It's pretty rare when a relationship is beyond repair. Especially when we're just talking basketball. It's not like one of them slept with the other's girlfriend.
FWIW, I think Booker has more pull with James Jones than Chris Paul. In reality, I think Jones has the final say on pretty much all of this stuff.
I just think Booker has a very high competitive standard and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he doesn't trust Ayton to match his own commitment to being a champion. It's a bit Kobe/Shaq-esque, albeit neither Booker or Ayton are Kobe or Shaq from a talent standpoint.
And yet they played together for 8 years.
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 5:31 pm
by Flagrant Fowl
I don't think it's ever been personal. Booker is a lunatic when it comes to training and competing, and I don't think Ayton has been that guy so far in his career.
Maybe he matures and finds it, but I doubt it and understand why Booker wouldn't want to wait around for him if he didn't have to (i.e. bring in someone like Durant).
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:12 pm
by Indy
Frank's goodbye message. Make sure to click through all the pics/videos.
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:45 pm
by Superbone
Classic Frank. It was a fun ride, Frank. Best of luck in the future.
Frank's goodbye message. Make sure to click through all the pics/videos.
Amazing. What a guy. It’s sad they couldn’t win it all last year. He couldn’t stay healthy this year.
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 2:08 pm
by Drewsprocket
Is Washington Jr worth picking up off waivers? Dude can handle, pass, and hit from deep. He’s cheap too. We can match Ayton and thank them for the waiver and deal for Ayton.
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 2:11 pm
by Split T
I don’t know much of anything about him. Looks like he can shoot a bit and is decent sized. What’s his defense like? Can he actually play the point? His 1.5 A/TO ratio isn’t exactly great. He’s got a minimum deal, so I guess it can’t hurt, but he seems more like a 11-15th man to me. Not a Payne replacement at all.
Is Washington Jr worth picking up off waivers? Dude can handle, pass, and hit from deep. He’s cheap too. We can match Ayton and thank them for the waiver and deal for Ayton.
Hahaha that would be savage. Does Jones even want to go there?
I don’t know much of anything about him. Looks like he can shoot a bit and is decent sized. What’s his defense like? Can he actually play the point? His 1.5 A/TO ratio isn’t exactly great. He’s got a minimum deal, so I guess it can’t hurt, but he seems more like a 11-15th man to me. Not a Payne replacement at all.
Pacers are a weird fucking team hard to assess him as a pg. He doesn’t look like a blow by type guard but his highlights show he can make the smart pass and hit when open. They just converted his two way contract in April. I’d give it a look. He Might be a more stable shooter than Payne. Payne is just an irrational confidence guy who can drive to the cup and streaky shoot.
Wow, I finally heard the audio and Rankin had it right, Kellan Olson had it wrong. Jones actually said: "We're going to keep it together." Not "want to," not "try to." He didn't leave any wiggle room for getting out of that later. Hmmm.
And here you were worried all this time. It's all good.
This is when I knew in my heart it was going to happen. But my head said, "Nahhh."
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:18 pm
by JeremyG
"This team is a really good team and we're going to keep it together."
So if we’re taking him at his word, I would think that “keep it together” means we’re not trading Mikal either. Maybe Cam Johnson though?
I assume he already knew about KD by then.
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:13 pm
by Split T
For the Washington fans
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2022 10:44 pm
by The Bobster
Camp Depth Chart (if they sign Sarr Wainright and Wright) -
PF Crowder/Johnson
SF Bridges/Craig/Wainright
C Ayton/Biyombo/Sarić/Landale/Sarr
SG Booker/Landry/Lee/Okogie
PG Paul/Payne/Wright
I'm not even sure Ish makes the team unless they send multiple players out in a trade.
Now that Ayton is re-signed, I would agree it is a very long shot. If the KD trade is still on the table, then he probably gets a shot because it would cost us like all of our wings.
Camp Depth Chart (if they sign Sarr Wainright and Wright) -
PF Crowder/Johnson
SF Bridges/Craig/Wainright
C Ayton/Biyombo/Sarić/Landale/Sarr
SG Booker/Landry/Lee/Okogie
PG Paul/Payne/Wright
My bet is that if this team comes back this way, that Saric plays a bit more of PF next to Ayton to have big lineups, especially against teams like Minnesota, Dallas and even the Lakers.
Re: Suns Off-Season Thread
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 8:56 am
by Split T
We better not just run it back…we need to have a backup plan if the KD move doesn’t pan out
