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

[grumpysaddle]

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
Sources: The Pelicans are planning to hire Suns assistant Willie Green. Green, 39, has played 12 NBA seasons and has developed a strong reputation across five seasons as an assistant, including two titles in Golden State.

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Happy for him, but hoping it's not too big a blow to the Suns. Seems like the players on the Suns love Green. Monty is good enough at the culture thing to weather the storm though, just hope the Suns can replace him with someone as good/better hopefully.

[grumpysaddle]

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
Sources: The Pelicans are planning to hire Suns assistant Willie Green. Green, 39, has played 12 NBA seasons and has developed a strong reputation across five seasons as an assistant, including two titles in Golden State.

Read on Twitter

Happy for him, but hoping it's not too big a blow to the Suns. Seems like the players on the Suns love Green. Monty is good enough at the culture thing to weather the storm though, just hope the Suns can replace him with someone as good/better hopefully.

Also, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.... He's a year younger than me? Gotdamn I feel old now.

[lilfishi22]

I think it's really only the elephant in your room or a few people's rooms. This response had to due with continuing to sign some big name FA every year with the MLE. I think we'd choose Bridges over adding Olynyk or something any day.

Not really worth discussing Bridges unless they have extension talks that fail.

So you're convinced that Bobby will pay upwards of 115M for four players? Along with the rest of the guys we have on our team?

I don't know what the dollars are, but I expect those 4 to be there for however long Paul is. You are probably only talking two years since next year Ayton and Bridges will still be on their rookie deals.

Next year is a non issue. There may be one year that is expensive (the following year). He has said he would pay the tax. It will be at around $140 million the year after next when Bridges/Ayton have new contracts. The following year when Crowder and Saric expire it jumps up to $147......so we would likely be under it....but then Paul probably falls off after that, if not before.

Sarver does not want to be that guy that breaks up a good core after all the lashback he's heard and how bad our team was for so long, and I don't think any of these guys would rather go elsewhere.

Hopefully Sarver has learned what a good investments in vs a poor one. He made bad decision when we were close to the tile during the SSOL era and moved on from a vital piece in KT. Made more bad decisions using all of that Amare money on a bunch of average role players. Then made a couple of bad FA signings/extensions in Chandler, Ariza and Knight.

The hope here is that Sarver recognises that this group (and this investment) is young, it's talented, have great chemistry, has real upside and it's sustainable unlike in the past. Paying Ayton, Booker and Mikal would make good investments. They are young and talented enough to be tradeable if need be. The CP3 extension doesn't quite fit in this same group but he's key to pushing this group to getting to that next level without him

[AtheJ415]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

[AtheJ415]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

[Slim Charless]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

Lol. I've been getting into it with raptor fans over him recently. They have a VERY high expectations of return for Mr. Siakam. Like Detroit trading the #1 overall or having him roughly even with Giannis expectations.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

Not a huge fan of bringing Crowder off the bench. Dude thrives on the open threes the starters give him, and players who are defenders first and foremost belong in the SL where they can match with the other teams' best starters. Cam is the better player when he's not in his head with his shot, but you shouldn't start your best five ideally. You need that punch off the bench. I'm ok closing with him and giving him more minutes than Crowder, though.

I agree that we should be able to get an upgrade on Frank due to our newfound contender status. It would be nice to keep Craig and/or Nader, but we may be able to replace one of them fairly cheaply for the same reason that we can replace Frank.

Smith isn't a bust. And he is a 4 more than a 5. I actually think he resembles Siakam quite a bit - just very raw, very skinny, not ready mentally. He just turned 21. Kid just needs time. I hope he cracks the edge of the rotation next season, as we could definitely use him.

I hope we can keep Payne, but I'm not positive some team won't get suckered into giving him $10 mil +, which would be out of my price range. We may find ourselves in the position of needing to add almost an entire bench this offseason:

Paul/[Payne?]/_______
Booker/[Nader?]/Carter
Bridges/[Craig?]/_______
Crowder/Johnson/Smith
Ayton/_______/_______

One of those third string spots will go to our #29 - my guess is either a PG or C, more likely a PG, but could be any position really. If you remove Payne, Nader and Craig, we have an empty bench and only 6 rotation players.

[BobbieL]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

Cam Johnson in two years could be better than Siakam. Cam Johnson is a pretty darn good shooter

But agree, get Paul back; I think Payne is back; get Craig back and use the veterans minimum and possibly the Dario injury exception to get better at the back up 5 and maybe an upgrade over Langston or Etwaun.

One other thing - the continued growth and improvement of Booker, Ayton, Bridges and Cam will also help the win column.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

Cam Johnson in two years could be better than Siakam. Cam Johnson is a pretty darn good shooter

But agree, get Paul back; I think Payne is back; get Craig back and use the veterans minimum and possibly the Dario injury exception to get better at the back up 5 and maybe an upgrade over Langston or Etwaun.

One other thing - the continued growth and improvement of Booker, Ayton, Bridges and Cam will also help the win column.

IMO what's holding Cam back are consistency and durability. He seems a little sensitive to contact, which I think explains in part why he hasn't gotten a ton of minutes. The bigger thing is consistency - for much of this year, he was ice cold from 3.

I wonder if part of this is just opportunity. If Cam was given the green light to shoot with volume no matter regardless, I wonder if he could become our #3 option behind Book and Ayton (#4 if you include Paul). He's certainly our most talented shooter, and arguably our best athlete as well.

IMO there's basically zero chance we trade him as he'll be the last of our core to get paid. His contract is gold to us right now.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) Tweeted:
BREAKING NEWS (kind of): Late Tuesday night, LeBron James and Arsenio Hall reached out (basically) to Chris Paul on network television.
https://t.co/aGjuoqR2b4

Read on Twitter

?s=20

This shouldn't at all be that surprising to anyone!! Le' Douche could never really win a legitimate championship without being propped up by other HOF All stars. Also not without a completely stacked team! # Never be like Mike. Especially since we sent them packing in round 1!

[WeekapaugGroove]

Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) Tweeted:
BREAKING NEWS (kind of): Late Tuesday night, LeBron James and Arsenio Hall reached out (basically) to Chris Paul on network television.
https://t.co/aGjuoqR2b4

Read on Twitter

?s=20

This shouldn't at all be that surprising to anyone!! Le' Douche could never really win a legitimate championship without being propped up by other HOF All stars. Also not without a completely stacked team! # Never be like Mike. Especially since we sent them packing in round 1!

Yeah that's a nothing story. It's no secret that LeBron and Paul are close and if Paul was willing to leave a **** ton of money on the table and opt out to play on the MLE that was always something that could happen (but is very unlikely to actually happen).

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

[BobbieL]

Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) Tweeted:
BREAKING NEWS (kind of): Late Tuesday night, LeBron James and Arsenio Hall reached out (basically) to Chris Paul on network television.
https://t.co/aGjuoqR2b4

Read on Twitter

?s=20

This shouldn't at all be that surprising to anyone!! Le' Douche could never really win a legitimate championship without being propped up by other HOF All stars. Also not without a completely stacked team! # Never be like Mike. Especially since we sent them packing in round 1!

Yeah that's a nothing story. It's no secret that LeBron and Paul are close and if Paul was willing to leave a **** ton of money on the table and opt out to play on the MLE that was always something that could happen (but is very unlikely to actually happen).

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

If the Suns win the title and he wants to go that route - more power to him and good for him.

I am sure Lakers fans will think that KCP, Kuzma Harrell, THT plus a couple seconds would get them Chris Paul in a sign and trade too

I agree - win or lose - I think he sees what the Suns have; can still get to LA in a couple hours door to door flight type thing - I think he is going to sign for something like 3/90-100 range.

If Paul does choose to not return - the Suns will have the cap space to find a good PG and that player would see a very good team on the rise and will rosterbate at that time.

[bwgood77]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

Not a huge fan of bringing Crowder off the bench. Dude thrives on the open threes the starters give him, and players who are defenders first and foremost belong in the SL where they can match with the other teams' best starters. Cam is the better player when he's not in his head with his shot, but you shouldn't start your best five ideally. You need that punch off the bench. I'm ok closing with him and giving him more minutes than Crowder, though.

I agree that we should be able to get an upgrade on Frank due to our newfound contender status. It would be nice to keep Craig and/or Nader, but we may be able to replace one of them fairly cheaply for the same reason that we can replace Frank.

Smith isn't a bust. And he is a 4 more than a 5. I actually think he resembles Siakam quite a bit - just very raw, very skinny, not ready mentally. He just turned 21. Kid just needs time. I hope he cracks the edge of the rotation next season, as we could definitely use him.

I hope we can keep Payne, but I'm not positive some team won't get suckered into giving him $10 mil +, which would be out of my price range. We may find ourselves in the position of needing to add almost an entire bench this offseason:

Paul/[Payne?]/_______
Booker/[Nader?]/Carter
Bridges/[Craig?]/_______
Crowder/Johnson/Smith
Ayton/_______/_______

One of those third string spots will go to our #29 - my guess is either a PG or C, more likely a PG, but could be any position really. If you remove Payne, Nader and Craig, we have an empty bench and only 6 rotation players.

Cam may be better, but I think they like Jae's toughness off the bench. Some of the advanced metrics have him rated very highly on our team, like RAPTOR, for example, off the top of my head.

I would be fine with either one starting, but I just think Monty will continue to start Jae and may have made that part of his deal when signing him.

[bwgood77]

Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) Tweeted:
BREAKING NEWS (kind of): Late Tuesday night, LeBron James and Arsenio Hall reached out (basically) to Chris Paul on network television.
https://t.co/aGjuoqR2b4

Read on Twitter

?s=20

This shouldn't at all be that surprising to anyone!! Le' Douche could never really win a legitimate championship without being propped up by other HOF All stars. Also not without a completely stacked team! # Never be like Mike. Especially since we sent them packing in round 1!

Yeah that's a nothing story. It's no secret that LeBron and Paul are close and if Paul was willing to leave a **** ton of money on the table and opt out to play on the MLE that was always something that could happen (but is very unlikely to actually happen).

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Yeah, absolute non issue, like Booker for Kuzma. Paul loves Phx, Monty, playing with guys who will accept coaching from him. LeBron is primary ball handler and he would more want to direct Paul than vice versa.

Throw on top of that what they could pay him.

And with the success we've had, why would he want to go? He's close enough to family...who knows he may want to move them to Scottsdale at some point.

His kids are like 11 and 9, so I don't think it would be an issue for them to move schools before high school. I can understand why he wouldn't have wanted to move them to Houston or OKC, especially given his Harden relationship and knowing he wouldn't want to live in OKC (or likely play their long). He probably didn't move them to Phx as he played his first season here and had that pending player option.

[saintEscaton]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

That's a terrible low-ball offer for a bonafide star at a premium position who probably is not even on the block and you know that. Raps would laugh us out of the building

[Slim Charless]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

That's a terrible low-ball offer for a bonafide star at a premium position who probably is not even on the block and you know that. Raps would laugh us out of the building

He's wildly overpaid imo. I wouldn't want him with all the other guys we gotta pay. I'm personally hoping GS forks over Wiseman, Wiggins and all their picks for him to be their small ball center.

Ayton would eat that guy alive 4 games a year, every year till they got rid of him.

[bwgood77]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

That's a terrible low-ball offer for a bonafide star at a premium position who probably is not even on the block and you know that. Raps would laugh us out of the building

He also makes $33 million next year, $35.5 million in 22-23 and $38 million in 23-24. We could offer Bridges but I'd prefer Bridges at $20-$22 million or so.

Anyway, as there is talk about fear of not paying Bridges in addition to Ayton, Booker and Paul, no way could we pay Siakam plus those 3. And if it was Cam in the trade, that would mean we'd have to pay Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam and Ayton.

Now THAT I don't think Sarver would do. I don't even think the trade is possible and we may hit the hard cap and it might not be allowed...unless we did like Bridges and Crowder or something.

That isn't worth it. I probably wouldn't trade Bridges for him if salaries were the same..he is older and regressed.

We are in the finals with our team. What is the urgency in changing up the team and adding salary that makes it harder to keep core together. Don't get it.

[BobbieL]

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

That's a terrible low-ball offer for a bonafide star at a premium position who probably is not even on the block and you know that. Raps would laugh us out of the building

He also makes $33 million next year, $35.5 million in 22-23 and $38 million in 23-24. We could offer Bridges but I'd prefer Bridges at $20-$22 million or so.

Anyway, as there is talk about fear of not paying Bridges in addition to Ayton, Booker and Paul, no way could we pay Siakam plus those 3. And if it was Cam in the trade, that would mean we'd have to pay Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam and Ayton.

Now THAT I don't think Sarver would do. I don't even think the trade is possible and we may hit the hard cap and it might not be allowed...unless we did like Bridges and Crowder or something.

That isn't worth it. I probably wouldn't trade Bridges for him if salaries were the same..he is older and regressed.

We are in the finals with our team. What is the urgency in changing up the team and adding salary that makes it harder to keep core together. Don't get it.

One of the keys to the Suns is they have a team. Players have roles. There are tiers: Stars, next level (Ayton, Bridges) and role players to round out the roster

The Suns are in the NBA Finals. Sure Jones should be looking to improve upon the roster if players avail themselves (look at a guy like David West for the Warriors) - but I don't think he needs to do very much to to the 7 - I include Payne coming back as top 7. Saric out does cause an need to back up depth.

[saintEscaton]

Booker is our only bonafide star currently, CP is still close to being a Top 15 player and a MVP candidate in the regular season and our best player but I think at the age of 36 despite maintaining such a high level of play is well past his prime and is no longer regarded as a star around the league despite being an undeniably ATG PG and Top 20 All Time player if he started out his career with a beterr team in the right place

[saintEscaton]

This offseason will be fairly simple. Get the best backup big you can, retain Payne and Paul, Ayton, Bridges (yes, we'll be operating over the cap. Key is keeping Paul's years down). Cut Frank. Replace with vet min ring chaser who can do literally anything on the court.

Develop Smith. If he's not playing next year he's likely a complete bust. He really should be the backup 5 to be honest but we see him as a 4 apparently so who knows. He should be playing both spots.

I could see a small move for a 2 way guy or rotation player if teams need to make rooms for other signees (like what happened with Craig). Would love to get Grant Riller somehow.

We should also transition to Cam Johnson at the 4 as the starter. It's our best lineup. Has been all year. Ayton's value is you don't need a traditional big next to him.

Crowder is a pro so should be mature enough not to throw a fit for coming off the bench.

I think Dario is a cap casualty though if injury issues drive down the market I wonder if we could get him to stay 1 more year for the minimum or an exception. He isn't amazing but is a proven NBA level rotation player.

Also a part of me wonders if a Cam Johnson + Jalen Smith + picks could net Siakam at the 4, who would be pretty lethal with Paul, Booker, Bridges, Siakam, Ayton.

Lol. I've been getting into it with raptor fans over him recently. They have a VERY high expectations of return for Mr. Siakam. Like Detroit trading the #1 overall or having him roughly even with Giannis expectations.

He regressed a bit but was an All-NBA selection not too long, but I'm not too concerned he is still a great building piece/cornerstone and they are high on him rightfully so. I don't know if they do that deal for Bridges he's way too inconsistent offensively and has limited ceiling, you know what you get with him an elite 3D role player who can go off occasionally if you give him good looks and have elite shot creators generating gravity towards them which they don't have besides Lowry so he would really struggle there IMO