Suns Off Season Changes for 2025: Trades, Buyouts, GM, Coaches, etc.

[95pro]

Any consideration of whether to trade Kevin Durant should also focus on Durant's personality and whether it possibly reinforces the limitations of Devin Booker's on-court personality. Booker's excessive coolness; his lack of fire and his poor clutch performance. Compare Durant, and what he's done for Booker, with Chris Paul and what he did for Booker. Booker appears to need a teammate to push him. Durant obviously doesn't.

This is why I'm so interested in Collin Gillespie: why I hope the team not only keeps Gillespie but expands his role. When I heard that he is a fiery personality in the locker room (note that Durant himself publicly lauded him), I immediately concluded that he would probably provide some of the fire and leadership that the team lacked this season. And since he is a pretty unknown bench player, he would cost little to retain.

Yeah Book is in a position where he idolized KD and possibly doesn't want to step on his toes, all while KD isn't the type of person to be a true team leader on the court.

 

[Covert Rain]

Yeah Book is in a position where he idolized KD and possibly doesn't want to step on his toes, all while KD isn't the type of person to be a true team leader on the court.

I don't think KD helped in that regard but that was Booker's MO already before KD. He even said in a recent interview he has to be a better leader. I think Book has always been a leader by example guy. He isn't the guy that is going to get in your face like a CP3. I personally don't see him ever being that guy.

 

[Mainstreet]

Collin Gillespie, Ty Ty Washington and Jalen Bridges enter the offseason as restricted free agents. They were all on two-way contracts.

I was surprised but not shocked the Suns didn't choose to sign Gillespie to a reasonable long term deal. Now, other teams can compete for his services as an RFA. I thought his play was worthy of a standard NBA contract.

Those year-end press conferences didn't reassure me the Suns have an identity or a direction.

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[leclerc]

Stupid F.O...

 

[how_sweet_it_is]

I don't think KD helped in that regard but that was Booker's MO already before KD. He even said in a recent interview he has to be a better leader. I think Book has always been a leader by example guy. He isn't the guy that is going to get in your face like a CP3. I personally don't see him ever being that guy.

Yes, and that is why there must be a teammate who will do it. That teammate isn't Durant or Beal.

 

[Finito]

I don't think KD helped in that regard but that was Booker's MO already before KD. He even said in a recent interview he has to be a better leader. I think Book has always been a leader by example guy. He isn't the guy that is going to get in your face like a CP3. I personally don't see him ever being that guy.

He’s not a leader in any way. He’s shown himself to be a finger pointer and he runs from blame.

Guys it’s been 10 freaking years.

 

[Cheesebeef]

He’s not a leader in any way. He’s shown himself to be a finger pointer and he runs from blame.

Guys it’s been 10 freaking years.

Yeah… I stream 98.7 every once in a while in LA and constantly hear Wolf say “Book… now is the time to lead! Show us big fella!” and I just shake my head.

He’s had a DECADE to show us he’s a leader and def the last two and he’s fallen flat on his face, spectacularly. It ain’t in him.

 

[Covert Rain]

Yeah… I stream 98.7 every once in a while in LA and constantly hear Wolf say “Book… now is the time to lead! Show us big fella!” and I just shake my head.

He’s had a DECADE to show us he’s a leader and def the last two and he’s fallen flat on his face, spectacularly. It ain’t in him.

That's why I said I don't think he can ever be that guy. 10 years in people don't really flip a switch on their personality.

 

[Mainstreet]

No surprise, but the Suns are reportedly interested in Bob Meyers.

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[Finito]

No surprise, but the Suns are reportedly interested in Bob Meyers.

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Not gonna happen. Why would anyone take this job with the situation we are in. Maybe the single worst situation in the history of the NBA.

 

[Suns_fan69]

Not gonna happen. Why would anyone take this job with the situation we are in. Maybe the single worst situation in the history of the NBA.

Because they know they can get a big contract for multiple years and only have to work for 1 and get all the money after they've 'agreed to part ways'.

 

[Hoop Head]

The Suns front office and ownership should have known the Suns were going nowhere, even if they made the play-in.

This was a horribly constructed roster, especially on defense.

This should have been a GIVEN and a fact. It's scary to think anyone in the Suns front office could think otherwise.

Where we might have differed, I would have like to see how the Suns played under an interim head coach to finish the season. There was never any consistency with Bud as the head coach. I wanted to see how much of the problem related to the coaching and how much it related to the players.

Figured I'd move the discussion here. You've expressed the view of wanting to see the Suns with a different coach before and I felt like we needed to finish the season with Bud. Where I stand, we needed to fail for change to happen. I was worried they might turn around and surge under a different coach, kind of like Sacramento did when they fired their coach this year. That might have given the front office a reason to run it back, which is the worst path forward, IMO. What they could have gained wouldn't have been enough. This team is flawed, we've seen it under 3 coaches now and needs changes from the top down. Changing coaches is reorganizing the deck chairs on the titanic.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Not gonna happen. Why would anyone take this job with the situation we are in. Maybe the single worst situation in the history of the NBA.

People keep saying this but if you’re a Bob Meyers, you might and I stress MIGHT be someone who wants to completely build something in his own image and he’s got two REALLY big assets to trade where he could get back youth and a bunch of picks to rebuild from scratch if Ishbia really hands him the reigns.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

No surprise, but the Suns are reportedly interested in Bob Meyers.

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Man that’s the call at present. Unless you can clone presti

 

[JerkFace]

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Gambo shot down the Meyers rumor.

 

[Cheesebeef]

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Gambo shot down the Meyers rumor.

Woulda made too much sense from the Idioshbia crew.

 

[Phrazbit]

Woulda made too much sense from the Idioshbia crew.

You know my thoughts on Ishbia, but I am sure he'd LOVE to hire someone with the chops to fix this mess (that Mat created), IMO, the primary reason that Bob Myers is out of the question is because we are in a historically miserable situation.

A GM could step in here and pull some brilliant trades in terms of long term value, but would they ever see the reward? Even at the most optimistic, tearing this thing down is a long long rebuild process... and will the guy who tears it down survive to see the light at the end? Probably not.

Not to mention that Myers is one of the few coaches/execs to survive working with Durant, he's defended Durant and, if he got hired here, his first priority would be to get rid of Durant, which I suspect would make him feel awkward.

 

[Chaplin]

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Gambo shot down the Meyers rumor.

So not true we have interest in Myers? Why would he shoot that down?

 

[Covert Rain]

So not true we have interest in Myers? Why would he shoot that down?

That's how I took it. We have no interest or the Suns are not going to bother because why would Myers leave a cushy TV job? The reason he left the Warriors is because he said he was over the daily grind and wanted to spend time with family.

The Suns at this point are no ordinary grind either considering what we are up against. Although that sounds like it would be secondary if you take Myers at his word.

 

[GatorAZ]

Bob Myers is never working for Ishbia.

 

[Hoop Head]

I don't understand the fascination with Bob Myers. He had a long tenure in Golden State but the foundation was laid when he arrived in terms of Steph and Klay already being there. He deserves credit for snagging Draymond out of the second round but he had a lot of misses as well. Their dynasty of sorts came about because Steph wasn't worth max money coming off his rookie deal though, largely because of injuries. That enabled them to swap Barnes for KD when the TV deal spiked the cap. Outside of those moves, I'm not sure he's worth handing the keys to.

I know no GM is perfect but I'd rather try a younger guy who has spent time in a good organization like anyone who worked under Danny Ainge, Brad Stevens, Brian Wright from San Antonio, or Masai Ujiri fom Toronto. I'm not sure what's happened the last year with Uriji but up until the last 12 months he's had a great resumé drafting and in trades. I can kind of understand the Barrett trade since that netted them Quickley as well but the Ingram trade and extension doesn't make sense.

Not many GM's experience success in multiple markets and that isn't for lack of trying. The only in house person with the Suns currently is Bartlestein and I'd prefer he not take over in full considering we don't know what he's responsible for under JJ. He definitely played a big role in the Beal trade since Beal's agent is his father. Prior to joining the Suns, Bartlestein was in Detroit for some dark years.

 

[Mainstreet]

Man that’s the call at present. Unless you can clone presti

Meyers is the dream candidate to put the Suns back together. He needs to be in total control, nor just a consultant.

 

[Mainstreet]

Figured I'd move the discussion here. You've expressed the view of wanting to see the Suns with a different coach before and I felt like we needed to finish the season with Bud. Where I stand, we needed to fail for change to happen. I was worried they might turn around and surge under a different coach, kind of like Sacramento did when they fired their coach this year. That might have given the front office a reason to run it back, which is the worst path forward, IMO. What they could have gained wouldn't have been enough. This team is flawed, we've seen it under 3 coaches now and needs changes from the top down. Changing coaches is reorganizing the deck chairs on the titanic.

I already thought the Suns failed under Bud. IMO, it was that obvious.

I wanted the Suns to extract more information about the players if they played under a new system. As it was, the Suns just got worse and worse. Nothing was gained. It was like the Suns front office threw in the towel as well.

Essentially, the Suns season was over at the trade deadline, aside from that outlier four game winning streak in March.

 

[Ronin]

Suns owner Mat Ishbia reportedly 'pushing hard' to hire former Warriors GM Bob Myers

Does Meyers want to leave the broadcast booth for a challenging Suns job? Buck re-signed GM Horst to take him off market.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Carolinacacti]

That's why I said I don't think he can ever be that guy. 10 years in people don't really flip a switch on their personality.

Yes hard for Booker to lead when he's shooting at a 43 percent clip. 32 percent from three and can't handle a double team. 220 turnovers this year I believe