Yeah I'm very interested to see how teams play him early next season. I'd assume they'd double him more often and it might hurt his game early on (compared to the final 10 games or so), but he learns fast and I'd expect his overall season to be an excellent 2nd year
a) I don't think the Suns ever doubted Booker and Paul were gold tier superstars. If anything, they were too confident in their stars, too happy with going to the finals and regular season wins to see the gaps in their roster. That was the problem - they drank their own kool aid. b) The Sunds didn't have a 3rd option. As the Mavs found out early, just double Booker and watch the offense implode. Unreliable shooting, slow, but strong defenders can be extremely valuable, but a roster full of them is brutal when your offense is struggling. c) They are almost certain to do a SnT. Ayton is a 23 yo with playoff success and a decent statline. He shouldn't be defined by a single bad performance when he only played 17 mins and was unhappy with the team/coaching staff behind the scenes and is lingering in bitterness from not getting paid. He will get paid well by somebody, the question is who. d) Here is the type of "risk" deal I see working out for the Suns: Ayton in a SnT to the Wizards for KCP, Bryant, Avdija, and the 2022 FRP (most likely the #10 overall) and a future FR swap. Draft Mark Williams or someone like that with the 10th pick to backfill the center position. Wizards do it to solidify a core of Beal, Ayton, and Porzingis. They retain Kuzma and clear up some of the glut at forward, have Kispert who they like, Neto, etc. and will need to solidify their lineup with better guard play, but that to me makes them far more formidable in the East than they were and gives them a better player in Ayton than they will draft at #10. The Suns do it to get younger, to give them some forwards and depth in their lineup (KCP is a good shooter, Bryant is a backup big, and Avdija is young) alongside the pick in the coming draft. Is it the perfect deal? No. But it's not a bad one, and the type of deal I think they should orchestrate this offseason.
woods more that Gordon . Gordon might be better , but wood is a better shot creator , plus he’s younger . Gordon has to work harder for his . it will be a gamble for Phoenix either way . But , ayton and bridges and booker are young enough they can wait 2-3 Years . They prolly don’t wanna give up draft capital right now . we have to match salaries too .
damn that’s a bit much . He’s a luxury piece at this point . You want your actual 3-4th guy to be a in their prime or you fg and ascending . He’s getting paid like a great #3 these nba contracts need some work . The max contract needs to go
Suns problem is they got outcoached. There is no movement when Mavs had 2-3 defenders on Booker. If you watch the Celtics vs Nets series when the double and triple team KD, Brown and Claxton doing a good job cutting. Booker isn't a good enough iso player to get by 2-3 defenders. Mavs play smart, they just make the easy pass and move the ball around instead of making the homerun play. When Suns double team Luka, Luka didn't try to get an assist by making a difficult pass to the open player. He made a simple pass and that player pass to the open player.
The real question is - how do we avoid our own mistakes in dismantling a 65 win team that almost beat the Warriors?
I used to think the Warriors were just a fluke team, however with their recent re-surgence I've grown to respect their front office. I came to realize I only hated them so much because of their snobby bandwagon fans. It's not a coincidence they keep finding guys out of nowhere and turn them into star players. I still think the Suns were a fluke team. Since we're going to draft our own guys and develop them, I hope this team does a good job of that and build a positive team culture. Any one who's going to jeopardize that should be shipped out immediately (ex. CWood)
28th in 3s attempted during the regular season (second-to-last in the postseason) 29th in free throws attempted during the regular season (second-to-last in the postseason) The suns were not winning a championship.
The Suns best player is 37 years old and isn't an elite scorer. Chris Paul is great but it is hard to carry a huge load at that age. Booker honestly has never developed into the type of player I felt he could be as a creator or even as a massive scorer. He is an all star but not a super star. Look, they lost a game 7.... it happens to everyone except Michael Jordan. Their window was also very small, and they likely have one more year left to try. What did the Suns do wrong? Well they just lost to the Mavericks - so I would say they should have drafted Doncic over someone that is as limited as Ayton. Players like Ayton are just really limited, they are important in certain match ups but they are not star players and can be forced off the court.
Losing in the Finals? 64 Wins? These are the results of mistakes? You mean . . HOW CAN WE HIT THE #1 PLAYER IN EVERY DRAFT?? How to *NEVER* miss on a draft picks? That is just not possible. I think the Ayton pick is simply the game has changed away from his strengths He is a Top 5 or 10 Center in the league Embiid - Joker - KAT - Bam - ???? Rocket River
I think people fail to realize the rut that the Suns are in. The NBA competition right now is really really bad, so I am not terribly impressed with their trip to the finals. Because of their cap management, and overreliance on CP3, I see them as a team descending without much of a future . Any incremental improvements their younger guys make will be offset by CP3s decline and losing pieces due to luxury tax concerns. Because of the CP3 contract they won't be able to do a soft reset until 24/25 and there is a risk Booker could walk.
how can you respect the warriors andrew bogut flat out admitted that he and draymond got away with anything when he played there in playoff games. And their still getting ref help this year
Nook can you comment on this? It must have been well known Booker can't handle double teams, and just three years ago he got mad during the off season working out with other players saying " we don't do this in an open gym". It's crazy Booker has pretty much ran away from learning how to attack them for so many years.
Seems like a lot of people agree, Booker just isn’t that good. He’s a great 2nd or 3rd option. Luka is a true #1, he’s made of that top 20 of all time GOAT material
There's absolutely no planet where i ever take Booker ahead of Luka. That said, I'm curious, did the Suns even attempt to double Luka? I feel like they were more aggressive with him games 1/2 keeping the ball out of his hands when he didn't have it, more physical, etc. and just went away from that.
