Suns 2022 Off-Season Thread

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think Mikal started to turn the corner. He developed a repertoire of shots in the paint all season but just missed them against Dallas.

The next step I want to see will be him attacking as an initiator, not just off of second action or ball rotation opportunities. 1-2 dribble pull ups and PnR with Ayton. He should be trying to emulate Brandon Ingram as much as possible on the offensive side.

[Indy]

I think Mikal started to turn the corner. He developed a repertoire of shots in the paint all season but just missed them against Dallas.

The next step I want to see will be him attacking as an initiator, not just off of second action or ball rotation opportunities. 1-2 dribble pull ups and PnR with Ayton. He should be trying to emulate Brandon Ingram as much as possible on the offensive side.

I think he'd have to get a lot bulkier to play like BI more. BI can bully people on offense and Mikal just can't right now.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think Mikal started to turn the corner. He developed a repertoire of shots in the paint all season but just missed them against Dallas.

The next step I want to see will be him attacking as an initiator, not just off of second action or ball rotation opportunities. 1-2 dribble pull ups and PnR with Ayton. He should be trying to emulate Brandon Ingram as much as possible on the offensive side.

I think he'd have to get a lot bulkier to play like BI more. BI can bully people on offense and Mikal just can't right now.

According to basketball reference, Bridges already has about 20lbs on Ingram.

Ingram can "bully people" as you say because of his ball handling skill combined with his length. Mikal has similar length, so that's why I'd like to see him work on developing his dribbling skills. A few different combinations into pull-up shots will go a long way to relieving the scoring load on Booker and Paul.

[Split T]

My dream is to get KD with a re-signed Ayton, CamJ and 2 firsts if he tells Brooklyn he wants out? Or do we need more salary because of BYC? Who can blackmail KD?

I don't want to go forward with 100M/year wrapped up in a 37-38 year old PG, Book, and Ayton, plus another 20 for Mikal. You can kind of survive an injury to one offensive star/creator if you have 1.5 more. We only have Book. Mikal didn't turn the corner we had hoped, and Ayton can't be counted on.

From what I can find, I don’t think you can combine players in a S&T. Ayton would have to be signed and traded without anyone else. I’m not 100% on that, but I think that’s what’s part of why he’s hard to trade.

[Split T]

I’ve been doing some cap research and currently we are at roughly 132,000,000 in committed salary(129,000,000 + 3 incomplete roster charges). We are definitely already over the cap, but 17,000,000 under the luxury tax and 23.5 million under the tax apron.

Ayton would obviously push us beyond both, but if we S&T him to someone with cap space, it’s still possible we could use the MLE and BAE this summer. We could bring back about 9 million in salary and still fit an MLE and BAE contract under the apron. We can bring back about 13-14 million in salary if we just use the MLE. If we bring back more than that, we’d be left with just the tax payer MLE.

MLE is up to 4 years starting at 10.3 million
Tax-payer is 3 years starting at 6.4 million
BAE is 2 years starting at 4 million

Of course if we use the MLE or BAE, we would be hard capped, meaning only vet min deals and can’t bring back any money in a trade.

But just a thought if we find a S&T we like and there are FA’s we want to bring in.

[virtual9mm]

A move I’d look at:

Saric/Shamet/Payne/Craig for Gordon/Wood/Martin Jr.

At least 1 1st, but probably 2 we’d have to throw in.

Paul/Booker/Bridges/Wood/Ayton
Gordon/Johnson/Crowder

That’s a solid top 8. You’d need to add a backup 1 and 5, but honestly Holiday and McGee or Biyombo would work. You’d still have a potential Ayton trade, but now you have a replacement C already on roster.

I do this move if it requires 1 1st, but 2 1sts seems like a lot for a 34 year old expensive backup guard and a talented but expiring PF/C with perhaps some attitude concerns.

Take Wood out and a Payne/Saric/2nd for Gordon seems doable as well. I would hesitate on giving a 1st in that deal.

If the Suns are planning on running it back, the version with Wood is perfect.

[ShadowHawke]

1) How much was Cam P affected by not having Saric or Kaminsky?

2) Did the Suns have the largest drop in 3 point % from last season?

3) Was Holiday in the dog house for the playoffs?

4) Ayton needs to develop more, but what about Booker?

5) How do we upgrade at the 4?

[TOO]

I don't see Ayton here, I just don't. Especially for what he wants, no chance. He's replaceable.

[ShelC]

We need to re-sign either McGee or Biyombo. I'd like both back just for depth and insurance but that's being greedy and we have needs elsewhere, not to mention the money. Plus if Dario is back in the mix, we'll need to find minutes for him; he also gives us a different look in the frontcourt whereas McGee and Biyombo are a bit redundant.

I think Craig could be flipped somewhere.

[Indy]

I think Mikal started to turn the corner. He developed a repertoire of shots in the paint all season but just missed them against Dallas.

The next step I want to see will be him attacking as an initiator, not just off of second action or ball rotation opportunities. 1-2 dribble pull ups and PnR with Ayton. He should be trying to emulate Brandon Ingram as much as possible on the offensive side.

I think he'd have to get a lot bulkier to play like BI more. BI can bully people on offense and Mikal just can't right now.

According to basketball reference, Bridges already has about 20lbs on Ingram.

Ingram can "bully people" as you say because of his ball handling skill combined with his length. Mikal has similar length, so that's why I'd like to see him work on developing his dribbling skills. A few different combinations into pull-up shots will go a long way to relieving the scoring load on Booker and Paul.

Pretty sure they are using his weight coming into the league out of college, not his weight now. No way is he 190 pounds today.

[Split T]

1) How much was Cam P affected by not having Saric or Kaminsky?

2) Did the Suns have the largest drop in 3 point % from last season?

3) Was Holiday in the dog house for the playoffs?

4) Ayton needs to develop more, but what about Booker?

5) How do we upgrade at the 4?

1. A lot I think. If he’s our backup pg plan next year he needs to play with a pick n pop big. Preferably one that has some playmaking juice. He needs the space as he’s a straight line bursty drive. Not a methodical manipulator like CP3 who likes the rolling big. FWIW I think Booker is better with a pop big too. Especially a playmaking one that he can dump it to when he’s trapped.

2.No, we went from .378 to .364, I didn’t check everyone, but LAC went from .411 to .374 and Blazers went from .385 to .346.

3. I don’t know about doghouse, but beneath Payne and Shamet. I just don’t think he had enough on ball juice. He’s maybe similar to Shamet in that sense, but I think Monty trusted Shamet more since he was here the whole year and he’s bigger. Doncic would’ve picked on Holiday relentlessly.

4. I’d like Booker to find a way to get to the rim more. A pick n pop big would help. He can also still take steps as a playmaker and defender. I did like his pull-up 3 improvements, but that can also keep improving.

5. I’m less concerned about upgrading at a specific position and mostly just adding another shot creator. Preferably one that can play with CP3 and Booker, so one with size would be ideal. But they don’t have to start. Eric Gordon is big enough to play alongside both and would come off the bench.

[Cap]

One thing to consider will be the timeline for his RFA offers. If the Suns know internally they'll match any offer, they can hold other teams hostage by waiting until the last minute to match. That might dissuade some teams from tying up their free agent cap space and missing out their plan B.

Used to be you could wait up to two weeks to match. Now it’s three days, so it’s not much of a disincentive to an offer sheet.

[virtual9mm]

1) How much was Cam P affected by not having Saric or Kaminsky?

2) Did the Suns have the largest drop in 3 point % from last season?

3) Was Holiday in the dog house for the playoffs?

4) Ayton needs to develop more, but what about Booker?

5) How do we upgrade at the 4?

1. A lot I think. If he’s our backup pg plan next year he needs to play with a pick n pop big. Preferably one that has some playmaking juice. He needs the space as he’s a straight line bursty drive. Not a methodical manipulator like CP3 who likes the rolling big. FWIW I think Booker is better with a pop big too. Especially a playmaking one that he can dump it to when he’s trapped.

2.No, we went from .378 to .364, I didn’t check everyone, but LAC went from .411 to .374 and Blazers went from .385 to .346.

3. I don’t know about doghouse, but beneath Payne and Shamet. I just don’t think he had enough on ball juice. He’s maybe similar to Shamet in that sense, but I think Monty trusted Shamet more since he was here the whole year and he’s bigger. Doncic would’ve picked on Holiday relentlessly.

4. I’d like Booker to find a way to get to the rim more. A pick n pop big would help. He can also still take steps as a playmaker and defender. I did like his pull-up 3 improvements, but that can also keep improving.

5. I’m less concerned about upgrading at a specific position and mostly just adding another shot creator. Preferably one that can play with CP3 and Booker, so one with size would be ideal. But they don’t have to start. Eric Gordon is big enough to play alongside both and would come off the bench.

The more and more I read this, the more and more I like Towns here...

[Split T]

He would certainly do wonders for our offense

[Indy]

What if we traded Ayton and some of our expiring contracts for a 3rd star (really a #1 or #2 to pair with Booker--like a Siakim) and then just ran Dario/McGee/Bizzy as our center line up? Yes our defense would suffer without DA, but good luck stopping our offense even in the playoffs with tight traps/blitzes.

[Split T]

Siakam is my dream…but only doable mid season I believe. Same with KAT.

The biggest benefit of signing Ayton to an extension last summer might’ve been that we could’ve traded him this summer without all the S&T BYC restrictions

[JeremyG]

Another issue, Booker will be eligible for a 4 year 211 million dollar extension this summer. I love Book, but he’s in that weird space where players get super max deals but aren’t really worth them. That deal would scare me. The one saving grace would be the big salary cap jump that’s coming and would make Booker’s deal not as massive.

Wouldn’t that same logic apply to DA’s max contract not being as massive?

Also, I thought Booker isn’t up for an extension until next summer?

[Split T]

Another issue, Booker will be eligible for a 4 year 211 million dollar extension this summer. I love Book, but he’s in that weird space where players get super max deals but aren’t really worth them. That deal would scare me. The one saving grace would be the big salary cap jump that’s coming and would make Booker’s deal not as massive.

Wouldn’t that same logic apply to DA’s max contract not being as massive?

Also, I thought Booker isn’t up for an extension until next summer?

It would, but I feel better about paying Booker the super max than I do paying Ayton the regular max. And Booker’s extension wouldn’t kick in until 24-25, but I read he can sign it this summer.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Off the wall idea of the day (that I think works)..

Cam Payne & Ayton sign and trade to Charlotte for Terry Rozier and the 13th pick. Use the 13th pick on Mark Williams from Duke.

[sunset rubdown]

We won't make the playoffs second round next season with someone like Turner or Mark Williams as a starting C instead of Ayton. Be careful what you wish for. I get an impression DA is grossly undervalued among Suns fanbase. Heck, without him we would lost to the Pelicans.