I kinda agree. In my mind, Cam Johnson is a three who plays four. But he has been pretty effective as a four. It is sorta hard to wrap my brain around him just being a four--as in starting level. We have Jae and Cam at the four. It would be nice to have a bigger player as an option there. Jae plays bigger than he is. Stix might be the longer-term solution if somehow miraculously we could keep him.
I do think DA could play alongside another center because of his defensive versatility. This would be especially true if the other center had some outside shooting ability.
I never thought Cam could play 4 before, but he seems to be the best fit of anyone outside of Jae on our roster. He's definitely bulked up, and if he could continue to gain strength, could be a really intriguing stretch 5. If
I wasn't having much fun watching Cam play the 4. Then he showed up for the bubble w/ 10lbs of extra muscle. Still wasn't great but def passable as a backup. I think he's still gaining muscle and maybe height. I love that he's driving to the rim now and his shot makes my balls tickle.
He won't be on the all defensive team. I like him and would love for that to happen, but I just do t see it.
Well. The great thing is we can revisit this discussion in July and we will know.
I wouldn't be surprised by the Bledsoe scenario. He only gets paid in full if he plays like a star in the playoffs. If he turtles it things will get interesting.
I wouldn't either if Ayton had two bad knees and Rich Paul as his agent but otherwise, yeah I think it's an incredible long shot to expect it to go down the same way.
Plus it was much easier to scare off bidders from the few teams that might have been interested in trading for Eric Bledsoe (and dealing with Rich Paul) as opposed to the almost league-wide market for Ayton.
All it would likely take is the Suns pre-emptively making a comment that we will match any offer made by any other team and it would do the trick.
It was the fear of being tied up for most of the signing period that made this tactic work but two things have changed. First off, they can only tie it up for a small part of the signing period but even more importantly the league made it clear there would be stiff penalties if any organization ever did this again.
True but the Suns before the season is out can make it clear they have every intention of signing Ayton in the offseason. I do not believe there is rule to prevent teams from talking about their own players before the free agency/offseason begins.
I don't know if that's allowed or not but no, I don't think it would have any impact across the league. Again, once a team makes an offer the owning team can no longer sit on it. We have to decide within 48 hours to match that deal or let him go so the threat is no longer there.
My point is there will be teams that might think about making an offer. If the Suns announce they have no intention of letting him go that will likely reduce the field for Ayton. The 48 hour thing is moot IMO. The entire maneuvering might be moot. Ayton's team will except nothing less than max and Ayton will get that from the Suns or another team.
Yes, Ayton will get the max. I believe it will be from us, something would have to change between now and then to keep it from happening (injury, turn into Ben Simmons in the postseason etc.).
I am just not sure what the Suns do in the offseason should they not win the title this year. Chris will fall off a cliff at some point and there won't be any slowly falling off. I am worried about what Sarver will do with the guys we have locked up and adding Ayton's contract on top of that will do with his decision making with the rest of the roster. I am going to enjoy this season because I won't be surprised if Sarver mucks things up for money next season.
