Present depth chart

[Mainstreet]

Why does everyone assume that the brothers would be anguished to be split up? Being on different teams hasn't bothered the Lopezes. Has Markieff played any better since Marcus joined the Suns? Not that I've noticed.

Seriously, an argument can be made Marcus played better in Houston. I do think the brothers like to be together though.

 

[Folster]

PG: Goran Dragic, Kendall Marshall, Ish Smith
SG: Eric Bledsoe, Archie Goodwin, Shannon Brown, Dionte Christmas
SF: PJ Tucker, Gerald Green, Marcus Morris
PF: Markieff Morris, Miles Plumlee
C: Marcin Gortat, Alex Len, Viacheslav Kravtsov

Injured: Channing Frye

If Channing comes back we'll need to cut someone. I'm assuming Christmas will be that casualty. His signing is a bit peculiar considering our logjam at the guard positions. And, we are really weak at power forward. I imagine we'll see some more player movement as opportunities present themselves.

One minor concern that I have about McDonough is that he seems to zero in on players/prospects early and stay fixated on them despite their development. We've seen this with work to his advantage with guys like Rondo, but it may be an issue if Len washes out. He seems to have been fans of Green and Christmas for years now and we all know he had been watching Len since he was a young kid. I just hope he knows/learns when to cut bait if the player isn't going to realize his potential.

 

[Griffin]

If Channing comes back we'll need to cut someone.

Whether or not Frye plays next season he will still be on the Suns roster, unless they waive him or trade him. Thus, the Suns will need to cut someone regardless (they actually have to cut two players since Lee is still on the roster, but he will most likely be the first victim).

 

[Phrazbit]

Lee, Ish Smith, Kavasktatozovov... we dont have a shortage of guys eligible for the guillotine.

 

[Errntknght]

Not Ishmael... not too soon anyway... I want to see how he plays. I think he's going to be a really tough little cookie.

 

[Neo]

PG: Goran Dragic, Ish Smith
SG: Eric Bledsoe, Archie Goodwin, Dionte Christmas
SF: PJ Tucker, Gerald Green, Marcus Morris
PF: Markieff Morris, Miles Plumlee
C: Channing Frye, Alex Len, Viacheslav Kravtsov

Injured: Emeka Okafor

All I can say is "Wow!" That is one . . . . interesting . . . special . . ummmmm. . . unique roster. We have two good players, Dragic and Bledsoe, and they both play the same position. This is going to be an interesting season.

 

[BC867]

PG: Goran Dragic, Ish Smith
SG: Eric Bledsoe, Archie Goodwin, Dionte Christmas
SF: PJ Tucker, Gerald Green, Marcus Morris
PF: Markieff Morris, Miles Plumlee
C: Channing Frye, Alex Len, Viacheslav Kravtsov

Injured: Emeka Okafor

Two days ago, Miles Plumlee was announced as our starting Center.

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2...iles-plumlee-from-throw-in-to-starting-center

 

[elindholm]

Two days ago, Miles Plumlee was announced as our starting Center.

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2...iles-plumlee-from-throw-in-to-starting-center

Um, did you read the article? It's just speculation by the guy who wrote it.

 

[Mainstreet]

Um, did you read the article? It's just speculation by the guy who wrote it.

I have read elsewhere Plumlee will be the Suns starting center. A Paul Coro article dated 10-25-13 at azcentral indicates such.

The Suns took a step back competitively for the coming season while settling their roster. The trade makes Miles Plumlee a starting center in place of Gortat and picks speedy Ish Smith as the spot backup point guard over Marshall, who failed to live up to being last year’s No. 13 overall pick.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...-to-player-trade-with-washington-wizards.html

 

[BC867]

Yes, I had seen that article, too, on AzRepublic/AzCentral.com. The one I referenced was a more entertaining version.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yes, I had seen that article, too, on AzRepublic/AzCentral.com. The one I referenced was a more entertaining version.

Always going for the thrills BC867.

Indeed it was more entertaining.

 

[sunsfan88]

Um, did you read the article? It's just speculation by the guy who wrote it.

Pretty sure that the GM of the team said he will be the starter.

 

[Neo]

PG: 107 Goran Dragic, 445 Ish Smith
SG: 61 Eric Bledsoe, 352 Archie Goodwin, NR Dionte Christmas
SF: 354 PJ Tucker, 326 Gerald Green, 262 Marcus Morris
PF: 292 Channing Frye, 247 Markieff Morris,
C: 414 Miles Plumlee, 269 Alex Len, 453 Viacheslav Kravtsov

Injured: 138 Emeka Okafor

I moved Plumlee to the starting center position and moved Frye to the starting power forward and also included everyone on the team's NBA rank from ESPN's player rankings. I put those rankings next to everyone because I was starting to think that maybe I was to pessimistic and maybe we actually have a bunch of solid players. Apparently not.

 

[elindholm]

Did you find the rankings all in one place, or did you have to hunt through each small set to find everyone? If the latter, I applaud you for your patience!

In any case, you're right, this roster is terrible -- although I do think Frye would be ranked at least 100 positions higher if not for his health questions. (For reference, with 30 teams in the league, the top 150 would be starters, if they were all equally distributed.)

I'm surprised at how high Bledsoe is ranked. #61 means good enough to be the third-best player on an average team. Really?

 

[Neo]

Did you find the rankings all in one place, or did you have to hunt through each small set to find everyone? If the latter, I applaud you for your patience!

In any case, you're right, this roster is terrible -- although I do think Frye would be ranked at least 100 positions higher if not for his health questions. (For reference, with 30 teams in the league, the top 150 would be starters, if they were all equally distributed.)

I'm surprised at how high Bledsoe is ranked. #61 means good enough to be the third-best player on an average team. Really?

ESPN lets you look it up by team, so I just had to look at Washington and Phoenix because the list has not been updated since the trade.

Following your line of thought about if talent were equally distributed in the league, everyone in the 8 or 9 man rotation would be in the top 240 or 270, depending on the rotation. By ESPN's estimation we only have two healthy players worthy of getting significant minutes, much less starting. The twins and Len are good enough to be the fourth guy off the bench.

I start to think "how could this get worse?" then I just have to look at the Sixers' roster and console myself with the fact that we have a new GM and lots of picks coming.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I start to think "how could this get worse?" then I just have to look at the Sixers' roster and console myself with the fact that we have a new GM and lots of picks coming.

Are you kidding? Worse was last year. Bad GM, bad coach (Hunter), team in disarray, no plan.

Now we've cleared out the clutter, we have young players with potential and a boatload of picks. We have Goran and Bledsoe, and while they are not top two type players on a team, they are good young talent, both of them. We have Archie, Len, and Plumlee surprising. We also have Green to give us a little entertainment for the year while not spoiling our chances at ping pong balls.

Beasley is gone, Shannon Brown is gone. We have a competent coach who has ties to the organization, is known to be a teacher. We have a young GM who seems to get it, and while not every move has been a home run, they all have been sound.

I am looking forward to this year.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I'm surprised at how high Bledsoe is ranked. #61 means good enough to be the third-best player on an average team. Really?

Yes, I think that is about right for Bledsoe. Goran should be a little lower. He is probably a #4 guy, which is a terrible talent level. Usually teams go for a "big three" and then fill ins. So a guy who is not quite good enough to crack the top 3 on an average team is in no mans land.

 

[Neo]

Are you kidding? Worse was last year. Bad GM, bad coach (Hunter), team in disarray, no plan.

I am strictly talking about roster quality when I wonder if it could get worse. There is much more hope for the future now, but the present is just ugly. At the beginning of last season we had two quality big men in Gortat, Scola. We had Dudley and Telfair who could shoot from outside.

Our starting center is going to set a career high for minutes in a season by the 3rd game. Our best outside shooter is the coach. Our only two starter quality players play the same position.

I still look forward to this year and to seeing how Len, Goodwin, Bledsoe and Plumlee develop. But I am not counting on winning a lot of games with this young core.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Looking at where they have PJ Tucker rated I'd have to seriously question their system. I suspect our total puts us solidly in the running for worst team ever. We'll see.

Steve

 

[JCSunsfan]

Looking at where they have PJ Tucker rated I'd have to seriously question their system. I suspect our total puts us solidly in the running for worst team ever. We'll see.

Steve

Am I getting that right? PJ Tucker is 354, so with 30 teams he is the 12th man on a lower tier team. Hmmm.

Oh, and Plum, Krav, and Ish do not even belong on an NBA roster according to their ranking.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Am I getting that right? PJ Tucker is 354, so with 30 teams he is the 12th man on a lower tier team. Hmmm.

Oh, and Plum, Krav, and Ish do not even belong on an NBA roster according to their ranking.

Yeah, that's about the way I took it. I don't think we are world beaters this year but I'm not convinced we'll be historically bad like that rating suggests.

Steve

 

[Neo]

The rankings are based upon dozens of ESPN associated baskteball writers voting on a players predicted level of play on a scale of 1-10. In order to know what kind of player Tucker is one either needs to be a Suns fan or watch a TON of baskteball. How many Suns games do you think your average non-Suns fan wathed last year? They are rarely on national TV. Thus, for your average sports writer Tucker is a 5 points per game SG that has played in 96 NBA games since he was drafted in '06.

Plum, Krav and Ish have yet to show that they really belong on an NBA roster. Did the three of them combine for as many minutes as Beasley got last season? As Suns fans we are looking at these guys a lot more than your average NBA observer and so many of us take issue with these rankings.

We have an unproven roster. Hopefully that proves to be a good thing and guys like Plumlee end up being steals, rather than throw-ins. I don't have a lot of hope for Ish and Krastov but I think that Plumlee could easily be Little Jake or Lou Admonson type of player for us, which is pretty good given the price.

 

[Superbone]

The rankings are based upon dozens of ESPN associated baskteball writers voting on a players predicted level of play on a scale of 1-10. In order to know what kind of player Tucker is one either needs to be a Suns fan or watch a TON of baskteball. How many Suns games do you think your average non-Suns fan wathed last year? They are rarely on national TV. Thus, for your average sports writer Tucker is a 5 points per game SG that has played in 96 NBA games since he was drafted in '06.

So, in other words, the list is invalid.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Yeah, that's about the way I took it. I don't think we are world beaters this year but I'm not convinced we'll be historically bad like that rating suggests.

Steve

So, its unlikely that this team will underachieve.

 

[AzStevenCal]

So, its unlikely that this team will underachieve.

lol. No, it's not likely we'll underachieve. It's a much more likely bet that we'll have posters complaining that we're overachieving. If it were up to me though we'd have a moratorium on those kind of posts at least until the final month or so.

Steve