Suns News: Week 21 (3/7 to 3/13)

[BigLewy]

There is no way Sarver will pay Ayton and Book and Paul all between 30M-40M a year, while paying Mikal and Cam 20-25M each. It just won't happen.

Totally agree-there will have to be concessions somewhere, and in that scenario, Cam is a goner. You can't pay everyone, which is a good problem to have in a way, but it is going to lead to some interesting roster decisions down the road. I guess it will come down to whether or not Jones thinks he can replace what Ayton brings over Cam, etc.

[Indy]

There is no way Sarver will pay Ayton and Book and Paul all between 30M-40M a year, while paying Mikal and Cam 20-25M each. It just won't happen.

Totally agree-there will have to be concessions somewhere, and in that scenario, Cam is a goner. You can't pay everyone, which is a good problem to have in a way, but it is going to lead to some interesting roster decisions down the road. I guess it will come down to whether or not Jones thinks he can replace what Ayton brings over Cam, etc.

I think Cam is just scratching the surface of the player he can become. If I had to choose to keep Cam at the same contract Mikal got, or keep Ayton at the max, I am choosing Cam.

[bajanguy008]

Small sample but interesting

[bajanguy008]

Luv this trend

[Split T]

Shamet is way better on defense than I thought…he’s small so he’s not ideal for bigger wings, but he is great on guards. If the offense of the last few games sticks around, he’s going to be very useful for us.

[Split T]

I have a hard time seeing how the Ayton thing ends up. One possibility is that he has another outstanding playoffs this year and we win a title. In that case I bet he gets his max. If we don't win the title, and/or if Ayton doesn't play super well in the playoffs, then what? Do we try to trade him? I still think he's super valuable to us even though he is inconsistent and not assertive enough to be a team leader. If we just lose him and get little to nothing back, it'll really hurt us. Flaws and all, he's averaging 17 ppg on 64% FG and 10 rpg. He gives us something that pushes us from a great team to a title team. It'd be hard for me to see us let him go.

I’m telling you guys, if we don’t win the title…Ayton for LeBron is a real possibility…haha

But in more realistic talk…I think the suns have to do something if they get beat again this year at full strength. I don’t think you can just run it back every year as CP3 ages. Ayton would be the obvious piece to swing for the fences with.

My ideal scenario would be to sign him to a reasonable deal. Like say a 4 year deal that starts at 25 million a year…so probably like 4/110. I think the chances of that are very low though as someone will certainly be offering the full 4 year max.

That brings us to 4 options imo:

1. We just sign him to a max or near max deal. Maybe he gives us a slight discount, or we add a 5th year option that makes the overall salary bigger, but yearly salary slightly below the max.

2. We S&T him to a team that wants him at the max.

3. We match a max offer. Then we can either just keep him or look to move him later as he will hold value even on a max deal. This is the biggest reason I’m not super concerned. Even if we max him, we could still easily trade him.

4. We let him walk. This would be an absolute travesty and would be unacceptable. It would crush any hopes of a title for us.

I think I’m honesty ok with any of the first 3 options, depending on the return of course if we do end up moving him.

[Indy]

Shamet is way better on defense than I thought…he’s small so he’s not ideal for bigger wings, but he is great on guards. If the offense of the last few games sticks around, he’s going to be very useful for us.

He is even better on defense when he is doing well on offense. You just see his energy and confidence go up on the defensive end when he is hitting shots. The Shamet of these last couple weeks is the Shamet they thought they were getting with the trade.

[Indy]

There are not really any good options, Split. I don't know what I would do if I were Jones.

[Split T]

There are not really any good options, Split. I don't know what I would do if I were Jones.

They’re not great, but they’re not bad either. They either just push the problem down the road a bit or risk messing up the structure of the team.

[Shabazz]

I hate these “there’s going to be some news” scoops. Tell us the news or gtfo.

[Indy]

I hate these “there’s going to be some news” scoops. Tell us the news or gtfo.

I hate the "i know something but can't say/won't say yet" scoops, but I don't mind the "I hear some news will be breaking about XXX but I don't know the details" tweets.

[ShelC]

I'm hoping the league is just going to say "F it" and give our guys all the awards right now like COTY, MVP, MIP, 6MOTY, DPOY and All-NBA selections.

[Split T]

Ya I get the feeling it’s more like he’s heard the NBA’s investigation will release their report soon. I don’t think he actually has the details of the report.

It’s not like the guy that reported another reporter had a story breaking about Sarver that would be a bombshell. That was dumb.

[Mori Chu]

I won't believe it until my guy Flex from Jersey reports it.

[bajanguy008]

Frank really stepped up last time and I could say probably surprised most of us but so much has changed since then
I'm here thinking of situations where we would actually use him, I guess the obvious answer is spacing but our centers rolling to the basket opens much more than the pick n pop imo

[Indy]

Frank really stepped up last time and I could say probably surprised most of us but so much has changed since then
I'm here thinking of situations where we would actually use him, I guess the obvious answer is spacing but our centers rolling to the basket opens much more than the pick n pop imo

I think it would be rare, but sometimes our primary initiators don't have it going, and there needs to be someone else on the floor as a connector. Frank can be that guy. Less about popping from 3, and more about being a very good .5 big.

[Superbone]

I'm hoping the league is just going to say "F it" and give our guys all the awards right now like COTY, MVP, MIP, 6MOTY, DPOY and All-NBA selections.

That's probably it.

But you know what drives me absolutely CRAZY? We are dominating the league this year and yet it's like we have to torture ESPN and the national NBA news outlets to talk about the Suns. Only if it's our game do I hear anything. I've been watching the ESPN Countdown pregame show and their halftime shows and it's all about the Lakers, the Nets, Knicks, etc. It's getting to the point of ridiculousness. I guess it's like Steve Martin says, be so good they can't ignore you. When we're one of the last two teams standing, they have no choice but to talk about us.

[Indy]

I'm hoping the league is just going to say "F it" and give our guys all the awards right now like COTY, MVP, MIP, 6MOTY, DPOY and All-NBA selections.

That's probably it.

But you know what drives me absolutely CRAZY? We are dominating the league this year and yet it's like we have to torture ESPN and the national NBA news outlets to talk about the Suns. Only if it's our game do I hear anything. I've been watching the ESPN Countdown pregame show and their halftime shows and it's all about the Lakers, the Nets, Knicks, etc. It's getting to the point of ridiculousness. I guess it's like Steve Martin says, be so good they can't ignore you. When we're one of the last two teams standing, they have no choice but to talk about us.

I don't know about that. I could see ESPN running a story about DURING the Finals about how if LeBron even had one more player on his team as good as him at 37, then they would be the favorites.

Honestly, I don't care what ESPN says about us. They are not there to inform people. They are there to show flashy things. And we have NEVER won anything. If we were a dynasty, they would be talking about us because that is flashy. But a regular season team that has never won a ring, with the #1 player a guy known as a "one of the greatest to never win a ring" type players. I get why they do what they do, and it isn't because they have something against us. They just have their vested interest in catering to the most people.

[Split T]

Frank would help the 2nd unit offense for sure. He provides that floor spacing, second creator that Payne could use. Payne plays better with that as opposed to a traditional rim runner.

[Nodack]

I'm hoping the league is just going to say "F it" and give our guys all the awards right now like COTY, MVP, MIP, 6MOTY, DPOY and All-NBA selections.

That's probably it.

But you know what drives me absolutely CRAZY? We are dominating the league this year and yet it's like we have to torture ESPN and the national NBA news outlets to talk about the Suns. Only if it's our game do I hear anything. I've been watching the ESPN Countdown pregame show and their halftime shows and it's all about the Lakers, the Nets, Knicks, etc. It's getting to the point of ridiculousness. I guess it's like Steve Martin says, be so good they can't ignore you. When we're one of the last two teams standing, they have no choice but to talk about us.

I don't know about that. I could see ESPN running a story about DURING the Finals about how if LeBron even had one more player on his team as good as him at 37, then they would be the favorites.

Honestly, I don't care what ESPN says about us. They are not there to inform people. They are there to show flashy things. And we have NEVER won anything. If we were a dynasty, they would be talking about us because that is flashy. But a regular season team that has never won a ring, with the #1 player a guy known as a "one of the greatest to never win a ring" type players. I get why they do what they do, and it isn't because they have something against us. They just have their vested interest in catering to the most people.

Los Angeles and NYC are the two biggest markets. Indy is right. That’s why they can afford the best teams money can buy. That’s why I always root against LA and NY teams. That’s why I am enjoying this year so much. Sometimes you can’t just buy a Championship. You have to earn it. The Suns from James Jones on down have earned it.