Suns keep Ryan McDonough

[Mainstreet]

The Suns plan to keep Ryan McDonough for the final year of his contract. Actually it would be more shocking to me if they didn't. Aside from trading the Lakers pick for Brandon Knight, he has done a great job.

The media is all over the story so I thought it was worth reporting.

See more from ESPN:

Sources ‎told ESPN.com that the Suns intend to keep McDonough in charge of basketball operations for at least one more season, despite the ongoing wait for the first playoff berth of his tenure.

"Obviously the record [24-58] is a little bit disappointing, given the expectations we started the year with," McDonough told the Arizona Republic last week. "Recently we've been encouraged with the progress with some of the young players. Since the All-Star break, some of the guys who weren't getting an opportunity to play much, if at all, got that opportunity and really made the most of it. I think that bodes well for the future.

"We'll have a high pick in the lottery. We'll have two second-round draft picks as well. We have plenty of cap space, so we'll have some options for this summer. We have a plan in our head right now, in terms of continuing to add through the draft and build with youth, but we'll also look at potential free-agent options. And then, the least predictable part of this, obviously, is the trades and what may swing our way. Those talks usually heat up closer to the draft."

The success of Devin Booker, drafted with the 13th overall pick in June 2015, is widely regarded as McDonough's standout move to date.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19181207/phoenix-suns-keeping-gm-ryan-mcdonough-season

 

[Ronin]

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm hoping if the Suns draft and free agency goes well, the Suns will be looking to sign McDonough to another contract. I like the stability he has brought to the franchise.

Of course there is the obvious issue of Brandon Knight that needs to be successfully resolved.

 

[devilalum]

Of course there is the obvious issue of Brandon Knight that needs to be successfully resolved.

Trading for him was bad but doubling down on that blunder by giving him a huge contract was a potential career killer. I hope he finds a solution.

 

[Mainstreet]

Trading for him was bad but doubling down on that blunder by giving him a huge contract was a potential career killer. I hope he finds a solution.

I sort of agree but that contract would look good right now if he was playing well for the Suns.

 

[pokerface]

I sort of agree but that contract would look good right now if he was playing well for the Suns.

Man could anyone anticipate that BK would be soooo bad? He's a level of bad I haven't seen since Penny arrived into town. McD has to be as ticked off as anyone.

 

[Yuma]

NOT retaining McD would be a story. Nothing to see here!

 

[pokerface]

NOT retaining McD would be a story. Nothing to see here!

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Interestingly Five Thirty Eight predicts a bounce back for Knight. He had a WAR of 1.8 last year and they see 3.3 WAR (which is more his historical number)

I don't see how on our current team but it really surprised me when I looked at it. This contribution they put at 16 million.

McDonough should be pointing that out to any GM he can talk to.

 

[pokerface]

Interestingly Five Thirty Eight predicts a bounce back for Knight. He had a WAR of 1.8 last year and they see 3.3 WAR (which is more his historical number)

I don't see how on our current team but it really surprised me when I looked at it. This contribution they put at 16 million.

McDonough should be pointing that out to any GM he can talk to.

I'd really like to see BK comeback..He almost has no where to go but up. But...Can he even get minutes on the suns? Maybe some...

 

[Yuma]

Coaches always complain about not having enough minutes to go around, and then they play their stars so much over 82 games they are dead for the playoffs. There's minutes. It's just egos you have to manage.

 

[Mainstreet]

Man could anyone anticipate that BK would be soooo bad? He's a level of bad I haven't seen since Penny arrived into town. McD has to be as ticked off as anyone.

Even if Knight played average for the Suns he would be much easier to trade.

Let's trade him before another team remembers.

 

[pokerface]

Even if Knight played average for the Suns he would be much easier to trade.

Let's trade him before another team remembers.

He's so bad though...I don't know if we can fleece our way out of this. I think he still has three seasons on his contract

 

[Mainstreet]

He's so bad though...I don't know if we can fleece our way out of this. I think he still has three seasons on his contract

It would be hard no doubt.

As it looks right now, the options would be to trade him for another (more productive) bad contract, keep him (not likely), or trade him with assets attached.

None of them are good.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

We said the same thing about Markieff. You never know what an off season holds.

 

[Yuma]

Arguably Markief had game, it was the personal issues that made him hard to trade. If you can still have 20-10 games in the NBA, no matter how dispicable you are, someone will take a chance on you. Knight is kinda the opposite. It's more of a performance issue with him. Either he is in a slump, or it's the coaching, etc. I can see where mixed messages might have been sent to him. In the media Watson was saying they wanted him to be sixth man of the year, and emphasized Knight having the green light upon entering games. Then when he did come in and shoot, the media pundits criticized Knight for being selfish and not playing team ball. It seemed like Knight went into a shell. Something went on in the background because he stopped getting minutes because of poor play, confidence issues, or not playing the way Watson wanted him to play, etc.

 

[JCSunsfan]

He's so bad though...I don't know if we can fleece our way out of this. I think he still has three seasons on his contract

There is always some GM and coach that think they can rehabilitate a player. Wasn't there some team that thought they could rehab Michael Beasley and signed him to a multi year deal...oh wait.

 

[slinslin]

My reaction was that ESPN has simply no clue at all about what is going on with the Phoenix Suns.

Their coverage shows a complete disconnect to the situation. They somehow push a story that McDonough and Earl Watson are on the hot seat and could be fired any moment. It is just laughable.

ESPN was not always this bad, but maybe that is because the Suns were good and got coverage.

 

[JS22]

It would be a very Suns-like move to drop him now, so I'm glad they are keeping him around. He's made a few pretty bad decisions (Brandon Knight, Lakers pick), but most GM's do. I really like the roster and the direction they're going. Would hate to see a new GM come in and blow it up again.

 

[Hoop Head]

McD only has 1 really bad move under his belt, the BK acquisition. I think people bash the Knight extension too much. He looked good for the half season rental we had him for and had we not extended him then everyone would have bashed the trade even more because Knight would have walked and probably put up empty stats elsewhere, like he'll do once he's out of Phoenix anyways. Granted the contract isn't as awful as it could have been with the salary cap increase, which I'm sure McD was aware of well before fans were.

 

[JCSunsfan]

McD only has 1 really bad move under his belt, the BK acquisition. I think people bash the Knight extension too much. He looked good for the half season rental we had him for and had we not extended him then everyone would have bashed the trade even more because Knight would have walked and probably put up empty stats elsewhere, like he'll do once he's out of Phoenix anyways. Granted the contract isn't as awful as it could have been with the salary cap increase, which I'm sure McD was aware of well before fans were.

To me, the BK acquisition and extension is one thing.

 

[Krangodnzr]

To me, the BK acquisition and extension is one thing.

As is trading a valuable asset (Lakers pick) to get him.

Horrible move but I don't think it was necessarily as bad then as it is now. Some panned it, others applauded it.

 

[elindholm]

The panic trade of Isaiah Thomas was pretty bad too. Clearly done under the pressure of a deadline and with a careless assessment of incomplete evidence.

 

[SirStefan32]

The panic trade of Isaiah Thomas was pretty bad too. Clearly done under the pressure of a deadline and with a careless assessment of incomplete evidence.

That was a classic new manager syndrome. He did not understand how to manage people, kept pushing Dragic around until he had enough. At that point, there was nothing he could have done. We can hope he learned a valuable lesson.

As far as Knight goes, we were all happy with the trade when he was averaging 20 point per game for a brief stretch last year. It was still a bad move, but I don't think anyone realized Booker would be so good so quickly.

Both of those moves were bad, but I think he's done a good job overall.

 

[sunsfan88]

My only hope at trading Knight is the Kings. I'm hoping that Vivek/Vlade thinks Knight has Steph Curry or Klay Thompson type potential to pair with Hield.