It’s time to quit babying Booker

[AzStevenCal]

Our fate tells us Cleveland will land Zion. I can just feel it. Also I vomit every time I hear the name Antonio Mcdyess[/QUOTE]

What brought his name up?

 

[1Sun]

Our fate tells us Cleveland will land Zion. I can just feel it. Also I vomit every time I hear the name Antonio Mcdyess

I meant prototype physically and in terms of skill set, not mindset and commitment to the Suns.

 

[sdscard4]

His name was brought up a couple posts ago....along with Cliffy ...one of my favorite players from the early 90s

 

[taz02]

Grrrrr... this bugs me. Shocker, I know. Bugs me even more that they're giving him even more responsibility on the court while never being healthy. i know they're backed into that corner when he is healthy, but until that actually happens, this stuff is just going to linger and have him in and out of the lineup.

Let him properly heal, force Koko to adjust and at least TRY and feature Ayton somewhere besides the top of the key and hopefully have a couple different ways to attack on offense when Book gets back healthy.

yes..exactly, maybe this will force some creativity with Ayton.

 

[BC867]

I think we all hope to get a PG and a PF. Nobody's gonna disagree with that, BC. All I am saying is that they should not settle for an average PG if they can draft a star SG just because they have Booker.

Stef, I am trying to understand that point of view. Don't you consider our need for a mid-career Point Guard greater than another smooth shooting Wing, even if we've lost confidence in Book's ability to stay healthy, That position would be much easier to fill on shorter notice. Such a Point Guard feeding Booker, Ayton and Warren would affect four positions.

 

[SirStefan32]

Stef, I am trying to understand that point of view. Don't you consider our need for a mid-career Point Guard greater than another smooth shooting Wing, even if we've lost confidence in Book's ability to stay healthy, That position would be much easier to fill on shorter notice. Such a Point Guard feeding Booker, Ayton and Warren would affect four positions.

All I am saying is don't draft an Eric Bledsoe if you can grab a Victor Oladipo or a Donovan Mitchell, or a Devin Booker, for that matter.

 

[Hoop Head]

Stef, I am trying to understand that point of view. Don't you consider our need for a mid-career Point Guard greater than another smooth shooting Wing, even if we've lost confidence in Book's ability to stay healthy, That position would be much easier to fill on shorter notice. Such a Point Guard feeding Booker, Ayton and Warren would affect four positions.

After how poorly the Suns have been assembled over the last 6 or 7 years we really shouldn't believe that it's easier to fill a need at one position compared to another. We've gone from having too many PG's to none, having a lack of wings to far too many, and too many bigs to having just one player who plays like they're a big. We need to snag the best available player, period. Whatever road we're traveling down where it looks like we can an add a player with NBA talent, we need to stop and pick them up. We do not have enough NBA players in general to pass on anyone who could contribute to this team in a positive manner.

 

[SirStefan32]

After how poorly the Suns have been assembled over the last 6 or 7 years we really shouldn't believe that it's easier to fill a need at one position compared to another. We've gone from having too many PG's to none, having a lack of wings to far too many, and too many bigs to having just one player who plays like they're a big. We need to snag the best available player, period. Whatever road we're traveling down where it looks like we can an add a player with NBA talent, we need to stop and pick them up. We do not have enough NBA players in general to pass on anyone who could contribute to this team in a positive manner.

Exactly.

 

[BC867]

All I am saying is don't draft an Eric Bledsoe if you can grab a Victor Oladipo or a Donovan Mitchell, or a Devin Booker, for that matter.

I agree. Mainly because I don't think a rookie Point Guard is the way to go, especially on our youngster oriented team. IMO, the lead PG position needs to be filled via a trade or free agent signing.

We are a long way from it happening, but, IIRC, it wasn't that long ago that the Suns had a ten-man rotation, where the second unit came in, then sat, as just that -- a unit. Not one but two sets of chemistry. How I would love to see that again. With each unit showing a balance of offense and defense, etc.

 

[SirStefan32]

I agree. Mainly because I don't think a rookie Point Guard is the way to go, especially on our youngster oriented team. IMO, the lead PG position needs to be filled via a trade or free agent signing.

We are a long way from it happening, but, IIRC, it wasn't that long ago that the Suns had a ten-man rotation, where the second unit came in, then sat, as just that -- a unit. Not one but two sets of chemistry. How I would love to see that again. With each unit showing a balance of offense and defense, etc.

We agree on both counts.

 

[AzStevenCal]

His name was brought up a couple posts ago....along with Cliffy ...one of my favorite players from the early 90s

Okay, I must have missed the post.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I agree. Mainly because I don't think a rookie Point Guard is the way to go, especially on our youngster oriented team. IMO, the lead PG position needs to be filled via a trade or free agent signing.

We are a long way from it happening, but, IIRC, it wasn't that long ago that the Suns had a ten-man rotation, where the second unit came in, then sat, as just that -- a unit. Not one but two sets of chemistry. How I would love to see that again. With each unit showing a balance of offense and defense, etc.

So. What vet pg do you want? I agree that we should be looking more at a vet. The trade market does not seem to be there for it though. Free agency next summer is the only realistic path.

 

[Yuma]

So. What vet pg do you want? I agree that we should be looking more at a vet. The trade market does not seem to be there for it though. Free agency next summer is the only realistic path.

So far the only guy I would use my assets on was Lillard. Most of the other guys we were associated with, I was like, meh. It's easy to say we need this or that, but if this or that is not available, then what?

 

[1Sun]

So far the only guy I would use my assets on was Lillard. Most of the other guys we were associated with, I was like, meh. It's easy to say we need this or that, but if this or that is not available, then what?

"Meh" is still better than "oh God, no"...

 

[Mainstreet]

If Igor wanted that then I think Bender would have seen some real minutes by now. I know he's far from a finished product but he's in that mold, so is Ryan Anderson except for not being a Euro. I would like to see us get a more physical PF like Williamson could be. I'm not sure who fits that bill that's in the league now that would be available but I can't see us going the Euro route after Bender. I know I was interested in Favors last offseason but I can't see him and Ayton coexisting all that well in our frontcourt.

You make some solid points about about Igor not going the Euro route. Also the Suns passed on Doncic although I'm not sure how much input Igor had in the matter. I think the selection of Okobo was going BPA.

 

[BC867]

So. What vet pg do you want? I agree that we should be looking more at a vet. The trade market does not seem to be there for it though. Free agency next summer is the only realistic path.

Sadly, I think you're right. I hope Devin Booker's hopes (and his influence on the rest of the team) can hold out for still another season of bringing up the rear.

 

[1Sun]

Sadly, I think you're right. I hope Devin Booker's hopes (and his influence on the rest of the team) can hold out for still another season of bringing up the rear.

I maintain that any of the following could be acquired for a reasonable package costing us no more valuable of an asset than the Milwaukee pick:

Delon Wright
Spencer Dinwiddie
Tyus Jones
Cory Joseph
George Hill

And any of them could slide into a natural back-up point guard role (leaving Okobo to fill his more natural position as Barbosa-type instant offense off the bench) if we are fortunate enough to upgrade in free agency over the summer while at the same time relieving us from the point guard hell in which we are stuck now and giving us a safety net from preventing it repeating next summer.

 

[Errntknght]

I maintain that any of the following could be acquired for a reasonable package costing us no more valuable of an asset than the Milwaukee pick:

Delon Wright
Spencer Dinwiddie
Tyus Jones
Cory Joseph
George Hill

And any of them could slide into a natural back-up point guard role (leaving Okobo to fill his more natural position as Barbosa-type instant offense off the bench) if we are fortunate enough to upgrade in free agency over the summer while at the same time relieving us from the point guard hell in which we are stuck now and giving us a safety net from preventing it repeating next summer.

I doubt that any of them would be willing to come here and play back up, certainly not Hill or Dinwiddie. I wouldn't be surprised if it would take our own pick to get one of those two. Jones is having an off year shooting so he might be a possibility. We'd be betting on a change of scenery getting him back on track but the scenery here is outright bad.
Delon Wright has had some injury problems and his assist numbers way doen but not his TOs... shooting numbers are fine however. Toronto isn't heavily relying on him but I'm not sure the Milw pick would get them salivating. Pacers are clicking and Joseph seems to be an important cog so they would probably be reluctant to let him go cheaply.

 

[Mainstreet]

Sadly, I think you're right. I hope Devin Booker's hopes (and his influence on the rest of the team) can hold out for still another season of bringing up the rear.

I think the Suns are trying to wait until December 15th to trade Ariza for a point guard. The Suns should consider resting Booker until he becomes healthy. I suspect the two events might coincide around this date.

 

[sunsfan88]

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[ColdPickleNachos]

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The paraphrase felt harsher to me.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Yeah, the guy has been 22 for almost 3 months now and is only carrying the weight of this team on his shoulders, we absolutely should stop babying him. I swear, I have never seen a player picked apart at his age like Booker has been here (and especially on RealGM). He can go for 35 and someone will complain about him missing a defensive assignment and failing to get his scrubs involved as the game closes. He's not where we want or need him to be but let's not lose perspective, he plays circles around his teammates most nights.

 

[95pro]

Problem for me is that he has signs of Carmelo to me. Lots of offense. No wins. Sporadic defense. Over dribbling, ball stopping, seemingly not knowing what to do most times. Yes we can say he’s not a pg but he can make a choice to pass the ball early instead of dribbling away 2/3 of the shot clock. His points come at the cost of team efficiency.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Problem for me is that he has signs of Carmelo to me. Lots of offense. No wins. Sporadic defense. Over dribbling, ball stopping, seemingly not knowing what to do most times. Yes we can say he’s not a pg but he can make a choice to pass the ball early instead of dribbling away 2/3 of the shot clock. His points come at the cost of team efficiency.

You've had it in your mind for awhile that he's the problem not the answer and so you watch him with that on your mind and seriously, few players can survive that kind of critical scrutiny. And I think it's beyond unreasonable to expect a 22 year old kid to lead this group to a bunch of wins.

Booker is nothing like Carmelo and he certainly isn't the hero ball, me first player you're often accusing him of being. He does too much of that late in the game but he's trying to figure out how to get people involved while trying to live up to being "the man" in the 4th quarter. He needs to learn how to do this better but he's nowhere near the ball hog Carmelo was from the tip to the final buzzer. Melo for example had a career assist% of 15.5, Devin's at 34.2 this season. And Booker is 11th in the NBA for assists, Carmelo never had more than 4.1 per game in a season and his career average was 3 per.

 

[BC867]

Problem for me is that he has signs of Carmelo to me. Lots of offense. No wins. Sporadic defense. Over dribbling, ball stopping, seemingly not knowing what to do most times. Yes we can say he’s not a pg but he can make a choice to pass the ball early instead of dribbling away 2/3 of the shot clock. His points come at the cost of team efficiency.

You're right! He's not a Point Guard. I think the problem is that some fans expect him to be as good an instant fill-in Point Guard as he is a scoring Shooting Guard.

One doesn't equal the other. Completely separate expectations. But human nature says that is hard to distinguish. I just hope that Sarver's desperation short cuts don't ruin our best players . . . or drive them away. If he does, he should be locked up for abuse of young men.