Westbrook's connection to the Suns

[JCSunsfan]

Westbrook's prime is probably over the next 5 years. He is a max level player. It would be nice, at least, to pay max money to a max level player rather than a mediocre player.

Still, don't know if he is the fit. He would put fannies in the seats.

 

[Mainstreet]

This a very valid point, but I think a guy like Westbrook would look at it another way too.

The NBA is about difference makers and 2017 Free Agency is stacked with them. So if you are a star, you either A.) decide your window is closing and try to form a super team. or B.) find a young team with talent on rookie deals and good contracts that has a great culture and willingness to build around YOU.

I think the Suns fall squarely into B. While LA will have the home draw, what would interest Westbrook I think is a young exciting team. Remember he's only 28, if he decides to leave OKC he doesn't have to form a super team. Instead, the idea of playing for a head coach you have a great relationship with, one hour away form home, get to be a beast on a team that has a mix of young potential stars and great chemistry role players, would be enticing.

Perhaps most underrated is the fact that Earl ALWAYS talks about family and how important it is for his team to be part of his family. If he has Westbrook's ear, the idea of coming into a great locker room that is a family environment and he gets to automatically be the patriarch, would at the very least make him pause to consider

If Westbrook were on a long term contract I would be all ears about trying to put together a trade... a measured trade. There is no use trading for Westbrook if he can leave after next season and the Suns have to give up the farm to get him. He is of no use without talent around him.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I'm a huge Westbrook fan, and would love to have him on the team. However, I can't imagine a world where OKC wouldn't want Booker + (one of Knight/Bledsoe for salaries) + picks. I'm not sure I could stomach that, with no guarantee he's nothing more than a 1 year rental.

 

[devilalum]

I'm a huge Westbrook fan, and would love to have him on the team. However, I can't imagine a world where OKC wouldn't want Booker + (one of Knight/Bledsoe for salaries) + picks. I'm not sure I could stomach that, with no guarantee he's nothing more than a 1 year rental.

Exactly. If OKC had him locked up they would never trade him.

And no team is going to give up the farm to get him without having him locked up.

sent from a fone

 

[JCSunsfan]

If we want Westbrook, we should sign him next summer. If we are not confident we can do that, we should not be trading for him now anyway.

 

[AsUdUdE]

I think thats spot on JC..The reality is OKC is in such trouble they can ask for the farm all they would like, but there is not a scenario for anyone that would pay more than $.25-$.35 on the dollar for him. If you sell the farm for him he will leave 100%.

The idea of acquiring him before the Trade deadline is OKC sees the writing on the wall and says they will take anything just to say they got SOMETHING.

Sam Presti was in a unique situation with Durant, he won't be caught in that situation with Westbrook.

The question then becomes if a team is willing to sacrifice an asset or two to get a leg up in recruiting him next summer...

 

[Mainstreet]

One NBA executive believes Westbrook is gone after this year. The Suns should keep it lean and mean.

“He’s gone after this year,” said one league executive about Westbrook. “A hundred percent. I think that’s the case no matter what (Durant had decided). I guess people can always change their mind, but I think this season was going to be it for him there no matter what.”

Steve Bulpett/Boston Herald

http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...-Gone-From-Thunder-No-Matter-Durants-Decision

 

[AzStevenCal]

One NBA executive believes Westbrook is gone after this year. The Suns should keep it lean and mean.

I agree about how we should approach things but I just can't put any credibility to any of these reports any more. It used to be that there were rumors and there were reports, now I just don't think there's a difference.

There's really no risk or consequence to making up whatever you want, as long as you don't name a source. And I think that's 99% of what goes around these days. How I long for the days of the credible sports journalist and I'm not talking about the "this just came in over the High Speed Sports Wire" guy Out of curiosity, does anyone remember that line and the pompous sports personality that made it his Valley calling card?

 

[Russ Smith]

I think it's too early to say this. I think he can be the best player on a great team, a championship team. Just look at how close they came this season. I do think it's a real challenge to make it work with 2 such high usage guys on the same team but I don't put that on Westbrook. I'm not sure about Oladipo but I could easily see a team of Westbrook, traditional shooting guard (all star level), above average 3 and D small forward, Sabonis and Adams winning it all.

I actually think his best bet is to get on a team with a "real" PG who's big enough that Westbrook can be the 2 on offense and guard the 1 on defense. the guy I've used recently is Lonzo Ball because he's a big pg, obviously he hasn't even played in college let alone the NBA but if you had a guy like that who could play the 1, I think Westbrook at the 2 would be brilliant.

But I firmly believe he wants to play in LA he's there all the time, visits LA regularly family and friends are there. Again I firmly believe the reason Durant left is he knew Westbrook was going to. The main question seems to be Clips or Lakers.

He and Paul together would be interesting he's big enough to guard 2's and Paul would be the 1.

 

[chickenhead]

OKC will want too much for Westbrook right now (I'm not saying more than he is worth, just too much). Plus there's no way he would commit to re-sign with our current roster, which is all potential. Next summer, if Bledsoe is healthy, Booker and Len develop, and Criss and Bender look to be great picks? A different story. The upside is that in that case, Westbrook isn't going to be the only player who might be interested.

 

[JCSunsfan]

This is not the time for the Suns to spend big on free agents. The young guys need to develop to the point that other players want to come play with them. I think Booker will eventually be a draw. It's just too soon.

 

[Mainstreet]

I agree about how we should approach things but I just can't put any credibility to any of these reports any more. It used to be that there were rumors and there were reports, now I just don't think there's a difference.

There's really no risk or consequence to making up whatever you want, as long as you don't name a source. And I think that's 99% of what goes around these days. How I long for the days of the credible sports journalist and I'm not talking about the "this just came in over the High Speed Sports Wire" guy Out of curiosity, does anyone remember that line and the pompous sports personality that made it his Valley calling card?

Everything you say is right. However, I'm thinking the same thing about Westbrook as the "league executive." It's nothing but guessing of course. Players do not seem to have loyalty anymore except for money and championships. Now they can have both with the ability to move from team to team.

I'm working on the name for the sports radio host that ran the "High Speed Sports Wire." I have it on the tip of my tongue. That was about my only radio source for sports back in the day. I think he went to San Diego after he left Phoenix. I wanted all the sports I could get so I listened and visualized this sports wire.

I could just about see that ticker.

Is this a picture of him at the link below? I do not want to subscribe to get a larger picture.

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/121034994/

 

[Hoop Head]

Doesn't hurt to develop our young guys and pitch him as "The Man" next summer. Only way he considers coming here though would be if either Knight or Bledsoe has already been shipped out though. I can't see him be willing to sign here when we already have 2 PG's. You can argue that Knight isn't a PG, maybe even argue that Bledsoe isn't, but having 2 starting caliber players who claim to be PG's on the team would create chemistry issues if he signed, surely. It'd be better to move one this season rather than waiting on him to hear our pitch which would include how we'll dump one of them to bring him on board.

 

[Mainstreet]

AzStevenCal, I started looking at the text at the bottom of the page (at the link above). It was 'Hacksaw' Hamilton who had the high speed sports wire.

That should ring a bell for some, at least for me.

 

[AzStevenCal]

AzStevenCal, I started looking at the text at the bottom of the page (at the link above). It was 'Hacksaw' Hamilton who had the high speed sports wire.

That should ring a bell for some, at least for me.

Yup. Lee Hacksaw Hamilton. He came to the Valley and immediately declared war on the other sports guys in the area (the longtime KOY guy especially IIRC). He used that line "this just in on the High Speed Sports Wire" and we all ate it up, we had no real sports talk shows at the time.

He did the radio for the Sun Devils games too, would always say something like "there's just 2 minutes left on the Longines Clock". He was corny but effective. He moved to San Diego and as far as I know, he still does sports talk there. The first time I heard Jim Rome, he was a nobody doing updates from spring training ball for Lee's show.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Everything you say is right. However, I'm thinking the same thing about Westbrook as the "league executive." It's nothing but guessing of course. Players do not seem to have loyalty anymore except for money and championships. Now they can have both with the ability to move from team to team.

Yeah I believe it's accurate too, I just suspect his report was no more substantiated than our guess would be. I'm convinced that Westbrook will go to LA or maybe New York. As for loyalty, no one really is - not the owners, GM's, Coaches, players or even the fans. I don't fault anyone for doing what they believe is in their best interest. I second guess their reasoning sometimes, never understand why John Cooper didn't stay in Tempe for example. But I can't fault any of them for taking care of their business.

 

[slinslin]

Call me ignorant but I think it would be extremely hard to build a team around Westbrook that could challenge the Warriors even if you could freely pick 2 other players to join Westbrook.

He does not shoot well, has the highest usage in the NBA already. Finding elite players that can mesh and synergize with Westbrook would be tough because Westbrook relies so heavily on having the ball.

OKC not only has 2 superstars plus 2 allstars. Their stars are 3 of the probably top 10 shooters and even Green is a good shooter who fills the boxscore without dominating the ball.

OKC could not win with Westbrook and Durant. How would the Suns be able to assemble a team around Westbrook even if he signed an extension? And how would they do it before Westbrooks prime is over? He is 28 and attracting the necessary free agents would take years.

 

[Mainstreet]

Call me ignorant but I think it would be extremely hard to build a team around Westbrook that could challenge the Warriors even if you could freely pick 2 other players to join Westbrook.

He does not shoot well, has the highest usage in the NBA already. Finding elite players that can mesh and synergize with Westbrook would be tough because Westbrook relies so heavily on having the ball.

OKC not only has 2 superstars plus 2 allstars. Their stars are 3 of the probably top 10 shooters and even Green is a good shooter who fills the boxscore without dominating the ball.

OKC could not win with Westbrook and Durant. How would the Suns be able to assemble a team around Westbrook even if he signed an extension? And how would they do it before Westbrooks prime is over? He is 28 and attracting the necessary free agents would take years.

We agree. The Suns are going for the team approach and Westbrook would disrupt that with his style of play. It will be interesting if the Thunder are able to keep Westbrook. If not, I think he is traded to a team that can compete now, who has a verbal agreement to keep him long term. The Celtics could put together a very attractive offer and return a PG as well.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yeah I believe it's accurate too, I just suspect his report was no more substantiated than our guess would be. I'm convinced that Westbrook will go to LA or maybe New York. As for loyalty, no one really is - not the owners, GM's, Coaches, players or even the fans. I don't fault anyone for doing what they believe is in their best interest. I second guess their reasoning sometimes, never understand why John Cooper didn't stay in Tempe for example. But I can't fault any of them for taking care of their business.

As someone mentioned (I can't remember now), the fans need a vote in NBA matters as they are mostly left out of the equation. The commissioner and owners needs to fix this in the next collective bargaining agreement although the players will fight back hard and likely win. The players and owners will get their money but the fans will get the short end of the stick.

 

[Russ Smith]

Call me ignorant but I think it would be extremely hard to build a team around Westbrook that could challenge the Warriors even if you could freely pick 2 other players to join Westbrook.

He does not shoot well, has the highest usage in the NBA already. Finding elite players that can mesh and synergize with Westbrook would be tough because Westbrook relies so heavily on having the ball.

OKC not only has 2 superstars plus 2 allstars. Their stars are 3 of the probably top 10 shooters and even Green is a good shooter who fills the boxscore without dominating the ball.

OKC could not win with Westbrook and Durant. How would the Suns be able to assemble a team around Westbrook even if he signed an extension? And how would they do it before Westbrooks prime is over? He is 28 and attracting the necessary free agents would take years.

HIs prime isn't over yet but he strikes me as somewhat like Doc Rivers where so much of his game is athleticism because he's not a great shooter that when he gets older and isn't blinding fast and jumping out of the gym, he's going be a far less effective player in a hurry. So you need to be really careful with a long term deal to him that you don't end up paying him superstar money when he's not that good. he's not like Wade where he has some craftiness to his game to offset losing athleticism, he's pretty much all about out athleting you. It works now, it won't forever.

 

[Russ Smith]

As someone mentioned (I can't remember now), the fans need a vote in NBA matters as they are mostly left out of the equation. The commissioner and owners needs to fix this in the next collective bargaining agreement although the players will fight back hard and likely win. The players and owners will get their money but the fans will get the short end of the stick.

the NBA is all about money though and I think part of this being missed is why the players are doing this has much to do with money. The NBA season is way too long, add in the playoffs and players are exhausted by the time seasons end. What better way to cover that than to get on a team of stars so you don't have to carry the load as much? One point Durant has made repeatedly is that injuries to himself, Ibaka and Westbrook had severely impacted potential title runs for OKC. 2 years ago it was Kyrie and Love(not fatigue related), this year it was Steph getting hurt etc. Players pay attention they see the impact of one key injury and they realize one way to try and account for that is simply play on a stacked roster.

With Westbrook I firmly believe he wants to play in LA, he's said that for years, you read stuff on him growing up his dream was to play for the Lakers. The question now is does he believe they can get good fast enough or would he instead prefer the Clips who already have key pieces.

 

[JCSunsfan]

As someone mentioned (I can't remember now), the fans need a vote in NBA matters as they are mostly left out of the equation. The commissioner and owners needs to fix this in the next collective bargaining agreement although the players will fight back hard and likely win. The players and owners will get their money but the fans will get the short end of the stick.

The fans vote with their pocket book. But, if you don't show up to games, sports media types rip on you for how bad of a sports city you are and then the owners begin prep to move to new cities.

I do know that with all this money floating around, it is going to be really hard to justify tax payer financed venues.

This is a bubble. It has to be. Just like real estate in 2005. It cannot continue at this rate. I wonder how owners and players are going to handle a declining revenues and cap.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The fans vote with their pocket book. But, if you don't show up to games, sports media types rip on you for how bad of a sports city you are and then the owners begin prep to move to new cities.

I do know that with all this money floating around, it is going to be really hard to justify tax payer financed venues.

This is a bubble. It has to be. Just like real estate in 2005. It cannot continue at this rate. I wonder how owners and players are going to handle a declining revenues and cap.

I'm not sure how it can be unless you think ESPN is going to declare bankruptcy (or the league and players somehow violate the terms of the deal)? All this windfall is the direct result of ESPN (and TNT) raising their offer by almost double what was anticipated, so the money is there. The league and even the players may hate the problems that have come and are coming from this TV deal but not enough to not want that money. Too many teams were losing money under the old CBA and yesterday's TV dollars. Now, even the small market teams can enjoy the big bucks and even the scrub players can live like kings.

 

[Russ Smith]

The other thing is everyone is saying we're sick of only a few teams having a shot at a title and we don't want superteams but the NBA has NEVER had parity.

Since 1984 there have been 33 titles won, and 28 of them by Spurs, Pistons, Lakers, Celtics, Bulls and Heat. It's 30 of 33 if you count the Rockets back to back titles in there. So the Warriors, the Cavs etc winning they are the outsider right now not the super team. If the Warriors win another title or two they will simply join the ranks of those other 6. That's 6 teams in 33 years winning about 90% of the titles. that's not parity.

I admit the idea of watching Warriors and Cavs part 3 next year kind of bores me, but largely because it'll be LeBron in the finals again, he's been to 6 straight so next year would be 7.

If the NBA really doesn't like this stuff they'd have a hard cap, and the players would revolt.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The other thing is everyone is saying we're sick of only a few teams having a shot at a title and we don't want superteams but the NBA has NEVER had parity.

Since 1984 there have been 33 titles won, and 28 of them by Spurs, Pistons, Lakers, Celtics, Bulls and Heat. It's 30 of 33 if you count the Rockets back to back titles in there. So the Warriors, the Cavs etc winning they are the outsider right now not the super team. If the Warriors win another title or two they will simply join the ranks of those other 6. That's 6 teams in 33 years winning about 90% of the titles. that's not parity.

I admit the idea of watching Warriors and Cavs part 3 next year kind of bores me, but largely because it'll be LeBron in the finals again, he's been to 6 straight so next year would be 7.

If the NBA really doesn't like this stuff they'd have a hard cap, and the players would revolt.

And long before the era you're talking about there was that stretch when you knew it was going to either be Boston or Boston that would win it all. This has been going on since they formed the NBA. There was a stretch there where the Celtics won 15 times in 21 years and the other 6 titles went to just 3 teams.

And it's far too late for a true Hard Cap. I just don't know how they could put it in short of insolvency and a new beginning.