Re: 2018 Suns Offseason News
Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2018 4:55 am
Kevin Pelton at ESPN feels the same way I do about Ariza.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2395 ... sing-moves
"Phoenix Suns
1. Agreed to a reported one-year, $15 million deal with forward Trevor Ariza
The Suns seem to be asking the question, "What if we made the entire team out of small forwards?"
Having drafted a small forward with the No. 4 pick of the 2017 draft (Josh Jackson), signed one to an extension last fall (T.J. Warren) and traded for the rights to one drafted No. 10 this year (Mikal Bridges), Phoenix now spent the vast majority of its cap space on another player who primarily plays the 3.
The good news is that if there's one position where more is almost always better, it's small forward, the most versatile spot on defense. I'm guessing Ariza will start at power forward, pushing the Suns' developing bigs (Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss) out of the lineup after each started about half the games last season. But he could also start at shooting guard, pushing Devin Booker to the point.
The big story here to me is Phoenix's passing on using its cap space to sign a point guard, leaving the position in the hands of shoot-first Brandon Knight (coming back from a torn ACL) and No. 31 pick Elie Okobo. Barring a trade, that seems to signal using Booker as a primary ball handler with Jackson in a supporting role -- an interesting gamble that could enhance Booker's value.
More likely, I suspect the Suns' lack of playmaking will doom their offense to the NBA's bottom 10 despite their upgrades elsewhere. And I don't think the addition of Ariza and Bridges will be nearly enough to help last year's worst defense in the league, not with rookie Deandre Ayton anchoring things in the middle.
Phoenix evidently wants to push for a playoff spot this season -- that's presumably the rationale for signing a 33-year-old free agent to a one-year deal. But there's a big difference between wanting to making the playoffs and actually doing it, as the Suns have found out over and over again during their eight-year run in the lottery.
On the plus side, Ariza should draw trade interest if Phoenix does fall out of the playoff race. Additionally, the one-year deal protects the Suns' cap space in 2019, when they could get in the mix for a max free agent if they hold off on an extension for Booker to take advantage of his relatively low cap hold.
That said, I think Phoenix would probably have been better off using its cap space now to sign a younger player to a long-term deal that could have aged well as the cap increases."
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2395 ... sing-moves
"Phoenix Suns
1. Agreed to a reported one-year, $15 million deal with forward Trevor Ariza
The Suns seem to be asking the question, "What if we made the entire team out of small forwards?"
Having drafted a small forward with the No. 4 pick of the 2017 draft (Josh Jackson), signed one to an extension last fall (T.J. Warren) and traded for the rights to one drafted No. 10 this year (Mikal Bridges), Phoenix now spent the vast majority of its cap space on another player who primarily plays the 3.
The good news is that if there's one position where more is almost always better, it's small forward, the most versatile spot on defense. I'm guessing Ariza will start at power forward, pushing the Suns' developing bigs (Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss) out of the lineup after each started about half the games last season. But he could also start at shooting guard, pushing Devin Booker to the point.
The big story here to me is Phoenix's passing on using its cap space to sign a point guard, leaving the position in the hands of shoot-first Brandon Knight (coming back from a torn ACL) and No. 31 pick Elie Okobo. Barring a trade, that seems to signal using Booker as a primary ball handler with Jackson in a supporting role -- an interesting gamble that could enhance Booker's value.
More likely, I suspect the Suns' lack of playmaking will doom their offense to the NBA's bottom 10 despite their upgrades elsewhere. And I don't think the addition of Ariza and Bridges will be nearly enough to help last year's worst defense in the league, not with rookie Deandre Ayton anchoring things in the middle.
Phoenix evidently wants to push for a playoff spot this season -- that's presumably the rationale for signing a 33-year-old free agent to a one-year deal. But there's a big difference between wanting to making the playoffs and actually doing it, as the Suns have found out over and over again during their eight-year run in the lottery.
On the plus side, Ariza should draw trade interest if Phoenix does fall out of the playoff race. Additionally, the one-year deal protects the Suns' cap space in 2019, when they could get in the mix for a max free agent if they hold off on an extension for Booker to take advantage of his relatively low cap hold.
That said, I think Phoenix would probably have been better off using its cap space now to sign a younger player to a long-term deal that could have aged well as the cap increases."
).