Suns News: Week 16 2/6-2/12

[Superbone]

Which if proven to be real would do more damage than just letting him earn that next contract, IMO. You might be right and I would agree, but it's not the right thing to do.

It sure seems that way and it's definitely not the right way to go about business.

Does that tarnish your impression of Watson?

I'd expect that's coming from above. Watson isn't the one that has to pay him.

But his philosophy of family he preaches should trump his boss telling him to undercut a guy for financial gain, right?

You're seriously asking me if he should go against his bosses wishes? You've worked for a company before where you wanted to keep your job, right?

[Indy]

It sure seems that way and it's definitely not the right way to go about business.

Does that tarnish your impression of Watson?

I'd expect that's coming from above. Watson isn't the one that has to pay him.

But his philosophy of family he preaches should trump his boss telling him to undercut a guy for financial gain, right?

You're seriously asking me if he should go against his bosses wishes? You've worked for a company before where you wanted to keep your job, right?

If a boss asks me to do something to help him but it undercuts my team, I tell him/her no. I haven't had many bad bosses in my life, but I have had this happen a couple times, and both times I said no. Your philosophy in life is more important than what your boss wants (especially if it isn't good for your team).

[Cap]

I'm trying to imagine that conversation.


Ryan McDonough: Earl, Alex is in a contract year. We need to limit his market value. I want you to keep his minutes and numbers down. Put him in positions to fail. Get hin the worst +/- on the team.

Earl Watson: How am I supposed to do that when you're making me play Brandon Knight?

RM: Okay, second-worst on the team. And the way you do it is by playing them together. Duh.

[carey]

Knight & Warren for Trevor Booker and RHJ?

[ShelC]

Nets have Lin long term, doubt they want Knight.

[carey]

Nets have Lin long term, doubt they want Knight.

They have him for 1 more year and a player option year. He's also only played 9 games.

[Split T]

Knight & Warren for Trevor Booker and RHJ?

Booker is nice, but he'd just get in the way of Chriss and Benders development, and I think the Nets like him. I'd love RHJ to replace Tucker as our defensive wing off the bench, but I also don't think Nets are interested in moving him. At least not for what would be essentially a lateral move. The Nets actually have quite a few guards that they need to find out if they are any good. RHJ, Levert, Kilpatrick, Lin, Dinwiddie, Whitehead, Harris. I think Knight would just get in the way of that as well.

[Superbone]

Does that tarnish your impression of Watson?

I'd expect that's coming from above. Watson isn't the one that has to pay him.

But his philosophy of family he preaches should trump his boss telling him to undercut a guy for financial gain, right?

You're seriously asking me if he should go against his bosses wishes? You've worked for a company before where you wanted to keep your job, right?

If a boss asks me to do something to help him but it undercuts my team, I tell him/her no. I haven't had many bad bosses in my life, but I have had this happen a couple times, and both times I said no. Your philosophy in life is more important than what your boss wants (especially if it isn't good for your team).

That's good for you but all situations are not the same. I'm sure you can find another similar position if you need to. Head NBA coaching positions are much rarer and you may not get a second chance.

[Ring_Wanted]

Knight & Warren for Trevor Booker and RHJ?

I want to keep TJ unless the deal is for a star, although I agree we need to look at a defensive specialist to take over PJ. I'm not sure BRY would do it anyway. RHJ is a very nice piece, although he precedes Sean Marks so perhaps there is not so much attachment.

How about Caldwell-Pope. He'd be pretty expensive but it is said Van Gundy has everybody on the table.

[JCSunsfan]

Knight & Warren for Trevor Booker and RHJ?

Now that would be a confusing lineup.

[Cap]

Knight & Warren for Trevor Booker and RHJ?

Now that would be a confusing lineup.

That's getting perilously close to doing the brothers thing again. Trevor actually has a brother named Devin.

[carey]

Apologies, I just thought T. Booker might be a good backup PF. Also that RHJ would give us more of what we need at the 3 than Warren and could provide an interesting combo with Bender out there. Also it would make re-signing Tucker a non-issue.

[TOO]

I dont think Rondae or Trevor are any good. *shrugs*

[Mori Chu]

I wouldn't mind having Lin as a bench guard. RHJ is great, but he might be hard to pry away from the Nets. Why isn't Brooklyn trading Brook Lopez? Isn't he likely to move in a deadline deal?

[Split T]

If the Nets can find someone willing to give up a good 1st round pick or a nice young prospect, I think they'd move Lopez. Not sure there's a team out there that can give them what they want though. If the Bulls decide to go all in with Butler, maybe Rondo, Portis, and the Kings 1st for Lopez would work. The Thunder could use him to replace Kanter, but not sure what they have to offer back.

[carey]

McDonough interview here: http://arizonasports.com/story/1027017/ ... e-of-them/

The NBA’s Feb. 23 trade deadline is looming, and for the Phoenix Suns, it could prove to be a pretty busy day.

But GM Ryan McDonough is not stressing over it, especially compared to this time last year.

“I feel like we put a lot of pressure on ourselves internally,” he told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday as part of Newsmakers Week. “Last year I felt like we had to make a move. The Markieff Morris situation had obviously become untenable, and for the good of the organization that was something we had to do.

“I don’t feel that way this year.”

Indeed, last season the Suns were almost forced to pull off at least one trade, shipping the disgruntled forward to Washington in exchange for a 2016 first-round pick. On draft night, the Suns traded the pick — No. 13 overall — to Sacramento in the deal that landed them Marquese Chriss.

McDonough saying he does not feel like the Suns need to make a trade is not the same as him saying they would not like to make a deal, however.

At 18-39 the Suns enter the All-Star break with the second-worst record in the NBA and 7.5 games out of the final Western Conference playoff spot. They lost 10 of their last 13 games entering the break, but did end the first half on a high note with a 137-101 demolition of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Our record’s not what we hoped it would be,” McDonough conceded, before adding that he feels good about how the team’s young players are performing, especially of late.

There are areas he would like to see the team improve, but in terms of the trade deadline, McDonough pointed out that there are plenty of options in front of them.

“I think we’re about $13 or 14 million under the salary cap, so we’re able to take on more salary in a trade than we send out,” he said. “Obviously we have a lot of young players and draft picks that have a significant amount of interest around the league. And we have some veteran guys that I think would help teams that either are trying to solidify themselves as playoff teams or trying to load up if they think they are a championship contender.”

Any stress McDonough said he may have would be related to the various directions he and the team could go.

The path he wants the team to be on is one that leads to a star, though he said every GM in the league is seeking the same thing.

To that end, the fourth-year GM said one thing that has changed over the last year and a half or so is that more teams are calling them asking about younger players and draft picks, showing that the Suns have some coveted assets.

“With us, I think we’re at or near the top of the list in terms of teams that could put together a package for a star,” he said.

But is that star or are those stars available? That’s something McDonough said they have to determine, along with deciding if the organization is ready to take that big of a leap.

“Are we ready to push some of our chips to the center of the table and say ‘this guy would really help accelerate our learning curve, our timeframe,'” he said. “Or, are we willing to be patient, continue to develop the young guys, who have obviously shown a lot of promise, and try to add another piece or pieces to them in the draft?”

McDonough did say he does not feel like the Suns are one star away from being a contender, which will impact how he approaches this upcoming deadline.

“Now, if we could figure out a way to get two elite players and keep some of our core or most of our core guys, then we have to think about that,” he said. “Because I think the way Eric Bledsoe’s playing, the way Devin Booker’s playing and how he’s going to look in the future, how we think he’ll look in the future, those two guys are good enough to win, or will be good enough to win at a high level.

“If we can get another couple guys to go with them who are as good or better than them, then we have to think about that and that’s something we’re actively weighing.”

When trying to gauge the Suns’ future, it starts with 20-year-old Booker and continues with Chriss and Dragan Bender, who are each 19 years of age. Twenty-three year old T.J. Warren has also impressed this season, though his improvement has been derailed a bit due to injuries.

After that group, however, things get a bit murkier. Bledsoe has arguably been the team’s best player this year and likely should have been an All-Star while averaging a team-best 21.6 points to go along with 6.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game, while veterans P.J. Tucker, Jared Dudley and Tyson Chandler have also played well.

Other players, like Brandon Knight, Leandro Barbosa and Alex Len have all been effective at times, though have hardly been consistent.

Put it all together and you have a team that is short on wins but not necessarily on attractive pieces. Bledsoe in particular has been the subject of recent speculation, not because he is a bad player but instead because while he’s excellent, his age, 27, and career timeline does not necessarily mesh with those of the team’s other young talent.

McDonough said that kind of thinking is false.

“I’m not saying that we’d put anybody off limits — we’re not in position to do that — but Eric’s played at an extremely high level, especially in 2017; over the last month and a half he’s been phenomenal,” he said. “Forty-point games, a triple-double the other night; his development and growth as a player has been one of the more rewarding things for me, personally, and for us, organizationally, since I’ve been in the league, which is 14-plus years now.”

McDonough credited Bledsoe’s growth on and off the court as well as his maturation as a leader, which is important at the point guard position. As for his age, the GM pointed to Steve Nash, who played some of his best basketball in his 30s, as reason to not look to trade Bledsoe just because he is a little older.

“I’m not obviously comparing Eric to Steve — that would be unfair to him when you’re talking about a two-time MVP and Hall of Famer — but he has improved a lot and if you look at guys who are in their 30s, around 30, like Chris Paul, like Mike Conley, those guys kind of keep getting better every year, and Eric looks like he’s on that path.

“We never say never, we never put anybody totally off limits, but I think it’s very unlikely we trade Eric and more likely we try to add guys in that age range, from 19 to 27, to play with Eric and Devin Booker.”

[ShelC]

McD is attached to Bleds. As long as McD is here, so is Bledsoe. For better or worse.

[In2ition]

Didn't I say that he thinks of Bledsoe like Nash and having a Nash type of growth chart as a player? I swear I called this, and don't believe that he's going to be trading or looking to trade Bledsoe anytime soon.

[sunshoopjunky]

I think that Bledsoe's future with us will have a lot to do with where our pick is after the lotto? And if we have 1 of the 2 stars he is looking for. I also feel like we have been a step behind the Celtics (as far as value of assets) for a long time. That will be over one way or another after the draft.

[Cap]

If we end up with Fultz or Ball, I imagine we'll trade Bledsoe then, especially if we can't move Knight, which we probably can't.