2015-16 Around the NBA

[Hoop Head]

Isaiah Thomas makes the Eastern Conference All Stars. I think he's deserving of his spot, averaging 21.6 & 6.6 assists. He was the least valued PG Phoenix had last season but he's the first to actually make an All Star game. They sold really low on him, getting an expiring contract and late 1st rounder. I don't know how well a backcourt of IT & Bledsoe would have worked out had they held onto him after trading Dragic but I would rather have IT than Knight.


http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/012816-no-debate-isaiah-thomas-is-an-all-star

 

[hcsilla]

Smarter teams like Dallas quickly punish a starting backcourt involving IT: in the first five minutes of 1st quarter Deron Williams posted up Thomas and scored over him at least 3 times.

But you can survive this as you can see from BOS' 26-21 record.

In hindsight the Suns should have to kept Thomas and not to traded for Knight.
Now we still would have to Lakers pick and Thomas who we could get at least a late lottery pick for.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Nah. The best you can hope for with Thomas is mediocreville. He will get you wins but your team will never be good. We were in that rut too long already. Not sure if Knight is the answer but I know Thomas isn't.

I would do the Knight for Russell trade if the Lakers would.

 

[hcsilla]

I would do the Knight for Russell trade if the Lakers would.

They would have to add either Williams or Young for salary purposes, but they wouldn't do it anyway, IMO.

If they land #3, I think that they will move that earlier (for Knight) than Russell.

 

[Catlover]

Russell appears to be clashing with their Coach and with Kobe. He's not quite the ready-made superstar some thought he'd be. And he's more of a me-first player than you'd want your point guard to be. Not to mention, as long as he's on the team he'll always be compared to Porzingis, the player they should have drafted. Maybe if they move him now for a seasoned veteran they can silence some of the whispers?

I was rambling in the paragraph above, not sure if I believe any of it (other than the part about drafting Porzingis). I just figured those issues are probably behind the thinking either of the Lakers or whoever made up the rumor that they are looking to deal him already. As for me, I can't see them moving him on his rookie contract unless someone comes in with a great offer. And I don't know why someone would bail out the Lakers with a great offer. He's still a few weeks from saying goodbye to his teens so he has plenty of time to become a star but he's not going to help you win much for a couple of years.

 

[slinslin]

https://twitter.com/hoopscritic/status/692806041176768515

I would trade for him in a heartbeat as long as it doesn't involve Booker. He's getting destroyed under the horrible system that Byron Scott has there and is maybe not living up to the pressure in those bright Los Angeles Staple Center lights.

Still has more PG ability than anyone we have.

??????????

He takes bad shots, he takes a lot of shots, he loves to dribble only to shoot a pull-up jumper.

His rookie stats are extremely similiar to Brandon Knights.

His assist numbers are poor.

Clearly you are taking the "grass is always greener" approach here when you say he has more PG ability than anyone we have. Or you simply have no clue.

 

[Phrazbit]

https://twitter.com/hoopscritic/status/692806041176768515

I would trade for him in a heartbeat as long as it doesn't involve Booker. He's getting destroyed under the horrible system that Byron Scott has there and is maybe not living up to the pressure in those bright Los Angeles Staple Center lights.

Still has more PG ability than anyone we have.

Nice source, Russell's name isn't even spelled correctly.

 

[95pro]

Russell shouldn't have gone #2 as the Lakers picked on need rather than best player available.

 

[Catlover]

Russell shouldn't have gone #2 as the Lakers picked on need rather than best player available.

Need probably played a part but probably only in the choice between Okafor and Russell. And that still might end up being the right call. But there's no doubt that Porzingis and Towns should have gone 1 and 2.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Russell shouldn't have gone #2 as the Lakers picked on need rather than best player available.

the Lakers had needs EVERYWHERE... and already had Clarkson who's Russel-ish. They believed Russel was the best player available over Okafor and Porzingis.

 

[Errntknght]

I don't like Knight but I wouldn't jump for joy if we traded him for Russell - unless the latter is a top flight defender. I assume he isn't since no one has mentioned it. His stats say he's a combo guard - more of shooter than a playmaker: 4.5 assists/36 and ATO ratio of 1.5 along with 15+ shots/36. With a little improvement he'll be a statistical duplicate of Knight.

 

[sunsfan88]

I wonder if LA has interest in Knight. I'd be for trading Knight for Russell straight up.

I doubt the Lakers would even consider that.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Raptors are reportedly interested in trading for PJ Tucker. I hope the Suns are interested.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/240665/Raptors-Interested-In-Trading-For-PJ-Tucker

 

[fatosber]

The Raptors are reportedly interested in trading for PJ Tucker. I hope the Suns are interested.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/240665/Raptors-Interested-In-Trading-For-PJ-Tucker

They are interested in Markieff as well as per Marc Stein

 

[slinslin]

I don't like Knight but I wouldn't jump for joy if we traded him for Russell - unless the latter is a top flight defender. I assume he isn't since no one has mentioned it. His stats say he's a combo guard - more of shooter than a playmaker: 4.5 assists/36 and ATO ratio of 1.5 along with 15+ shots/36. With a little improvement he'll be a statistical duplicate of Knight.

I don't like Russell's attitude. He is not humble at all, extremely cocky, takes stupid shots..

Yeah he is a lot like what Suns fans love to bitch about constantly.

 

[JCSunsfan]

There is a thread about this. This just feels like something is going to happen. Toronto is the type of team that would be really motivated to do this.

 

[Mainstreet]

There are trade rumors that the Nuggets and 76ers have had trade talks about Blake Griffin.

Sam Amico
‏@AmicoHoops

Both Sixers and Nuggets have had discussions with Clippers about Blake Griffin, per league sources. @sn_nba earlier reported Nuggets talks.

I wish the Suns had something to offer of interest. I'm guessing the Clippers would want a forward in return.

https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops

 

[JCSunsfan]

There are trade rumors that the Nuggets and 76ers have had trade talks about Blake Griffin.



I wish the Suns had something to offer of interest. I'm guessing the Clippers would want a forward in return.

https://twitter.com/AmicoHoops

I know he is a superstar and all, but he is a horrible human being. I would hate trading for him. He is not Johnny Manziel, but close.

 

[Catlover]

I know he is a superstar and all, but he is a horrible human being. I would hate trading for him. He is not Johnny Manziel, but close.

Is he? I'm not saying he's not, just that I don't really know much about him. I know I hate the way he acts on the court and we know he punched out a smaller guy but I don't know that either fact makes him a horrible human being? What shapes your opinion of him?

 

[Cheesebeef]

I know he is a superstar and all, but he is a horrible human being. I would hate trading for him. He is not Johnny Manziel, but close.

he's not anything close. He's a huge presence in LA with charities, is a great NBA player who got into a fist-fight with a trainer, who was apparently a friend of his. Johnny Manziel is a spoiled rich kid who doesn't care about his teammates, abuses alcohol and drugs, reportedly beats his girlfriend and sucks at his given sport.

there's no comparison at all between the guys.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Ok. You are right. Manziel is an unfair comparison.

 

[chickenhead]

Not that Phoenix isn't a fun place to live, but if Blake especially digs the LA celebrity scene, I don't know that he'll be happy about being traded anywhere short of the Lakers, Heat, or maybe one of the NYC teams.

Anything on the record about how he and Bledsoe got along when both were Clippers? I can't remember. (I also see very little chance of them being reunited in PHX.)

 

[Hoop Head]

It looks like the Bucks are looking to move Monroe and MCW. They made the playoffs last year in spite of them being picked as one of the worst teams going into the season. They surprised a lot of people by moving Knight at the trade deadline, who many thought should have been an All-Star in Milwaukee. They had a good record at the time and ended up making the playoffs anyways. Kidd benched MCW earlier in the season and he still hasn't played like he did in his rookie year in Philly. I'm not a big fan of him but when all the moves were made last year I would have rather had MCW in exchange for the Lakers pick and kept Ennis and Plumlee around as backups. If Hornacek was still the coach or we're deadset on going with a 2 PG system I think pairing MCW with Bledsoe would work better than the Knight/Bledsoe pairing because Carter-Williams is a pass first PG with legit size and could guard SG's defensively, allowing Bledsoe to cover opposing PG's. I think MCW is better at getting his teammates involved than Bledsoe is, it also allows Bledsoe to attack more offensively without wearing himself down running the offense. I'm not sure that Phoenix would have any interest in Monroe since he's more of a Center than PF and we have Chandler and Len locked in there.

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2016/02/bucks-open-to-trading-greg-monroe-carter-williams.html

I wonder if the Bucks would like Knight back?

A trade would work with Markieff & Knight for Parker, Mayo, and Vasquez. Mayo & Vasquez are expiring deals but Parker at PF here would be interesting. Mayo might be able to fill the Gerald Green role of instant offense off of the bench and Vasquez would provide a veteran PG presence on a team without a healthy playmaker. Of course including Ennis in the deal would be something that would make both teams seem foolish but now that Knight is locked into a 5 year deal the Bucks could spin it because they didn't think they could afford to keep him at years end last season. Now that's he under contract with the cap going up next season his deal might not seem that bad to a team that hasn't been as good since they've let him go. They'd still have Giannis, Middleton, and Monroe. They wouldn't lose anyone they acquired in the Knight trade from last season. Markieff could also start alongside Monroe. I think Milwaukee gets the better of the trade, maybe sending a pick back to Phoenix in the deal also?

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine/?tradeId=jfxwd5y

 

[Chaplin]

I'm confused. You find a headline saying that the Bucks are wanting to offload Monroe and MCW, but propose a trade with Parker, Mayo and Vasquez. Huh? Mayo and Vasquez are fill-ins, but Parker is probably their #1 untouchable--that's why they said they'd trade Monroe and MCW, not Parker.

Besides, McD would NEVER do that trade anyway since it is so lopsided in the Bucks favor.

 

[Catlover]

Kidd benched MCW earlier in the season and he still hasn't played like he did in his rookie year in Philly.

Yes he has and that's why they don't want him in Philadelphia or in Milwaukee apparently. He didn't win Rookie of the Year because he was a good rookie, he won it because Philadelphia traded away all the veterans and let him pretend to be the star. He was well equipped to give them what they wanted, the worst record in the NBA. He's not a horrible player but he's better at getting his numbers than he is at winning and even at his best he's no better than an average player. Knight has played much better at his best than MCW ever has. And Knight is actually a few months younger than MCW.

I wish we hadn't traded Thomas nor traded away the Lakers pick. But doing it for MCW instead of Brandon would have made a bad situation even worse IMO. Plumlee had outstayed his welcome in Phoenix and Ennis doesn't look to be any more than, eventually, a 3rd string point guard.