Luke Kennard is a Sun!

[pickle]

No interest in Herro or Quickley and big question mark on Garland. Not interested in using what little draft capital we have to move from being swept in the first round to winning two games in the first round.

[Shabazz]

I will say, the next thing I’d look to do is move Green for some real playmaking. I’d even attach one or both of our picks to get it, if necessary.

Some thoughts:

Darius Garland
Jrue Holiday
Tyler Herro
Dejounte Murray
Immanuel Quickley
Josh Giddey
Fred VanVleet
Edit: Adding Kyrie

All of these would do wonders for our roster balance. I think Herro's maybe the exception, but the others address needs and remove redundancy. I know it's not likely, but I've warmed to the idea of Giddey given our rebounding issues.

[Split T]

I threw Quickley on there because he’s a pg, but I wouldn’t give up draft capital for him…I’d only do that straight up. I’d include a 1st for Herro, but don’t think I’d do both.

Garland would be a risk from a health standpoint, but I think he’s actually a pretty significant change and I think makes us as good as anyone outside the Thunder or Spurs. That team could definitely win a playoff series.

[Split T]

Herro is the only non pg on there, but he still moves the ball better than Green and is also just a better scorer. He does keep Booker as the primary playmaker though.

[pickle]

I threw Quickley on there because he’s a pg, but I wouldn’t give up draft capital for him…I’d only do that straight up. I’d include a 1st for Herro, but don’t think I’d do both.

Garland would be a risk from a health standpoint, but I think he’s actually a pretty significant change and I think makes us as good as anyone outside the Thunder or Spurs. That team could definitely win a playoff series.

Thing is, the Raptors are also hot for a PG. I really don’t think Quickley is one of those.

Garland is a good fit on paper, but the fact that the Cavs readily gave up on him to take on a guy 10 years older with known locker room and post season performance issues is a huge red flag. I saw some chatter that the Cavs didn’t like how he rehabbed. Talent wise he’s perfect tho.

[pickle]

[Split T]

I threw Quickley on there because he’s a pg, but I wouldn’t give up draft capital for him…I’d only do that straight up. I’d include a 1st for Herro, but don’t think I’d do both.

Garland would be a risk from a health standpoint, but I think he’s actually a pretty significant change and I think makes us as good as anyone outside the Thunder or Spurs. That team could definitely win a playoff series.

Thing is, the Raptors are also hot for a PG. I really don’t think Quickley is one of those.

Garland is a good fit on paper, but the fact that the Cavs readily gave up on him to take on a guy 10 years older with known locker room and post season performance issues is a huge red flag. I saw some chatter that the Cavs didn’t like how he rehabbed. Talent wise he’s perfect tho.

You may be right about Quickley..I don’t love him and I think his contract is bad…but he’s still more of a playmaker than Green.

As for Garland, you could be right about him as well. He was pretty good in LA though and I kinda just wonder if his issues in Cleveland were Mitchell related. He wanted to leave for awhile…but Ott would know better than anyone. If he signs off I’d take it as a positive sign.

[Superbone]

Wow!

Kennard’s career 3-point percentage of .4421 ranks second in NBA history and first among active players. This is a major achievement, as only a handful of players have ever reached the 44% mark over their careers.

[pickle]

I threw Quickley on there because he’s a pg, but I wouldn’t give up draft capital for him…I’d only do that straight up. I’d include a 1st for Herro, but don’t think I’d do both.

Garland would be a risk from a health standpoint, but I think he’s actually a pretty significant change and I think makes us as good as anyone outside the Thunder or Spurs. That team could definitely win a playoff series.

Thing is, the Raptors are also hot for a PG. I really don’t think Quickley is one of those.

Garland is a good fit on paper, but the fact that the Cavs readily gave up on him to take on a guy 10 years older with known locker room and post season performance issues is a huge red flag. I saw some chatter that the Cavs didn’t like how he rehabbed. Talent wise he’s perfect tho.

You may be right about Quickley..I don’t love him and I think his contract is bad…but he’s still more of a playmaker than Green.

As for Garland, you could be right about him as well. He was pretty good in LA though and I kinda just wonder if his issues in Cleveland were Mitchell related. He wanted to leave for awhile…but Ott would know better than anyone. If he signs off I’d take it as a positive sign.

Obviously we are speaking in pure hypotheticals, so yes, in the hypothetical scenario where we made such a move and Ott signs off, I will give it / him the benefit of the doubt. Still not willing to put up first rounders to make it happen tho.

[pickle]

I’m also not sure how the Bridges trade enables us to make this move. Was it because we somehow stayed under the second apron? I get that we clear a roster spot but we can carry over 15 in the offseason and I suppose the money would’ve worked if we didn’t pick up Bouyea or Highsmith, if staying out of second apron was the goal.

[Split T]

We saved 7 million with the move…we are currently just over 5 million under the 2nd apron hard cap. We could’ve waived Bouyea or Highsmith and still signed Kennard, but wouldn’t have had the space otherwise. So there was an easy avenue to get full access to the TPMLE, but we did need to make another move.

[virtual9mm]

I am with my Lakers fan brother in law on a family vacation and he is unhappy. Great signing.

Indeed, I loved all the moves except one...and from a purely basketball POV, even that move becomes more defensible with this signing.

[ShelC]

I just don't see much of a team here that meshes. The roster feels like a bunch of dudes.

[JJ Slim]

I just don't see much of a team here that meshes. The roster feels like a bunch of dudes.

Possibly but wait until Brooks gets his hands on them. He's the glue.

[Mori Chu]

I just don't see much of a team here that meshes. The roster feels like a bunch of dudes.

Yeah I like Kennard as a signing, but I think so far this team is worse than last year's. Last year we had big flaws in the roster such as size, strength, and rebounding. But we had great strengths, such as our 3-point shooting and scoring. I feel like we've become worse at the shooting but I can't see any area where we have measurably improved. We have a bit more scoring in the starting lineup, but it feels like low-yield ball-dominant scoring that is not the kind we need. I don't think Book / Brooks / Green / Br****s is a foursome of guys who mesh well because they all want to hold or pound the ball to varying degrees. We didn't address the PG / offensive initiation problem at all. We didn't get bigger or better at rebounding or interior defense. And we have much less ability to overwhelm the opponent with 3-point bombers and outscore them.

I look at the West and I just don't see this team as one of the better teams. At best we're a road seed like 6-7 and at worst we're fighting for the play-in at the 9-11 spot. I guess the hope would be that some of the other teams that were above us last season (Lakers, Wolves, Blazers) have been making major surgery to their rosters and not all of it will work out, so maybe we could pass some of them. But again, that would require us getting better, and I don't think we did.

The only salvation of this core at this point IMO would be a steal of a Jalen Green trade that brought in a PG or player who can run our offense. But I doubt we pull that off now. And even if we do, no Green/PG trade will undo the dark stain of gleefully bringing in a seemingly unrepentant domestic abuser to our starting lineup.

Even if you set aside the awful abuse stuff, I just hate the direction this shows us to be going. I thought that despite all the squandering of picks in the KD/Beal trades, that we had found a way to soft-reboot around Book, Brooks, and a mostly young core. We had several nice young prospects like Fleming, Oso, ManMan, and Dunn, all of whom showed varying degrees of promise to grow into rotation players. But this summer shows me that they don't really want to value picks and young guys; they're just tools to help them make trades to get splashy veterans. The fact that they traded that 2033 pick the week it became tradable tells you all you need to know. We aren't going to wait this out and come out of our hole in 5-6 years. They're going to keep extending the era in which the cupboard is bare, each 1-2 years, as the draft picks become able to be thrown away.

I don't know if I am "out" like Sose. But I did cancel my League Pass and will maybe just watch the Suns when they're on free cable. Very disappointed in the direction of the team.

[ShelC]

I just don't see much of a team here that meshes. The roster feels like a bunch of dudes.

Yeah I like Kennard as a signing, but I think so far this team is worse than last year's. Last year we had big flaws in the roster such as size, strength, and rebounding. But we had great strengths, such as our 3-point shooting and scoring. I feel like we've become worse at the shooting but I can't see any area where we have measurably improved. We have a bit more scoring in the starting lineup, but it feels like low-yield ball-dominant scoring that is not the kind we need. I don't think Book / Brooks / Green / Br****s is a foursome of guys who mesh well because they all want to hold or pound the ball to varying degrees. We didn't address the PG / offensive initiation problem at all. We didn't get bigger or better at rebounding or interior defense. And we have much less ability to overwhelm the opponent with 3-point bombers and outscore them.

I look at the West and I just don't see this team as one of the better teams. At best we're a road seed like 6-7 and at worst we're fighting for the play-in at the 9-11 spot. I guess the hope would be that some of the other teams that were above us last season (Lakers, Wolves, Blazers) have been making major surgery to their rosters and not all of it will work out, so maybe we could pass some of them. But again, that would require us getting better, and I don't think we did.

The only salvation of this core at this point IMO would be a steal of a Jalen Green trade that brought in a PG or player who can run our offense. But I doubt we pull that off now. And even if we do, no Green/PG trade will undo the dark stain of gleefully bringing in a seemingly unrepentant domestic abuser to our starting lineup.

Even if you set aside the awful abuse stuff, I just hate the direction this shows us to be going. I thought that despite all the squandering of picks in the KD/Beal trades, that we had found a way to soft-reboot around Book, Brooks, and a mostly young core. We had several nice young prospects like Fleming, Oso, ManMan, and Dunn, all of whom showed varying degrees of promise to grow into rotation players. But this summer shows me that they don't really want to value picks and young guys; they're just tools to help them make trades to get splashy veterans. The fact that they traded that 2033 pick the week it became tradable tells you all you need to know. We aren't going to wait this out and come out of our hole in 5-6 years. They're going to keep extending the era in which the cupboard is bare, each 1-2 years, as the draft picks become able to be thrown away.

I don't know if I am "out" like Sose. But I did cancel my League Pass and will maybe just watch the Suns when they're on free cable. Very disappointed in the direction of the team.

Well said.

[O_Gardino]

I like Kennard better than some of our other moves. He can shoot and move off the ball, and I think he fits Ott's system and culture pretty well.

I'm just as concerned about roster construction and the future direction of the team as anyone, but I don't think this specific move is an issue. I'm not thrilled about picking up a guy in the second half of his career, but that's my only real complaint about LK.

[TOO]

I like Kennard better than some of our other moves. He can shoot and move off the ball, and I think he fits Ott's system and culture pretty well.

I'm just as concerned about roster construction and the future direction of the team as anyone, but I don't think this specific move is an issue. I'm not thrilled about picking up a guy in the second half of his career, but that's my only real complaint about LK.

He's 30 not 40, sheesh.

[O_Gardino]

I like Kennard better than some of our other moves. He can shoot and move off the ball, and I think he fits Ott's system and culture pretty well.

I'm just as concerned about roster construction and the future direction of the team as anyone, but I don't think this specific move is an issue. I'm not thrilled about picking up a guy in the second half of his career, but that's my only real complaint about LK.

He's 30 not 40, sheesh.

[TOO]

I like Kennard better than some of our other moves. He can shoot and move off the ball, and I think he fits Ott's system and culture pretty well.

I'm just as concerned about roster construction and the future direction of the team as anyone, but I don't think this specific move is an issue. I'm not thrilled about picking up a guy in the second half of his career, but that's my only real complaint about LK.

He's 30 not 40, sheesh.