Suns News: Week 12 (1/2 - 1/8)

[Drewsprocket]

Sneak tank or Soft tank? And go…

[INFORMER]

I just imagined Mac McClung trying to bring the ball up court against Andrew Wiggins in the 4th quarter of the last Suns win.

[INFORMER]

This fits

I think we are overrating familiarity. Not the best choice, but not the worse choice. I'm glad we finally pulled the trigger, but it is silly it took this long.

[INFORMER]

[ShelC]

I think Favors was working out with Crowder a few weeks back.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I just imagined Mac McClung trying to bring the ball up court against Andrew Wiggins in the 4th quarter of the last Suns win.

Fair point.

[Superbone]

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm not repulsed by Landry Shamet like a lot of Suns fans, but I'd be content with acquiring Trent Jr. for Shamet and Crowder.

The priority should be to get front court help out of a Crowder deal, but that's recently seeming less likely if we believe the reported rumors.

[ShelC]

Incoming Gambo tweet in 3..2...

[Split T]

Is Trent that much better than Landry? Kinda seems like he’s just a higher volume Landry who costs twice as much. I can’t say I’m super familiar with his game though, but I think I’d only be interested in trading for him if Siakam was also part of the trade.

[Flagrant Fowl]

There are a few things that make me prefer Trent Jr. to Shamet.

Trent Jr. is bigger and more versatile defensively. Shamet is quite good defensively because he competes and doesn't really make errors, but Trent Jr. is more disruptive and accumulates more defensive stats.

Their shooting numbers are similar, but Trent Jr. gets his on higher volume. Even though he's very streaky, like Shamet, Trent Jr.'s shot looks a lot better. Even I've been jaded by Shamet's high speed darts from 25', so that's probably just an aesthetic thing. Trent Jr. is actually a threat inside the 3-point line, which can't really be said of Shamet.

Trent Jr. has PO of around $18M next year. It's likely he picks that up, but in a deal where Shamet is going out, the Suns would be getting off of the $20M owed to him in the additional two seasons on his deal.

He's an ideal 6th man and that might be just fine if Cam Johnson can reliably start at PF.

[Split T]

Well those 2 years are non guaranteed for Shamet though

[Flagrant Fowl]

I forgot about that. Would still be better to get something out of Shamet than cut him, no?

[TOO]

Jones signs like the worst dudes ever to 10 days. Gross, cool man, warm body, great, cant wait.

[TOO]

Is Trent that much better than Landry? Kinda seems like he’s just a higher volume Landry who costs twice as much. I can’t say I’m super familiar with his game though, but I think I’d only be interested in trading for him if Siakam was also part of the trade.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_fin ... =trentga02

Just food for thought.

[ShelC]

Trent's got that homerun ability where he can get hot and knock down 6 threes in a game. He'd fill the role we expected Shamet to fill with some better size.

[Shabazz]

Jones signs like the worst dudes ever to 10 days. Gross, cool man, warm body, great, cant wait.

Can't overstate the importance of a) not upsetting the delicate ecosystem of our .500 team and b) some familiarity with the complexities of Monty's "pass, dribble or shoot the ball within .5 seconds" offense.

[Drewsprocket]

I forgot about that. Would still be better to get something out of Shamet than cut him, no?

He’s a bad contract, right? He’s guaranteed $10 million next year. 38% from 3 but inconsistent when asked to do much else. 38% overall FG. If someone wants to trade for him I’m sure he’s available.

[Shabazz]

Phoenix Suns: Better play from Deandre Ayton


Certainly, there's a trade for the Suns to make, if only to get something from the roster spot Jae Crowder has been occupying all season. Depth became a critical issue for Phoenix during a six-game losing streak snapped Tuesday night with a win against the Warriors. But with Devin Booker and Cam Johnson due back, adding rotation pieces will only mean so much for the Suns down the road.

For Phoenix to resume championship contention after reaching the 2021 NBA Finals and posting the league's best record last season requires a second star alongside Booker. Chris Paul may no longer be capable of playing at that level at age 37. The better bet is Ayton, whose per-game stats (17.5 PPG and 9.8 RPG on 59% shooting) don't reflect a drop-off in efficiency playing a larger role this season (his 23.5% usage is Ayton's highest since 2019-20).

In a league where all centers combine to average 16.6 points and 10.9 rebounds per 36 minutes with a .628 true shooting percentage, Ayton's own marks (21.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per 36, .619 TS%) are unspectacular. After matching the Indiana Pacers' max offer sheet to Ayton last summer, the Suns can reasonably expect more from the former No. 1 pick.

Kevin Pelton is just not watching closely enough.

[ShelC]

A backup know who can become the starter later?