Suns News: Week 15 (1/23 - 1/29)

[LazarusLong]

Last week's reheated meatloaf.

"Booker and Russell know each other, so a trade is possible ..."

Lazy speculation, at best.

[JeremyG]

And no reason Jones can’t work things out and then just present Ishbia with a couple different directions

Work things out? Including asking Ayton if he's willing to waive his no-trade clause? And then what if he asks Mat who says, "I don't want to go in that direction." Sounds like a great recipe for excellent relations with DA going forward.

Anyway, it's not happening. I don't believe Jones even wants to trade DA. And Mat is not going to come in here and immediately upset (at least half) the fanbase by trading away the franchise's only #1 pick.

You make a lot of assumptions. I said nothing about Ayton…but I think it’s very possible we already know whether Ayton would reject a trade or not. But yes, Ayton would be a trickier one to move unless we are already on the same page with him.

But I don’t think that many people care about the fact that Ayton is our only #1 pick. Why does that matter? If anything we’re just reminded that we picked the wrong guy as Ayton is constantly underwhelming and Luka is in mvp races.

The context of the discussion was Ayton and whether there would be time to trade him, which is why I assumed you were talking about him.

A lot (probably more than half) of Suns fans want Ayton to stay for a variety of reasons. But yes I would say those reasons include him being the #1 pick, which is not only a unique thing in the franchise's history but also has to do with not wanting that to look like a failure on the Suns part by giving up on him (even if it's argued they should have picked someone else, if the pick was still a successful franchise center then that's not a failure). Other factors include Ayton's fun and generous personality and strong ties to the area, having grown up in Phoenix and having gone to college in Arizona. People consider him a "hometown kid." And like I mentioned, a lot of people still believe he can be a franchise center for our team, something we've never really had.

For those and other reasons, a new owner coming in and immediately getting rid of Ayton would definitely anger a large portion of the fanbase. It's not like trading just any random player, like some of you seem to act like it is.

[wpmiller42]

And no reason Jones can’t work things out and then just present Ishbia with a couple different directions

Work things out? Including asking Ayton if he's willing to waive his no-trade clause? And then what if he asks Mat who says, "I don't want to go in that direction." Sounds like a great recipe for excellent relations with DA going forward.

Anyway, it's not happening. I don't believe Jones even wants to trade DA. And Mat is not going to come in here and immediately upset (at least half) the fanbase by trading away the franchise's only #1 pick.

You make a lot of assumptions. I said nothing about Ayton…but I think it’s very possible we already know whether Ayton would reject a trade or not. But yes, Ayton would be a trickier one to move unless we are already on the same page with him.

But I don’t think that many people care about the fact that Ayton is our only #1 pick. Why does that matter? If anything we’re just reminded that we picked the wrong guy as Ayton is constantly underwhelming and Luka is in mvp races.

The context of the discussion was Ayton and whether there would be time to trade him, which is why I assumed you were talking about him.

A lot (probably more than half) of Suns fans want Ayton to stay for a variety of reasons. But yes I would say those reasons include him being the #1 pick, which is not only a unique thing in the franchise's history but also has to do with not wanting that to look like a failure on the Suns part by giving up on him (even if it's argued they should have picked someone else, if the pick was still a successful franchise center then that's not a failure). Other factors include Ayton's fun and generous personality and strong ties to the area, having grown up in Phoenix and having gone to college in Arizona. People consider him a "hometown kid." And like I mentioned, a lot of people still believe he can be a franchise center for our team, something we've never really had.

For those and other reasons, a new owner coming in and immediately getting rid of Ayton would definitely anger a large portion of the fanbase. It's not like trading just any random player, like some of you seem to act like it is.

I like Ayton. I really, sincerely do. But I personally think he's going to find much more success on a team that doesn't have Monty Williams and Chris Paul. Ayton may want to win, but he doesn't want to win like CP3 and Monty (and Book and Mikal and others on the team) want to win. We can debate all day if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Ayton is getting paid like a player that should consistently and significantly contribute to us winning, and he doesn't (for whatever reason), so I don't care about his hometown ties or where he was drafted. If a trade comes along that I think will help us win (like Siakam), I think you take it without consideration for any of the admittedly otherwise nice traits and qualities Ayton has. At the end of the day, he's not helping us win in proportion to his contract and expectations.

[Split T]

I think more fans would be upset if we traded Mikal.

[Superbone]

NBAcentral is not worth posting. Aggregated trash.

My bad!

[Split T]

Wasn’t there some evidence that nba central is shams burner? Or that may have just been someone joking

[Split T]

Also I read the article and the only real sourced info would be that Minny probably won’t reinvest in Russell and therefore might look to trade him. Even then it’s not actual hard information. Then it’s just speculation on who might be interested if they move him. So a bunch of nothing.

[Superbone]

And no reason Jones can’t work things out and then just present Ishbia with a couple different directions

Work things out? Including asking Ayton if he's willing to waive his no-trade clause? And then what if he asks Mat who says, "I don't want to go in that direction." Sounds like a great recipe for excellent relations with DA going forward.

Anyway, it's not happening. I don't believe Jones even wants to trade DA. And Mat is not going to come in here and immediately upset (at least half) the fanbase by trading away the franchise's only #1 pick.

You make a lot of assumptions. I said nothing about Ayton…but I think it’s very possible we already know whether Ayton would reject a trade or not. But yes, Ayton would be a trickier one to move unless we are already on the same page with him.

But I don’t think that many people care about the fact that Ayton is our only #1 pick. Why does that matter? If anything we’re just reminded that we picked the wrong guy as Ayton is constantly underwhelming and Luka is in mvp races.

The context of the discussion was Ayton and whether there would be time to trade him, which is why I assumed you were talking about him.

A lot (probably more than half) of Suns fans want Ayton to stay for a variety of reasons. But yes I would say those reasons include him being the #1 pick, which is not only a unique thing in the franchise's history but also has to do with not wanting that to look like a failure on the Suns part by giving up on him (even if it's argued they should have picked someone else, if the pick was still a successful franchise center then that's not a failure). Other factors include Ayton's fun and generous personality and strong ties to the area, having grown up in Phoenix and having gone to college in Arizona. People consider him a "hometown kid." And like I mentioned, a lot of people still believe he can be a franchise center for our team, something we've never really had.

For those and other reasons, a new owner coming in and immediately getting rid of Ayton would definitely anger a large portion of the fanbase. It's not like trading just any random player, like some of you seem to act like it is.

I like Ayton. I really, sincerely do. But I personally think he's going to find much more success on a team that doesn't have Monty Williams and Chris Paul. Ayton may want to win, but he doesn't want to win like CP3 and Monty (and Book and Mikal and others on the team) want to win. We can debate all day if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Ayton is getting paid like a player that should consistently and significantly contribute to us winning, and he doesn't (for whatever reason), so I don't care about his hometown ties or where he was drafted. If a trade comes along that I think will help us win (like Siakam), I think you take it without consideration for any of the admittedly otherwise nice traits and qualities Ayton has. At the end of the day, he's not helping us win in proportion to his contract and expectations.

We know what Ayton is at this point. I'd only want to move on from him if we got something better. I think he's a good guy and good teammate. I like him personally but wish he was more of an alpha on the basketball court. But he's not. And he never will be. However, he's solid, skillful, and athletic. There are only three players I would have drafted ahead of him knowing what I know now and one of them is debatable (Young).

[Superbone]

Also I read the article and the only real sourced info would be that Minny probably won’t reinvest in Russell and therefore might look to trade him. Even then it’s not actual hard information. Then it’s just speculation on who might be interested if they move him. So a bunch of nothing.

I've never been impressed when we play his team. He seems to disappear.

[Superbone]

Mikal Bridges’ successful trial by fire is what both he and Suns needed

https://arizonasports.com/story/3475434 ... ns-needed/

[Split T]

Wasn’t there some evidence that nba central is shams burner? Or that may have just been someone joking

Hoop central was the account linked to Shams, so nothing to see here

[Wally_West]

Wasn’t there some evidence that nba central is shams burner? Or that may have just been someone joking

It was hoop central





Interesting stuff from Shams here

[specialsauce]

Jones and Ishbia will literally have 24 hours to talk and get something done. Ayton is not being traded in one day.

There’s nothing stopping them from talking now.

See the Ishbia thread. Jones just said yesterday that he won't be talking to him about basketball moves until the deal is finalized.

Well that settles it then. A GM has never ever lied.

See deez

[Drewsprocket]

I more than assume JJ knows what is expected of him by this deadline and how to have it lined up for Ishbia. It’s just not a public discussion. GMs know how proposed deals with PHX will be managed until then. This is just something isn’t for public consumption unless someone is trying to undermine other offers.

[Kryptonic]

Mikal Bridges’ successful trial by fire is what both he and Suns needed

https://arizonasports.com/story/3475434 ... ns-needed/

The ONLY good thing about all of the injuries we're dealing with is the chance we're given to develop our bench and rotation players. We saw what happened when we road our starters all season last year and how far that got us... With the way the injuries have worked out, we'll hopefully be at full steam come April/May.

[JeremyG]

Gambo says Booker will be back next week, likely for one of the home games on either Monday or Wednesday.

[TOO]

Mikal Bridges’ successful trial by fire is what both he and Suns needed

https://arizonasports.com/story/3475434 ... ns-needed/

The ONLY good thing about all of the injuries we're dealing with is the chance we're given to develop our bench and rotation players. We saw what happened when we road our starters all season last year and how far that got us... With the way the injuries have worked out, we'll hopefully be at full steam come April/May.

Just get another live body in the Crowder deal, hopefully someone that can pressure the rim and the Suns might actually sneak up on some people.

[ShelC]

Gambo says Booker will be back next week, likely for one of the home games on either Monday or Wednesday.

[Superbone]

[Split T]

This is a weird report from Gambo…makes me think he found out his original report that we had had zero discussions about him was wrong and he’s covering his tracks just in case

I guess he deleted, but it said:

Jalen McDaniels has had some really good games for Charlotte this month including a 15-point, 10-rebound game vs Phoenix Tuesday. He will be an UFA after season. Phx had not previously discussed him as a player to acquire but his recent play may draw interest from them and others