Suns updates and discussion for the 2023-24 season

Covert Rain · Jan 24, 2024

BirdGangThing said:
Wednesday's bold statements:

Without Beal the Suns are a slightly better than .500 team

With an often injured CP3 the Suns would be a slightly below .500 team

With Bradley Beal the Suns are a true home court playoff team - and the more this healthy Suns team plays together - the further we go

Not very bold at all. You just repeated conventional wisdom repeated 100 times after the acquisition.

Hoop Head · Jan 24, 2024

Proximo said:
This is just stupid IMO.

Royce O'neal is 6'4 and is a streaky shooter. His defensive rating is not good either.

He does not solve any problems for the Suns - especially at the cost of Okogie who is a much better defender.

Royce is 6'6" and a Jae Crowder type. He's played PF for the last few years in Brooklyn and Utah. He's a good perimeter defender on a bad team right now. He can shoot, Okogie can't. I'd prefer someone else be involved other than Okogie but O'Neale was who KD wanted in Brooklyn last year, which is why the Nets acquired him. I say send Yuta back to Brooklyn. KD gets 1 buddy and I'd prefer one who can play defense.

Phrazbit · Jan 24, 2024

Chaplin said:
How is he even playing basketball right now?

I don't know.

Somehow people merely reading about these things doesn't sink in. If it was on video he'd be gone, like Ray Rice. Everyone could read about what Ray Rice did, he got a 2 game suspension, then the tape came out and he was basically banned for life.

Cheesebeef · Jan 24, 2024

Hoop Head said:
Royce is 6'6" and a Jae Crowder type. He's played PF for the last few years in Brooklyn and Utah. He's a good perimeter defender on a bad team right now. He can shoot, Okogie can't. I'd prefer someone else be involved other than Okogie but O'Neale was who KD wanted in Brooklyn last year, which is why the Nets acquired him. I say send Yuta back to Brooklyn. KD gets 1 buddy and I'd prefer one who can play defense.

He also shoots the 3 at 36% to Okogie’s woeful 23%. And is a much better playmaker, averaging 3 assists to Josh’s 1. And has playoff experience (I think).

Josh was unplayable in last year’s playoffs and is his shooting being flat out even more horrific this year than last makes him completely unplayable in pressure playoff situations.

Proximo · Jan 24, 2024

cheesebeef said:
He also shoots the 3 at 36% to Okogie’s woeful 23%. And is a much better playmaker, averaging 3 assists to Josh’s 1. And has playoff experience (I think).

Josh was unplayable in last year’s playoffs and is his shooting being flat out even more horrific this year than last makes him completely unplayable in pressure playoff situations.

You know who else shot 37% last year can play defense and is under a cheap long term contract and has potential to improve - Little.

I would rather just give him a chance.

Covert Rain · Jan 24, 2024

Proximo said:
You know who else shot 37% last year can play defense and is under a cheap long term contract and has potential to improve - Little.

I would rather just give him a chance.

I trust that the Suns know what they have. It's not just game time but practice that he is given the chance to prove he deserves to be on the court. If he hasn't emerged by now he likely won't.

Cheesebeef · Jan 24, 2024

Proximo said:
You know who else shot 37% last year can play defense and is under a cheap long term contract and has potential to improve - Little.

I would rather just give him a chance.

You want to give the chance to a guy who’s never healthy in what’s probably our best chance to win a title before KD gets even older… at the expense of Okogie who is flat out unplayable. Sorry. If they can get Royce for Josh and Little, they should do it.

clyde2tw · Jan 24, 2024

cheesebeef said:
You want to give the chance to a guy who’s never healthy in what’s probably our best chance to win a title before KD gets even older… at the expense of Okogie who is flat out unplayable. Sorry. If they can get Royce for Josh and Little, they should do it.

Why should Nets want Little's long contract if he were so inferior to ONeill, I thought Nets needed cap room for next few years. Both are about the same size with Little more athletic and much younger. The situation Nets are in, we might even get Oneill on the buyout market.

clyde2tw · Jan 24, 2024

Proximo said:
You know who else shot 37% last year can play defense and is under a cheap long term contract and has potential to improve - Little.

I would rather just give him a chance.

Little is raw. Similar to Eubanks, he needs to learn the finess of the game more to be a contributor from bench. He's the rare young strong athletic type the Suns lacks. When Eubanks and Bol can improve so quickly and so much, there is hope Little also can.

Proximo · Jan 24, 2024

clyde2tw said:
Little is raw. Similar to Eubanks, he needs to learn the finess of the game more to be a contributor from bench. He's the rare young strong athletic type the Suns lacks. When Eubanks and Bol can improve so quickly and so much, there is hope Little also can.

Eubanks has not improved - he is not playing to his normal level.

He actually has had very good stretches in Portland and he has not nearly played up to that level with the Suns yet. This actually applies to just about every player we signed actually - which is why I blame a bunch of our issues on coaching.

Hoop Head · Jan 24, 2024

clyde2tw said:
Why should Nets want Little's long contract if he were so inferior to ONeill, I thought Nets needed cap room for next few years. Both are about the same size with Little more athletic and much younger. The situation Nets are in, we might even get Oneill on the buyout market.

Because he's young on a reasonably cheap contract. He's basically a late round pick that they could try developing because winning isn't their priority right now. O'Neale is expiring and Little gives them something to show for it rather than letting him walk for nothing.

Yuma · Jan 24, 2024

Ronin said:
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Royce would be sweet as a fifth starter. Rebounder, length, hustle, defense.

Suns_fan69 · Jan 25, 2024

Kram Session: The Suns Finally Rise, a Fake Knicks Trade, and an All-Star Fix

www.theringer.com

Some interesting excerpts:

When Beal, Booker, and Durant share the court, the Suns are scoring 135.7 points per 100 possessions, which ranks in the 100th percentile compared to all lineups with at least 100 possessions played. They have a plus-25.1 net rating, also in the 100th percentile.

The Suns with their Big Three are essentially the best shooters from every spot on the court.

Location FG% Percentile
Rim 74% 98th
Short Midrange 51% 96th
Long Midrange 55% 98th
All Midrange 52% 99th
Corner 3 57% 99th
Above the Break 3 40% 87th
All 3 45% 99th

Allen leads all qualified shooters with a 49 percent mark from distance (Durant is fourth), which would be the highest ever for a player with at least five attempts per game... He has the seventh-highest wide-open rate in the league, with a whopping 84 percent of his 3s coming with acres of space. That’s the highest rate of his career, even though he played next to stars in Milwaukee before arriving in Phoenix...

It makes sense that opponents wouldn’t worry about Josh Giddey or Derrick Jones Jr. launching 3s, whereas the whole reason Allen is in the NBA is that he can make shots from the perimeter. But the Suns offense forces defenses to pick their poison, and they’re often choosing to die at Allen’s hand.

BirdGangThing · Jan 25, 2024

Suns_fan69 said:
Kram Session: The Suns Finally Rise, a Fake Knicks Trade, and an All-Star Fix

www.theringer.com

Some interesting excerpts:

good stuff

Mainstreet · Jan 25, 2024

Kevin Durant is again an All-Star starter.