Grizzlies @ Suns 3-30-19

[Hoop Head]

I doubt they are looking for $7 million players in free agency. They are looking for a quality veteran pg. The rest will be minimum signings. That is my guess anyway.

And we should have the cap room to sign a veteran PG without needing to move JJ. If we end up needing to free up a few million to sign our target(s) then there are other ways to get it than dumping JJ. I'd rank dumping JJ low on the list of ways to free up extra space. Trading Warren would be my main goal, his cap hit is $10.8 million. Stretching Tyler Johnson is another. Trading Johnson is also a possibility and I'd be willing to include the Bucks pick to make that happen. I'd throw in Melton or Okobo as well if it meant trading Johnson somewhere that gave us around $15 million in cap relief. He's on the books for $19 million so that would mean a team a that would only look to send us someone who is due $4-5 million or less. Melton and Okobo are on guaranteed deals next year and their cap hits are the same, $1.5 million a piece. I don't think we need to keep both. Trading JJ would land here, after all of those other options is exhausted.

I hope we can move Warren and at this point I'm fine if we only get a 2nd rounder and cap relief in return. I think that should be possible also. Some team will be looking for talent during the draft and that's when we should shop him hard. I'm tired of his weird injuries. He's been out for almost 2 months now with a bruise, not a tear or break but a bruise. I wonder if there was a deal in place prior to the deadline that fell apart for some reason and it's been pushed to the draft to complete it. That would make more sense than missing 2 months with a bruise. I don't know why the other team would want him sitting that long but that could be the Suns making that call because we don't want him pouting. I know he has that bonus if he hits a couple more 3's though and that was mentioned in one of the injury updates Duane Ranking has covered.

Here's our cap numbers for next year...

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/phoenix-suns/cap/2019/

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

And we should have the cap room to sign a veteran PG without needing to move JJ. If we end up needing to free up a few million to sign our target(s) then there are other ways to get it than dumping JJ. I'd rank dumping JJ low on the list of ways to free up extra space. Trading Warren would be my main goal, his cap hit is $10.8 million. Stretching Tyler Johnson is another. Trading Johnson is also a possibility and I'd be willing to include the Bucks pick to make that happen. I'd throw in Melton or Okobo as well if it meant trading Johnson somewhere that gave us around $15 million in cap relief. He's on the books for $19 million so that would mean a team a that would only look to send us someone who is due $4-5 million or less. Melton and Okobo are on guaranteed deals next year and their cap hits are the same, $1.5 million a piece. I don't think we need to keep both. Trading JJ would land here, after all of those other options is exhausted.

I hope we can move Warren and at this point I'm fine if we only get a 2nd rounder and cap relief in return. I think that should be possible also. Some team will be looking for talent during the draft and that's when we should shop him hard. I'm tired of his weird injuries. He's been out for almost 2 months now with a bruise, not a tear or break but a bruise. I wonder if there was a deal in place prior to the deadline that fell apart for some reason and it's been pushed to the draft to complete it. That would make more sense than missing 2 months with a bruise. I don't know why the other team would want him sitting that long but that could be the Suns making that call because we don't want him pouting. I know he has that bonus if he hits a couple more 3's though and that was mentioned in one of the injury updates Duane Ranking has covered.

Here's our cap numbers for next year...

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/phoenix-suns/cap/2019/

Doesn’t make sense to just give away Warren.

 

[Hoop Head]

Doesn’t make sense to just give away Warren.

If we're giving away a player I'd rather that be Warren than Jackson. Warren needs to go, whether he's given away or traded for some sort of value. He's too unreliable to be a starter and when he's not starting he's too moody to produce.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

If we're giving away a player I'd rather that be Warren than Jackson. Warren needs to go, whether he's given away or traded for some sort of value. He's too unreliable to be a starter and when he's not starting he's too moody to produce.

He has to have some sort of value. He can give a team 15-20 efficient points off the bench or as a starter. I would love to flip him and maybe the Milwaukee pick for a solid PF that can shoot, rebound and defend at a decent level. Or if we can find that guy in free agency than maybe we can trade Warren in a package that nets us a decent starting PG.

 

[leclerc]

I hope we can all be a little more positive and supportive of all our players (they are all "superstars") rather than dooming them, calling them useless and stupid, and wanting to cut them before they've turned 22 and got their feet set. That's just me. If I get tired of the yapping I know where the ignore button is.

Getting on Sarver I'm okay with. "He's so tight he squeaks when he walks."

 

[Cheesebeef]

Doesn’t make sense to just give away Warren.

it's addition by subtraction, especially in terms of the salary cap and hoping to be able to sign Oubre. Also, everyone knows he's kind of a one trick pony... who can't stay healthy. He only averages 50 games per year healthy over his career. Don't know that there'd be all that big of a market for him.

 

[elindholm]

it's addition by subtraction, especially in terms of the salary cap and hoping to be able to sign Oubre. Also, everyone knows he's kind of a one trick pony... who can't stay healthy. He only averages 50 games per year healthy over his career. Don't know that there'd be all that big of a market for him.

Yeah, unfortunately, any increase in value Warren might have enjoyed as a result of his improved three-point shooting has been negated by him blowing off the last three months of the season with a sprained ankle. Anyone acquiring him is going to see him as a player who is in it only for himself and who could quit on his team at any moment. I can't see him fetching much of a return at all.

 

[Krangodnzr]

it's addition by subtraction, especially in terms of the salary cap and hoping to be able to sign Oubre. Also, everyone knows he's kind of a one trick pony... who can't stay healthy. He only averages 50 games per year healthy over his career. Don't know that there'd be all that big of a market for him.

I wonder how much his availability is effected by being on a losing team.

I think TJ could be worth a late 1st round and that's about it.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I wonder how much his availability is effected by being on a losing team.

I think TJ could be worth a late 1st round and that's about it.

agreed. I think that's best case scenario.

 

[95pro]

I think Warren well still garner a lot of interest. It seems like teams care way too much about 3pt shooting, just the direction of the league, and TJ has proven to be a high % shooter. When we give him up, we will be considered fools because "analysts" don't know much about the suns roster, or even care, and they'll see the percentage he was putting up. Injuries are part of the NBA, everyone realizes that, I mean heck from the Kristaps to the Knights, there's always a roster spot for someone coming off of injuries.

 

[Sunburn]

TJ is still a highly efficient scorer on a very good contract. If what's being speculated is all that we can get for him, I'd just as soon keep him.

 

[95pro]

If we can get TJ and JJ to work together on that second unit, they could be a formidable combo. Just wishing.

 

[AzStevenCal]

TJ is still a highly efficient scorer on a very good contract. If what's being speculated is all that we can get for him, I'd just as soon keep him.

I have some concerns about him but yeah, I see no value in giving him away. At least not until there's a real reason, not just clearing space on the off chance we can use it. But he's very tight lipped and the organization has been that way too so we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. If he's at odds over his role or something like that and he's actually a distraction because of it, that changes everything.

 

[BC867]

I hope we can all be a little more positive and supportive of all our players (they are all "superstars") rather than dooming them, calling them useless and stupid, and wanting to cut them before they've turned 22 and got their feet set. That's just me. If I get tired of the yapping I know where the ignore button is.

Getting on Sarver I'm okay with. "He's so tight he squeaks when he walks."

I appreciate your points. But it is not what they are "all", it is what they are "each".

Just as on any job (even those that don't pay millions of dollars per year), "each" player is indeed responsible for his attitude and performance.

Responsible to the team, to the League and, certainly, to the fans. We support our players, but we have the right, especially on a board such as this, to evaluate them.

Commend them if they are performing well. Criticize them if they are not. That goes for management as well.

 

[Hoop Head]

I know Warren has been out for a while but I didn't realize how many games he missed until I looked it up. He's played in just 43 games this season and the Suns have played 78 at this point. For a comparison, our rookie PG's have surpassed him in games played with Okobo playing in 49 and Okobo 46 games. Both of them spent a few stretches in the G-League and Melton was injured for a couple of weeks. Oubre has only been with the team since late December and even though he's been shutdown after having surgery he's played in 40 games. Bender and Daniels spent large stretches out of the rotation and glued to the bench but both have played more than TJ, with Bender playing in 42 games so far and Daniels in 47. Bender needs to play in 1 more game to equal TJ's total but I don't see that as an issue.

TJ missing that much time for a bruise is crazy. There wasn't an incident in a game that caused his injury either, he was just done. He went down within a week of Melton being hurt also and I recall Duane Rankin mentioning that Melton was on crutches for his ankle but TJ wasn't. It took Melton about a month to return while he slowly worked his way back, going from crutches to a boot to nothing and then finally returning. TJ has participated in shoot arounds with the team since late February but still isn't ready to return and all of the beat writers have discussed how Kokoskov, Jones, and Warren deny that he's shutdown and say he will return this season. He's got 4 games now.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I know Warren has been out for a while but I didn't realize how many games he missed until I looked it up. He's played in just 43 games this season and the Suns have played 78 at this point. For a comparison, our rookie PG's have surpassed him in games played with Okobo playing in 49 and Okobo 46 games. Both of them spent a few stretches in the G-League and Melton was injured for a couple of weeks. Oubre has only been with the team since late December and even though he's been shutdown after having surgery he's played in 40 games. Bender and Daniels spent large stretches out of the rotation and glued to the bench but both have played more than TJ, with Bender playing in 42 games so far and Daniels in 47. Bender needs to play in 1 more game to equal TJ's total but I don't see that as an issue.

TJ missing that much time for a bruise is crazy. There wasn't an incident in a game that caused his injury either, he was just done. He went down within a week of Melton being hurt also and I recall Duane Rankin mentioning that Melton was on crutches for his ankle but TJ wasn't. It took Melton about a month to return while he slowly worked his way back, going from crutches to a boot to nothing and then finally returning. TJ has participated in shoot arounds with the team since late February but still isn't ready to return and all of the beat writers have discussed how Kokoskov, Jones, and Warren deny that he's shutdown and say he will return this season. He's got 4 games now.

The thing is, I believe the injury pre-dates our awareness of it. I know Koko said something like they weren't going to let him play on it anymore until he was fully pain free. From what I've read it can take months for something like that to completely heal. And what if the initial injury is from 3 or 4 years ago? We just don't know. I just wish there was more info coming out about it (and him).

 

[Hoop Head]

The thing is, I believe the injury pre-dates our awareness of it. I know Koko said something like they weren't going to let him play on it anymore and we're going to sit him until he was fully pain free. From what I've read it can take months for something like that to fully heal. And what if the initial injury is from 3 or 4 years ago? We just don't know. I just wish there was more info coming out about it (and him).

Most of Warren's injuries have been very hush hush, like his mysterious head injury that had him stay in the hospital for 3-4 days a few years back. What made that even stranger was how he stayed in an Indianapolis hospital also and there was no word it was that serious until he was released. I understand players deserve from privacy in regards to their health status but with Warren we always know so little about what is bothering him that raises more concern.

I do remember Igor saying something like that though, that it was something he'd been playing with for a little while. I don't think it was anything he came into the season with but who knows what the deal is. I hope it hasn't killed his trade value completely.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Most of Warren's injuries have been very hush hush, like his mysterious head injury that had him stay in the hospital for 3-4 days a few years back. What made that even stranger was how he stayed in an Indianapolis hospital also and there was no word it was that serious until he was released. I understand players deserve from privacy in regards to their health status but with Warren we always know so little about what is bothering him that raises more concern.

I do remember Igor saying something like that though, that it was something he'd been playing with for a little while. I don't think it was anything he came into the season with but who knows what the deal is. I hope it hasn't killed his trade value completely.

Yeah, I have no idea how long he'd been dealing with it, I was just allowing for the possibility it was much longer than any of us realized. And that earlier illness was very weird. There was a story going around on a Suns FB group and RGM I believe that it was an infection caused by a recent ear piercing but who knows?