Re: Suns News: Week 22 (3/17 - 3/23)
Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2025 1:00 pm
I don’t want to clutter this weeks news feed with this, but was trying to think what have been the worst moves with hindsight…so rank the following moves on what had the biggest negative impact on where the team is today:
1. Mikal, CamJ, Crowder, 4 1sts, and 1 swap for KD and Warren.
2. CP3, Shamet, all our 2nds, and 2? swaps for Beal, Goodwin, and Todd.
3. Ayton and Camara for Nurkic, Allen, Little, Johnson
4. Signing Tyus Jones and promising him a starting spot.
5. Signing KBD, Yuta, EG, Eubanks, and Metu to vet mins
For the last two, assume that instead of those signings you found a better fit(but still a vet min player). In place of Tyus Jones, think Taurean Prince.
I don’t have good alternatives for the previous year, but just assume we found 1 or 2 players that actually could play nba level basketball.
My answer:
1. Beal trade
2. Blowing the vet min contracts in 2023
3. Nurk for Camara
4. Tyus Jones
5. KD trade
If you undo the KD trade, it undoes every other move, so in a way you could put that 1, but the KD trade was also pretty easily the most successful move. He’s been great, those other moves all sucked.
1. Beal - not much explanation needed. Just a terrible fit that doubled down on our lack of size, defense, hustle and pigeonholed us into a team with very limited flexibility on how to play.
2. Blowing the vet mins…if we don’t trade for Beal and instead hit on our FA signings that summer, we had a team that showed it wasn’t far from hanging with the champs.
3. Nurk trade…wasn’t bad in year 1, but Nurk fell off a cliff and then the added sting of Camara turning into basically the perfect forward compliment to KD. I don’t want to dive into Ayton here, I’d still move him, but if you could have just found a replacement level big and kept Camara, I think we’d be better off.
4. Tyus trade…damage was basically already done, so that’s why this is far down, but the move didn’t work. Made us too small and being forced into starting him sucked. Without him, maybe Gillespie gets a chance earlier(although he broke his foot or something) or we just stick with Point Book and have added size and defense(Dunn or Prince?). I think the team is better, but probably just by a few wins.
1. Mikal, CamJ, Crowder, 4 1sts, and 1 swap for KD and Warren.
2. CP3, Shamet, all our 2nds, and 2? swaps for Beal, Goodwin, and Todd.
3. Ayton and Camara for Nurkic, Allen, Little, Johnson
4. Signing Tyus Jones and promising him a starting spot.
5. Signing KBD, Yuta, EG, Eubanks, and Metu to vet mins
For the last two, assume that instead of those signings you found a better fit(but still a vet min player). In place of Tyus Jones, think Taurean Prince.
I don’t have good alternatives for the previous year, but just assume we found 1 or 2 players that actually could play nba level basketball.
My answer:
1. Beal trade
2. Blowing the vet min contracts in 2023
3. Nurk for Camara
4. Tyus Jones
5. KD trade
If you undo the KD trade, it undoes every other move, so in a way you could put that 1, but the KD trade was also pretty easily the most successful move. He’s been great, those other moves all sucked.
1. Beal - not much explanation needed. Just a terrible fit that doubled down on our lack of size, defense, hustle and pigeonholed us into a team with very limited flexibility on how to play.
2. Blowing the vet mins…if we don’t trade for Beal and instead hit on our FA signings that summer, we had a team that showed it wasn’t far from hanging with the champs.
3. Nurk trade…wasn’t bad in year 1, but Nurk fell off a cliff and then the added sting of Camara turning into basically the perfect forward compliment to KD. I don’t want to dive into Ayton here, I’d still move him, but if you could have just found a replacement level big and kept Camara, I think we’d be better off.
4. Tyus trade…damage was basically already done, so that’s why this is far down, but the move didn’t work. Made us too small and being forced into starting him sucked. Without him, maybe Gillespie gets a chance earlier(although he broke his foot or something) or we just stick with Point Book and have added size and defense(Dunn or Prince?). I think the team is better, but probably just by a few wins.
but over all agree with your break down.