Suns News: 2026 Offseason Edition

[Superbone]

I have a hard time seeing how Dunn gets minutes if we are healthy:

Booker/Gillespie/Bouyea
Green/Kennard/Highsmith
Brooks/Goodwin/Dunn
Bridges/Fleming/Peat
Williams/Oso/Maluach

That’s kinda how I see the rotation. Those guys on the 3rd line will have a tough path to minutes. Though I think we should be able to play 3 centers.

I think you're mostly right about that depth chart. But I look at it and I can't help but think I would like this team more if every single starter except Booker were off the team. I think I would rather watch a team with the following depth chart:

PG: Gillespie/Booyeah
SG: Book/Kennard
SF: Dunn/Goodwin
PF: Fleming/Peat
C: Maluach/Oso

Isn't that a much more fun, young, exciting, developing team? With some of our draft picks back in hand, such as the 2033 one, of course. We wouldn't likely make the playoffs, but who cares? We aren't and won't be a contender either way.

I wish we could just build our team the normal way by developing young guys and picks, and not put mediocre or overpaid veterans in front of them.

The team you describe loses at least 50 games, if not 60. Fun or not, no thanks.

Yeah, I wouldn't have paid what I paid for a 10 game package 15 rows behind the Suns bench if that's what we were doing.

[specialsauce]

I have a hard time seeing how Dunn gets minutes if we are healthy:

Booker/Gillespie/Bouyea
Green/Kennard/Highsmith
Brooks/Goodwin/Dunn
Bridges/Fleming/Peat
Williams/Oso/Maluach

That’s kinda how I see the rotation. Those guys on the 3rd line will have a tough path to minutes. Though I think we should be able to play 3 centers.

I think you're mostly right about that depth chart. But I look at it and I can't help but think I would like this team more if every single starter except Booker were off the team. I think I would rather watch a team with the following depth chart:

PG: Gillespie/Booyeah
SG: Book/Kennard
SF: Dunn/Goodwin
PF: Fleming/Peat
C: Maluach/Oso

Isn't that a much more fun, young, exciting, developing team? With some of our draft picks back in hand, such as the 2033 one, of course. We wouldn't likely make the playoffs, but who cares? We aren't and won't be a contender either way.

I wish we could just build our team the normal way by developing young guys and picks, and not put mediocre or overpaid veterans in front of them.

What? No.

We're not OKC with three high talent first round draft picks. None of those players are going to be the #1 or #2 on a team.

You want to trot out a bunch of role player development pieces?

No.

[pickle]

[pickle]

[pickle]

Love having this young man on our team.

[pickle]

Sorry if I’m spamming the board. I am just so happy to see that a) we’ve drafted a bunch of young prospects that I can root for and b) they all have good heads on their shoulders.

[AmareIsGod]

Holy shit. I just realized we killed it with the Kevin Durant trade. Brooks, Green, Maluach, Fleming, Brea, and (indirectly) Peat. That is insane!

[virtual9mm]

Holy shit. I just realized we killed it with the Kevin Durant trade. Brooks, Green, Maluach, Fleming, Brea, and (indirectly) Peat. That is insane!

Indeed. Good drafting for sure.

[Mori Chu]

Holy shit. I just realized we killed it with the Kevin Durant trade. Brooks, Green, Maluach, Fleming, Brea, and (indirectly) Peat. That is insane!

If some the young guys continue to grow and pan out, it'll look like a pretty good trade in a few years. I do think we could have squeezed Houston for a bit more, like one more 1st, but it's still a pretty decent outcome for us. The main shoe to drop is Green; I have said plenty of times that I want us to ship his ass out. If we can get a good return for him, then the KD trade will start to look REALLY good for us.

[TOO]

Or, maybe Jalen Green just plays well because he's healthy again?

[Superbone]

Or, maybe Jalen Green just plays well because he's healthy again?

That's the hope. People trying to get rid of him like he's trash rubs me the wrong way. He's been nothing put a perfect soldier so far. His teammates seem to love him. I get we'd be better off with a PG but yeah.

[Split T]

I hope Green is good too, but we still have a big playmaking issue…maybe someone surprises us though and makes a leap.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Booker and Green aren’t a playoff winning starting backcourt.

Only caveat is something unusual like an excellent playmaking forward.

[pickle]

Do we really think this team as currently constructed and with this gaping 23 mil hole on the roster and Booker on an max deal is going to contend for a championship in then next three years? What is our goal with this team? To eke out two more wins at all costs? Doesn’t good chemistry count for something?

I’m 100% with Bone on the attitude towards Green.

[BKinSJC]

If Booker and Green don’t work together as a winning backcourt, trading Green isn’t the only available answer.

The team might have to be decide to be pragmatic about what it really has though, and understand the league’s current valuation of relatively inefficient high-usage scorers that are making supermax-level money. The Jaylen Brown trade this summer seems like a very relevant data point.

[Gladiator]

I don’t hate Jalen Green but do think he just is what he is as a player - I can’t see a path to him getting significantly better in the areas we most need him to (playmaking and defense). His FG% last season is right on his career average and he has been remarkably consistent season by season - between 41.6 and 42.6 each year. Could he make a big efficiency jump in year 6? It’s possible but certainly not likely.
He’s not going to be a plus defender or playmaker so we need to ask is scoring worth it for this team? As a young player some in the league may still see significant upside in, we’d be silly not to see what offers might be out there.

As for Book, I think he’s worth more to us than other teams, and certainly more than we’d get back in a trade. It’s worth something to have someone that other star players respect and seem keen to play with - even though the $s of his contract is a concern going forward. The point about Brown’s return is well made, although Brown rightly or wrongly had a rep as a bad teammate/ high maintenance player which is certainly not the case with Book.

[Split T]

Do we really think this team as currently constructed and with this gaping 23 mil hole on the roster and Booker on an max deal is going to contend for a championship in then next three years? What is our goal with this team? To eke out two more wins at all costs? Doesn’t good chemistry count for something?

I’m 100% with Bone on the attitude towards Green.

I think for me I’d just like to see some gains. I agree that this team isn’t winning a title in the next 3 years(not without a miracle), but I don’t want the team to just be a 45 win play-in team each year that doesn’t make even a dent in round 1.

I want the team to make little jumps each year…maybe we get to 48 wins and a 6 seed, which leads to pushing the 3 seed in round 1…then we win 52 games and snag the 4th seed and maybe even win a round…all of a sudden, Beal’s money clears, Maluach looks like a star and we make another move for a star player and are at least knocking on the door of being a contender.

If 45 wins is this teams ceiling, then we will just eventually blow it up. That’s not an awful idea either, but I prefer to root for the former. I don’t hate Green and I can surely cheer for him…he’s just the most logical piece to move…though I can see the benefit in holding onto him as well…he’s probably at his nadir in trade value right now.

[pickle]

I don’t disagree, but I have two points to make. First, guess I’ve already made it in my last post, is that chemistry should mean something. I don’t want to improve by two wins just to bring in players that ruin the good vibes we have. Second, I don’t want to chase those minuscule gains by sacrificing future flexibility. If we can find a solid trade for green that brings back more future flexibility and good locker room presence that also helps balance our team, I’m all for it. But I have very little faith that this team can make moves while improving the long term asset situation, and I’d hate to get to 48 wins and realize we have nothing to trade anymore and that is our ceiling, by which time Booker is 33 and making 70 mil and barely worth the 37 yr old KD package.

I’m not saying keep Green at all costs or to bet on him suddenly becoming Jamal Murray. But I also don’t want to dump him for whatever distressed asset that comes on the market that are 5-7 yrs older just because he’s not a pg.

[pickle]

[Flagrant Fowl]

Many of us have been saying it for months, Green needs to come off the bench.