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Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:46 am
by Mori Chu
Last Week's Games

vs. Kings Loss 110-107 :roll:
vs. Cavs WIN! 101-92 :D

This Week's Games
Tue Nov 2 - New Orleans @ Phoenix, 7:00 PM PST, TNT
Thu Nov 4 - Houston @ Phoenix, 7:00 PM PST, NBA TV
Sat Nov 6 - Atlanta @ Phoenix, 7:00 PST, NBA League Pass


Suns Stories
Sarver allegations story still has not come out.

DeAndre Ayton leaves Cavs game with leg contusion:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/ ... 221542001/

Bright Side: 5 observations on the Suns' rotations.
https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2021 ... -rotations

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:06 am
by Split T

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:08 am
by wpmiller42
Seems like picking up Smith's third-year option is an easy call? I think he's shown enough flashes to at least get another year's look. And still very tradeable with that third year; at least I would think he is.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:24 am
by Split T


Wow, this is surprising to me

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:24 am
by Indy
So they didn't pick it up. Wow.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:33 am
by BigLewy
Wow, what a waste of a pick. At least pick it up to give a potential trading partner more cost control to try and develop him. I can't recall off the top of my head a top 10 pick being declined before year three. I know there are probably some, but good grief.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:42 am
by Mori Chu
Sarver cheaping out yet again. Why would Smith try to play hard for us now? What is his possible motivation? Didn't we just burn any chance that he becomes a usable rotation big man with the decision not to renew his contract? Seems dumb to me.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:49 am
by Indy
Guys, this makes him an expiring contract. That helps in trades to make salary match. It isn't Sarver cheaping out (or at least is doesn't have to mean that).

And his motivation to play hard would be to stay in the league and earn his next contract. By that rationale, nobody on an expiring contract would want to play hard?

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:55 am
by carey
Failure to evaluate, failure to develop, just an all around failure.

Combine this with not paying Ayton and it looks like Sarver is cheaping out again. At least they picked up Cam’s option.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:55 am
by ShelC
It might also make him less attractive in a deal if a team that wants him won't have him as a RFA? They can trade for him and then lose him for nothing.

Not a fan of declining the option. Maybe they're admitting they whiffed on the pick and he isn't what they expected but that's still on them. And he could still develop into a defensive, hustle big off the bench as opposed to trying to sign a backup big in FA every summer.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:57 am
by Indy
Nobody wants him Shel. I think most teams would want that 4-5M in space.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:00 am
by carey
As much as I like Cam J. our drafting under Jones has been awful.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:12 am
by ShelC
Indy wrote:
Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:57 am
Nobody wants him Shel. I think most teams would want that 4-5M in space.
I just don't know anymore lol. I think Jones (and Monty) have specific types of players in mind and are probably putting a premium on triple threat wings/perimeter players and aren't willing to commit to less skilled bigs just because they're big?

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:13 am
by Split T
Smith hasn’t been good, so I kinda get it, just thought they’d give it at least 1 more year and possibly drop off the 4th year. My guess is we’ve discussed him in trade talks and no one has been interested at all, we decided he’d be more valuable as an expiring. It’s too bad, turns out it was a pretty bad pick. I just remembered Haliburton was available, ugh…Desmond Bane would have been great as well.

I don’t think this stops us from bringing him back, but it’ll make it hard to if he plays well at all. He’ll be unrestricted…do we get bird rights?

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:14 am
by Split T
ShelC wrote:
Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:12 am
Indy wrote:
Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:57 am
Nobody wants him Shel. I think most teams would want that 4-5M in space.
I just don't know anymore lol. I think Jones (and Monty) have specific types of players in mind and are probably putting a premium on triple threat wings/perimeter players and aren't willing to commit to less skilled bigs just because they're big?
Haliburton or Bane just would have been perfect for us…I’d guess they were just focused on a big though

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:25 am
by Mori Chu
This decision makes it essentially a 0% chance that Smith stays here past this year. If he plays poorly, of course they won't keep him. But if he plays well, he'll be worth more than that rookie salary, so somebody else will take him from us or force us to overpay for him, which I don't think our FO would do. So we might as well bench him or cut him since he has no place in our future.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:33 am
by Split T
Mori Chu wrote:
Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:25 am
This decision makes it essentially a 0% chance that Smith stays here past this year. If he plays poorly, of course they won't keep him. But if he plays well, he'll be worth more than that rookie salary, so somebody else will take him from us or force us to overpay for him, which I don't think our FO would do. So we might as well bench him or cut him since he has no place in our future.
I mostly agree, chances are we’ll probably trade him at some point. I’d say there’s like a 10% chance he’s here next year. I think he could essentially have the same year as last year and we bring him back at the minimum or something like that. Though he’d probably prefer somewhere else for more of an opportunity.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:45 am
by wpmiller42
I'm really surprised, at least based on all the comments regarding his work ethic and such. Seems like a low-risk, high-reward kind of thing to pick up the option to me.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:31 am
by The Bobster
The most frustrating thing is that they didn't even really play him enough to evaluate him properly before having to make this decision. Can he play or not? We don't really know and you can look good in practice or in the summer league or preseason camp as much as you want, but until you get out there on the court and play it doesn't mean anything.

I get the feeling he may become a decent role player eventually, but there were other players available who would have been more help, and the people paid to make the decisions whiffed on this one.

Re: Suns News: Week 3 (10/31 - 11/6)

Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:39 am
by LazarusLong
Indy wrote:
Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:49 am
Guys, this makes him an expiring contract. That helps in trades to make salary match. It isn't Sarver cheaping out (or at least is doesn't have to mean that).

And his motivation to play hard would be to stay in the league and earn his next contract. By that rationale, nobody on an expiring contract would want to play hard?
Good take.

Instead of hand-wringing about who they should have drafted, it should be about what management will do to shore up the perceived weakness.