Game Day: Suns (17-37) @ Rockets (39-17), Sat 2/11/17

[JustWinBaby]

I know the Morris Twins certainly left on bad terms. However at one point they were a real part of the future of this franchise. The same can be said of Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas along with Marcin Gortat. Below are how these guys are doing on their new teams after McDonough either traded them or dumped them.

M******f M****s - 16.4 pts , 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists
M****s M****s - 15.5 pts, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists
Isaiah Thomas - 31.1 pts, 6.6 assists
Goran Dragic - 20.1 pts,, 6.3 assists
Marcin Gortat - 11.9 pts, 11.5 rebounds

How are we better and closer to a championship after these moves by McDonough. At some point he has to be accountable, doesn't he?

I get what you are saying with this post, but I don't think it is entirely fair. You could make a listing like this for a lot of teams. For example, the Clips gave us Bledsoe for Dudley, and lol, Bledsoe is averaging a ton of PPG for us. Are the Clips stupid? No, because they already had a stud PG in Chris Paul, and they couldn't pay Bledsoe the contract he wanted, and Bledsoe wanted to start. So the details matter.

The Morrii were trouble and we had to get rid of them. It wouldn't matter if they were averaging 30ppg now; it still would have been right to get their cancerous attitudes off our team.

Dragic/IT, we botched this one. I am pleased that we got two 1sts for Goran, but we should not have pushed him to want to leave. IT we sold too low on, but he was a bad fit here in a similar way to how Knight is now, only a better scorer. I still don't think I would want IT as the best player on my team; too selfish. I must admit that the 29.8ppg is insane. (You list 31.1? That is wrong. Is that per 36 min?)

I'm definitely frustrated about the PG situation. I honestly would have strongly preferred exactly the opposite of what we did. We kept Bledsoe and got Knight. I wanted to keep Dragic and have IT be the backup, and dump Bledsoe. Oh well. At least Bledsoe is putting up gaudy numbers and having a strong overall season.

As for Gortat, I don't miss him much. Chandler and Len are giving us capable minutes at center. Gortat wanted a lot of money, and the Wiz wanted to give it to him. I don't have anything against Gortat but also think he has a certain ceiling as a player and am not crushed that he's gone.

My mistake on IT but it still is remarkable.

I was not a fan of Gortat either, but he is a better center than either Chandler and for sure better than Alex Len, thus we went backwards at the center position. I actually prefer Bledsoe and Booker over Goran and IT. However I would not be unhappy with a Goran/ IT backcourt. The point is that we got rid of very good talent with not much in return. Everyone is hoping that the 2065 pick we got from Miami will amount to something. I know I am in the minority but I like the Morris Twins. Certainly they had their problems but they always came to play in shape and rarely missed games. I think management, Hornacek and McDonough, did a horrible job in their handling of those two. They would look pretty nice with a Bledsoe/Booker backcourt. I also would not have to watch PJ Tucker for 40 minutes every night.

That is in fact my biggest beef against McDonough. He has hired horrible head coaches and really appears to have no charisma or genuine contact with any of the players. He almost seems like a robot at times.

I just read somewhere that Watson expects to win every game. He has been a loser almost all of his career in the NBA. He now walks off the court, after a loss, like it was just another day at the office. Watch him, it is amazing.

[Superbone]

I just read somewhere that Watson expects to win every game. He has been a loser almost all of his career in the NBA. He now walks off the court, after a loss, like it was just another day at the office. Watch him, it is amazing.

You see what you're looking for.

[UglyTruth]

Just curious, how would you guys react if Booker develops into an All Star next season, however the 76ers convey the LAL pick and it turns out to be #1 overall and they end up drafting a kid who shows superstar promise his rookie season while whoever we draft doesn't show any promise at all? And for the sake of things, Celtics win NBA title and IT becomes Finals MVP while Dragic makes one of the All NBA teams again.

And oh yea, Knight is still on the Suns chucking away like he is now.

Would you all be willing to forgive McD because of the fact that he drafted us Booker who becomes the first Suns All Star since Nash or would you still want him fired because the 76ers end up having a superstar prospect with the LAL pick while IT & Dragic also have immense success.

[Indy]

Just curious, how would you guys react if Booker develops into an All Star next season, however the 76ers convey the LAL pick and it turns out to be #1 overall and they end up drafting a kid who shows superstar promise his rookie season while whoever we draft doesn't show any promise at all? And for the sake of things, Celtics win NBA title and IT becomes Finals MVP while Dragic makes one of the All NBA teams again.

And oh yea, Knight is still on the Suns chucking away like he is now.

Would you all be willing to forgive McD because of the fact that he drafted us Booker who becomes the first Suns All Star since Nash or would you still want him fired because the 76ers end up having a superstar prospect with the LAL pick while IT & Dragic also have immense success.

He should have been fired already. But honestly, I don't blame him as much as I blame Sarver. He doesn't seem to want people with experience as a GM, or a coach. That is a real problem. Ryan was put in a situation where he wasn't capable of succeeding, and he isn't. When hiring folks, the most important job of any manager is to hire new employees into a situation to succeed. Sarver hasn't done that.

[virtual9mm]

Come on, folks. Ryan McD was THE hot GM candidate back when he was hired. Let's not color our history with undue revisionism. In that spirit, I think that he's been:

- Excellent with trades, with one massive exception
- A good to excellent drafter...we can't expect him to have picked up the Greek Freak instead of Len considering that 20 other GMs did so as well.
- Stubborn as hell -- the Knight trade was an absolute disaster
- Horrible with personnel management, but hopefully improving

My biggest concern about McD going forward is that he seems to be biased towards an offense driven by one-on-one hero ball instead of ball movement. To me, the obvious choice in the coming draft for this team is Lonzo Ball -- a pass-first PG that could make Booker into a superstar and improve the play of everyone else. I worry that McD will insist on staying with Bledsoe -- who has gotten better but is far from a transcendent talent that makes those around him better -- or pick a Stevie Francis wannabe PG like Smith.

Depending on what McD does in this draft, I will either stick with him or jump on the dump McD bandwagon. I do think that the team is just a pass-first PG away from being respectable (8th seed) at a young age, and growing into a contender in the next 2-3 years.

[3rdside]

Just curious, how would you guys react if Booker develops into an All Star next season, however the 76ers convey the LAL pick and it turns out to be #1 overall and they end up drafting a kid who shows superstar promise his rookie season while whoever we draft doesn't show any promise at all? And for the sake of things, Celtics win NBA title and IT becomes Finals MVP while Dragic makes one of the All NBA teams again.

And oh yea, Knight is still on the Suns chucking away like he is now.

Would you all be willing to forgive McD because of the fact that he drafted us Booker who becomes the first Suns All Star since Nash or would you still want him fired because the 76ers end up having a superstar prospect with the LAL pick while IT & Dragic also have immense success.

He should have been fired already. But honestly, I don't blame him as much as I blame Sarver. He doesn't seem to want people with experience as a GM, or a coach. That is a real problem. Ryan was put in a situation where he wasn't capable of succeeding, and he isn't. When hiring folks, the most important job of any manager is to hire new employees into a situation to succeed. Sarver hasn't done that.

Yeah it's fundamentally about weak leadership from top to bottom and the buck stops with Sarver on that one. But McD had plenty to work with IMO, with dragic and Bledsoe and a 48 win season.

Was it bad luck that they overachieved that year so they couldn't get a high draft pick?

Maybe.

But subsequent events - the IT / dragic / knight situation, the bad mouthing of our organisation by Frye, both Morris brothers and Dragic on their way out, the weird Bledsoe contract negotiation, the odd firing of hornacek's assistants before hornacek himself was fired, etc etc suggest he was going to fail anyway.







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[carey]

Anyone think the Knight trade was more Sarver/Babby than McDonough? It was the last move of the 3 that day & it rings of Sarver saying, "You're trading Dragic and Thomas you better get me a great player in return..."

I'm not absolving him because he had to sign off too. Since he has had full control there hasn't been a move like this though.

[3rdside]

From what I've read I thought Sarver is entirely hands off, and has been for a while?

My take is that he was trying to stamp his unqualified authority on the matter - it took balls to do what he did, but his flaws were painfully revealed in the process - it took hardcore incompetence to get the results he got.


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[In2ition]

Come on, folks. Ryan McD was THE hot GM candidate back when he was hired. Let's not color our history with undue revisionism. In that spirit, I think that he's been:

- Excellent with trades, with one massive exception
- A good to excellent drafter...we can't expect him to have picked up the Greek Freak instead of Len considering that 20 other GMs did so as well.
- Stubborn as hell -- the Knight trade was an absolute disaster
- Horrible with personnel management, but hopefully improving

My biggest concern about McD going forward is that he seems to be biased towards an offense driven by one-on-one hero ball instead of ball movement. To me, the obvious choice in the coming draft for this team is Lonzo Ball -- a pass-first PG that could make Booker into a superstar and improve the play of everyone else. I worry that McD will insist on staying with Bledsoe -- who has gotten better but is far from a transcendent talent that makes those around him better -- or pick a Stevie Francis wannabe PG like Smith.

Depending on what McD does in this draft, I will either stick with him or jump on the dump McD bandwagon. I do think that the team is just a pass-first PG away from being respectable (8th seed) at a young age, and growing into a contender in the next 2-3 years.

I agree with this take for the most part. I think the juries still out on his drafting genius, as drafting the consensus 2nd and 3rd best PFs in an otherwise seemingly weak draft smacks of trying to make multiple camps happy and not the sign of a real strongly convicted in their vision type of leader.

I'm for giving McD a little longer, but if it doesn't happen, I say bring in Hinkie. At least he had a vision I can get behind. It's all about asset acquisition then transition to major talent hording.

[wpmiller42]

From what I've read I thought Sarver is entirely hands off, and has been for a while?

My take is that he was trying to stamp his unqualified authority on the matter - it took balls to do what he did, but his flaws were painfully revealed in the process - it took hardcore incompetence to get the results he got.


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Really? I could be mistaken, but my impression is that Sarver is very much hands-on, and has a key influence on the personnel decisions. I hope you're right though.

[3rdside]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/n ... /81556086/


“I’ve never really been that hands-on in terms of player decisions,” Sarver said. “That’s really up to our staff. ... My job is to give both of those guys the financial resources and the emotional support to do as well as they can. I wouldn’t confuse my passion for winning with kind of being involved in the day-to-day operations, because I’m not.”


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[Indy]

- Excellent with trades, with one massive exception

Which of these are excellent?

June 27, 2013: Traded Nemanja Nedovic to the Golden State Warriors for Archie Goodwin and Malcolm Lee.

July 10, 2013: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded a 2014 2nd round draft pick (Lamar Patterson was later selected) to the Milwaukee Bucks; the Phoenix Suns traded Jared Dudley to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded a future 2nd round draft pick to the Milwaukee Bucks; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler to the Phoenix Suns; and the Milwaukee Bucks traded J.J. Redick to the Los Angeles Clippers.

July 27, 2013: Traded Luis Scola to the Indiana Pacers for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and a 2014 1st round draft pick (Bogdan Bogdanovic was later selected).

August 29, 2013: Traded Caron Butler to the Milwaukee Bucks for Viacheslav Kravtsov and Ishmael Smith.

October 25, 2013: Traded Shannon Brown, Marcin Gortat, Malcolm Lee and Kendall Marshall to the Washington Wizards for Emeka Okafor and a 2014 1st round draft pick (Tyler Ennis was later selected). (Pick is top 12 protected.)

July 12, 2014: Traded Alex Oriakhi and a trade exception to the Sacramento Kings for Isaiah Thomas.

December 24, 2014: Traded Anthony Tolliver to the Detroit Pistons for Tony Mitchell.

January 9, 2015: Traded a 2015 1st round draft pick (MIN 1st-Rd Pick was later selected) to the Boston Celtics for Brandan Wright. (The 1st round pick is top-12 protected in both 2015 and 2016. If the pick is still held in 2017 it will become two 2nd-round picks.)

January 15, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded Shavlik Randolph to the Boston Celtics; the Boston Celtics traded Austin Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 2nd round draft pick to the Boston Celtics; and the Los Angeles Clippers traded Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns.

February 19, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded Goran Dragic and Zoran Dragic to the Miami Heat; the Miami Heat traded Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton and Shawne Williams to the New Orleans Pelicans; the Miami Heat traded Danny Granger, a 2017 1st round draft pick and a 2021 1st round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns; and the New Orleans Pelicans traded John Salmons to the Phoenix Suns. (2017 1st-round pick is top-7 protected)

February 19, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded a future 1st round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers; the Phoenix Suns traded Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee to the Milwaukee Bucks; the Milwaukee Bucks traded Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall to the Phoenix Suns; and the Philadelphia 76ers traded Michael Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks. (PHI 1st round pick received from PHO is LAL's and is top-5 protected in 2015 and top-3 protected in 2016 & 2017.)

February 19, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded Isaiah Thomas to the Boston Celtics; the Boston Celtics traded Tayshaun Prince to the Detroit Pistons; the Boston Celtics traded Marcus Thornton and a 2016 1st round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns; and the Detroit Pistons traded Gigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko to the Boston Celtics. (PHO 2016 1st round pick received from BOS is CLE's pick and is top-10 protected.)


June 25, 2015: Traded Andrew Harrison to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jon Leuer.

July 9, 2015: Traded Reggie Bullock, Danny Granger and Marcus Morris to the Detroit Pistons for a 2020 2nd round draft pick.

February 18, 2016: Traded Markieff Morris to the Washington Wizards for DeJuan Blair, Kris Humphries and a 2016 1st round draft pick. (2016 1st-Rd pick is top-9 protected)

June 23, 2016: Traded Bogdan Bogdanovic, Skal Labissiere, Georgios Papagiannis and a 2020 2nd round draft pick to the Sacramento Kings for Marquese Chriss. 2020 2nd-rd pick is DET's pick

- A good to excellent drafter

Which of these are excellent, or even above average?

June 27, 2013: Selected Alex Len (1st round, 5th pick), Nemanja Nedovic (1st round, 30th pick) and Alex Oriakhi (2nd round, 57th pick) in the 2013 NBA Draft.

June 26, 2014: Selected T.J. Warren (1st round, 14th pick), Tyler Ennis (1st round, 18th pick), Bogdan Bogdanovic (1st round, 27th pick) and Alec Brown (2nd round, 50th pick) in the 2014 NBA Draft.

June 25, 2015: Selected Devin Booker (1st round, 13th pick) and Andrew Harrison (2nd round, 44th pick) in the 2015 NBA Draft.

June 23, 2016: Selected Dragan Bender (1st round, 4th pick), Georgios Papagiannis (1st round, 13th pick), Skal Labissiere (1st round, 28th pick) and Tyler Ulis (2nd round, 34th pick) in the 2016 NBA Draft.

June 23, 2016: Traded Bogdan Bogdanovic, Skal Labissiere, Georgios Papagiannis and a 2020 2nd round draft pick to the Sacramento Kings for Marquese Chriss. 2020 2nd-rd pick is DET's pick

[Mori Chu]

Come on, folks. Ryan McD was THE hot GM candidate back when he was hired. Let's not color our history with undue revisionism. In that spirit, I think that he's been:

- Excellent with trades, with one massive exception
- A good to excellent drafter...we can't expect him to have picked up the Greek Freak instead of Len considering that 20 other GMs did so as well.
- Stubborn as hell -- the Knight trade was an absolute disaster
- Horrible with personnel management, but hopefully improving

My biggest concern about McD going forward is that he seems to be biased towards an offense driven by one-on-one hero ball instead of ball movement. To me, the obvious choice in the coming draft for this team is Lonzo Ball -- a pass-first PG that could make Booker into a superstar and improve the play of everyone else. I worry that McD will insist on staying with Bledsoe -- who has gotten better but is far from a transcendent talent that makes those around him better -- or pick a Stevie Francis wannabe PG like Smith.

Depending on what McD does in this draft, I will either stick with him or jump on the dump McD bandwagon. I do think that the team is just a pass-first PG away from being respectable (8th seed) at a young age, and growing into a contender in the next 2-3 years.

Good to see you, v9! I agree with this for the most part. Most of all I agree that we need a PASS-FIRST PG on this team. Please, McDo??

[JustWinBaby]

I just read somewhere that Watson expects to win every game. He has been a loser almost all of his career in the NBA. He now walks off the court, after a loss, like it was just another day at the office. Watch him, it is amazing.

You see what you're looking for.

I agree

I see very little player development & losses with little emotion during or after games. I see a team that plays lousy defense and does not pass the ball. It also appears like the coach thinks we are right on schedule. Well I don't.

When I read the recap that I think "INDY" put together on McDonough's trade history, he has been horrible as well. He has made a lot of minor moves to basically dump players that no longer wanted to play here or sucked. He has yet, with the exception of Bledsoe, made a trade for a player that has made a legit difference for this franchise. His draft picks have been horrible other than the Booker pick. He has not signed one legit free agent. Basically he has signed a group of on court player development coaches. He has picked 2 head coaches and it appears like we are going backwards.

These are the facts as I see them.

[The Bobster]

He also made a good S&T getting Thomas, but then erased that by trading him and his extremely favorable contract.

[Split T]

- Excellent with trades, with one massive exception

Which of these are excellent?

June 27, 2013: Traded Nemanja Nedovic to the Golden State Warriors for Archie Goodwin and Malcolm Lee.

July 10, 2013: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded a 2014 2nd round draft pick (Lamar Patterson was later selected) to the Milwaukee Bucks; the Phoenix Suns traded Jared Dudley to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded a future 2nd round draft pick to the Milwaukee Bucks; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler to the Phoenix Suns; and the Milwaukee Bucks traded J.J. Redick to the Los Angeles Clippers.

July 27, 2013: Traded Luis Scola to the Indiana Pacers for Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and a 2014 1st round draft pick (Bogdan Bogdanovic was later selected).

August 29, 2013: Traded Caron Butler to the Milwaukee Bucks for Viacheslav Kravtsov and Ishmael Smith.

October 25, 2013: Traded Shannon Brown, Marcin Gortat, Malcolm Lee and Kendall Marshall to the Washington Wizards for Emeka Okafor and a 2014 1st round draft pick (Tyler Ennis was later selected). (Pick is top 12 protected.)

July 12, 2014: Traded Alex Oriakhi and a trade exception to the Sacramento Kings for Isaiah Thomas.

December 24, 2014: Traded Anthony Tolliver to the Detroit Pistons for Tony Mitchell.

January 9, 2015: Traded a 2015 1st round draft pick (MIN 1st-Rd Pick was later selected) to the Boston Celtics for Brandan Wright. (The 1st round pick is top-12 protected in both 2015 and 2016. If the pick is still held in 2017 it will become two 2nd-round picks.)

January 15, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded Shavlik Randolph to the Boston Celtics; the Boston Celtics traded Austin Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers; the Los Angeles Clippers traded Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 2nd round draft pick to the Boston Celtics; and the Los Angeles Clippers traded Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns.

February 19, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded Goran Dragic and Zoran Dragic to the Miami Heat; the Miami Heat traded Norris Cole, Justin Hamilton and Shawne Williams to the New Orleans Pelicans; the Miami Heat traded Danny Granger, a 2017 1st round draft pick and a 2021 1st round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns; and the New Orleans Pelicans traded John Salmons to the Phoenix Suns. (2017 1st-round pick is top-7 protected)

February 19, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded a future 1st round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers; the Phoenix Suns traded Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee to the Milwaukee Bucks; the Milwaukee Bucks traded Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall to the Phoenix Suns; and the Philadelphia 76ers traded Michael Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks. (PHI 1st round pick received from PHO is LAL's and is top-5 protected in 2015 and top-3 protected in 2016 & 2017.)

February 19, 2015: As part of a 3-team trade, the Phoenix Suns traded Isaiah Thomas to the Boston Celtics; the Boston Celtics traded Tayshaun Prince to the Detroit Pistons; the Boston Celtics traded Marcus Thornton and a 2016 1st round draft pick to the Phoenix Suns; and the Detroit Pistons traded Gigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko to the Boston Celtics. (PHO 2016 1st round pick received from BOS is CLE's pick and is top-10 protected.)


June 25, 2015: Traded Andrew Harrison to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jon Leuer.

July 9, 2015: Traded Reggie Bullock, Danny Granger and M****s M****s to the Detroit Pistons for a 2020 2nd round draft pick.

February 18, 2016: Traded M******f M****s to the Washington Wizards for DeJuan Blair, Kris Humphries and a 2016 1st round draft pick. (2016 1st-Rd pick is top-9 protected)

June 23, 2016: Traded Bogdan Bogdanovic, Skal Labissiere, Georgios Papagiannis and a 2020 2nd round draft pick to the Sacramento Kings for Marquese Chriss. 2020 2nd-rd pick is DET's pick

- A good to excellent drafter

Which of these are excellent, or even above average?

I've liked three picks McD has made. Booker, Chriss, and Ulis. I was fine with Warren and Bender, though I preferred other players. Did not like the Len pick.

I think for the most part, his trades have been good. There is a lot of irrelevant trades on that list and the only bad ones are IT to Boston and of course the Knight trade. I think the bolded ones were great trades.

[JustWinBaby]

He also made a good S&T getting Thomas, but then erased that by trading him and his extremely favorable contract.

Yep. I liked the move when he acquired Thomas. I thought it was a very wise move. However he and the coach, his pick Hornacek, could not make the 3 guard offense work and created a caustic clubhouse.

McDonough's fix was trading both Dragic and Thomas, players without knee problems.

Now he is dealing with Brandon Knight who when acquired was a questionable choice but at the time but a productive guard in Milwaukee. Again McDonough and his coach, this time Watson, has not found a way to utilize a player that McDonough acquired.

[virtual9mm]

I agree with this take for the most part. I think the juries still out on his drafting genius, as drafting the consensus 2nd and 3rd best PFs in an otherwise seemingly weak draft smacks of trying to make multiple camps happy and not the sign of a real strongly convicted in their vision type of leader.

I'm for giving McD a little longer, but if it doesn't happen, I say bring in Hinkie. At least he had a vision I can get behind. It's all about asset acquisition then transition to major talent hording.

Agree with everything except for the Hinkie part. The Suns have their young assets, if they do a good job this year. The two MIA picks will fill any holes in the roster. So, they need someone to build a team rather than to rip things apart.

Which of these are excellent?
Which of these are excellent, or even above average?

Draft picks: Booker (not a foregone conclusion), Warren (for a mid-first rounder, he's been really quite good...I wonder what the mystery head injury was, though), and the two rookies this year seem promising. Len was a mediocre lotto pick in a bad draft year, especially if rumors about Noel being red-flagged by the training staff are true; McD could have traded down and grabbed Gobert, but that is the kind of move you applaud a GM for doing but not one you would necessarily castigate your GM for not doing.

Trades: As I've mentioned, McD's done a horrible job managing personnel and egos. What he has done well is to make great trades from a position of weakness. The Dragic trade was spectacular given that he was forced to trade him. Same for Markieff. The Bledsoe trade was a stroke of genius. Too bad he whiffed the Knight trade so badly.

Edit -- just saw Split T's list, forgot about the Leuer trade. That was a good one, too.

He also made a good S&T getting Thomas, but then erased that by trading him and his extremely favorable contract.

It is impossible to get on McD's case for trading away Thomas for a late 1st rounder, without remembering that this was a net gain generated by a bit of available cap space. Sure, I would have rather kept Thomas than getting Knight. But in net terms, McD converted cap space into a 1st rounder.

Good to see you, v9! I agree with this for the most part. Most of all I agree that we need a PASS-FIRST PG on this team. Please, McDo??

Lonzo Ball, please!

[Indy]

I agree with this take for the most part. I think the juries still out on his drafting genius, as drafting the consensus 2nd and 3rd best PFs in an otherwise seemingly weak draft smacks of trying to make multiple camps happy and not the sign of a real strongly convicted in their vision type of leader.

I'm for giving McD a little longer, but if it doesn't happen, I say bring in Hinkie. At least he had a vision I can get behind. It's all about asset acquisition then transition to major talent hording.

Agree with everything except for the Hinkie part. The Suns have their young assets, if they do a good job this year. The two MIA picks will fill any holes in the roster. So, they need someone to build a team rather than to rip things apart.

Which of these are excellent?
Which of these are excellent, or even above average?

Draft picks: Booker (not a foregone conclusion), Warren (for a mid-first rounder, he's been really quite good...I wonder what the mystery head injury was, though), and the two rookies this year seem promising. Len was a mediocre lotto pick in a bad draft year, especially if rumors about Noel being red-flagged by the training staff are true; McD could have traded down and grabbed Gobert, but that is the kind of move you applaud a GM for doing but not one you would necessarily castigate your GM for not doing.

Trades: As I've mentioned, McD's done a horrible job managing personnel and egos. What he has done well is to make great trades from a position of weakness. The Dragic trade was spectacular given that he was forced to trade him. Same for Markieff. The Bledsoe trade was a stroke of genius. Too bad he whiffed the Knight trade so badly.

Edit -- just saw Split T's list, forgot about the Leuer trade. That was a good one, too.

He also made a good S&T getting Thomas, but then erased that by trading him and his extremely favorable contract.

It is impossible to get on McD's case for trading away Thomas for a late 1st rounder, without remembering that this was a net gain generated by a bit of available cap space. Sure, I would have rather kept Thomas than getting Knight. But in net terms, McD converted cap space into a 1st rounder.

Good to see you, v9! I agree with this for the most part. Most of all I agree that we need a PASS-FIRST PG on this team. Please, McDo??

Lonzo Ball, please!

I guess when I see someone clean up a giant mess they created, and it isn't quite as good as it was before the mess happened, I don't call it excellence, or even competence. You wouldn't need the heroics if you just stopped f*cking up. (And I realize it isn't fair to blame the entire Morrii fiasco at his doorstep, so I do applaud him for getting rid of those guys.)

[UglyTruth]

Anyone think the Knight trade was more Sarver/Babby than McDonough? It was the last move of the 3 that day & it rings of Sarver saying, "You're trading Dragic and Thomas you better get me a great player in return..."

I'm not absolving him because he had to sign off too. Since he has had full control there hasn't been a move like this though.

It had to have been McD because I remember him going on the radio and immediately pimping Knight big time and acting as if he just picked up the best player to ever play basketball.

It's funny cause at the time, he praised Kieff and Knight in an effort to bash Dragic and to say it's backfired would be an understatement.