Phx-Suns.Net

I know, I know only 2 games. But we keep thinking were 1 big trade away. But could our team as currently constructed compete now(get playoff experience this yr) and obviously get better with experience and compete for titles the next 5 years without any major trades? Len starting, plumlee back up, markieff starting Marcus backup, warren starter by next year, tucker starts this year main forward backup next year, bledsoe, dragic, Thomas gaurds. Wildcard: green finds a role and resigns. Could they compete with the best? Who the star? I say Bledsoe and warren becomes your star scorer. Weakness: i'd still like to get a power forward who is a great rebounder, defensive ace with laker pick.

Still a move away from being no brainer playoff team. Otherwise everything has to break our way.

carey wrote:Still a move away from being no brainer playoff team. Otherwise everything has to break our way.

Agreed. I'm keeping an eye on Atlanta and Houston. If ATL falters, Horford might become available. If Houston has similar problems, I'd go for Ryan Anderson if he's healthy. Green, Tucker and Ennis look like trade bait, and the package would look attractive to either a bubble playoff team looking to upgrade the 1-3 positions or a failed playoff team looking to rebuild.

Ryan Anderson? You must mean New Orleans, not Houston, right?

LOL still thinking he was in Houston. Still wouldn't mind having him.

this team is one karate chop away from desperately needing another big man.

SDC wrote:this team is one karate chop away from desperately needing another big man.

What's this karate chop stuff? I don't get it.

Still need an inside presence on the offensive end, need help on the boards as well. All Horford would be a solid fit. Would settle for Monroe.

Monroe is no longer a possibility. If you trade for him now, you won't have is bird rights to resign him in the offseason. And the Suns won't have cap space in the offseason.

If they are ok with a rental with a minimum possibility of keeping him, Monroe could be a nice patch for this season if Detroit wants to move on from him, which we can't know this early in the season, but I guess they'll entertain it sooner or later since he is supposedly as good as gone.

Tolliver and something minor like the pair of 2nd rounders from Minni could do the trick. Maybe even PJ so there's more room next summer.

Detroit would want Ennis.

Sure. But that's too much, unless the deal was expanded and balanced out.

Other useful expirings were moved last season for just second rounders, and I think that's what the Pistons should get unless more pieces are involved.

Greg Monroe isn't Spencer Hawes or Evan Turner, and Detroit isn't Philadelphia. Even if they don't want to or don't think they can keep him, they can still try for a sign and trade in the summer. No reason for them to trade him for pennies. He's too young and too talented to do that.

Monroe is better than those two, but waiting for a sign and trade is something every team owning an expiring contract can do, yet many times they just get whatever they can while they can. Will the Pistons do that? I don't know, but if they actually go that route, a fresh rookie or a 1stR seems too much from the other team standpoint, unless you are positive that you are keeping Monroe.

A number of people seem to be all too willing to trade Tucker, but he gives the Suns rebounding and defense, commodities that are not exactly in abundance in the current roster. Short-term, he's needed here.

Still don't think we make a move this season. We'll add Tucker next game, and Warren a few games later, and that'll give us a boost. Len will take Plum's spot. Unclear to me if Goran's struggles would cause any change of direction on our part. Next summer is when we can look to resolving our situation at the 4.

I love saying Told Ya So, but I wasn't telling you guys this summer since I was vacationing over at RealGM. It was common over there to say that Dragic is the one deserving of the big payday and that Eric should be let go if he wants more than $12 mil per. Currently, $14 per looks like money well spent (even with the shooting woes), while Goran's market value is declining ever-so-very-slightly. We'll see. Despite his performance last year, I've never been fully sold on the Dragon..... btw, does anyone else think he looks a little Boris-y this year? A little Parsons-esque?

For the record, although I mentioned Tucker, I am not actively interested in moving him. Remember I was a defender of resigning him, and my salary line, so to speak, was higher than many. His hustle is tremendously valuable to this roster, that's more than clear.

Last season, Tucker got suspended for 1 game against Cleveland. The Cavs came out and totally outhustled us. It was one of the worst losses of the season. Reminded me a lot of what happened to us last night.

His hustle, defense, and leadership are going to be necessary for this team to succeed.

It's going to be hard for us to make a move. We kind of backed ourselves into a corner with the Morris Bros. Will a team be willing to take just one of them, knowing they want to be on the same team and maybe player better when they're together? And if that's the case, will a team want to pay 52mil for two marginal starters?

The guy we really need to step up is Plumlee. He needs to bring it with energy and hustle.

ShelC wrote:It's going to be hard for us to make a move. We kind of backed ourselves into a corner with the Morris Bros. Will a team be willing to take just one of them, knowing they want to be on the same team and maybe player better when they're together? And if that's the case, will a team want to pay 52mil for two marginal starters?

The guy we really need to step up is Plumlee. He needs to bring it with energy and hustle.

The MoBros won't be moved; we want them here, and everyone wants them together. But I don't think we expected them to be starters: I think we intend them to be our glue guys, our plug-in guys. I anticipate that eventually, they'll both come off the bench. Expensive bench.