Suns Off Season Changes for 2025-26

[BirdGangThing]

It only matters if they are our draft picks.

correctamundo - that is how tanking works

 

[Proximo]

Whose picks? You aren't elaborating. Saying "draft picks" isn't a plan. There are multiple ways to build a team and you offer "draft picks" and think that is a selling point. We have essentially no worthwhile pick for the next 7 years and can't control where we pick at all. Yes, trading for picks would help but then what? Hope Booker sucks where we traded him so we get a good pick? That's ridiculous and asking to become a joke.


To expand on the Suns fandom some, the fan base is older because the younger generation had nothing to cheer for during the later Sarver years. Growing and maintaining a fan base isn't done by toiling in the lottery while Brooklyn, Houston, Washington, Utah, and Memphis control our own picks and will build better teams for us to complete with. We're so far behind at the "get picks to be better" stage that they will flourish from our ineptitude. It makes virtually no sense to hand them top lottery picks while we collect late 1st rounders who bail at the first opportunity because our team has become a bad joke.

Draft picks we trade for. His point is the objective should be to turn KD into picks not players. Also the sensible thing to do would be to trade Booker for picks as well.

 

[Proximo]

It only matters if they are our draft picks.

No it doesn’t. That doesn’t matter, what we are able to pick with the picks is all that matters. Tanking doesn’t really work, you only need to look at the last lottery to see that.

 

[Hoop Head]

What do Indy and Minnesota have in common, they are made up of young ascending players.

New York didn’t really overachieve, Boston lost porzingas and later Tatum.

There is a big difference between being the hornets or Washington vs any other team. Those teams cannot get fa’s. But even so those teams have done a horrendous job of drafting or they would have turned things around by now, although their lottery luck has been terrible.

Our lottery luck has been terrible and minus Booker's ability to attract players the Suns fall right next to those teams attracting talent.

Minnesota is a team with 2 young players, Ant and Jaden McDaniels as core pieces. Randle and Gobert aren't young and Mike Conley might be older than some board members. Indiana is young in regards to Haliburton but Siakam is around Book's age. I think you're misrepresenting what those teams are.

Injuries always happen. Every year there is someone who goes down that could have drastically changed the finals matchup. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. There's more to root for if you're in the playoffs vs the lottery where we don't even have the rights to our own pick.

 

[Mainstreet]

No it doesn’t. That doesn’t matter, what we are able to pick with the picks is all that matters. Tanking doesn’t really work, you only need to look at the last lottery to see that.

There are many notable exceptions, but the odds of drafting a star diminish the later a team drafts.

NBA draft history: How likely are you to land a star at each pick?

This year’s upcoming NBA draft does not have any sure-fire stars at the top and many analysts consider this class potentially the weakest since 2013. As the draft approaches, we analyzed the …

hoopshype.com

 

[Hoop Head]

There is no path forward without draft picks. You show me one team that is successful that isn’t heavily built from the draft.

Boston would almost qualify since their impact players came from picks they acquired in a what was one of the most lopsided deals of the last 20 years only rivaled by what we gave up for KD. Our fate is essentially sealed for years to come. We sold the farm for a player near the end of his career and have this team now to show for it. We aren't Brooklyn where we have the allure of NYC to pull free agents. This isn't going to get better overnight. It will takes years to see the light of building a true contender. It can't be short sighted and another stupid gamble. I'd rather watch decent basketball in the middle for the next few years instead of becoming a bigger joke and more years of being awful while we piss away any goodwill that's been built over the last 5 years since the Bubble.

 

[Proximo]

Our lottery luck has been terrible and minus Booker's ability to attract players the Suns fall right next to those teams attracting talent.

Minnesota is a team with 2 young players, Ant and Jaden McDaniels as core pieces. Randle and Gobert aren't young and Mike Conley might be older than some board members. Indiana is young in regards to Haliburton but Siakam is around Book's age. I think you're misrepresenting what those teams are.

Injuries always happen. Every year there is someone who goes down that could have drastically changed the finals matchup. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. There's more to root for if you're in the playoffs vs the lottery where we don't even have the rights to our own pick.

What are Neismith, mathrin, and nembhardt?

Think you forgot about Alexander-walker and naz reid too.

We are a top 10 destination for FA.

Last I checked all the guys that made those bad picks no longer work for the suns or anywhere in the nba for that matter. Trying to say it didn’t work before so it won’t work now is stupid, because it clearly does work for many of the current best teams.

 

[Proximo]

There are many notable exceptions, but the odds of drafting a star diminish the later a team drafts.

NBA draft history: How likely are you to land a star at each pick?

This year’s upcoming NBA draft does not have any sure-fire stars at the top and many analysts consider this class potentially the weakest since 2013. As the draft approaches, we analyzed the …

hoopshype.com

And who said the picks we get, especially in a Booker deal have to be late in the draft?

 

[Mainstreet]

And who said the picks we get, especially in a Booker deal have to be late in the draft?

I'm talking about the draft picks the Suns currently own. I wasn't talking about trading Devin Booker.

Draft picks are not a guarantee of success, which you seem to go back and forth on.

Who was the last star the Suns drafted? Hint. It's a player you just mentioned.

 

[Hoop Head]

What are Neismith, mathrin, and nembhardt?

Think you forgot about Alexander-walker and naz reid too.

We are a top 10 destination for FA.

Last I checked all the guys that made those bad picks no longer work for the suns or anywhere in the nba for that matter. Trying to say it didn’t work before so it won’t work now is stupid, because it clearly does work for many of the current best teams.

I respect your view but I think we are each looking at from it different perspectives.

As to Naz and Alexander Walker, Naz is a tweener big who is nice but no more than a Cam Johnson level guy. Replaceable. I wouldn't say NAW is that good, yet.

The youngsters in Indiana are showing their inexperience now as well. I wouldn't call them core pieces although before game 4 I could see the case for Mathurin. They're 5th starter or 6th man level guys who are rotation pieces but not exactly core guys. A teams core should be a big 3 or 4, IMO. The Suns had that when they made the Finals. Booker and Paul being 1a and 1b with Ayton and Mikal both being 3rd bananas. When guys like Crowder, Cam J, or Cam Payne gave us something we'd win easily but otherwise the heavy lifting was done by Booker and Paul like Hali and Siakam are doing. I'd call Turner the 3rd banana in Indiana with Nembhard and Naismeth being their 4th guy most nights. Theyre deep and very well coached.

The further we break down the rosters the more we need to dive deeper and start splitting hairs. Ultimately, I get your point but respectfully I see it easier for us to get to an Indiana level and hope for luck than strip down and build into an OKC. Either way, both have a shot a title so who is to say who is really right or wrong? It's all perspective.

 

[Folster]

We've certainly made more damaging trades but that one is the most incomprehensible.

The trade was pretty logical. We went from not having a tradable first rounder until 2031 to being able to trade any of our first rounders from 2025 to 2029

 

[Phrazbit]

No it doesn’t. That doesn’t matter, what we are able to pick with the picks is all that matters. Tanking doesn’t really work, you only need to look at the last lottery to see that.

Yes it absolutely does. He is talking about bottoming out to improve draft odds, saying that being "mediocre" is a disaster, you want to contend or suck, but being horrible doesn't help anything unless you own your own picks.

Furthermore, you vastly underrate the value of picking high, and what few picks we have are not only looking like they won't be high, it is a virtually guarantee they will be late in the round given how many pick swaps we allowed on them.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns are not getting the trade offers they want for Kevin Durant. See Brian Windhorst.

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[Hoop Head]

The Suns are not getting the trade offers they want for Kevin Durant. See Brian Windhorst.

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Another reason I'm grateful JJ is gone. The price was set at the trade deadline this season, IMO. I believe we've received lower offers than that and it's led to the disappointment mentioned here. The Suns have less leverage than they did. I'm hopeful the Bane overpay artificially raises KD's value some. I'm glad a deal hasn't been approved as rumored since none of those are enticing enough to rush into.

 

[95pro]

Oh I'm still around, just don't have much to offer that hasn't already been discussed many times.

Same, just a lot of speculation going around.

 

[Mainstreet]

Another reason I'm grateful JJ is gone. The price was set at the trade deadline this season, IMO. I believe we've received lower offers than that and it's led to the disappointment mentioned here. The Suns have less leverage than they did. I'm hopeful the Bane overpay artificially raises KD's value some. I'm glad a deal hasn't been approved as rumored since none of those are enticing enough to rush into.

I never expected high trade offers for Durant, but I hoped to be disappointed and the Suns found a team to overpay.

A factor some ignore or underestimate, Durant wants a two-year extension. That could be a dealbreaker right there.

 

[95pro]

The Suns are not getting the trade offers they want for Kevin Durant. See Brian Windhorst.

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I dont trust windy, he's not as connected as he makes it seem. That list is KD's list too, suns just need to do whats best for the suns.

 

[Mainstreet]

I dont trust windy, he's not as connected as he makes it seem. That list is KD's list too, suns just need to do whats best for the suns.

All we are going to get is crumbs until it happens, unless an agent or another team leaks it.

 

[95pro]

All we are going to get is crumbs until it happens, unless an agent or another team leaks it.

But you're right about the 2 year extension, its a big factor for teams to commit to.

 

[swagron]

The Raptors are open to including the No. 9 overall pick in a potential trade for Kevin Durant, per @WindhorstESPNon @GetUpESPN. And Toronto seems to be willing to gamble on Durant signing an extension.

 

[Mainstreet]

Hmm. Talk about the hope Bradley Beal's production might improve without Kevin Durant.

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[BirdGangThing]

The Suns are not getting the trade offers they want for Kevin Durant. See Brian Windhorst.

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exactly what i was saying yesterday

 

[Proximo]

I'm talking about the draft picks the Suns currently own. I wasn't talking about trading Devin Booker.

Draft picks are not a guarantee of success, which you seem to go back and forth on.

Who was the last star the Suns drafted? Hint. It's a player you just mentioned.

I am aware our picks haven't been that great. However let me remind you some of the players on the board we could have - and many argued at the time we should have but did not pick.

Luka, Halliburton, DeArron Fox, Jalen Brunson.

How different would the team be if we had made just one of those picks?

I am really tired of people not wanting picks - virtually every superstar - a requirement for a title - is acquired via the draft.

 

[Proximo]

Hmm. Talk about the hope Bradley Beal's production might improve without Kevin Durant.

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It absolutely will. The problem is it is hard to play book and him at the same time.

 

[Hoop Head]

Hmm. Talk about the hope Bradley Beal's production might improve without Kevin Durant.

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I'd like him as a Sixth Man, especially given what his salary would be if stretched. I would like to see that tried before stretching him as that is the worst case scenario, IMO.