Phx-Suns.Net

I’ll be so happy when we don’t have to talk about Ayton anymore.

I've never see anyone white knight this hard for a guy who obviously dogged it. It's hilarious.

I give Ayton a C- for the season he gave us.

It reminds me of the time I thought I could just show up to take the tests in my Bio 101 class and not go to actual class. Turns out there was participation points and I got a D+. That’s what I’ll give Ayton for the season.

How did you do on the tests though?

There was plenty of blame to go around this year. We've regurgitated it over and over here - Jones didn't do anything to replace Crowder or add bench strength. Monty's weaknesses as a coach became more apparent when Paul and Booker weren't closing out games with crazy efficiency like they were the year before. Paul was showing his age. Ayton was showing his immaturity (although the Suns did handle the whole situation poorly, Ayton is ltimately responsible for his uneven effort on the court). Durant's late season injury didn't help them when it came to developing chemistry. The playof M.O. of having the offense carried by two players just didn't cut it. And apparently Ishbia was sold on Williams pretty early on.

So there were plenty of issues this year. Many of them had nothing to do with Monty, some did. But as they say, it's a player's league and it's easier to change the coach than it is the players. I think it's pretty clear this team needs to make some significant additions or changes though.

Some grades -

Jones - D+
Williams - C
Ayton - C-

One of the three is gone, the other two shouldn't get too comfortable.

Charlie Smithy! wrote: ↑

Thu May 18, 2023 10:45 am

How did you do on the tests though?

Haha, I did pretty good on the tests.

Split T wrote: ↑

Thu May 18, 2023 10:07 am

I’m not saying Monty is blameless, but his job isn’t to hold Ayton’s hand.

Did you see what Jock said about Monty and Ayton? He gave a ton of credit to Monty for getting their relationship from what it was before the season to what it was at the end. Ya Monty deserves some blame for where the relationship was in the first place, but this just feels like Gambo trying to keep sources and go to bat for guys/agents of guys that give him information. Also probably trying to save face a bit as he was always a big Ayton guy.

And Crowder wasn’t worth the headache. He couldn’t even play in a Milwaukee. Looks like Monty was right about him.

Regardless of whether or not Crowder was on the decline, I'm sure it made James Jones furious when he found out Monty was trying to get rid of Crowder behind his back. I thought it was interesting how Jones took credit for making the decision to fire Monty.

I think he took credit because his status as in charge is being questioned, not because he wanted people to know he didn’t like Monty. That seems way too vengeful.

I can't remember a general manager that didn't say the decision to fire the coach was his decision.

“He’s going to get through it,” Bridges said. “He knows he’s a hell of a coach. He probably knows about the situation. Me personally, I say Monty is not the problem, but who am I?”

“Monty’s not the problem, but he’s going to be great somewhere else," Bridges continued. "He’s going to get another chance and he’s going to be alright.”

Bridges also talked about the play of Nikola Jokic and how different the two-time NBA MVP is as a player from two years ago when the Suns swept the Nuggets in the 2021 West semifinals.

“A lot of our game plan was to let Jokic score because he wants to pass,” Bridges said. “That was a time in his life he really passed up an open shot to kick out for a corner 3. So we were just like, show and make him shoot because he’s like the guy you want to have on your team because he’s a great player, but he just doesn’t feel right trying to score every time or he wants everybody involved.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/will-wildest- ... 40698.html

Many around the league expected Williams would draw strong consideration from Milwaukee after he was terminated in Phoenix, and there were numerous figures in the NBA’s coaching ranks who expressed surprise at his absence from the Bucks’ final group. Williams was also recently pursued by Detroit for the Pistons’ job, sources said, which must have factored into a slowed result between Lee, Collins and Ollie. At this moment, it appears Williams is more likely to take the next season off, with three years and $21 million remaining on his Suns deal, than to return to the sidelines in a new situation.

I'm not surprised, he looked burnt out, I guessed he'd take a year off.

Not sure of his family situation but if his kid(s) are finishing high school he may not want to up and move right away.

Yep, take a year off and regroup.

Honestly, IMO every head coach should take a year off between gigs. Head coaches work so much. They ned mental recovery time to grow and do better at the next job. I understand that some coaches feel that every job might be the last, but that's not the case with Monty.

Pistons Rumors: Monty Williams Appears to Have Declined 'Big-Money Offer' for HC Job

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/100 ... for-hc-job

He was afraid they might trade for Ayton, and he doesn't want to coach him even for a billion dollars.

If a fired coach like Monty who had years left on his contract takes a new job, does he get both paychecks? Or does the old contract offset the new one?

Example: Suppose Monty was under contract for 2023-24 by the Suns for $5m. Then he signs a new contract with the Pistons for $8m. Which of the following is true? (a) Monty gets both paychecks, for a total of $13m for 2023-24. (b) Monty gets $8m total, $5m of which is paid by the Suns and $3m of which is paid by the Pistons?

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Thu May 25, 2023 1:38 pm

If a fired coach like Monty who had years left on his contract takes a new job, does he get both paychecks? Or does the old contract offset the new one?

Example: Suppose Monty was under contract for 2023-24 by the Suns for $5m. Then he signs a new contract with the Pistons for $8m. Which of the following is true? (a) Monty gets both paychecks, for a total of $13m for 2023-24. (b) Monty gets $8m total, $5m of which is paid by the Suns and $3m of which is paid by the Pistons?

I don't think there's a scenario where the Suns would be paying a portion of his new salary (b). I don't know if this is the norm in the NBA, but sometimes a contract will have a clause that if a coach has remaining years but gets a new job, then they would only have to pay that coach the difference in salaries (meaning, if the new contract is for less money it would offset what the old team owes). So, in that case, the $8M would come from the Pistons and the Suns would not have to pay anything. If the Pistons were offering $4M, then the Suns would owe $1M in salary.

(By the way, it's actually $7M for the next three years that the Suns owe Williams.)

I assumed Monty got both(that’s how it works with players), but I have no clue