Suns @ Thunder 11-3-13

[Phrazbit]

I'm not offended by it but you're right, I'm only disagreeing with the word choice - I see our direction the same way you do. I just think the distinction between tanking and rebuilding is getting lost in the crowd because "tanking" makes such a great story. I think I'm more right about this then you guys are giving me credit for but I'm going to be less and less correct about this as time goes by.

When we reach the inevitable point where we all call this kind of rebuild "tanking", how will we distinguish between this and what happens when a team intentionally benches their best players down the stretch so they don't pick up extra wins? I think what we are doing is a long-accepted legitimate means of improving your franchise but I find the scenario I just described to be a bit shady. Using the same term for both situations blurs the lines IMO.

Steve

Some tanking is more egregious than others, like a few years ago when Golden State needed to finish in the bottom 7 in order to keep their own pick, so down the stretch they were using guys literally out of the d-league to start games, went like 3-20 to end the year and finished exactly 7th worst. But the Suns already got rid of 3/5ths of their starters! And I still think come April we see the Suns doing some of the brand of tanking that you described.

With Bledsoe playing for a contract they probably wont do a lot of "resting" him at the end of the year, wouldnt want to tick him off, but we already saw them do it with Dragic a few games last year. If I had to put odds on Dragic missing a week here and there during the last month with a "sprained ankle" or "flu like symptoms", I'd set them at about -300.

Granted the previous paragraph is hypothetical, but I cant look at the Suns starters, and especially the bench and take the idea that they want to win seriously when Gerald "I've played half my career in Communist countries and the D-League" Green is our most "proven" reserve and our starting 3/4/5 scored 519 points COMBINED last year... with 506 of those coming from PJ Tucker.

 

[Gaddabout]

I'm not offended by it but you're right, I'm only disagreeing with the word choice - I see our direction the same way you do. I just think the distinction between tanking and rebuilding is getting lost in the crowd because "tanking" makes such a great story. I think I'm more right about this then you guys are giving me credit for but I'm going to be less and less correct about this as time goes by.

When we reach the inevitable point where we all call this kind of rebuild "tanking", how will we distinguish between this and what happens when a team intentionally benches their best players down the stretch so they don't pick up extra wins? I think what we are doing is a long-accepted legitimate means of improving your franchise but I find the scenario I just described to be a bit shady. Using the same term for both situations blurs the lines IMO.

Remember, I was the guy appalled at the notion that tanking was the way to go. I still am appalled, but if it's going to be done, this is the way it should be done. The Suns are simultaneously ditching bad contracts while acquiring guys they might (or even probably) want to keep long term.

I wasn't the biggest Dudley or Gortat fan. They are role players on any team. They're as expendable as the next group of role players. I wasn't emotionally attached to them. The Suns didn't have to trade them right now, but they did because they wanted to justify trying hard while losing. They wanted a whitewash of the previous era.

I think it's universally recognized McDonough didn't give them away just to get rid of contracts. He got value in return. It appears he got more back than what he gave in terms of production. Big win so far, but he also wasn't taking big risks. Expectations are the lowest and it was primarily about money. That's usually when you're going to hit some home runs (unless you're a total idiot). The fact that he held up the Scola deal because he demanded Plumlee says something more impressive about him -- he knew what he was getting and wasn't just throwing players away.

So, I see your side of the point and don't totally discount it. I also want to point out that I've been calling for management to blow up this team since Stoudemire left. I had no idea why they were hanging on to Nash when he was a better commodity in trade than he was as a player on the court. I've been wanting to rebuild for a long time. It's probably a very good thing it didn't happen when I wanted it to, because it would have been under the previous front office during those weak drafts. We might've done something stupid, like draft both Morris brothers.

 

[ProdigalSun]

The Suns are simultaneously ditching bad contracts while acquiring guys they might (or even probably) want to keep long term.

It appears THIS is the big plan for this year which is great. Some of the bad contracts have also brought back draft picks which will hopefully land us a cornerstone type player through the draft or FA.

This team won't make the playoffs this year and that's fine with me. I am glad that it appears that the coaching staff is still coaching them to play hard and try to win ...but like others have said the current team lacks the talent and experience to consistently win right now