So, how good is this team going to be?

[JCSunsfan]

So, how good is this team going to be?

Losses

Steve Nash
Grant Hill
Robin Lopez

Additions

Goran Dragic. Dragic has been improving. He will likely score more than Nash did but is not nearly as efficient offensively. He is a better defender and an adequate distributor.

Michael Beasely. This is a great unknown. Will Beasley be the ultimate ball-stopper as he has been in the past? If so, he should sit.

Wesley Johnson. This kid has potential. If he gets minutes, plays within himself, and gains confidence, he has the potential to develop.

Kendall Marshall. I don't expect much production from him. He will come off the bench but might even be 3rd string. The good news is that we have decent depth at pg.

Jermaine ONeal. He seems to be healthy. I know this signing has been mocked by many, but he will give us everything that Robin Lopez did and more. He is a better shot blocker, he is better offensively, he has more experience, and their injury record is not dissimilar.

So, many unknowns, but a team that could surprise. My prediction is 35 wins.

 

[Covert Rain]

Barring some young stud on this team absolutely playing out of his mind...this team will probably suck. My vote 32 wins.

 

[leclerc]

I'll go with 30 then. Hope some of them have a great season so we can keep them going forward. I also hope Gentry gets a new contract.

 

[Errntknght]

I think we'll need a significant positive contribution by either Beasley or Wes Johnson to climb above 30 wins. If their history is an accurate indicator of what they will do with the Suns, then Gentry will have to keep them chained to the pine or we'll win less than 30.
My projection is 30 wins.

I see Dragic, Brown, Dudley, Scola, Gortat as an average NBA lineup. Better D than typical Suns teams but not much improved on the boards. Less offense.

Bench: Marshall, Telfair, Dyson, Johnson, PJ Tucker, Beasley, Morris, Frye, O'Neal.... Yikes!

 

[Mainstreet]

The way I see it, the Suns are immediately improved at the PF and Center position with the addition of Scola. IMO, SF is no worse than a wash as Hill finished the season injured. I really do not see much change at SG except Michael Redd will likely not return. So that leaves the PG position. The Suns should have better depth there, but how much do the Suns lose with Dragic starting instead of Nash? This is an unknown. The Suns could crash and burn if Dragic does not perform well or overachieve if he plays well. I guess 35 wins sounds about right not knowing how Dragic will perform. It could be better or much, much worse.

 

[jagu]

Not good enough to beat the $uperteam Lakers.

 

[BC867]

Not good enough to beat the $uperteam Lakers.

Or OKC. But there is a lot of room for improvement between the Suns and the superteams.

Hopefully we'll start with those babysteps.

I guess after rooting for the Suns for over 40 years, I'll never expect them to be a superteam in my lifetime.

Y'know the old goal . . . Make an appearance in the playoffs.

 

[Sonec]

I'm optimistic as always, 40+ wins for me, could easily be 50+ and I wouldn't be surprised by that, but yeah would be disappointed, if it's below 40. It's a thin line between success and failure, all is possible...

 

[SweetD]

I can see us making it into the playoffs 7-8 seed, with first round/second exit. Some of the other West teams went backwards and did well in the lockout season.

I kinda look at the Suns as the Warriors team of a few years back. But at least we are rebuilding and should be fun to watch...hopefully.

 

[tobiazz]

~30

 

[KloD]

My guess is 24-26 wins and top 5 chance in the lottery. I just hope a few of the new young guys show growth and the team builds chemistry.

 

[Phrazbit]

This team has no strengths on their roster. The only above average starter is Gortat. Its going to be a long year.

26 wins. On paper only Houston has a less talented roster in the Western Conference.

 

[Dr. Jones]

10th seed. 29 wins. We will probably suck. Bad.

 

[Cheesebeef]

10th seed. 29 wins. We will probably suck. Bad.

this.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Just good enough to ensure we'll be outside of franchise player territory in the draft.

 

[Griffin]

I'll say anywhere between 20 and 45 wins

Seriously, this is impossible to predict. Most of these players never played with each other. This is a brand new team assembled in a matter of two months. They lack superstars, or even all-stars, and lack solid veteran leadership. I won't be surprised if they are predicted to finish near last in the conference by most analysts.

On the other hand, this roster isn't really any worse than what Houston assembled last year in a .500 season. In fact, on paper at least, it's probably stronger. Why shouldn't they do as well if not better?

It will come down to Gentry being able to get these guys to play together as a team, and Dudley and Gortat taking over as team's vocal leaders. Dragic also will have to assume that role. If the team can build some real chemistry, they will win some games. If not, this could get ugly really quick.

 

[elindholm]

I'll go with 32 wins, and I hope that someone brings this thread back in April to remind me.

 

[Phrazbit]

I'll say anywhere between 20 and 45 wins

Seriously, this is impossible to predict. Most of these players never played with each other. This is a brand new team assembled in a matter of two months. They lack superstars, or even all-stars, and lack solid veteran leadership. I won't be surprised if they are predicted to finish near last in the conference by most analysts.

On the other hand, this roster isn't really any worse than what Houston assembled last year in a .500 season. In fact, on paper at least, it's probably stronger. Why shouldn't they do as well if not better?

It will come down to Gentry being able to get these guys to play together as a team, and Dudley and Gortat taking over as team's vocal leaders. Dragic also will have to assume that role. If the team can build some real chemistry, they will win some games. If not, this could get ugly really quick.

I think its quite a bit worse. They had better rebouding and defense in their front court by a wide margin. Kevin Martin, even in that bad season, would represent, by far, the best scoring option on our team. For most of the season our starting point guard was their backup. Their backup SG from last year, Courtney Lee, would easily be our starting SG. And Scola... is Scola, only a year older and coming off a shortened offseason (because of the Olympics).

 

[Griffin]

Kevin Martin, even in that bad season, would represent, by far, the best scoring option on our team.

And yet, the Rockets went 20-20 with Martin and 14-12 without him. So how much impact did he really have? The Suns leading scorer this season won't have much trouble duplicating Martin's 17ppg last year.

For most of the season our starting point guard was their backup.

So it again boils down to Dragic's ability to maintain his performance from second half of last season. Because they didn't miss Lowry one bit with Dragic starting. And Lowry wasn't exactly an established NBA commodity either. His career averages aren't much better than Dragic's and it also took him four seasons before becoming a regular starter.

Their backup SG from last year, Courtney Lee, would easily be our starting SG.

What can Lee do that Dudley can't?

And Scola... is Scola, only a year older and coming off a shortened offseason (because of the Olympics).

I don't think going from 31 to 32 really affects a player's performance that much.

 

[95pro]

initially we might have hard time finding our identitity. the second half of the season i'm sure we'll pick it up. gentry finds ways to get the most from his players. i see a group of guys will some youth in the backcourt(dragic/duds/brown) and some veteran presence in our frontcourt(scola/gortat) picking up around 35-40 wins this season.

with all the negativity, i expect Oneal to contribute more than some predict. he's looks a lot slimmer, has the blood-treatment, and our training staff is the best in business. he said all the right words, in that he did some searching and is accepting his new role at this stage of his career.

the wildcard is beasley and our backup pg's. who knows how the pg's will perform with the second unit, since its a new unit and their playing time will be less than the starters.

 

[Bufalay]

29 wins and 82-29 losses.

 

[SirStefan32]

initially we might have hard time finding our identitity. the second half of the season i'm sure we'll pick it up. gentry finds ways to get the most from his players. i see a group of guys will some youth in the backcourt(dragic/duds/brown) and some veteran presence in our frontcourt(scola/gortat) picking up around 35-40 wins this season.

with all the negativity, i expect Oneal to contribute more than some predict. he's looks a lot slimmer, has the blood-treatment, and our training staff is the best in business. he said all the right words, in that he did some searching and is accepting his new role at this stage of his career.

the wildcard is beasley and our backup pg's. who knows how the pg's will perform with the second unit, since its a new unit and their playing time will be less than the starters.

Other than the O'Neal bit, I agree. I think it will be a slow and painful start, but as the season progresses, I think they will get better. I'd say 30 wins total.

 

[Phrazbit]

And yet, the Rockets went 20-20 with Martin and 14-12 without him. So how much impact did he really have? The Suns leading scorer this season won't have much trouble duplicating Martin's 17ppg last year.

Martin's numbers were quite a bit better (as was the Rockets record) during the 1st 2 months of the year before he starting playing hurt. He was averaging 20 a game and the Rockets were 21-15. And who is going to be our leading scorer? If its Beasley then him getting 19 points on 17 shots works out to a detriment to the offense.

So it again boils down to Dragic's ability to maintain his performance from second half of last season. Because they didn't miss Lowry one bit with Dragic starting. And Lowry wasn't exactly an established NBA commodity either. His career averages aren't much better than Dragic's and it also took him four seasons before becoming a regular starter.

And the fact that for a good stretch of the season they had Lowry AND Dragic.

What can Lee do that Dudley can't?

Thats not the point. Lee, who was their backup, would be our starting SG. Another instence of the Rockets last year having far more depth than the Suns project to have this year. A more appropriate comparison would be Lee to Brown.

I don't think going from 31 to 32 really affects a player's performance that much.

Scola showed a sharp decline last year from his previous seasons. I dont think getting older and missing out on an offseason because of the Olympics is likely to help the situation.

 

[Chaplin]

Honestly, I could care less about how good the team is going to be. I'm interested in seeing these players on the floor, absolutely, but I don't care if they win 15 games or 45 games. You deal with what your dealt--we aren't winning any championships anytime soon, so why bring yourself down by being negative or fool yourself by being positive?

 

[Superbone]

initially we might have hard time finding our identitity. the second half of the season i'm sure we'll pick it up. gentry finds ways to get the most from his players. i see a group of guys will some youth in the backcourt(dragic/duds/brown) and some veteran presence in our frontcourt(scola/gortat) picking up around 35-40 wins this season.

with all the negativity, i expect Oneal to contribute more than some predict. he's looks a lot slimmer, has the blood-treatment, and our training staff is the best in business. he said all the right words, in that he did some searching and is accepting his new role at this stage of his career.

the wildcard is beasley and our backup pg's. who knows how the pg's will perform with the second unit, since its a new unit and their playing time will be less than the starters.

Nice solid take.