Game Day: Hornets (26-34) @ Suns (18-42), Thurs 3/2/17

[UglyTruth]

I know it will probably sound ridiculous, but I'm almost hoping Williams doesn't keep this up for the rest of the season. It's clear he's a solid backup at worst, and maybe even a possible effective starter. Since he's a RFA, some team could throw some crazy offer at him if they have a ton of cap space. Probably won't be the end of the world, but it'd be nice to get him back on a nice $4-5 million a year deal. Again, small sample size, but I'd almost rather have him than Len at this point.

Oh for me it's no question, I'd much rather have Williams than Len at this point. Williams never disappears like Len and doesn't have the injury history of Len.

Williams has shown more in the last 10 or so games than Len has in the last 3 years.

And it's pretty messed up to say that you hope the Suns play a player less minutes so that he gets a worse contract offer. Agreed that $4-5 million is still a lot of money for the average Joe but it's not much for NBA players especially under the new salary cap and if he deserves more than that then he should get it. To screw him out of money by playing him less minutes seems like an awful move and would lead to even more bad karma for this franchise.

I'd rather give Alan Williams a 4 year deal for $40 million with maybe a team option for the last season rather than give Alex Len some ridiculous $13-$15M/yr deal.

[OE32]

Even with Williams breaking out, I still think we'll be able to re-sign him for somewhere between $5-8 mil per. The sample size is small, he doesn't have much of a track record elsewhere and his success is coming with a very bad basketball team. Plus, there's essentially no chance that he will ever start due to his size. In addition, he's RFA. I'm optimistic on this one.

Alex, OTOH, is done. The question I have at this point is whether we'll start Tyson next year or trade for a new starting center - because it won't be Alex. We've dropped four years of development into this kid. There's just nothing we can do that will help him put that ball in the basket. He's a big nothingburger on offense. Goodnight, sweet prince.

2013 draft: 0/2
2014 draft: 1/3
2015 draft: 1/1
2016 draft: 3/3(?)

The thing that comforts me about that 2013 draft is seeing just how few teams made out really well. Even teams that drafted well are now in a tough spot, having to decide whether to overpay their barely-better-than-mediocre RFAs. It's also hard to get too bent out of shape about missing out on the best centers in recent drafts - Gobert and Jokic. So many GMs passed on those guys - including the GMs who ended up drafting them! Simply a matter of luck. Ah well. We've had our fair share as well (with Booker and Ulis).

[djy2j]

Didn't watch this one but it's on the DVR so i may go back and watch it.

I love the emergence of Williams. He has to be at least the back up next year. Looks like we found a gem. Kudos to whoever on the staff wanted to give him a chance.

However, the Chandler/Len situation is becoming a mess. We have Len who we are supposed to be looking at real hard to determine value, getting under 20 mins a game since starting. We have Chandler collecting DNP's (which is fine) but between he and Knight there is 26 million a year sitting on the bench. That's not good. If it felt like we had a plan I wouldn't be so nervous but I am not sure we even do. Sad.

[OE32]

Didn't watch this one but it's on the DVR so i may go back and watch it.

I love the emergence of Williams. He has to be at least the back up next year. Looks like we found a gem. Kudos to whoever on the staff wanted to give him a chance.

However, the Chandler/Len situation is becoming a mess. We have Len who we are supposed to be looking at real hard to determine value, getting under 20 mins a game since starting. We have Chandler collecting DNP's (which is fine) but between he and Knight there is 26 million a year sitting on the bench. That's not good. If it felt like we had a plan I wouldn't be so nervous but I am not sure we even do. Sad.

The pessimism on this board just kills me - it's not just you. It's whole thread pages.

$26 million sitting on the bench is a situation, but it isn't really a problem. We don't need the cap space. We - like every team in the league - has made mistakes. But what TF are you nervous about? Are we above or near the cap and as a result won't be able to sign that marquee free agent to put us over the top?

No. We do, however, have Booker, Chriss, Bender, Warren, Ulis, Williams, Bledsoe, all our picks, the Miami picks, DJJ and a top 10 pick in this draft. That's still a beautiful ****ing pile, and it's cheap. We're holding assets, son. Long-term. Potential Energy x Uncertainty = Hope

[LazarusLong]

Chandler probably welcomes the rest. It may help him prolong his career.

[ShelC]

This one is great. It's funny how, if a guy is loveable, he can get a pass.
https://twitter.com/MrMichaelLee/status/837711096383483904

[Superbone]

Didn't watch this one but it's on the DVR so i may go back and watch it.

I love the emergence of Williams. He has to be at least the back up next year. Looks like we found a gem. Kudos to whoever on the staff wanted to give him a chance.

However, the Chandler/Len situation is becoming a mess. We have Len who we are supposed to be looking at real hard to determine value, getting under 20 mins a game since starting. We have Chandler collecting DNP's (which is fine) but between he and Knight there is 26 million a year sitting on the bench. That's not good. If it felt like we had a plan I wouldn't be so nervous but I am not sure we even do. Sad.

I recommend that you watch it if you want to watch some fun and encouraging Phoenix Suns basketball. You can thank Watson for being the one that wanted to give Williams a chance. In fact, they tell you the story on this broadcast.

[Superbone]

The pessimism on this board just kills me - it's not just you. It's whole thread pages.

$26 million sitting on the bench is a situation, but it isn't really a problem. We don't need the cap space. We - like every team in the league - has made mistakes. But what TF are you nervous about? Are we above or near the cap and as a result won't be able to sign that marquee free agent to put us over the top?

No. We do, however, have Booker, Chriss, Bender, Warren, Ulis, Williams, Bledsoe, all our picks, the Miami picks, DJJ and a top 10 pick in this draft. That's still a beautiful ****ing pile, and it's cheap. We're holding assets, son. Long-term. Potential Energy x Uncertainty = Hope

+1

[Superbone]

This one is great. It's funny how, if a guy is loveable, he can get a pass.

LOL. Yeah, but how good would it have looked had he made it? You've got to take chances every once in a while. Just shows how much fun they were having out there last night.

[TOO]

This one is great. It's funny how, if a guy is loveable, he can get a pass.

LOL. Yeah, but how good would it have looked had he made it? You've got to take chances every once in a while. Just shows how much fun they were having out there last night.

Still looks like a moron. No pass.

[n4th4n]

This one is great. It's funny how, if a guy is loveable, he can get a pass.

LOL. Yeah, but how good would it have looked had he made it? You've got to take chances every once in a while. Just shows how much fun they were having out there last night.

Still looks like a moron. No pass.

Or we could try to not take everything too seriously and look at it as a moment of levity, goofiness, and fun.

[carey]

I watched the 2nd half on that site that has the replays. The 2-man game from Ulis & Williams was fun to watch. I'm happy they left that unit out there with Jones Jr, Dudley and Barbosa the entire 4th Q. I really like Williams. Easy guy to root for. However, he doesn't play good defense and that's not for lack of trying. He's just too short. Ben Wallace was a guy that could defend and rebound at C at 6' 9" because of the long arms. Williams is similar but not as long. On offense he is quite the load down there with a good touch and a bevy of moves Alex Len wishes he had. Together they'd make an interesting combo but we won't see that while also paying Chandler $13M.

[TOO]

This one is great. It's funny how, if a guy is loveable, he can get a pass.

LOL. Yeah, but how good would it have looked had he made it? You've got to take chances every once in a while. Just shows how much fun they were having out there last night.

Still looks like a moron. No pass.

Or we could try to not take everything too seriously and look at it as a moment of levity, goofiness, and fun.

Nah.

[Mori Chu]

It's nice that they are actually giving some minutes to Jones. He's mostly just freakish athleticism personified, and not much of a versatile NBA player yet, but at least they're putting him out there to see what potential he has.

[TOO]

It's nice that they are actually giving some minutes to Jones. He's mostly just freakish athleticism personified, and not much of a versatile NBA player yet, but at least they're putting him out there to see what potential he has.

He seems to have a solid feel for the game, makes the right pass, doesnt foul like a crazy person. Get some weight on him, and hope he takes becoming a 3-D wing seriously.

[O_Gardino]

+ Jones Jr knows how to get open, and that is a very good NBA skill. He has a lot of learning to do, but he does seem to have a good foundation.

[TOO]

+ Jones Jr knows how to get open, and that is a very good NBA skill. He has a lot of learning to do, but he does seem to have a good foundation.

An elite passing pg would take advantage of that so well. Lonzo Ball with Chriss and Jones on a break, man oh man...

[OE32]

+ Jones Jr knows how to get open, and that is a very good NBA skill. He has a lot of learning to do, but he does seem to have a good foundation.

An elite passing pg would take advantage of that so well. Lonzo Ball with Chriss and Jones on a break, man oh man...

We'll be in a tough spot if we don't land one of the top two picks. Ulis has clearly earned the backup PG minutes. We could be excused for starting Ball or Fultz if we drafted them (and dealing Bled), but that's probably not the case with any of the other PGs: drafting a PG outside the top 2 creates problems I'm not interested in dealing with. Once you're out of the top 2, you're almost obliged to take a SF - that could also be very awkward, considering that the players in that range overlap to varying degrees with TJ and Dragan. And then you have DJJ at that position as well. I would suggest trading the pick in such a scenario, but I can't imagine a worthwhile return.

I guess if I'm outside the top 2 I engage Philadelphia to see if they're interested in dealing SAC '19 and LAL '18 for our selection (that strategy obviously won't work if LA doesn't get a top 3 pick, in which case we're likely in the middle of a Philly sandwich). I don't even know if I'd have much interest in trading down. I'm interested in grabbing a starting PG and C and little else, as our backup slots are spoken for.

[The Bobster]

I watched the 2nd half on that site that has the replays. The 2-man game from Ulis & Williams was fun to watch. I'm happy they left that unit out there with Jones Jr, Dudley and Barbosa the entire 4th Q. I really like Williams. Easy guy to root for. However, he doesn't play good defense and that's not for lack of trying. He's just too short. Ben Wallace was a guy that could defend and rebound at C at 6' 9" because of the long arms. Williams is similar but not as long. On offense he is quite the load down there with a good touch and a bevy of moves Alex Len wishes he had. Together they'd make an interesting combo but we won't see that while also paying Chandler $13M.

Yes, the defense is a problem.

Love the rebounding and the ability to finish, FT shooting needs some work though.

He definitely has some useful NBA skills, if he builds on that he could have a very nice career as a bench C/PF.

[Superbone]

This one is great. It's funny how, if a guy is loveable, he can get a pass.

LOL. Yeah, but how good would it have looked had he made it? You've got to take chances every once in a while. Just shows how much fun they were having out there last night.

Still looks like a moron. No pass.

Or we could try to not take everything too seriously and look at it as a moment of levity, goofiness, and fun.

Thank you! Your avatar helps sell that statement too.