Suns trade Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale for Miles Bridges

[BigLewy]

IMO we will be worse this coming season than last year. Even if you set aside the abuse stuff with Br****s (which is hard to do) I just don't think he is a great basketball fit. I don't think we need another score-first guy at the 4, especially if he isn't great at defense, rebounding, passing, or 3-point shooting. I think we will miss Grayson and Royce and that our deficiencies as a team were heavily masked by our strong 3-point shooting. Now we're just sort of mediocre to bad at everything.

You guys are talking about ManMan being a top-10 center. I also think he's got a lot of potential to be a good NBA center. But we doubled down on Mark Williams by re-signing him, and Coach seems to love Oso, so I dunno if we'll have enough minutes for Maluach. I also think Br****s will inhibit our ability to play Fleming enough minutes to grow and develop.

Last season was a real breath of fresh air, and I'm proud of what the team accomplished. But I think this summer, outside of re-signing some of our core guys, was a step in the wrong direction. IMO we'll be fighting for the play-in and will be lucky to get there. The main thing we have going for us is that the West seems to have gotten weaker this summer, so maybe we can tread water just by default.

I will note that I was dead wrong about us last year, and I am widely regarded as a dumb idiot. So hopefully I will be wrong this time, again.

If I didn't know better, I would say that the Suns are stockpiling assets to bundle into a trade for a star-tier player. I just want them to get rid of Bridges, not a Koa or Fleming.

I agree-the team as currently constructed is a legit 10-12 deep and you obviously can't play everyone. I think the Bridges trade was the first step in that, as they consolidated Royce and Grayson's minutes for Bridges. If Man-Man keeps improving as we hope, Mark will be gone. Dunn could hold some value on a rookie deal, if Green stays healthy and can show his immense talent, there will be interest. I'd eventually consider moving anyone not named Man-Man, Fleming and maybe Koa (purely from the value of their contracts relative to their roles). They will obviously never move off Booker, even though that may be a mistake. I think the front office will give it this year to see what they can do and if it's a backwards step that cannot be blamed on health, you'll see some consolidation.

[JeremyG]

Genuine question: why is the (largely the same) fanbase that is (rightfully) concerned about Miles so willing to celebrate Larry Fitzgerald (current minority owner of the Phoenix Suns, btw) and his Hall of Fame induction, when he was accused of doing almost identical things to his girlfriend?

[The Bobster]

Genuine question: why is the (largely the same) fanbase that is (rightfully) concerned about Miles so willing to celebrate Larry Fitzgerald (current minority owner of the Phoenix Suns, btw) and his Hall of Fame induction, when he was accused of doing almost identical things to his girlfriend?

I wouldn't describe them as almost identical, but Fitzgerald's girlfriend did allege in 2008 that he tossed her across the room and pushed her down when she tried to leave with their son. He was never charged with anything (Fitzgerald wasn't even interviewed by the police), but she was eventually awarded an order or protection.

The Valley Tribune's description of the incident -

"In court documents, Nazario alleges that Fitzgerald grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her to the floor after an argument escalated during an overnight visit with their 11-month-old son.

Nazario said she swung at Fitzgerald and may have hit him in the face, according to the court documents."

So I imagine it was in part because it was a singular incident that the police chose not to pursue, and also because a lot of people probably had a hard time believing something like that from Fitzgerald (he may the the most beloved star athlete in Phoenix's history.

[TOO]

Genuine question: why is the (largely the same) fanbase that is (rightfully) concerned about Miles so willing to celebrate Larry Fitzgerald (current minority owner of the Phoenix Suns, btw) and his Hall of Fame induction, when he was accused of doing almost identical things to his girlfriend?

He's a lifer, Booker could probably do the same thing and people would put their capes on for him too.

[JeremyG]

From NBCSports (right before the Cardinals’ Super Bowl run):

Nazario claims that Fiztgerald “grabbed me by my hair with both hands on the back of my head very very hard and tossed me across the room,” and that when she tried to leave he “grabbed the back of my neck and slammed me down on the marble floor.” Alleged Nazario: "I was disoriented for awhile and could not get up, I remember he mumbled something about ‘that’s what happens when you try taking my son away from me.’” She then realized that she had lost “chunks” of hair.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootba ... fitzgerald

[virtual9mm]

Not a football fan and didn't know about these allegations. Thanks for letting us know. Definitely not good.