Suns News: Week 12 3/8-3/14

[carey]

Short week this week since they don't play until Thursday. Let's tear up the 2nd half!

Last Week's Games

@ Lakers WIN! 114-104
vs. Golden State WIN! 120-98

This Week's Games

Thursday, March 11th @ Portland 10:00 PM EST
Saturday, March 13th vs. Indiana 10:00 PM EST

Suns Stories

Center of the Sun, Part 1: After the All-Star break it’s time for the Suns to get back to work - https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2021 ... o-work-nba

Suns Seven Games at a Time: 35-game review, predicting next 7 - https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2021 ... r-all-star

LeBron James praises GM James Jones for Suns' success - https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ ... 620815001/

[Superbone]

A short week is better than no week at all! Thanks carey!

[Shabazz]

Well, fuck.

[Shabazz]

From KOC's Power Rankings:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/3/8/ ... oklyn-nets

With a potentially dry trade and buyout market, teams are also keeping a close eye on the G League bubble for players to target. One name that’s been mentioned to me in several conversations is Alize Johnson, who starts for the Raptors 905, which is 12-3 and riding an eight-game winning streak heading into the bubble playoffs.

Johnson is a 6-foot-7 wing who was drafted 50th in 2018 by the Pacers and has played in only 31 NBA games. He’s a full-throttle rebounder and defender with the versatility to defend both quicker and stronger players, meaning he could play on the wing alongside a true big or in the frontcourt in switch-heavy lineups. On offense, the 24-year-old is averaging 16.6 points and 4.2 assists while posting career highs in scoring efficiency and assist-turnover ratio.

A league source says in addition to the Raptors, the Magic, Rockets, Spurs, and Suns have also expressed interest in signing Johnson.

[ShelC]

It's been almost a week and they haven't taken the MRI?

EDIT: Everyone's favorite Suns insider speaks

[carey]

It's been almost a week and they haven't taken the MRI?

If it were bad it would have been done already, right?

I think we can stay afloat without Booker for a couple of weeks, but I wouldn't want him to miss 20 games or anything.

[Superbone]

Well, fuck.

I blame the avatar.

[In2ition]

I don't like how this is going. No bad vibes, but...

If anyone has been around long enough, and we all have, you know that it starts out like a little limping that he thinks he can play through. Then the MRI doesn't find anything, but he will seem like he's not getting better or the pain is going away. Eventually, they will do a scope and he will have a torn meniscus or microfracture surgery.

[Mori Chu]

I still can't believe they had him out there running around and playing when he was clearly limping and not right.

[specialsauce]

Who to believe, Emo McGavinsauce or Cheesy Mcbutters?

[Indy]

Who to believe, Emo McGavinsauce or Cheesy Mcbutters?

Ok, this might be your best post ever.

[pickle]

So ... how long is Booker out for...?

[Split T]

Been thinking about some win now moves and I think the guy to target is Larry Nance Jr.

Jalen Smith, Jevon Carter and a 1st for Nance. Is that enough for Cleveland?

[specialsauce]

Who to believe, Emo McGavinsauce or Cheesy Mcbutters?

Ok, this might be your best post ever.

[pickle]

Been thinking about some win now moves and I think the guy to target is Larry Nance Jr.

Jalen Smith, Jevon Carter and a 1st for Nance. Is that enough for Cleveland?

I'm fully on the Nance train, but I think that's too much.

[Superbone]

[Flagrant Fowl]

Been thinking about some win now moves and I think the guy to target is Larry Nance Jr.

Jalen Smith, Jevon Carter and a 1st for Nance. Is that enough for Cleveland?

I'm fully on the Nance train, but I think that's too much.

Too much? It's not enough.

I hope Jalen Smith turns out to be something, but that optimism is just because I'm a Suns fan. If I were being objective, he kind of sucks, and Cleveland would probably think even less of him unless they worked with him before the draft.

I also like Carter on the Suns, but there are a ton of guys who can fill his spot for less money.

The first rounder is ambiguous. When would it be? Is it conditional? That's really the only thing I think Cleveland would be interested in discussing in that deal.

[Split T]

Ya...we really can’t trade a first rounder for a long time unless we remove the protections on the pick we owe OKC. I don’t think it’s enough either. I’m not sure how much value Jalen has right now. I think I read that Cleveland wanted 2 1sts for Nance, so they’d have to consider Jalen a 1st round value.

Nance would be awesome though. He’s a bigger body who is a phenomenal defender. Honestly it lets us go small ball and play him at the 5 when DeAndre doesn’t want to show up. He’s shooting 38% from 3 on a good amount of attempts and even is averaging 3+ assists a game.

Call me crazy, but I’ve even toyed around with the idea of a deal involving Ayton for Nance. It works salary wise, but it only works if you don’t believe in Ayton. The trick would be to find a 3rd team willing to give up a decent haul for Ayton as I’m not sure Cleveland would be super interested with Allen on board. If we could add Nance and another asset, I’d move Ayton. It leaves us small(Denver would be a problem matchup) But you could find a buyout guy like Javale McGee(or just work him into the trade) to give you some extra size when needed.

It might be crazy, but I kinda like it.

[pickle]

I don't think it's too much value for Cleveland, they may get something similar. I think it's too much for the Suns to pay in terms of what we might get back. I think the team absolutely needs more depth at the bigs position, and I love Nance. It was just yesterday or so that I brought his name up (either in this thread or the around the league thread). However, I think given where the team is, I'd only give up two first rounders to get someone who gives me far greater clarity, someone who can ideally be counted on to score in critical moments in the playoffs when the opposing defense might take out both Paul and Booker. Once we move two first rounders or equivalent value for him, we won't have any other assets to burn and I feel like Nance doesn't quite improve us enough and I'd rather reserve those assets for something/someone else. Not sure such a player exists though.

[pickle]

Also, as much as I'm disappointed in Ayton's play, I don't want to get rid of him and replace him with a Nance/McGee combo. We won't have a lot of opportunity to get high picks in the next couple of years, so any growth we get will need to be from within. Cleveland may not view Smith as a first round talent, and I'm okay with that, but we should still try to be patient with him and see what he can become. And Ayton is the one surefire solution against the larger centers in the league, as well as the best chance from growth within. Mikal and Cam can both improve and they might become that third scorer we need, in which case I'm okay burning assets on Nance, but I'm afraid none of these guys, nor Saric/Crowder, give me that confidence right now. I almost want to say a Carmelo Anthony type with slightly better defense might be my preference.

I'd also throw a protected first at Chicago to see if we can get Thad. He's not quite as big or exciting as Nance in terms of manning the backup 5, but he's more than solid.