Rockets acquire Suns picks, return Nets picks to Brooklyn

Interesting. I'd definitely keep the pick and draft Cooper over Harper if that's the case (that includes pre-Bulls Harper comp too)

 

Draft Cooper Flagg

 

Yeah that's where I'm at as well. But only #1. Outside of that obviously trade it.

Cooper Flagg and Amen Thompson would be so dumb.

 

suns might drop to the 8th lotto pick if they lose to philly tonight. theyre currently down by 10.

 

I just looked out of curiosity. There is in fact 5 of the top 8 paid players in the NBA on these 2 teams. Crazy crazy

 

I'm watching the game and Booker's shooting looks like ass (1/10 FG). He's decent at moving the ball and finding open man, but not sure he's "him" for us. Hell, KD doesn't look like himself either. On the other hand Tyus Jones looks ok and I like he's shooting 43.5% from 3, but he's smaller than Reed.

 

If they called, I don't know that I'd even answer it ..... I'd have no desire to bail them out of their predicament.

They have nothing at all to offer me in exchange for their lottery picks.

No draft assets that come close to the value required.

Not a single player on their roster that I'm interested in.

Durant is too old, too expensive and injury prone .... not to mention a crybaby who's wrecked multiple teams.

Beal is overpaid, maybe the worst contract in the league today.

Booker is vastly overpaid for what he brings - a good, not great player.

No one else on that roster is worth a first round pick much less a lottery pick.


I'd just let the picks play out over time or use them to acquire talent from another team.

 

I'm skeptical about trading for Booker since he's already 28 and getting paid 55mil per year.

If it was for a 24yo Anthony Edwards, I'd part with those picks but since it's for 28yo Booker or 27yo Fox, who are both not superstars imo.

I'd rather take my chances at any of the top playmaking guards in this year's draft and/or if we're lucky enough, Cooper Flagg.

 

I heard today that the Suns have the 2nd highest payroll - in all of sports, behind only the Yankees

 

Dylan Harper is an athletic Cade.

 

Go after Ant Man!

 

We can keep 2025 and trade the other PHX and our picks instead.

 

What are we even going to do if we get a top 4 pick? We already have a log jam of young talent, with one or more already unhappy with playing time. There are absolutely guys in this draft worth taking, it's more so do they align with what our goals are for the next few upcoming seasons? Will they even have the time to develop?

 

Weird question to ask about a team with zero all-stars in a league where championship level play always involve multiple stars if not superstars.

 

Absolutely. So let's do a thought exercise. Let's say we get the 4th pick and select a player. Where does that player get minutes to develop into this all star you are looking for?
Whose minutes are you taking? Fred? We just drafted a guy 3rd overall for that spot last year.
Jalen? Not with his contract. Dillon? Sure, but that also means less minutes for Tari, Amen, Jabari. Sengun? You could use a backup center but Sengun was just given a big extension as well.

So you want to develop the core we currently have while adding another top 4 draft pick that you want to turn into an all star getting maybe 10 minutes a game? I think not. I didn't even include Cam in the conversation who is already unhappy with his role.

 

You always have room for draft picks. We have empty roster spots that we have to fill next year. If we draft someone with actual skills, they can push for someone else’s spot or get traded for other pieces of value. We don’t currently have anyone threatening to take FVV’s spot, or Sengun’s for that matter, so we aren’t so deep we can’t use draft picks, especially one in the top 4.

 

There are two possibilities. One is that the guy drafted is a future star. In which case he'd simply play better in practice and in limited time on the court to warrant playing over some of the other guys you mentioned. The other possibility is that he's not good/ready. In which case you sit him. So you're not wasting anything. There of course is also the incredibly small possibility that all our young players turn into must-play players. But in that scenario they're all going to be demanding $100/200+mil extensions soon. In which case you need to replace them with younger players anyways. Given that luxury tax and aprons exist.

 

Ideally you'd just keep drafting in the lottery as often as possible with other teams' picks, finding useful rotational talent, and shipping out roleplayers from previous drafts if/when they get too expensive while keeping your best few players on large contracts. Many, if not most championship teams have had guys on their rookie contracts in their rotations.

The draft isn't the only way to get good players on cheap contracts, but it's certainly the most obvious one.

Of course, all this assumes your best few players are good enough to win a chip with the right supporting cast. So until you lock in on those guys it's all kind of a moot point and you gotta keep searching for them, whether it's by trade or by drafting them.

 

"who are you going to move" depends on what pick you get and what possibilities exist for that pick. In short - it's WAYYY too early to tell. But the one thing that is NOT too early to tell is this:

At no point ever did a team who landed a top 4 pick complain that they would have to make hard decisions about their current roster.

Its like saying - "you get to get a new car for free" and then complaining about the burden of having to decide what car to get rid of to make room in your driveway for the new car of your choosing. It's a good problem to have.