of yours (and the coach).
And even if we lose I'll probably still be happy for you even though by that point we're probably yelling at each other at the General Board LOL
Enjoy and have fun, hope to see you in the finals

[AtheJ415]

Stix couldn't beat out Kaminsky because one has played in the league for six years while other is 21 who barely played 5 minutes on a championship contending team. As for Bagley no need in acquiring him since he's injury prone already missing 100+ games in his first three seasons. Bridges also didn't produce much in his 1st NBA season. We need to give Stix 2-3 years at least before thinking of trading him.

I'll also say this, we took Frank because we bungled the offseason big man market and needed a guy who knew the plays after another team cut him for sucking. He then proceeded to play well for maybe 3 weeks of this entire season. He's garbage, and if we keep him into next season (when we would have had an offseason to get another more capable big up to speed on the playbook) without upgrading his spot it will be a failure of James Jones to improve the roster. You can get a large number of vet min bigs who are better for the same amount. Frank does nothing well on the court. He's a bad rebounder, misses more shots near the basket than any big I can remember, is a terrible defender, and is still living off his college career / reputation as a shooter. Teams leave him wide the F open when he plays for a reason and they isolate him on D for a reason. He's a disaster and we're lucky other teams have gone so small in the playoffs and that Saric has rounded a little bit back into form so that Stanky Franky doesn't have to see the court.

Yeh like Demarcus Cousins. He proved real valuable in the recent game just played.

What does any of this have to do with Cousins? Cousins is just on the team because he was once good and was an injury gamble in case he regains any of his old form. And Cousins is still much better than Stanky Franky.

[AtheJ415]

Frank Kaminsky is a solid bench player who helped us to win a good amount of games this current season.

He knows how to play the game. He is a good passer, decent 3p shooter, has some post moves...like Monty says he is a very good "connector" on our system.

Defensively he is not good but the guy is getting a minimum contract, so he gives you enough good production for that salary.

I hope he stays and give us nice depth at PF/C next season.

I expect Jalen Smith to play a bigger role, but is always good to have some savvy and cheap veterans on the bench because anything can happen on a long new season.

He had a WS of 2, which is his career high / 48. He has more seasons with a negative ORtg-Drtg differential than not, and his VORP is embarrassing for being on a great team. He would likely not get picked up if cut tomorrow. We openly cut him after giving him extended minutes last season and watching him give up 117 DRtf to 110 ORtg, and the only thing he supposedly does well is shoot but he's at 61% from the FT line this season and is consistently left open. He's a terrible (not just not good, but terrible) defender, a non-playmaking offensive player who struggles to shoot the ball consistently or even at a high clip basically ever. He's objectively one of the worst players in basketball and when the best thing you can say about him because there is no defense for anything else he does on the court, is that he's a "connector" because he can act like the coach warming up shooters and swing the ball, while not creating assists or requiring the other team to guard him because he can't shoot, then we're talking about Ben Simmons without the athleticism and we might as well play with an orange cone.

We did not cut him, we had a player option on him for $5M and we did not want to pay him that much....that was an smart move. I would not pay him that much neither.

Then he signed an ungureented contract with the Kings but he was waived before the start of the season by the Kings (they have a terrible FO) and James Jones offered him a minimum deal to come back...not to replace Damian Jones at all, just to give us depth at PF/C knowing that Saric was injured and we needed to complete the roster.

Look at just for a minute some rosters around the league an compare their 14th and 15th players to Kaminsky....he is way better than most of them.

There is 0 objective metric for which this is true. And not picking up his option is waiving him. We made no offer to have him return so much so that he signed an unguaranteed deal with another team. We then tried out an assortment of guys to find something better. If Kaminsky was that good we'd have declined the option and still brought him back and not gone through the process of trying to find guys like Jonathan Motley. We saw Frank all of last year and he was bottom 5 in the entire freaking league metricswise. He was an unmitigated disaster. I promise you, when this season ends we will try to find an upgrade just like last season because he simply is not "way better than the 14th and 15th best players around the league". If he was, we'd simply have kept him the entire time. We have a gaping hole at backup big spots. If he's way better, why did we let him go?

[Saberestar]

He had a WS of 2, which is his career high / 48. He has more seasons with a negative ORtg-Drtg differential than not, and his VORP is embarrassing for being on a great team. He would likely not get picked up if cut tomorrow. We openly cut him after giving him extended minutes last season and watching him give up 117 DRtf to 110 ORtg, and the only thing he supposedly does well is shoot but he's at 61% from the FT line this season and is consistently left open. He's a terrible (not just not good, but terrible) defender, a non-playmaking offensive player who struggles to shoot the ball consistently or even at a high clip basically ever. He's objectively one of the worst players in basketball and when the best thing you can say about him because there is no defense for anything else he does on the court, is that he's a "connector" because he can act like the coach warming up shooters and swing the ball, while not creating assists or requiring the other team to guard him because he can't shoot, then we're talking about Ben Simmons without the athleticism and we might as well play with an orange cone.

We did not cut him, we had a player option on him for $5M and we did not want to pay him that much....that was an smart move. I would not pay him that much neither.

Then he signed an ungureented contract with the Kings but he was waived before the start of the season by the Kings (they have a terrible FO) and James Jones offered him a minimum deal to come back...not to replace Damian Jones at all, just to give us depth at PF/C knowing that Saric was injured and we needed to complete the roster.

Look at just for a minute some rosters around the league an compare their 14th and 15th players to Kaminsky....he is way better than most of them.

There is 0 objective metric for which this is true. And not picking up his option is waiving him. We made no offer to have him return so much so that he signed an unguaranteed deal with another team. We then tried out an assortment of guys to find something better. If Kaminsky was that good we'd have declined the option and still brought him back and not gone through the process of trying to find guys like Jonathan Motley. We saw Frank all of last year and he was bottom 5 in the entire freaking league metricswise. He was an unmitigated disaster. I promise you, when this season ends we will try to find an upgrade just like last season because he simply is not "way better than the 14th and 15th best players around the league". If he was, we'd simply have kept him the entire time. We have a gaping hole at backup big spots. If he's way better, why did we let him go?

Every good GM tries to improve their roster in the off-season when his team is not a contender. James Jones tried to get a better third string C but we could not to get a better player than Kaminsky.

With Kaminsky you know what you gets. Very good passer, that is huge for our system. Bridges talked a lot of times how easy is to play next to Kaminsky, he finds players cutting to the rim.

And he is an smart low usage player. That is valuable, because we do not want a player taking away shots from Book, CP3, Ayton, Cam J... That is why he is a better option for us than someone like Cousins who demands the ball, make dumb plays, and can not stop fouling on defense.

I think he will back next season because Ayton/Saric/Kaminsky is a perfect rotation at C. And Jalen Smith in his second season.

We will be in the Finals (hopefully) in a couple days. If not broken do not fix it.

[bigfoot]

Wonder if Crowder and Paul could entice Kelly Olynk to sign with the Suns. He would be an upgrade to Frank and could provide time at both PF and C. Not sure he would go for the MLE.

[Wilber85]

Wonder if Crowder and Paul could entice Kelly Olynk to sign with the Suns. He would be an upgrade to Frank and could provide time at both PF and C. Not sure he would go for the MLE.

Bet we can get Meyers Leonard for a low cost. He is gritty and a stretch 4/5

[BobbieL]

I'll also say this, we took Frank because we bungled the offseason big man market and needed a guy who knew the plays after another team cut him for sucking. He then proceeded to play well for maybe 3 weeks of this entire season. He's garbage, and if we keep him into next season (when we would have had an offseason to get another more capable big up to speed on the playbook) without upgrading his spot it will be a failure of James Jones to improve the roster. You can get a large number of vet min bigs who are better for the same amount. Frank does nothing well on the court. He's a bad rebounder, misses more shots near the basket than any big I can remember, is a terrible defender, and is still living off his college career / reputation as a shooter. Teams leave him wide the F open when he plays for a reason and they isolate him on D for a reason. He's a disaster and we're lucky other teams have gone so small in the playoffs and that Saric has rounded a little bit back into form so that Stanky Franky doesn't have to see the court.

I don't think Frank is back next year - there will be better options at the back up 5 spot - especially if the Suns make it to the Finals and more so if they win

As for the Bagley for the 1st and Saric - not too sure about that one. Saric has been balling this series -- and Denver. Playing very well.

But hopefully - a bit more time to ponder FA and trade questions!

Saric been balling!? ...I'd agree he went from terrible to slightly below average, but still definitely replacement level.

fair enough
he hasn't been a net negative!

[Barkley6]

Wonder if Crowder and Paul could entice Kelly Olynk to sign with the Suns. He would be an upgrade to Frank and could provide time at both PF and C. Not sure he would go for the MLE.

I'd love Olynyk as a 4/5 man in this team. But I doubt it happens. Too much money for someone who wouldn't get a ton of minutes in our squad. The fact that he's averaging 19/8/4 since moving to Houston is going to price him out of our range most likely anyway.

His Per36 in Houston is an insane line of: 22/10/5 on 55/40/85 splits.

Literally All-NBA level production. He's gonna get some money.