Tank next season or no?

[NashDishesDimes]

The question really comes down to if you believe the roster has enough developable talent to compete for a championship at some point. Do they need another lottery pick?

Id say i am a little torn here purely because of the unknown of Bender and Jackson, maybe Chriss as well.

If the answer is to tank then the next move is to unload bledsoe and Tyson because otherwise they will solidify Suns at mediocrity.

If the answer is to now move forward, then I say let the best players play and make the young guys compete for a starting spot.

I am a little torn but my vote goes to unloading Bledsoe in particular, giving Tyson 20mpg to help teach the young bigs as he seems to embrace that role. Let Bknight and Ullis split time at PG to increase Bknights trade value again and also teach the young guards a thing or two. This way the youth gets the majority of the playing time and hopefully Suns land in top 8 or so next draft.

 

[GatorAZ]

Don't care about wins/losses yet but no shutting guys down. It was a bad look last year even though I was in support of it.

 

[SirStefan32]

No tanking. They have plenty of young talent in Booker, Warren, Chriss, Bender, Jackson. They have solid veterans in Bledsoe, Chandler, along with good locker room veterans like Dudley and Barbosa. Hell, they even have some role players who are young in Ulis and Williams assuming they keep him. I've written Len and Knight off completely.

Youngsters needs to learn to win while the veterans can still play a bit. There is a lot of firepower on this roster, and with Bledsoe, Chandler, and Jackson, there is some defense too.

I wish they had more shooting though. Jackson, Warren, Chriss, and Bender need to start shooting thousands of shots daily. If any of them can make 35%+ of their threes, each of them is going to be a very dangerous player. I swear that Warren would be unstoppable if he could just make wide-open threes. Same applies to Chris. Assuming Jackson is as good as we think, adding a consistent jumper to his game would make him REALLY scary. And Bender... well, it would make him a serviceable rotation player at the very least.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

I agree shutting guys down is off limits, i think tanking is acceptable to young players in the short term as long as there is a clear strategy and they are honest with players. But i do agree, wasting careers of Bledsoe, knight, and tyson is disrepectful and a bad look. Either move them or give them solid minutes.

 

[pokerface]

I actually thought of this recently but I thought I should be the last person to bring it up since I rode the tank into the ground this season.



But since someone else brought it up my answer is....yes and no.


True we could use another good draft to shore things up... especially at center. Yeah making the playoffs is a long shot..so why try at all? Concede the season from the beginning perhaps? Easier said than done.

Tanking is a long gruelling process..It can rip up team chemistry...fans... attendance..etc etc. All for the mere "chance" at getting a quality player. Sometimes there are no alternatives to tanking...I felt that way last season. We haven't had a big time free agent in years so we had to tank..The season prior we had injuries so it was a forced tank.

Now we are at a crossroads. The Suns now have considerable talent and most the positions are covered. But our team is very young...it will lose games. But let it happen naturally. Don't sabatoge them by decapitation.. don't trade the defacto leader in Bledsoe. He's the leader and he's setting the example by playing well. Why trade him if for no other reason than to tank or because he might walk in two years? Bled is in his prime and could play well for several more years. He could conceivably help get us in the playoffs this year or next. If that were to happen the suns could be a free agent destination again. That is the other way of getting talent besides the draft. Plus Bled might stay and we get to keep talent.

Let the suns play it out... let them learn how to win again...let them have hope. No more tanking!

 

[Phrazbit]

It's a mixed bag, If we're even remotely decent mid season then don't tank, if we're not close to fighting for the playoffs then bleds And chandler gotta go or get shut down.

 

[Mainstreet]

Again to Phrazbit, the Suns can adapt their roster for the future, e.g,, trading Bledsoe and Chandler, but no tanking. It breeds contempt especially for a young star like Booker and perhaps a budding star in Jackson.

The Suns should move full speed a head as long as they do not jeopardize their youth movement.

 

[pinetopred]

I get why teams tank a season or two but at what point does that become your culture.

 

[Raindog]

I don't think they need to tank - they will end up in the lottery without tanking. Of course, it depends on your definition of "tanking."

What I don't want is them to not give minutes to developing the youngsters in some ill conceived chase for a meaningless and probably futile 8th playoff seed. If that happens as a result of giving the lion's share of minutes to developing Bender, Chriss, JJ, Ulis, etc. then fine. But don't stunt those guys just because playing them might cost a few meaningless wins.

And especially, don't trade future assets or throw FA money at overpriced vets in a "win now" mode... not yet at this juncture. That will inevitably come back to bite them. Maybe if the young core is further along and much better than anyone could reasonably expect - like legitimately chasing 50 wins at mid season - then look into what kind of vet help is available to push it further. But "win now" isn't in the cards just yet.

I honestly think another season of developing the youth and ending up back in the high lottery would be a good thing, if a bit frustrating to the fan base. I just saw an early mock for next year that has us with two top ten picks in next year's draft including the third (Ayton). While I don't expect that to happen, it sure is an enticing thought about what we COULD be by 2020.

 

[gmabel830]

Play the young core as much as possible to let them develop, and if losses pile up in the short-term so be it.

 

[AZCrazy]

The goal isn't to win at the moment, it's really to develop the young guys and play them relentlessly. Not tanking, but getting ready to win abundantly in about the two to seven years window. That will be our prime, while the current powers fall off.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Play the young core as much as possible to let them develop, and if losses pile up in the short-term so be it.

Id agree with this as the best option but that also means getting rid of Bledsoe and Tyson ASAP because I think its a terrible culture and look to shut those guys down. The other downside is young guys need some vets to learn from and respect.

 

[JCSunsfan]

No tanking. But no short-sighted moves just for wins now. Give the young guys minutes.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Id agree with this as the best option but that also means getting rid of Bledsoe and Tyson ASAP because I think its a terrible culture and look to shut those guys down. The other downside is young guys need some vets to learn from and respect.

No more shutting Bledsoe down. But with Ulis, there is no reason why we cannot limit his minutes to less than 30 pg. Tyson should come off the bench. Problem solved.

 

[Hoop Head]

I vote not but don't want us to go spend all of our cap space on players to win now. Stick to the plan.

 

[Errntknght]

Such unanimity is amazing. And I'm basically in agreement but I want to get rid of Watson ASAP. I think its detrimental for the young guys to play in such an aimless offense. Bledsoe contributes to it so I think we need to trade him, too. I wonder if Houston would go for the idea of swapping Patrick Beverly for Bled... he's become a sort of 3&D PG (I don't know why he doesn't fit with the Rocks but I've heard that either they want to move him or he wants to leave.)

 

[Phrazbit]

I'm sure Houston would go for that... because Bledsoe is worlds better than Beverly. I wouldn't even call that a tanking trade, that is just a trade to get one of our best players off the roster and for essentially nothing in return.

 

[mojorizen7]

I take it those Miami picks don't kick in next season?

 

[Mainstreet]

I take it those Miami picks don't kick in next season?

I think this is what it looks like.

From Miami first round pick: Top 7 protected 2017-18. Unprotected 2019.

From Miami first round pick: 2021 first round pick unprotected.

It looks like the first round pick from Miami should convey next season.

 

[mojorizen7]

I think this is what it looks like.

From Miami first round pick: Top 7 protected 2017-18. Unprotected 2019.

From Miami first round pick: 2021 first round pick unprotected.

It looks like the first round pick from Miami should convey next season.

Thanks. So the Suns could potentially land the #8 pick from Miami next year...and who knows where our pick will be. Could be top 5 again.

I say NO to tanking.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

I agree with most here. My pick (outside or porzingis) was josh jackson so i am happy with the pick. But does he have potential to be an elite scorer? The Suns need one more young player with potential for eite scoring. Being "in the lottery" does not generall get you an elite scorer, being in the top 5 can.

In other words, in my opinion if bledsoe and tyson get 25+mpg i think the Suns end up with the 12th pick or so which nets you another TJ warren realistically.

 

[pokerface]

I agree with most here. My pick (outside or porzingis) was josh jackson so i am happy with the pick. But does he have potential to be an elite scorer? The Suns need one more young player with potential for eite scoring. Being "in the lottery" does not generall get you an elite scorer, being in the top 5 can.

In other words, in my opinion if bledsoe and tyson get 25+mpg i think the Suns end up with the 12th pick or so which nets you another TJ warren realistically.

Yeah but potentially we get the Miami pick too... which could be 8-15 range. Package both picks up but I don't think it can get us top 5....unless Miami does us a big favor at #8.

 

[Hoop Head]

We could be in a similar situation to Sacramento next year, with 2 lottery picks. They managed to leave the draft with a good haul. The Blazers had 3 mid to late round picks and managed to have a decent draft also. Unless we need a Miami pick to move Knight, if he's being a malcontent, I think we should be able to finish our rebuild as far as adding young talent next draft.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Yeah but potentially we get the Miami pick too... which could be 8-15 range. Package both picks up but I don't think it can get us top 5....unless Miami does us a big favor at #8.

I agree and not necessarily saying they should tank as im on the fence. But why not just tank and assure yourself top 5? Only benefit to not tanking is watching a few more wins

 

[Cheesebeef]

It's a mixed bag, If we're even remotely decent mid season then don't tank, if we're not close to fighting for the playoffs then bleds And chandler gotta go or get shut down.

this.

but there's no way I start the season thinking tank.