Suns News: The Offseason

[Mori Chu]

If they try to get rid of purple again, I will ... quietly be upset.

[Ring_Wanted]

Please god let the new jerseys be good. I already became a fan of the current ones (want to purchase Booker's alternate black). Please...

[carey]

https://twitter.com/JaredDudley619/status/894600834092224513

[Split T]

Who's the guy between big sauce and Chriss?

Millsap maybe?

[Indy]

"I'm Yoda"

[ShelC]

The more I see #TheTimeline, the more I hate our front office and tactics.

[Superbone]

The more I see #TheTimeline, the more I hate our front office and tactics.

Why?

BTW, I thought it was funny that Dudley used it.

[In2ition]

Where is TJ? I assume Alex and Dragan are playing for their countries.

[Superbone]

Where is TJ? I assume Alex and Dragan are playing for their countries.

It's pretty cool that that many of our guys are hanging out together in August.

[Indy]

I like that big sauce is holding a jar of hot sauce

[TOO]

https://twitter.com/Suns/status/894682610558943232

[ShelC]

The more I see #TheTimeline, the more I hate our front office and tactics.

Why?

BTW, I thought it was funny that Dudley used it.

Because I'm a fan and I want to see us making moves to win, not biding time waiting for other teams to get old or break up. You can wait forever playing that game but I think some execs want to work that way to hold onto their jobs longer than they should. The league is fluid, Curry can go down with a torn ACL on opening night and the league could be wide open.

[Cap]

The more I see #TheTimeline, the more I hate our front office and tactics.

Why?

BTW, I thought it was funny that Dudley used it.

Because I'm a fan and I want to see us making moves to win, not biding time waiting for other teams to get old or break up. You can wait forever playing that game but I think some execs want to work that way to hold onto their jobs longer than they should. The league is fluid, Curry can go down with a torn ACL on opening night and the league could be wide open.

We're nowhere near contending, no matter what happens to Curry.

As a matter of history, trades that send away 1st-round picks for short-term fixes tend to be regrettable.

That is especially so when the short-term fix has already said he plans to leave in free agency in two years. And even if he does stay, it's far from certain he'll be worth the enormous salary he'll get. We're not talking about a LeBron or a Kawhi who's a bargain at max; we're talking about a guy who was 53rd in RPM last season and would probably not make the All-Star team in the West.

There are so many ways this deal could end up regrettable, and the stars pretty much have to align perfectly for it to start us down the road to contention.

[Cap]

Some thoughts on cap economics.

Since we're not going to build a contender by outspending the rest of the league, the only way to build a contender is with players who are bargains. A player is a bargain if his value to us exceeds his cost. If your players are only earning what you pay them, and what you're paying them collectively is the same as every other team in the league is paying theirs, then you can be no better than average. To build a winner, you need players whose production exceeds their salary.

Some players are Super-Max level players. By that I mean a player who is a bargain at max. If such a player is your free agent, you have an advantage: you have a good chance to keep him by offering him more than anyone else can, and you'll get a bargain if you do.

If a player is not a SM player, then having him be your free agent is much less of an advantage. Other teams may be able to offer him Fair Value or close to it. Keeping him may cost you FV or more. You are not in a clear position to get a bargain. (You might get a bargain anyway, if he likes you enough to accept less than FV, or if he's such a great fit that his value to your team exceeds his FV to other teams. But in general you don't.)

Kyrie is not a SM player. He's only 25, so he may get there before he hits FA in two years. But as of now, he isn't. If his play doesn't improve significantly, having his UFA rights in two years will be worth fairly little. And even if he does reach that level, he might spurn our max offer for less money in one of his preferred destinations.

[In2ition]

Doesn't Kyrie give up his chance to be paid Super Max, with a trade? I thought that's what I read somewhere.

[Cap]

Doesn't Kyrie give up his chance to be paid Super Max, with a trade? I thought that's what I read somewhere.

We'll still be able to pay him more than other teams, assuming he turns out to be worth it.

I probably shouldn't have used the term Super-Max, since that also has another meaning in this context. How about BAM, meaning "bargain at max (whatever the max happens to be in the particular circumstances)"? Kyrie is not a BAM player, and being able to offer your UFA more than other teams gets you a bargain only when he's a BAM player.

[Superbone]

<Suns Nike tweet redacted>

That's it?

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/Suns/status/894707836495699968

[Shabazz]

https://twitter.com/Suns/status/894707836495699968

Pretty sure that's James Harden that Booker drives against in the last play.

[Superbone]

Pretty sure that's James Harden that Booker drives against in the last play.

Yeah, that matador defense was easily recognizable. Well, that and the beard.