Phx-Suns.Net

Nih-Luh-Keena.

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:03 pm

ShelC wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:11 pm

I'm not sure Frank is an NBA player. At best he's a wing, not a point guard, who can play defense but has no offense. And it's not like, "well he can't shoot, he'll get better"....I mean, he has no feel for offense. No offensive moves, body control, instincts. He's the Knicks' version of Dragan Bender, except all the fanboys on twitter have raging boners for him and basically force the Knicks beatwriters to making Frank a story every single day.

I still don't know how to pronounce his name. Every time I look at it, I think the letters must be out of order.

He himself pronounced it one way (Ni-LEE-ki-na) but most of the NBA commentators pronounce it another way (Nil-a-KEE-Na).

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:18 pm

In2ition wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 12:49 pm

Question for everyone. If AD is made available, what would you trade for him? If the Suns win the #1 pick, I think the Suns could offer the best package.

I know that everyone talks about the Lakers or the Celtics, but the Lakers would have to gut their young core and the Celtics can't make a trade until July 1st and all those draft picks will most likely be in the back end of the 1st round this year and already picked in a draft that isn't nearly as deep as last year.

The problem is that AD would have only one year here on his contract. The folks here wouldn't even trade one top-4 pick for 2 years of Kyrie Irving, and the primary excuse given was that he'd just leave Phoenix after those 2 years were up. So if the same folks say they'd love to trade our top assets for *1* year of AD, I call bullsh1t.

It’s not really the same situation at all.

1. AD and Kyrie are not in the same tier. AD is a legit mvp candidate and is either 1a or 1b with Giannis as the best young players in the game.

2. The suns were not ready to be good yet when kyrie was available. It’s much harder to convince someone to stay when your team isn’t very good.

3. Kyrie didn’t seem like a great fit alongside booker. AD is a perfect fit alongside Booker.

So yes, I’d trade our #1 pick for a year of AD. I don’t know how Ayton fits with AD but I’d give it a try. I also wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to trading Ayton if AD gave us some indication he’d sign.

Would you play Ayton at center and AD next to him at PF? Seems to me like that might work. Might even be great.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:23 pm

Would you play Ayton at center and AD next to him at PF? Seems to me like that might work. Might even be great.

You could. AD is so good you could play him with anyone. Ideally Ayton would be a better shooter allowing AD space inside, but AD is pretty capable being the stretch guy. Defensively it would have some crazy potential.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:19 pm

Marty [Mori Chu] wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 3:03 pm

ShelC wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:11 pm

I'm not sure Frank is an NBA player. At best he's a wing, not a point guard, who can play defense but has no offense. And it's not like, "well he can't shoot, he'll get better"....I mean, he has no feel for offense. No offensive moves, body control, instincts. He's the Knicks' version of Dragan Bender, except all the fanboys on twitter have raging boners for him and basically force the Knicks beatwriters to making Frank a story every single day.

I still don't know how to pronounce his name. Every time I look at it, I think the letters must be out of order.

He himself pronounced it one way (Ni-LEE-ki-na) but most of the NBA commentators pronounce it another way (Nil-a-KEE-Na).

Yep that's the correct pronounciation (source: https://www.konbini.com/fr/partners/ren ... t-francais). But even in France they often pronounce it often wrong ('n-tee-lee-kee-na)

Superbone wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:23 pm

Would you play Ayton at center and AD next to him at PF? Seems to me like that might work. Might even be great.

I'm not sure we would ever get the chance to see that. I don't think an AD trade could go down without the Suns giving up Ayton.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:19 pm

Superbone wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:23 pm

Would you play Ayton at center and AD next to him at PF? Seems to me like that might work. Might even be great.

I'm not sure we would ever get the chance to see that. I don't think an AD trade could go down without the Suns giving up Ayton.

Who is the Ayton equivalence on the Lakers and Celtics?

I don't think the Lakers or Celtics could offer someone of Ayton's caliber. That's why I think the Suns would have to part with him. Without Ayton's inclusion, the Suns aren't beating a package of Ball/Ingram/Kuzma.

I don't really see the Celtics as a viable suitor.

Celtics could get him if they offer Tatum

Yeah, for some reason I was assuming Tatum wouldn't be made available. But if the Celtics offer Tatum and Brown, that would be hard to beat and hard for the Pelicans to turn down.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:35 pm

I don't think the Lakers or Celtics could offer someone of Ayton's caliber. That's why I think the Suns would have to part with him. Without Ayton's inclusion, the Suns aren't beating a package of Ball/Ingram/Kuzma.

I don't really see the Celtics as a viable suitor.

I think if we got the #1 pick we could get away without giving up Ayton. I also don't think it pays to trade for Davis this year. No reason to bring him into this mess yet and we can offer a more valuable package in the summer when we could also absorb some of their bad money.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:35 pm

I don't think the Lakers or Celtics could offer someone of Ayton's caliber. That's why I think the Suns would have to part with him. Without Ayton's inclusion, the Suns aren't beating a package of Ball/Ingram/Kuzma.

I don't really see the Celtics as a viable suitor.

I don't think the Lakers are committed to gut their young core. I also don't think the Suns make Ayton available either. The Suns would be viable if they win the lottery again and make the #1 pick available along with other pieces.

Suns really biffed it on that Marquese Chriss trade. Bodgan's a boss.

Where it could get interesting is if we do land the #1. Would you help facilitate a trade to LA and pick up say Kuzma and Ball? I’d actually prefer Jrue in that scenario...who says no

Lakers get AD and Josh Jackson
Suns get Kuzma and Jrue
Pelicans get Zion, Ingram, and Ball

Jrue/Booker/Bridges/Kuzma/Ayton with
Okobo/Melton/Oubre/Warren/Holmes off the bench?

Pels rebuild around Ingram/Zion/Ball

Lakers put AD and Lebron together, keep Hart, add Jackson and I assume they still have money to sign additional pieces.

Maybe we decide it’d be better to just take Zion for ourselves. Which could be true. I think Zion is fantastic. But this would solve our pg and 4 problem in one swoop.

Lonzo to Phoenix is a non-starter.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:47 pm

Lonzo to Phoenix is a non-starter.

I had him going to NO and us getting Jrue

Split T wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:48 pm

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:47 pm

Lonzo to Phoenix is a non-starter.

I had him going to NO and us getting Jrue

Sorry, I was responding to your initial question:

Would you help facilitate a trade to LA and pick up say Kuzma and Ball?

I think the Pelicans would want to hang on to Jrue, even post-Davis.

No way am I trading Ayton (plus additional assets) for Davis. Ayton could end up being better than Davis by himself and there’s no way to know that he won’t be, after just one season. For example, Davis didn’t even match Ayton’s rookie rebounding numbers until his 5th year in the league.

Then factor in that there is no guarantee Davis stays here...why would we ever do that deal?

Now if we are talking our 2019 first plus future firsts along with say Warren and Bridges? Sure, if Davis gives a firm commitment to staying.

Uh I’m not trading Ayton for anyone except Giannis.