KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 9:36 am
The Suns have traded away Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, CP3 and now Ayton and a bunch of draft picks for 30 year old Beal and 34 year old Durant. I just don't see the Suns winning anything and KD may only have a couple good years left and then this team implodes. The Nets, IMO, made out like bandits and not only have Mikal and Cam Johnson, but those picks in later years could be very nice. Net got picks in 25, 27 and 29 and swaps in 28.
Keep in mind that KD has missed a lot of time in past four years: He played 0 games in 19-20, 35 in 20-21, 55 in 21-22 and 47 in 22-23. So he's played 137 games in last four years or 34.25 games per year. He's getting older and so he's likely to miss a lot of games. Beal has also missed a lot of games in last four years. He has missed an average of about 30 games a season. Booker only played 53 games last year as he dealt with a reoccurring groin injury.
Vegas: Sell Suns, Buy Wolves!
The Suns might be banking on ensuring they are healthy by the post-season. They may not care how they are seeded, so long as they are at full strength by the time the playoffs roll around. I'm thinking about Golden State two years ago where Curry, Green, and Klay all missed a ton of games in the regular season. Then they went on to win the title. The Lakers were even more extreme last season in that they had to scramble just to make the playoffs, but once they did, they got all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
But that is playing with fire because if the Suns key guys miss too many games due to rest or injury, they may not have the depth to compete in the regular season. That's where I think all those trades may have hollowed them out a bit.
Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:11 pm
As a Bucks fan I believe this makes them the favorites to win the championship. The Bucks achilles heel has been the lack of an elite closer in the playoffs. Giannis though great, isn't the guy you want to rely on in the last 2 minutes. He doesn't shoot it well enough and you can throw enough bodies at him to keep him from getting to the tin. In terms of closers, I'm not sure there is any better than Lillard. I see this as a perfect fit for the Bucks, and although they will miss Jrue, they are a harder team to play against now.
Maybe Cool...that's a terrific 1-2 punch. But they're going to have to do it by outscoring everyone, because a starting backcourt of Dame and Beasley (the de facto starter with Allen gone) is going to get lit up every night.
Fungo, they have to of the NBA's best defenders in Giannis and Lopez backing them up. Further, Grayson wasn't good defensively.
I can't see Beasley starting. Maybe Connaughton or they slide Kris to the 2 and start Portis. They key is how soon all these pieces can mesh and play team basketball.
Cool I thought Allen was at least decent defensively but I know you watch a lot of games. Obviously his shooting is what makes him valuable but I thought he was far from a 1 way complimentary player.
Looking back at Last year’s team the Bucks now do not have Jrue Holiday or Jevon Carter. That’s 2 pretty good perimeter defenders. Cool is there anyone else on the roster that you think may be able to help fill that role?
Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:51 am
The Suns badly needed depth and they achieved some of that with this trade. I don't believe any of the three teams fared poorlyl
I agree Cool. I’ll add that since the Suns are gonna play a lot without any traditional PGs Nurkić could add value because he is a pretty good passing big. Obviously they aren’t gonna be running a bunch of possessions through him but a team can do that at times with good results. He is used to playing with high usage guards and shooters. He has a really good feel for the game.
His only problem is staying healthy. Sure he isn’t always gonna be an asset on D but you can say that for quite a few centers especially in the playoffs. As it’s been pointed out by a few posters that’s the issue with this Suns squad. There are a few teams especially in the west that could be really good or basically completely implode because of injuries.
Maybe Cool...that's a terrific 1-2 punch. But they're going to have to do it by outscoring everyone, because a starting backcourt of Dame and Beasley (the de facto starter with Allen gone) is going to get lit up every night.
Fungo, they have to of the NBA's best defenders in Giannis and Lopez backing them up. Further, Grayson wasn't good defensively.
I can't see Beasley starting. Maybe Connaughton or they slide Kris to the 2 and start Portis. They key is how soon all these pieces can mesh and play team basketball.
Cool I thought Allen was at least decent defensively but I know you watch a lot of games. Obviously his shooting is what makes him valuable but I thought he was far from a 1 way complimentary player.
Looking back at Last year’s team the Bucks now do not have Jrue Holiday or Jevon Carter. That’s 2 pretty good perimeter defenders. Cool is there anyone else on the roster that you think may be able to help fill that role?
It's a good question Monster. They still have Crowder who is aging but has always been strong defensively. They also have Beauchamp but it remains to be seen how large of a role he will have as a 2nd year player. You may see them add a stopper around the deadline, it seems they do this every year.
Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:51 am
The Suns badly needed depth and they achieved some of that with this trade. I don't believe any of the three teams fared poorlyl
I agree Cool. I’ll add that since the Suns are gonna play a lot without any traditional PGs Nurkić could add value because he is a pretty good passing big. Obviously they aren’t gonna be running a bunch of possessions through him but a team can do that at times with good results. He is used to playing with high usage guards and shooters. He has a really good feel for the game.
His only problem is staying healthy. Sure he isn’t always gonna be an asset on D but you can say that for quite a few centers especially in the playoffs. As it’s been pointed out by a few posters that’s the issue with this Suns squad. There are a few teams especially in the west that could be really good or basically completely implode because of injuries.
I can tell you that a lot of Blazer fans are upset at giving up Nurk
Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 8:51 am
The Suns badly needed depth and they achieved some of that with this trade. I don't believe any of the three teams fared poorlyl
I agree Cool. I’ll add that since the Suns are gonna play a lot without any traditional PGs Nurkić could add value because he is a pretty good passing big. Obviously they aren’t gonna be running a bunch of possessions through him but a team can do that at times with good results. He is used to playing with high usage guards and shooters. He has a really good feel for the game.
His only problem is staying healthy. Sure he isn’t always gonna be an asset on D but you can say that for quite a few centers especially in the playoffs. As it’s been pointed out by a few posters that’s the issue with this Suns squad. There are a few teams especially in the west that could be really good or basically completely implode because of injuries.
I can tell you that a lot of Blazer fans are upset at giving up Nurk.
Maybe so, but there are a lot of Blazers fans that prefer Ayton over Nurk, at least if you read the RealGm board. I think Ayton is a great fit for Portland and Nurkic is too old for the young rebuilding Blazers.
And Jrue Holiday continues his journey to the Boston Celtics. Seems Portland has faired well trading Dame. On another note, Jimmy Butler must be even more pissed!
Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
The Celtics are trading Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, 2024 GSW 1st, 2029 unprotected BOS first to the Blazers, sources tell ESPN.
60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 11:14 am
And Jrue Holiday continues his journey to the Boston Celtics. Seems Portland has faired well trading Dame. On another note, Jimmy Butler must be even more pissed!
Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
The Celtics are trading Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, 2024 GSW 1st, 2029 unprotected BOS first to the Blazers, sources tell ESPN.
60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 11:14 am
And Jrue Holiday continues his journey to the Boston Celtics. Seems Portland has faired well trading Dame. On another note, Jimmy Butler must be even more pissed!
Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
The Celtics are trading Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, 2024 GSW 1st, 2029 unprotected BOS first to the Blazers, sources tell ESPN.
Seems like a good trade for both teams
So the Celtics moved Marcus Smart and then ended up getting Jrue holiday.
Yes I think Portland did pretty well in moving Dame. They didn’t want guards and they got draft picks and young bigs. I wonder if Robert Williams will be available as a trade piece at some point. Of course for Portland they could be figuring they have options at that spot in the playoffs…if they can get there which doesn’t sound too crazy depending on how some of their young guys play and of course health.
Back to the Celtics they are going all for the next couple seasons. They are really banking on Porzingis to stay healthy but Robert Williams isn’t exactly an Ironman himself. Seems like the Celtics are a team that would be a landing spot for a big at some point this season. At least Jrue went East.
