Phx-Suns.Net

Anyone care to give us a comparison of Hampton and Kira Lewis?

I don't know what to think about the levels of competition they are playing against. I think Hampton is on a better team. Is that true?
Is one of them making better passes? Is Lewis really 2 inches shorter? He looks tall to me.

I don't know which I like better.

http://www.tankathon.com/players/compar ... a-lewis-jr

Tyrese along with being taller and a year older, isn't your traditional ball pounding PG. He's more of a ball mover type and almost a secondary creator type. His usage rate is much lower, and his stats say that he's better at nearly everything including defense.

Kira is a traditional ball handling offensive set up type of PG and is a yr younger. He is more inclined to create his own shot or take shots, but is excellent in the PnR.

I haven’t really watched RJ Hampton. I listened to a podcast recently, I think it was Sam Vecenie and Rashad Phillips? Anyways, Phillips loved RJ. Said he’s all about taking big swings in the lottery and said RJ has everything from a physical standpoint. He’s big, fast, and athletic.

It does sound like there are some defensive concerns..in the awareness/effort realm. He’s also not a great shooter right now.

I don’t know enough about him to make any definitive statements, but he’s worth looking at for sure

I am starting to look at PFs since it seems we won't have any on the roster by draft night, and assuming Toppin is out of reach.

Jalen Smith is pretty interesting. He checks a lot of boxes. Good physical profile; perhaps in other eras he'd be considered too thin, but I think he is ok by today's standards, and his frame can take more muscle. Nice shooting; %s and volume have improved a lot from his freshman year). Active on defense and boards.

Killian Tillie does a lot of things well, including terrific shooting and motor (on defense as well), but comes with the classic question marks of a PF senior with limited athleticism (doesn't rebound, btw). On the right team (I suspect that's not PHX), he could be really valuable.

Paul Reed is interesting due to his ability to put the ball on the floor and defensive intensity, but could end up a tweener in the bad sense if we actually want a PF. Limited shooter and no post game.

Need to see next some of Perry, Stewart and Precious.

Ring_Wanted wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 10, 2020 8:31 am

I am starting to look at PFs since it seems we won't have any on the roster by draft night, and assuming Toppin is out of reach.

Jalen Smith is pretty interesting. He checks a lot of boxes. Good physical profile; perhaps in other eras he'd be considered too thin, but I think he is ok by today's standards, and his frame can take more muscle. Nice shooting; %s and volume have improved a lot from his freshman year). Active on defense and boards.

Killian Tillie does a lot of things well, including terrific shooting and motor (on defense as well), but comes with the classic question marks of a PF senior with limited athleticism (doesn't rebound, btw). On the right team (I suspect that's not PHX), he could be really valuable.

Paul Reed is interesting due to his ability to put the ball on the floor and defensive intensity, but could end up a tweener in the bad sense if we actually want a PF. Limited shooter and no post game.

Need to see next some of Perry, Stewart and Precious.

I would check out Patrick Williams too. He isn't huge, only 6'8", but has guard/small forward skillset and he's young. Kind of reminds me of Paul George.

I don't get how Paul Reed could be a tweener. He is a legitimate power forward, and it's not even close.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 13, 2020 10:55 am

I don't get how Paul Reed could be a tweener. He is a legitimate power forward, and it's not even close.

Who said he's a tweener?

Ring Wanted did...My guess is he meant a tweener between 4 and 5. The big question is if his offense is good enough to be a 4. If he doesn’t shoot, he’s a 5 offensively who probably isn’t big enough to be anything but a small ball 5. That sounds like a tweener to me. Really all depends on the shot. If he can shoot, he can be a pretty good 4. Gets trickier if he can’t shoot.

Split T wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 13, 2020 9:41 pm

Ring Wanted did...My guess is he meant a tweener between 4 and 5. The big question is if his offense is good enough to be a 4. If he doesn’t shoot, he’s a 5 offensively who probably isn’t big enough to be anything but a small ball 5. That sounds like a tweener to me. Really all depends on the shot. If he can shoot, he can be a pretty good 4. Gets trickier if he can’t shoot.

Yep. His shot is not fluid at all but he is an interesting prospect anyway. Nice speed and motor, combined with above average athleticism. At the moment he looks thin but he has a good frame and I see a lot of fast twitch. At times he even reminds me of Shawn Marion the way he chases second chances.

Honestly, I'm all in on Paul Reed. I think he's being way underrated by national draft boards and mocks. I think he's a top 10 pick in this year's draft. I would not mind if we "reached" and picked him much higher than projected.

Knowing Sarver though, he's probably all hurt that we were panned for the Cam pick. He'll probably pick whoever is at our spot in the latest ESPN mock draft...

wpmiller42 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:01 am

Honestly, I'm all in on Paul Reed. I think he's being way underrated by national draft boards and mocks. I think he's a top 10 pick in this year's draft. I would not mind if we "reached" and picked him much higher than projected.

Knowing Sarver though, he's probably all hurt that we were panned for the Cam pick. He'll probably pick whoever is at our spot in the latest ESPN mock draft...

I like Reed too, but I wish the Suns had a shooting specialist coach to work on his shot form.

Do we think Cam proved his value and worth this season? I know we weren't happy about the trade overall and there were other guys who may still have more upside but I really liked what I saw from him, even if it his upside is somewhat limited. It's not like it was a complete whiff on our end.

And yea I like Reed a lot, still some concerns about his jumper but think he'll be a solid pro who will feel a need for us.

ShelC wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:23 am

Do we think Cam proved his value and worth this season? I know we weren't happy about the trade overall and there were other guys who may still have more upside but I really liked what I saw from him, even if it his upside is somewhat limited. It's not like it was a complete whiff on our end.

And yea I like Reed a lot, still some concerns about his jumper but think he'll be a solid pro who will feel a need for us.

I think Cam proved his value and worth. I think he's going to eventually be one of the elite shooters in the NBA.

In2ition wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 11:07 am

ShelC wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:23 am

Do we think Cam proved his value and worth this season? I know we weren't happy about the trade overall and there were other guys who may still have more upside but I really liked what I saw from him, even if it his upside is somewhat limited. It's not like it was a complete whiff on our end.

And yea I like Reed a lot, still some concerns about his jumper but think he'll be a solid pro who will feel a need for us.

I think Cam proved his value and worth. I think he's going to eventually be one of the elite shooters in the NBA.

I actually liked the trade. Saric is a solid player who just underperformed. I don’t think we made the beat use of the #11 pick though. There were several better players available. I also like Cam as a role player. He’s exactly as advertised, down to the grandpa injuries.

I think Cam is a keeper.

By the way, every time you guys say "Paul Reed" my eyes think you typed this:

If only Paul Reed were that charming.

Cam was fine, he’ll be a solid role player. But had we just drafted Brandon Clarke like many of us wanted, we’d have our 4 and we could use our pick this year to take Vassell/Nesmith/Haliburton and fill the wing shooter off the bench role.

Split T wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 6:48 pm

Cam was fine, he’ll be a solid role player. But had we just drafted Brandon Clarke like many of us wanted, we’d have our 4 and we could use our pick this year to take Vassell/Nesmith/Haliburton and fill the wing shooter off the bench role.

Clarke was truly the right man for us. I hated that trade (and overall I HATED that draft for us). Some people defended it because of Saric, but I never saw in him more than a mediocre tweener that just couldn't elevate us much, yet would need to be paid soon or let go. And Cam was just a brutal reach; if you wanted him, you could have had him at #24 (sadly, Jeorme is more than questionable too). Cam is shooting as advertised, but just as projected as well, he does little else (no ill will, just what it is; at least he is not dumb on the floor).

Can't wait to see what surprises await this draft...

Ring_Wanted wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 1:02 am

Split T wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 15, 2020 6:48 pm

Cam was fine, he’ll be a solid role player. But had we just drafted Brandon Clarke like many of us wanted, we’d have our 4 and we could use our pick this year to take Vassell/Nesmith/Haliburton and fill the wing shooter off the bench role.

Clarke was truly the right man for us. I hated that trade (and overall I HATED that draft for us). Some people defended it because of Saric, but I never saw in him more than a mediocre tweener that just couldn't elevate us much, yet would need to be paid soon or let go. And Cam was just a brutal reach; if you wanted him, you could have had him at #24 (sadly, Jeorme is more than questionable too). Cam is shooting as advertised, but just as projected as well, he does little else (no ill will, just what it is; at least he is not dumb on the floor).

Can't wait to see what surprises await this draft...

I had high hopes for Saric after his work in Philly.

And I like Cam, think he has good potential with his height and range, and was okay taking him at 11 in view of getting Saric.

But if we off-load Saric for nothing then it looks like a #6 for #11 swap, which isn't an even trade as we could have had White.

At #11 Clarke would have arguably been a bigger reach with his wing span - a one dimensional view I realise, especially when you ignore it and just watch him play - but I'm guessing this is why no one touched him till #21 as draft analytics will have weighted against this heavily.

Clarke is almost the perfect argument against analytics therefore as he is such a baller, and I struggle to see how he lasted to #21 other than to blame it on this.

Looking at it another way:


Would you swap Johnson (and Saric) for White?

I like White but Rubio is doing well, is second on the team in Win Shares, shooting is okay (it's not painful at least and .351 3pt% is good), his 3.3 ast/tov ratio is excellent - only behind Elfrid Payton for starters (who's shooting .203% on 3's) - and he's almost certainly better suited to Ayton than White.

It's close but I think I stick with what we've got as White and Rubio on the same team doesn't work (either today or at draft time) and I'm honestly more excited by Johnson than any of Reddish, Hachimura or Culver, the other guys we could have had at 6.


Would you swap Johnson (and Saric) for Clarke?

This is also close but might be hard to say no to as we could probably find some shooting elsewhere and Clarke is starting, is 2nd in Win Shares and is a great glue kind of guy.

That said, Rubio-Booker-Bridges-Oubre-Ayton is the best in the league, Saric isn't a bust, and Cam Johnson can seriously shoot so it's not a gimme either. Johnson - for me - isn't easily given up because of his fundamentals.


I'm surprised how not-one-sided against Johnson this analysis is but I'm probably missing other angles.