Suns News: Week 26 4/11 - 4/17

[Mori Chu]

Last week of the regular season. carey is taking a hiatus from making news threads, so I'll start this one. No links, but please post any new Suns events here.

[UglyTruth]

Soooo looks like Payton finally cut his hair

[Mori Chu]

Soooo looks like Payton finally cut his hair

SIGN THAT MAN TO A MAX CONTRACT

(the barber, that is)

[carey]

If that is true I can not believe he waited until after the season to do it. Lawd.

[JCSunsfan]

Soooo looks like Payton finally cut his hair

I will believe it when I see him, live.

This is an old picture. But the barber shop and its association with Elf is legit.

[UglyTruth]

Soooo looks like Payton finally cut his hair

I will believe it when I see him, live.

This is an old picture. But the barber shop and its association with Elf is legit.

It’s more than likely legit, he posted this right after the haircut

https://twitter.com/elfrid/status/984972716943044609

[JCSunsfan]

Yep. Looks like its for real. The barber has pics of a number of NBA players. He would not likely play a prank like this.

[carey]

An important article for anyone interested in the Suns salary cap situation this Summer: https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2018 ... ela-gordon

[Split T]

I'm really not sure what I want us to do with our cap space. The easy answer is to go after the restricted PF class, but all 3 have big question marks to me. Which I guess is why they are possibly available. I think I'd prefer to just address the front court through the draft and trades and target guards in free agency.

I keep coming back to Tyreke Evans. 19/5/5 on .45/.40/.79 shooting. He's 28, we could start him at the point or let him run the offense off the bench and finish the game alongside the starters. Will Barton is a similar player but if he leaves Denver, it's to take a bigger role elsewhere, not sure he'd be interested with Booker here.

[carey]

I think we need to come to terms with our starting PG being Brandon Knight next season. I'm also not very keen on throwing any kind of money at Evans who is not much of an actual PG.

[Split T]

I think we need to come to terms with our starting PG being Brandon Knight next season. I'm also not very keen on throwing any kind of money at Evans who is not much of an actual PG.

He's more of a PG than Knight. And I think he's better than you give him credit for. Career 5.1 assists per game. He has an ast/To ratio above 2.0.

He has the exact same assist rate as Dragic and very similar to Lillard, IT, Kemba, and Curry and he turns the ball over at a lower rate than all those, except Kemba and Lillard. And his usage rate is basically the same. So he's no Chris Paul, but he's as much a PG is Lillard/dragic/Kemba

[INFORMER]

I don't think anyone is going to argue Brandon Knight is better than (fill in player's name here). I just think some may not see the point in making a sizable financial commitment to someone who really isn't a good long-term answer.

If the Suns primary measuring stick this offseason is "hey, this guy is better than what we got, so let's pay him" than we are going to get stuck with a mediocre team that is still going to struggle to make the playoffs and will have a ceiling of a mediocre team that finishes in 6-10 every season.

The standard/goal has to be: build a contender and sustained EXCELLENCE. Not sustained mediocrity.

I think too many are letting the horrific taste of this season push them to panic and lower their standards.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm perfectly fine with Payton at a fair offer. Something in the Louis Williams range is acceptable to me.

[carey]

I don't think anyone is going to argue Brandon Knight is better than (fill in player's name here). I just think some may not see the point in making a sizable financial commitment to someone who really isn't a good long-term answer.

If the Suns primary measuring stick this offseason is "hey, this guy is better than what we got, so let's pay him" than we are going to get stuck with a mediocre team that is still going to struggle to make the playoffs and will have a ceiling of a mediocre team that finishes in 6-10 every season.

The standard/goal has to be: build a contender and sustained EXCELLENCE. Not sustained mediocrity.

I think too many are letting the horrific taste of this season push them to panic and lower their standards.

Pretty much this. Evans is better than Knight, sure. That doesn't mean he is the answer for this team. Nor that Knight is. Only that Knight is untradable and stretching him right now would not be smart.

[carey]

I'm perfectly fine with Payton at a fair offer. Something in the Louis Williams range is acceptable to me.

Honestly, it's foolish spending. He's not very good. We should just wait until Dudley and Chandler are off in '19 then spend on quality starting PG.

[INFORMER]

I'm perfectly fine with Payton at a fair offer. Something in the Louis Williams range is acceptable to me.

Honestly, it's foolish spending. He's not very good. We should just wait until Dudley and Chandler are off in '19 then spend on quality starting PG.

But that requires patience, strategy, and discipline, all of which most, from fans & media to the front office, seem to be completely out of.

The sad part is that Ryan is selling this narrative that this season, and the last three years, have unbearable because the Suns were rebuilding and were so young. That's not even remotely true. The biggest culprit has been his mismanagement.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm perfectly fine with Payton at a fair offer. Something in the Louis Williams range is acceptable to me.

Honestly, it's foolish spending. He's not very good. We should just wait until Dudley and Chandler are off in '19 then spend on quality starting PG.

I'm not completely ready to give up on him. I'd like to see him with a better coach/system and better teammates. He distributes well and I think he can improve defensively with the right coaching. Something like 4 years for $25 million is fair and not crippling if he ends up being just a backup for us. 4/$28M is as far as I'd be willing to go and would need a team option on the last year unless it's a flat $7M per year.

I should add that drafting Doncic changes my perspective on Payton. With Doncic I'd let Payton walk.

[Cap]

I'm perfectly fine with Payton at a fair offer. Something in the Louis Williams range is acceptable to me.

Honestly, it's foolish spending. He's not very good. We should just wait until Dudley and Chandler are off in '19 then spend on quality starting PG.

But that requires patience, strategy, and discipline, all of which most, from fans & media to the front office, seem to be completely out of.

The sad part is that Ryan is selling this narrative that this season, and the last three years, have unbearable because the Suns were rebuilding and were so young. That's not even remotely true. The biggest culprit has been his mismanagement.

Keep preaching it! We’re climbing our way up from last, and doing it with a very young core. Patience is imperative.

[Split T]

I don't think anyone is going to argue Brandon Knight is better than (fill in player's name here). I just think some may not see the point in making a sizable financial commitment to someone who really isn't a good long-term answer.

If the Suns primary measuring stick this offseason is "hey, this guy is better than what we got, so let's pay him" than we are going to get stuck with a mediocre team that is still going to struggle to make the playoffs and will have a ceiling of a mediocre team that finishes in 6-10 every season.

The standard/goal has to be: build a contender and sustained EXCELLENCE. Not sustained mediocrity.

I think too many are letting the horrific taste of this season push them to panic and lower their standards.

Fair points, but my point wasn't really to compare him to Knight. I think conserving cap space for 2019 is ultimately the best option on paper, but 2 things stand in the way.

1) We don't want Booker to grow tired of our Management's inability to put good players around him, which leads to #2
2) McD has said they are going to be agressive. We know it's happening, I'm just trying to figure out the best option.

If we're going to spend the money, I think Tyreke is a good option. He's turned himself into a pretty useful player that provides a decent combination of self creation, creation for others, and shooting.

The option that also makes sense is to follow the Philly model but signing a good vet to a 1 year deal that makes us better and still conserves our cap space in 2019.

[Mori Chu]

If we draft Ayton, sign Peyton to a decent deal.

If we draft Doncic, run Booker/Doncic/Jackson as our 1-3 and don't re-sign Peyton.