Around the League: 2018 Offseason

[Split T]

Dudley, Chandler, and Knight were all signed to start and did start when they first arrived. Monroe was a salary filler.

[Indy]

Dudley, Chandler, and Knight were all signed to start and did start when they first arrived. Monroe was a salary filler.

I agree that circumstances change from signing (GM) to season (coach).

[Shabazz]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

[Split T]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

I think Knight is pretty locked in unless we make a move, which is possible. I guess there is a chance Booker starts at PG and we start Jackson and Warren, but with Igor already saying Booker wouldn't be playing PG, I'd be pretty surprised.

Warren or Jackson seems like the big question right now.

[Indy]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

I think Knight is pretty locked in unless we make a move, which is possible. I guess there is a chance Booker starts at PG and we start Jackson and Warren, but with Igor already saying Booker wouldn't be playing PG, I'd be pretty surprised.

Warren or Jackson seems like the big question right now.

Did I totally miss him saying there won't be Point Booker this year?

[The Bobster]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

I think Knight is pretty locked in unless we make a move, which is possible. I guess there is a chance Booker starts at PG and we start Jackson and Warren, but with Igor already saying Booker wouldn't be playing PG, I'd be pretty surprised.

Warren or Jackson seems like the big question right now.

Did I totally miss him saying there won't be Point Booker this year?

You did, he did.

[Split T]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bright ... oker-roles

When asked by Scott Bordow the other day after SL practice, Igor clearly said no. He does not see Booker bringing the ball up the floor a lot as the primary ball handler. He said Booker is their best scorer and shot creator and would be used as a secondary ball handler via hand-off and screen actions (see Slovenia NT at EuroCup for example), but would not be expected to spend a lot of time as the main ball handler on the floor.

Also said no PF for Ayton

[Indy]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

I think Knight is pretty locked in unless we make a move, which is possible. I guess there is a chance Booker starts at PG and we start Jackson and Warren, but with Igor already saying Booker wouldn't be playing PG, I'd be pretty surprised.

Warren or Jackson seems like the big question right now.

Did I totally miss him saying there won't be Point Booker this year?

You did, he did.

Thanks. I have been traveling internationally the last couple of weeks and way behind on a lot of threads here.

If Knight actually starts AND can get back to his 40% 3P shooting without turning the ball over, that could be a really interesting team. Especially if we can get a shooter to start at 3 for us. I wonder if Jackson and Warren are better off the bench for us.

[Indy]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bright ... oker-roles

When asked by Scott Bordow the other day after SL practice, Igor clearly said no. He does not see Booker bringing the ball up the floor a lot as the primary ball handler. He said Booker is their best scorer and shot creator and would be used as a secondary ball handler via hand-off and screen actions (see Slovenia NT at EuroCup for example), but would not be expected to spend a lot of time as the main ball handler on the floor.

Also said no PF for Ayton

thanks

[Shabazz]

Danuel House signed with the Warriors.

I liked him. Thought he was a rotation-caliber wing in the NBA.

[bajanguy008]

Danuel House signed with the Warriors.

I liked him. Thought he was a rotation-caliber wing in the NBA.

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1022220984185749508

You beat me to it but I agree totally. Thought he looked the part once he settled down so good luck to him

[Mori Chu]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

Despite any rhetoric about how every player has to earn his starting spot, I think it's almost guaranteed that our starting lineup will be:

Knight
Booker
Jackson
Ariza
Ayton

The most uncertain of those starting spots is Brandon Knight, and I suspect he won't be our starting PG by 1-2 months into the season. But I feel especially confident that there's no way they will bench Josh Jackson, who is seen as one of their brightest young stars.

I do think, especially after this summer league, that the current version of Josh Jackson is IMO not destined to be a great NBA starting small forward. If he finds ways to greatly improve the weak areas of his offense, maybe he can get there. But I think he is a big weakness in our lineup. I bet this will manifest itself where we bring in a Warren or Bridges off the bench and suddenly things get much better. Who knows if that would lead to a lineup change later in the season or whether we'll be stubborn and try to make it work.

[Indy]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

Despite any rhetoric about how every player has to earn his starting spot, I think it's almost guaranteed that our starting lineup will be:

Knight
Booker
Jackson
Ariza
Ayton

The most uncertain of those starting spots is Brandon Knight, and I suspect he won't be our starting PG by 1-2 months into the season. But I feel especially confident that there's no way they will bench Josh Jackson, who is seen as one of their brightest young stars.

I do think, especially after this summer league, that the current version of Josh Jackson is IMO not destined to be a great NBA starting small forward. If he finds ways to greatly improve the weak areas of his offense, maybe he can get there. But I think he is a big weakness in our lineup. I bet this will manifest itself where we bring in a Warren or Bridges off the bench and suddenly things get much better. Who knows if that would lead to a lineup change later in the season or whether we'll be stubborn and try to make it work.

I think I read he will be better than Porzingis within the next 18 months.

[Split T]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

I do think, especially after this summer league, that the current version of Josh Jackson is IMO not destined to be a great NBA starting small forward. If he finds ways to greatly improve the weak areas of his offense, maybe he can get there. But I think he is a big weakness in our lineup. I bet this will manifest itself where we bring in a Warren or Bridges off the bench and suddenly things get much better. Who knows if that would lead to a lineup change later in the season or whether we'll be stubborn and try to make it work.

I think you're putting too much weight into his summer league performance. Also, you're not giving him time to improve? The current version of Jackson is surely not what he ends up as.

I also think you're ignoring the defensive side of the ball. We were undefeated and unchallenged mostly due to our defense in summer league, then Jackson sat and we lost to Philly. Mostly because they scored on us fairly easy.

If Jackson greatly improves the weak areas of his game(shooting) like you said, he'd be all star level easily. Not a maybe.

[Split T]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

Despite any rhetoric about how every player has to earn his starting spot, I think it's almost guaranteed that our starting lineup will be:

Knight
Booker
Jackson
Ariza
Ayton

The most uncertain of those starting spots is Brandon Knight, and I suspect he won't be our starting PG by 1-2 months into the season. But I feel especially confident that there's no way they will bench Josh Jackson, who is seen as one of their brightest young stars.

I do think, especially after this summer league, that the current version of Josh Jackson is IMO not destined to be a great NBA starting small forward. If he finds ways to greatly improve the weak areas of his offense, maybe he can get there. But I think he is a big weakness in our lineup. I bet this will manifest itself where we bring in a Warren or Bridges off the bench and suddenly things get much better. Who knows if that would lead to a lineup change later in the season or whether we'll be stubborn and try to make it work.

I think I read he will be better than Porzingis within the next 18 months.

Well Porzingis isn't even playing right now, so....

[Superbone]

Booker, Ariza and Ayton are our guaranteed starters at this point. The other two spots seem up for grabs.

This.

[UglyTruth]

What is the starting line up?

Shaq, Booker, Josh, TJ, Ayton? Wouldn't that spacing kill us? Or are you thinking of a different line up?

If you think the Suns gave Ariza $15M to come off the bench, you must be crazy.

An argument can be made that Ariza has a stronger grip on a starting job than even Ayton, #1 overall pick, does.

Good point. It isn't like we have a history of paying people 10-15M/year to not play, much less start...

I don't think there is a specific starting lineup already decided. I think that is what training camp will determine, once Igor gets to see who runs what he wants really well. Sure, Ariza will probably start, but you never know.

I don’t know our history in regards to giving someone a 1 yr $15M deal to not start, no.

If the Suns don’t start him, (no matter what the circumstance is), you can bet that Ariza becomes the 9th disgruntled player under McD’s tenure and demands out. He didn’t leave a top 3 team in the league from last season to come off the bench for the worst team in the league.

Yeah, usually we give guys bigger long-term deals to not start.

Our top 4 highest paid players last year:
* Greg Monroe (16M)
* Brandon Knight (14M)
* Tyson Chandler (13M)
* Jared Dudley (10M)

Those 4 guys combined for over 50% of our total salaries, and less than 12% of our total minutes played.

Either way, I don't think Igor has a set rotation yet. It would be foolish to have that set already.

Why are you saying that the Suns give long term deals and then mentioning Monroe as your first example when you know damn well that the Suns aren’t the ones who gave Monroe his contract? It was the Bucks. He was acquired in a trade to match salaries.

And Dudley wasn’t supposed to be starter through his whole contract and he knew it. He was supposed to start the first season or maybe half the season then step away for Chriss or Bender. He’s even said it himself that he knows he will start initially and then move to the bench for the young guys because their the future. He’s said he knew that was the plan before signing with then Suns.

Chandler has started most of the games in which he’s been healthy enough to play in. He’s hardly come off the bench during his 3 years here.

Knight agreed. But now Knight is projected as a starter for next season as well.

And you forgot the major difference between these players and Ariza...none of them signed fat 1 yr deals.

Igor probably doesn’t have his rotations set but you can guarantee that Devin Booker, Trevor Ariza and DeAndre Ayton will all start if their healthy. The other 2 starting are the more unknowns even though it looks fairly likely that it will be Knight & either Warren, Jackson or Bridges.

[Superbone]

Danuel House signed with the Warriors.

I liked him. Thought he was a rotation-caliber wing in the NBA.

Championship!

[UglyTruth]

How much help do the Warriors need??

[Superbone]

How much help do the Warriors need??

All the help.