Bear Down Wildcats

I have no fucking clue what the Suns are doing. They are still my team but I'm not spending a dime on tix/gear or a minute watching them until Sarver is gone.

Baynes, "I don't want to be part of a semi rebuild."

"Ok then we're sending you to the Suns. Not a semi rebuild."

"Fuck."

Suns are being extremely active.....

at tanking again.

I have no idea what they are accomplishing by any of these trades.

Aaaaaand reason 345 why I haven't cared about the suns in 10 years. Sigh.

Ok, so, I’ve researched:

I have said for three years that Warren would be best off the bench as a 6th Man. He was an awful fit next to Booker because their defense is astonishingly bad, and he was too awful a rebounder to be a stretch 4, and too much of a black hole overall to be a benefit in a pass-based offense. Not sure how this last point matters to Monty’s system.

Losing the 32nd pick sucked. That pick was traded for 3 future 2nds in a shitty draft.

But clearing CAP can be ideal.

And swapping Warren/6/32 for Saric/Johnson is a good deal, considering it gave them a far more ideal PF who is a much better passer and defender than Warren, and a better rebounder, and while not the dynamic scorer, he is a good fit.

Johnson is a reach, but several analytic mock drafts had him going 16-18 range, so it’s not awful, and his skills are real NBA skills that help now.

Jerome is a nice get with Baynes for a future 1st that will not likely bring much better a prospect. Ideally he replaces Melton, maybe both he and Okobo. Both who could be trade fodder since the UFA dust settles.

Jackson probably has negative value, so, he’s probably the Suns problem until the deadline unless they are willing to part with a future 1st, which I hope they don’t.

I am upset they passed on Clarke. That was my dude this draft, and a great bench player behind Saric.

But today helped the Suns more than it hurt them. Johnson opting out (unlikely) or the Suns waiving/stretching him gives them just about the low end Max range for Brogdon or Russell.

Let’s see if that is the plan. Gambo says it’s not. But Gambo had no idea about the Saric deal. So, grain of salt.

PG: Brogdon, Jerome
SG: Booker, Bridges
SF: Oubre, Bridges, Johnson
PF: Saric, Jackson, Johnson
C: Ayton, Baynes, Saric

That is a solid team if a few players mesh and Ayton, Bridges take leaps forward, and Johnson and Jerome can simply hit shots and defend. Real upside, too.

JMarkJohns wrote:Ok, so, I’ve researched:

I have said for three years that Warren would be best off the bench as a 6th Man. He was an awful fit next to Booker because their defense is astonishingly bad, and he was too awful a rebounder to be a stretch 4, and too much of a black hole overall to be a benefit in a pass-based offense. Not sure how this last point matters to Monty’s system.

Losing the 32nd pick sucked. That pick was traded for 3 future 2nds in a shitty draft.

But clearing CAP can be ideal.

And swapping Warren/6/32 for Saric/Johnson is a good deal, considering it gave them a far more ideal PF who is a much better passer and defender than Warren, and a better rebounder, and while not the dynamic scorer, he is a good fit.

Johnson is a reach, but several analytic mock drafts had him going 16-18 range, so it’s not awful, and his skills are real NBA skills that help now.

Jerome is a nice get with Baynes for a future 1st that will not likely bring much better a prospect. Ideally he replaces Melton, maybe both he and Okobo. Both who could be trade fodder since the UFA dust settles.

Jackson probably has negative value, so, he’s probably the Suns problem until the deadline unless they are willing to part with a future 1st, which I hope they don’t.

I am upset they passed on Clarke. That was my dude this draft, and a great bench player behind Saric.

But today helped the Suns more than it hurt them. Johnson opting out (unlikely) or the Suns waiving/stretching him gives them just about the low end Max range for Brogdon or Russell.

Let’s see if that is the plan. Gambo says it’s not. But Gambo had no idea about the Saric deal. So, grain of salt.

PG: Brogdon, Jerome
SG: Booker, Bridges
SF: Oubre, Bridges, Johnson
PF: Saric, Jackson, Johnson
C: Ayton, Baynes, Saric

That is a solid team if a few players mesh and Ayton, Bridges take leaps forward, and Johnson and Jerome can simply hit shots and defend. Real upside, too.

Can Johnson honestly defend? Better question is can he honestly defend a 4? With his hips I'm afraid he'd be broken in two defending 4s in this league. Guy isn't even 210lbs.

Probably not, outside of super small lineups. Oubre would probably be the PF in those with Johnson and Bridges the wings and Booker the PG unless there’s a significant upgrade.

But shooting for Ayton/Booker is beyond ideal.

Even if not my ideal.

Merkin wrote:

Wow look at how much has changed in 2 years. We were talking about crappy trades and how much this team sucks. Losing in the Finals sucks but we did much better than anyone expected. I am excited for next season.

OriginalAZ wrote: ↑Wed Jul 21, 2021 9:10 pm Wow look at how much has changed in 2 years. We were talking about crappy trades and how much this team sucks. Losing in the Finals sucks but we did much better than anyone expected. I am excited for next season.

A year ago today, the idea of losing in the Finals in 2021 would cause nothing but euphoria. To have a concrete idea of what attainable attribute it would take to win it next year is a hell of a luxury.