Suns 2024-2025 Season Discussions

[Yuma]

poo, just look at when the Suns drafted Nash. He was buried behind PGs. Doesn't mean he didn't have the talent. When guys switch teams, you see them play better for one team or the other. It's a lot of things. Fit, rank at their position on that team, coaching philosophies that fit/don't fit their skills, meshing with key team mates on that team, etc. Every year we see top college talent play in the Summer league and we see how much many of those guys need to develop just to beat out the bench guys we are talking about. Sure you get a KD in Summer League, but we all talk about how terrible the games are in Summer League.

 

[Peter Sheldon]

I believe there are a lot NBA caliber players out there, both here and overseas, that never get the right opportunity.

The Heat has been a good team at finding overlooked and underdeveloped talent.

So true.
Somebody like Ishbia, with deep pockets, should figure out who in Miami is the expert scout(s) and just double their pay and bring them to Phx. Bang for the buck would be enormous. You would wind up with quality players on the cheap (for a few years) for the price of some expensive scouts. Seems well worth the investment.

 

[Hoop Head]

poo, just look at when the Suns drafted Nash. He was buried behind PGs. Doesn't mean he didn't have the talent. When guys switch teams, you see them play better for one team or the other. It's a lot of things. Fit, rank at their position on that team, coaching philosophies that fit/don't fit their skills, meshing with key team mates on that team, etc. Every year we see top college talent play in the Summer league and we see how much many of those guys need to develop just to beat out the bench guys we are talking about. Sure you get a KD in Summer League, but we all talk about how terrible the games are in Summer League.

There's the inverse as well where someone looks like they're going to be a star because they're a great athlete or have a certain build but ultimately their actual basketball talent is lacking, see Josh Jackson, Marquese Chriss, and Dragan Bender, I could go on and on as the Suns had teams full of those guys who washed out of the league after being here. Being on an NBA roster doesn't make someone capable of being a credible NBA player.

I think this discussion is a bit ridiculous because what 99.9% of people mean when they say something along the lines of "We need more legit NBA players" is that we need guys who can be rotational players or better. Sometimes there's reasons why those guys aren't in a rotation regularly but when you're competing for a championship you need to pack the roster with guys who will compete for bench roles rather than happily accept being a 14th man, like Damien Lee. If anyone thinks he's going to make it a tough decision for Coach Bud to look over at Lee and Grayson to decide who needs to give Beal a rest then they're delusional. Bismack Biyombo as a good example of someone who can play more than he does but age and injuries have caused him to see less minutes but he's still someone who can be a 3rd string center on a contender because he can cover for a backup when called upon.

There's levels to it, is my point, and this was never a discussion or debate 7-8 years ago when the team sucked and we all asked for legit NBA players, so why now?

 

[Suns_fan69]

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[Chaplin]

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Training camp deal.

 

[Hoop Head]

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I like that, a lot. Hopefully he ends up on the opening day roster. He'd be a good 3rd string Center/PF if he's stayed in shape. He played in Serbia last year so I would imagine he's good.