Summer trades?

[GatorAZ]

I like Lillard, but that's an overpayment.

That’s a poor offer. Who is Portland getting? One good player that’s ceiling is limited b/c he can’t shoot and a bunch of scrubs?

 

[Finito]

That’s a poor offer. Who is Portland getting? One good player that’s ceiling is limited b/c he can’t shoot and a bunch of scrubs?

Jackson is hardly a limited player he's probably gonna be the best young player or player with upside anyone would offer them.

I would do it in a heart beat only if we get Ayton

 

[Hoop Head]

Lillard is my favorite player that isn't a Sun and I wouldn't make that trade from the perspective of either team. Portland only really gets Jackson and salary relief for a superstar that wants to be there. The Suns get a great PG but they give up a potential franchise SF who has potential to be a great Two-Way player. I can see Portland moving McCollum before even listening to offer for Lillard.

I think a realistic option is signing Nurkic, who is a RFA. He'll get paid this summer and it was questionable before if Portland could match an offer because of their salary issues. If they lose badly in the 1st round perhaps they don't bother with him.

 

[Finito]

Lillard is my favorite player that isn't a Sun and I wouldn't make that trade from the perspective of either team. Portland only really gets Jackson and salary relief for a superstar that wants to be there. The Suns get a great PG but they give up a potential franchise SF who has potential to be a great Two-Way player. I can see Portland moving McCollum before even listening to offer for Lillard.

I think a realistic option is signing Nurkic, who is a RFA. He'll get paid this summer and it was questionable before if Portland could match an offer because of their salary issues. If they lose badly in the 1st round perhaps they don't bother with him.

I would pursue McCollum

 

[Mr. Boldin]

I dont think Dame is a good fit next to Booker. Id want a two way PG, and a big wing who can create, plus Ayton.

No need up and trade a bunch of guys right now, although I have never been a Chriss fan.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think a realistic option is signing Nurkic, who is a RFA. He'll get paid this summer and it was questionable before if Portland could match an offer because of their salary issues. If they lose badly in the 1st round perhaps they don't bother with him.

I do like Nurkic.

I have been a fan of Nurkic since he came into the NBA but it still puzzles me why the Nuggets had to use a first round pick (in addition to Nurkic) to trade for Plumlee. After this trade, I always wondered if there was something more to the story.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think a realistic option is signing Nurkic, who is a RFA. He'll get paid this summer and it was questionable before if Portland could match an offer because of their salary issues. If they lose badly in the 1st round perhaps they don't bother with him.

I don't think Nurkic is in our future, at least I hope he isn't. If we insist on keeping a traditional center, I'd rather have Len. A stats comparison between the two doesn't reveal a clear winner (to me) although it looks like Alex helps his team slightly more. I agree with letting Len walk this summer but not if it means we're spending big on a player who won't help us any more than Alex does.

 

[Mainstreet]

I would chose Nurkic over Len. At least Nurkic has an outside shot and seems to know what to do with the basketball.

Here are their four year stats.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nurkiju01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lenal01.html

I guess Len wins at the FT line. Nurkic is a year younger.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I would chose Nurkic over Len. At least Nurkic has an outside shot and seems to know what to do with the basketball.

Here are their four year stats.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nurkiju01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lenal01.html

I guess Len wins at the FT line. Nurkic is a year younger.

I think the most current stats are more relevant and Len wins in a lot of areas. And Nurkic's effective FG% of 50.5 is scary for a big man, in comparison to Len or not.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think the most current stats are more relevant and Len wins in a lot of areas. And Nurkic's effective FG% of 50.5 is scary for a big man, in comparison to Len or not.

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

However, I would not pay top dollar for Nurkic.

I'd still like for the Suns to keep Len on the cheap but it looks like he will be leaving.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

However, I would not pay top dollar for Nurkic.

I'd still like for the Suns to keep Len on the cheap but it looks like he will be leaving.

Maybe not. I've dug a little deeper since then and I was surprised to see that Portland fans think very highly of him. So maybe I'm taking too much from those stats or not looking at the right ones.

 

[Mainstreet]

Maybe not. I've dug a little deeper since then and I was surprised to see that Portland fans think very highly of him. So maybe I'm taking too much from those stats or not looking at the right ones.

Well let me beat up myself.

Before I looked at it, I was going to say Nurkic has better hands but Len has a lesser turnover rate.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well let me beat up myself.

Before I looked at it, I was going to say Nurkic has better hands but Len has a lesser turnover rate.

It has me wondering if we've gone too far in demonizing Len.

And a broken clock has better hands than Alex.

 

[Mainstreet]

It has me wondering if we've gone too far in demonizing Len.

And a broken clock has better hands than Alex.

Let me dig myself into a hole. The Suns could do far worse than keep Len. I think he is a serviceable center but he needs to start. The Suns did not do him any favors by asking more of him than he was able to deliver... rebound and play defense. And the revolving door thing with Chandler starting... it would have to go.

 

[WildBB]

Let me dig myself into a hole. The Suns could do far worse than keep Len. I think he is a serviceable center but he needs to start. The Suns did not do him any favors by asking more of him than he was able to deliver... rebound and play defense. And the revolving door thing with Chandler starting... it would have to go.

I'd agree. But how much do you give him? As much as Chandler got, I'd suppose would be his market. I'd let Tyson go if he does'nt retire first.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'd agree. But how much do you give him? As much as Chandler got, I'd suppose would be his market. I'd let Tyson go if he does'nt retire first.

Chandler is owed $13,585,000 for next season (expiring) so I don't think he is going anywhere.

My guess Len gets paid much less in free agency.

 

[Hoop Head]

I don't think Nurkic is in our future, at least I hope he isn't. If we insist on keeping a traditional center, I'd rather have Len. A stats comparison between the two doesn't reveal a clear winner (to me) although it looks like Alex helps his team slightly more. I agree with letting Len walk this summer but not if it means we're spending big on a player who won't help us any more than Alex does.

I think Nurkic helps his team win much more than Len and the stats don't tell the whole story. In his first year in Portland he helped them improve a good amount to make a playoff push. They were under 500 when he was acquired and then they won about 70% of their remaining games to squeeze into the postseason. Since he's been there he's been a big part of their regular season success. I know they've been off this series against New Orleans but a lot of people had picked them as the team most likely to sweep their 1st round opponent. New Orleans is a bad matchup for them because they don't have anyone that can guard Anthony Davis. The poor play by Portland's backcourt has more to do with why they've fallen short compared to Nurkic's play.

I like Nurkic because he's proven in Portland that he contribute to a winning team. Len hasn't shown that. Len has put up some empty stats compared to Nurkic, who helps his team win when he has a big game. If he were more consistent I could see more interest but he's definitely not as inconsistent as Len. I'm not sure how Portland was able to fleece Denver in that trade for him but I don't think that is an accurate judge of his value or talent.

 

[Errntknght]

I do think Len gets an offer this year but my guess is no more than 2 yrs/12 million. After the way he performed the prior year, I'd be thinking he was probably playing for a contract this year. I also think he'll take the offer to get away from Phoenix even if we offered more, say a million more per year.

 

[Errntknght]

I'd take Nurkic over Len at the same money but I won't be surprised if Nurkic gets twice as much as Lenny boy. He may be worth it because I'm not sure Len can play starters minutes... heck, maybe Nurkic can't either... maybe that's why he fell off this year and isn't doing much in the playoffs. Just worn out.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'd take Nurkic over Len at the same money but I won't be surprised if Nurkic gets twice as much as Lenny boy. He may be worth it because I'm not sure Len can play starters minutes... heck, maybe Nurkic can't either... maybe that's why he fell off this year and isn't doing much in the playoffs. Just worn out.

Nurkic is also in a contract year and apparently, (fan) expectations are that he will draw the max.

 

[Mainstreet]

Nurkic is also in a contract year and apparently, (fan) expectations are that he will draw the max.

Well. Let's think about this some more.

 

[Hoop Head]

Nurkic is also in a contract year and apparently, (fan) expectations are that he will draw the max.

I can see Portland fans thinking he'll get a max offer but I doubt that will happen. I feel bad for Portland fans because their front office has spent a ridiculous amount of money since the cap has gone up and their view on how much people are actually worth has probably been skewed by their team's spending. Since the cap has gone up they've signed some of the worst contracts in the NBA. In the 2016 offseason they signed Allan Crabbe to a 4 year/$74 million dollar contract that they had to dump last offseason. They also signed Evan Turner to a 4 year/$70 million dollar deal in 2016. You'd think that would be enough but they decided to extend Mo Harkless and Meyers Leonard to extensions for 4 years and $40 million a piece. Last but not least they extended CJ McCollum that summer as well for 4 years and $106 million. McCollum may be worth that, compared to other deals they signed that summer there was no way they couldn't pay McCollum the max that summer because he is definitely better than the 4 other players they signed that year.

Based on contracts they've given out, they will probably need to spend at least $70 million to retain Nurkic. Best case scenario for them is he signs a contract offer for less than that they can match. I think that will be his starting number in negotiations with Portland though because he's been better for them than Turner, Crabbe, Harkless, or Leonard. I wouldn't want him at that much money but if he could be had for a similar contract to Chandler's deal I'd be ok with that if we didn't draft Ayton or Bamba. I like Nurkic more than Capela, but I'm sure I'm in the minority there.

 

[pokerface]

Any suggestions for a possible trade down situation if we receive a top 2 pick? Or maybe a trade out of the draft entirely? I know that's probably an unpopular idea and I'm not advocating anything but for discussions sake I was wondering what a top 2 pick in this type of draft is worth on the open market? What kind of established player is it worth or what dead weight contacts could we shed? Or maybe we would trade down to #5 or #6 for something worthwhile? Again, I'm not advocating anything. I thought it could be fun to consider what our new found wealth could bring us.

Another scenario is what if we get #2 pick? Would we consider trading up to #1? What would it take to move up one slot? Or would we even care that much?

 

[Hoop Head]

Any suggestions for a possible trade down situation if we receive a top 2 pick? Or maybe a trade out of the draft entirely? I know that's probably an unpopular idea and I'm not advocating anything but for discussions sake I was wondering what a top 2 pick in this type is worth on the open market? What kind of established player is it worth or what dead weight contacts could we shed? Or maybe we would trade down to #5 or #6 for something worthwhile? Again, I'm not advocating anything. I thought it could be fun to consider what our new found wealth could bring us.

Another scenario is what if we get #2 pick? Would we consider trading up to #1? What would it take to move up one slot? Or would we even care that much?

I think we could move Knights contract pretty easily if we attached him to our own pick. I'm not sure who we would target though. If the Pelicans weren't playing so well, Davis might have been an option but there is no way they'll do that now that he's helped them win in the postseason. The Blazers would probably trade McCollum for the #2 or #3 pick and we'd need to include Knight to make the salaries work but that doesn't seem appealing at all. Maybe Lillard for our pick? I don't know how a team of Lillard, Booker, and Jackson would do but it's intriguing. I can't see them being any better than the Blazers are right now though.

We could probably send our pick and Knight for Kemba and Dwight Howard but Dwight is a shell of his former self and is still a locker room cancer, just a lesser cancer, and I don't see that team being very good either. We could probably add an All-Star type PG for our pick, and depending on the other teams salary situation we might be able to unload Knight with it but I don't see that as helping us become more than a fringe playoff team with little room to grow or add quality talent. We'd be capped out and would be drafting in the mid to late teens each year, again. So the idea of trading that pick isn't a very good one.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Nurkic is not worth max money. You can't afford to pay players like Nurkic that kind of money and keep your cap in order. The key to success in the NBA is making sure your max players can actually play like max players.