Phx-Suns.Net

TheOriginalOriginal wrote:History usually sides with the team that gets the best player, I see this as pretty much the same thing. I like Wiggins, but I Love is an all-NBA PF who passes, rebounds, scores. That is harder to come by than a high upside wing player imo. I'm not entirely convinced Wiggins will be special.

I do think if Minny can squeeze Thad Young outta Philly for Bennett they'd have done pretty well.

I don't know if Wiggins is the next big thing, but what I know is that LeBron is in his absolute prime and you have to do everything you can to compete while it lasts. Otherwise, what is the point? If that means giving up the #1 pick in the most hyped draft ever, so be it, as long as it makes sense in terms of roster and salary cap.

Kevin Love may not be a defensive plus, but this is not Amare Stoudemire because Love does two things at elite level, and ultimately rebounding is still part of the defense, or at the very least an essential complement to it.

What the Cavs need now is role players who provide what Irving-Love can't, but that's much easier to find by definition than adding a legitimate second banana on a contender, which is what Kevin Love is.

An important aspect to consider is what kind of game would LeBron(Irving) and Wiggins are well suited to play together. The fastbreak would be unreal, but halfcourt sets could be a work in progress for years.

I can see much better synergy with a player like Kevin Love, even if his personal numbers would suffer like in Bosh's case. The space and the two man game could be devastating, and Love can also play inside. Any LeBron-Love-Irving combination is essentially unguardable, you just need to get rim protection, 3D role wings and a microwave off the bench. The scorer off the bench is already there in Waiters, but there is no shortage of the microwave type if they decided to use him to cover other areas of need or if the player wanted a more prominent role elsewhere. If Varejao wasn't so injury prone they'd already have half the work done but the good news is that they have enough remaining pieces and assets to assemble a well balanced roster in little time, while having pretty much no competition in the east as it is right now.


From the GM standpoint both options are a huge risk, but I won't blame the Cavs for going all in.

Beal, Wall ans Millsap have been cut from the USA team.

I would have kept Wall and Millsap and my roster would have been

Curry-Rose-Wall
Harden-Hayward
Durant-Korver-Klay
Davis-Millsap
Drummond-Cousins

Ring_Wanted wrote:Did you catch Mason Plumlee making the USA team over Demarcus Cousins? I think you have actually been lucky to miss the Love-Cousins frontcourt. Your team was perimeter oriented anyway, the remaining pieces are still potent in the paint and you don't have to worry about post defense and rim protection anymore.

I'm not sure where you got that from. Cousins and Plumlee are still on the roster recently cut to 16.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/us-mens-ba ... --nba.html

Yes, it was just speculation, not done yet.

Got it from here: https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/494980981577617408

Ring_Wanted wrote:Yes, it was just speculation, not done yet.

Got it from here: https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/494980981577617408

Ah, gotcha. I guess they still need to cut 4 more. Plumlee over Cousins would be interesting. That tweet is particularly bittersweet now after what happened to George.

Spurs hire ex-WNBA player Becky Hammon as an assistant coach. Wow.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-s ... ant-coach/

pickle wrote:

INFORMER wrote: They are going to have ridiculous talent. Bennett, Wiggins, Zach LaVine, the other Shabazz, Gorgui Dieng, Glenn Robinson III. That's a terrific situation. Too bad it may be wasted by Flip Saunders. I would love it if Hornacek was dealt that hand. Oh well, at least we have Tyler Ennis.

i find it interesting, inf, that you don't have ricky rubio in that list. are you focusing specifically on the young guns? rubio isn't that old himself, is he? or do you not believe that he's capable of running a contender?

His omission wasn't deliberate, but you bring up a good point. I like Rubio, but there is concern to be had over his below average shooting. He's getting better at the 3-ball, which is important. I wouldn't mind having him on my team, but he's not exactly a player I covet. I think a team can win with him, but a lot would depend on the pieces around him.

The fastbreak would be unreal, but halfcourt sets could be a work in progress for years.

Years?! Hardly.

Ring_Wanted wrote:Beal, Wall ans Millsap have been cut from the USA team.

I would have kept Wall and Millsap

Wall was abysmal in the scrimmage and generally speaking, his ball dominance and rudimentary knowledge of the point guard position is the type of play that kept the US from winning the gold pre-Colangelo.

Millsap's dismissal is bit more bewildering. I would kept him over Faried. He offers the same skillset with the added bonus of being a threat from the perimeter.

They definitely believe that Faried brings more to the team than Millsap, so it's not surprising. He isn't the offensive player that Millsap is, but he is a better defender and energy guy.

If the rumored trade ends up giving MN Wiggins and Young, they would have them along with Shabazz, LaVine, GRIII, and Dieng. Those type of athletes in the game with Rubio would be darn near exactly what you would want to have around him. A lot like the Suns had and then added Nash to put it all together. It might be even more interesting to watch the Wolves this year.

In2ition wrote:They definitely believe that Faried brings more to the team than Millsap, so it's not surprising. He isn't the offensive player that Millsap is, but he is a better defender and energy guy.

Faried actually isn't that strong of a defender. He really struggles to defend the post, but because he's so active, he can be a factor on the defensive end, but not to an extent that make him a significant improvement over Millsap on that side of the court.

Mori Chu wrote:Spurs hire ex-WNBA player Becky Hammon as an assistant coach. Wow.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-s ... ant-coach/

That's pretty cool. And she's a hooper for sure; if you've ever seen her play, she's really impressive.

I feel like the league as a whole is cooling on Faried. He had a great first year or two but doesn't seem to be properly expanding his game or fixing his shortcomings.

He made strides as a scorer in the latter half of the year. But yeah, it seems like he peaked his first couple of years in the league.

Superbone wrote:

Ring_Wanted wrote:Did you catch Mason Plumlee making the USA team over Demarcus Cousins? I think you have actually been lucky to miss the Love-Cousins frontcourt. Your team was perimeter oriented anyway, the remaining pieces are still potent in the paint and you don't have to worry about post defense and rim protection anymore.

I'm not sure where you got that from. Cousins and Plumlee are still on the roster recently cut to 16.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/us-mens-ba ... --nba.html

i'm worried about plumlee, since he wore down as the season went on. and he's our only usable center.

i dont like lebron's new smaller look.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/08/ ... oss-photo/

INFORMER wrote:

Ring_Wanted wrote:Beal, Wall ans Millsap have been cut from the USA team.

I would have kept Wall and Millsap

Wall was abysmal in the scrimmage and generally speaking, his ball dominance and rudimentary knowledge of the point guard position is the type of play that kept the US from winning the gold pre-Colangelo

I don't need him to be the leader of the team or the most played PG, but among the PG available he is the only one who can defend.

The pre-Colangelo argument is why I'd leave Irving out, by the way, and also why I'd consider seriously doing without Cousins, but ultimately I'd want to have his post scoring, just in case.

SDC wrote:

Superbone wrote:

Ring_Wanted wrote:Did you catch Mason Plumlee making the USA team over Demarcus Cousins? I think you have actually been lucky to miss the Love-Cousins frontcourt. Your team was perimeter oriented anyway, the remaining pieces are still potent in the paint and you don't have to worry about post defense and rim protection anymore.

I'm not sure where you got that from. Cousins and Plumlee are still on the roster recently cut to 16.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/us-mens-ba ... --nba.html

i'm worried about plumlee, since he wore down as the season went on. and he's our only usable center.

psssst! MASON Plumley.

INFORMER wrote: They are going to have ridiculous talent. Bennett, Wiggins, Zach LaVine, the other Shabazz, Gorgui Dieng, Glenn Robinson III. That's a terrific situation. Too bad it may be wasted by Flip Saunders. I would love it if Hornacek was dealt that hand. Oh well, at least we have Tyler Ennis.

By the way, you can be jealous all you want, but their "terrific situation" is a result of years of mismanagement and sheer dumb luck. Not exactly something I'm in the mood to replicate.

Shabazz wrote:

INFORMER wrote: They are going to have ridiculous talent. Bennett, Wiggins, Zach LaVine, the other Shabazz, Gorgui Dieng, Glenn Robinson III. That's a terrific situation. Too bad it may be wasted by Flip Saunders. I would love it if Hornacek was dealt that hand. Oh well, at least we have Tyler Ennis.

By the way, you can be jealous all you want, but their "terrific situation" is a result of years of mismanagement and sheer dumb luck. Not exactly something I'm in the mood to replicate.

I'm in no way envious of a team that MIGHT be good one day.