Not me. That was all on the management team solely for selecting those two guys. We had no business drafting a player we knew almost nothing about and another player that had alarm bells ringing everywhere for anyone that actually watched him play the game. Anyway, we were horrible through the stretch you're talking about mostly because we lacked talent at multiple positions, not just PG.
We earned our horrible records, even when it was just called tanking. But this last year we stunk it up in the 4th quarter for one major reason, we didn't have a true floor general. If Ishbia and whoever is making the decisions there haven't recognized what was happening, we're in trouble.
As for Rivers, didn't he refuse to play for us or am I thinking of someone else?
Don't get me wrong as far as Chriss and Bender are concerned. They were bad picks and unlikely to develop however if you inherit a team with those 2 then it's your job as a GM, coach, or whatever to try and develop those guys. Not giving them a PG to play off of put them even further behind the 8 ball. That's on JJ. He has a history of overlooking the PG position.
JJ may have made the deal for Rubio but he didn't get Rubio a backup until the bubble when he brought in Cam Payne, who had a history with Monty and attributed his opportunity here to Monty specifically. That again shows how JJ neglected the PG spot. Last season seemed a long run of no PG, which was kickstarted by ditching Payne in a clear salary dump move. Vogel wasn't the type to rock the boat. I believe there was a clear directive from the front office that Booker and Beal will be the PG's and it was Vogel's job to make it work. We know how that turned out.
As for Austin Rivers, I've heard he didn't want to be here and I've heard he was shocked by being told he was going to be bought out. I did a little digging and found this article where Rivers says he wanted to be a playoff contender and didn't want to be here but when he spoke to the Suns he learned the feeling was mutual in that we didn't want him either. This article is from 2019, the trade was 2018, so all that's said is back before Rivers playing career had ended. He mentions he was in a contract year and I don't imagine it would have been hard to sell him on being a starter. Maybe it would have. I mainly mentioned it as one of the many times that JJ didn't view the PG spot as a priority because whether Austin wanted to be here or not, there should have been more of a discussion.
It's also another case of JJ wasting a potential asset. Austin was expiring and we bought him out almost right away. That's one of the many times JJ has fumbled an expiring contract.
Maybe I'm nitpicking, at this point though I won't give JJ the benefit of doubt since most issues I have with him now regarding team building, signings, drafts, and trades are all repeated behavior on his part.
Austin Rivers loves the city of Phoenix. He just wasn’t trying to play for the Suns.
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