Suns @ Thunder 2026 Playoffs Sunday Game 1 Thread, 4-19-2026

[SirStefan32]

Here’s the thing, I don’t think what presti did was rocket science. He lost and took on bad contracts to gain a massive amount of draft picks. Yes, talent evaluation was key. And they have a good collection of talented players. But they really only have one star and two substars. But they had to lose and lose a lot and take a lot of bad contracts to get there.

This is THE single most important thing. In the last three drafts, Suns ended up with Camara, Dunn, Oso, Maluach, and Flemming. Only one was a lottery pick- most of them late first and second round picks. Between 2016 and 2018, they used 1st, and two 4th picks on Ayton, Bender, and Jackson, while mixing in a trade for Chriss. That is how important talent evaluation is, and how much of a difference it can make.

 

[leclerc]

I think Highsmith can help. Have not seen enough of him to judge, but Flemingo should get his. HH should get guard minutes, meaning what's left after Grayson and Goody.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think Highsmith can help. Have not seen enough of him to judge, but Flemingo should get his. HH should get guard minutes, meaning what's left after Grayson and Goody.

Highsmith isn't a guard. He's a slower Royce. He's insurance in case we deal Royce or Grayson, IMO. I hope Grayson can bring some return because I'm tired of seeing him on the injury report. He played in fewer games this year than Beal did either of his seasons here. That should say enough.

Highsmith is a 9th or 10th man in a rotation, and is paid like that also. He's cheap enough that not playing him shouldn't lead to issues either. He has virtually no handles so you don't want to play him at SG or run him as a wing unless everyone else is a better ball handler.

Ideally we retain one of guards, Goodwin or Gillepsie, and either sign Williams on the cheap or get something in a sign and trade for him. That's a benefit of being below the curtains, sign and trades are a possibility. We shouldn't be losing our guys for nothing in return. Williams is restricted and we can play hardball to keep him next year on a reasonable deal due to that. Qualifying offer is roughly $9.6 million and he made $6.8 million last year, so not a big raise.

 

[djm75]

grayson can shoot the 3 just as nice

Grayson’s 3-point shooting has fallen off the cliff this year while Collin stayed consistent.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

As demonstrated in previous discussions, what you think is a legit path to a title and what I do is miles apart.

So, no, I just don't see it that way, for a million reasons.

If there is no realistic path (which IMO, there is not) stick with the one where you are relevant... at least then, if you have some huge stroke of luck, you're in a position to capitalize on it.

This would all be different if we controlled our picks, I would absolutely be in favor of a reset, but we don't, we don't for another 5 years because this team did one trade after another, chasing a quick fix, thinking "TITLE OR BUST" and every stupid move they made sent them much further from a title.

We're living with the consequences of some of the worst decisions in league history. Trading Booker so we can swim in feces for the better part of a decade will not help this franchise one iota.

Is it your contention we are presently “relevant?” Or one huge stroke of luck away from being a contender?

 

[Chaplin]

Is it your contention we are presently “relevant?” Or one huge stroke of luck away from being a contender?

Depends on your definition of relevant. Relevant = contender? No. Relevant = not a terrible basement-dwelling team? Yes.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

It's a question of timing. The Thunder didn't get to where they are now by trading George. They got to where they are now by trading George plus already having a lot of other assets, specifically their own picks.

The Suns' situation is hopeless for the next five or so years. Nothing can be done to change that. Booker's trade value isn't sufficient to reboot the franchise by itself. Assuming they don't continue to make incredibly risky trades, they'll be in better shape by the end of this decade, pretty much no matter what. Then they can start thinking seriously about the future.

Is it better to be mediocre or awful for the next five years? I don't know. But being awful won't put them in any better position than being mediocre would be, so they might as well be mediocre.

So this isn’t really accurate. Only three current thunder players were selected with thunder actual picks and only one was high:

Chet Holmgren (#2 in 2022), Jaylin Williams (#34 in 2022), and Aaron Wiggins (#55 in 2021)

All of the rest of their players came via trades or picks they traded for. Jalen Williams (#12) and SGA came from the George trade.

And understand that it isn’t just a Booker trade I’m advocating. I’m saying to follow the same blueprint. Trade players for cap space now. Use the cap space to take on bad contracts during our downtime and get paid in additional draft picks.

Just like a bunch of people were lamenting the fat there was no tomorrow going into this years season, you never know what a creative owner can cook up. No one thought we’d be in the playoffs this season. And here we are. To state definitively we can’t do anything is kind of silly as we discuss our current playoff situation.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

.

Is it better to be mediocre or awful for the next five years? I don't know. But being awful won't put them in any better position than being mediocre would be, so they might as well be mediocre.

This is a strawman argument because it fails to take into consideration the full fact set. It’s be awful with more draft assets or be mediocre. that’s materially different than a be awful or mediocre argument.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

If Booker doesn't want dealt then he shouldn't be dealt. Of course we don't know the offers they've received but building a quality organization where guys want to play is part of the equation and promising Book he can play things out here only to deal him wouldn't send a good message to other potential franchise players. Since we don't own our pick, I don't think we need to rush into anything. A few small tweaks and development could get us in the 3-6 range in the West as it is while trading Book won't improve our current situation and may not even improve things in a few years. There's so much dead money and spoken for draft picks that patience is likely the best path forward because we aren't winning a title in the 2020's regardless. We could improve our standing and reputation enough that by the time Book's extension is actually being paid that we could make a splash, that's also when Beal's dead money leaves us. I'd rather have a few more seasons like this last one than some lottery seasons where we're utilizing someone else's pick.

I also believe it's easier to maintain a winning club in position to take the next step from bottom seed to playoff favorite than being a lottery team that becomes a playoff team. We've been doormats and it's hard to turn things around after years of being in the gutter.

The pistons and thunder would beg to differ.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Depends on your definition of relevant. Relevant = contender? No. Relevant = not a terrible basement-dwelling team? Yes.

The latter is definitely not my definition. Others may differ. I don’t think we are relevant to anyone other than golden state at this point.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Depends on your definition of relevant. Relevant = contender? No. Relevant = not a terrible basement-dwelling team? Yes.

Guess that also depends on if you think a team stuck in purgatory is relevant also though. This season was a really nice surprise for a lot of us because we expected the team to be bad... like really, really bad, so ending up an 8 seed and just in the playoff hunt was refreshing after last year's complete disaster.

I can't help but wonder if that's our ceiling for the foreseeable future, especially as Devin ages, slows down, gets more injury prone and becomes even less of a star than he's already slid. And if that is the case, that leaves us as a perennial play-in team and for me, I don't think being a perennial play-in team is really relevant.. And I think that's what we're kinda looking at unless guys like Fleming/Malauch takes just HUGE steps forward.

But, like I said... I thought we'd be awful this year, so maybe there are great leaps taken forward.

As to the "we don't have our picks" argument... I get that we don't have our pick control, but we do still have picks and the idea is that a Booker trade could get us more and the more cracks at the apple, the better chance of adding talent for the future.

Either way, even respectability and being a fun playoff team that can steal a series is a long way off, Booker or no Booker.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I will say, there’s an outside chance Fleming can be a star. I say chance because we’ve only seen glimpses and the 2024-2025 Dunn experience has me gunshy about raising too big of expectations.

I think Khaman can be good but I doubt a star.

 

[Covert Rain]

As demonstrated in previous discussions, what you think is a legit path to a title and what I do is miles apart.

So, no, I just don't see it that way, for a million reasons.

If there is no realistic path (which IMO, there is not) stick with the one where you are relevant... at least then, if you have some huge stroke of luck, you're in a position to capitalize on it.

This would all be different if we controlled our picks, I would absolutely be in favor of a reset, but we don't, we don't for another 5 years because this team did one trade after another, chasing a quick fix, thinking "TITLE OR BUST" and every stupid move they made sent them much further from a title.

We're living with the consequences of some of the worst decisions in league history. Trading Booker so we can swim in feces for the better part of a decade will not help this franchise one iota.

That's fair but to me there is no realistic path unless one of two things happen. We either pull off an expected trade, or you trade for a ton of assets. There is no path IMO staying loyal to Book and trying to sell tickets with fun teams. One of the two things above still needs to happen. In terms of not controlling our picks? That precisely why we should have traded Booker.

To be clear: If the Suns could pull off a miracle trade somehow and keep Book? That would be my first wish.

 

[elindholm]

So this isn’t really accurate. Only three current thunder players were selected with thunder actual picks and only one was high:

Chet Holmgren (#2 in 2022), Jaylin Williams (#34 in 2022), and Aaron Wiggins (#55 in 2021)

I don't think that matters. No matter how brilliant your GM is, some picks will hit and some will miss. More picks are better than fewer picks, and high picks are better than low picks. The Thunder had a lot of picks, including several high picks. The best the Suns can do is a medium amount of low picks.

This is a strawman argument because it fails to take into consideration the full fact set. It’s be awful with more draft assets or be mediocre. that’s materially different than a be awful or mediocre argument.

It's possible that our main disagreement is over Booker's trade value. What do you think is a realistic haul for him, given his contract?

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't think that matters. No matter how brilliant your GM is, some picks will hit and some will miss. More picks are better than fewer picks, and high picks are better than low picks. The Thunder had a lot of picks, including several high picks. The best the Suns can do is a medium amount of low picks.



It's possible that our main disagreement is over Booker's trade value. What do you think is a realistic haul for him, given his contract?

even with his astronomical price-tag, if Desmond Bane could fetch 4 first rounders, I think Book could net us the same. We probably both agree the only team that's going to make a trade like that is probably one right on the cusp of winning it, so for me, the key would be making sure at least two of those picks come far enough down the line that 1) we have control of our picks back and 2) that team likely has seen it's title window slam shut like the Clippers. So, if we could get someone's 27/29/31/33 first rounders, that's more bites at the apple in what will be admittedly very lean years, but those '31 and '33 picks could be gold.

this is all totally hypothetical, but maybe a fun thought experiment - who do we think would even be a team that would look to trade for Booker?

 

[Cheesebeef]

this is all totally hypothetical, and will never happen, but maybe a fun thought experiment - who do we think would even be a team that would look to trade for Booker?

 

[Phrazbit]

Is it your contention we are presently “relevant?” Or one huge stroke of luck away from being a contender?

They're interesting, they play fun basketball, they sell out the arena.

The type of stroke of luck required for them to truly contend anytime soon would be someone astronomically unlikely... like finding the next Jokic with the 50th pick.

And I don't think trading Booker for future picks meaningfully changes our odds of future success, because any realistic path to legit contention is so far down the road regardless.

I don't think the misery would be remotely worth it.

They made some of the worst moves imaginable trying to take short cuts... they made their bed, now they gotta sleep in it.

 

[Phrazbit]

this is all totally hypothetical, and will never happen, but maybe a fun thought experiment - who do we think would even be a team that would look to trade for Booker?

The Pistons are the obvious one.

Houston would be up there too (especially enticing because they have a lot of our picks) however, I suspect him and Durant have no interest in a reunion.

 

[AzStevenCal]

this is all totally hypothetical, and will never happen, but maybe a fun thought experiment - who do we think would even be a team that would look to trade for Booker?

Washington Wizards; it's why AD met with their front office to discuss his and their future. The report was that he wanted to know if they planned on competing at the highest level and they said yes. So he told them to get me Devin and I'll stay. j/k

 

[Cheesebeef]

Washington Wizards; it's why AD met with their front office to discuss his and their future. The report was that he wanted to know if they planned on competing at the highest level and they said yes. So he told them to get me Devin and I'll stay. j/k

oh my lord... what a blessing a trade like that would be. Could probably get one of our swaps back from the Beal trade and there is no doubt that team will be a catastrophe one way or another years into the future and in the present with likely injuries derailing any potential season moving forward. but wayyyyyy too good to be true.

 

[Raindog]

this is all totally hypothetical, and will never happen, but maybe a fun thought experiment - who do we think would even be a team that would look to trade for Booker?

Spurs, Rockets - the two likely suspects from when this was proposed last off-season. The Rockets are obviously in win now mode with Durant, and we could potentially get some of our own picks back. Spurs might feel like they need just one more veteran star to pair with Wemby to push them past OKC.

Knicks - big market team not averse to taking on big contract guys. They could potentially be just one star from dominating the Eastern Conference.

Pistons - Booker's home town team might be looking for a vet star to add to their core of youth to better guide them in the post-season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Spurs, Rockets - the two likely suspects from when this was proposed last off-season. The Rockets are obviously in win now mode with Durant, and we could potentially get some of our own picks back. Spurs might feel like they need just one more veteran star to pair with Wemby to push them past OKC.

Knicks - big market team not averse to taking on big contract guys. They could potentially be just one star from dominating the Eastern Conference.

Pistons - Booker's home town team might be looking for a vet star to add to their core of youth to better guide them in the post-season.

The Knicks are a good candidate and would be my bet if someone from the future came back and told us Booker had been traded this offseason. Unfortunately, the most likely team is NONE.

If it does happen, I think we can probably get 4 picks for him but we'd have to eat a bad contract or two.

 

[Phrazbit]

Spurs, Rockets - the two likely suspects from when this was proposed last off-season. The Rockets are obviously in win now mode with Durant, and we could potentially get some of our own picks back. Spurs might feel like they need just one more veteran star to pair with Wemby to push them past OKC.

Knicks - big market team not averse to taking on big contract guys. They could potentially be just one star from dominating the Eastern Conference.

Pistons - Booker's home town team might be looking for a vet star to add to their core of youth to better guide them in the post-season.

The Knicks are a good candidate and would be my bet if someone from the future came back and told us Booker had been traded this offseason. Unfortunately, the most likely team is NONE.

If it does happen, I think we can probably get 4 picks for him but we'd have to eat a bad contract or two.

The Knicks traded the house for Bridges, they don't have picks.

I could see the Spurs as a fit, but they are a patient franchise that doesn't make those high risk gambles.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Add some rotation 4/5s with size, not stars, just depth and the Suns will suddenly look much better. Then hope the rookies develop while keeping Goodwin and Gillespie.

I practically begged for the Suns to add then free agent Achiuwa this season. He would have helped.

I’ll go so far as to suggest we DO need at least one legit star at the 4 or 5.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The Knicks traded the house for Bridges, they don't have picks.

I could see the Spurs as a fit, but they are a patient franchise that doesn't make those high risk gambles.

Most of the teams that might want Devin have probably spent some of their draft capital. Anyway, it's moot. If they want him badly enough, they can find the assets to make it work with a multi-team trade.