Suns 2022 Off-Season Thread

[Split T]

That’s tough, but I think picks/filler for LeBron? I’m assuming the picks would also be gone with Mikal and Cam in a KD trade?

Picks and filler for LeBron allows us to probably be title favorites the next two years and keeps a Booker/Bridges/Johnson/Ayton core together.


KD for Mikal and Cam plus picks probably opens the title window a little longer and wider, but depth would become a huge concern and 1 injury could kill it and our future is less exciting.

[wpmiller42]

Would you all rather give up Bridges and Cam for KD, or keep Bridges and Cam and trade picks/filler for LeBron?

At this point, I think I'd rather trade picks/filler for LeBron because LeBron just fills so many holes for us. He can literally be the backup PG. He's a forward who can create his own shot, he's got a great post-up game... running the Spain pick and roll with LeBron as the guard and Ayton as the back screener just seems like such a great thing to me.

And I say this as someone who really wants to see KD in a Suns uniform; it just seems that the Nets want so much back that it just guts the team too much to be as effective.

[JeremyG]

I agree, if you can do it and keep your young core together, I would go for it. And LeBron can be the PF we've been needing to upgrade.

[Indy]

Would you all rather give up Bridges and Cam for KD, or keep Bridges and Cam and trade picks/filler for LeBron?

At this point, I think I'd rather trade picks/filler for LeBron because LeBron just fills so many holes for us. He can literally be the backup PG. He's a forward who can create his own shot, he's got a great post-up game... running the Spain pick and roll with LeBron as the guard and Ayton as the back screener just seems like such a great thing to me.

And I say this as someone who really wants to see KD in a Suns uniform; it just seems that the Nets want so much back that it just guts the team too much to be as effective.

On offense, Lebron could play any position from PG to small-ball 5.


But we would have to hide him on defense at this point. And we already have to hide CP3.

[wpmiller42]

Would you all rather give up Bridges and Cam for KD, or keep Bridges and Cam and trade picks/filler for LeBron?

At this point, I think I'd rather trade picks/filler for LeBron because LeBron just fills so many holes for us. He can literally be the backup PG. He's a forward who can create his own shot, he's got a great post-up game... running the Spain pick and roll with LeBron as the guard and Ayton as the back screener just seems like such a great thing to me.

And I say this as someone who really wants to see KD in a Suns uniform; it just seems that the Nets want so much back that it just guts the team too much to be as effective.

On offense, Lebron could play any position from PG to small-ball 5.


But we would have to hide him on defense at this point. And we already have to hide CP3.

I don't think LeBron is as bad on defense as he's looked the last couple of years. I think being on a better team with much higher expectations, combined with not having to shoulder as much of the offensive load, and we'll see him do much better on defense.

[Indy]

Probably

[Split T]

Ya he can play defense when he wants to. I’m not worried about that

[specialsauce]

Your guys convinced he can play D when he wants are drinking the kool aid. He hasn’t played d in two years and he’s no spring chicken. You’re literally guessing despite all the evidence to the contrary

[Mori Chu]

LeBron is a ticking injury time bomb imo. I wouldn't want to mortgage a lot of future assets for a guy who probably has one good year left in him. Also he has motivation to chuck said to break the scoring record which doesn't mesh well with our offense. I think the best for LeBron is to just stay on LAL and chuck his way to that record.

[Split T]

Everyone is a ticking injury time bomb. Sure, LBJ may not be able to recover from one as quickly(if at all)as in the past, but anyone can get hurt. He’s been about as durable as they get his whole career. And he has completely broken the precedent for how players age. Impossible to say how many years he has left. People were probably saying Brady had 1 good year left 6-7 years ago and he’s still kicking. LBJ could very well play into his mid 40’s too.

Also, all we need is 1 year to win a title. He fits our CP3 timeline perfectly and we’re talking about a scenario where we don’t give up a single long term core piece for him. It’s lunacy to not think that’s a good idea.

[AmareIsGod]

So basically, it’s a good thing Sarver said he’d pay a tax bill of 60-70 million, because that could very well be coming.

He sure wants to win a championship and/or up the value of the team before he's forced to sell. A tax bill of 60 to 70 million that could increase team value by several hundred million.

[specialsauce]

It’s lunacy to think that’s a good idea.

I agree

[specialsauce]

So basically, it’s a good thing Sarver said he’d pay a tax bill of 60-70 million, because that could very well be coming.

He sure wants to win a championship and/or up the value of the team before he's forced to sell. A tax bill of 60 to 70 million that could increase team value by several hundred million.

Is Silver waiting for the last shoe to drop (KD) before giving him the boot?

[Split T]

It’s lunacy to think that’s a good idea.

I agree

You’ve had some takes I don’t agree with, but I can usually understand why you feel that way…but I don’t get this one.

You really think it would be lunacy for us to trade Crowder/Saric/Shamet/Craig/Payne and a couple picks for LeBron James?

Where exactly is the downside? We’d have a lineup of

CP3/Booker/Bridges/James/Ayton with CamJ as 6th man. We’d have the TPMLE to find a backup pg and then fill in the rest of the roster with vet min signings to add to Lee/Okogie/Biyombo. Melo would come. Probably Aldridge too.

[specialsauce]

It’s lunacy to think that’s a good idea.

I agree

You’ve had some takes I don’t agree with, but I can usually understand why you feel that way…but I don’t get this one.

You really think it would be lunacy for us to trade Crowder/Saric/Shamet/Craig/Payne and a couple picks for LeBron James?

Where exactly is the downside? We’d have a lineup of

CP3/Booker/Bridges/James/Ayton with CamJ as 6th man. We’d have the TPMLE to find a backup pg and then fill in the rest of the roster with vet min signings to add to Lee/Okogie/Biyombo. Melo would come. Probably Aldridge too.

I don’t think Lebron makes us better as a team. This is not Lebron from 10 years ago, and not even 5 years ago. He is extremely slow on the defensive end. Lebrons more interested in his stats than winning at this point.

I think he gives us an illusion of improvement due to his offensive ability and his name. But he’s an enormous presence in the locker room, on the court and a liability defensively. I don’t see him buying into the team concept and deferring to Book/CP3. Way too ball dominant. Not coachable, actually a coach and organization killer.

If my options are 1. KD 2. Lebron 3. Keep the core intact and seek a trade around the edges for another playmaker off the bench - Bogdan Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield, Clarkson, GTJ - I’d go with #1 or #3.

[Split T]

Well agree to disagree, LeBron may not be the LeBron of 5 or 10 years ago, but he’s still a top 10 guy. I mean he just dropped 30/8/6 on a .619 TS%. He’s a significantly better player than Booker or CP3 on offense so he wouldn’t need to take a back seat.

He’s also shown plenty of ability to step back and let others do their thing. He played with Wade, he let Kyrie cook. I think the whole point of AD was to let LeBron take on less responsibility, he just couldn’t stay healthy. Same with Westbrook..Westbrook just sucked. LeBron is incredibly smart, he’ll know how to play the right way.


Has he ever in his career hurt the team with his ball dominance? If anything he was criticized for deferring too much and passing up opportunities.

I know your defensive concerns and I get that, but everything I saw was almost exclusively effort based. He didn’t bother wasting energy on defense for a team going nowhere. That’s not ideal, but I get that for a 37 year old. I’ve seen him turn on the defense when he needs too. Specifically I remember him picking up Curry in the play-in game they won to get us in round 1. That Laker team had the best defense in the league that year. Hard to do that with a defensive liability. Ya they sucked this year, but that’s because they literally got rid of all their best defensive players(Caruso, KCP, even Kuzma). I’m not saying LeBron is still an elite defender, but he can handle the Crowder defensive role. He’s got the IQ and he’s got better physical tools even at his age. Just needs a reason.

[Indy]

Well agree to disagree, LeBron may not be the LeBron of 5 or 10 years ago, but he’s still a top 10 guy. I mean he just dropped 30/8/6 on a .619 TS%. He’s a significantly better player than Booker or CP3 on offense so he wouldn’t need to take a back seat.

He’s also shown plenty of ability to step back and let others do their thing. He played with Wade, he let Kyrie cook. I think the whole point of AD was to let LeBron take on less responsibility, he just couldn’t stay healthy. Same with Westbrook..Westbrook just sucked. LeBron is incredibly smart, he’ll know how to play the right way.


Has he ever in his career hurt the team with his ball dominance? If anything he was criticized for deferring too much and passing up opportunities.

I know your defensive concerns and I get that, but everything I saw was almost exclusively effort based. He didn’t bother wasting energy on defense for a team going nowhere. That’s not ideal, but I get that for a 37 year old. I’ve seen him turn on the defense when he needs too. Specifically I remember him picking up Curry in the play-in game they won to get us in round 1. That Laker team had the best defense in the league that year. Hard to do that with a defensive liability. Ya they sucked this year, but that’s because they literally got rid of all their best defensive players(Caruso, KCP, even Kuzma). I’m not saying LeBron is still an elite defender, but he can handle the Crowder defensive role. He’s got the IQ and he’s got better physical tools even at his age. Just needs a reason.

Can you imagine if we made it to the Finals again? Book, CP3 and Bron would all be vying for the MVP trophy every game.

[Wally_West]

Well agree to disagree, LeBron may not be the LeBron of 5 or 10 years ago, but he’s still a top 10 guy. I mean he just dropped 30/8/6 on a .619 TS%. He’s a significantly better player than Booker or CP3 on offense so he wouldn’t need to take a back seat.

He’s also shown plenty of ability to step back and let others do their thing. He played with Wade, he let Kyrie cook. I think the whole point of AD was to let LeBron take on less responsibility, he just couldn’t stay healthy. Same with Westbrook..Westbrook just sucked. LeBron is incredibly smart, he’ll know how to play the right way.


Has he ever in his career hurt the team with his ball dominance? If anything he was criticized for deferring too much and passing up opportunities.

I know your defensive concerns and I get that, but everything I saw was almost exclusively effort based. He didn’t bother wasting energy on defense for a team going nowhere. That’s not ideal, but I get that for a 37 year old. I’ve seen him turn on the defense when he needs too. Specifically I remember him picking up Curry in the play-in game they won to get us in round 1. That Laker team had the best defense in the league that year. Hard to do that with a defensive liability. Ya they sucked this year, but that’s because they literally got rid of all their best defensive players(Caruso, KCP, even Kuzma). I’m not saying LeBron is still an elite defender, but he can handle the Crowder defensive role. He’s got the IQ and he’s got better physical tools even at his age. Just needs a reason.

Can you imagine if we made it to the Finals again? Book, CP3 and Bron would all be vying for the MVP trophy every game.

Not true. Paul would be hiding an injury and would just be going through the motions.

[specialsauce]

Well agree to disagree, LeBron may not be the LeBron of 5 or 10 years ago, but he’s still a top 10 guy. I mean he just dropped 30/8/6 on a .619 TS%. He’s a significantly better player than Booker or CP3 on offense so he wouldn’t need to take a back seat.

He’s also shown plenty of ability to step back and let others do their thing. He played with Wade, he let Kyrie cook. I think the whole point of AD was to let LeBron take on less responsibility, he just couldn’t stay healthy. Same with Westbrook..Westbrook just sucked. LeBron is incredibly smart, he’ll know how to play the right way.


Has he ever in his career hurt the team with his ball dominance? If anything he was criticized for deferring too much and passing up opportunities.

I know your defensive concerns and I get that, but everything I saw was almost exclusively effort based. He didn’t bother wasting energy on defense for a team going nowhere. That’s not ideal, but I get that for a 37 year old. I’ve seen him turn on the defense when he needs too. Specifically I remember him picking up Curry in the play-in game they won to get us in round 1. That Laker team had the best defense in the league that year. Hard to do that with a defensive liability. Ya they sucked this year, but that’s because they literally got rid of all their best defensive players(Caruso, KCP, even Kuzma). I’m not saying LeBron is still an elite defender, but he can handle the Crowder defensive role. He’s got the IQ and he’s got better physical tools even at his age. Just needs a reason.

Can you imagine if we made it to the Finals again? Book, CP3 and Bron would all be vying for the MVP trophy every game.

Not true. Paul would be hiding an injury and would just be going through the motions.

I don’t tend to imagine the impossible

[specialsauce]

Well agree to disagree, LeBron may not be the LeBron of 5 or 10 years ago, but he’s still a top 10 guy. I mean he just dropped 30/8/6 on a .619 TS%. He’s a significantly better player than Booker or CP3 on offense so he wouldn’t need to take a back seat.

He’s also shown plenty of ability to step back and let others do their thing. He played with Wade, he let Kyrie cook. I think the whole point of AD was to let LeBron take on less responsibility, he just couldn’t stay healthy. Same with Westbrook..Westbrook just sucked. LeBron is incredibly smart, he’ll know how to play the right way.


Has he ever in his career hurt the team with his ball dominance? If anything he was criticized for deferring too much and passing up opportunities.

I know your defensive concerns and I get that, but everything I saw was almost exclusively effort based. He didn’t bother wasting energy on defense for a team going nowhere. That’s not ideal, but I get that for a 37 year old. I’ve seen him turn on the defense when he needs too. Specifically I remember him picking up Curry in the play-in game they won to get us in round 1. That Laker team had the best defense in the league that year. Hard to do that with a defensive liability. Ya they sucked this year, but that’s because they literally got rid of all their best defensive players(Caruso, KCP, even Kuzma). I’m not saying LeBron is still an elite defender, but he can handle the Crowder defensive role. He’s got the IQ and he’s got better physical tools even at his age. Just needs a reason.

That’s a prayer IMO and not worth a $40M gamble