With Gentry fired, it seems clear the Suns are going to go full tank mode-finally.
While many of us have been frustrated with Gortat, he's still a viable NBA starting center. Put him on a better team, especially a team w/ a good PG and he can do 15/10 again. He's one of the Suns few highly tradable pieces.
So I thought I'd look around the league at some possible moves using Gortat to help the Suns rebuild:
Trade 1
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
PJ Tucker
Jermaine O'Neal
Thunder send:
Kendrick Perkins
Jeremy Lamb
Perry Jones III
A future 1st Rd pick
Why this trade works:
The Thunder are very good, but Center is clearly their weakness. People have written articles on how bad Perkins has been.
Gortat is an obvious upgrade for the Thunder, and tossing Jermaine O'Neal in the deal in their gives them another defensive minded big body guy.
The Suns unfortunately have to eat Perkins deal, which has 2 years left on it, but its pretty manageable (its never over $10M/year). And really, his big-ish contract helps the Suns get near the salary floor while they rebuild with youth.
The Suns get two young players in Lamb and PJIII that seem to have some potential. Its unlikely that either are stars, but the Suns need to be acquiring young guys either way. If they don't work out here, they can always be assets later on.
The Thunder won't part w/ the Toronto pick they got for Harden, but the Suns should try to get either the pick from Dallas or a future 1st from OKC. They don't need it to be a pick in this years draft though.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade 2
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
Jermaine O'Neal
PJ Tucker
Celtics send:
Avery Bradley
Courtney Lee
Jared Sullinger
Future 1st
Why this trade works:
If the Celtics want to make one more go of it with KG & Pierce, they need some front line help. Gortat would be hugely helpful for KG, taking some of the front court stress off of him. Jermaine O'Neal, while obviously over the hill, can still play a bit as well and helps them up front, especially since they're losing Sullinger in the deal. PJ Tucker gives them a hustling, wing defender to replace the loss of Bradley.
The Suns take back Courtney Lee's slightly big contract for a player like him, but again, it helps get them towards the salary floor w/ out hamstringing them. Avery Bradley is a nice player who might have a ceiling as a Bruce Bowen/Raja Bell type, though he is undersized and needs to work on his 3pt shooting. Jarred Sullinger is already playing well off the bench and could be a nice complimentary player. I don't know if the Suns are sending enough out in this trade to get a future 1st back, but I think they just barely are, so I included it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade 3
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
Jermaine O'Neal
Michael Beasley
Heat send:
Norris Cole
Udonis Haslem
James Jones
Joel Anthony
Dexter Pittman
1st round pick (from Philly, lotto protected this year and for the next 2 years)
Why this trade works:
Obviously Miami's biggest weakness is interior play. Gortat (and O'Neal) solve that issue rather well. Beasley gives them some depth as well, though they may not want him back.
For the Suns this moves Beasley's bad deal. The players the Suns receive back are pretty bad though. Norris Cole is a fine backup PG for Gortat for the long term (in lieu of the older Telfair). Philly's pick should be in the 15-20 range whenever its handed over, so a decent player might be acquired there. Anthony and Haslems contracts are too long, but theyre not bad enough to hamstring the Suns.
Im not sure Miami would even bother to do this trade, especially taking Beasley, but it would further strengthen their lock on the title. Getting Gortat and more importantly keeping him away from OKC or Boston helps them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade 4:
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
Michael Beasley
Bucks send:
Drew Gooden
John Henson
Future 1st
Why this trade works
The Bucks already have a pretty deep front court, so this would certainly be strengthening a strength for them. It might be an awkward fit with Gortat & Larry Sanders both starting, one would have to be more of a 4. But they're both athletic and can move, so a 'mini' twin towers set up may work. It also gives the Bucks some more scoring punch which they could use. Beasley is of course a risk, but the Bucks are pretty bad at the 3, so perhaps he gives them a scoring punch.
The Suns take on Goodens bad deal in exchange for Beasleys, and get 2 younger players to develop and a 1st rounder. I'd make sure that 1st doesn't have any kind of lottery protection on it, or if it did, make it lotto protected this year and then unprotected. Milwaukee is always such a volatile franchise, with mediocre talent that could be a high pick.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts? Do any of these make sense for both teams? Like any of them? Obviously the Suns aren't getting stars for anyone on the roster. They need to move guys for young players, picks, pieces, etc.
While many of us have been frustrated with Gortat, he's still a viable NBA starting center. Put him on a better team, especially a team w/ a good PG and he can do 15/10 again. He's one of the Suns few highly tradable pieces.
So I thought I'd look around the league at some possible moves using Gortat to help the Suns rebuild:
Trade 1
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
PJ Tucker
Jermaine O'Neal
Thunder send:
Kendrick Perkins
Jeremy Lamb
Perry Jones III
A future 1st Rd pick
Why this trade works:
The Thunder are very good, but Center is clearly their weakness. People have written articles on how bad Perkins has been.
Gortat is an obvious upgrade for the Thunder, and tossing Jermaine O'Neal in the deal in their gives them another defensive minded big body guy.
The Suns unfortunately have to eat Perkins deal, which has 2 years left on it, but its pretty manageable (its never over $10M/year). And really, his big-ish contract helps the Suns get near the salary floor while they rebuild with youth.
The Suns get two young players in Lamb and PJIII that seem to have some potential. Its unlikely that either are stars, but the Suns need to be acquiring young guys either way. If they don't work out here, they can always be assets later on.
The Thunder won't part w/ the Toronto pick they got for Harden, but the Suns should try to get either the pick from Dallas or a future 1st from OKC. They don't need it to be a pick in this years draft though.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade 2
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
Jermaine O'Neal
PJ Tucker
Celtics send:
Avery Bradley
Courtney Lee
Jared Sullinger
Future 1st
Why this trade works:
If the Celtics want to make one more go of it with KG & Pierce, they need some front line help. Gortat would be hugely helpful for KG, taking some of the front court stress off of him. Jermaine O'Neal, while obviously over the hill, can still play a bit as well and helps them up front, especially since they're losing Sullinger in the deal. PJ Tucker gives them a hustling, wing defender to replace the loss of Bradley.
The Suns take back Courtney Lee's slightly big contract for a player like him, but again, it helps get them towards the salary floor w/ out hamstringing them. Avery Bradley is a nice player who might have a ceiling as a Bruce Bowen/Raja Bell type, though he is undersized and needs to work on his 3pt shooting. Jarred Sullinger is already playing well off the bench and could be a nice complimentary player. I don't know if the Suns are sending enough out in this trade to get a future 1st back, but I think they just barely are, so I included it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade 3
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
Jermaine O'Neal
Michael Beasley
Heat send:
Norris Cole
Udonis Haslem
James Jones
Joel Anthony
Dexter Pittman
1st round pick (from Philly, lotto protected this year and for the next 2 years)
Why this trade works:
Obviously Miami's biggest weakness is interior play. Gortat (and O'Neal) solve that issue rather well. Beasley gives them some depth as well, though they may not want him back.
For the Suns this moves Beasley's bad deal. The players the Suns receive back are pretty bad though. Norris Cole is a fine backup PG for Gortat for the long term (in lieu of the older Telfair). Philly's pick should be in the 15-20 range whenever its handed over, so a decent player might be acquired there. Anthony and Haslems contracts are too long, but theyre not bad enough to hamstring the Suns.
Im not sure Miami would even bother to do this trade, especially taking Beasley, but it would further strengthen their lock on the title. Getting Gortat and more importantly keeping him away from OKC or Boston helps them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade 4:
Suns send:
Marcin Gortat
Michael Beasley
Bucks send:
Drew Gooden
John Henson
Future 1st
Why this trade works
The Bucks already have a pretty deep front court, so this would certainly be strengthening a strength for them. It might be an awkward fit with Gortat & Larry Sanders both starting, one would have to be more of a 4. But they're both athletic and can move, so a 'mini' twin towers set up may work. It also gives the Bucks some more scoring punch which they could use. Beasley is of course a risk, but the Bucks are pretty bad at the 3, so perhaps he gives them a scoring punch.
The Suns take on Goodens bad deal in exchange for Beasleys, and get 2 younger players to develop and a 1st rounder. I'd make sure that 1st doesn't have any kind of lottery protection on it, or if it did, make it lotto protected this year and then unprotected. Milwaukee is always such a volatile franchise, with mediocre talent that could be a high pick.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts? Do any of these make sense for both teams? Like any of them? Obviously the Suns aren't getting stars for anyone on the roster. They need to move guys for young players, picks, pieces, etc.
