2024 Suns General Offseason News

[JeremyG]

LeBron to Suns confirmed

[The Bobster]

I wonder if we're going to get the G-League Ignite players that are still under contract, or how they're going to set up the initial players for the Valley Suns?

The original Suns, I believe, got to pick from a pool of players that were made available from the other teams at the time. Each team could only protect so many. That's how we got the original Sun, Dick Van Arsdale. He came from the Knicks.

A history lesson for some of you youngins:

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016 ... hoenix-sun

April 1, 1968 - Suns draft Gary Gregor in the college draft
April 5, 1968 - Suns sign Gary Gregor
May 6, 1969 - Suns draft Dick Van Arsdale first in the expansion draft

So somebody explain to me how Dick Van Arsdale is "The Original Sun". He was the last remaining Sun from the first year however.

[The Bobster]

https://arizonasports.com/story/3547963 ... ett-arena/

“We are excited for Mullett Arena to be the home of the Valley Suns,” said Mullett Arena general manager Amber Musgrave. “We are dedicated to creating memorable experiences for the community and look forward to extending the ‘Mullett Magic’ beyond our Sun Devil Athletic events, concerts, comedy and family shows to now include the Valley Suns.”

“The Valley Suns is the community’s team and will provide fans an energetic and family-friendly atmosphere while developing aspiring talent on and off the court,” Bartelstein said. “We’re excited to launch the new G League team with a name and identity chosen by our fans and inspired by the unique desert landscape that we call home.”

I didn't realize how clever that logo was at first look. It's got the the 'S', 'U', and 'N' in it. S in the middle to represent the beginning and the end.

I don't mind the logo - they're all looking for logos that will work well on web sites - but I do think the name is pretty uninspired.

[Superbone]

I wonder if we're going to get the G-League Ignite players that are still under contract, or how they're going to set up the initial players for the Valley Suns?

The original Suns, I believe, got to pick from a pool of players that were made available from the other teams at the time. Each team could only protect so many. That's how we got the original Sun, Dick Van Arsdale. He came from the Knicks.

A history lesson for some of you youngins:

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016 ... hoenix-sun

April 1, 1968 - Suns draft Gary Gregor in the college draft
April 5, 1968 - Suns sign Gary Gregor
May 6, 1969 - Suns draft Dick Van Arsdale first in the expansion draft

So somebody explain to me how Dick Van Arsdale is "The Original Sun". He was the last remaining Sun from the first year however.

And for many, many years after that.

[Split T]

I wonder if we're going to get the G-League Ignite players that are still under contract, or how they're going to set up the initial players for the Valley Suns?

The original Suns, I believe, got to pick from a pool of players that were made available from the other teams at the time. Each team could only protect so many. That's how we got the original Sun, Dick Van Arsdale. He came from the Knicks.

A history lesson for some of you youngins:

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016 ... hoenix-sun

April 1, 1968 - Suns draft Gary Gregor in the college draft
April 5, 1968 - Suns sign Gary Gregor
May 6, 1969 - Suns draft Dick Van Arsdale first in the expansion draft

So somebody explain to me how Dick Van Arsdale is "The Original Sun". He was the last remaining Sun from the first year however.

Bbref has Gregor being drafted in June…where does the April date come from?

[In2ition]

https://arizonasports.com/story/3547963 ... ett-arena/

“We are excited for Mullett Arena to be the home of the Valley Suns,” said Mullett Arena general manager Amber Musgrave. “We are dedicated to creating memorable experiences for the community and look forward to extending the ‘Mullett Magic’ beyond our Sun Devil Athletic events, concerts, comedy and family shows to now include the Valley Suns.”

“The Valley Suns is the community’s team and will provide fans an energetic and family-friendly atmosphere while developing aspiring talent on and off the court,” Bartelstein said. “We’re excited to launch the new G League team with a name and identity chosen by our fans and inspired by the unique desert landscape that we call home.”

I didn't realize how clever that logo was at first look. It's got the the 'S', 'U', and 'N' in it. S in the middle to represent the beginning and the end.

I like the logo myself. It has the original Sunburst outline, the modern Suns font and the cool wavy suns in the middle.

[Split T]

I was thinking about the prospect of trading Royce O’Neale and then Bobby Marks mentioned it as an option for us and now I can’t stop thinking about it. We can give him any salary number we want as part of a sign and trade. We want Deandre Hunter from Atlanta? Sign Royce to a 3 year deal starting at the same salary Hunter makes with years 2 and 3 non-guaranteed.

Why does Atlanta do it? Gets them off years 2 and 3 of Hunters deal. Not sure it’s enough, but maybe.

Does Toronto want off Poeltl? You could also attach an asset…how about Royce and ‘31 for Kuzma?

You could literally give Royce a 3 year deal starting at 44 million with only the 1st year guaranteed and swap him for Zach Lavine if you want.

Now obviously some of these scenarios are unrealistic…is Ishbia going to add 44 million in salary that would add like 250 million probably in luxury tax? Probably not…but the point is you could technically trade for anyone up to 44 million by using Royce in a sign and trade.

Someone probably offers more for Jarrett Allen, but how about Royce and the 2031 1st for Allen? Just some thoughts

[wpmiller42]

I was thinking about the prospect of trading Royce O’Neale and then Bobby Marks mentioned it as an option for us and now I can’t stop thinking about it. We can give him any salary number we want as part of a sign and trade. We want Deandre Hunter from Atlanta? Sign Royce to a 3 year deal starting at the same salary Hunter makes with years 2 and 3 non-guaranteed.

Why does Atlanta do it? Gets them off years 2 and 3 of Hunters deal. Not sure it’s enough, but maybe.

Does Toronto want off Poeltl? You could also attach an asset…how about Royce and ‘31 for Kuzma?

You could literally give Royce a 3 year deal starting at 44 million with only the 1st year guaranteed and swap him for Zach Lavine if you want.

Now obviously some of these scenarios are unrealistic…is Ishbia going to add 44 million in salary that would add like 250 million probably in luxury tax? Probably not…but the point is you could technically trade for anyone up to 44 million by using Royce in a sign and trade.

Someone probably offers more for Jarrett Allen, but how about Royce and the 2031 1st for Allen? Just some thoughts

That's a really good point. Having that flexibility with a free agent when you're over the second apron is something I don't think was considered, otherwise they probably would have closed this loophole. I really like Royce though; if this is the route we choose to go, I would hope that we significantly upgrade.

[Split T]

Nvm, Marks was wrong. You can’t acquire a player by sending out a player in a S&T if you’re over the 2nd apron. We’d have to sign Royce and trade him Dec. 15th

[Split T]

Here’s my next thought…trade the 2031 1st for multiple 1sts…that pick is seen as highly valuable…I feel like we could get 2-3 lower level 1sts for it…like wouldn’t OKC or some other top tier team give up 3 late 1sts for our unprotected 2031 1st?

[The Bobster]

I wonder if we're going to get the G-League Ignite players that are still under contract, or how they're going to set up the initial players for the Valley Suns?

The original Suns, I believe, got to pick from a pool of players that were made available from the other teams at the time. Each team could only protect so many. That's how we got the original Sun, Dick Van Arsdale. He came from the Knicks.

A history lesson for some of you youngins:

https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016 ... hoenix-sun

April 1, 1968 - Suns draft Gary Gregor in the college draft
April 5, 1968 - Suns sign Gary Gregor
May 6, 1969 - Suns draft Dick Van Arsdale first in the expansion draft

So somebody explain to me how Dick Van Arsdale is "The Original Sun". He was the last remaining Sun from the first year however.

Bbref has Gregor being drafted in June…where does the April date come from?

Firsthand research.

[The Bobster]

The 1968 NBA Draft went down this way -

4/1/68 - 1st round conducted in New York City by conference call
4/1/68 - 1st round choices announced
5/8/68 - Rounds 2-12 conducted in New York City

The reason for the early date for the first round was to get an early start in their effort to sign the top players before the ABA got a headstart on them.

Also -

[Kryptonic]

lol I was gonna say….. why are we questioning our official NBA lexicon. Solid work Bobster!

[Split T]

Interesting…weird bbref has it listed the way they do. I guess maybe “Original Sun” has more to do with just being the best player on that initial team..or he did score the first 2 points. No one knows Gary Gregor, gotta twist the facts a tiny bit to make it someone fans care about.

[The Bobster]

Interesting…weird bbref has it listed the way they do. I guess maybe “Original Sun” has more to do with just being the best player on that initial team..or he did score the first 2 points. No one knows Gary Gregor, gotta twist the facts a tiny bit to make it someone fans care about.

I'm sure it has a lot to do with him being from the expansion season and playing here so long. Van was very popular, and appealed to fans in a square-jawed, middle American, "aw shucks" kind of way.

As for BasketballReference.com, I have done work for them in the past (not on the draft however) and will have to contact them about the draft date error. Most of what I have done for them is things like ABA transactions, coaching tenure dates and information about career interruptions for military service or playing overseas.

When I was writing my draft history book the number of errors that I came across were staggering. Not only names and schools, but the order of some drafts and even the dates they were held. The amazing thing about the draft (to me, at least) is that in the 1970s they would hold a 15 or 20 round draft (they kept going until everyone passed) and then a month or two later teams would send in a Supplementary Draft list which was basically undrafted players that they wanted negotiation rights to. So you could be the 20th best ROOKIE on the Celtics' roster (if they bothered to invite you to camp) fighting for one or two roster spots with the end of the bench players and maybe a couple of veteran free agents. Paring the draft back to three, and eventually two, rounds was a big win for fringe rookies who could shop themselves around and try to find somewhere that they would have a btter chance of making a team.

[The Bobster]

lol I was gonna say….. why are we questioning our official NBA lexicon. Solid work Bobster!

Thanks, I would have never written a book about the history of the draft except I knew an editor for Scarecrow Press and the draft was one of the things that I had a lot of information about that interested them.

You can find a large preview of it here -

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Th ... frontcover

[Superbone]

Interesting…weird bbref has it listed the way they do. I guess maybe “Original Sun” has more to do with just being the best player on that initial team..or he did score the first 2 points. No one knows Gary Gregor, gotta twist the facts a tiny bit to make it someone fans care about.

Tell that to Lazarus. I've heard him mention him many a time.

[The Bobster]

Van was sort of the Dan Majerle of his day - very popular with the fans, a hard-nosed player who was a borderline All-Star at his peak.

I think the main confusion is the assumption that the expansion draft took place before the college draft. It did take place 2 days before rounds 2-12 on (May 4th & May 6th).

My theory is that the nickname may have originated from Al McCoy, who joined the team in 1972 of course, and Gregor was long gone by then with Van being the only member of the first season remaining.

[Split T]

That makes sense…I figured he probably wasn’t called the original sun right from the get go

[Mori Chu]

That makes sense…I figured he probably wasn’t called the original sun right from the get go

Maybe they just meant that he displayed a lot of creativity.