Suns Offseason Thread 2: The Hunt for a Blazer Continues!

[AtheJ415]

I will most likely lose that bet. But I can bet against him ever being a top 10 or 5 PF. Unless you go by some cherry picked advanced metrics that skews the picture

Name me 10 better PF's in the league, go... Ill give you the first 4 Tim Duncan, although not sure about this year he is old as F, Love, Nowitski, Aldridge... Ill do you one better name me 5 better under age 30

Kieff is 31st in ranking per Hollinger. In order of preferences young PFs 25 or under I'd take over him; 1) Anthony Davis 2) Blake Griffin 3) Serge Ibaka 4) Derrick Favors 5) Nikola Mirotic. Need I go on? Its not even close

I like Mirotic a lot, but he's done nothing to deserve that distinction over Markieff. His efficiency numbers are higher, but his volume is lower because he's asked to do way less, which makes sense. I think Mirotic has more upside, but I don't think he's any better than Markieff on this suns team. There just aren't guys as offensively good as Markieff at the PF spot, particularly at his age. That is incredibly valuable, particularly at $8 mil a year for the next 5 years. Yes, he needs to improve his porous D and awful rebounding, but that's a good thing because they are low hanging fruit. If he becomes even below average at both he has immense value.

[TeamTragic]

Woj was just on foxsports live and said we're above the lakers and possibly shoulder to shoulder with the spurs. trust woj over some rockets reporter

McD made it a tough decision for LMA

[saintEscaton]

But yeah Hollinger is flawed

[saintEscaton]

We need a hashtag for the campaign

[Sunsdeuce]

Read the piston board they are (most are) super excited about the deal.

Bullock was fools gold for us. He is basically the same thing for them.

Morris is what he is. Maybe Stan van g can turn Morris around. But honestly Morris is on a good deal and can contribute for the Pistons.

Honestly think this trade benefits both teams. We need to separate the twins and cut money.

[TeamTragic]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/616808824981184512[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/616809155785953282[/tweet]

[starbosa10]

OK, I just sent a couple of tweets to Aldridge. Hopefully I sealed the deal.

@aldridge_12 Suns fans want and need a player like you. Spurs are a great team but other than Leonard, the core guys are getting a bit old.

@aldridge_12 Create your own legacy in Phoenix...we need that face of the franchise who elevates us. In SA, the legacy is Duncan/Robinson.

Every Suns fan needs to send a "We Believe #PhxSuns" tweet to DMA

might help tbh haha as crazy as it sounds.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/deulofeu-everton-fans-drew-back-9563181

[JDJ26]

If the Spurs have traded Splitter and Baynes has agreed to sign with the Pistons, who is their starting center? We all know Duncan is considered a power forward and always plays next to a center. How can the Spurs possibly offer a center combination to Aldridge like the Suns can with Chandler and Len.

It's almost splitting (no pun intended) hairs, but Duncan is equally effective at the C spot. Ever since David Robinson left, the Spurs have had rather pedestrian centers. Tiago Splitter? Rasho Nesterovic? Francisco Oberto? Jeff Pendergraph? I do wish that was true, and even though Duncan is regarded as a power forward he played almost twice as minutes at C than PF last season, same in '14, and in '13 all of his minutes were at center (according to 82games.com). While he often may start alongside a Center, the bulk of Timmy's minutes are spent at the 5.

Yes I understand. But Duncan is 39 years old. The Spurs give him rest randomly and save him for the playoffs. How many minutes is he going to play. How many more years is he going to play. It has been widely reported that Aldridge is adamantly against playing center. Well Tyson Chandler is locked up for four years and is still only 32 as of now. Alex Len is on his rookie contract and the Suns can potentially control him for at least the next seven seasons if they choose. Everybody says oh it is the Spurs, they always find good players. Well it is not that easy. The nucleus of their team is Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker. When Duncan and Ginobili are gone, possibly by next year, it will not be the same. You do not lose a player like Duncan and still stay as good as you were with him. It is not possible. He is the greatest power forward of all time and arguably a top five player in NBA history. What can the Spurs say to Aldridge when it comes to longevity after next season? Duncan is going to play until he is 50? That seems totally unrealistic imo.

Even if Aldridge signs with the Spurs and they are title contenders for 1-2 season the team is going to have to rebuild. Its going to be very hard to replace Duncan. Does Aldridge want to go through a rebuild process again like in Portland?

[matt131]

Woj was just on foxsports live and said we're above the lakers and possibly shoulder to shoulder with the spurs. trust woj over some rockets reporter

Eff yeah we're always above the fakers!


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[Moochthemonkey]

Tell you what if Kieff ends up being our starting forward we can bet on it?

I will most likely lose that bet. But I can bet against him ever being a top 10 or 5 PF. Unless you go by some cherry picked advanced metrics that skews the picture

Name me 10 better PF's in the league, go... Ill give you the first 4 Tim Duncan, although not sure about this year he is old as F, Love, Nowitski, Aldridge... Ill do you one better name me 5 better under age 30

Including hybrid players who play significant minutes at the 4: Draymond Green, Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Anthony Davis, Enes Kanter, Zach Randolph, Lemarcus Aldridge, Thaddeus Young (about equal), Chris Bosh, Tobias Harris, Paul Millsap, David West (about equal), Tristan Thompson, Tobias Harris, Greg Monroe. That's 16, 10 under 30. Also can make a case for Serge Ibaka and Al Horford being considered PFs.

[NavLDO]

STFU you ****, I'm obviously talking about the Knicks.

Sorry I miss understood, but you can kindly refrain from name calling, I think, yeah? I was wrong, sure, but really?

I usually don't post like that but I felt your post was pretty abrasive so it was only fair I responded in the same manner or more.

You are exactly right, because that's the mature way to handle it. And you were no where near "in the same manner" and full tilt on the "or more" side of it. By all means, make no attempt at being the better man--just be a 'forum big stud man' and start cussing at will.

And in case you didn't catch it the first time, I apologized and admitted my error--I got caught up in all the negative vibe on the board for finally making an impact signing, and STILL hearing whining, and the fact that you do tend to me more negative than optimistic in your posts, I made an incorrect assumption that you were talking about the Suns, as even though you mentioned the Knicks in a previous post, which I didn't read, you simply used a pronoun--my mistake. I'll make sure to steer clear of you from hear on out, mate, if you're gonna fly off the handle at a somewhat 'abrasive' tone in my post.

But back to business, not sure I'm thrilled with the return for the Marcus/Granger/Bullock trade--a 2020 2nd round pick seems somewhat 'light'--but I guess when you are trading a negative value player (yep, I said it again, but right NOW, Marcus is negative value), a minimal value older vet, and minimal value young guy, I guess it's what we get. Even if we don't get LMA, it still opens space for a run at another guy--maybe Kyle O'Quinn or Tobias Harris? Or trade Kieff, once he's cleared (hopefully) for Sullinger--my man crush!!

[sunskerr]

Definitely if you have a twitter give LMA a tweet. Dont be rude or say bad things about other franchises, but just be nice and respectful while letting him know he'd be a great fit in Phoenix.

[letsgosuns]

It has got to be tough to be a Knicks fan right now. They thought they were going to get the first pick in the draft and got the fourth. They thought they would have a shot at the top free agents and all they have gotten so far is Aaron Afflalo and possibly Robin Lopez. Ouch. What a letdown for them.

[AZWildByNature]

Well, SA fans are certainly tweeting...these are in response to my tweets...I'm sure more are to come.

@aldridge_12 Screw the suns aldridge. Learn to win championships with San Antonio.

I think if people are respectful if they tweet him with solid stuff it could help a little...don't be like the guy above. It likely won't make a difference, but if he thinks the Spurs fan EXPECT a championship and we just want someone to help us get there, I think that's a good thing.

I have been doing my part as a Suns Fan by tweeting LMA and encouraging him to sign here. Trying to hit a nerve that makes him think a lot more of the Suns.
I think LMA makes his decision after the weekend. If he was already decided, why would he waste his time with meeting with the Lakers again and have dinner with the Heat.
I love this picture.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/YehyaHamzeh/status/616792285720678400[/tweet]

[bwgood77]

OK, I just sent a couple of tweets to Aldridge. Hopefully I sealed the deal.

@aldridge_12 Suns fans want and need a player like you. Spurs are a great team but other than Leonard, the core guys are getting a bit old.

@aldridge_12 Create your own legacy in Phoenix...we need that face of the franchise who elevates us. In SA, the legacy is Duncan/Robinson.

Every Suns fan needs to send a "We Believe #PhxSuns" tweet to DMA

might help tbh haha as crazy as it sounds.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/deulofeu-everton-fans-drew-back-9563181

Or maybe tweet him and just say "come be the face of our franchise" and add "like Barkley was" if you want. That has to do a little something. In SA he isn't the face of the franchise.

[AtheJ415]

Name me 10 better PF's in the league, go... Ill give you the first 4 Tim Duncan, although not sure about this year he is old as F, Love, Nowitski, Aldridge... Ill do you one better name me 5 better under age 30

Kieff is 31st in ranking per Hollinger. In order of preferences young PFs 25 or under I'd take over him; 1) Anthony Davis 2) Blake Griffin 3) Serge Ibaka 4) Derrick Favors 5) Nikola Mirotic. Need I go on? Its not even close if you're including under 30 PFs too.

I'll just say a few other things here, Hollinger is a truly awful way to rank a player. It's a made up system by a guy who is less qualified to discuss advanced stats than even me, who created a metric that took hold solely because he happened to work for ESPN. It results in some truly absurd rankings too that force you to call into question its validity.

I think Markieff is an average starter at the 4 spot right now. He's elite in 1 on 1 offensive situations, particularly in the mid-range area, which is where we post him up. In fact, that is where Aldridge is used which is why he's pretty much the perfect mentor for him. I'd very easily take the top 4 PFs on that list, but I don't think there's any below that I would take unless it was based strictly on potential (like Porzingis or Parker). He has not focused and bought in on the defensive and rebounding areas, but that could very easily be due to the lack of leadership and brotherly influence he's had these past couple years. With Chandler and potentially Aldridge holding him accountable, I see no way that doesn't improve. There's no reason given his ability he can't be average at both, which would catapult him into the top 10 overall imo, although with Aldridge those minutes/numbers will never be there. Still, he's 6th man of the year caliber at less than that cost for the next half decade even if he never improves. That's an awesome asset to have.

[Moochthemonkey]

answer to carey...I've tried quoting and posting but for some reason it is not posting..

Yes, I think he is, but for more vet guidance and depth, if we could sign him to a short contract, it would be good. Has ties with Warren too and might help him out.

I'm getting the same problem

RE: letsgosuns
good arguments there, perhaps retweet them to LMA??

[saintEscaton]

woops repost

[letsgosuns]

answer to carey...I've tried quoting and posting but for some reason it is not posting..

Yes, I think he is, but for more vet guidance and depth, if we could sign him to a short contract, it would be good. Has ties with Warren too and might help him out.

I'm getting the same problem

RE: letsgosuns
good arguments there, perhaps retweet them to LMA??

Thanks. I do not have a twitter account though. Haha.

[saintEscaton]

Kieff is 31st in ranking per Hollinger. In order of preferences young PFs 25 or under I'd take over him; 1) Anthony Davis 2) Blake Griffin 3) Serge Ibaka 4) Derrick Favors 5) Nikola Mirotic. Need I go on? Its not even close if you're including under 30 PFs too.

I'll just say a few other things here, Hollinger is a truly awful way to rank a player. It's a made up system by a guy who is less qualified to discuss advanced stats than even me, who created a metric that took hold solely because he happened to work for ESPN. It results in some truly absurd rankings too that force you to call into question its validity.

I think Markieff is an average starter at the 4 spot right now. He's elite in 1 on 1 offensive situations, particularly in the mid-range area, which is where we post him up. In fact, that is where Aldridge is used which is why he's pretty much the perfect mentor for him. I'd very easily take the top 4 PFs on that list, but I don't think there's any below that I would take unless it was based strictly on potential (like Porzingis or Parker). He has not focused and bought in on the defensive and rebounding areas, but that could very easily be due to the lack of leadership and brotherly influence he's had these past couple years. With Chandler and potentially Aldridge holding him accountable, I see no way that doesn't improve. There's no reason given his ability he can't be average at both, which would catapult him into the top 10 overall imo, although with Aldridge those minutes/numbers will never be there. Still, he's 6th man of the year caliber at less than that cost for the next half decade even if he never improves. That's an awesome asset to have.

Good points I agree with everything except I still see his upside as limited