What one player would you add?

[Cheesebeef]

The Suns, wisely, were not going to move long term assets for old players that were a quick fix. They made that plain all year long, and on top of that... and that you keep ignoring, is that Pau Gasol was injured. You can pretend he wasn't but a dude does not let himself get benched for no reason in a contract year. He actually TRIED to play at the start of April, came back for one game and was flat out horrible and clearly in bad shape. But in your world thats all an act.

As for Asik, the Rockets were asking for a quality first round pick for him... that means no TJ Warren, and his jacked up contract means the Suns would have had almost no cap room this summer, so no Thomas. That quickly turns into a pretty crappy swing for the Suns, and thats without my opinion that Asik, while better than our current centers, is nothing special in the first place.

not only that, but he was LITERALLY injured during trade talks, having missed EVERY GAME from Feb. 1st through Feb. 21 - all of which was the time when trade talks were happening.

That's not even debatable. He was injured and WASN'T playing when the trade talks were going on.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3513/gamelog/?season=2013_2

 

[Cheesebeef]

He wasn't injured when the trade was proposed.

you are completely out to lunch. Trade talks surfaced around Feb. 3 - GASOL WAS INJURED AND OUT OF THE LINE UP FROM FEB. 1 THROUGH FEB. 21st.

Or do you think the Lakers were just holding out an uninjured Gasol and pretending he was injured during the last two weeks before the trading deadline to INCREASE his value? Because if that's your next argument, I don't know what to tell you.

He was injured during the entire lead up to the trading deadline and missed 3 weeks of time right when trade talks were being discussed. That LITERALLY can't be debated.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/...?season=2013_2

 

[Sci Fi]

The Pau Gasol trade rumors started as early as December of last year. Here's an example from Jan 6

http://www.lakersnation.com/pau-gasol-trade-rumors-pau-gasol-remains-a-laker/2014/01/06/

The thread I linked to earlier where I proposed the Suns should trade for Pau was started January 20. Clearly, if the Suns were alert should have recognized there need for a center by at least this time.

Pau wasn't hurt at this time. In fact, he was playing quite well.

 

[Covert Rain]

The Pau Gasol trade rumors started as early as December of last year. Here's an example from Jan 6

http://www.lakersnation.com/pau-gasol-trade-rumors-pau-gasol-remains-a-laker/2014/01/06/

The thread I linked to earlier where I proposed the Suns should trade for Pau was started January 20. Clearly, if the Suns were alert should have recognized there need for a center by at least this time.

Pau wasn't hurt at this time. In fact, he was playing quite well.

I believe he was referring to trade talks involving the Suns. Where does that indicate the Suns were involved in those trade talks? The Lakers appear to have been identifying teams they were interested in dealing with versus the other way around.

No offense, but lots of fans fantasize about bad trades and talk about them in threads. Doesn't mean that the idea is any less ridiculous or that either team has any interest at that time.

The other X-factor here is that Lakers and Suns are in the same division. Yes, trades happen within the Division at times but almost always teams prefer to trade outside the division versus trade with someone they have to compete against. My guess is that when the Lakers burned all the other bridges they got desperate for something and the Suns came into the picture provided they pay the ransom.

I didn't see any reports of any credible rumors until the time frame cheese posted above. The only thing I could find were blog posts from people speculating about what the Suns could do. Do you have any links of legit trade rumors involving the Suns dating back to the start of trade talks you linked above?

 

[JCSunsfan]

Everyone here acknowledges the Suns need for a center. It's by far the Suns biggest need. BY FAR!

Two were available last year of very high quality. Imperfect but still excellent.

The cost would have likely been 2 late first round picks. Picks which are almost certain to yield little value over time. That's what happens with picks like that most times.

This team would be a contender to win it all with either of those two players, and would have been very dangerous in last years playoffs. Had the Suns made the playoffs, Pau likely resigns.

In NBA currency, 4 quarters don't equal a dollar. It would have cost the Suns about 2 dimes for the piece they so desperately need.

Pau would not have likely resigned. There is no guarantee Pau would have meshed with the team if they had traded for him. We still do not know what those picks would have been. There was no real indication he would have been healthy for the playoffs.

It would have been BEYOND STUPID to trade two first round picks for a 2 month Pau rental, and NO, he would not have resigned here.

 

[PhxGametime]

Being a Suns fan there's only a few players available with the pieces I'd be willing to Trade.

First Round Pick(s), Tyler Ennis because of depth, and Shavlik Randolph. Suns are under the cap (not sure of exact amount) but only: Greg Monroe, Enes Kanter, J.J. Hickson, and Jason Thompson seem to fit with salaries.

Too early for Blockbuster deal, so the Suns might have-to gamble on M Plumlee, Biyombo, Leuer, T Robinson, Gobert, Henson, M Leonard, O'Quinn, Ezeli, P Jones III, Nogueira, Moultrie, P Young, etc. becoming A. Available B. Breaking out.

I would've loved to gotten Aaron Gordon in Draft. If Miles Plumlee and Gerald Green can have career years (last Season) - maybe McDonough can strike, again.

 

[Errntknght]

I'm beginning to wonder if we mightn't add Earl Barron... he's had a couple of short stints over his seven years when he played well and he seems to having another one now. I think its fools gold but we are pretty desperate for rebounding from our bigs with Plumee not doing well.
If we add him I'm pretty sure that means we would have to waive someone. Ennis has showed nothing positive but you just don't waive first round picks this quick, so almost certainly it won't be him. Tolliver has the least value in my opinion - I think we have enough 3pt shooting from the rest of team and he brings little else. But they signed him to a 3 million dollar contract so they won't want to cast him off. That leaves Randolph as the most likely choice. Its unfortunate because he's been our best defender among the bigs and over the course of their careers his stats are considerably better than Barron's, except for FT%.

 

[sunsfan88]

1. Anthony Davis.

2. Joakim Noah

 

[JCSunsfan]

I'm beginning to wonder if we mightn't add Earl Barron... he's had a couple of short stints over his seven years when he played well and he seems to having another one now. I think its fools gold but we are pretty desperate for rebounding from our bigs with Plumee not doing well.
If we add him I'm pretty sure that means we would have to waive someone. Ennis has showed nothing positive but you just don't waive first round picks this quick, so almost certainly it won't be him. Tolliver has the least value in my opinion - I think we have enough 3pt shooting from the rest of team and he brings little else. But they signed him to a 3 million dollar contract so they won't want to cast him off. That leaves Randolph as the most likely choice. Its unfortunate because he's been our best defender among the bigs and over the course of their careers his stats are considerably better than Barron's, except for FT%.

Ugh. He had a good preseason game, but good grief, if we are thinking about adding Earl Barron, our center position is really in trouble.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Ugh. our center position is really in trouble.

FTFY.

Steve

 

[Covert Rain]

FTFY.

Steve

Come on. There has to be a Hot Rod or Luc Longley out there somewhere.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The sad thing is that not long ago we had both Gortat and RLopez on the roster. They have both turned out to be pretty decent centers.

Gortat got a 5/60 extension.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The sad thing is that not long ago we had both Gortat and RLopez on the roster. They have both turned out to be pretty decent centers.

Gortat got a 5/60 extension.

The truth is, I'm not all that sad. I think we have an excellent guard situation and we're well situated to build around that. We're far better off than we were the year we had Gortat, Scola and O'Neal even though any one of that trio would be a huge improvement to our current front line. We still have hopes that Plumlee and Len will grow into what we need although I'll admit it's looking a bit less hopeful today than it was just a few weeks ago. As for Gortat and Lopez, it's worth noting that they each stepped up their game considerably when paired with a solid forward.

Steve

 

[JCSunsfan]

The truth is, I'm not all that sad. I think we have an excellent guard situation and we're well situated to build around that. We're far better off than we were the year we had Gortat, Scola and O'Neal even though any one of that trio would be a huge improvement to our current front line. We still have hopes that Plumlee and Len will grow into what we need although I'll admit it's looking a bit less hopeful today than it was just a few weeks ago. As for Gortat and Lopez, it's worth noting that they each stepped up their game considerably when paired with a solid forward.

Steve

Because of Len's inability to stay healthy and Plumlee's consipicuous ineffectiveness in preseason?

 

[Covert Rain]

The sad thing is that not long ago we had both Gortat and RLopez on the roster. They have both turned out to be pretty decent centers.

Gortat got a 5/60 extension.

I would love to still have Gortat on the Roster but Lopez? Meh....he still disappears to often on the boards, underachieves for his size on the boards and turned out to be a very average defender.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Because of Len's inability to stay healthy and Plumlee's consipicuous ineffectiveness in preseason?

Yes and if anyone wants to make the point that it's a rush to judgement, I'd agree with them. It is a rush to judgement but given all the praise I heard about how each of them were looking in the workouts, I'm very concerned. I wouldn't write them off but it's not looking to good for us right now.

Steve

 

[AzStevenCal]

I would love to still have Gortat on the Roster but Lopez? Meh....he still disappears to often on the boards, underachieves for his size on the boards and turned out to be a very average defender.

I agree but even Robin's "Meh" is better than what we appear to have right now.

Steve

 

[Covert Rain]

I agree but even Robin's "Meh" is better than what we appear to have right now.

Steve

Yeah but what we would have to pay for MEH and being locked into salary wise is probably not worth it. I think the Suns looking for a center has become this franchises long honored tradition (not that they grow on trees anyway).

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

I would love to still have Gortat on the Roster but Lopez? Meh....he still disappears to often on the boards, underachieves for his size on the boards and turned out to be a very average defender.

Gortat yes, Slumpez - NO. I would trade half our team to get the good Lopez brother Robin though.

 

[Covert Rain]

Gortat yes, Slumpez - NO. I would trade half our team to get the good Lopez brother Robin though.

Yeah go figure. I remember the Suns brass going apes over getting Sideshow over his brother because he would be more dominant. I think we drafted the wrong brother. Although not a star or anything, at least Brook turned out to be more well rounded IMO.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

Gortat yes, Slumpez - NO. I would trade half our team to get the good Lopez brother Robin though.

CORRECTION: Brook Lopez

 

[Suns_fan69]

Yeah go figure. I remember the Suns brass going apes over getting Sideshow over his brother because he would be more dominate. I think we drafted the wrong brother. Although not a star or anything, at least Brook turned out to be more well rounded IMO.

Even if we had Brook, I'm sure 3/4 of this board (and I include myself in this) would complain to no end about his rebounding.

 

[elindholm]

Yeah go figure. I remember the Suns brass going apes over getting Sideshow over his brother because he would be more dominate. I think we drafted the wrong brother.

I think you're confusing the Lopezes with the Morrises. Brook was taken several spots ahead of Robin; the Suns never had the option to take Brook, but thought that Robin could be better defensively (which he is). They did take Markieff over Marcus, however, which was something of a surprise since most mocks had Marcus higher.

And it's "dominant." "Dominate" is a verb.

 

[Errntknght]

I haven't seen Robin play that much but statistically he has become one of the top defensive centers in the league. Only Roy HIbbert (the good Roy Hibbert) did better than him. Gortat was good too, but some distance back.
From the tracking data site:
Robin challenged 11.5 shots/36 and opps shot 42.8% against him, 139 blks
Gortat challenged 10.2 shots/36 and opps shot 49.9% against him, 120 blks


Brook only played 17 games but his numbers for them were about like Robin's, challenging 10.5 shots/36 and FG% against at 39.7, 30 blks. If he could hold those stats for a whole season he'd in the running for the best all around C in the game.
EDIT: Sunsfan69 is right we'd complain about Brooks rebounding. If it was at the level of the rest of his game he'd unquestionably be the best C in the league.

I wish those defensive stats were available for the earlier years. My perception of Robin was that he was not that good a defender but I can't help but wonder if the stats would prove me wrong. I wouldn't be too surprised if they were good that one half a season he played so well but for the rest I'd have guessed they were poor - like his rebounding was

 

[JCSunsfan]

Horford might end up being the attainable player. With the injury risk that comes along with him, he might be easier to get than expected.

This is an interesting discussion--Atlanta fans talking about dealing Horford.

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1349308