Game Day: Clippers (40-34) @ Suns (19-56), Wed 3/28/18

[LazarusLong]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

[specialsauce]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

Yes. This. Thank you

[In2ition]

I keep coming back to this...are we afraid Booker has eyes on LA or that we'll make a play for Jordan? Jordan had that weird thing happen as a FA where he changed his mind and didn't want to leave LA. Has he grown out of that?

There were rumors of the Clips shopping him last summer and giving us a call. His deal is up after next season, same as when Booker would be a RFA and when Tyson's deal expires. I wouldn't be opposed to taking Doncic #1 and trading some combo of our 2 later picks and Chandler for DAJ. He's the brute rebounder and shotblocker you'd need at the rim if you're running Doncic, Booker, Jackson,
Warren/Bender/Chriss.

The latter. I agree that it wouldn't be a bad combination with Doncic, Booker, and Jackson plus other FAs.

He is of a dying breed in this league and I want nothing to do with him at the cost he will demand. MLE, nothing more.

Why are we as fans so concerned about cost? Let's let the owner and GM worry about that. That's a budgeting issue. I just want the best team we can put together.

Because the salary cap exists. I’d rather spend that money elsewhere. I don’t like Gobert at a max contract, and I definitely don’t like Jordan or Drummond at anything close to the max. Same with Whiteside.

I would take Jordan, and think it's silly to not go after him over budget concerns. Haven't the Suns lost enough? Haven't they also run below the cap long enough? Are you worried that they won't be able to pay Booker, Jackson or whoever they pick? And, doesn't Deandre have a player option this year, so he could be a ufa if he wanted to? At the same time, perhaps you don't even want that type of center any longer if you pick Doncic.

[specialsauce]

The latter. I agree that it wouldn't be a bad combination with Doncic, Booker, and Jackson plus other FAs.

He is of a dying breed in this league and I want nothing to do with him at the cost he will demand. MLE, nothing more.

Why are we as fans so concerned about cost? Let's let the owner and GM worry about that. That's a budgeting issue. I just want the best team we can put together.

Because the salary cap exists. I’d rather spend that money elsewhere. I don’t like Gobert at a max contract, and I definitely don’t like Jordan or Drummond at anything close to the max. Same with Whiteside.

I would take Jordan, and think it's silly to not go after him over budget concerns. Haven't the Suns lost enough? Haven't they also run below the cap long enough? Are you worried that they won't be able to pay Booker, Jackson or whoever they pick? And, doesn't Deandre have a player option this year, so he could be a ufa if he wanted to? At the same time, perhaps you don't even want that type of center any longer if you pick Doncic.

Because I care about winning? I don’t understand your logic, sorry. I don’t think you win a title with Jordan taking a significant chunk of your cap. This team as built + Doncic + Jordan is going nowhere.

[In2ition]

He is of a dying breed in this league and I want nothing to do with him at the cost he will demand. MLE, nothing more.

Why are we as fans so concerned about cost? Let's let the owner and GM worry about that. That's a budgeting issue. I just want the best team we can put together.

Because the salary cap exists. I’d rather spend that money elsewhere. I don’t like Gobert at a max contract, and I definitely don’t like Jordan or Drummond at anything close to the max. Same with Whiteside.

I would take Jordan, and think it's silly to not go after him over budget concerns. Haven't the Suns lost enough? Haven't they also run below the cap long enough? Are you worried that they won't be able to pay Booker, Jackson or whoever they pick? And, doesn't Deandre have a player option this year, so he could be a ufa if he wanted to? At the same time, perhaps you don't even want that type of center any longer if you pick Doncic.

Because I care about winning? I don’t understand your logic, sorry. I don’t think you win a title with Jordan taking a significant chunk of your cap. This team as built + Doncic + Jordan is going nowhere.

I certainly don't think that would be it. Why do you think that would be all that happens?

[specialsauce]

Why are we as fans so concerned about cost? Let's let the owner and GM worry about that. That's a budgeting issue. I just want the best team we can put together.

Because the salary cap exists. I’d rather spend that money elsewhere. I don’t like Gobert at a max contract, and I definitely don’t like Jordan or Drummond at anything close to the max. Same with Whiteside.

I would take Jordan, and think it's silly to not go after him over budget concerns. Haven't the Suns lost enough? Haven't they also run below the cap long enough? Are you worried that they won't be able to pay Booker, Jackson or whoever they pick? And, doesn't Deandre have a player option this year, so he could be a ufa if he wanted to? At the same time, perhaps you don't even want that type of center any longer if you pick Doncic.

Because I care about winning? I don’t understand your logic, sorry. I don’t think you win a title with Jordan taking a significant chunk of your cap. This team as built + Doncic + Jordan is going nowhere.

I certainly don't think that would be it. Why do you think that would be all that happens?

Because Jordan ain’t taking $10 mill per year to come here. And you only have a certain amount of cap space. You give Jordan anything close to the max, extend Booker and that’s essentially it for acquiring any high end free agents. I have absolutely no desire to pay Jordan anything close to a max deal and put him out there as a franchise piece. He has no offensive game other than dunks, he is horrendous at the FT line. He is the center of 1990. He is a one way ticket to mediocrity in this ERA. My goal isn’t to make it to the playoffs. It’s to win.

[INFORMER]

Why are we as fans so concerned about cost? Let's let the owner and GM worry about that. That's a budgeting issue. I just want the best team we can put together.

Because the salary cap exists. I’d rather spend that money elsewhere.

Exactly.

[INFORMER]

Haven't the Suns lost enough? Haven't they also run below the cap long enough?

I get where you're coming from, but that's a terrible place from which to operate and just leads to bad moves that ironically prolong loosing or, at best, cement mediocrity.

I don't care how much the Suns have lost; I'm still for building the right way.

[INFORMER]

This team as built + Doncic + Jordan is going nowhere.

I don't think that's necessarily true.

[INFORMER]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

Yes. This. Thank you

Eh. I wouldn't paint with a broad stroke.

Take DeAndre Jordan. He is still a significant difference -maker. How on earth do you think the Clippers are still competing for a playoff spot? It isn't because of Austin Rivers. Jordan's defense, rebounding, and his ability to finish (including being able to run the court) are huge pluses for whatever team that has him.

[In2ition]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

Yes. This. Thank you

Eh. I wouldn't paint with a broad stroke.

Take DeAndre Jordan. He is still a significant difference -maker. How on earth do you think the Clippers are still competing for a playoff spot? It isn't because of Austin Rivers. Jordan's defense, rebounding, and his ability to finish (including being able to run the court) are huge pluses for whatever team that has him.

Exactly.

I also think you need to build the right way. McD has been doing a good job of systematically trying to lose and not build a winning team other than the draft picks. Now it's time to build a winner that is sustainable and dominate. I think he makes a marked improvement this summer.

[Superbone]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

Yes. This. Thank you

Eh. I wouldn't paint with a broad stroke.

Take DeAndre Jordan. He is still a significant difference -maker. How on earth do you think the Clippers are still competing for a playoff spot? It isn't because of Austin Rivers. Jordan's defense, rebounding, and his ability to finish (including being able to run the court) are huge pluses for whatever team that has him.

Exactly.

I also think you need to build the right way. McD has been doing a good job of systematically trying to lose and not build a winning team other than the draft picks. Now it's time to build a winner that is sustainable and dominate. I think he makes a marked improvement this summer.

He had better!

[specialsauce]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

Yes. This. Thank you

Eh. I wouldn't paint with a broad stroke.

Take DeAndre Jordan. He is still a significant difference -maker. How on earth do you think the Clippers are still competing for a playoff spot? It isn't because of Austin Rivers. Jordan's defense, rebounding, and his ability to finish (including being able to run the court) are huge pluses for whatever team that has him.

You already know my position about this in our discussion about Gobert so I’ll just agree to disagree with you on this one!

[Ring_Wanted]

I would take Jordan, and think it's silly to not go after him over budget concerns. Haven't the Suns lost enough? Haven't they also run below the cap long enough? Are you worried that they won't be able to pay Booker, Jackson or whoever they pick? And, doesn't Deandre have a player option this year, so he could be a ufa if he wanted to? At the same time, perhaps you don't even want that type of center any longer if you pick Doncic.

Jordan or Capela on a max contract make sense only if we add Doncic. You absolutely need somebody to feed them easy looks off the pick and roll. Booker should keep improving, but he alone is not enough.

[ShelC]

I'm not breaking the bank for the guy and wouldn't go near a max deal for him. But I think if you have a perimeter with Doncic, Booker and Jackson, DeAndre can get the easy looks inside and dominate on the boards and in the paint defensively. The Ws are the exception to the rule obviously and we'd still have the ability to go small at times if Chriss and Bender develop and can take up minutes at the 5. But I've also been on the philosophy of being the best at what you do and making other teams matchup. We won't find offensive players who also play defense as well as the Ws. And if the Rockets didn't have Capela, they wouldn't be seen as a legit threat with just Nene, Ryan Anderson and Tarik Black as their bigs.

[O_Gardino]

The era of the "aircraft carrier" alpha center is gone, given the uptempo NBA and importance of the trey.

It's good to have a player or two with low-post skills, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a center.

Yes. This. Thank you

Eh. I wouldn't paint with a broad stroke.

Take DeAndre Jordan. He is still a significant difference -maker. How on earth do you think the Clippers are still competing for a playoff spot? It isn't because of Austin Rivers. Jordan's defense, rebounding, and his ability to finish (including being able to run the court) are huge pluses for whatever team that has him.

The Clipps this year really are incredible. Even Austin Rivers missed significant games. Yet they will finish with a record just a couple of games below last year's Thunder and better than last year's Trailblazers. 45ish wins for this team?

The guys who will have played more than 70 games at season's end:
Lou Williams
DeAndre Jordan
Montrezl Harrell
Wesley Johnson
Sam Dekker
Sindarius Thornwell

[In2ition]

I believe you could make a few more moves that will improve the team, besides Doncic and Jordan, but both of those improve both the offense and the defense next year. That's not even talking about improvements made by the rest of the young players over the summer(improving 3 pt shooting through work, ball handling, weight room, maturity) or the other draft picks or deals made.

I've seen tweets where fans are saying that the Suns wouldn't be able to sign Booker because of the cap if they give big money to a free agent. That's a complete misunderstanding of how the cap works. If the young Suns keep improving to the point that they are worth max or near max money, Sarver needs to do it and not fret about the cap. I assume that they should go over the cap to continue a winner, as I hope they turn into.

[O_Gardino]

There are 7 teams under the cap this season. Any winning team needs to assume they will operate over the cap. The only reason to go under the cap is to compete for free agents. You sign one, then go right back over the cap.

Assuming Jordan/Doncic/Minimal changes:

Doncic, Harrison, Brunson, Ulis
Booker, Jackson, Reed
Warren, Jackson, House
Bender, Chriss, J. Porter
Jordan, Wiliams, J. Porter

I feel like you would need heck of a coach to make that work.

[In2ition]

There are 7 teams under the cap this season. Any winning team needs to assume they will operate over the cap. The only reason to go under the cap is to compete for free agents. You sign one, then go right back over the cap.

Assuming Jordan/Doncic/Minimal changes:

Doncic, Harrison, Brunson, Ulis
Booker, Jackson, Reed
Warren, Jackson, House
Bender, Chriss, J. Porter
Jordan, Wiliams, J. Porter

I feel like you would need heck of a coach to make that work.

Interesting, I assume other changes would be involved

[ShelC]

I think Booker is going to pull a mini-LeBron and say he's not signing an extension until he sees progress from the FO and roster. It'd be a huge gamble, but we are the Suns after all.