Suns News: Week 0 (Oct 16 - 22)

[ShelC]

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[Mori Chu]

My own rankings of the guys in descending order of how well I think they played so far. This is not a statement on who should be starting vs coming off the bench, since my top 5 guys don't include any bigs. Comments on most of them below:

1. Booker
2. KD
3. Beal
4. Grayson Allen - Really disliked him before he started playing. Better playmaker and ballhandler than I thought.
5. Josh Okogie - Showed up this season with great bounce and energy. Looks to have made a leap.
6. Jordan Goodwin - Holy cow I love this guy. Basically another Okogie off the bench; nasty defender.
7. Yuta Watanabe - Love this guy. Maybe my fave current Sun to cheer for when they hit a 3 or make a shot.
8. Eric Gordon - Thought he was washed but he can generate offense nicely.
9. Chimieze Metu - Expected nothing from him and pleasantly surprised; I think he deserves rotation minutes.
10. Nurkic - Meh; he's okay. Brings some good things, but he's just a role player. I don't think we'll depend on him most nights, though.
11. Drew Eubanks - Limited but seems to know his limitations and doesn't hurt us when he's out there. A bit undersized.
12. Keita Bates-Diop - One of the biggest disappointments on the roster so far. Hasn't found a rhythm or role.
13. Nassir Little - Also big disappointment here. Was hoping for much more. We have time to let him develop, though.
14. Saben Lee - Way too ballhoggy in the preseason. I think he's actively hurt the development of the end-of-bench guys by not running a proper offense.
15. Azubuike (edit) - Forgot this guy even existed.
16. Bol Bol - Clown show. Not a player to take seriously.
17. Keon Johnson - I want this guy off the team.
18. Ish Wainwright - Like the guy, but when would we ever play him? We keep him on a 2-way just for his presence in the locker room?
19. Damian Lee - Didn't play, so I put him last by default.

[JeremyG]

My own rankings of the guys in descending order of how well I think they played so far. This is not a statement on who should be starting vs coming off the bench, since my top 5 guys don't include any bigs. Comments on most of them below:

1. Booker
2. KD
3. Beal
4. Grayson Allen - Really disliked him before he started playing. Better playmaker and ballhandler than I thought.
5. Josh Okogie - Showed up this season with great bounce and energy. Looks to have made a leap.
6. Jordan Goodwin - Holy cow I love this guy. Basically another Okogie off the bench; nasty defender.
7. Yuta Watanabe - Love this guy. Maybe my fave current Sun to cheer for when they hit a 3 or make a shot.
8. Eric Gordon - Thought he was washed but he can generate offense nicely.
9. Chimieze Metu - Expected nothing from him and pleasantly surprised; I think he deserves rotation minutes.
10. Nurkic - Meh; he's okay. Brings some good things, but he's just a role player. I don't think we'll depend on him most nights, though.
11. Drew Eubanks - Limited but seems to know his limitations and doesn't hurt us when he's out there. A bit undersized.
12. Keita Bates-Diop - One of the biggest disappointments on the roster so far. Hasn't found a rhythm or role.
13. Nassir Little - Also big disappointment here. Was hoping for much more. We have time to let him develop, though.
14. Saben Lee - Way too ballhoggy in the preseason. I think he's actively hurt the development of the end-of-bench guys by not running a proper offense.
15. Bol Bol - Clown show. Not a player to take seriously.
16. Keon Johnson - I want this guy off the team.
17. Ish Wainwright - Like the guy, but when would we ever play him? We keep him on a 2-way just for his presence in the locker room?
18. Damian Lee - Didn't play, so I put him last by default.

You missed Azubuike.

[Kryptonic]

My own rankings of the guys in descending order of how well I think they played so far. This is not a statement on who should be starting vs coming off the bench, since my top 5 guys don't include any bigs. Comments on most of them below:

1. Booker
2. KD
3. Beal
4. Grayson Allen - Really disliked him before he started playing. Better playmaker and ballhandler than I thought.
5. Josh Okogie - Showed up this season with great bounce and energy. Looks to have made a leap.
6. Jordan Goodwin - Holy cow I love this guy. Basically another Okogie off the bench; nasty defender.
7. Yuta Watanabe - Love this guy. Maybe my fave current Sun to cheer for when they hit a 3 or make a shot.
8. Eric Gordon - Thought he was washed but he can generate offense nicely.
9. Chimieze Metu - Expected nothing from him and pleasantly surprised; I think he deserves rotation minutes.
10. Nurkic - Meh; he's okay. Brings some good things, but he's just a role player. I don't think we'll depend on him most nights, though.
11. Drew Eubanks - Limited but seems to know his limitations and doesn't hurt us when he's out there. A bit undersized.
12. Keita Bates-Diop - One of the biggest disappointments on the roster so far. Hasn't found a rhythm or role.
13. Nassir Little - Also big disappointment here. Was hoping for much more. We have time to let him develop, though.
14. Saben Lee - Way too ballhoggy in the preseason. I think he's actively hurt the development of the end-of-bench guys by not running a proper offense.
15. Bol Bol - Clown show. Not a player to take seriously.
16. Keon Johnson - I want this guy off the team.
17. Ish Wainwright - Like the guy, but when would we ever play him? We keep him on a 2-way just for his presence in the locker room?
18. Damian Lee - Didn't play, so I put him last by default.

You missed Azubuike.

Nice catch… but did he?

[TOO]

At least Azubuike offers 6 hard fouls and some rebounding, Bol offers wacky flailing tube man energy and thats it.

[Superbone]

At least Azubuike offers 6 hard fouls and some rebounding, Bol offers wacky flailing tube man energy and thats it.

Here he is at practice today:

[TOO]

At least Azubuike offers 6 hard fouls and some rebounding, Bol offers wacky flailing tube man energy and thats it.

Here he is at practice today:

Even the hair is correct. Well done.

[Nodack]

Diop and Metu didn’t impress me at all in the first preseason games. They seemed to have found some rhythm in the last game and their stock went up some with me. I am a little higher on Azubuike than most I think. A big guy who’s will punish you in the paint and grabs rebounds is useful.

[Split T]

I think we’re cutting Keon…though my guess is we are trying to trade him first. We cut Ish early for two reason:

1. He wasn’t playing anyways
2. We wanted the time for him to clear waivers so we could get him back on a 2-way.

Now we’re waiting to see if we can trade Keon before having to cut him start of next week. I personally would keep Keon over Bol, but I think there’s other behind the scenes things at play that will keep us from cutting Bol. Either way we should know soon.

[JeremyG]

Or perhaps we're waiting to see if we can get Ish back before dealing with Keon. If we can't get Ish back we might prefer to cut Keon and try to bring him back rather than trade him.

[Split T]

Or perhaps we're waiting to see if we can get Ish back before dealing with Keon. If we can't get Ish back we might prefer to cut Keon and try to bring him back rather than trade him.

Ya I thought about that too. Ish should clear waivers today? When was he waived?

[JeremyG]

Or perhaps we're waiting to see if we can get Ish back before dealing with Keon. If we can't get Ish back we might prefer to cut Keon and try to bring him back rather than trade him.

Ya I thought about that too. Ish should clear waivers today? When was he waived?

Yeah it should be this afternoon.

[Split T]

Well there’s that

[TOO]

Well there’s that

From lotto pick to losing your spot to a journeyman, NBA is tough.

[ShelC]

Knox never had any discernible NBA talent. Good for Ish tho.

[Flagrant Fowl]

So is anyone 2-way eligible?

[Superbone]

Well there’s that

Huh. The Blazers want a guy that's not an NBA talent according to some. Weird.

[Cap]

“I thank them for handling it the way they handled it and accommodating to my wishes to get away from Ish… Aw, crap.” — Deandre Ayton

[Split T]

The Blazers had a lot of non-nba talent on their roster

[JeremyG]

Well there’s that

Well at least they're not allowed to claim Keon.