Letting Chriss go was a mistake

[Russ Smith]

I heard on a podcast that the almost certainly the Warriors will be cutting Chriss. I believe it's not because he sucks (although it could be that), but because they don't have the money to keep him. The Solar Panel podcast brought it up this morning.

They didn't have the money but they cut McKinnie today. I like McKinnie but he was one of those guys who just wasn't consistent, the only thing he does well outside of jump(great leaper) is rebound, he's very inconsistent as a shooter and defender. In the end I think they kept Chriss because they're so small right now.

Draymond went a bit too far but I think it's fair to say Chriss was in a bad situation in Phoenix because he simply wasn't ready to be as good as Phoenix needed him to be. And playing for Earl Watson didn't help him either. Obviously he bears much of the blame too his work ethic etc but he was a young kid on a team that won just over 20 games the prior year he was a high pick so they were needing more production from him than he was ready to give. He's older now, more mature, and in a situation where the Warriors only need him to do certain things, rebound, protect the rim and dunk anything near the rim. They have much lower expectations for him than the Suns did.

I saw him play in HS he's local to me so I'll pull for him. He was not a smart player at all in Phoenix but the Warriors have specific things they need from him and if he does that, he'll fit in.

 

[pokerface]

If our situation was so bad then why did Devin Booker turn out so good?


How about this....Chriss was a bad player on a bad team. The suns could have done more to turn him around and Chriss could have done more as well. Players make the Franchise...the franchise makes the player.

 

[Hoop Head]

The Pacers might want some of that cash back when they're stuck paying TJ's medical bills in February. Their insurance normally covers those things but since doctors can't find anything physically wrong with him, they don't know how to bill the insurance and will request cash.

 

[Proximo]

If our situation was so bad then why did Devin Booker turn out so good?


How about this....Chriss was a bad player on a bad team. The suns could have done more to turn him around and Chriss could have done more as well. Players make the Franchise...the franchise makes the player.

Exactly. It is stupid to put all the blame on the Suns organization - with that said, I am sure they do deserve some blame.

He still isn't very good. We will see but I don't ever think he will be starter quality.

To me where we screwed up is letting bender go

 

[Proximo]

As for Warren, I just never liked the guy's attitude.

He did not try to mesh with his teammates, and he had an entitled attitude that was not justified with the many deficiencies in his game.

I think he is addition by subtraction, but only time will tell for sure.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Exactly. It is stupid to put all the blame on the Suns organization - with that said, I am sure they do deserve some blame.

He still isn't very good. We will see but I don't ever think he will be starter quality.

To me where we screwed up is letting bender go

I think they deserve a lot of the blame for Bender and even Jackson but the big problem with Chriss was his draft position (IMO). Had he gone much later, as his game warranted, he'd probably have become a rich man's Hakim Warrick. He may still get there but expectations were far too high and we did very little to actually develop our very young core. Apparently just throwing them to the wolves is not actually developing them.

 

[Yuma]

Can't tell me he wouldn't contribute more than Anderson.

Chriss was along with Len our best defender, best help defender, shotblocker.

Can't tell me Ayton would not look better on defense if he was not always the only guy on the court that is expected to challenge drivers that go through our putrid perimeter defense while simultaneously expected to cover Al Horford to not give up a 3pter.

What makes matters even more ridiculous is that we declined the option on Dragan Bender anyway showing we had no interest in keeping Bender either.

Ryan McDonough was truly an awful GM. His reasoning was that Chriss is a poor fit next to Ayton, baloney.

Hopefully our next GM is smart enough to build a team that fits instead of mindlessly chasing after league trends set by other teams with other players.

Aside from the fact his second year he showed up so out of shape, he could hardly play. It took him almost 2/3's of the season to get in shape. I think he and Dudley were hitting Canes every day in the off season.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Has he learned how to duck on a lob pass?

 

[Cheesebeef]

dude airballed a dunk once. A DUNK! He's nothing in this league.

 

[BC867]

Has he learned how to duck on a lob pass?

I know it's a typo. But "duck" is right.

 

[overseascardfan]

Letting Chriss go was not the mistake, taking him instead of Sabonis was the mistake.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Letting Chriss go was not the mistake, taking him instead of Sabonis was the mistake.

I wanted Sabonis that year if we selected lower than 4th but I'd say the biggest mistake was drafting Chriss in the lottery. The next biggest mistake was not developing him properly. We should have hired a developmental coach whose primary responsibility was working with Marquese (and one each for Bender and Jackson too). By the time we reached the point where we were letting him go, it was probably the right move although it rarely makes sense to give up that quickly on known projects.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I wanted Sabonis that year if we selected lower than 4th but I'd say the biggest mistake was drafting Chriss in the lottery. The next biggest mistake was not developing him properly. We should have hired a developmental coach whose primary responsibility was working with Marquese (and one each for Bender and Jackson too). By the time we reached the point where we were letting him go, it was probably the right move although it rarely makes sense to give up that quickly on known projects.

Who on this roster would you cut to resign Chriss? Not that he is available, just as a question. Not Saric or Kaminski.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Who on this roster would you cut to resign Chriss? Not that he is available, just as a question. Not Saric or Kaminski.

I didn't mean to suggest that I'm missing Chriss, just that we made some very poor decisions along the way. Chriss isn't better, right now, than any of these guys but IMO he still has more untapped potential than any of the quasi power forwards we have.

I have felt since right around the draft that we sold off a bit of our future in order to not be horrible today. I'm still not enamored of that trade-off although I recognize the pressure the front office must have been under to make us competitive quickly. So, when I talk about Chriss like this, I'm not lamenting his loss so much as I'm regretting that we didn't develop those 3 properly.

 

[elindholm]

Who on this roster would you cut to resign Chriss? Not that he is available, just as a question. Not Saric or Kaminski.

Tyler Johnson.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Tyler Johnson.

That expiring should be valuable around the trade deadline. Tj will be traded this year unless he morphs into a core player for us.

 

[AZCrazy]

We need to stop drafting 18 year olds and expecting them to dominate. Guys don't reach their prime till 26-29.

 

[elindholm]

That expiring should be valuable around the trade deadline.

That's what we always say.

 

[Ronin]

That's what we always say.

Every year.

 

[Ronin]

We need to stop drafting 18 year olds projects and expecting them to dominate. Guys don't reach their prime till 26-29.

FTFY.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

We need to stop drafting 18 year olds and expecting them to dominate. Guys don't reach their prime till 26-29.

But but but they've got potential !

 

[Mainstreet]

Who on this roster would you cut to resign Chriss? Not that he is available, just as a question. Not Saric or Kaminski.

I'm not interested in Chriss but the odd man out for the Suns is likely Okobo if they find a trade.

Tyler Johnson might be a trade candidate at the trade deadline.

 

[Phrazbit]

Expiring contracts are only trade pieces if you're willing to take back someone that is being paid a roughly equal amount per season but typically on a longer deal, non-contending teams generally are not looking to take on that kind of money.

Simply put... I doubt Tyler Johnson becomes a trade piece for us.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Expiring contracts are only trade pieces if you're willing to take back someone that is being paid a roughly equal amount per season but typically on a longer deal, non-contending teams generally are not looking to take on that kind of money.

Simply put... I doubt Tyler Johnson becomes a trade piece for us.

Charlie Brown Syndrome runs rampant on this board about certain things.

 

[Mainstreet]

Expiring contracts are only trade pieces if you're willing to take back someone that is being paid a roughly equal amount per season but typically on a longer deal, non-contending teams generally are not looking to take on that kind of money.

Simply put... I doubt Tyler Johnson becomes a trade piece for us.

This is the idea if the Suns get a chance to upgrade their roster at the trade deadline. The Suns would be looking for a player that could significantly improve their team.

Tyler Johnson is an $19,245,370 expiring contract. Any number of players and picks could be attached for a key player that becomes available that makes approximately this amount of salary or more.

If an example is needed think the Porzingis trade. Maybe even Aaron Gordon becomes available.