The Ayton Plan

Covert Rain

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I really want to hope that a trade for KD can still happen. Seems like out of all the rumors it's the only viable option to get a Superstar in return. I am trying to find news if KD's team has had any contact with the Nets yet. All the previous rumors about this trade were bunk according to local media. They were saying the Org was pissed at KD's team for not having any contact since the sweep. So Flex and the like were full of crap on any chance of getting a Superstar in return up to this point.

Should I still have hope? Maybe 10%?
 

Chaplin

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I really want to hope that a trade for KD can still happen. Seems like out of all the rumors it's the only viable option to get a Superstar in return. I am trying to find news if KD's team has had any contact with the Nets yet. All the previous rumors about this trade were bunk according to local media. They were saying the Org was pissed at KD's team for not having any contact since the sweep. So Flex and the like were full of crap on any chance of getting a Superstar in return up to this point.

Should I still have hope? Maybe 10%?
Other than Kyrie opting in, there hasn't been any substantive news of any kind around any player, even Ayton. We just have to wait to see what happens in a few days.
 

Hoop Head

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I'd love to hear some realistic options. Please present some, because I haven't seen anything of interest yet. Perhaps Poetl/Murray, but I'd want more than that. (I also don't like Poetl)

If you want more than Murray and Poetl then you'll be disappointed with any trade out there. Murray is the best possible return out there, arguably better than KD when you consider the long term impact.
 

Proximo

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If you want more than Murray and Poetl then you'll be disappointed with any trade out there. Murray is the best possible return out there, arguably better than KD when you consider the long term impact.
Murray just got traded to the hawks for Galinarri and picks.

WTF are the spurs doing.
 

Raindog

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At the end of the day, I don't believe that the Suns really think Ayton isn't a good enough player to get the going market value he and his agent want, nor do I believe that there is any kind of "rift" between him and the rest of the team that anyone thinks is really beyond repair.

What I really believe that, once again - as with so much of the stupidity we Suns fans have had to put up with over the last two decades - it is really just coming down to the ratbag owner trying everything he can to keep from paying the going rate to have a genuinely competitive team... because that is not a priority vs. saving money.

Which I guess would be fine... if you don't really care that the Suns are doomed to once again fall into irrelevance because of it. But the aggravating thing throughout the entire debacle of the Sarver ownership era is how often the franchise has insulted the fans' intelligence by continually inventing excuses, fake controversy, and trying to sell us on garbage FO moves that we all KNOW are garbage instead of just admitting the truth... that the owner is a penny pinching crud who doesn't really care whether the team wins anything or languishes in mediocrity.
 

Covert Rain

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Murray just got traded to the hawks for Galinarri and picks.

WTF are the spurs doing.
Tanking? Clearing up future cap space? Dangling a future expiring contract for another move? Galinarri is a UFA after the 2022-2023 year.

The Spurs are calculated about everything they do.
 
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Phrazbit

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Knicks look like they are going full rebuild they’ve now got 22 picks over the next 7 years

Would you do

Knicks get: Jae Crowder, Dario 2 #1s

Suns get: Julius Randle

Knicks get picks and expiring contracts to use as filler if they want to take a swing

Randle is on a pretty good deal he’s gonna make 23 million next year.

Resign Ayton

Now you have a major upgrade at your weakest spot.

The Knicks would probably trade Randle just for the cap space, he was absolute horse **** trash last year. Guy is a negative asset. He is a horrendous shooter, teams beg him to shoot and he obliges. On wide open looks he had one of the worst shooting percentages last season. His contract isn't good, it is a nightmare. A guy who doesn't defend and shoots 40% from the field and is owed 114 million over the next 4 years.

Hell no.
 

Proximo

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Tanking? Clearing up future cap space? Dangling a future expiring contract for another move? Galinarri is a UFA after the 2022-2023 year.

The Spurs are calculated about everything they do.
Tanking is plain dumb. Team with the worst record still has a very small chance of getting the first pick.

SA is not a free agent destination. I'm sorry getting rid of your only good young player is just plain stupid.
 

Covert Rain

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Tanking is plain dumb. Team with the worst record still has a very small chance of getting the first pick.

SA is not a free agent destination. I'm sorry getting rid of your only good young player is just plain stupid.
If San Antonio was a bumbling franchise of ineptitude, I would be right there with you. This is a step in a larger plan. Bet on it.
 

Phrazbit

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If San Antonio was a bumbling franchise of ineptitude, I would be right there with you. This is a step in a larger plan. Bet on it.
Things haven't been going well over there for a while. They've been stuck in purgatory, in a similar spot to the Suns after 2010.

I think they know they're not a free agent destination and their only hope is to build through the draft. They're going to be reeeeally bad for a few years.
 

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Maybe they got those picks to do a sign and trade for Ayton?
 

Covert Rain

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Maybe they got those picks to do a sign and trade for Ayton?
That thought had crossed my mind but you would think it would be more attractive to the Spurs to include him in that trade. What would the Suns get in return that could make this roster better?
 

Phrazbit

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Maybe they got those picks to do a sign and trade for Ayton?

I don't see how that makes any sense whatsoever, why would they trade their best player, by far, for draft capitol, only to turn around and use that on a guy who they could have made room to sign as a free agent? Where is Ayton and a bunch of hot trash going to go?

Nah, they are going full "The Process".
 

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That thought had crossed my mind but you would think it would be more attractive to the Spurs to include him in that trade. What would the Suns get in return that could make this roster better?
Getting players in return to make the roster better might not be a concern for the Suns. If they can get picks, then they don’t have to take on any more salary.

If this is really about $ and the luxury tax, the last thing the Suns prob want is 19 million bucks worth of contracts coming back at them which would push them higher into tax territory. Because the Spurs are under the cap, they don’t need to send matching contracts back. So we get salary cap relief and picks in that scenario. And if money is really the driving force, that might satiate Sarver.
 

Mainstreet

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I am less concerned about the Center position. I think they can get average guys at that position and run it by committee. If they can get a legit PF and back up PG as part of the package? That would be fantastic IMO. I think it becomes less about who is playing Center if they can pull that off. The devil is in the details though...who can we realistically get.

We agree the Suns don't need anyone special at center.

I just don't think McGee, Biyombo and Kaminsky (if they sign him) are starting centers. I like them as backups.
 

Phrazbit

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Getting players in return to make the roster better might not be a concern for the Suns. If they can get picks, then they don’t have to take on any more salary.

If this is really about $ and the luxury tax, the last thing the Suns prob want is 19 million bucks worth of contracts coming back at them which would push them higher into tax territory. Because the Spurs are under the cap, they don’t need to send matching contracts back. So we get salary cap relief and picks in that scenario. And if money is really the driving force, that might satiate Sarver.

It still doesn't make any sense for the Spurs though.

They nearly had enough cap space to sign Ayton straight up with Murray on the roster. They could have cleared the few mil more they needed to make the space and tried to sign him outright, or force a sign and trade that doesn't involve them losing their best player.

I don't see a twisted plot here for the Spurs. The most obvious reason is probably the correct one.

They want to suck for a while.
 

Mainstreet

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Tanking is plain dumb. Team with the worst record still has a very small chance of getting the first pick.

SA is not a free agent destination. I'm sorry getting rid of your only good young player is just plain stupid.

Spurs are really good at drafting. They have a plan.

They even traded Derrick White to the Celtics who was also a good point guard.

It's nice to have great scouts and player development.
 

Hoop Head

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Tanking alone doesn't work because of lottery odds being against the tanker but hedging your bets with multiple picks helps even it out some. The Spurs draft well. To build through the draft is easier with multiple picks each year because you can take a few swings or package those picks to trade up.
 

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I don't see how that makes any sense whatsoever, why would they trade their best player, by far, for draft capitol, only to turn around and use that on a guy who they could have made room to sign as a free agent? Where is Ayton and a bunch of hot trash going to go?

Nah, they are going full "The Process".
That’s a good point.
 

Mainstreet

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John Collins would look nice in a Suns uniform but the Suns need more because they have so many holes to fill.
 

Covert Rain

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Getting players in return to make the roster better might not be a concern for the Suns. If they can get picks, then they don’t have to take on any more salary.

If this is really about $ and the luxury tax, the last thing the Suns prob want is 19 million bucks worth of contracts coming back at them which would push them higher into tax territory. Because the Spurs are under the cap, they don’t need to send matching contracts back. So we get salary cap relief and picks in that scenario. And if money is really the driving force, that might satiate Sarver.
That could be true but then the Suns are admitting to everyone this run is over. You can't sell getting rid of Ayton and filling the roster with filler is means the Suns are still in it to win the entire thing.
 

Covert Rain

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We agree the Suns don't need anyone special at center.

I just don't think McGee, Biyombo and Kaminsky (if they sign him) are starting centers. I like them as backups.
I don't think we need a "starting" center. Center by committee would work if we can shore up the other two positions IMO.
 

Finito

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I don't think we need a "starting" center. Center by committee would work if we can shore up the other two positions IMO.

The whole look at the championship teams center thing is a BS argument

They didn’t need to pay a center because they had legit great players at other positions. We don’t have that.

So you lose Ayton for role players making less just closes your window foreal.
 

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