Lmao that is a workout from 2 years ago, I was wondering why Booker still hung out with KD after the trade.
As we all should know, trying to win championships is only one aspect of owning an NBA team. A huge part of it is just maintaining and maximizing fan interest ($$$) each year. The reason most teams hesitate to tank is because it's bad for business.
Are fans really interested in Devin Booker? Not like he's some transcendent player like Steph/Lebron/KD. I've never thought to myself l gotta go see Devin Booker play. He's just a dude making 75 million.... as soon as the suns start winning 20 games a season the fans will not be watching. More people probably showed up to see Kendall Jenner when they were dating.
If the Suns traded Booker, tanked and fielded a faceless team, local fan interest would plummet to the bottom. It's better for business to have a team with identifiable faces that can chase a play-in spot. (However, if your franchise is in Salt Lake City, people will come and pay to watch paint dry).
I have been hearing they were going to buy out Beal and stretch him for weeks now. The problem is they need him to take a $14M paycut to be able to use the stretch provision. It seems like he cannot easily make that money back on the market now. They may end up stuck with him for at least this season. This was delayed and delayed and supposed to be complete over the weekend according to Gambadoro. Beal is looking for something in the area of the MLE and a close to starting role. I don't know how many takers are out there and the detailed rules regarding clawback the Suns would have on his future salary. You would think they would do it to save on the tax but they have talked about using it to go back higher into the tax. This organization needs a new Stepien rule for the amount of stupid they have unleashed.
I think either the Mavs or Beal will cave so he can leave because neither side wants him there another year.
We also know, winning championships is only part of it for the players, too. A career 1-team legacy isn't the worst thing for a player
I think Beal needs to stand his ground and collect all that money. He's definitely not finding $7M/year in this market with teams being cautious how they spend their money.
I think JG could get off to a hot start, like his first 2-3 months, have everyone second guess his true potential, only to come back to the 3-8, 5-14, 7-19 shooting nights
