Trade: Chris Paul to Suns for Ricky Rubio and Kelly Oubre Jr.

[Drewsprocket]

Played with CP3 last year, he’s a free agent. He plays a position we have a need at. He’s on record as saying situation is more important than money. He just may be willing to sign for the MLE.

Plus he’s an old Booker family friend from back in the day.

[3rdside]

And respect to James Jones, this dawg knows what he's doing which means this franchise - along with its new training facility and stadium - is turning the corner nicely.

[Wormwood]

Grant supplies athleticism and D. Plus he’s a decent spot up shooter. Gallo or Bertans give us shooting. More shooting with Bertans, more balanced offense with Gallo. Wood would be the upside play. He can shoot, he can play the 5. He’s young and has star potential. He’d be my choice. But I understand the risk.

Don’t forget Millsap too. Solid, good defender, can shoot too. Smart player who can move the ball. Injury risk though.

He supplies athleticism.

And that's it.

Bad on D. Lousy 3 point shooter. Not a great passer or rebounder either. Low bball IQ. He's an athlete, not a basketball player Pass.

At PF, I'd say pursue Wood, Millsap, Gallo in that order. Millsap is still VERY good on D, and keeps defenses honest with his 40% three point shooting. Old, slow, yes. But has that Kurt Thomas, great instincts great footwork defense.

[Split T]

Grant supplies athleticism and D. Plus he’s a decent spot up shooter. Gallo or Bertans give us shooting. More shooting with Bertans, more balanced offense with Gallo. Wood would be the upside play. He can shoot, he can play the 5. He’s young and has star potential. He’d be my choice. But I understand the risk.

Don’t forget Millsap too. Solid, good defender, can shoot too. Smart player who can move the ball. Injury risk though.

He supplies athleticism.

And that's it.

Bad on D. Lousy 3 point shooter. Not a great passer or rebounder either. Low bball IQ. He's an athlete, not a basketball player Pass.

At PF, I'd say pursue Wood, Millsap, Gallo in that order. Millsap is still VERY good on D, and keeps defenses honest with his 40% three point shooting. Old, slow, yes. But has that Kurt Thomas, great instincts great footwork defense.

He’s not a rebounder or passer. But not sure how you can say lousy 3 pt shooter when he’s shot 39% two years in a row. He’s pretty strictly just a catch and shoot guy, but he can hit them. I won’t comment on the D, I know advanced stats don’t like him, but he’s got the defensive tools. I haven’t watched him enough to know though. He has a positive defensive rep. Perhaps playing with a competent defensive center would make him better. Having to cover for Jokic may be hard. Though Millsap showing up with good defensive metrics on the same team is something.

[Superbone]

So how do you feel about Paul being a Sun?

You know me. I've called him CPMe for a decade. Not a huge fan of him *as a person.* He's a hell of a basketball player and when healthy can really improve the Suns. Just the space Booker will get when opposing teams have to move that much more to cover Paul on the perimeter. It will make the team better. I view it as a make it or bust move for this iteration of the Suns. The Booker-Ayton-X version. We now have our X and we'll either get to the playoffs in that 4-6 seed range or this will all end badly. I do wonder what happens when we plateau. What comes 'after' Chris Paul?

I think this is the elephant in the room question we will be dancing around for the next 2 years.

I think we will know if Ayton is the guy we hope he can be by the end of this year. If he is, what happens when Chris Paul's contract is up is much less of a concern. Same with Mikal. If he can get to 90% of what half of this site sees his peak as, we have a good future.

I am more worried about how Booker will take Paul ripping into him. My guy says he will thrive, but you just never know.

Who's your guy?

[Superbone]

And respect to James Jones, this dawg knows what he's doing which means this franchise - along with its new training facility and stadium - is turning the corner nicely.

Feels good!

[Indy]

So how do you feel about Paul being a Sun?

You know me. I've called him CPMe for a decade. Not a huge fan of him *as a person.* He's a hell of a basketball player and when healthy can really improve the Suns. Just the space Booker will get when opposing teams have to move that much more to cover Paul on the perimeter. It will make the team better. I view it as a make it or bust move for this iteration of the Suns. The Booker-Ayton-X version. We now have our X and we'll either get to the playoffs in that 4-6 seed range or this will all end badly. I do wonder what happens when we plateau. What comes 'after' Chris Paul?

I think this is the elephant in the room question we will be dancing around for the next 2 years.

I think we will know if Ayton is the guy we hope he can be by the end of this year. If he is, what happens when Chris Paul's contract is up is much less of a concern. Same with Mikal. If he can get to 90% of what half of this site sees his peak as, we have a good future.

I am more worried about how Booker will take Paul ripping into him. My guy says he will thrive, but you just never know.

Who's your guy?

*gut not guy. apologies

[O_Gardino]

I don't love Chris Paul's salary, but I have to respect this trade. We turned the 2 contracts I was most worried about last off-season into a HOF player. Paul is still very good.

We still need to address the bench. Saric, a rookie, a free agent, and the Payne/Carter combo can be a good bench. But the FA needs to be a good player and the rookie I hope will be a rotation player as well. If Saric is the best player off the bench for us, we will be in trouble again.

As others have said, we still need athleticism. We also still need another creator.

[Shabazz]

I like the idea of a Killian Hayes/Justin Holiday draft/FA combo.

[Indy]

I don't love Chris Paul's salary, but I have to respect this trade. We turned the 2 contracts I was most worried about last off-season into a HOF player. Paul is still very good.

We still need to address the bench. Saric, a rookie, a free agent, and the Payne/Carter combo can be a good bench. But the FA needs to be a good player and the rookie I hope will be a rotation player as well. If Saric is the best player off the bench for us, we will be in trouble again.

As others have said, we still need athleticism. We also still need another creator.

Yeah, if your 6th best player is Dario Saric, and your 1/2 combo are not All-NBA 1st team players, you are not getting very far. I am hoping for someone in the front court that can challenge Ayton to be better than he is.

[Indy]

I like the idea of a Killian Hayes/Justin Holiday draft/FA combo.

Those both seem like reasonable AND beneficial moves, so it will never happen.

[Superbone]

You know me. I've called him CPMe for a decade. Not a huge fan of him *as a person.* He's a hell of a basketball player and when healthy can really improve the Suns. Just the space Booker will get when opposing teams have to move that much more to cover Paul on the perimeter. It will make the team better. I view it as a make it or bust move for this iteration of the Suns. The Booker-Ayton-X version. We now have our X and we'll either get to the playoffs in that 4-6 seed range or this will all end badly. I do wonder what happens when we plateau. What comes 'after' Chris Paul?

I think this is the elephant in the room question we will be dancing around for the next 2 years.

I think we will know if Ayton is the guy we hope he can be by the end of this year. If he is, what happens when Chris Paul's contract is up is much less of a concern. Same with Mikal. If he can get to 90% of what half of this site sees his peak as, we have a good future.

I am more worried about how Booker will take Paul ripping into him. My guy says he will thrive, but you just never know.

Who's your guy?

*gut not guy. apologies

Just making sure that you're not already on the FLEX bandwagon.

[Split T]

Has any other franchise had as many elite pg’s as we have?

Nash, Kidd, CP3, KJ, Dragic, Rubio, Marbury, Bledsoe, Hardaway.

Nash, Kidd, KJ, Dragic, and Marbury all were All-NBA at least once in Phoenix. Does anyone else have 5 All-NBA point guards, with a shot at 6?

Am I missing anyone from the older days? Westphal was a 2 guard correct?

[Indy]

I think this is the elephant in the room question we will be dancing around for the next 2 years.

I think we will know if Ayton is the guy we hope he can be by the end of this year. If he is, what happens when Chris Paul's contract is up is much less of a concern. Same with Mikal. If he can get to 90% of what half of this site sees his peak as, we have a good future.

I am more worried about how Booker will take Paul ripping into him. My guy says he will thrive, but you just never know.

Who's your guy?

*gut not guy. apologies

Just making sure that you're not already on the FLEX bandwagon.

[LazarusLong]

"Am I missing anyone from the older days? Westphal was a 2 guard correct?"


Gail Goodrich developed his chops with the Suns and went on to be an integral part of the West-Chamberlain Lakers.

Charlie Scott.

Dennis Johnson.

Don Buse was an All-Star with the Pacers.

Re: Westphal, he could handle off guard and distributing duties with equal aplomb.

[Split T]

Westphal would qualify as another all-nba guy if you count him as a pg. basketball-reference has him listed at pg during one of his 4 all-nba seasons with the suns.

[ShelC]

I don't love Chris Paul's salary, but I have to respect this trade. We turned the 2 contracts I was most worried about last off-season into a HOF player. Paul is still very good.

We still need to address the bench. Saric, a rookie, a free agent, and the Payne/Carter combo can be a good bench. But the FA needs to be a good player and the rookie I hope will be a rotation player as well. If Saric is the best player off the bench for us, we will be in trouble again.

As others have said, we still need athleticism. We also still need another creator.

Yeah, if your 6th best player is Dario Saric, and your 1/2 combo are not All-NBA 1st team players, you are not getting very far. I am hoping for someone in the front court that can challenge Ayton to be better than he is.

You'd think there'd be some decent veteran bigs who may be looking to jump on the bandwagon and take a discount now. Milsapp's been linked to Portland.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think the Suns will sign Gallo and I think it'll be for less than he can probably get from many other teams.

[Wally_West]

[ShelC]

Bickley with some words. For one, I don't blame Kelly one bit for sitting out in Orlando.

https://arizonasports.com/story/2453490 ... long-term/

You need to get over Kelly Oubre Jr. The outgoing Suns fashionista was a remarkable talent, a great source of energy and an organic fan favorite. But he rarely passed the ball. He chose not to play in the bubble even though he was fully healthy and working out alongside his teammates in Orlando. He chose to protect his future earnings, compromising the Suns’ best chance at making the playoffs in a decade, sitting out even though Sarver expected him to play. Oubre was protecting his own future first, and he gave the Suns just enough time to prove they did not need him to win basketball games.

There was too much bro-mancing on the 2019-2020 Suns. Ricky Rubio led with love for all, showing the softest of touches. His fire never burned those who ventured too close. Meanwhile, Oubre and Deandre Ayton prided themselves on their wardrobes and sense of style. The Suns were too in love with themselves, their dope souls and what they saw in the mirror to ever truly dislike what they saw in the Western Conference standings.

If NBA titles were won on a fashion runway, the Suns were on the brink of a dynasty. Paul will change the locker room vibe overnight. For the better.