Phx-Suns.Net

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:37 pm

And maybe he is just delusional. I mean he has seen how unreliable Paul and Payne are, and still hasn't gotten a third point guard option. He saw Giannis and Brook Lopez eat us alive, but still hasn't tried to find a big that can play with Ayton. These are issues that have plagued the Suns for years without being addressed.

Some tried to sell Durant as an answer to the big next to Ayton, but that isn't his game, and we saw in the Denver series, we couldn't even match Aaron Gordon's physicality. And Gordon is hardly the gold standard of physical play at the 4 spot.

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:40 pm

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:37 pm

And maybe he is just delusional. I mean he has seen how unreliable Paul and Payne are, and still hasn't gotten a third point guard option. He saw Giannis and Brook Lopez eat us alive, but still hasn't tried to find a big that can play with Ayton. These are issues that have plagued the Suns for years without being addressed.

Some tried to sell Durant as an answer to the big next to Ayton, but that isn't his game, and we saw in the Denver series, we couldn't even match Aaron Gordon's physicality. And Gordon is hardly the gold standard of physical play at the 4 spot.

Exactly. That's what I'm afraid of--he always seems to think the roster is just fine.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 06, 2023 1:43 pm

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:48 pm

As imperfect as CP3 is, waiving him for nothing will be a setback for the team. He was good at setting up others in our offense and he was a pesky defender who generated a lot of steals. Starting some scrub like Cam Payne is not a winning strategy. Obviously we would be trying to use his salary slot to go get other players, but we don't really get $30m to work with. We'd just be getting some exceptions back, so we will be really restricted in terms of how we can improve the team. It very well may be that what we get back for losing CP3 is worse than keeping CP3 would have been. Lot of pressure on the front office to get this right.

Sorry Mori, you're living in the past. "Starting some scrub like Cam Payne" won us our only games against the Nuggets, and he was our best player in Game 6. But this isn't about him; I'm fine with sending CamPayne packing too.

The steals Paul gets are just two possessions compared the other 80 or so possessions where he can't keep guys in front of him. We don't need him to set anyone up; the offense is basically going to be Book or Durant creating, and with the new regime, probably feeding Ayton in the post regularly. We don't need a ball dominant PG anymore.

Most importantly: PAUL CAN'T STAY ON THE COURT. That isn't an imperfection; it's a non-starter. Whatever you think Paul brings to the table is negated by him either being unavailable or hampered by an injury come playoff time.

SunsSince92 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:19 am

I don't disagree with much of what you're saying. I do worry that we are placing a lot of confidence in a guy (Durant) who has proven to be even less reliable than Paul when it comes to staying on the court over the past 3 years. Sure he and Book will create their own offense but if Durant goes down at some point (inevitable) we need another option that we can go to. As Mori says, are we really going to acquire someone we can trust in those situations in a trade for Paul? I'm not so sure.

INFORMER wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 08, 2023 6:40 am

Another name to keep in mind is Ty Jerome. I wouldn't be surprised if we brought him back.

Kryptonic wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 08, 2023 11:16 am

Not sure how I feel about these Harden rumors... He reminds me of Vinny "The Microwave" Johnson with how hot and cold he is.

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 08, 2023 11:51 am

I would sign Harden for the MLE. But no sign-and-trade for big money.