Deandre Ayton's future with the Suns?

[JeremyG]

Is Mr. Space going to help us get past the Warriors?

DeAndre Ayton isn't helping us get past the Warriors.

Look at what he did for us against them last season. If we used him properly in the playoffs he could have gotten us past them.

[JeremyG]

If the Suns trade Ayton for a pu pu platter and cap space, I am done with the Suns.

I am the Suns' fan since '93 but probably won't watch my Suns with the same passion next season if that happens.

I am afraid we are going to treadmill for the next 5 years or so if we trade DA and after that we will tank for another 5 to 10 years. Brilliant.

Exactly.

I really wonder if James Jones is so self-deluded that he actually thinks he can get rid of DA and an aging Chris Paul can still keep them in the top 4 in the west? Because that ain’t happening.

[Carno]

I just don't buy the "this team has peaked" narrative. We had the best record in the history of the franchise last season. We went to the Finals the season before that. We had a rough out from the playoffs this year, partly due to a hidden COVID outbreak on the team right before Game 7. Why would you be so eager to give up on that team?

Thank you. I was afraid I would have to post this myself, and I'm way past my post quota for the year (decade?). The Suns are closer to the 2020-21 Bucks than the 1991-92 Suns.

[JeremyG]

If the Suns trade Ayton for a pu pu platter and cap space, I am done with the Suns.

I am the Suns' fan since '93 but probably won't watch my Suns with the same passion next season if that happens.

I am afraid we are going to treadmill for the next 5 years or so if we trade DA and after that we will tank for another 5 to 10 years. Brilliant.

Exactly.

I really wonder if James Jones is so self-deluded that he actually thinks he can get rid of DA and an aging Chris Paul can still keep them in the top 4 in the west? Because that ain’t happening.

Bobby Marks agrees with me, that they won’t be a top 4 seed:

[Indy]

I just don't buy the "this team has peaked" narrative. We had the best record in the history of the franchise last season. We went to the Finals the season before that. We had a rough out from the playoffs this year, partly due to a hidden COVID outbreak on the team right before Game 7. Why would you be so eager to give up on that team?

Thank you. I was afraid I would have to post this myself, and I'm way past my post quota for the year (decade?). The Suns are closer to the 2020-21 Bucks than the 1991-92 Suns.

A) Lol

B) We just say this team go from Finals meltdown after getting by 3 straight teams without their best (or 2nd best) player, to taking too many games to get by the 9 seed, then giving up in a Game 7 in the 2nd round. That doesn't feel like regression to you guys? We are absolutely not going in the upward direction...

[JeremyG]

[ShelC]

Teams are getting younger, faster/more athletic and generally, better. We're a year older (CP and Jae) or mostly plateaued (Book, Mikal, Cam, Shamet, Payne, Craig). It's a solid enough group and we can get thru the regular season fine, tho maybe in the 4-5-6 seed range if we pull back a bit on minutes/games played. But It feels like this team needs to reload a bit. Maybe Mikal and CamJ can add more to their offensive games to make us ore dangerous and less reliant on jumpers. Maybe the FO and coaches think Payne and Shamet are better than what they showed and just need a fresh to start to next season.

[Indy]

Lots of maybes there, Shel. If we don't do something to turn at least 2 of those into probablys instead of maybes, we are just also-rans.

[Split T]

I think Myles Turner would do really well here. He gives us the floor spacer at the 5 while possibly improving our defense. Playing with CP3 could unlock more to his game as well. Rebounding would be a big concern. The question would be what the other piece coming is? They probably don’t want to give up Mathurin…Duarte? Brogdon? Hield?

[sunset rubdown]

Monty Williams won't play him anyway, he is not his lovechild Landry Shamet.

[Indy]

I think Myles Turner would do really well here. He gives us the floor spacer at the 5 while possibly improving our defense. Playing with CP3 could unlock more to his game as well. Rebounding would be a big concern. The question would be what the other piece coming is? They probably don’t want to give up Mathurin…Duarte? Brogdon? Hield?

I agree he could be very good at the 5 for us. But I think if you make him your starting center, you have to commit to Cam J as NOT being a starter on this team. You would need a very strong rebounding 4 to play with Turner. I am not opposed to that, but it might mean you lose Cam in free agency.

[wpmiller42]

I think Myles Turner would do really well here. He gives us the floor spacer at the 5 while possibly improving our defense. Playing with CP3 could unlock more to his game as well. Rebounding would be a big concern. The question would be what the other piece coming is? They probably don’t want to give up Mathurin…Duarte? Brogdon? Hield?

I agree he could be very good at the 5 for us. But I think if you make him your starting center, you have to commit to Cam J as NOT being a starter on this team. You would need a very strong rebounding 4 to play with Turner. I am not opposed to that, but it might mean you lose Cam in free agency.

I wouldn't be opposed to trying Cam as the starting 4 and Turner at the 5 and just seeing how things work out. But speaking to rebounding, I wouldn't mind bringing in Drummond for the backup 5 spot at the minimum whether we keep DA or not.

[Cap]

I just don't buy the "this team has peaked" narrative. We had the best record in the history of the franchise last season. We went to the Finals the season before that. We had a rough out from the playoffs this year, partly due to a hidden COVID outbreak on the team right before Game 7. Why would you be so eager to give up on that team?

Thank you. I was afraid I would have to post this myself, and I'm way past my post quota for the year (decade?). The Suns are closer to the 2020-21 Bucks than the 1991-92 Suns.

A) Lol

B) We just say this team go from Finals meltdown after getting by 3 straight teams without their best (or 2nd best) player, to taking too many games to get by the 9 seed, then giving up in a Game 7 in the 2nd round. That doesn't feel like regression to you guys? We are absolutely not going in the upward direction...

Regression isn’t necessarily the same thing as having peaked. Or would you say the stock market has peaked and it’s time to sell everything?

[Indy]

I think Myles Turner would do really well here. He gives us the floor spacer at the 5 while possibly improving our defense. Playing with CP3 could unlock more to his game as well. Rebounding would be a big concern. The question would be what the other piece coming is? They probably don’t want to give up Mathurin…Duarte? Brogdon? Hield?

I agree he could be very good at the 5 for us. But I think if you make him your starting center, you have to commit to Cam J as NOT being a starter on this team. You would need a very strong rebounding 4 to play with Turner. I am not opposed to that, but it might mean you lose Cam in free agency.

I wouldn't be opposed to trying Cam as the starting 4 and Turner at the 5 and just seeing how things work out. But speaking to rebounding, I wouldn't mind bringing in Drummond for the backup 5 spot at the minimum whether we keep DA or not.

Cam J had a rebounding rate of 8.5%. That is abysmal for a PF. Turner's was 13.4%.

Of the 115 F/C that played at least 1000 minutes last year, CamJ ranks 97th and Turner ranks 54th. We would lose out on so many possessions with those two as our starting PF & C.

For comparison, DA was 15th and Jae was 85th.

[Indy]

I just don't buy the "this team has peaked" narrative. We had the best record in the history of the franchise last season. We went to the Finals the season before that. We had a rough out from the playoffs this year, partly due to a hidden COVID outbreak on the team right before Game 7. Why would you be so eager to give up on that team?

Thank you. I was afraid I would have to post this myself, and I'm way past my post quota for the year (decade?). The Suns are closer to the 2020-21 Bucks than the 1991-92 Suns.

A) Lol

B) We just say this team go from Finals meltdown after getting by 3 straight teams without their best (or 2nd best) player, to taking too many games to get by the 9 seed, then giving up in a Game 7 in the 2nd round. That doesn't feel like regression to you guys? We are absolutely not going in the upward direction...

Regression isn’t necessarily the same thing as having peaked. Or would you say the stock market has peaked and it’s time to sell everything?

I am not one to compare the stock market to the Phoenix Suns. I think they are fundamentally different things.

[Carno]

B) We just say this team go from Finals meltdown after getting by 3 straight teams without their best (or 2nd best) player, to taking too many games to get by the 9 seed, then giving up in a Game 7 in the 2nd round. That doesn't feel like regression to you guys? We are absolutely not going in the upward direction...

The 2018-19 Bucks win 60 games but lost in the Conference Finals. The 2019-20 Bucks won 56 games and had the NBA's best record (covid shortened season), but lost 1-4 in the Eastern Semifinals in embarrassing fashion. There was lots of talk of how they needed to make major changes, fire Budenholzer, Giannis would leave, etc. I suppose some thought it did "feel like regression." However, the Bucks swapped Bledsoe for Holiday and proceeded to win the 2020-21 NBA Championship. Now, I concede that the 3rd best player swap of Bledsoe to Holiday was significant, but the Bucks ended up with the superior player.

This isn't a perfect reflection of the Suns situation, but there are multiple examples in NBA history where it took several tries before a championship quality team finally won (e.g., Jordan Bulls, Bad Boy Pistons). The Suns are a championship quality team right now. Tinker with it, fine. But swapping Deandre Ayton for trash isn't going to do it. Show me a realistic scenario that makes the Suns better, and I'll get behind it. Otherwise, tinker and run it back.

[Shabazz]

B) We just say this team go from Finals meltdown after getting by 3 straight teams without their best (or 2nd best) player, to taking too many games to get by the 9 seed, then giving up in a Game 7 in the 2nd round. That doesn't feel like regression to you guys? We are absolutely not going in the upward direction...

The 2018-19 Bucks win 60 games but lost in the Conference Finals. The 2019-20 Bucks won 56 games and had the NBA's best record (covid shortened season), but lost 1-4 in the Eastern Semifinals in embarrassing fashion. There was lots of talk of how they needed to make major changes, fire Budenholzer, Giannis would leave, etc. I suppose some thought it did "feel like regression." However, the Bucks swapped Bledsoe for Holiday and proceeded to win the 2020-21 NBA Championship. Now, I concede that the 3rd best player swap of Bledsoe to Holiday was significant, but the Bucks ended up with the superior player.

This isn't a perfect reflection of the Suns situation, but there are multiple examples in NBA history where it took several tries before a championship quality team finally won (e.g., Jordan Bulls, Bad Boy Pistons). The Suns are a championship quality team right now. Tinker with it, fine. But swapping Deandre Ayton for trash isn't going to do it. Show me a realistic scenario that makes the Suns better, and I'll get behind it. Otherwise, tinker and run it back.

I generally agree with this.

We're one of a handful of contenders. You work hard to get to that stage and when you do you push your chips to the middle of the table. If you take 1 step back to maybe take 2 steps forward, you take yourself out of the contender group and may never take that step forward again.

[JeremyG]

I think Myles Turner would do really well here. He gives us the floor spacer at the 5 while possibly improving our defense. Playing with CP3 could unlock more to his game as well. Rebounding would be a big concern. The question would be what the other piece coming is? They probably don’t want to give up Mathurin…Duarte? Brogdon? Hield?

Gambo has already said that the Suns are not interested in expiring contracts in exchange for DA.

[Indy]

B) We just say this team go from Finals meltdown after getting by 3 straight teams without their best (or 2nd best) player, to taking too many games to get by the 9 seed, then giving up in a Game 7 in the 2nd round. That doesn't feel like regression to you guys? We are absolutely not going in the upward direction...

The 2018-19 Bucks win 60 games but lost in the Conference Finals. The 2019-20 Bucks won 56 games and had the NBA's best record (covid shortened season), but lost 1-4 in the Eastern Semifinals in embarrassing fashion. There was lots of talk of how they needed to make major changes, fire Budenholzer, Giannis would leave, etc. I suppose some thought it did "feel like regression." However, the Bucks swapped Bledsoe for Holiday and proceeded to win the 2020-21 NBA Championship. Now, I concede that the 3rd best player swap of Bledsoe to Holiday was significant, but the Bucks ended up with the superior player.

This isn't a perfect reflection of the Suns situation, but there are multiple examples in NBA history where it took several tries before a championship quality team finally won (e.g., Jordan Bulls, Bad Boy Pistons). The Suns are a championship quality team right now. Tinker with it, fine. But swapping Deandre Ayton for trash isn't going to do it. Show me a realistic scenario that makes the Suns better, and I'll get behind it. Otherwise, tinker and run it back.

To your point, swapping out Bledsoe for Jrue was a huge move. It wasn't tweaking on the margins.

For the Bulls, they progressed each year, making the first round, then the 2nd, then getting to the conference finals twice before breaking through.

I get your point, but I don't see us standing pat or changing out our 8th best player for a slightly better 8th best player as moving us closer to a ring. I really hope I am wrong, because it feels like that is what we plan on doing.

[INFORMER]

INF, if that's the case, us not beating Warriors, let's trade Booker also because he will be available for supermax very soon. Let's deal Booker and tank, just like Spurs did with Murray.

Well SA dealt Murray because he told them he wasn't going to sign an extension. Is that the case with Booker?

For me, at least, I don't approach Booker the same as I do with Ayton because Booker is better; he is a legit star. I have no problem paying him or building around him.