I don’t think Black is realistic as Orlando can just kick the can a year and make him an unrestricted free agent. Supposedly they really really like him. But they are cap strapped. I suspect it would take a lot to pry him away. When u keep taking shots in the draft u end up with good players. I’m sure Orlando does not regret taking another point guard despite being a couple yrs removed from their Suggs pick.
Very similar. They are going to be about $5M from the second apron this year and Anthony Black is going to have a cap hold of nearly $30M next summer. Suggs’ contract is almost unmovable, but he is still probably better than Black, who has more potential. They will probably be forced to move Black because he could bring back actual value. We are in a similar situation. We are at $185M with 9 players on the roster. Assuming $20M to Tari, we are at $205. Filling the final 4 spots with minimum contracts has us at $217M, which is $5M under the second apron. And we still haven’t addressed our backup PG. Even if Stone could pull a rabbit out of a hat using DFS or Capela, we are likely looking at a decline-and-extend (at a lower current rate) for our bottom 5 PG.
Suggs is a fully 5 year $150 mil guaranteed descending contract from 20% of the cap to 14%. FVV was 2 year $50 mil (1 year + player option) at 16% of the cap. People are most likely going to blame the next floor general for not playing outside their role. However the situation between the Rockets and Magic are similar with roster construction questions around two important, non shooting players that are on their rookie extensions.
Suggs is the worst of the contracts, I was being faceitious. He is already a better defensive player than FVV and about the same on offense. He is also 6 years younger and still has potential to shoot better. I wouldn’t trade FVV for Suggs, because I don’t like either’s game or contract. Again, just being facetious. I don’t think the so-called floor generals are solely to blame for our last 2 seasons, but I don’t give them a pass either. FVV was part of the problem in 24/25 and all our initiators were part of the problem in 25/26. We are a bad fitting team with or without FVV and have a lousy offensive coach.
Suns can't pay Gillespie and also pay Goodwin and this guy next summer. Use free agency negotiations with Gillespie to get them to trade us jamaree for a late second. Do not bring back Aaron. Keep JD.
This is probably the kind of move the Rockets make or a move for Shroeder or some other washed out vet. This guy shot 29% from 3 and played 14 minutes a game for the Suns. I’m ok with it. What the hell for a 2nd rounder. I can see it now after FVV gets hurt again. “We did bring in contingencies, Boyeau and Schroeder.” Not our fault they didn’t play up to our expectations.
I see Jabari as a solid role player, nothing more, nothing less. He'd fit on just about any roster in the league. His contract is fairly close to a fair value. I view Amen similarly, as a role player, not a star - with the caveat that he doesn't just fit seamlessly on any roster because he can't shoot from anywhere outside of "at the rim", you need a stretch 5 on the roster to play with him, otherwise your spacing is shot. Really, he's like the ultimate garbage man cleaning up the glass, running in transition, catching lobs and playing defense. There's a lot of value in that but it's nowhere close to max money in this era of the salary cap with aprons.
it’s fair man. I don’t subscribe to the playoffs being this slow down half court grind that most think it is. I watch the games and see the good teams running a lot. I think there’s a get stops, pressure the ball, and run a lot path. I think there’s a lot of unexplored stuff with Amen as a screener and in the dunker spot with some faster shooters, even some Sengun shot development over the years that could get us to scoring enough in the half court if you start with that foundation of great defense.
My vision for this team and what Stone’s original vision for this team was like Lakers showtime. I still believe Amen with the right cast is a showtime pg. Fast and Furious. Ime has a different idea of how to win in the NBA. As a result, we have a slow methodical offense dependent on an elite defense and offensive rebounding. The problem is after we made the KD trade, we don’t have the horses to play a fast Kaotic game, nor do we have the horses to play the elite defense that Ime is depending on to create a positive differential. Amen is the key. If we can’t develop him into the engine that runs this team, we will end up in a re-build. Right now we need to adjust the roster to build around him and get a more imaginative coach. I see KD and Ime as the main impediments to Amen’s, and, therefore, the Rockets future. If Ime is gong to be the coach for the next five years then we might as well trade him.
I think Amen's future is Kawhi and he is going to have to develop that 3 to be effective. He is a part-time ball handler that has to get more comfortable with his handle. He cannot be our PG. FVV is the worst starting PG in the NBA and we cannot have him out there because he cannot penetrate the lane. We definitely need a floor general but we have to have an offensive coach regardless because we do not run an NBA offense and no one on this staff has proven to me they even know what an offense looks like. You are supposed to put your scorers in positions to succeed. Not leave them on an island at midcourt and play 1 on 5. I wouldn't mind the slowest pace if we were also known for moving the ball many times and getting easy baskets late in the clock. No, we are known for bricking bad shots late in the clock because we run ridiculous isos and waste the clock.
Amen's biggest impediment to improving is his shooting. KD is one of the better players to help Amen develop prior to if/when Amen develops a shot. On Ime, I'd guess a decent portion of NBA coaches wouldn't have had Amen start as PG last season and given him nearly as much room to grow with the ball as Ime did.
I can’t remember who mentioned giddey as a potential option but I was shocked to see that he’s been shooting 36-37% on increasingly higher volume for the last two seasons and is on a steal of a 4yr $25 mil per contract and is still only 23yrs old. I t think someone started a Sengun for Giddey thread, which I turned my nose up at, but if the Bulls added another significant asset, and Giddey’s shooting is real…something to think about. I felt like Sengun’s development was better when Tiago was here.
I still think Sengun cause plenty of value, and there is a great chance that he plays better than ever to start the year to increase his value. I agree with most that the sum of the parts considering the coaching probably doesn’t work, but I don’t think there is any pressure to make any deals that we lose on. I definitely want to re-organize the building around Amen but I think that we can do that organically while getting full value if we choose to complete any trades.
