Phoenix for Eric Gordon just makes way too much sense not to happen. GM James Jones shouldn't skimp here on that 2024 first-round draft pick and owner Robert Sarver shouldn't balk at the expense. If not, I like the idea of Gordon to Toronto, Dragic to Cleveland and Rubio to Houston with a first from Toronto and a second from Cleveland. I personally want to trade Christian Wood now, but if they wait until the summer/Draft, I would not be too upset with it. Wood is an impressive offensive talent but the defensive limitations are too much for me to think he's a long term fit here, especially given his likely cost. Charlotte makes a lot of sense for Wood.
I can see Wood being saved for the draft to be dangled with another pick to move up and grab a guy they really like. Would be a nice haul for a team to get both in an offer. Hard to pass that up.
That all sounds very reasonable and I too have thought all along that the Suns would be the likeliest destination for EG. on Wood, I agree that we don’t have to trade him at the deadline (if Silas actually starts playing Sengun and Wood on the court together more), but we probably should just to exorcise the demons of the last year and a half. There is no doubt that Wood is an exceptional offensive talent (and I still think he’ll get even better btw), but I question his heart and his defensive inconsistency. I also just hate the way our front office appeared to have tunnel vision for Wood in a way that obviously blinded us to better talent in the front court and missed opportunities. I’m not superstitious but Wood kind of represents to me when it all went bad (in the rebuild). With his size and talent you need a legit prospect or at least a middle first rounder for him. I’m not sure that’s out of the question but I’m pretty sure Stone is asking for much more. I say let’s turn the page on the Wood era and get excited about the continued development of Sengun, Tate and KJ Martin, and our 4 young guards; Mathews, Green, Christopher and KPJ. I say Let’s focus on developing those 7 and keep stockpiling assets.
Agree with everything except Tate. I think he is a decent role player, but doubt he will be much more than he is right now. He is just too short to be an effective PF.
I take your point on the PF position, but can he be a good 3? If he can improve his shooting I don’t see why not. He can certainly defend other 3’s. i like the idea of Tate and Martin as our future SF’s. They both need to lock themselves in gym and shoot 3 pointers until they improve lest they be relegated to positionless tweeners. I really like them both.
I get it and like his hustle. We were told he spent the whole off-season working on his 3. He also has tunnel vision on offense. I love his dawg mentality and think he can be useful in spurts guarding perimeter and switching on to bigs every once in a while, but teams will always exploit his height.
He’s perfect by no means but his age and contract fit this team rebuild. I know nothing of who he is in the locker room but say he’s a leader. What motivation is there to trade him outside of being blown away by an offer?
The thing that stands out to me about PHX is how complex matching his salary would be Perhaps @BimaThug could chime in. A 3 for 1 mid season, when the Suns are deep into LT, and the Rockets have a full roster has to be a challenge. Saric, Smith + filler (Payton or Nader) would have the Suns adding 3 mill in salary, then add in them signing an additional player to their roster, that has to be a pretty substantial tax hit right? Then there’s the issue of who the Rockets are waiving, or who were sending Smith + filler to. I agree EG would be a killer fit on the Suns, but something around a EG for Dragic or Rubio seems so much smoother.
Look at what Tate is doing at 26 and what PJ Tucker (Now 36) was doing at 26, that's right, he wasn't even in the league, he was in Germany. If we were fighting for a Championship we would STILL want PJ on this team. PJ has never averaged more than 9 points and 6 Rebounds in any season. Tate, still younger than PJ has ever been in the league (minus his blip of a Rookie year in Toronto) is averaging 12 points and almost 6 rebounds this season. Tate is going to continue to improve and he will get better at defending the bigs as time goes on. He's 6'4" to to Tuckers 6'5" (nothing to talk about there) with a 6'8" wingspan to Tucker's 7' which could be argued against Tate but he is the fighter and workhorse you want with a better motor than Tucker and just as much grit. I think Tate needs to stay here long-term.
I think with the money involved you have boston getting negative value overall for brown. If they are taking on all that dead money it would likely require 3-4 more firsts
EGO + Wood for Ayton/Saric/Shamet/J.Smith Who says NO? keep in mind that they plucked out freakin Byombo out of nowhere and CP3 made him look legit, so why would they cave-in and max Ayton now, if they think his success is all CP3? And then, think what could CP3 carve-out of Wood (bada-boom)?
NBA Trade Rumors: Three ambitious Rockets trade targets Tyrese Haliburton John Collins James Wiseman https://www.thedreamshake.com/houst...rs-eric-gordon-john-collins-tyrese-haliburton
What’s the rationale? They don’t think Ayton gets max offer sheet in the summer? They would match a Max but not offer a Max?
I agree with your line of thinking with Ayton not getting the max, but CP3 knows how small a championship window is. This year there are no alpha teams like Warriors, LeBron led Heat or Shaq/Kobe Lakers. Aytonbthis year gives the Suns a much better chance to win now because of his defense, low need for the ball but ability to score when the opportunity presents itself, and is not selfish. That team is a well run machine. I also don't think Wood is a team player and Suns are smart enough to see that. They're not struggling to score, either
Rockets roster is filling up and likely bring in at least 2 more rookies next season. Assuming Rockets want to convert Nix and Queen to NBA contracts, that will be 4 roster spots that need to be created by next season. Augustin and Gordon are likely gone, but it seems everyone wants another 2022 FRP for Gordon. Rockets need to either consolidate talent or get assets for the future. Tate probably has some positive value for next 2.5 seasons, but should start getting paid fairly after that. I could see him being added to a deal to help persuade another team into offering a better future FRP (less protection or not in 2022) or other asset.
