Lavar Ball on the radio yelling at Doug and Wolf. Talking about changing the coaches here and having not only Lonzo come here, but all 3 of his sons here playing together to turn things around.
Ummm.... it takes a lot of Balls to make a statement like that.
At least 3, not sure if that's healthy or not though.
And of course if you have four Balls you get a free pass to first base.
Author of The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts
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Lavar Ball on the radio yelling at Doug and Wolf. Talking about changing the coaches here and having not only Lonzo come here, but all 3 of his sons here playing together to turn things around.
Ummm.... it takes a lot of Balls to make a statement like that.
At least 3, not sure if that's healthy or not though.
And of course if you have four Balls you get a free pass to first base.
If you're lucky, you can get to 2nd base, if the 4th ball is a passed ball.
sarver needs to intervene and not let james jones make deals unsupervised. no reason to help NOLA unload their bad contracts on the suns. if lebron wants AD that bad, lakers should absorb solomon hills contract, not phx.
sarver needs to intervene and not let james jones make deals unsupervised. no reason to help NOLA unload their bad contracts on the suns. if lebron wants AD that bad, lakers should absorb solomon hills contract, not phx.
Lavar Ball on the radio yelling at Doug and Wolf. Talking about changing the coaches here and having not only Lonzo come here, but all 3 of his sons here playing together to turn things around.
Ummm.... it takes a lot of Balls to make a statement like that.
At least 3, not sure if that's healthy or not though.
And of course if you have four Balls you get a free pass to first base.
If you're lucky, you can get to 2nd base, if the 4th ball is a passed ball.
Yeah, but if your Balls get hit, all guarantees are off.
Honestly, I HATE most of these trade ideas about Warren. He's the 3rd best player on the team and locked into a reasonable long term contract. At the same time, I really don't place a lot of value on Oubre Jr or Jackson. Both are relatively easy to replace in terms of actual on court production (i.e. they're really bad compared to most other SFs)
Selling now on Jackson is probably a good idea. Giving Oubre a big contract is a really bad idea as a dime a dozen SF. Warren, with his high 3 point percentage and excellent ability to score around the hoop is the sort of player we cannot give away due to our miserable 3 point percentage (which neither Oubre Jr or Jackson are really helping)
Bridges looks to be a very solid 3 and D player for years to come, and potential 6th man of the year candidate if we ever have a normal rotation with Booker and Warren starting at SG and SF.
Are there any good comps for Warren? Past or present, who have been part of successful teams?
Legit asking, because he's got an unorthodox game and offense. He's best moving with the ball towards the basket but doesn't have an actual go-to move. He's not super athletic, he's not a tweener who can post up smaller players or really blow by bigger ones. He's not a great rebounder, defender or passer. So even if we play him at his natural position at SF, is he better than Bridges - offensive scoring aside - at that position and as a 3-D roleplayer in a lineup with Ayton and Booker?
Agreed. We're in the driver's seat if this deal depends on us.
I really like JJ, but like I said, he'd be a little redundant with Ball on the roster so I'm OK letting him go. Wouldn't give up a 1st tho. Remember, he was the 4th pick in his own right.
Among our 4 SF's, RPM tends to confirm what the eyeball test is telling us, namely that this is the ranking of our SFs from best to worst in terms of net effect on court:
Suns Rank / Name / SF Rank out of 89 / RPM
1. Bridges (21, .2)
2. Warren (29, -.43)
3. Oubre Jr. (72, -2.5)
4. Jackson (84, -3.54)
Honestly, I HATE most of these trade ideas about Warren. He's the 3rd best player on the team and locked into a reasonable long term contract. At the same time, I really don't place a lot of value on Oubre Jr or Jackson. Both are relatively easy to replace in terms of actual on court production (i.e. they're really bad compared to most other SFs)
Selling now on Jackson is probably a good idea. Giving Oubre a big contract is a really bad idea as a dime a dozen SF. Warren, with his high 3 point percentage and excellent ability to score around the hoop is the sort of player we cannot give away due to our miserable 3 point percentage (which neither Oubre Jr or Jackson are really helping)
Bridges looks to be a very solid 3 and D player for years to come, and potential 6th man of the year candidate if we ever have a normal rotation with Booker and Warren starting at SG and SF.
Are there any good comps for Warren? Past or present, who have been part of successful teams?
Legit asking, because he's got an unorthodox game and offense. He's best moving with the ball towards the basket but doesn't have an actual go-to move. He's not super athletic, he's not a tweener who can post up smaller players or really blow by bigger ones. He's not a *good* rebounder, defender or passer. So even if we play him at his natural position at SF, is he better than Bridges - offensive scoring aside - at that position and as a 3-D roleplayer in a lineup with Ayton and Booker?
FTFY
I really like TJ and think he is on a good contract. I am sometimes amazed at his handles on fast breaks or when he is flying to the hoop moving way too fast but somehow still gets his shot to go. But lately I am legit torn when I see us get out-rebounded by 20 in a game. Or when Ayton leaves his guy to help on the driver, only to have his guy get an open layup/dunk. We need someone that will be able to rebound and switch over to help on centers. That isn't TJ. If we can play TJ at the 3 exclusively, I can see a path that makes sense to keep TJ and Mikal as our primary 3s. But if not, I don't see a path for us to be good with TJ at the 4.
Are there any good comps for Warren? Past or present, who have been part of successful teams?
Legit asking, because he's got an unorthodox game and offense. He's best moving with the ball towards the basket but doesn't have an actual go-to move. He's not super athletic, he's not a tweener who can post up smaller players or really blow by bigger ones. He's not a great rebounder, defender or passer. So even if we play him at his natural position at SF, is he better than Bridges - offensive scoring aside - at that position and as a 3-D roleplayer in a lineup with Ayton and Booker?
Bernard King is a decent comp. He played on some pretty good Knicks teams in the early 80's (82-83, 83-84)
Are there any good comps for Warren? Past or present, who have been part of successful teams?
Legit asking, because he's got an unorthodox game and offense. He's best moving with the ball towards the basket but doesn't have an actual go-to move. He's not super athletic, he's not a tweener who can post up smaller players or really blow by bigger ones. He's not a *good* rebounder, defender or passer. So even if we play him at his natural position at SF, is he better than Bridges - offensive scoring aside - at that position and as a 3-D roleplayer in a lineup with Ayton and Booker?
FTFY
I really like TJ and think he is on a good contract. I am sometimes amazed at his handles on fast breaks or when he is flying to the hoop moving way too fast but somehow still gets his shot to go. But lately I am legit torn when I see us get out-rebounded by 20 in a game. Or when Ayton leaves his guy to help on the driver, only to have his guy get an open layup/dunk. We need someone that will be able to rebound and switch over to help on centers. That isn't TJ. If we can play TJ at the 3 exclusively, I can see a path that makes sense to keep TJ and Mikal as our primary 3s. But if not, I don't see a path for us to be good with TJ at the 4.
So we are going to get rid of a 20ppg scorer because we don't have a legitimate 4?
Are there any good comps for Warren? Past or present, who have been part of successful teams?
Legit asking, because he's got an unorthodox game and offense. He's best moving with the ball towards the basket but doesn't have an actual go-to move. He's not super athletic, he's not a tweener who can post up smaller players or really blow by bigger ones. He's not a *good* rebounder, defender or passer. So even if we play him at his natural position at SF, is he better than Bridges - offensive scoring aside - at that position and as a 3-D roleplayer in a lineup with Ayton and Booker?
FTFY
I really like TJ and think he is on a good contract. I am sometimes amazed at his handles on fast breaks or when he is flying to the hoop moving way too fast but somehow still gets his shot to go. But lately I am legit torn when I see us get out-rebounded by 20 in a game. Or when Ayton leaves his guy to help on the driver, only to have his guy get an open layup/dunk. We need someone that will be able to rebound and switch over to help on centers. That isn't TJ. If we can play TJ at the 3 exclusively, I can see a path that makes sense to keep TJ and Mikal as our primary 3s. But if not, I don't see a path for us to be good with TJ at the 4.
So we are going to get rid of a 20ppg scorer because we don't have a legitimate 4?
Well, I am saying we need both a legitimate PG and PF. We will need to use current resources that we value to get something of value out of other teams to fill those two huge holes. We have a glut of wings. We need to turn those wings into PG/PF. If we all know Booker won't ever be an average defender, we need very good defenders at 1 and 3. If we are going to play a stretch 4 with Ayton close to the paint, we need a 3 that can rebound too. I don't think TJ is good at either one of those, despite his great scoring.
If we think we can find a way to use TJ as a 6th man, primary scorer, then great. let's figure that out. But I doubt we will.
Are there any good comps for Warren? Past or present, who have been part of successful teams?
Legit asking, because he's got an unorthodox game and offense. He's best moving with the ball towards the basket but doesn't have an actual go-to move. He's not super athletic, he's not a tweener who can post up smaller players or really blow by bigger ones. He's not a *good* rebounder, defender or passer. So even if we play him at his natural position at SF, is he better than Bridges - offensive scoring aside - at that position and as a 3-D roleplayer in a lineup with Ayton and Booker?
FTFY
I really like TJ and think he is on a good contract. I am sometimes amazed at his handles on fast breaks or when he is flying to the hoop moving way too fast but somehow still gets his shot to go. But lately I am legit torn when I see us get out-rebounded by 20 in a game. Or when Ayton leaves his guy to help on the driver, only to have his guy get an open layup/dunk. We need someone that will be able to rebound and switch over to help on centers. That isn't TJ. If we can play TJ at the 3 exclusively, I can see a path that makes sense to keep TJ and Mikal as our primary 3s. But if not, I don't see a path for us to be good with TJ at the 4.
So we are going to get rid of a 20ppg scorer because we don't have a legitimate 4?
Well, I am saying we need both a legitimate PG and PF. We will need to use current resources that we value to get something of value out of other teams to fill those two huge holes. We have a glut of wings. We need to turn those wings into PG/PF. If we all know Booker won't ever be an average defender, we need very good defenders at 1 and 3. If we are going to play a stretch 4 with Ayton close to the paint, we need a 3 that can rebound too. I don't think TJ is good at either one of those, despite his great scoring.
If we think we can find a way to use TJ as a 6th man, primary scorer, then great. let's figure that out. But I doubt we will.
I totally agree and would rather get rid of Oubre or Jackson instead of Warren especially considering both are redundant players.
To me it depends on if we need better scoring or better rebounding and defense. No question that TJ is far and away better at scoring. But he doesn't defend or rebound. I think Jackson can be good at both, but I know he is far away from being that right now. To me it is a gamble, but if I had to choose between JJ and TJ being a better fit in the future, I think JJ has a better chance to be what we need next to Booker than TJ.
All of this is assuming we are looking at 2 years from now to be competing for a playoff spot.
