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

[Yuma]

I liked him before the draft and I still like him now.

However, nothing is guaranteed, but I like the probability he becomes one.

Well he's got the measurables. Our team is small. We need guys like Fleming, even if they aren't a super star. We went smaller guys with skills. Yes we can switch, because all our guys are short! LOL.

 

[Yuma]

oh no, I thought they'd be terrible, and note I did say there is room for growth as well. I just think they'll be hard-pressed to match some of the things that happened this year, like Dillan Brooks somehow becoming a 20 peg scorer for the first time in his career, or Mark Williams actually being healthy the first 60 games of the season. And those were major factors in our team's early success that staked us to that 7 seed around the 50 game mark and then just plateau'd or dipped a bit once those things went by the wayside.

but again, maybe the two rooks take major steps forward to buttress whatever we don't get from those major impact makers early this season. But even at that, I'd be surprised to see us break into the top 5.

Bringing up a bad, but true point, our 2027 and 2032 picks are back in play again. Suns can trade those assets for a player. (Here we go again!)

 

[Cheesebeef]

Bringing up a bad, but true point, our 2027 and 2032 picks are back in play again. Suns can trade those assets for a player. (Here we go again!)

oh Good lord...

 

[Phrazbit]

Bringing up a bad, but true point, our 2027 and 2032 picks are back in play again. Suns can trade those assets for a player. (Here we go again!)

That 27 pick is already leveraged 2 or 3 ways.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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?

I could see a young player and 3 first round picks and maybe even a couple swaps. I don’t think you recognize what players are being traded for these days.

And all it takes is a single injury for one of those low picks to jump up. I’m sure when OKC traded Paul George to a clippers team that was acquiring kawhi they never thought they’d get a lottery pick this year. And here we are.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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.

See the pistons are an interesting one. Say we trade Booker to them for 4 picks or 3 picks and a young player. Cunningham just had that scary injury right? What if he goes down for a season? That pick becomes pretty valuable.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

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.

Nah you’d take short term bad contracts or players you could, in turn, flip for more assets. That’s the other part of trading Booker - clearing cap room so you can trade for other bad contracts with more picks. The domino effect could have us brimming with picks again.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Well... yeah, the franchise rolled the dice on a losing bet with drastic long term consequences.

This is where they're at.

There is no easy fix, there is no even remotely realistic fix for many many years.

Do they risk even more on the hope that trading Booker lands them a star?

Or... do they try to right the ship?

If they get so stupid as to start shopping the 2032 pick then I will be right with every detractor.

Again, you’re saying this but you were so certain we were going to be the dregs of the league this year. You just don’t know. And ishbia has proven to be pretty creative about navigating waters that seem impossible.

 

[Phrazbit]

Again, you’re saying this but you were so certain we were going to be the dregs of the league this year. You just don’t know. And ishbia has proven to be pretty creative about navigating waters that seem impossible.

I posted in the "will Suns win more games this season" thread, that I thought we'd lose more, but if they played hard on defense and the chemistry was right, they might surprise.

I realize that caveat isn't exactly foresight, if those things happened they'd obviously improve. But I didn't think it was out of the question.

Ott has impressed as a coach much more than I imagined he would (I thought he was just an MSU hire... which he was, but it worked) and "point Book" has been a much bigger success this go around. As I point out often, when he isn't on the court our offense goes into the can.

I am still weary of Ishbia. I give his ambition and his efforts to make the fan experience better an A++++, but I still question his decision making when it comes to roster stuff. The damage he did out the gate is going to take a long time to fix and I don't know if he is going to have the patience. The pick in '32 will become tradable this summer and if we dangle that in an effort to push this roster over the top then... yeah, I will be right there with the "blow it up!" crowd.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I posted in the "will Suns win more games this season" thread, that I thought we'd lose more, but if they played hard on defense and the chemistry was right, they might surprise.

I realize that caveat isn't exactly foresight, if those things happened they'd obviously improve. But I didn't think it was out of the question.

Ott has impressed as a coach much more than I imagined he would (I thought he was just an MSU hire... which he was, but it worked) and "point Book" has been a much bigger success this go around. As I point out often, when he isn't on the court our offense goes into the can.

I am still weary of Ishbia. I give his ambition and his efforts to make the fan experience better an A++++, but I still question his decision making when it comes to roster stuff. The damage he did out the gate is going to take a long time to fix and I don't know if he is going to have the patience. The pick in '32 will become tradable this summer and if we dangle that in an effort to push this roster over the top then... yeah, I will be right there with the "blow it up!" crowd.

I think this squad is too far for any “over the top” consideration and I think he knows it. I think his restructure last year going younger reflected that knowledge. My concern is they look at this squad the way the front office viewed that dragic one-year anomaly.

 

[Raindog]

My concern is they look at this squad the way the front office viewed that dragic one-year anomaly.

Indeed...that's 100% my concern, too. If that history follows, in another year, we'll be back in the gutter.

 

[Adrian]

Stephen PridGeon-Garner

@StephenPG3
·
31m


Suns Playoff 3-point Shooting:
• 12.3 3PM (5th)
• 37.0 3PA (4th)
• 33.3 3P% (T-9)
• 8.3 c&s 3PM (T-5)
• 24.0 c&s 3PA (5th)
• 34.7c&s 3P% (6th)
Among the handful of things they'll need to stave off elimination tonight, they'll *need* the positive side of 3-point variance.