A place for fans of the Phoenix Suns
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Our starting five next year is going to be Captain America, Hawkeye, Wolverine, Mr. Fantastic and Thanos. Tony Stark is going to own the team, FRIDAY will manage, Fury will coach, and Black Widow will lead the dance team.
Westphal is my all-time favorite Sun, and he and George Gervin were probably the to best guards in the NBA in the late 70's, but I think he's going to come up a little short because his peak was fairly short (5 years). Still, All-NBA 1st team 3 times and 2nd team 1 time, which is better than James Worthy (0 & 0), Kevin McHale (1 & 0) and Bill Walton (1 & 1) combined.JeremyG wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:56 amPaul Westphal is a Hall of Fame finalist this year.
http://www.nba.com/article/2019/02/15/t ... al-release
Is there a consensus about Igor's role on the team? My preference would be to keep him another yearMarty [Mori Chu] wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 9:29 pmMy dream is Rubio and Zion, plus maybe one more free agent PF. Plus maybe a coaching change (again, sigh), though I could live with giving Igor one more chance. If we had an offseason like that, I think I would be optimistic about our 2019/20. But the Zion part is unlikely to come to pass, so we will more likely end up with a player like Morant or Barrett.In2ition wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:37 pmThere is certainly an opportunity to create a special story. It would be a huge challenge to turn this around, but it could be a Nash type change next year. After watching the past couple games, it sure seems it's going to take A LOT to change things around. This might mean that they make a big to semi big trade, sign some good FAs with decent contracts and/or get super lucky in the draft.
I would put Pepper Potts instead of Friday as GM, other than that, pass me whatever you took to imagine that killing starting five, perhaps just a little worried about Logan impaling a referee after a double technical, but no doubt that frountcourt is totally fixig the paint.
“Everybody puts their own input in at times, but I’m trying to emphasize that I’ll be the alpha dog on the team,” he said. “Not to take away from everybody, but that’s how I am. I just wanna lead. That’s just very natural with who I am....I know I can do more in this league,” Ayton said. “I can do so much damage in this league on the floor. It’s fun to see it and just working hard and competing against the best players in the world. It’s amazing. I’m just happy every day to compete.”
Aztec Sunsfan wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 10:59 amI would put Pepper Potts instead of Friday as GM, other than that, pass me whatever you took to imagine that killing starting five, perhaps just a little worried about Logan impaling a referee after a double technical, but no doubt that frountcourt is totally fixig the paint.
Nah. You guys are forgetting about Dr. Strange. Put him in at GM and we win the championship every year for the rest of our lives.Ring_Wanted wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:35 amGive me Charles Xavier at GM. Stark sounds like a good owner, but would he be able to let the GM do his job? Fury president of bbal operations. Hawkeye director of scouting haha. Romanov in broadcasting please. Or coach heheh.
Professor X can “coach” the opposing team.Ring_Wanted wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:35 amGive me Charles Xavier at GM. Stark sounds like a good owner, but would he be able to let the GM do his job? Fury president of bbal operations. Hawkeye director of scouting haha. Romanov in broadcasting please. Or coach heheh.
Poor guy would have to watch every season 14 million times to find the one way to win.
I'm glad he still believes. Here's to better days ahead.ShelC wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:05 pmHere's a good SI article on Ayton:
https://www.si.com/nba/2019/02/16/deand ... ium=social
“Everybody puts their own input in at times, but I’m trying to emphasize that I’ll be the alpha dog on the team,” he said. “Not to take away from everybody, but that’s how I am. I just wanna lead. That’s just very natural with who I am....I know I can do more in this league,” Ayton said. “I can do so much damage in this league on the floor. It’s fun to see it and just working hard and competing against the best players in the world. It’s amazing. I’m just happy every day to compete.”
“From the growing pains, you know that better days are coming,” Ayton said. “It’s good to see everyone’s habits, bad habits, their attitudes. Just seeing how everybody responds to certain things, I’m just really learning. Because there’s gonna be a time when Phoenix starts getting pretty good and there’s more maturity on the team, more vets. So guys will just really grow in and become a dynasty team Phoenix has always wanted.”
The Suns, for now, appear to be far from establishing themselves as a powerhouse. But Ayton is one of Phoenix's foundational pieces for reaching such heights, and he's confident in what the group around him can accomplish in due time.
It's not easy to remain positive when results are not. Nonetheless, he remains believes the Suns can be great. If anything, he's going to do everything within his power to see it come to fruition.
“I know I can do more in this league,” Ayton said. “I can do so much damage in this league on the floor. It’s fun to see it and just working hard and competing against the best players in the world. It’s amazing. I’m just happy every day to compete.”
The good news from all of this is that another high lottery pick is headed to Phoenix, maybe even the first overall pick for a second year in a row. Duke power forward Zion Williamson and Murray State point guard Ja Morant both fit Phoenix needs perfectly.
Jones has said on a few occasions that there is no flipping a switch to turn around the franchise, perhaps an unintentional reminder of something that owner Robert Sarver said after firing Jones’s predecessor, Ryan McDonough, before the season.
“For me, the switch has flipped and it’s now time to start figuring out how to win,” Sarver told Arizona Sports 98.7, the team’s flagship radio station at the time.
Crawford said Jones is already changing some perceptions. During his Tyler Johnson media conference, Jones said he doesn’t like referring to players as “assets,” and would rather use the word “contracts,” when discussing trades. Crawford said those subtleties are appreciated in the locker room.
“Players take those things into consideration,” he said. “You see somebody who you’ve competed against, or who you’ve watched compete growing up, and he’s in a position where he can formulate and kind of put his vision in motion of how things are supposed to go.
“James is a champ. He really is. Having that DNA is very attractive to players as well, to have somebody that kind of speaks their language.”
Former Suns star Kevin Johnson once was talking about the late Cotton Fitzsimmons and said that there are a lot of people who can evaluate individual talent around the NBA; but there are few who have the vision to really see how talent fits together. Fitzsimmons had it.
Crawford believes that Jones does, too.
Quality post, Split.Split T wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:47 pmI’m not as down on James Jones as most are here. I do think he has a strong reputation amongst players in the league and that is helpful. Does he have what it takes to evaluate talent and put a team together? None of us really know the answer to that question. I do hope that if we keep him as our gm, that we surround him with experienced basketball people.
I know a lot of you aren’t thrilled with what he’s done in his short stay as interim GM, but honestly I wasn’t expecting any changes mid season. In season moves usually aren’t the right time for bad teams to get better. That’s what the off season is for. Could he have done a better job finding us a pg? Sure, possibly, but I think it’s also possible there wasn’t a good deal to be had. Crawford has been a good vet presence, even if he mostly seems done as a player. Tyler Johnson has looked bad so far, but it’s early and we gave up nothing to get him, so I’m fine with it.
I’ll give jones a chance to build a team this offseason. I also think I’d like to see Igor get a chance to coach a team that’s not lead by a 2nd round rookie pg. They may both crash and burn next season, but I hardly think this season was a fair evaluation for either of them.
The upside of always hiring guys with no experience is that we can at least say, “This guy is untested, so we don’t know for sure that he sucks.” Give him a year or two to show he sucks, fire him, hire another guy with no experience, repeat, keep “hope” alive.Superbone wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:24 pmQuality post, Split.Split T wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:47 pmI’m not as down on James Jones as most are here. I do think he has a strong reputation amongst players in the league and that is helpful. Does he have what it takes to evaluate talent and put a team together? None of us really know the answer to that question. I do hope that if we keep him as our gm, that we surround him with experienced basketball people.
I know a lot of you aren’t thrilled with what he’s done in his short stay as interim GM, but honestly I wasn’t expecting any changes mid season. In season moves usually aren’t the right time for bad teams to get better. That’s what the off season is for. Could he have done a better job finding us a pg? Sure, possibly, but I think it’s also possible there wasn’t a good deal to be had. Crawford has been a good vet presence, even if he mostly seems done as a player. Tyler Johnson has looked bad so far, but it’s early and we gave up nothing to get him, so I’m fine with it.
I’ll give jones a chance to build a team this offseason. I also think I’d like to see Igor get a chance to coach a team that’s not lead by a 2nd round rookie pg. They may both crash and burn next season, but I hardly think this season was a fair evaluation for either of them.
Here's to hoping we're saying in a year or two, "Sure glad we stuck with James Jones. He's one of the best up and coming GM's in the league. I didn't expect us to make the 2nd round of the playoffs this quickly two years ago, that's for sure!"Cap wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:45 pmThe upside of always hiring guys with no experience is that we can at least say, “This guy is untested, so we don’t know for sure that he sucks.” Give him a year or two to show he sucks, fire him, hire another guy with no experience, repeat, keep “hope” alive.Superbone wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:24 pmQuality post, Split.Split T wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:47 pmI’m not as down on James Jones as most are here. I do think he has a strong reputation amongst players in the league and that is helpful. Does he have what it takes to evaluate talent and put a team together? None of us really know the answer to that question. I do hope that if we keep him as our gm, that we surround him with experienced basketball people.
I know a lot of you aren’t thrilled with what he’s done in his short stay as interim GM, but honestly I wasn’t expecting any changes mid season. In season moves usually aren’t the right time for bad teams to get better. That’s what the off season is for. Could he have done a better job finding us a pg? Sure, possibly, but I think it’s also possible there wasn’t a good deal to be had. Crawford has been a good vet presence, even if he mostly seems done as a player. Tyler Johnson has looked bad so far, but it’s early and we gave up nothing to get him, so I’m fine with it.
I’ll give jones a chance to build a team this offseason. I also think I’d like to see Igor get a chance to coach a team that’s not lead by a 2nd round rookie pg. They may both crash and burn next season, but I hardly think this season was a fair evaluation for either of them.
Same exact thing was said about Earl Watson.
It kills me every time you push this narrative.
That's a silly statement. I would be ecstatic if Bender was as good as Kleber. Kleber has been a difference-maker on the defensive end, and a solid stretch option at the 4 spot at the other end of the floor. He would improve this Suns team. There is nothing wrong with targeting him.
That’s a fair point as well. James May suck at GM, we don’t know. I’m just not going to assume he sucks before I actually know.Cap wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:45 pmThe upside of always hiring guys with no experience is that we can at least say, “This guy is untested, so we don’t know for sure that he sucks.” Give him a year or two to show he sucks, fire him, hire another guy with no experience, repeat, keep “hope” alive.Superbone wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 2:24 pmQuality post, Split.Split T wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:47 pmI’m not as down on James Jones as most are here. I do think he has a strong reputation amongst players in the league and that is helpful. Does he have what it takes to evaluate talent and put a team together? None of us really know the answer to that question. I do hope that if we keep him as our gm, that we surround him with experienced basketball people.
I know a lot of you aren’t thrilled with what he’s done in his short stay as interim GM, but honestly I wasn’t expecting any changes mid season. In season moves usually aren’t the right time for bad teams to get better. That’s what the off season is for. Could he have done a better job finding us a pg? Sure, possibly, but I think it’s also possible there wasn’t a good deal to be had. Crawford has been a good vet presence, even if he mostly seems done as a player. Tyler Johnson has looked bad so far, but it’s early and we gave up nothing to get him, so I’m fine with it.
I’ll give jones a chance to build a team this offseason. I also think I’d like to see Igor get a chance to coach a team that’s not lead by a 2nd round rookie pg. They may both crash and burn next season, but I hardly think this season was a fair evaluation for either of them.
My bad, we gave up 3.6 million in cap space. But now we’ll also have a 19 million dollar expiring contract, instead of 15.6 million dollars of dead money on our books.
The $19 million expiring contract has little value. Cap space for this upcoming offseason is much more valauble; it is a terrific free agent class, and I'm not even referring to the stars that will be available. To compromise any of that cap space for Tyler Johnson is silly.