Suns News: Week 8 (12/8 - 12/14)

[The Bobster]

Sabonis is a 34% career 3pt shooter. Booker is a 35% career 3pt shooter. Green is a 34% 3pt shooter. We're not talking about Ryan Dunn shooting 3's. Since the start of 2022-23 Sabonis is shooting 38% on 3's even with this season's slow start.

The main issue would be matching salary - it would have to be something like Jalen Green ($33.5 million) + Nick Richards ($5 million) + Hayes-Davis ($2 million) for Sabonis ($42.3 million). Would they be willing to give up Green for him?

Post Trade -

PF - Sabonis, Dunn, Fleming
SF - Brooks, O'Neale, Livers
C - Williams, Iguodaro, Mulach
SG - Booker, Allen, Brea
PG - Gillespie, Goodwin, Bouyea

[Split T]

Sabonis shoots one 3 a game and it’s always wide open. You can’t compare his shooting to Booker. Defenses won’t guard him out there.

[The Bobster]

Sabonis shoots one 3 a game and it’s always wide open. You can’t compare his shooting to Booker. Defenses won’t guard him out there.

Sabonis shoots a high percentage from wherever he shoots though. He's shot 59% on 2's for his career and not as a plodder in the paint. He's also an exceptional rebounder (NBA leader 3x) and passer. His defense is Four players in NBA history have played in the NBA All-Star Games representing four different teams. Three of the four represented the Suns in the All-Star Game. The one who didn't play for the Suns also played in an ABA All-Star Game for a 5th team. Who are these four players?
robably average at best, but he's a three-time All-Star.

[Split T]

Sabonis is good, I’m not disputing that. I just don’t think his shooting percentages speak to what kind of shooter he is. He’s mostly a non-shooter. 75% of his shots come in the paint. He rarely shoots outside the paint. Ya he knocks them down at an ok rate, but teams aren’t worried about it.

Do we remember the Kings one playoff series against the Warriors? They just decided to leave Sabonis and not guard him and it was rough for him. He didn’t want to shoot. He shot 20% from 3 in that series and is a 17% career shooter from 3 in the playoffs.

[Gladiator]

Without even thinking about what a trade for Sabonis would look like and whether it would be sensible, I reckon we could make it work well enough with Sabonis on the offensive end. But I just can’t see how we could be the defensive team we want to be with Sabonis playing either the 4 or 5. Good player but it would be a no for me for that reason alone (before cost etc).
If he gets traded, it will be interesting to see what the Kings get in return.

[O_Gardino]

I don't think there is a trade between the Suns and Kings that makes sense, but I do think it's an interesting discussion.

IMO Sabonis' best comp is Draymond. Sabonis is the better scorer and rebounder. They are both very good passers. Draymond is a better defender. Sabonis is a little bigger. Draymond is a little quicker.

It doesn't make sense to say that you couldn't compete for a championship with Sabonis. I do think that you can't play traditional 1v1 with him. You need an offense that moves and the rest of the team needs to be good shooters.

[Mori Chu]

Bright Side has an article up about the Sabonis rumors:

[Split T]

I don't think there is a trade between the Suns and Kings that makes sense, but I do think it's an interesting discussion.

IMO Sabonis' best comp is Draymond. Sabonis is the better scorer and rebounder. They are both very good passers. Draymond is a better defender. Sabonis is a little bigger. Draymond is a little quicker.

It doesn't make sense to say that you couldn't compete for a championship with Sabonis. I do think that you can't play traditional 1v1 with him. You need an offense that moves and the rest of the team needs to be good shooters.

Sabonis does play like Draymond on offense, but the defense couldn’t be further from eachother. I think he’s kinda like Sengun

[Mori Chu]

Sabonis does play like Draymond on offense, but the defense couldn’t be further from eachother. I think he’s kinda like Sengun

That's an interesting comparison. I think Sengun is sort of the exact set of changes you would need to make to Sabonis to make him a player you'd want on a 2026 contender, if that makes any sense. Sabonis is a bit like Sengun on offense, but Sengun is so much younger, more athletic, and more bouncy. He moves like a gazelle compared to Sabonis who is a bit more plodding. And while both guys make a similar 3pt%, Sengun makes around 1.0 per game and shoots almost three 3s per game; Sabonis makes 0.4 out of 1.8 threes per game. I think Sengun has a more diverse set of spots from which he can score and is a better shooter despite the FG% stats not really showing that.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ual01.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ndo01.html

[Superbone]

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Personally, I want to see a few games of Mark, Book, Dillon, Jalen, Colin and what they can do before we start talking trades. IMHO, that will make for a pretty intense lineup...

VT

[Superbone]

Great to see.

[virtual9mm]

Completely separate note -- anyone hear from Capologist/Tony recently?

[Superbone]

Completely separate note -- anyone hear from Capologist/Tony recently?

No, he just disappeared without incidence.

[virtual9mm]

Completely separate note -- anyone hear from Capologist/Tony recently?

No, he just disappeared without incidence.

I am concerned about him. He's been on these boards since at least 1995. That's a long time.

[Superbone]

Completely separate note -- anyone hear from Capologist/Tony recently?

No, he just disappeared without incidence.

I am concerned about him. He's been on these boards since at least 1995. That's a long time.

I'm always concerned about him. Here or not. Have you tried PMing him?

[virtual9mm]

Completely separate note -- anyone hear from Capologist/Tony recently?

No, he just disappeared without incidence.

I am concerned about him. He's been on these boards since at least 1995. That's a long time.

I'm always concerned about him. Here or not. Have you tried PMing him?

Yes, nothing yet.

[O_Gardino]

Sabonis does play like Draymond on offense, but the defense couldn’t be further from eachother. I think he’s kinda like Sengun

That's an interesting comparison. I think Sengun is sort of the exact set of changes you would need to make to Sabonis to make him a player you'd want on a 2026 contender, if that makes any sense. Sabonis is a bit like Sengun on offense, but Sengun is so much younger, more athletic, and more bouncy. He moves like a gazelle compared to Sabonis who is a bit more plodding. And while both guys make a similar 3pt%, Sengun makes around 1.0 per game and shoots almost three 3s per game; Sabonis makes 0.4 out of 1.8 threes per game. I think Sengun has a more diverse set of spots from which he can score and is a better shooter despite the FG% stats not really showing that.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ual01.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/pl ... ndo01.html

Sengun is bouncier, but Sabonis wouldn't get pushed over by 6'4" Grayson Allen.

[O_Gardino]

CAP COME BACK

[virtual9mm]

Completely separate note -- anyone hear from Capologist/Tony recently?

No, he just disappeared without incidence.

I am concerned about him. He's been on these boards since at least 1995. That's a long time.

I'm always concerned about him. Here or not. Have you tried PMing him?

Yes, nothing yet.

He PM'ed me and said he'd kind of tuned the Suns out at the moment, which is completely understandable. But he's doing all right.