2018 Suns Offseason News

[Split T]

No news on a Booker extension? Could this mean he's willing to wait to sign until next offseason?

[carey]

We don't have money, don't worry about IT coming

We have the room exception $4.5M.

[TOO]

No news on a Booker extension? Could this mean he's willing to wait to sign until next offseason?

Only if he's a dummy or they agree to give him an opt out or something. I'd hate to give him an opt out.

[Split T]

We don't have money, don't worry about IT coming

We have the room exception $4.5M.

True...I guess IT's value has plummeted that far

[Flagrant Fowl]

The report I've read from Gambo is that Booker is trying to negotiate for a PO in the 5th year. On one hand, I get it. If we still suck with an inept front office by the time that PO comes up, I wouldn't be upset at Booker for declining and leaving. On the other hand, the front office is inept and he'll probably take his PO to go and play with his buddies elsewhere.

[ShelC]

Just give it to him. It's 5 years away. Lock him up with no ill will.

[JeremyG]

No news on a Booker extension? Could this mean he's willing to wait to sign until next offseason?

I hope we don’t even present that as an option to him. That would be the riskiest, stupidest thing the Suns have ever done. And that’s saying a lot obviously.

[JeremyG]

Just give it to him. It's 5 years away. Lock him up with no ill will.

Absolutely. If he wants a player option, give him a player option. I feel like they’re gonna find a way to screw this up, as has happened so many times before, where they start creating ill will.

[UglyTruth]

I seriously can’t believe Brandon Knight is gonna be the starting PG.

[INFORMER]

I don't expect anyone to love it, but I don't think it is a big deal. I don't think the Suns can move him without including a 1st rounder, and I am not sure the Suns are willing to do that. So I don't see any harm in seeing if his changed attitude plus Igor's coaching can turn him into somewhat of a positive. And who knows, maybe he actually turns into a player teams would actually want to trade for without any incentive.

[JCSunsfan]

Just give it to him. It's 5 years away. Lock him up with no ill will.

I would not do that.

[INFORMER]

Deal not done.
https://twitter.com/sbordow/status/1014286764037435392

[JeremyG]

I think we’re too used to having a star point guard as Suns fans. Most championship teams don’t have all-star point guards, whether it’s the Bulls/Rockets in the ‘90s, Lakers in the 2000s, or Heat in the 2010s.

[In2ition]

I think we’re too used to having a star point guard as Suns fans. Most championship teams don’t have all-star point guards, whether it’s the Bulls/Rockets in the ‘90s, Lakers in the 2000s, or Heat in the 2010s.

Yes, but... the way the game is played and officiated nowadays has changed the worth of the PG and Center. Obviously, pg is really important now. Cleveland wasn't as lethal without Kyrie and three of the last four championships where won by Curry and GSW. I think you are best to have a balanced team with stars at pg and around.

[Superbone]

I'm calling 32 wins. Ayton and Booker play no defense. Jackson can't space the floor. Ariza is a 34% 3 point shooter, who will be playing out of position. Knight is... well... awful. SO are all our real PFs. We just have too many holes in our roster full of bad players, and the few really good ones we have on offense are defensive liabilities.

We have to pay Booker, but I think we may end up regretting it if his defense doesn't improve.

Full of so much positivity and optimism. Did you have sour milk with your cereal this morning?

This was one of his good days, AIG. You wouldn't want to see him on his extra negative days.

[JeremyG]

I think we’re too used to having a star point guard as Suns fans. Most championship teams don’t have all-star point guards, whether it’s the Bulls/Rockets in the ‘90s, Lakers in the 2000s, or Heat in the 2010s.

Yes, but... the way the game is played and officiated nowadays has changed the worth of the PG and Center. Obviously, pg is really important now. Cleveland wasn't as lethal without Kyrie and three of the last four championships where won by Curry and GSW. I think you are best to have a balanced team with stars at pg and around.

I look at it more long-term than that. Since 1990, Tony Parker (twice) and Steph Curry (three times) are the only two point guards to win a championship in the same year they made an all-star team. The other 23 years it didn’t happen. If we can develop a “Shaq and Kobe 2.0” type of team, I don’t think we’ll need an all-star PG.

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/ScottHoward42/status/1014191344250597376 This made me laugh unreasonably hard

The thought of you laughing at it along with your avatar made ME laugh.

[Superbone]

Lillard had already been Rookie of the Year, played in 2 All-Star Games, been All-NBA and taken his team to the playoffs twice before he signed his extension. Booker hasn't done any of those things yet.

That doesn't bother me. The West is stacked. Booker is an exceptional talent and deserves the money.

You need the right teammates too.

[Superbone]

I'm calling 32 wins. Ayton and Booker play no defense. Jackson can't space the floor. Ariza is a 34% 3 point shooter, who will be playing out of position. Knight is... well... awful. SO are all our real PFs. We just have too many holes in our roster full of bad players, and the few really good ones we have on offense are defensive liabilities.

We have to pay Booker, but I think we may end up regretting it if his defense doesn't improve.

So you are essentially expecting no improvement from any of our young players.

I think Chriss and Bender haven't shown enough improvement to warrant more optimism.

I don't think Ariza helps us at all, anywhere really.

I wonder where the hell Bridges or Jackson will find minutes with the other 3 SFs we have that we're paying 35 million for.

Jackson will get better, but he's unlikely to become a great 3 point shooter, which is what we desperately need. (His FT% says it's unlikely, they're highly correlated)

I don't think Booker will suddenly be an ace on defense.

I think Ayton's awful defense will be exacerbated by being a rookie. He's going to have a hard time helping us on the court as a rookies (seriously, Kevin Durant was a net -8.8 points per 48 in his first year)

I don't believe that Knight is a big improvement over the flotsam and jetsam we had at PG last year.

So, Jackson will be a little better, but he's not going to help on offense. Ayton will need a year before he's a net positive. Bridges will have little impact with 4 other SFs on the team. Bender and Chriss have both been awful in their first two seasons. Bender shows negligible improvement, and Chriss regressed if anything this year.

Things you forgot:

Kokoskov turns out to be a horrible coach and is discovered to be a serial killer.

Chriss purchases a Krispy Kreme franchise and subsequently balloons to over 300 pounds.

Bender is discovered to have "tiny balls" and surgeries to correct the condition go horribly wrong.

Booker, tired of losing, quits basketball and joins a boy band and inflicts horrible agony upon his fans as his harmonies are slightly off.

[Shabazz]

I'm calling 32 wins. Ayton and Booker play no defense. Jackson can't space the floor. Ariza is a 34% 3 point shooter, who will be playing out of position. Knight is... well... awful. SO are all our real PFs. We just have too many holes in our roster full of bad players, and the few really good ones we have on offense are defensive liabilities.

We have to pay Booker, but I think we may end up regretting it if his defense doesn't improve.

So you are essentially expecting no improvement from any of our young players.

I think Chriss and Bender haven't shown enough improvement to warrant more optimism.

I don't think Ariza helps us at all, anywhere really.

I wonder where the hell Bridges or Jackson will find minutes with the other 3 SFs we have that we're paying 35 million for.

Jackson will get better, but he's unlikely to become a great 3 point shooter, which is what we desperately need. (His FT% says it's unlikely, they're highly correlated)

I don't think Booker will suddenly be an ace on defense.

I think Ayton's awful defense will be exacerbated by being a rookie. He's going to have a hard time helping us on the court as a rookies (seriously, Kevin Durant was a net -8.8 points per 48 in his first year)

I don't believe that Knight is a big improvement over the flotsam and jetsam we had at PG last year.

So, Jackson will be a little better, but he's not going to help on offense. Ayton will need a year before he's a net positive. Bridges will have little impact with 4 other SFs on the team. Bender and Chriss have both been awful in their first two seasons. Bender shows negligible improvement, and Chriss regressed if anything this year.

Things you forgot:

Kokoskov turns out to be a horrible coach and is discovered to be a serial killer.

Chriss purchases a Krispy Kreme franchise and subsequently balloons to over 300 pounds.

Bender is discovered to have "tiny balls" and surgeries to correct the condition go horribly wrong.

Booker, tired of losing, quits basketball and joins a boy band and inflicts horrible agony upon his fans as his harmonies are slightly off.

Pretty sure Worm predicted last year that Josh Jackson would have committed a violent felony by this point.