Rate the 2020 Offseason

[Hoop Head]

True Class.

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Scumbag

He could always overpay for a Knight jersey, if he were still in the league.

I guess he could overpay for an Ariza jersey.

 

[Mainstreet]

And Ryan McDonough keeps burning bridges.

 

[GatorAZ]

How does someone with a brother in a NFL front office for years and father who was one of the most well respected sports writers have zero circuitry when it comes to PR?

 

[Yuma]

How does someone with a brother in a NFL front office for years and father who was one of the most well respected sports writers have zero circuitry when it comes to PR?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

True Class.

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Scumbag

He’s intent on never working in the nba again.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

You should read the comments for the Tweet. They are hilarious.

I especially liked this one.

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Man that cuts deep . . . and accurate.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Man that cuts deep . . . and accurate.

That tweet forgot legendary coach igor kokoskov who apparently couldn’t speak English well enough to communicate with his players effectively.

 

[Mainstreet]

He’s intent on never working in the nba again.

He has spent much of his career working in the NBA. My guess is one day he will want to return. He is making that journey back needlessly harder.

 

[Proximo]

He’s intent on never working in the nba again.

I think he figured out a few months ago the nba was intent on him never working for them again.

This is his form of coping is my read of the situation.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He’s intent on never working in the nba again.

Despite his almost Sheldon-like understanding of human behavior he's a pretty smart man. Smart enough to know he's already living his future. He realizes there will be no return to glory for him so he's trying to generate interest for his radio, tv and internet gigs. But once again he completely misses how human beings will react to his comments. He should have stayed away from judging personnel decisions, he can make all the noise he wants as long as he aims at everyone's punching bag.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Despite his almost Sheldon-like understanding of human behavior he's a pretty smart man. Smart enough to know he's already living his future. He realizes there will be no return to glory for him so he's trying to generate interest for his radio, tv and internet gigs. But once again he completely misses how human beings will react to his comments. He should have stayed away from judging personnel decisions, he can make all the noise he wants as long as he aims at everyone's punching bag.

i hated McD during his time here. Now I just pity him. He’s beyond pathetic at this point.

 

[Mainstreet]

If Ryan McDonough had worked to reinvent his image in the NBA, he could have probably returned to a scouting or an executive position in the league. He had a lot of good years in the NBA and was even a runner up to NBA Executive of the Year Award one season. That's why I say, never burn bridges.

Who knows. Maybe he ends up becoming an NBA analyst or commentator somewhere.

 

[JCSunsfan]

How does someone with a brother in a NFL front office for years and father who was one of the most well respected sports writers have zero circuitry when it comes to PR?

This whole thing is quite embarrassing to me because I defended him quite a bit. He seems to be clueless about people, which explains a lot about things that happened during that time. Outgoing players during that time took more swipes at McD than Sarver and some of what Sarver is trying to live down now was McD’s doing. Not trying to defend Sarver here, just trying to understand the situation better.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If Ryan McDonough had worked to reinvent his image in the NBA, he could have probably returned to a scouting or an executive position in the league. He had a lot of good years in the NBA and was even a runner up to NBA Executive of the Year Award one season. That's why I say, never burn bridges.

Who knows. Maybe he ends up becoming an NBA analyst or commentator somewhere.

He could have gone back to scouting.

 

[Mainstreet]

He could have gone back to scouting.

I want a job evaluating players using those green and red bubbles.

 

[Hoop Head]

This whole thing is quite embarrassing to me because I defended him quite a bit. He seems to be clueless about people, which explains a lot about things that happened during that time. Outgoing players during that time took more swipes at McD than Sarver and some of what Sarver is trying to live down now was McD’s doing. Not trying to defend Sarver here, just trying to understand the situation better.

Well said. I defended him as well but his behavior now shows exactly why guys like Dragic asked out and seemed to turn on the franchise after being sent away. We are all getting a first hand look at McD's communication skills. He really doesn't understand what someone should and shouldn't say publicly.

 

[AzStevenCal]

He could have gone back to scouting.

I always knew he had a problem understanding people but I used to give him credit for scouting skills (college, NBA or even coaching talent). However it was his decisions about scouting that finally soured me on him.

When Ryan traded up so he could draft Chriss, that was the beginning of the end for me, when Bender turned out to be such a bad pick too, that put the nail in the coffin AFAIC. So, no, I don't think scouting was ever in his post-Suns future unless he can convince another franchise that he was overruled on every single horrible call (trades, signings or even hirings).

Spoiler

Trading Gortat for throwaways plus the right to draft Tyler Ennis, trading Tolliver for Tony Mitchell, wasting the assets he traded Dragic for, trading for Brandon Knight, trading Isaiah Thomas for almost nothing and using the only real asset in the deal as part of the giveaway to get Chriss, overpaying for over-the-hill big man Tyson Chandler, not letting Marquis know that they were looking to trade him away, giving Knight another contract, promoting Watson to Head Coach, drafting Bender, drafting Chriss, drafting Josh Jackson, trading Bledsoe for almost nothing and signing Trevor Ariza.

There's a list of smart transactions he's responsible for but it's a far shorter and much less impressive list.

 

[1Sun]

I always knew he had a problem understanding people but I used to give him credit for scouting skills (college, NBA or even coaching talent). However it was his decisions about scouting that finally soured me on him.

When Ryan traded up so he could draft Chriss, that was the beginning of the end for me, when Bender turned out to be such a bad pick too, that put the nail in the coffin AFAIC. So, no, I don't think scouting was ever in his post-Suns future unless he can convince another franchise that he was overruled on every single horrible call (trades, signings or even hirings).

Spoiler

Trading Gortat for throwaways plus the right to draft Tyler Ennis, trading Tolliver for Tony Mitchell, wasting the assets he traded Dragic for, trading for Brandon Knight, trading Isaiah Thomas for almost nothing and using the only real asset in the deal as part of the giveaway to get Chriss, overpaying for over-the-hill big man Tyson Chandler, not letting Marquis know that they were looking to trade him away, giving Knight another contract, promoting Watson to Head Coach, drafting Bender, drafting Chriss, drafting Josh Jackson, trading Bledsoe for almost nothing and signing Trevor Ariza.

There's a list of smart transactions he's responsible for but it's a far shorter and much less impressive list.

For me, it was a combination of Bender over Murray at 4 and hiring Earl Watson as head coach without even interviewing other candidates...though the overload at point guard followed by the acquisition of Brandon Knight had me livid and therefore on edge already...

Ryan McDonough actually did set this team back 5 years...

 

[Folster]

I always knew he had a problem understanding people but I used to give him credit for scouting skills (college, NBA or even coaching talent). However it was his decisions about scouting that finally soured me on him.

When Ryan traded up so he could draft Chriss, that was the beginning of the end for me, when Bender turned out to be such a bad pick too, that put the nail in the coffin AFAIC. So, no, I don't think scouting was ever in his post-Suns future unless he can convince another franchise that he was overruled on every single horrible call (trades, signings or even hirings).

Spoiler

Trading Gortat for throwaways plus the right to draft Tyler Ennis, trading Tolliver for Tony Mitchell, wasting the assets he traded Dragic for, trading for Brandon Knight, trading Isaiah Thomas for almost nothing and using the only real asset in the deal as part of the giveaway to get Chriss, overpaying for over-the-hill big man Tyson Chandler, not letting Marquis know that they were looking to trade him away, giving Knight another contract, promoting Watson to Head Coach, drafting Bender, drafting Chriss, drafting Josh Jackson, trading Bledsoe for almost nothing and signing Trevor Ariza.

There's a list of smart transactions he's responsible for but it's a far shorter and much less impressive list.

I remember reports that the Suns were high on Kaminsky in the 2015 draft and were trying to trade up to get him. Michael Jordan saved us and we had to settle for Devin Booker. Could you imagine had we not gotten Booker?

 

[Carolinacacti]

If they drafted Kaminsky they never would have drafted Chriss and Bender.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I remember reports that the Suns were high on Kaminsky in the 2015 draft and were trying to trade up to get him. Michael Jordan saved us and we had to settle for Devin Booker. Could you imagine had we not gotten Booker?

I remember that too but I don't recall very many of those rumors about us coming true once Ryan took over. I don't know if it was McD or Babby that talked Sarver into no longer leaking everything to Gambo but either way, that hole was mostly plugged and most of what we heard was probably generated by agents or other franchises. But yeah, drafting Frank then would have really set us back.

 

[AzStevenCal]

For me, it was a combination of Bender over Murray at 4 and hiring Earl Watson as head coach without even interviewing other candidates ...though the overload at point guard followed by the acquisition of Brandon Knight had me livid and therefore on edge already...

I probably was the only one of this forum that did NOT have a problem with this aspect of the hiring. It happens all the time when you put an interim in place. You should know all you need to know about that candidate by the time you have to make your decision and with the NBA coaching fraternity being so small, you have a pretty good handle on what's available elsewhere even before you interview.

I wanted Murray (and others) but I understood the reasoning, rumors were he was considered too much like Booker to make for a good pairing. Stupid decision though and they compounded that decision by drafting a virtual unknown along with a player they should have already known more than enough to stay away from.

 

[1Sun]

I probably was the only one of this forum that did NOT have a problem with this aspect of the hiring. It happens all the time when you put an interim in place. You should know all you need to know about that candidate by the time you have to make your decision and with the NBA coaching fraternity being so small, you have a pretty good handle on what's available elsewhere even before you interview.

I wanted Murray (and others) but I understood the reasoning, rumors were he was considered too much like Booker to make for a good pairing. Stupid decision though and they compounded that decision by drafting a virtual unknown along with a player they should have already known more than enough to stay away from.

Watson as interim was clearly in over his head. He should have been eliminated from consideration, not hired on the spot.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Watson as interim was clearly in over his head. He should have been eliminated from consideration, not hired on the spot.

Agreed. I bought into him because Tyson and the other players all spoke out for him as a coach. I genuinely liked what he had to say with one big exception. I've never seen anyone name drop constantly that ever actually amounted to anything. As I said at the time, it was my only concern about him. But the Front Office had a better view of him and should have known that, nice guy or not, tough life story or not, he was all talk.

 

[Mainstreet]

After the 2016 draft I started to look at the skills of players more than I ever did before. Now players have to have a skill to hang their hat on to pique my interest.