Season Speculation, Trade Ideas and Discussion

[Kerrsed]

Spoiler:

Well for 1, its the Kings (lol).

But also WCS and Len are both guys that are seeming like they need a change of scenery to help them reach their potential. Ive had it up to here with Len. Sure, he still has potential, but i dont think he will ever reach that potential in a Suns uniform. Same thing goes for WCS.

Now to add onto my thoughts of being perfectly fine with trading Len for WCS, i honestly dont think thats where the deal would end, but more so where it would begin. I think most Suns fans would be perfectly fine sending them Knight as well, as they really could do with having a semi legit PG or even a secondary ballhandler starting at the SG spot. Either way, Knight would be an instant upgrade at either PG or SG for them. For as much hate as he gets from Suns fans (Myself included), when he took over last year as our starting PG when Bled went down, he did a pretty damn good job. His numbers were lesser, but damn near identical to Bledsoes.

Per 36
Bledsoe - 21.5 points (48%2PT, 38%3PT), 6.5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3.7 turnovers.
Knight - 19.6 (46%2PT, 34%3PT), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3.4 turnovers.

And for as much as Bledsoe is lauded for his Defense, it really was THAT much better than Knights. The stats show a similar Defensive rating (107 vs 111) and the WS and DWS are even closer.

Now Knight coming off the bench is a whole different story. Bench Knight is the Knight that i hate. He isnt handling the demotion as well as the FO would like it to seem.

With all that being said, i think he could do much much better in the starting line-up whether it be for us or the Kings. So as for the trade, something like Len/Knight for WCS/Afflalo would be doable in my book as well. I believe just this simple of a trade could boost their team enough to get at least 10 more wins than currently constructed.

Now of course we would also have to look at the inevitable, The Kings would/could ask for Bledsoe instead of Knight, and truth be told, im not totally against it. Look, i love me some Bledsoe, but i think he hasnt lived up to the hype of the player that we thought he would be. Injurys have lessoned his ceiling in my book, but i just have a feeling that he wont be the PG for us or for our future. Sacramento would want him as he is currently more valuable than Knight, but also because of his relationship with Cousins, and the hope that obtaining him would not only keep Cousin happy, but would also help keep Cousins in a Kings jersey.

But Bledsoe would also have to net us a higher return than just WCS and Afflalo, and they dont have much on the roster that i would be willing to take on besides Skal, so somekind of future pick would have to be involved. Currently, Chicago own their 2017 1st (top 10 protected) and Philly also has the right to swap picks if its in the top 10, so if the Kings end up with a worse record than the Sixers, the Sixers will swap the pick. If the Kings end up with a top 10 pick, Chicago will receive the Kings 2017 2nd round pick instead. Philly also owns the Kings 2019 pick unprotected, so we would have to either get and even later pick (2021?) or make a deal that could net us their 2017 pick if it falls within the Chicago protected 1-10, with a back-up option of a later pick if the Bulls do end up with the pick. Yes it sounds complicated, but thats what FO's are for and i hope they are reading this post.

Sooooo... TL:DR

Len for WCS
Len/Knight for WCS/Afflalo
Len/Bledsoe for WCS/Afflalo/Skal/2017 1st (#1-10) or future 1st.

Can't believe you'd trade Bledsoe for those guys, none of who may be guys that can even get any playing time on a playoff caliber team.

Times starting to run out for Bledsoe and i dont think he necessarily fits our window anymore. If we could get a top 10 pick for him, that would be great in my book, specially in a draft stocked with PG's. Of course i dont believe we will be a good team with or without Bledsoe this season, but this would possibly give us 2 lotto picks. Afflalo would be used as a 3&D guy coming off the bench behind Booker, but could also be valuable to a contending team due to the size and short length of his contract. Skal gives us another youngster to play around with, one i was high on as well as the FO was. Another Wildcat and friend of Ulis as well.

[bwgood77]

Spoiler:

Well for 1, its the Kings (lol).

But also WCS and Len are both guys that are seeming like they need a change of scenery to help them reach their potential. Ive had it up to here with Len. Sure, he still has potential, but i dont think he will ever reach that potential in a Suns uniform. Same thing goes for WCS.

Now to add onto my thoughts of being perfectly fine with trading Len for WCS, i honestly dont think thats where the deal would end, but more so where it would begin. I think most Suns fans would be perfectly fine sending them Knight as well, as they really could do with having a semi legit PG or even a secondary ballhandler starting at the SG spot. Either way, Knight would be an instant upgrade at either PG or SG for them. For as much hate as he gets from Suns fans (Myself included), when he took over last year as our starting PG when Bled went down, he did a pretty damn good job. His numbers were lesser, but damn near identical to Bledsoes.

Per 36
Bledsoe - 21.5 points (48%2PT, 38%3PT), 6.5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3.7 turnovers.
Knight - 19.6 (46%2PT, 34%3PT), 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3.4 turnovers.

And for as much as Bledsoe is lauded for his Defense, it really was THAT much better than Knights. The stats show a similar Defensive rating (107 vs 111) and the WS and DWS are even closer.

Now Knight coming off the bench is a whole different story. Bench Knight is the Knight that i hate. He isnt handling the demotion as well as the FO would like it to seem.

With all that being said, i think he could do much much better in the starting line-up whether it be for us or the Kings. So as for the trade, something like Len/Knight for WCS/Afflalo would be doable in my book as well. I believe just this simple of a trade could boost their team enough to get at least 10 more wins than currently constructed.

Now of course we would also have to look at the inevitable, The Kings would/could ask for Bledsoe instead of Knight, and truth be told, im not totally against it. Look, i love me some Bledsoe, but i think he hasnt lived up to the hype of the player that we thought he would be. Injurys have lessoned his ceiling in my book, but i just have a feeling that he wont be the PG for us or for our future. Sacramento would want him as he is currently more valuable than Knight, but also because of his relationship with Cousins, and the hope that obtaining him would not only keep Cousin happy, but would also help keep Cousins in a Kings jersey.

But Bledsoe would also have to net us a higher return than just WCS and Afflalo, and they dont have much on the roster that i would be willing to take on besides Skal, so somekind of future pick would have to be involved. Currently, Chicago own their 2017 1st (top 10 protected) and Philly also has the right to swap picks if its in the top 10, so if the Kings end up with a worse record than the Sixers, the Sixers will swap the pick. If the Kings end up with a top 10 pick, Chicago will receive the Kings 2017 2nd round pick instead. Philly also owns the Kings 2019 pick unprotected, so we would have to either get and even later pick (2021?) or make a deal that could net us their 2017 pick if it falls within the Chicago protected 1-10, with a back-up option of a later pick if the Bulls do end up with the pick. Yes it sounds complicated, but thats what FO's are for and i hope they are reading this post.

Sooooo... TL:DR

Len for WCS
Len/Knight for WCS/Afflalo
Len/Bledsoe for WCS/Afflalo/Skal/2017 1st (#1-10) or future 1st.

Can't believe you'd trade Bledsoe for those guys, none of who may be guys that can even get any playing time on a playoff caliber team.

Times starting to run out for Bledsoe and i dont think he necessarily fits our window anymore. If we could get a top 10 pick for him, that would be great in my book, specially in a draft stocked with PG's. Of course i dont believe we will be a good team with or without Bledsoe this season, but this would possibly give us 2 lotto picks. Afflalo would be used as a 3&D guy coming off the bench behind Booker, but could also be valuable to a contending team due to the size and short length of his contract. Skal gives us another youngster to play around with, one i was high on as well as the FO was. Another Wildcat and friend of Ulis as well.

I wouldn't mind having Skal who is intriguing and another high pick and I also wouldn't mind trading Bledsoe but we already have two really raw PF rookies and we don't need 3 and Bledsoe has really become a big part and leader of this team. I don't think you can rip it right out of the team right now, especially for more players that play the position we just drafted two 8 picks to play.

I think we are in pretty good shape right now. We'd be in GREAT shape had we not made the Knight trade and had two likely lotto picks this year, but we are still in good shape. I think the last thing the FO wants to do now after this whole family preaching thing is make huge trades of key players of our team.

[OGBAH]

Highly reputable respectable website of award winning immaculate journalism had us trading Knight for D.Rose.

[NavLDO]

I don't want anything to do with a Portland trade that does not have Allen Crabbe coming back to us.

I would also like to keep Alex for now. His PER right now is higher than Adams's. This whole "focus on defense and rebounding" thing may just get him where he needs to go. Not everyone has a center that can stifle Drummond. I'll be interested to see how he fares against Brook Lopez and, eventually, against The Process. I also like the idea of being able to alternate Len, Bender and Chriss on KAT.

I completely agree; I was just putting something together that would work. I'm actually hoping Len can string more games together like what he just did a couple nights ago.

But that's been Len's biggest failure so far, is consistency. he's more likely to come out looking flat on D, and miss a bunch of jumpers/hooks on O, than he is to putting together, say... a 16/12/2BLK/1STL game with over 80% FT. I REALLY hope this marks a turning point for him...

[NavLDO]

Suns- Aldridge
Spurs- Chriss, Bledsoe

yeah, lets go back to being a treadmill team. All that does for us is make us good enough to sneak into the playoffs and no where good bad enough for a good pick. TREADMILL TEAM.

I know, right! Booker and Warren were horrible picks at 13 and 14 respectively, yet Len, taken at 5 has made himself into that top talent we're building around!

I don't want Aldridge either...at least not for Bledsoe and Chriss, but honestly, there are strong draft classes, and others not so strong, so playing for a 'pick position' all the while with a Lottery System in place which guarantees nothing, is a great idea!

I want to play our rookies so they'll get experience playing with the guys we are building around--Booker and Warren, and to some degree, Bledsoe--not so we can try to position ourselves for another top 5 pick. We are NOT a TREADMILL TEAM, and never were; we were building talent and moving players left and right; that's not what treadmill teams do. 'Treadmill Teams' don' trade the team's top starters/talent (Scola, Dudley, Dragic, Gortat, IT, Kieff, etc.) for draft picks and young, budding talent (Bledsoe, and yes, even Knight--even if they didn't get it right, the intention was there).

[alphagorilla]

Knight for Saric, one way or another philly need to get their logjam crises fixed

[NavLDO]

That game was an outlier though. Dame was tired because him and Bledsoe really went after each other the night before. Paul isn't a good matchup for him, but it won't be as bad as last night in the playoffs.

Plumlee is a fine player, but he's obviously the weak link when they matchup with serious title contenders. Leonard and Vonleh haven't stepped up. They need a big.

I'm not saying they don't need a big. They do, and they'd be better. Title contender? It all depends on how much GS has regressed, if any. They could be almost as good as some of the other top teams, and Paul will get older so they could pass them up eventually, but the biggest factor is what you consider a title contender? Is getting to the WCF enough? Was Toronto a title contender last year?

There just seem to be fewer title contenders year after year.

And not sure if this response has anything to do with Chandler being good for them (he would if he played hard) but I don't think we are trading him after the news that just came out.

Yeah. We aren't a great trade partner. The truth is if we do trade Chandler we should be trying to get a young backup center back and a pick imo. Maybe that's too steep, but he is playing well now and there are a couple teams desperate for a rim protector (Houston, for instance).

I like Crabbe, but his deal is huge (18.5/year) and we have a ton already invested in our guards. I think we have other and better plans for that money over the next 2 offseasons. And besides that they matched his deal because Portland feels he is worth that. Doubt they'd dump him for Chandler at this point.

Trade Chandler with the idea of the pick being the primary value. Same for Tucker. Drafting is our strength very clearly. We should keep tapping that avenue to build, even if it does take longer.

Yeah, I don't get why anyone would want Crabbe. Who are we playing him ahead of??? Booker?? Warren?? Because if we are paying someone $18.5M, they better be the star we are building around for the future, and sorry, but Crabbe is not better than Warren, and doesn't even come close to the upside of booker or Booker.

Great. He shoots better from the FT line; too bad he hardly ever gets there. He shoots the 3-Ball pretty well, but his WS/48 and PER are below our guys. He doesn't rebound nearly as well as our other SFs. Bottom line, he's not close to being worth $75M over 4 years; one of the worst contracts of the summer, and that's saying something, because there were me pretty bad ones.

Here's the SF rankings in 'per year' salary:

LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Carmelo Anthony
Harrison Barnes (oof)
Chandler Parsons
Kawhi Leonard

List is looking pretty good so far...and then???

Allen Crabbe (double 'oof')

I know, it was the summer of 'bad contracts, but when Crabbe is getting paid more than the likes of Paul George, Gordon Heyward, and Gallinari, then something is amiss.

Sorry, got off track there, but yes, if we are going to make a trade, it needs to be guys like Chandler or Tucker, and yes Knight. And the only way we trade Bledsoe would be to ensure were getting, at the least, a passable starting, young, PG in return.

[NavLDO]

We are not trading Chandler. At least not any time soon. I mean they just released an article saying they approached him about trade offers and he said he loved the direction and the Suns and wants to stay here. And then he just dealt with a personal tragedy at the same time they released that news. He is good for our team right now. We don't really seem to have any holes for the future except potentially at PG and C, but Len has played well the last two games, and eventually Bender could probably play a bit there in small ball , but we can address both of those positions in the next 2 drafts with 3 first round picks.

I wouldn't be surprised if we keep Chandler for his entire contract and he became like a big man coach after that.

All good points, BW. I find myself getting caught-up in the youth movement and 'throw' Tyson into trade scenarios in order to get younger, but honestly, we need some veteran influence like Dudley, Chandler, and Tucker...and even Barbosa, to an extent, to help mold these youngsters into true NBA talents, and if we get rid of too many of them, we likely end up like the T-Wolves; there's a difference between having 36 and 40 YO mentors who are past their prime (Prince/Garnett) that do not produce much on the court, and having a Dudley, Tucker, and Chandler who are three guys still getting it done on the court AND providing that mentorship.

[NavLDO]

Lol. Because he's 34, makes $13 mil a year, and the rest of the team's key players are 19-26.

All good points and yet, we have to spend the money somewhere. And we'd need to replace him and even a mediocre replacement would likely cost almost as much as Tyson does. I might consider trading him if a title contender threw a sweet deal at us but even then, I'd only agree to it if Tyson also had interest.

2 things go entirely against this logic imo. 1. Tyson cannot possibly help us when we end up contenders. That is tied to the window of the 19-26 year olds. Tyson is simply too old and will be long retired by the time the team is a real contender.
2. We don't need a mediocre replacement. I'm not saying we should try to lose, but a lot of the stuff I read as reasons for wanting Chandler like defense and rebounding are to help us win today. Winning today is irrelevant imo. Not unless we're trying to win via Free Agency.

The only reason to keep Chandler that is truly valid imo is leadership. Either way, having him and Tucker is overkill imo. Tucker is the guy who should've been traded for 2 years or so at this point, but Chandler's real value to this team (leadership, teaching) isn't worth $13 mil imo. There are other leaders we could sign who can help us there.

I'm not saying we should be dumping Tyson, but if anybody out there offers a first and a young player, even if middling, who fits our age range we should jump at it imo.

Tucker is the priority though. He's an FA who will end up increasing his salary and doesn't have the leadership value of Tyson. He tries hard on the court, but I don't at all understand how that makes him worth keeping for this team. He needs to be a role player on a contender who needs a perimeter defender, not a young team who has a SF who is better than him already and another combo forward who defends incredibly well for his age.

All said, I can buy the logic for keeping Chandler and Dudley. Dudley signed here for the very purpose that he's serving now (be a good teammate and develop the youngsters). I cannot find that logic with Tucker. Not at all. Not when we already have Tyson and Dudley. Even so, if anybody offers something good for either we should jump. And Tyson is playing well enough and there are teams who are contending with a big enough need that I think we could get something good.

I seem to remember a few games ago when Chandler was out, a certain PJ Tucker practically shutdown the opposing team's interior big man, and he's averaging 18mpg.

Dudley's avg'ing 24mpg, and Chandler, right now, is our best Center. I know you are looking to the future, but in order for us to HAVE a future, we need these guys to provide the on-court guidance and examples that they are providing; there's a lot of communication going on ON the court, that were these Vets NOT there, our young guys wouldn't benefit from it.

I'm starting to embrace the Tucker/Dudley/Chandler/Barbosa on-court leadership and examples. It makes no sense to TRY to trade Tucker, IMO. He's easily earning his, what, $5.5M? And Chandler's our best Center right now AND he wants to be here--that's huge, IMO.

So unless a competitive team comes a callin' at the deadline with a deal McD can't pass up, I see no reason to try to trade these guys this season. Let's let our youngsters get a 'stable' season this year, without a bunch of turnover, so we can see what we have going forward, and what adjustments we need to make over the summer. I think that's my stance right now, and if a trade does take place, I hope McD ensures that the player(s) being traded are ok with being traded, and not pull another Marcus Morris debacle.

[carey]

I'm cool with keeping everyone except #11. (Even though I'm ready to sell Len stock.)

Brandon Knight has got to go. Hey-hey. Ho-ho.

[Gorilla Warfare]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/243957/Kings-Open-To-Trading-Willie-Cauley-Stein

I would be interested in Willie Cauley-Stein for his defense. Plus, now that we got rid of Archie we need another Wildcat.

Kings can have Knight and/or Tucker.

[jcsunsfan]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/243957/Kings-Open-To-Trading-Willie-Cauley-Stein

I would be interested in Willie Cauley-Stein for his defense. Plus, now that we got rid of Archie we need another Wildcat.

Kings can have Knight and/or Tucker.

I thought Sac wanted to trade because of his poor D.

[gaspar]

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[AtheJ415]

All good points and yet, we have to spend the money somewhere. And we'd need to replace him and even a mediocre replacement would likely cost almost as much as Tyson does. I might consider trading him if a title contender threw a sweet deal at us but even then, I'd only agree to it if Tyson also had interest.

2 things go entirely against this logic imo. 1. Tyson cannot possibly help us when we end up contenders. That is tied to the window of the 19-26 year olds. Tyson is simply too old and will be long retired by the time the team is a real contender.
2. We don't need a mediocre replacement. I'm not saying we should try to lose, but a lot of the stuff I read as reasons for wanting Chandler like defense and rebounding are to help us win today. Winning today is irrelevant imo. Not unless we're trying to win via Free Agency.

The only reason to keep Chandler that is truly valid imo is leadership. Either way, having him and Tucker is overkill imo. Tucker is the guy who should've been traded for 2 years or so at this point, but Chandler's real value to this team (leadership, teaching) isn't worth $13 mil imo. There are other leaders we could sign who can help us there.

I'm not saying we should be dumping Tyson, but if anybody out there offers a first and a young player, even if middling, who fits our age range we should jump at it imo.

Tucker is the priority though. He's an FA who will end up increasing his salary and doesn't have the leadership value of Tyson. He tries hard on the court, but I don't at all understand how that makes him worth keeping for this team. He needs to be a role player on a contender who needs a perimeter defender, not a young team who has a SF who is better than him already and another combo forward who defends incredibly well for his age.

All said, I can buy the logic for keeping Chandler and Dudley. Dudley signed here for the very purpose that he's serving now (be a good teammate and develop the youngsters). I cannot find that logic with Tucker. Not at all. Not when we already have Tyson and Dudley. Even so, if anybody offers something good for either we should jump. And Tyson is playing well enough and there are teams who are contending with a big enough need that I think we could get something good.

I seem to remember a few games ago when Chandler was out, a certain PJ Tucker practically shutdown the opposing team's interior big man, and he's averaging 18mpg.

Dudley's avg'ing 24mpg, and Chandler, right now, is our best Center. I know you are looking to the future, but in order for us to HAVE a future, we need these guys to provide the on-court guidance and examples that they are providing; there's a lot of communication going on ON the court, that were these Vets NOT there, our young guys wouldn't benefit from it.

I'm starting to embrace the Tucker/Dudley/Chandler/Barbosa on-court leadership and examples. It makes no sense to TRY to trade Tucker, IMO. He's easily earning his, what, $5.5M? And Chandler's our best Center right now AND he wants to be here--that's huge, IMO.

So unless a competitive team comes a callin' at the deadline with a deal McD can't pass up, I see no reason to try to trade these guys this season. Let's let our youngsters get a 'stable' season this year, without a bunch of turnover, so we can see what we have going forward, and what adjustments we need to make over the summer. I think that's my stance right now, and if a trade does take place, I hope McD ensures that the player(s) being traded are ok with being traded, and not pull another Marcus Morris debacle.

PJ's bright moments are few and far between. Yes, he has the occasional monster game, but his effort is the only example. He showed up out of shape right after signing his biggest deal ever and proceeded to get a super extreme DUI. He has not added to his game in 3 years, and has led us nowhere. I never hear of Tucker being some sort of real leader the way you hear about Dudley and Chandler. PJ is expendable across the board, and him helping us win a couple more games this year isn't good logic imo, and his VORP isn't great to begin with so a couple more games is probably a stretch.

[NTB]

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[NTB]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/11/12/fastest-show-nba-phoenix-suns-vs-brooklyn-nets/93722384/

The fastest two teams in the NBA meet on Saturday night. The Suns are playing at the league's fastest pace (104.4 possessions per game) with the Nets ranking second (103.6 per game) under new coach Kenny Atkinson, a former Atlanta assistant, after ranking 21st for pace last season.

“Our pace can get better,” Suns coach Earl Watson said. “We have bigs who can run the court. If you can have big involved running the court and finishing, I think it would take our pace to another level. We have young bigs who are learning the NBA game and how to be effective. Eventually, they’ll figure out the flow of the fastbreak. We have bigs who can run as fast as guards, which is a gift and a positive for us. We have to wait for them to develop in that area.”

* Suns center Tyson Chandler remains not with the team following his mother’s passing on Tuesday.

Watson said Booker still has been bothered by the turf toe that sidelined him for a game on Oct. 31. He went three for nine from the field for 11 points, all in the second half, on Wednesday against Detroit.

“The toe injury lingers,” Watson said. “He never makes excuses.”

“We love playing with Eastern Conference teams,” Watson said. “They are more physical in the post. Their bigs are physical and we have a physical, aggressive team. A-Len held his own pretty well and did an amazing job. What I like most about A-Len is he capitalized on the small things, the X-factor things. Deflections, attacking the basket, blocks, rebounds, boxing out, just controlling and dominating the paint.”

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Just need to say: with all the trade proposals we consider here, the very best case scenario for us is the team winning and all our rotation guys playing well. Ideally, we don't trade anyone.

[NavLDO]

Knight for Saric, one way or another philly need to get their logjam crises fixed

I would in a heartbeat, as would any Suns' fan, but we'd have to give up a lot more, I'm afraid.

[NavLDO]

Just need to say: with all the trade proposals we consider here, the very best case scenario for us is the team winning and all our rotation guys playing well. Ideally, we don't trade anyone.

As I mentioned higher up the page:

All good points, BW. I find myself getting caught-up in the youth movement and 'throw' Tyson into trade scenarios in order to get younger, but honestly, we need some veteran influence like Dudley, Chandler, and Tucker...and even Barbosa, to an extent, to help mold these youngsters into true NBA talents, and if we get rid of too many of them, we likely end up like the T-Wolves; there's a difference between having 36 and 40 YO mentors who are past their prime (Prince/Garnett) that do not produce much on the court, and having a Dudley, Tucker, and Chandler who are three guys still getting it done on the court AND providing that mentorship.

[NavLDO]

2 things go entirely against this logic imo. 1. Tyson cannot possibly help us when we end up contenders. That is tied to the window of the 19-26 year olds. Tyson is simply too old and will be long retired by the time the team is a real contender.
2. We don't need a mediocre replacement. I'm not saying we should try to lose, but a lot of the stuff I read as reasons for wanting Chandler like defense and rebounding are to help us win today. Winning today is irrelevant imo. Not unless we're trying to win via Free Agency.

The only reason to keep Chandler that is truly valid imo is leadership. Either way, having him and Tucker is overkill imo. Tucker is the guy who should've been traded for 2 years or so at this point, but Chandler's real value to this team (leadership, teaching) isn't worth $13 mil imo. There are other leaders we could sign who can help us there.

I'm not saying we should be dumping Tyson, but if anybody out there offers a first and a young player, even if middling, who fits our age range we should jump at it imo.

Tucker is the priority though. He's an FA who will end up increasing his salary and doesn't have the leadership value of Tyson. He tries hard on the court, but I don't at all understand how that makes him worth keeping for this team. He needs to be a role player on a contender who needs a perimeter defender, not a young team who has a SF who is better than him already and another combo forward who defends incredibly well for his age.

All said, I can buy the logic for keeping Chandler and Dudley. Dudley signed here for the very purpose that he's serving now (be a good teammate and develop the youngsters). I cannot find that logic with Tucker. Not at all. Not when we already have Tyson and Dudley. Even so, if anybody offers something good for either we should jump. And Tyson is playing well enough and there are teams who are contending with a big enough need that I think we could get something good.

I seem to remember a few games ago when Chandler was out, a certain PJ Tucker practically shutdown the opposing team's interior big man, and he's averaging 18mpg.

Dudley's avg'ing 24mpg, and Chandler, right now, is our best Center. I know you are looking to the future, but in order for us to HAVE a future, we need these guys to provide the on-court guidance and examples that they are providing; there's a lot of communication going on ON the court, that were these Vets NOT there, our young guys wouldn't benefit from it.

I'm starting to embrace the Tucker/Dudley/Chandler/Barbosa on-court leadership and examples. It makes no sense to TRY to trade Tucker, IMO. He's easily earning his, what, $5.5M? And Chandler's our best Center right now AND he wants to be here--that's huge, IMO.

So unless a competitive team comes a callin' at the deadline with a deal McD can't pass up, I see no reason to try to trade these guys this season. Let's let our youngsters get a 'stable' season this year, without a bunch of turnover, so we can see what we have going forward, and what adjustments we need to make over the summer. I think that's my stance right now, and if a trade does take place, I hope McD ensures that the player(s) being traded are ok with being traded, and not pull another Marcus Morris debacle.

PJ's bright moments are few and far between. Yes, he has the occasional monster game, but his effort is the only example. He showed up out of shape right after signing his biggest deal ever and proceeded to get a super extreme DUI. He has not added to his game in 3 years, and has led us nowhere. I never hear of Tucker being some sort of real leader the way you hear about Dudley and Chandler. PJ is expendable across the board, and him helping us win a couple more games this year isn't good logic imo, and his VORP isn't great to begin with so a couple more games is probably a stretch.

To me, Tucker offers more than what shows up on the scoreboard. We just drafted 2 'Forwards', which Tucker plays both positions, and his enthusiasm, and ability to be tenacious down low I not something that is going to show up in a box score...and besides, these guys weren't around for those 'bad' Tucker incidents; I honestly believe he's moved on from that.

How many guys are there with 7' Wingspans that can sub-in at all 3 front-court positions, and do it for $5.5M? Naw, keep Tucker until the end of his contract to help solidify the Watson 'family' construct.