Grade the Suns off season

[Cheesebeef]

Their big man rotation from last year is significantly better defensively and on the glass than what we are looking at. They had Kyle Lowry for 47 games, Kevin Martin is a better #1 scoring option than anyone on our team. Courtney Lee would have easily been our starting SG, and I think after a year or 2 of Beasley you'd take Buddinger over him too.

And forget Houston, look at last years SUNS and compare them to this year's. Look at how guys played with and without Nash and how much of our offense Nash generated. Nash was our system last year. The Suns having a good offense is not a given anymore.

agree with much of this. defensively, this team will be abysmal IMO.

 

[mojorizen7]

And forget Houston, look at last years SUNS and compare them to this year's. Look at how guys played with and without Nash and how much of our offense Nash generated. Nash was our system last year. The Suns having a good offense is not a given anymore.

+1
Its going to be a rude awakening to be sure. Especially to those that have played with Nash the last few years. The easy shots are going to disappear. That will lead to more turnovers and ultimately less wins...which is a good thing

 

[Dr. Jones]

C

Too good for a top pick, and too bad for the playoffs.

Mediocrity is upon us!

 

[Joe Mama]

I think this really underrates what Nash brought to the team. Nash virtually guaranteed that no matter what else happened, we would run an extremely efficient offense and a lot of guys who can do nothing but shoot if they are open, will get open looks.

Looking at this roster now its hard to pin point anything that they will do well as a unit. They look to be very poor on the glass, poor on defense, no proven distributor, no go to guy on offense, no lock down defenders, one of the less athletic rosters in the league.

Really take a moment and scan over the rosters of the rest of the conference. On paper the only team that I think we clearly beat out is Houston, and that will change if they get Dwight. I'd also list Golden State, because of health, and Sacramento because of chemistry, as two teams we would have a decent chance of finishing higher than. But thats about it.

Anything over 30 wins would be severely over achieving and a testament to Gentry's coaching ability.

I just posted something very, very similar to this in another thread. This team is going to be bad. With a healthy Eric Gordon think we could have been a 30 win team, and we would be stuck drafting in the second half of the lottery. If we keep Lopez for this upcoming season and don't do much of anything else we will be a bottom five team. On paper I like Golden State and Sacramento better.

Ok. I just want someone to show me the diference between Houston with Scola and Dragic and Phoenix with Scola and Dragic. Is Dalembert that much better than Gortat? No. Is Kevin Martin that much better than Dudley? He had a terrible year due to injuries and Lee played a lot who, statistically, is very similar to Dudders. Buddinger over Beasley? I guess if you're Minnesota, but not to anyone else.

So it must be their bench. Parsons and Camby? Maybe their coaching. McHale vs. Gentry? It all seems like a wash to me.

I love it. I don't even have to reply...

Their big man rotation from last year is significantly better defensively and on the glass than what we are looking at. They had Kyle Lowry for 47 games, Kevin Martin is a better #1 scoring option than anyone on our team. Courtney Lee would have easily been our starting SG, and I think after a year or 2 of Beasley you'd take Buddinger over him too.

And forget Houston, look at last years SUNS and compare them to this year's. Look at how guys played with and without Nash and how much of our offense Nash generated. Nash was our system last year. The Suns having a good offense is not a given anymore.

what he said.

We are losing Steve Nash, Grant Hill, most likely Michael Redd, and possibly Robin Lopez. I mean without Michael Redd we lose a handful more games last season. Wish there was more potential on the current roster. I'll just be hoping that Dragic and Beasley looked better than their contracts.

Joe Mama

 

[95pro]

C

Too good for a top pick, and too bad for the playoffs.

Mediocrity is upon us!

so you based your grade on whether the suns will get a top pick or not?

what about the fact that they added talent, got younger, and will have max money for someone in the near future? oh and we have picks too...

everyone was crying that we should move past nash. we did. we now have an athletic pg who can finish and dish, and play some decent D.

everyone was crying about hill being over the hill. he's gone.

everyone was crying about the bad contracts of warrick and childress.
childress is gone, and we'll just let warrick expire.

everyone was crying about our lack of toughness and post from lopez and frye. we went and got scola, he may flop but he'll still bang with the guys down low.

its a start and a better start than expected post Nash, and it happened so quick. we won't win much this year, but you have to start looking beyond this year. we can't expect immediate changes without signing some big time players.

i gave em an A.

 

[Sonec]

I don't have access to the game logs, but didn't the Rockets win a lot of games with Lowry? And Dragic in Phoenix won't be the same as Dragic in Houston, except occasionally.

I guess you'll be surprised to see he will be the same or even better...

 

[elindholm]

I guess you'll be surprised to see he will be the same or even better...

If that proves true, yes, I will most definitely be surprised.

 

[Magnus]

I gave it an A, altough it's more of a B if the deal with Minnesota doesn't go through IMO.

They did above expectations given the limited talent that was out there, with contracts that aren't too 'heavy', also, trading Nash for something when he could've walked, getting rid of the old core etc..

The franchise turned from one with no future at all to one with atleast some hope. We have some tradeable assets now, some project players (Marshall), some high risk/reward players too (Beasley)... It's a step in the right direction for the franchise. Overall, I'm very, very pleased.

 

[Cheesebeef]

goes up to a B for me if we pull off the Lopez trade.

we're fully moving on and as much as I loathe Nash on the Lakers and wish we hadn't signed Scola, coming away from this off-season with a team that I believe will land us pretty high in the lottery, not blowing our wad on a ton of suspect players and adding 3 first round picks is pretty much as good as I could have hoped for.

 

[elindholm]

I agree, they're probably up to a B now. I'm a bit sad to see Lopez go, but it was time to move on from Warrick, and the team is in a strong financial position for the next full year. Some other opportunity may present itself.

 

[Mainstreet]

I also voted B, however, if the Suns can find a suitable backup center I might push it to an A. It's sort of like poker, the Suns played the cards given them well.

The Suns signing Scola was premier move if anyone cares about winning.

 

[sunsfan88]

I also voted B, however, if the Suns can find a suitable backup center I might push it to an A. It's sort of like poker, the Suns played the cards given them well.

The Suns signing Scola was premier move if anyone cares about winning.

Yup.

Trading Lopez and Warrick for a 1st rd pick easily pushes my grade up to an A.

 

[SirStefan32]

Yeah, the Lopez/ Warrick trade changes my vote from a B to an A as well. I still think that we need to wait and see what they will do with all the assets they accumulated.

 

[Michael]

I voted C but would change it to B with the latest trade for Wes Johnson and a first rounder.

 

[95pro]

I agree, they're probably up to a B now. I'm a bit sad to see Lopez go, but it was time to move on from Warrick, and the team is in a strong financial position for the next full year. Some other opportunity may present itself.

I voted C but would change it to B with the latest trade for Wes Johnson and a first rounder.

explain your reasonings behind a C.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

I voted B, but I would change that to B+/A- with the last trade. This team is in a pretty solid position for rebuilding and growth in the future. Now it's time this team earns its own top-3 pick to go with the array of other picks it holds.

We have no stars, but we do have a solid collection of complementary players who would fortify a team that had a star. We need our star and we can get him with our own draft pick....

 

[Michael]

explain your reasonings behind a C.

The Suns lost my favourite two Phoenix players of all time in one offseason and acquired a guy with (past?) drug problems and draft picks of questionable value. No matter how good the future outlook, Nash and Hill leaving (especially to the Lakers) hurt.

 

[BC867]

The Suns lost my favourite two Phoenix players of all time in one offseason and acquired a guy with (past?) drug problems and draft picks of questionable value. No matter how good the future outlook, Nash and Hill leaving (especially to the Lakers) hurt.

To be fair, the Suns acquired more than "a guy with (past?) drug problems and draft picks". And the two favorite players we lost are 39 (he will be 40 in a little over two months) and 38 1/2.

 

[leclerc]

I agree. We had to let them go some time. If we had a competitive team I'd rather see them retire with the Suns, but given that they're not part of the future of this team, it's okay to see them continue playing the game they love with other teams. Although I hate the Lakers as much as the next Suns fan.

If there should be a finals between the Lakers and the Heat, I'll root for the Lakers because of Nash. If he didn't play I'd just not watch.

I voted a B.

I'm somewhat sceptical drafting a point guard when we signed Dragic, but Marshall might be projected as a backup, or you know, drafting BPA. Maybe Dragic can play a little combo guard, we'll see how it turns out.

I'm not looking forward to seeing Scola flopping, falling over players, pulling them down and having his face melt, in a Suns uniform. Maybe he'll clean up his act a little bit. Sure hope Beasley gets his act together also. And get a hair cut, please!

All in all they got some pieces together and some draft picks, they got younger, they have players that could be really good, and more might be on the way. I think they did good with what they had. They did not panic and dole out huge contracts to underachievers, nor sell draft picks.

If they turn Lopez and Warrick into Wesley Johnson and a 1st round pick, I call it a B+ for sure!

 

[BC867]

Bob Young, in his AzCentral/AzRepublic.com Heat Index column, did some interesting research concerning the Suns Player Efficiency Ratings for last season.

The Suns were higher than the league average. Guess who was the highest on the team. Not Steve Nash. It was Marcin Gortat. And still there are posters on this board who would be happy to give him away.

I got a kick out of how Young referred to Channing Frye.

...Channing Frye at big forward (we can't bring ourselves to use the term "power" in the same sentence, sorry.

Further testimony showing why we need to pickup a backup Center other than Frye.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/heatindex/articles/20120725suns-drowning-advanced-statistics.html

 

[mojorizen7]

Bottom line for myself is that the Suns will be far more interesting to watch than the teams of the last couple seasons,despite having less talent.

 

[sunsfan88]

If the Suns make the playoffs, I think Lon Babby should win the Executive of the Year award.

 

[BC867]

If the Suns make the playoffs, I think Lon Babby should win the Executive of the Year award.

I predict that if we add a backup Center (not Frye) to the roster we now have, we will make the playoffs. And keep the paying customers happy.

'Don't know if Babby would win Exec of the Year, but the combo of him and Alvin Gentry deserve consideration.

 

[sunsfan88]

I predict that if we add a backup Center (not Frye) to the roster we now have, we will make the playoffs. And keep the paying customers happy.

'Don't know if Babby would win Exec of the Year, but the combo of him and Alvin Gentry deserve consideration.

I predicted that the Suns will make the playoffs a while back. I even a wager have on it with Phrazbit and some other guy

You should join in too

 

[Mainstreet]

There is one thing that has impressed me this off season watching the Suns. I didn't believe their FO could wheel and deal with the big boys, accruing talent, and acquiring picks. It's almost like Robert Sarver took off the reins and gave full control of the Suns FO to Lon Babby and company. In addition to the Suns first and second round picks, they have added three additional first round picks and one second round pick all while adding talent and CAP flexibility.