Suns News: The Offseason

[Superbone]

Whoa. The Albert retirement came as a surprise. He had a rough start in Phoenix but he picked it up at the end and became servicable to good. It'll be interesting to see who becomes the new TV voice of the Suns.

Hint:
Jones Jr. ELEVATES and DETONATES!!!

You think they go back to Leander? Was he forced out or did he ask to stop play-by-play duties?

I was kind of joking but I wouldn't rule it out. It'll be interesting to see who they replace him with.

[Superbone]

Finally! We can elevate EJ to the play-by-play role he so is clearly ready for.

You're joking, right? Just making sure. I really like EJ but he's not a play-by-play guy. He's perfect in his color commentary role already.

[In2ition]

I know some of you guys are opposed to this, but I hope the Suns get one of the top 2 pgs in the draft, and then they can go after Butler, George or Hayward. I like Warren, but I'm worried about him improving his outside shot and why he had his mysterious head injury. Also think he would be best served off the bench in a 6th man role, but hope he doesn't turtle head in that role like what happened to Knight.

[carey]

Former top-5 pick Alex Len failed to do himself any favors in crucial contract year
- http://arizonasports.com/story/1090533/ ... ract-year/

[The Bobster]

Steve Albert was miles ahead of Tom Leander, I really hope they think about moving him back into that spot.

They could re-work the entire broadcasting crew with the exception of McCoy and EJ as far as I'm concerned.

[In2ition]

Steve Albert was miles ahead of Tom Leander, I really hope they think about moving him back into that spot.

They could re-work the entire broadcasting crew with the exception of McCoy and EJ as far as I'm concerned.

I didn't mind Leander so much, he just had a couple sayings that were annoying. Every time he said "free for 3" I thought he said "3 for 3", and was excited for the run of good shooting only to find out that was his first shot or something like that.

[Mori Chu]

Finally! We can elevate EJ to the play-by-play role he so is clearly ready for.

You're joking, right? Just making sure. I really like EJ but he's not a play-by-play guy. He's perfect in his color commentary role already.

Yeah, I was joking. The idea of EJ on play-by-play is ludicrous to me.

[pickle]

Could he have been asked to retire? While his voice is fine, his call of the action is terrible. he often does not know what is going on and tends to tell lame jokes or stories over the game action. My opinion, but this change was due.

There is a train of thought that when you do TV you don't need to explain the action on the court as much, that you just add more spice to the overall game. Give me Al any day, but I also think Steve Albert is not bad. Maybe I like him because his voice is somewhat similar to Al.

[pickle]

I'm not an Olynyk fan. If we are willing to spend that much on him, I'd rather just keep Len.

Two separate issues. First off, I think 10 mil is pretty close to mid range these days, so for anyone that's worth getting, we are probably talking 10 mil or so. I put in 10-12 because Olynyk is still quite young and suits our existing timeline.

I am not in love with him per se, but I do think that he isn't given the opportunity to make mistakes on that Boston team which is chasing success right now. He is something of an advanced statistic darling, and I believe his rim protection numbers aren't bad, though he's not at Len's level as a rebounder. But on offense, he definitely opens up the floor way more, with the ability to hit a 3 or pump and drive with decent passing instincts. If we can lock a guy like that up for the next 4 years, I'd jump all over it.

I am not opposed to Len, but I am not sure where out front office/coaching staff is on him. On offense he really hasn't shown much improvement at all, and the fact that we don't give him minutes even though Chandler was shut down for the season was really perplexing. I hope we didn't do that to drive down his price in negotiations. I love that he hasn't complained at all despite this unstable role, am not thrilled that his offense has not come along, and think that he can still be a good/great rim protector/defensive rebounder if the team can show him confidence and convince him that win or lose, he is our starting 5. But I don't have that faith in our front office, so I also don't have a lot of faith in Len as a result. I like the kid, just not sure that he can break through here in Phoenix.

[pickle]

I know some of you guys are opposed to this, but I hope the Suns get one of the top 2 pgs in the draft, and then they can go after Butler, George or Hayward. I like Warren, but I'm worried about him improving his outside shot and why he had his mysterious head injury. Also think he would be best served off the bench in a 6th man role, but hope he doesn't turtle head in that role like what happened to Knight.

I also don't think PG13 is a mature leader, don't want that headache on our team. I don't really want to take on these 27-29 year old max contract guys since our own players are mostly in the 20-25 range. These guys will quickly take us to playoff contention but I don't see any of them bringing us to the promised land, unless they age like Dirk and can still offer elite shooting/defense/playmaking when they are 33. But at that age, I'm afraid their contracts will become the roadblock to our building efforts. Last summer I was excited that PG13 was possibly available. This summer, I no longer have any interest.

[O_Gardino]

Could he have been asked to retire? While his voice is fine, his call of the action is terrible. he often does not know what is going on and tends to tell lame jokes or stories over the game action. My opinion, but this change was due.

There is a train of thought that when you do TV you don't need to explain the action on the court as much, that you just add more spice to the overall game. Give me Al any day, but I also think Steve Albert is not bad. Maybe I like him because his voice is somewhat similar to Al.

That's the thing. Al tells the story of the game. A lot of tv crews just do celebrity gossip or fanboy reactions. Al. Every. Day.

[O_Gardino]

I know some of you guys are opposed to this, but I hope the Suns get one of the top 2 pgs in the draft, and then they can go after Butler, George or Hayward. I like Warren, but I'm worried about him improving his outside shot and why he had his mysterious head injury. Also think he would be best served off the bench in a 6th man role, but hope he doesn't turtle head in that role like what happened to Knight.

I also don't think PG13 is a mature leader, don't want that headache on our team. I don't really want to take on these 27-29 year old max contract guys since our own players are mostly in the 20-25 range. These guys will quickly take us to playoff contention but I don't see any of them bringing us to the promised land, unless they age like Dirk and can still offer elite shooting/defense/playmaking when they are 33. But at that age, I'm afraid their contracts will become the roadblock to our building efforts. Last summer I was excited that PG13 was possibly available. This summer, I no longer have any interest.

Hayward and George are 26, Butler is 27. Those guys should have a good 5 or 6 years left in their primes.

I agree that none of those guys can win anything out west if he is the best guy on the team, but I think I see what In2 is saying. What if he is the 3rd best guy? For the next two or three years a guy like that might take a lot of the pressure off of the young stars and allow them to grow in a playoff atmosphere. Down the road he isn't a star anymore, but he can still be a good role player when Booker and company are ready to take it to the next level.

[In2ition]

I know some of you guys are opposed to this, but I hope the Suns get one of the top 2 pgs in the draft, and then they can go after Butler, George or Hayward. I like Warren, but I'm worried about him improving his outside shot and why he had his mysterious head injury. Also think he would be best served off the bench in a 6th man role, but hope he doesn't turtle head in that role like what happened to Knight.

I also don't think PG13 is a mature leader, don't want that headache on our team. I don't really want to take on these 27-29 year old max contract guys since our own players are mostly in the 20-25 range. These guys will quickly take us to playoff contention but I don't see any of them bringing us to the promised land, unless they age like Dirk and can still offer elite shooting/defense/playmaking when they are 33. But at that age, I'm afraid their contracts will become the roadblock to our building efforts. Last summer I was excited that PG13 was possibly available. This summer, I no longer have any interest.

I wonder how much is just an act as he wants out of Indy. I do like Paul George's game, but would be hesitant with rumors that he's hell bent on going to the Lakers asap.

[In2ition]

Is there anyone available or possibly available that you'd bring in? It seems if they don't take advantage of cap room this year, they won't really be able to later if their young players all develop like we hope.

[Split T]

As long as we don't go crazy on an offer for Len, we should still have cap space in 2018. I wouldn't go for any big names this off season. Sure, I'd take Durant or Curry, but they're not leaving. I'd probably take Hayward, but he's not coming here either. And I'd give Otto Porter a big contract, but Washington would match for sure.

[In2ition]

I guess we'll see what the FO has planned this offseason. As much as I would like to see Knight get traded, they might be forced to rehabilitate him next year. Also, it seems like they will most likely trade Bledsoe while his stock is high and he has a great contract, that is if they land a pg in the draft that they want to start. It will be interesting, but everything really depends on the young guys developing and growing into what they hope for.

[Cap]

As long as we don't go crazy on an offer for Len, we should still have cap space in 2018.

Warren doesn't look like he's going to be a cap buster either. In 2019, Booker could become our first max and still leave considerable room.

[In2ition]

As long as we don't go crazy on an offer for Len, we should still have cap space in 2018.

Warren doesn't look like he's going to be a cap buster either. In 2019, Booker could become our first max and still leave considerable room.

Warren already looks like he's going to be a 20+ point scorer in the league, and he's been improving his rebounding and defense. If he adds a consistent 3 to his game, he might get close to the max.

[pickle]

I also don't think PG13 is a mature leader, don't want that headache on our team. I don't really want to take on these 27-29 year old max contract guys since our own players are mostly in the 20-25 range. These guys will quickly take us to playoff contention but I don't see any of them bringing us to the promised land, unless they age like Dirk and can still offer elite shooting/defense/playmaking when they are 33. But at that age, I'm afraid their contracts will become the roadblock to our building efforts. Last summer I was excited that PG13 was possibly available. This summer, I no longer have any interest.

Hayward and George are 26, Butler is 27. Those guys should have a good 5 or 6 years left in their primes.

I agree that none of those guys can win anything out west if he is the best guy on the team, but I think I see what In2 is saying. What if he is the 3rd best guy? For the next two or three years a guy like that might take a lot of the pressure off of the young stars and allow them to grow in a playoff atmosphere. Down the road he isn't a star anymore, but he can still be a good role player when Booker and company are ready to take it to the next level.

I know that I'm being very anal here, but by time we get our hands on these guys, they'll be 27 or 28... and it takes a good year or two to integrate them (and re-sign, in the case of George), after which we need to look at whether Watson is the right guy to lead this group if it's suddenly not a bunch of 22 year olds. Once we figure out the coaching situation, get everyone on the same page, these guys who will likely expect to be alpha dogs will be smack in the middle of the 29-31 range, with a limited window to win now. I just don't like that timeline.

If these guys are okay being the second or third stars on a contender, that takes maturity to not ruin the chemistry. I love Butler and George's games, but whatever I've read about them from the media don't alleviate my chemistry concerns. Hayward seems to be the consummate pro, but why would he leave what he already has in Utah for us? There's rumors of him going to the Celtics because of Stevens, but even that I think is a bit of a stretch.

[carey]

Warren's defense greatly improved after the ASB. I think he really needs to add a 3-ball if he wants anywhere near max money. Or he needs to start pulling down 10 boards a game like Marion did and shoot somewhere in the mid 30s from distance.