Suns News: Week 17 (2/6 - 2/12)

[Shabazz]

Yes - the last part was about them including Dario along with Jae which wouldn’t have created the massive tax bill (and would have kept Brooklyn over the tax).

[Wally_West]

That’s exactly why I don’t believe the story that Jae was holding up the deal. I don’t think JJ gave 2 fucks about him but Jae’s salary always made any KD deal make sense.

[Wally_West]

Unless JJ was wowed by a Crowder deal, I think JJ was always going to hold him incase a KD deal could happen by the deadline because Crowder’s salary always made any KD deal easier.

[ShelC]

I wonder how the Bazley deal came about. Maybe it was on the side ready to go when needed. I wonder if we moved Dario to the Nets, where would Jae have gone and for whom? Would we still have gotten Bazley or maybe a different wing?

[Aztec Sunsfan]

So, Joe Tsai watched Ishbia entering the room as the possible new owner of the only team his only viable Super Star wanted to be traded since the summer, but failed to -because the opposing Front Office kept their ground and send you packing with your exaggerated demands- and he candidly decided to become his friend and invite him to Nets games just out of a pure heart?

Or Joe decided to fish out the new guy, exchange phone numbers, and start nurture him for the moment at the trade line where he would use that influence to dare him and get him into "swing for the fences" overruling the advice of his new and unknown front office????

That article is obviously fed with Nets' information, but even after filtering the bias, still have enough to make me feel that Matt got owned as a rookie owner

[Kryptonic]

It would have been cool to see Stix get more of an opportunity here and was always curious to why. I thought he had a lot of potential.

[Kryptonic]

So, Joe Tsai watched Ishbia entering the room as the possible new owner of the only team his only viable Super Star wanted to be traded since the summer, but failed to -because the opposing Front Office kept their ground and send you packing with your exaggerated demands- and he candidly decided to become his friend and invite him to Nets games just out of a pure heart?

Or Joe decided to fish out the new guy, exchange phone numbers, and start nurture him for the moment at the trade line where he would use that influence to dare him and get him into "swing for the fences" overruling the advice of his new and unknown front office????

That article is obviously fed with Nets' information, but even after filtering the bias, still have enough to make me feel that Matt got owned as a rookie owner

But if we win a championship... Would it be worth it? Just reminds me a lot of the Dbacks 2001 world series team... We mortgaged the future to win now. I agree though it did seem like Ishbia was trigger happy and probably let his emotions get the best of him to get this deal done.

[AmareIsGod]

If we win a championship or two, not sure how we got owned. Let's see what happens FFS.

The fact that we're all struggling to find a bigger trade for a bigger all-time superstar in the history of the NBA tells you everything you need to know.

[Wally_West]

Finished Chris Haynes and Marc Stein’s podcast, at the end, Haynes mentions the Suns will also be interested in Will Barton.

[Wally_West]

[Aztec Sunsfan]

If we win a championship or two, not sure how we got owned. Let's see what happens FFS.

The fact that we're all struggling to find a bigger trade for a bigger all-time superstar in the history of the NBA tells you everything you need to know.

I get your point, winning a Championship would be worth that steep price. But Tsai played Ishbia to plunder the Suns, the article clearly states that he wasn’t doing any favors to his “fellow owner new friend”, right?

At the moment of closing that deal, he went to the throat, but still, it hopefully backfires on him as soon as this season.

[Split T]

I think we like to think that if we held out just a little bit longer maybe we could’ve held onto Bridges….I really think that’s not true.. I believe Brooklyn was fully prepared to keep KD if we didn’t offer Mikal. I don’t think there was even a negotiation without Mikal. They literally turned down a 4 1sts offer for him.

Now is it possible Ishbia got worked a bit and had to include Crowder instead of Saric? Ya I can believe that..I don’t think Brooklyn is blowing up the deal over Crowder…in fact they just moved him for a bunch of 2nds anyways. We could’ve said, no Crowder, but we’ll include a couple 2nds and I bet Brooklyn says yes.

It does make you wonder what our Crowder deal was… maybe Connaughton? Not gonna lie, he’d look decent as our 5th starter.

[Split T]

Also put me on team Reggie Jackson for the 14th spot…then give Ish 15. I wouldn’t be upset with Barton, Holiday, or Green…but I really don’t see them as better than our other 2/3 options. Jackson is better than Saban Lee and comparable to Payne…I also think we need a healthy pg. We can’t trust CP3 and Payne to stay/get healthy and Lee can’t play in the postseason. A more clear cut 5th starter would be nice but that just doesn’t seem to exist in this buyout market. Give me Jackson who I think could actually play a role in the playoffs for us.

[ShelC]

I don't think we could've kept Bridges but I was thinking DA would be involved instead. With Bridges involved, I'd have pushed back on the number of picks. It's easy to say the Nets should have taken back more money too, but that also means losing a player. Still, I might have insisted on someone other than Crowder.

We took on $40mil in tax, so credit to Ishbia for that. I don't expect that kind of spending to be normal but this is a special opportunity.

[Split T]

Ya there was a moment when I thought it could be Ayton…but it does seem like he was valued by them. If Toronto would’ve moved OG for him, we possibly could’ve replaced Mikal with OG in the deal.

[Split T]

Okogie is shooting 40% from 3 since Jan 1st…16/40. He’s up to 31% on the season

[Mori Chu]

I don't think we could've kept Bridges but I was thinking DA would be involved instead. With Bridges involved, I'd have pushed back on the number of picks. It's easy to say the Nets should have taken back more money too, but that also means losing a player. Still, I might have insisted on someone other than Crowder.

We took on $40mil in tax, so credit to Ishbia for that. I don't expect that kind of spending to be normal but this is a special opportunity.

I think the play would have been to fight to keep Cam Johnson. We're already giving them Mikal AND Jae, that's two starter-caliber forwards. You don't need all three. Ishbia kind of forced JJ to give up all the assets and not hold out for even one concession from BKN. We got our guy, but honestly they kind of fleeced us in terms of getting 100% of their ask and not having to give any ground in negotiation at all.

[Split T]

Ya but they kinda had the leverage…they had the best player and KD wasn’t actually causing problems anymore. He requested to be traded to the suns but he understood they weren’t trading him if we didn’t meet the asking price. We need KD…

That being said, it would have felt a little better if we got one concession…like a top 4 protection on that 2029 pick…or Saric instead of Crowder…or getting Royce O’Neale back

[ShelC]

I don't think there was any getting around Mikal and Cam. They needed actual talent back for Durant. I just hope the Nets don't break them up.

[Wally_West]

Okogie is shooting 40% from 3 since Jan 1st…16/40. He’s up to 31% on the season

Yeah, I think he should our 5th starter. I know Monty will stubbornly Keep Craig too see if it works first but Okogie makes too much sense. Even if he goes back to terrible shooting and teams leave him open, so what? If teams don’t want guard Okogie at the perimeter, then so be it, just have drive hard to the basket every time then and put pressure on the rim. Slam that shit down their throats, he’ll either get fouled, miss and give Ayton the opportunity for offensive rebound, or they collapse on him, then he can pass out to an open shooter.

His defense is just too good, he can be a PJ Tucker type, a guy who just does all the dirty work gets 8-10pts a game.