2021-22 Season Discussion and Speculation

[BobbieL]

I would target Thad Young as a buy-out candidate no need to waste any assets even though i like the fit. On the other hand Kyle Anderson might be a better option and might worth trading for?

Is Anderson an option on the trade market these days? His salary is over $9m so that would take Smith and Payton.

[BobbieL]

They have been playing pretty well without him. Durant has been on fire. You bring IRving back, get Joe Harris healthy, this team is going to be tough come playoff time.

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[bigfoot]

Lots of teams with COVID issues. Bulls, Celtics, Knicks, Nets, Cavs, Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Wolves, Magic, and Kings. Omicron starting to hit the league.

[WeekapaugGroove]

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[Ghost of Kleine]

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Why not.........

[Ghost of Kleine]

This is cool!
But it's sure getting Warriors fans a bit triggered on Twitter.
NBA TV (@NBATV) Tweeted:
"Right now, they're the best team in the NBA."

@GregAnthony50 breaks down what makes the Suns so good on #GameTime https://t.co/NKDSIw0KWS

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[Ghost of Kleine]

Matt Petersen (@TheMattPetersen) Tweeted:
Suns missing Booker, but they’re treading water without him.

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[spanishninja]

AD injured again. This time twice in one game.

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[Ghost of Kleine]

Locked On Suns Podcast (@LockedOnPHXSuns) Tweeted:
You've heard of a recap, what about a Takecap?

☀️ DA + CP3 becoming unguardable
☀️ A new context for Bridges' D
☀️ Is this just who Cam J is?

https://t.co/e9c4Hgvk0l
https://t.co/PgrXGx2ioV https://t.co/vBdujR0OVN

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I'm actually intrigued by the proposition of a Paul / Ayton pick n roll destroying the league, With Booker (whilst Paul is here) runs off screens and picks scoring like Brandon Roy / RIP Hamilton.

[Ghost of Kleine]

The Bright Side (@BrightSideSun) Tweeted:
The Suns are dominating the league despite no one having a career year https://t.co/oYzIscj62R https://t.co/PTzgukds77

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[Ghost of Kleine]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10021163-blazers-rumors-damian-lillard-only-player-unavailable-at-nba-trade-deadline.amp.html

With everyone except Lillard actually being available at the trade deadline, I actually think we should revisit the possibility of trading for Covington and another small piece. Covington can be like Crowder 2.0 off the bench for us. How about:

Saric/ Smith/ 1st for Covington and McLemore or Covington and Snell??

The beauty of trading Saric and Smith would be matching salary, So that we still maintain our ability to add even more depth via the buyout pool even after the trade. But imagine adding Covington and Snell ( or McLemore) to our current bench! ........................again:

Payne/ Shamet/ Covington/ Johnson/ McGee.

Payton/ Snell/ Nader/ Buyout ? / Covington?

Payne- Offense.
Shamet- Offense.
Covington- Defense.
Johnson- Offense.
McGee- Defense.
That's great balance from our bench.

Snell or McLemore could be our 6th man microwave scorer!! Then we just fill the 3rd string 4/5 with a buyout big. Good to go for the championship!

[Mulhollanddrive]

Thad Young DNP, I think we're the only contender who has non-rotation salary to trade for him.

Saric, Smith, 2nd, 2nd.

Main question mark is how he fits on offense but could be a defensive weapon for certain playoff matchups.

[Saberestar]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10021163-blazers-rumors-damian-lillard-only-player-unavailable-at-nba-trade-deadline.amp.html

With everyone except Lillard actually being available at the trade deadline, I actually think we should revisit the possibility of trading for Covington and another small piece. Covington can be like Crowder 2.0 off the bench for us. How about:

Saric/ Smith/ 1st for Covington and McLemore or Covington and Snell??

The beauty of trading Saric and Smith would be matching salary, So that we still maintain our ability to add even more depth via the buyout pool even after the trade. But imagine adding Covington and Snell ( or McLemore) to our current bench! ........................again:

Payne/ Shamet/ Covington/ Johnson/ McGee.

Payton/ Snell/ Nader/ Buyout ? / Covington?

Payne- Offense.
Shamet- Offense.
Covington- Defense.
Johnson- Offense.
McGee- Defense.
That's great balance from our bench.

Snell or McLemore could be our 6th man microwave scorer!! Then we just fill the 3rd string 4/5 with a buyout big. Good to go for the championship!

These players are horrible, they probably will be out of the league pretty soon.

Snell averages 2.0 ppg and 0.7 assists. Didn't you know him?

McLemore...I can't even. His next stop China.

Nader is better than those two guys. Imagine how bad they are.

Regarding Covington, he is not the same player that he was anymore. He is a joke on defense and on offense he can't dribble, he can't pass, just a chucker. People who hates Crowder (who is much better than him) would kill themselves watching Covington doing what he is doing for the Blazers since last year.

Appreciate your effort but those three players would not help us at all.

[BobbieL]

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Its fun to actually speculate about trades for a playoff push and not to dump salary or what not for the future

And names out there like Thad Young, Levert, Gordon, Covington, et. all - but the Suns need to be smart about what they add to the roster. They have a very good team with Booker. Front court depth without Nader and Kaminsky could use a lift probably

But the player the Suns add - isn't going to get a lot of heavy minutes. They are going to be role players, like Payton may DNP for games but than get bigger minutes. Jones and Monty have a tough task finding the right player who will fit the locker room, fit the way the team plays and be willing to maybe sit on the bench and when needed, be ready to play.

Is David West still around?

[BobbieL]

Thad Young DNP, I think we're the only contender who has non-rotation salary to trade for him.

Saric, Smith, 2nd, 2nd.

Main question mark is how he fits on offense but could be a defensive weapon for certain playoff matchups.

This has been my thoughts of trading for Young - how many teams can make the math work with their roster

If he becomes a buyout candidate - open for business. Though the Suns have the rest of the MLE or possibly the DPE if they apply for it

[Ghost of Kleine]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/10021163-blazers-rumors-damian-lillard-only-player-unavailable-at-nba-trade-deadline.amp.html

With everyone except Lillard actually being available at the trade deadline, I actually think we should revisit the possibility of trading for Covington and another small piece. Covington can be like Crowder 2.0 off the bench for us. How about:

Saric/ Smith/ 1st for Covington and McLemore or Covington and Snell??

The beauty of trading Saric and Smith would be matching salary, So that we still maintain our ability to add even more depth via the buyout pool even after the trade. But imagine adding Covington and Snell ( or McLemore) to our current bench! ........................again:

Payne/ Shamet/ Covington/ Johnson/ McGee.

Payton/ Snell/ Nader/ Buyout ? / Covington?

Payne- Offense.
Shamet- Offense.
Covington- Defense.
Johnson- Offense.
McGee- Defense.
That's great balance from our bench.

Snell or McLemore could be our 6th man microwave scorer!! Then we just fill the 3rd string 4/5 with a buyout big. Good to go for the championship!

These players are horrible, they probably will be out of the league pretty soon.

Snell averages 2.0 ppg and 0.7 assists. Didn't you know him?

McLemore...I can't even. His next stop China.

Nader is better than those two guys. Imagine how bad they are.

Regarding Covington, he is not the same player that he was anymore. He is a joke on defense and on offense he can't dribble, he can't pass, just a chucker. People who hates Crowder (who is much better than him) would kill themselves watching Covington doing what he is doing for the Blazers since last year.

Appreciate your effort but those three players would not help us at all.

I appreciate and deeply respect your perspectives always man. But I think you may be judging these players a bit harshly.

Tony Snell-
Would have value to us as a sniper for our 3rd rotation sniper He's still a 39% 3 pt shooter and a career 84% free throw shooter as well that has good size at 6'7 with a 7 ft wingspan. He's a reliable defender that knows and accepts his role ( however small) without complaints. For our 3rd string rotation that will most likely only play against scrubs and washouts or young inexperienced players, he'd do just fine. So yes, actually fairly I'm familiar with him. Also whilst he's not really known for anything outside of his shot selection that had him elite from three for many seasons ( 56% from three for Atlanta before being traded to Portland and accepting a reduced role/ minutes). He'd still be a very good sniper and late game free throw option for us off the bench. Honestly, If there's a better low cost option at around $2 million that could definitively boost our three point game, hit free throws at 84% or better, be fine with a minimal role, and is still a solid perimeter defender, I'm absolutely open to it? But currently. I'm not seeing who that'd be though?


Ben McLemore-
McLemore is still a decent defender that can hold his own against 1-3 and is still a really good long range shooter. He still has size, athleticism ( 42' vertical) , and in the right situation with a good coach ( and with someone like Paul mentoring him at times) could really elevate his game. Even in his sporadic 12 minutes (average) per game, McLemore shot around 45% for the blazers this season, and is a career 36% 3 pt shooter. He also has been shooting around 85% from the free throw line. He still ( in the right situation/ under a better coach) has the potential to be an elite complimentary scorer off the bench. So at 2 million and as an expiring, I think in a better and more stable situation ( like ours) he's definitely got solid value for a 3rd rotation scorer.

As for Nader, I could like him more if he wasn't often injured or sidelined because of repetitive knee injuries, etc. Besides, I'm not even talking about swapping Nader in this suggestion, so he essentially could still play alongside of them at times if needed. I'm talking about a 3rd string SG option for either Snell or McLemore as an additional scorer/ shooter off the bench.


Robert Covington-
Covington is still a very good defender. Here's a good article ( from this season in Portland) on his defensive impact:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.si.com/nba/trailblazers/.amp/analysis/does-robert-covington-have-a-legitimate-case-for-all-defense

Covington's 255 total deflections during his first season in Portland led the league, per NBA.com/stats. He ranked second to Fred Van Vleet in deflections per game, ahead of predatory ballhawks like T.J. McConnell, Jimmy Butler, Matisse Thybulle and Marcus Smart.

It wasn't just Covington's frequent knocks, tips and swipes mucking up the opposition's attack. Just six other players in basketball this season – including Jusuf Nurkic – managed his 2.2 percent steal rate and 3.4 block percent block rate, per data compiled at Stathead Basketball. More impressive is that Covington joins Thybulle as the only non-bigs in that exclusive company.

All that created chaos makes Covington one of the most impactful off-ball defenders in the league. BBall Index's number-crunching and data-mining vault him to a plane all his own in Defensive LEBRON among players classified as "helpers."
BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) Tweeted:
Defensive Impact for players in our Helper Defensive Role

- Up-Down shows defensive impact per 100 possessions
- Left-Right shows aggregate defensive impact (minutes matter)

Explore the free database:
https://t.co/RZfZgQWoC8

Read about LEBRON: https://t.co/w5pmQihHyu https://t.co/3mdPZfHxqq

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I get that he's slower ( at 30 yrs old) than he used to be, And not a realistic consideration for all defensive selection, But he's still very solid as a disruptive defender. And I honestly believe that the bulk of his struggles are a result of his situation in Portland, and Billups obviously not being a good coach. I believe in a situation like ours under Williams and playing with Paul, Crowder, McGee, etc. Covington could be rejuvenated and reclaim much of what he may have lost in a bad situation in Portland. Now everyone is talking about Thad Young as a primary option for his defense and he's fine in that regard. But really when you compare the two statistically, it's a trade off:
https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?player_id2=covinro01&player_id1=youngth01&sum=0&request=1

I do like his potential fit here as an expiring option though. And think he'd be really solid defensively for OUR BENCH between Shamet and Johnson and alongside McGee as the other defensive presence. It also doesn't hurt that he shoots 35% from three as opposed to Young's 33%. But I do think in our situation he could experience a renaissance to his career. He could be our Crowder off the bench for a single season?? Do you really not like that bench lineup I suggested with the offensive/ defensive balance it'd offer? Not to mention Covingtons' veteran leadership?

[bwgood77]

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I looked into him a week or two ago...playing pretty poorly this season.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) Tweeted:
Oof. No AD vs. the Suns on Tuesday

This year keeps getting more and more challenging for the Lakers.

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I like this one better! It's a pretty accurate description of AD honestly!!
Mark (@AthleticTreeFit) Tweeted:
@KellanOlson https://t.co/iLPaiGKIAI

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[Mulhollanddrive]

Back on top and play Lakers without Davis this week.

Looks like Covid is going to be a factor too, so perfectly position at no.1 with an 8 game lead for top 4.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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