The Suns are meeting with NBA prospects thread. 2022

[Yuma]

Joe Gambadoro just said his sources have the Suns trying to obtain a pick in the draft. Likely a high two. He also said the Suns cpuld then take that pick plus a future draft pick, or that pick plus a player and move up in the draft if they can find a willing team.

 

[Chaplin]

Joe Gambadoro just said his sources have the Suns trying to obtain a pick in the draft. Likely a high two. He also said the Suns cpuld then take that pick plus a future draft pick, or that pick plus a player and move up in the draft if they can find a willing team.

Way to go out on a limb, there, John....

 

[Russ Smith]

Three guys I am high on in mid / late first & second round:
PG Ty Ty Washington - Local kid who is skilled and athletic
PF Michael Foster - Explosive athlete who score, rebound, defend and handle the ball.
PF / SF EJ Liddell - OSU's Mr. Everything.

I am not trading Ayton, Foster / Liddell would be replacing Crowder. Hoping we can buy a couple of picks. We can create some room by renouncing Holiday and using expiring contracts (Saric, Craig, Crowder).

I do like Ty Ty the one concern I have on him is he has sort of a "weird" body he looks like he could very easily have weight problems when he gets older he has a lower body that just looks like he's out of shape. Very good passing feel and has a nice shot.

 

[Folster]

Three guys I am high on in mid / late first & second round:
PG Ty Ty Washington - Local kid who is skilled and athletic
PF Michael Foster - Explosive athlete who score, rebound, defend and handle the ball.
PF / SF EJ Liddell - OSU's Mr. Everything.

I am not trading Ayton, Foster / Liddell would be replacing Crowder. Hoping we can buy a couple of picks. We can create some room by renouncing Holiday and using expiring contracts (Saric, Craig, Crowder).

EJ Liddell looks good to me as a Millsap type player who can play the 3 and 4 and has enough mass to hold his own against taller players. He looks ready to contribute out of the gates and a potentially perfect Crowder replacement.

 

[Muggz]

Joe Gambadoro just said his sources have the Suns trying to obtain a pick in the draft. Likely a high two. He also said the Suns cpuld then take that pick plus a future draft pick, or that pick plus a player and move up in the draft if they can find a willing team.

Again anyone we take that deep in the draft will play 30 seconds during the last game of the season.
What's the point in having the deepest team in the league if we don't use it to our advantage?

We need 5 non injury prone Stars on the team to fit Montes style. And of course some random backups for them for when Monte gets in a tiff.

 

[Folster]

Again anyone we take that deep in the draft will play 30 seconds during the last game of the season.
What's the point in having the deepest team in the league if we don't use it to our advantage?

We need 5 non injury prone Stars on the team to fit Montes style. And of course some random backups for them for when Monte gets in a tiff.

If you look at the teams in the Finals and even the conference finals, you'll see a lot of late first and 2nd round players who are contributing and doing so at a very low cost. Some have moved on to their second contract already but the point remains. These players are vital to contending with a punitive luxury tax in place. Herb Jones (a quintessential James Jones player) was available with the Suns pick that was traded for Shamet. You're not going to hit anywhere near 100% on these players, but if you bring in a couple every year and hit on 30-50%, they help significantly. Selling the picks or trading them for marginal bench talent that costs 3X more kills you.

 

[Mainstreet]

If you look at the teams in the Finals and even the conference finals, you'll see a lot of late first and 2nd round players who are contributing and doing so at a very low cost. Some have moved on to their second contract already but the point remains. These players are vital to contending with a punitive luxury tax in place. Herb Jones (a quintessential James Jones player) was available with the Suns pick that was traded for Shamet. You're not going to hit anywhere near 100% on these players, but if you bring in a couple every year and hit on 30-50%, they help significantly. Selling the picks or trading them for marginal bench talent that costs 3X more kills you.

I agree but the Suns have been horrible finding 2nd round players since they drafted Goran Dragic.

IMO, every penny invested in scouting is worth it.

The Heat are always finding diamonds in the rough including undrafted free agents.

 

[Raindog]

Yeah, it's been a long time moronic position by Suns management that lower draft picks have no value. I think that template was set under D'Antoni who hated rookies of any kind, and Sarver has just kind of gone along with it all these years because it saved him some money.

And all of this in spite of quality players the Suns themselves have found in late picks like Dragic and Gortat... or that other teams did using the picks the Suns gifted to them.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yeah, it's been a long time moronic position by Suns management that lower draft picks have no value. I think that template was set under D'Antoni who hated rookies of any kind, and Sarver has just kind of gone along with it all these years because it saved him some money.

And all of this in spite of quality players the Suns themselves have found in late picks like Dragic and Gortat... or that other teams did using the picks the Suns gifted to them.

In 2018 the Suns could have drafted Jalen Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, Gary Trent Jr. or De'Anthony Melton in the 2nd round instead of Elie Okobo.

Of course the Suns had another opportunity to keep Melton but traded him away.

 

[AzStevenCal]

In 2018 the Suns could have drafted Jalen Brunson, Mitchell Robinson, Gary Trent Jr. or De'Anthony Melton in the 2nd round instead of Elie Okobo.

Of course the Suns had another opportunity to keep Melton but traded him away.

I don't recall the specifics but I remember it being pointed out when we got him that we likely wouldn't be able to keep him. In a situation similar to what Indiana will face with Jalen Smith, all other teams were allowed to offer him more than what we were allowed to.

He ended up signing for almost 9 million per for 4 years which was well beyond what we could have offered him.

 

[Hoop Head]

I don't recall the specifics but I remember it being pointed out when we got him that we likely wouldn't be able to keep him. In a situation similar to what Indiana will face with Jalen Smith, all other teams were allowed to offer him more than what we were allowed to.

He ended up signing for almost 9 million per for 4 years which was well beyond what we could have offered him.

You're right. Memphis had cap space to use so they didn't have an issue. We only would have had early bird rights because of how his contract was structured as a 2nd round pick. Basically if he played well, odds of retaining him were slim to none without having cap space so trading him wasn't a bad move.

He also started a lot here. We put a lot into his development but saw none of the rewards. That was an organizational misstep but I feel that's been cleared up more with Monty and JJ being on similar pages rather than JJ working with Igor, who was a McD choice.

 

[Phrazbit]

I like Keegan Murray a lot, he does everything and does it all well. Guy can score inside and out and he is aggressive on offense. He's also able to defend all over the court.

If Ayton had to go, he'd be a player I'd be pretty content to land. He miiiiiight still be on the board at 5 when Detroit picks.

 

[Mainstreet]

I don't recall the specifics but I remember it being pointed out when we got him that we likely wouldn't be able to keep him. In a situation similar to what Indiana will face with Jalen Smith, all other teams were allowed to offer him more than what we were allowed to.

He ended up signing for almost 9 million per for 4 years which was well beyond what we could have offered him.

I mostly remember Melton being a part of the Josh Jackson trade with Memphis. The Grizzlies wanted him to be included.

James Jones was in rebuild mode at the time so the Suns were not overly picky in getting deals done. I liked Melton more than Carter but a lot of fans were high on Jevon.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I mostly remember Melton being a part of the Josh Jackson trade with Memphis. The Grizzlies wanted him to be included.

James Jones was in rebuild mode at the time so the Suns were not overly picky in getting deals done. I liked Melton more than Carter but a lot of fans were high on Jevon.

Carter was more ready but very limited long term. Melton showed potential but we knew we probably couldn't re-sign him so yeah, we included him in that deal.

 

[Mainstreet]

Carter was more ready but very limited long term. Melton showed potential but we knew we probably couldn't re-sign him so yeah, we included him in that deal.

This trade reminded me a bit of when the Suns traded TJ Warren to the Pacers and added the 32nd pick. It appeared like a bad trade at the time. Now it looks like a good trade.

James Jones wanted his players in place as soon as possible when he took over as GM. The 32nd pick was sweetener to get the deal done. That's the way I looked at the Suns trading Melton.