2019 Free Agency

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Something to think about: If Durant's deal is $164 million over 4 years, but he can't play the first year, in effect he'll be averaging nearly $55 million per year over the last three.
That ran through my mind.
 

Hoop Head

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Worst case is if he does not live up to that contract.

I disagree but only from the Warriors perspective. Of course he might not live up to the deal, I wouldn't have wanted him at the max but the Warriors should be able to dump him elsewhere even if he's not playing great there because replacing Klay is near impossible. It will be somewhat similar to Ariza here last year, teams didn't hold Ariza's play as a Sun against him, they knew he'd improve once he played for a team where the games mattered. In Golden State it will be easy to convince another team he's just not meshing with Steph because Steph and D'Lo are both PG's. They will have no trouble trading him if they want midseason. The acquiring team should be leery but NBA teams don't often think much before taking on a big contract, they only worry about dumping a big contract later.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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My question is, When did D'Angelo Russell become a good player? We regularly panned him just a few years ago. He was a chucker who didn't make anyone better. Now he is a star (PG? SG?) for GS? Really? $30M-per good!?
When did he become a good player? When he became an all star and lead his nets team to the playoffs last year averaging 21pts and 7assists per game. That’s when.

As for the $29M - welcome to the modern day nba. This is what it is.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Yeah something has got to give next year.

I mean right now it looks like this:

PG Curry
SG Russell
SF Thompson
PF Green


Their first round pick is a 2 guard so that doesn't help either.
For a team that routinely plays well when playing small I don’t find it all that odd.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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When did he become a good player? When he became an all star and lead his nets team to the playoffs last year averaging 21pts and 7assists per game. That’s when.

As for the $29M - welcome to the modern day nba. This is what it is.
He is good enough to warrant fans wanting him on their team, but he has been vastly overrated IMO. He is a high usage guy who is an inefficient scorer, a mediocre facilitator and at best a mediocre defender. I still suspect that Booker and Russell would have been a pretty good duo offensively as they would share the PG duties, but overall he wasn't a great fit, especially at $29m per.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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He is good enough to warrant fans wanting him on their team, but he has been vastly overrated IMO. He is a high usage guy who is an inefficient scorer, a mediocre facilitator and a mediocre defender. I still suspect that Booker and Russell would have been a pretty good duo offensively as they would share the PG duties, but overall he wasn't a great fit, especially at $29m per.
But that’s just it, he was a young guy in bad situations. But he was also a very high pick for a reason. If the switch finally flipped for him then $29M is market for him. Now we don’t know if his growth will keep, but there are also always risks with every signing. For instance I don’t think anyone saw anything but a “safe” signing of ariza. No one saw him devolving into a lockerroom issue. And yet it happened.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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But that’s just it, he was a young guy in bad situations. But he was also a very high pick for a reason. If the switch finally flipped for him then $29M is market for him. Now we don’t know if his growth will keep, but there are also always risks with every signing. For instance I don’t think anyone saw anything but a “safe” signing of ariza. No one saw him devolving into a lockerroom issue. And yet it happened.
Everything I said about him was who he was last year. I am not even considering his first 3 years in the league where he was actually a pretty poor player. I am somewhat relieved that it will be someone else that will spend $29m/year to find out. The idea of getting him was certainly intriguing, but it was certainly a gamble for the amount of money we would be sinking into his contract.
 

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Man what a crummy offseason horrible draft night

No Russell and rubio probably our only pickup....


I can imagine Booker is feeling frustrated now
 

mjb21aztd

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Well i like rubio and hope he succeds just had my hopes up a but high hoping for russel

Just hoping suns can resign obure
 

Johninromania

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Man what a crummy offseason horrible draft night

No Russell and rubio probably our only pickup....


I can imagine Booker is feeling frustrated now
The problem with this team wasn’t necessarily talent. Most of the problems are associated with poor coaching, lack of leadership and most importantly it didn’t have a true point guard. This team is way more balanced and still young and has added a whole bunch of leadership and high IQ hustle players. We already have are two Stars in Ayton and Booker. You can’t underestimate what Rubio can do for this team. I’m fully expecting a team that can come close to .500 club next year.
 

SirStefan32

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Man what a crummy offseason horrible draft night

No Russell and rubio probably our only pickup....


I can imagine Booker is feeling frustrated now

That's a matter of perspective. I think the Suns had a very solid offseason, assuming they sign Oubre.

Outgoing is one NBA player who had multiple mystery injuries and tends to miss a lot of time.
Incoming are three legitimate NBA-level players with playoff experience (Baynes, Saric, and Rubio.) Two of them are starters at the two positions of need. Additionally, they got two older rookies with very specific skills who should be able to contribute something right away. Johnson can flat-out shoot, and Jerome can pass and shoot. If I were Booker, I would be thrilled with how the offseason turned out.

At PG, Rubio and Johnson are both good defenders with significant NBA experience, including some playoff experience. Then you have Jerome, an older rookie with a lot of experience in college and solid skills that usually translate to the NBA.

At SG, they still have Booker. Bridges should be improved as well.

At SF, they'll have Oubre and Bridges, along with some three-point shooting from an older rookie who is probably the best shooter in this draft class.

At 4, they are still pretty thin, but they have a starter now who is a legitimate NBA player and has been to playoffs.

At 5, they keep Ayton and replace Holmes with Baynes. Holmes was more athletic, but Baynes is much stronger and can even hit an open 3.

That's eight legitimate NBA players to go along with two older rookies (lower ceiling, but higher floor than average), and that doesn't even include Melton, Okobo, and Jackson. I assume one or two of them are gonna get traded.

Suns needed depth- actual NBA players, they needed starting PG and PF, and they needed shooting and passing. They've literally managed to fill all those needs.
 

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Am I the only one that likes Tyler Johnson as the sixth man. I think he is a above average player, Nate McMillan type skill set.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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Well i like rubio and hope he succeds just had my hopes up a but high hoping for russel

Just hoping suns can resign obure
I get that for sure. I personally think Russell is being overrated a bit around here though. He is a pretty inefficient scorer (just a 53% TS% last year), decent facilitator and a mediocre defender at best. More importantly however is that I don't think he was a great fit for the Suns current roster nor for the direction that the team is trying to move in.

Rubio for instance is a very good passer and a good defender, but he is also an experienced veteran that will help develop the young core. Add to that the fact that the Suns didn't need to dump solid role players like Oubre or Tyler in order to make room for him and it is another positive for the direction the team took. Signing Rubio gives them some things that they sorely lacked while also keeping as much depth intact as possible.
 

devilalum

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Gambo was on the morning show and said he should get news on it within the hour.

Oubre is a big deal.

If the Suns don't bring him back I would say the off season was a failure. Even if the Suns can't work out a deal they can match any deal he gets from another team. The only reason he wouldn't come back is Sarver being cheap.

If the Lakers or Clips give him something crazy like $25 million per year it might be reasonable to let him walk. I didn't even hear any national media types mention his name once yesterday.
 

Yuma

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Oubre is a big deal.

If the Suns don't bring him back I would say the off season was a failure. Even if the Suns can't work out a deal they can match any deal he gets from another team. The only reason he wouldn't come back is Sarver being cheap.

If the Lakers or Clips give him something crazy like $25 million per year it might be reasonable to let him walk. I didn't even hear any national media types mention his name once yesterday.
When I was looking at draft rumors pre free agency, the Suns were really the only team I saw associated with him. Most guys had like 3-4 teams they were supposedly being interested by.
 

devilalum

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Can anybody think of an example of a team that went out and got a whole bunch of "character" guys and made significant improvement?
 

devilalum

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When I was looking at draft rumors pre free agency, the Suns were really the only team I saw associated with him. Most guys had like 3-4 teams they were supposedly being interested by.

I figured he would be one of those guys a team would consider after they struck out on their first or second choice.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Am I the only one that likes Tyler Johnson as the sixth man. I think he is a above average player, Nate McMillan type skill set.
I like Tyler. And with less pressure heaped on him this year I expect he’ll be a more effective player.
 
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