Suns Trade Knight and Chriss for Anderson and Melton

[jonh]

I don't dislike Melton as a player. But I just don't see why we have kept so many other young guards around, like Canaan and Harrison, if we are just going to turn around and sign Melton and also pursue another PG from Minnesota, and/or Patrick Beverley, etc. You can't play all of these guys. What is the game plan here?

McD's approach to this is similar to the way he puts a roster together--he identifies a position of need, and he puts several players that fill the same role, presuming that someone will come out on top. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened in any of the instances that he has done in, and the redundancy of players usually makes the roster imbalanced.

[ShelC]

Exactly JonH.

[Mori Chu]

It's like McDo thinks that if he gets 4-5 point guards, they will somehow merge into a PG Voltron combining the best of all of them.

[Split T]

Or it's that we have a backup PG, a 3rd string SG we've converted to PG because we had no choice and two 2nd round rookie PG's who we don't know if they can play or not. Are people seriously questioning why we're looking to add a pg?

We don't have a starting caliber pg on the roster. We brought back Shaq Harrison as a 3rd string PG because he's shown some real defensive potential. We brought back Canaan as insurance in case we weren't able to land a starting PG. Canaan is non guaranteed and will be cut if we make a move for a PG. Okobo was drafted as future investment. We're not counting on production from him. And Melton was the price for taking the Anderson contract off Houston's hands. I like Melton, but I don't think we targeted him as the reason for the trade. Seems more like we thought Anderson could do more for us than Knight and we wanted to move on from Chriss.

We also have 17 players in the roster. There is no way to not have 4 players at at least one position.

[specialsauce]

It’d be nice if 1 of those 4 had accomplished anything more than being a third string PG in the league. That’s all.

[Split T]

Of course, I'm just responding to the people who think we have too many PG's. We just have too many 3rd string pg's

[specialsauce]

Of course, I'm just responding to the people who think we have too many PG's. We just have too many 3rd string pg's

Like

[O_Gardino]

We've been so bad the last couple of years that people have forgotten that it's ok to have a 2nd round pick sitting on the bench.

[specialsauce]

We've been so bad the last couple of years that people have forgotten that it's ok to have a 2nd round pick sitting on the bench.

It’s pathetic when half your bench is second round talent

[specialsauce]

Holmes
Reed
Harrison
Okobo
King
Daniels
Melton
Canaan

We have a lot of players with real potential (Okobo, Booker, Jackson, Ayton, Bridges) but man half of our team is every other teams 13th man/2 way player. We have a long ways to go talent wise/

[O_Gardino]

Those guys were starter quality for us the last couple of seasons.

[ShelC]

King, Daniels and Canaan are waiver material. I think Reed's a player and Holmes could surprise with his hustle, energy and athleticism ala Lou Amundson.

[specialsauce]

King, Daniels and Canaan are waiver material. I think Reed's a player and Holmes could surprise with his hustle, energy and athleticism ala Lou Amundson.

Agree and every team has 2-3 of those players, but not 75% of the roster lol. Sad times, hopefully this is the last year of it

[Split T]

Holmes
Reed
Harrison
Okobo
King
Daniels
Melton
Canaan

We have a lot of players with real potential (Okobo, Booker, Jackson, Ayton, Bridges) but man half of our team is every other teams 13th man/2 way player. We have a long ways to go talent wise/

I mean those are guys 17-10...if you rank the players

1. Booker
2. Ayton
3. Ariza
4. Warren
5. Jackson
6. Anderson
7. Bridges
8. Holmes
9. Bender
10. Canaan
11. Harrison
12. Reed
13. Okobo
14. Melton
15. Chandler
16. King
17. Arthur

Biggest problem is guys like Ariza and Anderson are too high on the list. We need our young guys(jackson/Bridges/Okobo) to move up this list and be reliable players.

[In2ition]

Canaan is not that good, and Chandler in a small role is going to be pretty decent.

[Split T]

I didn't really put much thought into how I ranked them. I don't expect anything out of Chandler, so I just stuck him towards the end. Canaan is probably gonna start if we don't add another pg.... He may not be that good but he's gonna play.

[O_Gardino]

I keep trying to talk myself out of point-Booker, but I just can't. Are any of those PGs better than Bridges? I don't think they are, and that tells me we have 4 SF better than any PG on the roster. Lets play our best players.

Booker Okobo (or whichever PG comes out on top)
Jackson Bridges
Ariza Warren
Anderson Warren
Ayton Bender

When Warren or Anderson is injured, or if Anderson plays himself into a smaller role, that opens up minutes for either Holmes or another PG, maybe that also creates minutes for Bridges or Bender. We'll see who turns out to be good.

[Mori Chu]

Of course, I'm just responding to the people who think we have too many PG's. We just have too many 3rd string pg's

My point isn't that we are "set" at PG or that we shouldn't try to acquire a good starting PG. My point is that I don't see why McDo bothered to sign like 4-5 PGs who are all so limited, mediocre, flawed, and marginal. Canaan? What's the point? Canaan and Harrison? Why? Then also drafting Okobo?
And also acquiring Melton? And we're also considering point Booker? And we're also trying to trade for Beverley or Jones? Why? That's not a coherent plan. That's just throwing feces at the wall and seeing what sticks. You don't win like this.

[virtual9mm]

I think he is seeking to find gold in unexpected places. Like PG version of Tucker.

[In2ition]

Canaan won't make the team. Shaq will start with improved jumper. Okobo and Melton will both be too good to give up, but ultimately Okobo will win out and win the job longterm and no one will think we need to sign a bigtime FA. This is a super optimistic(not realistic) prediction.