Suns 2022 Off-Season Thread

[Indy]

Trading for late career LeBron world be this team's version of the SSOL Suns trading for Shaq.

Shaq was washed…LeBron is still a top 10 player.

Disregard the future impact, just look at next season. Can you guys honestly say that this years team with LeBron instead of Ayton wouldn’t have had a better shot at the title? The guy averaged like 30-8-6 on a 61%+ TS

We’d finally coast through the regular season, letting James and Paul rest. We’d probably make some other all-in move to get a bench guard, let’s say Eric Gordon. We’d win 50-55 games, grab like a 3 seed and everyone would be terrified to play us in the playoffs.

Ya health would be a major risk, but we’re tied to CP3, so health is going to be a risk regardless.

This would be a close approximation of selling my soul for a championship.

I feel like half of us said that about acquiring Chris Paul.

[Split T]

Trading for late career LeBron world be this team's version of the SSOL Suns trading for Shaq.

Shaq was washed…LeBron is still a top 10 player.

Disregard the future impact, just look at next season. Can you guys honestly say that this years team with LeBron instead of Ayton wouldn’t have had a better shot at the title? The guy averaged like 30-8-6 on a 61%+ TS

We’d finally coast through the regular season, letting James and Paul rest. We’d probably make some other all-in move to get a bench guard, let’s say Eric Gordon. We’d win 50-55 games, grab like a 3 seed and everyone would be terrified to play us in the playoffs.

Ya health would be a major risk, but we’re tied to CP3, so health is going to be a risk regardless.

This would be a close approximation of selling my soul for a championship.

I do understand that…I don’t have issues with LeBron like others do, but I understand it.

I’m not sure it would be smart, but I’d be excited about a LeBron addition. I do think grabbing a right now and future piece would be better. Siakam, KAT, Beal, Bridges…and I’m still intrigued about rehabilitating Simmons.

[JeremyG]

Trading for late career LeBron world be this team's version of the SSOL Suns trading for Shaq.

Shaq was washed…LeBron is still a top 10 player.

Disregard the future impact, just look at next season. Can you guys honestly say that this years team with LeBron instead of Ayton wouldn’t have had a better shot at the title? The guy averaged like 30-8-6 on a 61%+ TS

And next season he could drop off a cliff. So could Paul (easily can see that happening after this postseason).

[In2ition]

After the no show by Cam J, Crowder, Payne, & Shamet through basically most of the playoffs, I was ready to make a move to get LeBron even for 1-2 yrs, which is about what he has left at a reasonably high level.

[Indy]

Trading for late career LeBron world be this team's version of the SSOL Suns trading for Shaq.

Shaq was washed…LeBron is still a top 10 player.

Disregard the future impact, just look at next season. Can you guys honestly say that this years team with LeBron instead of Ayton wouldn’t have had a better shot at the title? The guy averaged like 30-8-6 on a 61%+ TS

And next season he could drop off a cliff. So could Paul (easily can see that happening after this postseason).

I would be equally worried about Ayton regressing after he gets his ultimate goal of being in the NBA--his 2nd contract.

[Split T]

Trading for late career LeBron world be this team's version of the SSOL Suns trading for Shaq.

Shaq was washed…LeBron is still a top 10 player.

Disregard the future impact, just look at next season. Can you guys honestly say that this years team with LeBron instead of Ayton wouldn’t have had a better shot at the title? The guy averaged like 30-8-6 on a 61%+ TS

And next season he could drop off a cliff. So could Paul (easily can see that happening after this postseason).

That’s the risk, but LeBron and CP3 continue to defy normal expectations of aging. Even with a hobbled CP3, I think we’d pretty easily have gone to the finals this year if we had LeBron instead of Ayton

[Indy]

After the no show by Cam J, Crowder, Payne, & Shamet through basically most of the playoffs, I was ready to make a move to get LeBron even for 1-2 yrs, which is about what he has left at a reasonably high level.

you could argue Crowder was our best player against the Mavs.

[Split T]

His shot no-showed the Pels series though

[ShelC]

Shaq wasn't really washed, he was just the antithesis of 7SOL. He was still a low-post force but we were using him as a screen and roll big which was never part of his game. We got the low-post version of Shaq under Porter the following year and he put up numbers but it came at the cost of the rest of the team. He was washed in Cleveland and Boston.

LBJ fits this team and offense like a glove. I'd love him in the current lineup, not sure I'd love him in place of DA unless additional pieces are there in the frontcourt. Could we be better or more effective with LeBron at the 4 and McGee/Biz/Saric at the 5? Or would our interior defense fall off?

[Split T]

Shaq wasn't really washed, he was just the antithesis of 7SOL. He was still a low-post force but we were using him as a screen and roll big which was never part of his game. We got the low-post version of Shaq under Porter the following year and he put up numbers but it came at the cost of the rest of the team. He was washed in Cleveland and Boston.

LBJ fits this team and offense like a glove. I'd love him in the current lineup, not sure I'd love him in place of DA unless additional pieces are there in the frontcourt. Could we be better or more effective with LeBron at the 4 and McGee/Biz/Saric at the 5? Or would our interior defense fall off?

That top paragraph should be read by those who think we should run our offense through Ayton in the post.

There is a worry about our defense without Ayton. We’d be vulnerable, but I think you just get a regular season fill in big and then go small in the playoffs. The Mavs shut us down with Maxi Kleber playing the majority of the C minutes.

[In2ition]

After the no show by Cam J, Crowder, Payne, & Shamet through basically most of the playoffs, I was ready to make a move to get LeBron even for 1-2 yrs, which is about what he has left at a reasonably high level.

you could argue Crowder was our best player against the Mavs.

Yes, that's why I said most of the playoffs, but that was just my opinion on it. Probably didn't need to go 6 games with the Pels if he would have shown up. That may have helped CP3 stay fresher during the Mavs series.

[JeremyG]

Trading for late career LeBron world be this team's version of the SSOL Suns trading for Shaq.

Shaq was washed…LeBron is still a top 10 player.

Disregard the future impact, just look at next season. Can you guys honestly say that this years team with LeBron instead of Ayton wouldn’t have had a better shot at the title? The guy averaged like 30-8-6 on a 61%+ TS

And next season he could drop off a cliff. So could Paul (easily can see that happening after this postseason).

I would be equally worried about Ayton regressing after he gets his ultimate goal of being in the NBA--his 2nd contract.

If anything, maybe the team chemistry would have been better this postseason if Ayton had already had his contract extended. I knew it would come back to bite them this season, no matter how much DA and the rest of the team tried their best to ignore the situation.

[Mori Chu]

"Washed up" Shaq was an all-star his first year here. Younger than Lebron and further from the end of his career.

I can't help but notice that RUBIO's name was mentioned. I would absolutely love bringing him back as a bench guard. Payne was great but he isn't a pass first guy who can run an offense. Rubio really gave a lot to Cleveland last year before he got hurt. And I think he misses this team. Let's bring the Bae back!

I honestly don't favor huge roster changes. Every team has to go through some crushing losses and heartbreak on the way to a title. I think the players and coaches will take a lot away from this defeat about what they need to do differently. I would honestly like for them to keep Ayton (yes, at the max), try to find one more forward (preferably PF) and backup guard such as Rubae, and give it another go.

I don't believe in exploding your whole team just because of one bad game. Even if it was one historically bad game. I get that there were some bad signs in the other playoff games, too, but a lot of it can be explained by Paul's injury/age and the team's inexperience.

RUN IT BACK!

[JeremyG]

Shaq wasn't really washed, he was just the antithesis of 7SOL. He was still a low-post force but we were using him as a screen and roll big which was never part of his game. We got the low-post version of Shaq under Porter the following year and he put up numbers but it came at the cost of the rest of the team. He was washed in Cleveland and Boston.

LBJ fits this team and offense like a glove. I'd love him in the current lineup, not sure I'd love him in place of DA unless additional pieces are there in the frontcourt. Could we be better or more effective with LeBron at the 4 and McGee/Biz/Saric at the 5? Or would our interior defense fall off?

That top paragraph should be read by those who think we should run our offense through Ayton in the post.

Yeah, because Shaq never won any championships.

[SunsRIt]

Shaq wasn't really washed, he was just the antithesis of 7SOL. He was still a low-post force but we were using him as a screen and roll big which was never part of his game. We got the low-post version of Shaq under Porter the following year and he put up numbers but it came at the cost of the rest of the team. He was washed in Cleveland and Boston.

LBJ fits this team and offense like a glove. I'd love him in the current lineup, not sure I'd love him in place of DA unless additional pieces are there in the frontcourt. Could we be better or more effective with LeBron at the 4 and McGee/Biz/Saric at the 5? Or would our interior defense fall off?

That top paragraph should be read by those who think we should run our offense through Ayton in the post.

There is a worry about our defense without Ayton. We’d be vulnerable, but I think you just get a regular season fill in big and then go small in the playoffs. The Mavs shut us down with Maxi Kleber playing the majority of the C minutes.

We got exposed by the Bucks in the playoffs last year when we only had one big. How bad would it be with no bigs?

[BigLewy]

The most concerning thing for me is that CP3 missed 5 weeks with his thumb injury, came back for seven games and then was load managed for 2-3 games at the end of the regular season. In theory, he should have been one of the freshest guys, so if one series against the Pelicans ran him into the ground, then how in the hell can we expect him to sustain long playoff runs? Even if he gets rested on b2bs next year, etc., it's unlikely he gets a 5 week break again to recharge with an injury that still allowed him to keep up his conditioning.

I hope he has a Cam J type quad injury or something similar and it wasn't just him running out of gas.

[Split T]

Shaq wasn't really washed, he was just the antithesis of 7SOL. He was still a low-post force but we were using him as a screen and roll big which was never part of his game. We got the low-post version of Shaq under Porter the following year and he put up numbers but it came at the cost of the rest of the team. He was washed in Cleveland and Boston.

LBJ fits this team and offense like a glove. I'd love him in the current lineup, not sure I'd love him in place of DA unless additional pieces are there in the frontcourt. Could we be better or more effective with LeBron at the 4 and McGee/Biz/Saric at the 5? Or would our interior defense fall off?

That top paragraph should be read by those who think we should run our offense through Ayton in the post.

Yeah, because Shaq never won any championships.

Lol, I’m done

[Split T]

Shaq wasn't really washed, he was just the antithesis of 7SOL. He was still a low-post force but we were using him as a screen and roll big which was never part of his game. We got the low-post version of Shaq under Porter the following year and he put up numbers but it came at the cost of the rest of the team. He was washed in Cleveland and Boston.

LBJ fits this team and offense like a glove. I'd love him in the current lineup, not sure I'd love him in place of DA unless additional pieces are there in the frontcourt. Could we be better or more effective with LeBron at the 4 and McGee/Biz/Saric at the 5? Or would our interior defense fall off?

That top paragraph should be read by those who think we should run our offense through Ayton in the post.

There is a worry about our defense without Ayton. We’d be vulnerable, but I think you just get a regular season fill in big and then go small in the playoffs. The Mavs shut us down with Maxi Kleber playing the majority of the C minutes.

We got exposed by the Bucks in the playoffs last year when we only had one big. How bad would it be with no bigs?

Bucks lost in round 2 this year to a team that defended Giannis primarily with a guy smaller than LeBron. Both western conference finalists hardly even play centers at all.

[JeremyG]

The discussion of whether we want to keep DA or not is really a moot point. There’s a zero percent chance we’re keeping him.

Unless there’s a new owner who insists on it, but that would likely be too late in the summer at this point.

[Mori Chu]

I saw a trade suggestion on Reddit that we should trade Ayton to the Hawks for Collins and Capela. I want to keep Ayton, like I said, but that is an interesting proposal at least. I like Collins a lot. Another interesting one was to the Pacers for Turner plus either Hield or Brogdon.

I also saw suggestions about trading him to the Pistons for a Jerami Grant package (barf), or to the Rockets for Gordon and Wood (less barf, but still not interested).