Suns 2024-2025 Season Discussions

[BirdGangThing]

When I feel miserable and want to kick myself while I'm down I check out that draft thread. Haliburton fell in our lap. There was no excuse for passing given how quickly he cut bait on Stix as well. If he believed in Jalen, I could kind of see it but they declined his option and gave him away for a player they should have retained initially. James Jones needs to go.

i liked torrey craig first time around but we gave up stix and a draft pick to get him back and it just wasn't the same

 

[Raindog]

When I feel miserable and want to kick myself while I'm down I check out that draft thread. Haliburton fell in our lap. There was no excuse for passing given how quickly he cut bait on Stix as well. If he believed in Jalen, I could kind of see it but they declined his option and gave him away for a player they should have retained initially. James Jones needs to go.

Indeed. The guy is terrible at personnel evaluation and just fell azz backwards into a roster of young talent that was already put together before he got here, plus a couple of other lucky breaks - CP3 forcing his way here being the most prominent.

Other than that, he really hasn't done anything that especially improved the team during his tenure. And he's passed on more than a few opportunities that could have done so. And all the while acting like he's the smartest guy in the room and just doubling down on the foolishness.

 

[Chaplin]

When I feel miserable and want to kick myself while I'm down I check out that draft thread. Haliburton fell in our lap. There was no excuse for passing given how quickly he cut bait on Stix as well. If he believed in Jalen, I could kind of see it but they declined his option and gave him away for a player they should have retained initially. James Jones needs to go.

To be fair, Stix isn't in the rotation now for Indy.

 

[Yuma]

I think this is absolutely ludicrous on every level.

#1 The "Big 3" never looked like a big 3 at the same time in the same game and all 3 appear to have regressed last season. There is no reason to believe this will change.
#2 We cannot improve our bench barring a miracle. Last year before the season started we had the illusion going for us that we were going to be a top team, this gave us the pick of the litter for min level players. We no longer in any way shape or form have that - now players know this team sucks and lacks any ability to improve.
#3 We no longer have any assets to make a trade outside the big 3, we used the last of them up getting Royce
#4 Ishbia has clearly shown he is in complete denial about everything. He said the Suns as constructed were a top 5 roster. You cannot fix a problem if you even refuse to acknowledge it's existence.
#5 KD is only getting older and more ineffective every year, we will get a worse version this coming season.
#6 Nurkic is a disaster offensively with his inability to finish, shoot free throws, or shoot 3's. He is not movable for a better center because we have no other assets to combine with him due to the second apron so we are stuck.
#7 The west is only getting better - Ant is only going to improve, OKC's young roster is only going to improve, Zion showed signs of massive improvement, Wemby and the Spurs are coming on, Houston is coming on. The Suns players are decaying and they don't have a single player likely to improve in any meaningful way.
#8 BOL is almost surely gone - you are living in la la land if you think some team won't offer him more than the minimum. He is a young guy who needs to make money, as he never has yet in his career.
#9 There is at least a 50/50 chance Royce wants out too. If he wants to win there are better places to go.
#10 Beal, KD, and Nurk all have terrible injury histories and are all more likely to suffer major injuries which cause them to miss more time next season. KD and Nurk being so injury free for a whole season was a fluke in other words.

The only way I can see this team get better - and everyone should know I despise saying this because I hate the man - is to get Lebron to sign with the Suns.

We do have two first rounders we can trade this year.

 

[Hoop Head]

To be fair, Stix isn't in the rotation now for Indy.

Because Siakam made him redundant.

Why they declined the option on a lottery pick after one of the strangest rookie seasons in years was baffling. It made it more difficult to trade him for value since there were restrictions on how a team could retain him. He past on Halliburton for him too. Stix has been up and down but given his size and skill set he's the type of player you want at the end of the bench now to develop considering he's a 6'10" long F/C with a nice a shooting touch who is engaged defensively.

 

[Yuma]

My god you SO want to tear down this team that you bring up nothing burgers like they are viable reasons. There are plenty of REAL reasons to hate this team that you can use, why push meaningless conspiracy theories?

Because Siakam made him redundant.

Why they declined the option on a lottery pick after one of the strangest rookie seasons in years was baffling. It made it more difficult to trade him for value since there were restrictions on how a team could retain him. He past on Halliburton for him too. Stix has been up and down but given his size and skill set he's the type of player you want at the end of the bench now to develop considering he's a 6'10" long F/C with a nice a shooting tough who is engaged defensively.

I expected more from his jumper. However he did show he had good timing on blocking shots. I know the talent Halliburton was coming into the draft. We had CP3 and needed a PF arguably as our missing link on our roster. It was a fit over Best Available choice. This is a great example of why you take best available.

 

[Mainstreet]

I expected more from his jumper. However he did show he had good timing on blocking shots. I know the talent Halliburton was coming into the draft. We had CP3 and needed a PF arguably as our missing link on our roster. It was a fit over Best Available choice. This is a great example of why you take best available.

Always draft BPA. Chris Paul was not getting any younger.

 

[Ronin]

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[Raindog]

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Apparently, Drew didn't get the memo that Vogel is gone.

 

[Ronin]

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[Hoop Head]

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I don't hate it as a 3rd string option. He's not an everyday backup.

 

[95pro]

I don't hate it as a 3rd string option. He's not an everyday backup.

I don’t either. Sounds like the suns hopefully learned a little from just getting rid of guys for no reason. But as a tertiary option yeah he’s a good option and only 2.6M.eh

 

[Yuma]

He's a good energy guy off the bench. We still need a back up center or big as Nurk's back up.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't hate it as a 3rd string option. He's not an everyday backup.

I'd be happy to have Eubanks back, so long as the Suns don't count on him being a rotation player.

He can give them some depth at the 4/5.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns have four players that have vet minimum type player options for the 2024-25 season.

They are Damion Lee, Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks and Josh Okogie.

That means they can choose to return (opt-in) if they so desire and the team would have to pay them.

 

[Cheesebeef]

So, according to an article on arizonasports.com, apparently it was Damion Lee who chewed out the team towards the end of the season.

 

[Hoop Head]

The Suns have four players that have vet minimum type player options for the 2024-25 season.

They are Damion Lee, Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks and Josh Okogie.

That means they can choose to return (opt-in) if they so desire and the team would have to pay them.

I hope Lee declines his option. Gordon and Okogie I'd like back.

 

[95pro]

So, according to an article on arizonasports.com, apparently it was Damion Lee who chewed out the team towards the end of the season.

I completely forgot about this guy, again.

 

[95pro]

I hope Lee declines his option. Gordon and Okogie I'd like back.

Honestly Lee is probably better than EG right now. JO id take back, this could be his make or break year.

 

[Chaplin]

I hope Lee declines his option. Gordon and Okogie I'd like back.

And why in the world would Lee decline?

 

[Cheesebeef]

I completely forgot about this guy, again.

Judging from our postseason play, looked like our players did also.

 

[Mainstreet]

I hope Lee declines his option. Gordon and Okogie I'd like back.

I can go either way if Lee is healthy.

What left a bad taste in my mouth is the Suns were not upfront about the extent of his injury until near the end of the season.

We agree about keeping Gordon and Okogie.

 

[clyde2tw]

I believe JO would opt out for a longer time deal with higher pay, which he was expecting last offseason. EG might opt out to go to Houston. Damion and Eubanks may be traded in combination with Little's.

 

[Mainstreet]

I believe JO would opt out for a longer time deal with higher pay, which he was expecting last offseason. EG might opt out to go to Houston. Damion and Eubanks may be traded in combination with Little's.

Under the new CBA I'm not sure if the Suns can aggregate players in a trade. It gets a bit confusing.

Here is what the Suns can and can't do, as explained by a Bleacher Report article.


By Eric Pincus, Bleacher Report dated April 30, 2024:

Depending on player options (Drew Eubanks, Eric Gordon, Damion Lee and Josh Okogie can all choose to stay another year for minimum dollars)—before re-signing O'Neale—the Suns' payroll could exceed $213 million with about $145 million in tax.
At that salary level, Phoenix faces the following restrictions:

• Can bring back an equal or lower salary for any player the Suns send out in trade, but not a dollar more
• No aggregation in trade (combining the salaries of more than one player for a more expensive return)
• Loss of pre-existing trade exceptions (the largest was $6.5 million from the Cameron Payne trade to the San Antonio Spurs)
• Cannot send or receive any cash in trade
• Cannot send or receive a player via sign-and-trade
• No mid-level or bi-annual exception
• Sign buyout players during the season who had earned more than about $12.9 million
• The 2032 first-round pick will be frozen (can't be traded, dropped to the end of the round)

What the Suns can do:

• Re-sign its own free agents with rights, notably O'Neale (full rights) and Saben Lee (Early Bird); those with non-Bird rights include Bol Bol, Thaddeus Young, Isaiah Thomas, Ishmail Wainright and Udoka Azubuike
• Sign players to minimum contracts
• Sign two-way contracts
• Trade individual players for equal or lower value without aggregation (possibly generating new, usable trade exceptions)

What's Next for Phoenix Suns After Huge Gamble Flops?

When the NBA signed off on the collective bargaining agreement with the NBPA last year, the new system gave teams a grace period of roughly a year to get its…

bleacherreport.com

 

[Hoop Head]

And why in the world would Lee decline?

Maybe he doesn't want to be here? If reports are true and he tore into the big 3 for their lackadaisical attitudes then maybe he'll opt to ring chase elsewhere.