Suns News: Week 1 10/25-10/30

[Cap]

Especially Tucker. It's a contract year! It sort of is for Barbosa, too.

Just one game, though. These guys aren't done.

[Ring_Wanted]

That's subsanable...

What does that mean?

Ha! Sorry. I meant remediable.

[pickle]

My jury is still sort of out on Len. He has looked real good for stretches and then not so good. He has lacked consistency I guess. Not sure if those good and bad stretches coincide with injury.

I have been a Suns fan for decades and I would say the Center position has been our weakest position on average throughout their history of me watching. He doesn't have to be an All Star, just be decent. When he is playing good I rate him better than decent. When he's playing not so good he can hurt you. I also think you have to use Len against Centers he matches up well with and maybe use somebody else to start against guys he has matchup problems with, such as speedy athletic guys. Instead and let Len come off the bench in those situations. He might do more damage to their bench and not get into foul trouble as fast.

I like the guy. I like it when he has a good game and gets into it, not taking any s*** from the other team. I'm not ready to move him yet. He needs to start bringing it. How is his health right now anyway? Anybody know for sure? How's the ankles?

To me this is the key problem with Len. Conventional wisdom has it that if you run an undersized player at a particular position due to their improved shooting/agility/whatever on offense, then the other team will try to punish said player on the other side of the court. In an extreme case, you have the Cavs isolating against Curry on every position. Unfortunately, Len in his current form is the worst case scenario in terms of matching up against faster guys. He cannot stay with them on D, and he doesn't know how to leverage his size/weight on offense to punish the smaller guys.

If he can shoot consistently from 15 feet, and then continues to work on that shot out to about 22, then I think he can be a very useful piece. He could be what everyone was envisioning with Labissierre when they rated him the #2 prospect behind Simmons at the start of last year's college season. If we try to post Len on the low block, I feel like he really needs to gain lower body strength, as his center of gravity currently feels too high and he's too easily bumped off. If he ever learns to establish that position on offense, maybe he can learn some offensive verticality, in the sense that, rather than trying to sit on his opponent and back them down, he can just go up and over them and develop a little baby hook over either shoulder out to 10 feet. At his height that shot is not defendable by most players, and it could give him a new weapon in his arsenal. Once he establishes himself as a reasonable scoring threat, passing can come later. Whatever he does, backing his defender down is not the solution.

I'm less worried about offensive rebounding, because that's more of a team decision whether to crash the boards or get back on D. Len has long enough arms that he can often tap balls back to the guards on offense, and even if those numbers don't count, his impact is felt there.

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/RealGM/status/792375983542329345

[Superbone]

"Just come," Watson said. "We need your presence. You wanna do front office work? You wanna do scouting? You wanna work with a player? Just take a trip. Come have dinner with me one time. I’ll never let you leave. That was the sales pitch."

Price is 33 and wants to continue his playing career.

"Ronnie Price is not open to the idea," Watson smiled. "He’s too competitive. I gotta call him every Sunday."

[Indy]

I love that Watson offered him a role, and love any more that he is too competitive to admit that his playing days are likely over.

[carey]

https://twitter.com/paulcoro/status/792543430098300928 So long Alec Brown, we hardly knew ye?

[Mori Chu]

I would be insulted if I were only 33 and people were offering me coaching jobs. That's really young to be washed up.

[Indy]

I would be insulted if I were only 33 and people were offering me coaching jobs. That's really young to be washed up.

He is a backup PG that averaged 13 mpg over his career. That is end of the bench material, and if you are going to have an end of the bench guy on your team, most GMs would prefer one with potential to do more (and 22 years old). He played 11 years in the league. That is far better than most guys. Nothing to be ashamed of.

[pickle]

I would be thrilled to be 33 and already on track to coach. But then I'm not much of an athlete and much older than 33, so ... yeah.

[LazarusLong]

I would be thrilled to be 33 and already on track to coach. But then I'm not much of an athlete and much older than 33, so ... yeah.

Price had one of his best years as a player last season, so no doubt he's miffed that he's outside looking in.

[OE32]

I would be thrilled to be 33 and already on track to coach. But then I'm not much of an athlete and much older than 33, so ... yeah.

Price had one of his best years as a player last season, so no doubt he's miffed that he's outside looking in.

The Cavs should grab him. He's solid.

[da_suns_fan]

Amazing how many peeps thought Len was part of "the future" just one year ago. I got blasted for putting him in trade scenarios.

[specialsauce]

Price is NOT solid. He's aggressive, to a fault. IMO there's a misconception that he's a good defender.

Len is a solid C off the bench at most

[Mori Chu]

Price is NOT solid. He's aggressive, to a fault. IMO there's a misconception that he's a good defender.

Len is a solid C off the bench at most

I thought he was a pretty reasonable backup PG for us last year, myself. Not a world-beater, but he clearly still has game left in him. If I were 33 I wouldn't yet want to be talking about retiring and going into coaching. Even if I had to float around a bit, go overseas, whatever, I would want to keep playing for 4-5 more years.

[The Bobster]

On a good team Price is a fifth or sixth guard.

He's made a good career for himself considering his limitations, but I can see where he would think he still has some burn left.

[specialsauce]

I don't blame him for not calling it quits- I would do the same. I just don't think he's anything more than a 15th man.

[O_Gardino]

I think he's a pretty good 15th man for a team that needs a "coach on the bench." Kings, maybe?

It's just surprising that the Thunder let him go even with his guaranteed contract. I wonder if there's some reason for that besides OKC's strange roster management.