2023 Phoenix Suns Offseason

[Phrazbit]

If you listen to Blazers fans, he has trouble guarding big centers which is quite logical considering his lack of size.

I don't think you can really game plan around stopping Jokic.

Ayton used to be one of the better against him, he got shredded, Jokic then tore through Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, 2 of the best defensive bigs in the league.

I agree with the notion that to beat Denver you need to take advantage of their defensive weaknesses and focus on shutting down the supporting cast.

 

[Hoop Head]

But they aren't - Denver does have at least as weak a bench now, and nobody is saying anything about it.

Denver are the defending champs while we got smoked on our home floor 2 years running. We shouldn't be the favorite until we win something. 2 games isn't enough, that's 1 more than Minnesota and you don't see them celebrating 1 win against the champs for a reason.

 

[GatorAZ]

Again who is Denver's bench - Chris Braun and?

We may not have a great bench - but actually I think it will be at least decent - Eric Gordon, Eubanks, Payne, Okogie

But again nobody seems to understand the value of Beal - Beal means we get to play Booker and Durant for 40 minutes a game in the playoffs and still always have two stars on the court. Denver can't do that - they only have 2.

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The Suns have the best roster in the league but I get the concerns when your best player has reoccurring soft tissue problem and your second best player suffers significant injuries every year. Beal is no iron man either…. The plus on DA is even though he’s mid as hell he’s at least reliable from a durability aspect.

 

[Covert Rain]

Again who is Denver's bench - Chris Braun and?

We may not have a great bench - but actually I think it will be at least decent - Eric Gordon, Eubanks, Payne, Okogie

But again nobody seems to understand the value of Beal - Beal means we get to play Booker and Durant for 40 minutes a game in the playoffs and still always have two stars on the court. Denver can't do that - they only have 2.

Not saying I disagree with it but the logic isn't absurd. All things being equal, they are saying that had the Suns had money they would have gone for better bench players. They are not really disagreeing the Suns got great value for minimum contracts.

 

[Yuma]

I don't think you can really game plan around stopping Jokic.

Ayton used to be one of the better against him, he got shredded, Jokic then tore through Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, 2 of the best defensive bigs in the league.

I agree with the notion that to beat Denver you need to take advantage of their defensive weaknesses and focus on shutting down the supporting cast.

One of the better analysis I saw of our moves this off season is they interpret the Suns realizing you cannot fully out defense Denver to win. They are too strong as long as their guys around Jokic are healthy. So the Suns idea is to boost their offense, make Denver player harder on D, and boost our overall defense enough to slow them down.

 

[Germz249]

So I just listened to an ESPN podcast segment and one of the guys on there was questioning if the Suns will even make the playoffs. I really don't understand the level of doubt our team is recieving.

How is everyone blowing off our success against Denver with essentially just 2 guys, where we literally lost a couple games simply because nobody else could score, and acting like the additions of a Beal and Gordon and Watanabe and Bates Diop - all good 3 point shooters and more would not have won us those games.

I feel like I am in the twilight zone, nobody seems to see what is obvious to me - We Will beat the Nuggets in a playoff series if both teams are healthy - especially since they no longer have Jeff Green and Bruce Brown. That means Denver is the team with no depth, and I will take our big 4 over theirs any day.

I have coworkers who thinks we won’t make the playoffs also. Are we just drinking the koolaid? I honestly just don’t understand it. I feel we have a way better team than last year and we were the 4th seed.

If its just Booker and Ayton.. okay yea I get it.. we were on the edge of being a bubble team with just those 2..

You throw KD into it and yea we are a playoff team. Mid to low seed unless there is an injury early in the season.

Now with Booker, Beal, KD and Ayton.. come on.. you must really have to be a hater to think those 4 can not get you a low seed.

 

[Hoop Head]

I have coworkers who thinks we won’t make the playoffs also. Are we just drinking the koolaid? I honestly just don’t understand it. I feel we have a way better team than last year and we were the 4th seed.

If its just Booker and Ayton.. okay yea I get it.. we were on the edge of being a bubble team with just those 2..

You throw KD into it and yea we are a playoff team. Mid to low seed unless there is an injury early in the season.

Now with Booker, Beal, KD and Ayton.. come on.. you must really have to be a hater to think those 4 can not get you a low seed.

The situations are different but I think people are fresh off seeing the Big 3 of Lebron, AD, and Russ crash and burn so expectations for big 3's are going to be a bit low. You got to admit that Booker, Beal, and KD on paper is an odd big 3. I think they'll make it work but I don't think we're headed to 60+ wins either. I can understand some cautious takes but no playoffs is a step way too far.

 

[GatorAZ]

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Detroit’s versions of Landry Shamet have been identified.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Ishbia is making it Paynestakingly clear - there are zero emotional attachments being considered at this juncture - improving the team - that's it - thru upgrades and better fits

One things for certain - this cat loves to tinker and can more than afford to - but is Ish going to be a "field a team and give it time to play together" kinda guy... or are we going to be the shipping and receiving capital of the NBA?

Either way will be more fun than we're used to

 

[Raindog]

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Detroit’s versions of Landry Shamet have been identified.

LOL... Monty always trying to fix up his daughters. At least Detroit fans know which guys are going to be getting minutes no matter what.

 

[Raindog]

Denver are the defending champs while we got smoked on our home floor 2 years running. We shouldn't be the favorite until we win something. 2 games isn't enough, that's 1 more than Minnesota and you don't see them celebrating 1 win against the champs for a reason.

I have no problem with the defending champs being the favorites. But Boston? Naw, that's ESPN bias crap.

 

[Hoop Head]

I have no problem with the defending champs being the favorites. But Boston? Naw, that's ESPN bias crap.

I agree. I do like the moves Boston made though. They're prime for another move as well if they decide to move Jaylen Brown. If they get Dame for Jaylen, I'd consider them the favorites in the East while the Suns still need to get past Denver so the Suns being #3 or #4 would make sense. I do think we're #2 in the West behind Denver.

 

[GatorAZ]

I agree. I do like the moves Boston made though. They're prime for another move as well if they decide to move Jaylen Brown. If they get Dame for Jaylen, I'd consider them the favorites in the East while the Suns still need to get past Denver so the Suns being #3 or #4 would make sense. I do think we're #2 in the West behind Denver.

I respect Denver as the champs but their roster got marginally worse while ours got significantly better. You could completely remove Beal from this team and we’d still be a better version of the team that just lost to the Nuggets.

 

[Phrazbit]

I respect Denver as the champs but their roster got marginally worse while ours got significantly better. You could completely remove Beal from this team and we’d still be a better version of the team that just lost to the Nuggets.

This team is deeper, but Chris Paul, even at his age, was better than anyone we brought in outside of Beal and on the nights when Paul looked like the Paul of a couple years ago (about 20% of the time) he was a better player than Beal has ever been.

Swapping Paul for Beal was a no brainer, Paul is in obvious decline, he couldn't stay on the court and even when he was able to play he only looked like himself now and then, but Paul was still a damn good player overall.

So many "what if" moments for the Suns, but man... if Paul didn't have to play the finals with torn tendons in his hand... siiiiiigh. Somewhere, somehow, I hope Patrick Beverly is having a horrible night. Maybe his dog is ******** in his bed...

 

[Hoop Head]

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Detroit’s versions of Landry Shamet have been identified.

I thought this was a joke. I know he said it about Shamet, of course, but then I saw video of him saying this about Ausar and Sass. Monty's got issues.

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[AzStevenCal]

The Suns have the best roster in the league but I get the concerns when your best player has reoccurring soft tissue problem and your second best player suffers significant injuries every year. Beal is no iron man either…. The plus on DA is even though he’s mid as hell he’s at least reliable from a durability aspect.

Compared to the stars on this team he's an ironman but compared to an actual ironman (Mikal Bridges) he's missed 89 more games in their 5 seasons in the league and logged more than 3,300 fewer minutes along the way. Fortunately not all his missed time was injury related.

 

[BirdGangThing]

So Monday?

 

[Yuma]

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY! DA NO TRADE REQUEST ENDS TODAY.

 

[Germz249]

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY! DA NO TRADE REQUEST ENDS TODAY.

My sources tells me the Suns are sticking to their guns. They presented a trade package and basically said take it or leave it. The Suns are happy with their roster but will always be open to improve it without giving away the small assets they have. Pacers like their roster also which makes this trade hard. Both teams are high on their players.

Both teams were just put in a high stakes Texas Hold'em poker table with only the 2 and 3 card and were told to bluff. Its just a matter of which team will blink first or go fish.

My sources believes nothing will happen.

 

[CardNots]

My sources tells me the Suns are sticking to their guns. They presented a trade package and basically said take it or leave it. The Suns are happy with their roster but will always be open to improve it without giving away the small assets they have. Pacers like their roster also which makes this trade hard. Both teams are high on their players.

Both teams were just put in a high stakes Texas Hold'em poker table with only the 2 and 3 card and were told to bluff. Its just a matter of which team will blink first or go fish.

My sources believes nothing will happen.

This is a future play for us and there is plenty of future remaining…

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

But they aren't - Denver does have at least as weak a bench now, and nobody is saying anything about it.

I don’t know if it’s weak. It’s largely untested other than Braun. But Braun is a terrific starting point and Watson and zeke nnaji are looked at as potentially talented youngsters. Could pan out. Definitely a gamble.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Nobody wants to trade talent for a quitter, especially when you'd have to pay the quitter $33 million a year

If Vogel is smart he will be accelerAyton the whole process - establish a playoff intensity early in the regular season - giving Ayton tough assignments and demanding accountability. When DeAndre shows he isn't up for the task - Vogel needs to take that to the front office and get him the hell out of Phx asap

 

[Mainstreet]

My sources tells me the Suns are sticking to their guns. They presented a trade package and basically said take it or leave it. The Suns are happy with their roster but will always be open to improve it without giving away the small assets they have. Pacers like their roster also which makes this trade hard. Both teams are high on their players.

Both teams were just put in a high stakes Texas Hold'em poker table with only the 2 and 3 card and were told to bluff. Its just a matter of which team will blink first or go fish.

My sources believes nothing will happen.

The Suns have a 15-man roster, so I assume there must be a trade in the works to add Bol Bol or cut a player like Ish.

Of course, we are still awaiting that Cam Payne trade.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Cam Payne rumored trade was supposed to have resembled this.


By Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports:


New York, Phoenix, and Indiana had exploratory discussions on a three-team trade where Cam Payne would’ve joined the Knicks, TJ McConnell would’ve joined the Suns, and Evan Fournier and draft pick compensation would’ve gone to the Pacers, league sources told HoopsHype. There were also variations of the talks, which involved Jordan Nwora, HoopsHype has learned. Had the trade come to fruition, New York would’ve created a traded player exception of over $19 million. However, talks have since stalled.

NBA rumors: Damian Lillard, Tyler Herro, Pascal Siakam, Knicks, Suns, Pacers, Nets, Mavericks, Hornets

Reporting on trade talks surrounding Damian Lillard, Tyler Herro, Pascal Siakam, a three-team trade discussed by the Knicks, Suns, and Pacers, plus the latest free agency updates on the Nets, Maver…

hoopshype.com

 

[Yuma]

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Gambo says Bol Bol to Suns is DEFINITELY happening. Sometime this next week. No Cam Payne for McConnell. Others have been nixing that Payne for McConnell rumor, too.