2025 Suns Offeason News

[ShelC]

That Gambo post was essentially written by Suns BOps/PR. I hope we don't trade any unfrozen picks, tho I wonder if that's in the plans.

I agree about not wanting to half-ass compete. I'd rather see the young guys play hard and win 32 games, develop a real core and shake the roster out of guys who don't belong. Better that than bringing in some band-aid vets so we can win 38 games as some mid play-in team going nowhere but claim victory because we're "competitive" so soon. I guess I wouldn't mind Collins since he's an ending contract but I don't want some journeymen/mercenaries coming in like we had in the early 2010s. That doesn't mean I want to tank either, just want this built up properly so that when the *right* guy comes along via trade or FA, we're there to pounce and take that next step.

[Mori Chu]

That Gambo post was essentially written by Suns BOps/PR. I hope we don't trade any unfrozen picks, tho I wonder if that's in the plans.

I agree about not wanting to half-ass compete. I'd rather see the young guys play hard and win 32 games, develop a real core and shake the roster out of guys who don't belong. Better that than bringing in some band-aid vets so we can win 38 games as some mid play-in team going nowhere but claim victory because we're "competitive" so soon. I guess I wouldn't mind Collins since he's an ending contract but I don't want some journeymen/mercenaries coming in like we had in the early 2010s. That doesn't mean I want to tank either, just want this built up properly so that when the *right* guy comes along via trade or FA, we're there to pounce and take that next step.

I agree with this. My guess, based on nothing really, other than their public statements and behavior, is that the FO really wants the team to be as good and as competitive next season as possible. I think they want to show Durant/Beal that we can be even better without them, and show the doubters / haters that they are doing well at putting together a strong team and didn't "blow it" for the present or future of the franchise by trading away so many picks and assets. I really don't mind if they try to be competitive, so long as they don't trade away (any more) future picks to do so.

That's probably the biggest beef I have with the FO right now, that they traded two 1sts to get Williams who IMO we didn't need. I would rather go the other way and trade away some of our guys who can net us picks, like Grayson or Royce.

[JeremyG]

I wouldn’t be opposed to a Grayson and Royce for John Collins deal, but I’m not exactly sure why Utah would consider it.

Then again, they traded Sexton and a 2nd for Nurkic, so who knows.

[JeremyG]

Whenever you are talking about saving some obscenely huge amount of money, like a couple hundred million dollars IIRC, I can't blame Ishbia.

I can—when he said he doesn’t care about spending money, and now he’s going to hurt our cap situation for 3 extra years just to save on tax payments.

It’s totally a Matbert Isharver move.

[wpmiller42]

I don't know what kind of assets we'd need to include and what would work with Beal, but would the Jazz do a Markkanen for Beal swap? Beal would be a big expiring contract about the time they would need to free up some money with their young guys. He's not going to win too much for them right now. Lauri would fill our biggest need right now in my opinion.

[specialsauce]

Beal is getting bought out today. There's no point in contemplating otherwise unfortunately . It's widely reported

[Split T]

I don't know what kind of assets we'd need to include and what would work with Beal, but would the Jazz do a Markkanen for Beal swap? Beal would be a big expiring contract about the time they would need to free up some money with their young guys. He's not going to win too much for them right now. Lauri would fill our biggest need right now in my opinion.

I think Beal is the one who says no there

[Split T]

Beal is getting bought out today. There's no point in contemplating otherwise unfortunately . It's widely reported

Agreed…only question is how much he gives back and whether we stretch the salary…though those both seem to be answered too…he’s giving back 14m and we are stretching it.

I guess where he signs is still up in the air, but I assume it’s LAC after trading Powell.

[wpmiller42]

Beal is getting bought out today. There's no point in contemplating otherwise unfortunately . It's widely reported

Agreed…only question is how much he gives back and whether we stretch the salary…though those both seem to be answered too…he’s giving back 14m and we are stretching it.

I guess where he signs is still up in the air, but I assume it’s LAC after trading Powell.

Bummer, just once I wish we were the team that played hardball or found the creative solution. At worst, I would have liked to have seen how Beal would have played without KD around.

[specialsauce]

That Gambo post was essentially written by Suns BOps/PR. I hope we don't trade any unfrozen picks, tho I wonder if that's in the plans.

I agree about not wanting to half-ass compete. I'd rather see the young guys play hard and win 32 games, develop a real core and shake the roster out of guys who don't belong. Better that than bringing in some band-aid vets so we can win 38 games as some mid play-in team going nowhere but claim victory because we're "competitive" so soon. I guess I wouldn't mind Collins since he's an ending contract but I don't want some journeymen/mercenaries coming in like we had in the early 2010s. That doesn't mean I want to tank either, just want this built up properly so that when the *right* guy comes along via trade or FA, we're there to pounce and take that next step.

We don't have our own first round picks, so there is no benefit to sucking. We can't just trot out a roster of young guys and fringe rotational vets; that's not how our rookies that we have high hopes for are going to develop. They need mentorship and to be surrounded by older players that play the right way and prepare the right way.

I don't care about winning 38 games but I care about the young players learning and growing. Throwing 3 rookies out there to run aimlessly and learn from each other is a recipe for disaster.

[3TheHardaway]

I much prefer just eating the contact for two years and utilizing 2026-2027 to develop Dunn, Maluach, Fleming (maybe even Green), and then getting a huge chunk of salary cap to use to improve the roster in Summer 2027.

I think the team as is could grow together and chase a playoff bid in the interim, and re-develop some sense of unity and culture that we had with Mikal/Cam/Book/DA that all great teams possess. And then once Beal is off the books, we might be able to afford a missing piece in free agency to push the team to the next level. I recognize FA isn't what it used to be, but valuable players still do hit the market (Turner).

This is the way.

Which is exactly why Ishbia and Co. will continue to borrow from the future and stretch this cap hit for 5 years. Short sighted is the theme of this regime.

[ShelC]

That Gambo post was essentially written by Suns BOps/PR. I hope we don't trade any unfrozen picks, tho I wonder if that's in the plans.

I agree about not wanting to half-ass compete. I'd rather see the young guys play hard and win 32 games, develop a real core and shake the roster out of guys who don't belong. Better that than bringing in some band-aid vets so we can win 38 games as some mid play-in team going nowhere but claim victory because we're "competitive" so soon. I guess I wouldn't mind Collins since he's an ending contract but I don't want some journeymen/mercenaries coming in like we had in the early 2010s. That doesn't mean I want to tank either, just want this built up properly so that when the *right* guy comes along via trade or FA, we're there to pounce and take that next step.

We don't have our own first round picks, so there is no benefit to sucking. We can't just trot out a roster of young guys and fringe rotational vets; that's not how our rookies that we have high hopes for are going to develop. They need mentorship and to be surrounded by older players that play the right way and prepare the right way.

I don't care about winning 38 games but I care about the young players learning and growing. Throwing 3 rookies out there to run aimlessly and learn from each other is a recipe for disaster.

I'm fine with the right vets who can play and mentor. I said I didn't want journeymen who we'll commit money to just to win a few more games. It's fool's gold. I wouldn't have minded Collins because he was short term money. But I also feel good about our young guys to where they don't need to be babysat. This isn't a team with Dragan Bender, Marqueese Chriss and Archie Goodwin. Dunn is solid, Oso is solid. CG is solid. Book is here and we still have Grayson and Royce who are good vets (for as long as they're around).

[Singh]

If beal goes to the clippers what's the over under for him and Leonard playing a total of 82 games this year?

[Split T]

They did play 90 last year combined

[specialsauce]

That Gambo post was essentially written by Suns BOps/PR. I hope we don't trade any unfrozen picks, tho I wonder if that's in the plans.

I agree about not wanting to half-ass compete. I'd rather see the young guys play hard and win 32 games, develop a real core and shake the roster out of guys who don't belong. Better that than bringing in some band-aid vets so we can win 38 games as some mid play-in team going nowhere but claim victory because we're "competitive" so soon. I guess I wouldn't mind Collins since he's an ending contract but I don't want some journeymen/mercenaries coming in like we had in the early 2010s. That doesn't mean I want to tank either, just want this built up properly so that when the *right* guy comes along via trade or FA, we're there to pounce and take that next step.

We don't have our own first round picks, so there is no benefit to sucking. We can't just trot out a roster of young guys and fringe rotational vets; that's not how our rookies that we have high hopes for are going to develop. They need mentorship and to be surrounded by older players that play the right way and prepare the right way.

I don't care about winning 38 games but I care about the young players learning and growing. Throwing 3 rookies out there to run aimlessly and learn from each other is a recipe for disaster.

I'm fine with the right vets who can play and mentor. I said I didn't want journeymen who we'll commit money to just to win a few more games. It's fool's gold. I wouldn't have minded Collins because he was short term money. But I also feel good about our young guys to where they don't need to be babysat. This isn't a team with Dragan Bender, Marqueese Chriss and Archie Goodwin. Dunn is solid, Oso is solid. CG is solid. Book is here and we still have Grayson and Royce who are good vets (for as long as they're around).

Is Jrue Holiday a journeyman? Would have loved him here.

CP3? Would love him here.

Lebron?

I disagree about Grayson and Royce. Royce is a fringe rotation player and Grayson contributes zero intangibles for the kids to learn from. I'm looking for high IQ vets with high motors who bring up the level of play on either end of the court mentally and/or physically

[ShelC]

No I never said anything about guys like CP, LeBron and Jrue. You're creating an argument with me that isn't there.

What I want to avoid is the disaster of those 2010s teams where we tried to ride the line of half a roster of vets who are trying to win now, with rookies who will develop in 2-3 years. You end up with 2 different teams and 2 different agendas.

And whatever you think about Royce and Grayson, they're solid vets who are pros. They know how to work, how to prep for practice and games, and that stuff is what you need for the young guys. They're not the Morris idiots taking 18 yr old rookies out to clubs on the road and getting into fights or worse.

And again, I don't think we have the kind of impressionable young guys where that's an issue. But I would love for CP to come in and show these guys the little things in practice day in and day out and how to manage the flow of a game. I don't think we need a guy like Jerami Grant, for example, with 100mil and 3 years left on his deal who won't really move the needle for us.

[JeremyG]

Suns are looking at trading Allen, O’Neale, and Richards:

[Mori Chu]

IMO we are talking about multiple different things. It's fine with me if the Suns want to keep or acquire veteran rotation players, rather than going out of their way to clear out vets so that rookies like Maluach or Fleming can play big minutes. I agree that throwing rookies into too big a role too soon can be bad for everyone. And I also agree that we have no incentive to "tank" because we don't have our own picks. I would be fine with signing guys like CP3 to short-term contracts if they'd come here.

BUT, I draw the line at throwing away future picks and assets to be more competitive this coming season. Don't trade away two future 1sts just to get one year of a veteran center when we already have 2-3 other centers on the roster. Don't stretch Beal so far out that we will have trouble clearing cap space 4-5 years from now. Don't use the cap space gained by stretching Beal to just sign even more vets to bloated multi-year contracts just because we can.

I am advocating for a "try to get as many wins as you possibly can without mortgaging the future" approach. That is not the approach we seem to be going with. Time will tell which one is the better choice.

[JJ Slim]

I kind of wish we would keep Richards but if we get the right player/assets in return or it somehow makes a dent in the cap situation then I'm ok with it. As far as the cap I don't think it would make much difference since I think he only makes about $5 mil but little pieces do add up.

[specialsauce]

No I never said anything about guys like CP, LeBron and Jrue. You're creating an argument with me that isn't there.

What I want to avoid is the disaster of those 2010s teams where we tried to ride the line of half a roster of vets who are trying to win now, with rookies who will develop in 2-3 years. You end up with 2 different teams and 2 different agendas.

And whatever you think about Royce and Grayson, they're solid vets who are pros. They know how to work, how to prep for practice and games, and that stuff is what you need for the young guys. They're not the Morris idiots taking 18 yr old rookies out to clubs on the road and getting into fights or worse.

And again, I don't think we have the kind of impressionable young guys where that's an issue. But I would love for CP to come in and show these guys the little things in practice day in and day out and how to manage the flow of a game. I don't think we need a guy like Jerami Grant, for example, with 100mil and 3 years left on his deal who won't really move the needle for us.

My questions about the players I asked about were sincere not adversarial.

We can agree to disagree about Royce and Grayson. I think they're more in line with your 2010s worthless stopgap vets.


My DREAM scenario right now is:

Royce
Allen
Oso or Richards and a second rounder


For

Giddey
And a treadmill that I have or may not have some reason to believe may be relocating to Phoenix but am not sure but maybe I am sure because it's chess but not checkers and things take time and it's a business but it's personal

Giddey grabs 7-8 boards a game, has a much improved 3 ball and can be our floor general on offense and plug in at SF on D next to Book and Green. I would love love love to grab a younger guy like that.