I have no idea what Ayton is. I know what he's been on occasion. But he has too many strong games to call him a weak player and too many weak games to call him a strong player. He's rarely middle of the road but I guess that works if you want to average out his peaks and valleys.
No he has less. Before the Suns were seemingly trying to get him to be the 3rd scoring option while still maintaining him being a defensive anchor. I think we got a taste of that being too much for Ayton last season. Last season was the 1st season where he didn’t show a steady improvement curve. He was benched multiple times during games. That isn’t happening on this team which means his focus is going to be on the other end again. They are not going to ask him to do both and just enough to keep teams honest or if jumpers are not falling. I think that impacted his defense last year asking him to do both. That’s what I mean by less.
AND he actually got more touches last season than 2021! His efficiency went down with more touches. I am coming around to thinking less is more with him on offense. First thing I am looking for this next season for Ayton is schematic. Vogel tends to keep his centers towards the basket and not running out to defend the three point line. I think that would make a HUGE difference for DA defensively. The Suns wanted him to guard the three point line, and then he was never in position to rebound, or get those weak side blocks. If Vogel lets him stay closer to the rim, I am in on keeping him.
Hi Ayton, let me introduce you to reality. Reality, meet DeAndre. If you two can't get along one of you will have to go.
Don't agree. There will always be players that want a chance to play for a contender to boost their stock. Teams simply aren't throwing out big money to middling free agents for the most part and this means that there will always be some of them that will sign on for a 1 year minimum.
Players are available like this every season. What is going to draw these players is the owner, how the franchise is run and if they keep winning. As long as this team had marquee players they will be in the running for players. I have no reason to doubt Ishbia.
Hopefully the window remains open for a while and the Suns can continue to be contenders. The last few years of franchise relevance have been nice!
Can we do a 3 way where Dame goes to BKN and Bridges comes to Phx?
someone who knows his role, instead of the soft "entertainer". If people think DA is going to be happy getting 5 shots a game and think he will flip a switch and be a rebounding rim protector is laughable
Looks like the sheen of this offseason has worn off already. Doom and gloom and we haven’t even played a game in next season yet. So be it.
I can only chuckle at the fact that when this franchise was actually in its darkest hour, you and me were repeatedly slammed for being pessimists/not fans by the some of the same people who now choose to mostly dwell on the bleakest scenarios for the franchise when the Suns seem to be shining at their brightest.
Nothing we could get back will be "better" than DA but we could get a dude that gets 85% of DAs numbers on a vet min, more or less.
The Lakers will always be able to get players to sign more reasonable deals. The players want to Live in Southern California, Play for the NBA 's favorite team which is always on National TV, and I assume the endorsement deals are more lucrative and plentiful there. Yes, we got several players who could have signed up for more elsewhere on veteran minimum deals, but the Lakers seemingly resigned all of their free agents on very team friendly deals, specially compared to some of the money that smaller market teams threw out there to very mediocre players. Actually it wasn't even smaller market… Chicago.
