Worst free agent signing, Sarver-era

[Griffin]

Despite the entertainment of the Nash years, it was clear to most of us that we really weren't doing everything we could to build towards a championship. Oh sure, we could have won it all with Mike's system but our lack of depth created mostly by selling off picks left us with a very small margin for error. That margin of error was lessened even more by our unbalanced approach to the game.

So, while I have very fond memories of the Nash years, I can't help but think we'd have been better off had we never gone down that path. Of course, an even better way to go would have been to sign Steve and not make some of the incredibly dumb decisions we made along the way.

Steve

I get what you are saying, but here's my take on it. Signing Nash directly led to three WCF appearances. So what would be the probability that, had they not signed Nash, the Suns would acquire player(s) that would lead to even greater success? I think that's highly improbable. Signing a future multiple MVP hall-of-famer as a free agent for less than max is already highly improbable as it is. I don't think it is likely that any other combination of moves would have led to greater success (i.e. closer to title) or have left the team in a better position than it is now. Possible of course, but not probable, imo.

More likely, the Suns would have ended up signing a player or two who would have taken the team to a few first round exits, maybe a second round series, and then the team would be exactly where it is now, assuming same level of mismanagement. You don't have to even imagine this, just recall the Jason Kidd years. That's the level of success that is average around the league. The Suns run of three WCF's in five years is not.

 

[SweetD]

Were is Hido? That was a horrible deal we got lucky to get rid of that one

 

[Chaplin]

Were is Hido? That was a horrible deal we got lucky to get rid of that one

We traded for hedo, we didn't sign him as a free agent.

 

[KloD]

Childress is the easy choice. He did absolutely nothing with this team and they couldn't trade him. Banks sucked, but they were able to get rid of him and his contract. Beasley. it's too early to judge.

 

[Chaplin]

Childress is the easy choice. He did absolutely nothing with this team and they couldn't trade him. Banks sucked, but they were able to get rid of him and his contract. Beasley. it's too early to judge.

The question was who was the worst free agent signing--not who was easiest to get rid of. Childress was a horrid signing, no question, but did his signing affect us winning a championship? Nope, not as much as Banks's did.

 

[wagon mound 464]

Flip a coin,,,,,

Childress and Banks,,,toss up, both terrible decisions at a very high cost.

________________________________________________________

Beasley? Management said two years ago, during trade talks, they didn't want Beasley,,,,,,now we have him

Last night against Mavs,,, Gortat, one bucket. Nash was feeding Gortat to score 15 to 20 per game......can't Dragic do the same?

 

[Errntknght]

I think its a toss up between Beasley and Warrick because they were quite well known quantities when they were offered contracts. It was known neither of them could defend well enough to ever be a net positive contributor on the floor - and guys essentially never turn that around once they're established in the league. Giving them anything more than rock bottom to hold a required roster slot is just plain dumb.
You can make a case that Banks hurt the team more than either of them because of the timing but he wasn't a lost cause at the time he was offered a deal. (I must admit that Elindholm called it at the time, but it was just one of those lucky guesses, IMO.) We overbid for him because we'd just gotten burned pursuing Salmons. I predicted D'Antoni would probably make a mess of him because he done just that with every other backup PG, but Marcus himself was not that bad.
Childress was not a known lost cause either - he'd played credibly in his stint in Atlanta and had been a good defender. He was a risk having played in Europe for two years and we grossly overpaid but I think that had to do with Blanks being associated with him.

 

[Superbone]

I don't care about the money. Beasley has sapped my joy of Suns basketball more than possibly anybody to ever wear a Suns jersey.

Beasley in a landslide.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I don't care about the money. Beasley has sapped my joy of Suns basketball more than possibly anybody to ever wear a Suns jersey.

Beasley in a landslide.

That sounds good but I'm pretty sure Blanks would just have us dig him out so Gentry could toss his corpse back out on the floor.

Steve

 

[Superbone]

That sounds good but I'm pretty sure Blanks would just have us dig him out so Gentry could toss his corpse back out on the floor.

Steve

That was good for a LOL moment! Thanks, I needed that.

 

[elindholm]

(I must admit that Elindholm called it at the time, but it was just one of those lucky guesses, IMO.)

Jeez, who are you trying to score points with? I thought you were above that.

 

[Errntknght]

Jeez, who are you trying to score points with? I thought you were above that.

I was just trying to impress everyone with my memory... at my age that's a big deal, you know.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think it WILL BE Beasley. Yikes.

 

[TruCard]

In Childress' defense, he never got much playing time. You can't say that he didn't produce when he did play. I follow the Suns pretty closely and from what I remember, he did a decent job when he played. Worth what he was paid? Probably not. On a team full of forwards, we decided that 36 year old Grant Hill was a better fit as the starter.

Marcus Banks wasn't any good. Again, he was a backup to a three time MVP. Why did we sign him? To be a backup. He was a hot commodity at the time and we bit.

My guy is not even on your list. The worst free agent signing by the Suns since the Sarver era in my opinion is Jared Dudley. This guy got a five year, 22.5 million deal. He is worth half of that, maybe. He is a fan favorite so I know I'll get bashed for saying it but this guy just isn't very good. He is back in the starting lineup for now and his numbers on the year, 8.9ppg, 2.3reb and 1.8assists. SMH. Not good at all.

 

[slinslin]

People need to stop their absurd hate for Beasley. He will never be the worst signing. He has a 3 year contract and the third year is just partial.

Plus if the Suns never signed him they would only have more capspace with no worthwhile player to spend it on while rebuilding anyway.

Childress and Banks are infintely worse and always will be. At least Beasley has real talent.

 

[Griffin]

Plus if the Suns never signed him they would only have more capspace with no worthwhile player to spend it on while rebuilding anyway.

Possibly. But instead of going after Beasley and Gordon, they could have gone after Mayo as their primary FA target. Mayo would have certainly signed here (without Beasley, Dudley would have been the starting SF, leaving the SG spot wide open). Mayo would also have been cheaper than Beasley. Both players had major question marks, but it looks like the Suns gambled on the wrong player. And just imagine if Gordon was also a Sun right now and still injured. So far not so good for Babby and Blanks.

Mayo would have high trade value now, or possibly be part of a future core. Beasley has no value at the moment and no future.

 

[Mainstreet]

Possibly. But instead of going after Beasley and Gordon, they could have gone after Mayo as their primary FA target. Mayo would have certainly signed here (without Beasley, Dudley would have been the starting SF, leaving the SG spot wide open). Mayo would also have been cheaper than Beasley. Both players had major question marks, but it looks like the Suns gambled on the wrong player. And just imagine if Gordon was also a Sun right now and still injured. So far not so good for Babby and Blanks.

Mayo would have high trade value now, or possibly be part of a future core. Beasley has no value at the moment and no future.

This is best argument I've heard, that Beasley is the Suns worst free agent signing during the Sarver era... that he impacted the Mayo signing.

However, this seems to point out more, how inept the Suns FO remains even after they were able to clear salary from the books supposedly to build for the future. Beasley's contract is not that onerous although the Suns should have gone after Mayo instead. Again the Suns have a poor eye for talent and even evaluating positions of need on the roster.

Also the Suns going after Gordon seemed frivilous and tied the Suns hands while they waited for NO to match. Luckily they did. It seemed obvious the Hornets were intent on matching Gordon.

 

[AzStevenCal]

In Childress' defense, he never got much playing time. You can't say that he didn't produce when he did play. I follow the Suns pretty closely and from what I remember, he did a decent job when he played. Worth what he was paid? Probably not. On a team full of forwards, we decided that 36 year old Grant Hill was a better fit as the starter.

Marcus Banks wasn't any good. Again, he was a backup to a three time MVP. Why did we sign him? To be a backup. He was a hot commodity at the time and we bit.

My guy is not even on your list. The worst free agent signing by the Suns since the Sarver era in my opinion is Jared Dudley. This guy got a five year, 22.5 million deal. He is worth half of that, maybe. He is a fan favorite so I know I'll get bashed for saying it but this guy just isn't very good. He is back in the starting lineup for now and his numbers on the year, 8.9ppg, 2.3reb and 1.8assists. SMH. Not good at all.

Sure you can. It's easy to say that Childress didn't produce when he got the chance to play because he didn't produce when he got the chance to play. Now, you could easily make the case that he didn't get consistent minutes over a sustained period sufficient to show what he could do but that's a different argument.

As for Dudley, there's no way he belongs in this discussion even given his reduced output this season. It's not his fault that we got the clever idea to take a hard working small forward and move him to the shooting guard spot. But, even as poorly as that idea has worked out, the guy makes less than 1/10th of the Suns salary and he comes in under the NBA average.

According to Draftexpress, Dudley makes the same this year as Hakim Warrick and he's better on one leg than Warrick will ever be on two. He makes less than Wesley Johnson who can barely see the court from his spot on the sidelines. If Jared is overpaid by NBA standards it's not by much. Also, he came to us by trade not free agency.

Steve

 

[Phrazbit]

People need to stop their absurd hate for Beasley. He will never be the worst signing. He has a 3 year contract and the third year is just partial.

Plus if the Suns never signed him they would only have more capspace with no worthwhile player to spend it on while rebuilding anyway.

Childress and Banks are infintely worse and always will be. At least Beasley has real talent.

"Talent"... I love that in defense of Beasley. Who cares if no player in basketball hurts his team worse. He supposedly has "talent". If you want a guy who can make a nice face up play to get a look from 20 feet and then brick it... there are few better in the league.

There is no level of hate "absurd" enough to cover how bad Beasley has been. I actually listed Banks as a worse signing because of the damage it did and that we gave up Rondo in favor of Banks. But when it comes to the worst PLAYER they've signed no one will approach how freaking awful Beasley is.

 

[slinslin]

The Suns could have signed Mayo regardless of Beasley. Mayo simply did not accept their offer because they told him he was not going to start and they build around Dudley.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The Suns could have signed Mayo regardless of Beasley. Mayo simply did not accept their offer because they told him he was not going to start and they build around Dudley.

I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised by your defense of Beasley. I think the guy has more to offer than the stats show but even still, he's really killing us out there even if you just rely on what you see. You typically ignore what "we see" and focus solely on stats so it makes no sense that you would be supporting the guy. From a stat standpoint, he's not just bad he's unbelievably bad.

Steve

 

[Phrazbit]

I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised by your defense of Beasley. I think the guy has more to offer than the stats show but even still, he's really killing us out there even if you just rely on what you see. You typically ignore what "we see" and focus solely on stats so it makes no sense that you would be supporting the guy. From a stat standpoint, he's not just bad he's unbelievably bad.

Steve

Exactly... from a stat standpoint the guy is the worst player in the league right now.

And Slin, if the Suns hadn't idiotically signed Beasley they could have signed Mayo to play SG, and let Dudley start at his natural position of small forward.

 

[hcsilla]

The Suns could have signed Mayo regardless of Beasley. Mayo simply did not accept their offer because they told him he was not going to start and they build around Dudley.

I don't know where you got this from.

All sources reported that Mayo wanted a +8 mil. salary (probably paired with a long-term contract) and the Suns obviously offered a smaller contract, probably a close one to Beasley's.

Since Mayo (reportedly) didn't wanna play for a 20 wins team, he just accepted Dallas's one year offer which was probably lower and shorter than Suns' affer.

His decision turned out to be an excellent one (till now).

 

[SunsTzu]

I don't know where you got this from.

Mayo said it himself.

As Mayo said in October, the problem was that he wanted a chance to start and the Suns indicated to him that Jared Dudley would be starting with Michael Beasley.

“Dudley is probably the last face, other than Dragic when he was here,” Mayo said. “They were very confident in him. He’s a great player. He plays well, very smart and savvy. I just wanted an opportunity to start again and to give myself a shot to go out there and compete against other starting two-guards in this league.”

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/174385

Mayo likely would have accepted a similar offer to what Dallas gave, he was primarily wanting a starting spot.