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What is up, fellow thermonuclear A
efforts. I am Dan fa Valley coming

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at you with another twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four NBA team look Ahead.

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We are on too. What I
thought was gonna be the ultra quiet

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Phoenix Suns this time of year.
Since it is the Phoenix Suns, you

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know what that means. We have
the fellas from the Timeline podcast. If

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you listen to this podcast, you
know how much I love that podcast.

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Mike the Ill, Sam Cooper follow
them on Twitter. Mike is at protected

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pick spelled exactly as it sounds.
Sam is at s Cooper Hoops, also

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spelled exactly as it sounds. I
can't help Sam, but read your handle

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is Scooper hoops all the time,
though it's okay as intended. So yeah,

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I'm like I have to rehearse pretty
much before I've wished the podcast.

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Guys, how are you doing?
Let's start with let's Mike, how are

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you doing? Let's start there.
I have a lot on my mind,

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Dan, and I was thinking about
you know, this offseason, Every off

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season is not complete without us coming
onto this podcast and doing this look Ahead.

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And I believe it was three years
ago. I was on this podcast

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at the moment Chris Paul was traded
to the Suns. So I feel like

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there's some level of expectation that something
will happen at this point, Like I

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feel like I have to check my
phone if I get a Twitter notification at

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this point, because if there's any
proof that the Suns are willing to do

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something this late in the off season, I think that was it. Yeah,

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I forgot about that, and we
actually mentioned it last year. I

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probably like, in reference to the
Kevin Durant stuff, where is that just

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gonna crop up again? While we
were recording that look Ahead? So I

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don't I don't know if I would
want. I don't. I don't really

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want it to break during the podcast, So fingers cross it. How are

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you doing well? I also don't
want anyone major news to break during this

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podcast, but I do always something
always happens. We'll talk about it,

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Mike, we'll talk about it in
a bit. Will it be fun?

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Something always happens with this team In
late September, it seems I'm doing really

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great. Dan, thanks for having
us on again. This is legitimately one

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of my favorite things that we get
to do every year. You're always super

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prepared with your questions, and obviously
you guys do a great job with this

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pot as well. Yours is this
yours is one of the toughest to prepare

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for it because I like to listen
or consume all the content, like and

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I listen to you guys regularly,
but like I fall behind in the offseason,

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so I've been like consuming external development. There was the Patreon episode,

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which I guess we're gonna have to
start with that subject matter and I don't

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really want to. But what do
we make of sam like the use of

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nurkic stuff? It makes more sense
now o, Gianna Noby's name is out

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there. Just what are your impressions
of the reporting that's been there so far?

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Yeah, I mean it's been a
fun couple of days online after some

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weeks of nothingness for suns fins.
I suppose because we have something to argue

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about it. And obviously I'm not
the biggest fan of use of nurkis.

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If we just want to talk about
like the one to one player comparisons,

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I guess I'm less interested in that, but I think we can start with

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This feels more real than some recent
rumors. Have surrounding the team. It

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certainly makes logical sense that the Suns
would be interested in moving on from DeAndre

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Atan. We've been talking about it
for literal years. As far as we

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know, they've been kind of shopping
him around four years now. So obviously

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a guy who regressed pretty heavily in
the past season, particularly on defense,

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had a rough go of it in
the playoffs in the series against the Denver

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Nuggets. So there's all sorts of
stuff we could talk about there. Now,

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is nurkicch and upgrade? No,
he is not, So it all

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depends on what else you get back
in that trade. I think Anna Nobi

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would be fricking awesome. I think
that's also super unlikely to come back into

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DeAndre at and trade. So I
don't know your thoughts on Anaobi's probability of

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coming to the Sun's there. Dan's
probably pretty low. Yeah, I will

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say I've think O Giannaobi's become pretty
overrated. He's a fantastic defender, but

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and like his shooting is good.
But this whole we need to envision this

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is the year that O Giannaoby does
stuff on the ball. It's just it's

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not The ship is sailed. I
think I would be pretty surprised though,

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And I'm guessing Mike you feel the
same way. If you turn DeAndre Ayton

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into an Anobi, I guess you're
taking back Like you guys voice this on

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your podcast, you're not taking back
Nurkics as an asset. It would basically

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be that's part of the deals.
Like you have Nurkic just contracting, you're

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getting O Giannaoby. It's probably part
of some complicated Damian Lillard trade where he's

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going at Toronto or maybe another team's
involved. I think it's slightly more likely

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just because he won't O Giannobi will
not sign an extension because financially it probably

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still doesn't make sense even with the
one percent rules. But it just feels

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like if you can turn DeAndre Ayton, when his value feels like it's at

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his absolute n idea, into Ananobia
Nurkics, would you view that as a

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win? Mike, Yes, Okay, absolutely, I think that would be

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incredible. You know, is there
anything exciting about Nurkics by himself, No,

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of course not. There's nothing exciting
about that, especially as a player

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who's perpetually injured. But Annobie is
kind of exactly what the Sun's starting lineup

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needs. I think if you're the
Sun's front office and you're looking at a

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team that now has three players traditionally
that can be the player that has the

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ball the most on most teams in
Bradley Beale, Devin Booker, and Kevin

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Durant, and you're saying, do
we need to pay a center thirty million

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dollars to be the center on that
team, especially when you don't really have

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a wing defender that's going to be
tasked with guarding the best player on the

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alternate team, Then I think it
makes sense to try to flip DeAndre and

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into like maybe a more traditional fifteen
million dollars center if you want to call

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nurkischot I know he makes a little
bit around there, yeah, and then

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and then of course try to get
that wing that sort of completes that starting

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lineup in a different way. I
do think Suns fans are all, you

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know, they're they're really having a
hard time with this, I think for

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multiple reasons. Because one the only
name that's been mentioned is Nurkics, right,

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so we don't know anything else that's
involved. Jake Fisher throughout Anenobi as

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as I don't know how source that
was or if it was just like this

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makes sense kind of reporting, and
of course that makes everyone feel a little

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better about it. But I do
think it's a complicated thing where this is

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every team, every trade, the
fans of the team don't understand the trade

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value of the player that they are
likely going to be sending out, and

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that's Suns fans not fully understanding DeAndrea
Ins trade value at this point. And

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it's so dependent on like if Portland
really wants DeAndrea and the Suns are able

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to capitalize on that. They nailed
it, because I'm not sure there's a

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lot of other teams that are clamoring
to thirty million dollars at this point.

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No, I mean, they're in
a situation where they could at least justify

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it. And if I'm assuming out
Anoby's would be involved, just because contract

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year, they'll probably not going to
pay him, even though he's fairly young

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based on his timeline, especially when
they just gave Jeremy Grant all the money.

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But Sam, I think what's interesting
here is it felt like they have

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telegraphed all offseason the Suns that they're
really trying to repair the DeAndre et In

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relationship, and so what do you
make of that against these rumors, which

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is why my theory is like it
would have to be super worthwhile I think

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for them to pivot this way after
we've seen DeAndre Atan's defensive ceiling and it's

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pretty fucking high. And if you
think that under Frank Vogel he gets better,

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or that Frank Vogel is able to
reach him. If Nurkic is the

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name that's only being thrown out there, my immediate reaction is, if these

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are real, I need to know
we're talking at Anoby, but maybe it's

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someone else, Like it has to
be kind of this sexy acquisition for you

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to go that direction, then main
bs and you know, I mean to

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throw an intermediate outcome out there.
Caleb Martin is another name that was thrown

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out there. If Lillard does end
up going to the heat of like,

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how would you feel about Caleb Martin
being that second player? Certainly a lot

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less sexy than Ananobe as a name, but I still think you know a

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player who was one of the better
players in the playoffs last year overall and

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would fit in great as the Sun's
fifth starter. Regarding the whole narrative about

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Frank Vogel is going to come in
and completely repair DeAndre Ayton's defense, I

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don't know. I've just never exactly
bought it. I liked the vocal acquisition.

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I think there's a lot he can
bring this team in terms of his

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own championship experience and his ability to
work with the star players. And I've

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had my issues with Monty Williams too, as I've outlaid on our podcast,

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but they weren't necessarily related to Monty's
relationship with DeAndre Ayton. Insofar as I

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think a lot of other Suns fins
are kind of reading into that relationship being

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really what destroyed the Sun's season last
year. I think there's a certain level

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of exam adgeration there between the rift
in those two their relationship, and kind

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of how it negatively affected the Suns. A lot of my frustrations with Monty

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Williams and why I wanted to see
him replaced, were more related to the

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offense and the offensive flow, and
really, as we kind of get into

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diagramming how that's going to look going
forward, it's, you know, kind

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of like not playing Kevin Duran at
center and things like that, maybe sort

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of more modern tactics, but defensively, a lot of it was just effort

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for DeAndre Atan And I don't know
if the swap from Monty Williams to Frank

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Vocal is really going to make all
that much of a difference. I hope

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it does, but I can't guarantee
anything. Going back to what Mike said,

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I think a lot of Suns fins
are still evaluating the Deandreatan that we

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saw after that finals round where he
was mostly extraordinary. He's fallen a long

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way in the past two seasons.
So I think you can make the case

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that three of the last four postseason
series the Suns have played in DeAndre and

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was not good. The Pelicans first
round series in twenty two he was great

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where he was awesome, and then
the Dallas series no good, and then

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this year I think was I think
the worst we've seen him play in the

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playoffs was this last postseason. I'd
say, so, I mean, let's

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just go there. Then, where
Mike was like, what's been the biggest

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form of regression from him on defense
over the past couple of seasons, Uh,

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it is. I think if you
boil it down to effort. I

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think that's a fair thing to say, but if you're talking about what that

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means visually on the court, it's
just being in the wrong place at the

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wrong time and not moving fast enough, not sprinting down the court offensively or

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defensively, not jumping towards the ball
on rebounds, and you know, often

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on picking rolls, he's just a
little too far back, not playing up

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high enough, not moving his feet
fast enough. And you know, he's

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still really great. I think playing
post defense. I think that's where his

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defense kind of stayed the same,
and teams just stopped attacking him like that.

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They just moved to the pick and
roll. And you know, I

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would say that for the last season
plus the postseason, the other teams,

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the teams that were facing the Suns, their main attack on DeAndre and was

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putting him in as many pick and
rolls as possible and trying to take advantage

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of that. And I think we
saw it over and over and over and

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over again in the Denver series.
Not to say that that's an easy pick

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and roll to guard, of course, Jamal Murray Yokich, but he was

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really fully taken advantage of in that
one. Not to say that Nurkis would

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do any better against that two manns
either, but it is very concerning that

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if you've just put the two guys
stats up next to each other, just

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their rim protection numbers last year,
DeAndre Ayton should be grading out significantly better

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than use of Nurkisch as a rim
protector, as we've seen him do in

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the past. But just last season
they were pretty similar, and Nurkis is

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four years older with a hefty injury
history, so it's just non impressive.

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So I agree with you. It
felt definitely the pick and roll defense.

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I think even the Denver series is
tough because I thought that Phoenix didn't always

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put eight in the best situations defensively, like depending on who they were attacking

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on the other side, like involved
in that pick and roll, Like it

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felt Aten was carrying too much of
a burden. But with Narkich, it's

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I feel like his role in Portland, when you watch him defensively, it's

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just not as I guess, complex
or involved as Deandrets, Like he's not

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gonna have to cover as much ground
on a normal like possession by possession basis

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as DeAndre Aten, And so I
don't. I know you weren't saying he

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was an upgrade, but I would
be very concerned about at least with Eighton.

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And I'm not trying to evaluate that
version of him, but like Sam,

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at least the theory of like,
oh, we've seen Eighten reached that

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top level defensively still, like we
know he's been there before, and I

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feel like that still has to hold
some value when you're looking at you know,

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these specific rumors are just moving on
from him in general, I do

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think it's probably pretty easy, especially
given the defense that you got from him

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last year. You can ultimate that
on the cheap if you need to like

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go out and maybe get another big
or like jack Landale, I outplayed DeAndre

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And in the playoffs. That we
have to mention that jack Landale barely in

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the NBA before that and still was
able to outplay him in the playoffs,

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So yeah, you can. You
can definitely do it for cheap. I'd

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say any other strong thoughts on like
what is the path I guess what's the

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path forward if DeAndre And is still
here for him to like work on this

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team, or do you have any
I guess we know what the path forward

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is because his offensive role can't really
change. Now when you look at everyone

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who's here, do you have any
confidence, Mike that this is someone who

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you can get I don't we talk
about defensive buying, but that could be

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kind of satisfied with his offensive role
and then give you enough like is there

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any level of confidence or hope that
he could do that? So the best

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version of what it could be would
be him fully buying into a defensive and

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rebounding role on this team and taking
pride in that side of the ball,

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because a lot of times the solution
for a lot of people is, well,

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he has to be engaged offensively in
order for him to be great on

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defense. And you know, every
every trade, the sense of mate has

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sort of slotted him down in the
rotation as far as offensive players on this

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team. He's not going to be
taking the second most shots, which he

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did two seasons ago, and even
last season. I think he fell even

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behind mckel Bridges for a while there
in field goal attempts, but that's mostly

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because of the injuries and Mckelberg just
taking a bigger role offensively during those injuries.

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You know, he's going to be
probably fourth in attempts shot attempts on

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this team. So it's a challenge
for Frank Vogel to find a way to

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get him to fully buy in to
something on the defensive end that he hasn't

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yet fully done in previous seasons without
consistently rewarding him with offensive touches, and

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that's going to be really hard to
do. The thing that has to be

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the largest motivator for him is winning
a championship, because that's what does it

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now. You can make the case
that that probably should have been a motivator

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for the previous few years as well, and I think at times it was.

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And so, you know, the
best cases, everyone works with them

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really well. Attitudes are great.
He gets along really well with Frank Vogel,

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and the hope is that that doesn't
fall apart at any point in the

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playoffs when the pressure is at its
highest, and you know the chances of

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that happening. I can't really say. He's an incredibly unpredictable player on the

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court. To know for sure what
it's going to be like next year,

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I think would be a fool's air. And if you if you're trying to

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make that speculation. Bradley Beal sam
Is on this team as well, not

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mentioned him, Yett, Did you
I want to just step back here,

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because I was a little bit surprised, like on a national level outside the

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market, the reaction to the Bradley
Beal trade where it felt like there was

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a lot of focus why would the
Suns give up all their assets that are

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remaining and obliterate their depth? And
then it's like, well, the assets

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they gave up, you were never
going to get better value and Bradley Beal

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and if your issue was with their
depth, it felt like you're saying they

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shouldn't have really made or their assets. You're saying they shouldn't really made the

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Kevin Durant trade, that it wasn't
really Bradley deal trade thing. And so

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I'm just what was your what was
your reaction to the reaction? And do

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you think had you at that moment
told everybody what they were gonna do with

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their minimum contracts, if that reaction
would have then been much different. The

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typical person who's who was giving that
sort of reaction, I don't know how

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much their opinion would be swayed by
the minimum contracts because I just don't know

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that they were following the situation that
in depth to that extent, it was

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sort of a classic knee jerk reaction
based on the way that the Suns went

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out in the playoffs, which I
understand. You watch the Sun's kind of

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get trounced, and you know,
by the by the Nuggets there at the

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end, you watch the Suns having
to give heavy minutes to players like Landry

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00:16:51,679 --> 00:16:55,440
Shaman and Jack Landale, and you
know, you rely on clutch shots from

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00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:57,039
t J. Warren just to eke
out a couple of wins in that series.

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And of course depth is going to
be an issue. But I could

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not believe that they pulled this trade
off. I could not believe that they

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pulled it off. It was absolutely
and like, what was the alternative?

251
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Would you have rather traded Chris Paul
and Landry Shammants to the Washington Wizards for

252
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,440
what Daniel Gafford and Corey Kissford?
And does that make the team better?

253
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You know, like, you take, you take the guy who has averaged

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thirty points per game in the past
and still has a reasonable argument as a

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top thirty player in the NBA one
hundred times out of one hundred, and

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then you try to build around that. Uh, Mike so this is this

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like dovetails. So the Matt hpr
ror is what I really want to get

258
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into because I feel like it's been
very fascinating so far. The four things

259
00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:47,160
that stand out the accessibility stuff with
suns games, I think that's just objectively

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00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,200
cool. But so you have the
Kevin Durant trade, the Bradley Beal trade,

261
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and then like kind of all the
you know, the pick swap maneuvering

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00:17:53,839 --> 00:17:59,000
after making the Bradley Beal trade.
Just given everything that's happened, and even

263
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like there's the coaching change. Of
of course, what has just been your

264
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early impressions of the matt Ishpia era. Well, uh, he's going to

265
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spend a lot more money than Robert
Sarver. I think we can. We

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can, yeah, we can say
that for sure. He's not a broke

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boy. Uh, He's he's definitely
out there trying to spend some money.

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You know. I think that he
seems like somebody who is very intent on

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this being a really long term investment. And of course you can say,

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well, he did trade all the
assets for Kevin durantt to win right now,

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and that part is true. But
you know, moving the the Sun's

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games off of cable and putting them
on over the air TV here in Phoenix

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is not something that's going to make
him a lot of money in the short

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term, but could make a lot
of fans in Phoenix long term, die

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hard fans, especially watching Kevin durantt
and Devin Booker and Bradley Beal over the

276
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course of the next season. And
you know, basketball wise, I think

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it's a sort of a different conversation. The willingness to make the moves that

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he did, the willingness to cash
in on all the assets that James Jones

279
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:11,720
has collected over the years is a
risk. You know, Kevin Durant thirty

280
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five years old. Obviously, Bradley
Beale has an injury history. The franchise

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00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,079
is still and continues to be on
Devin Booker's back as we know, and

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the ability for this team to mash
and to win obviously is gonna say a

283
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lot about his decision making basketball wise, what you envision when you think of

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this perfect owner of a team is
somebody who's not involved in basketball decisions?

285
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Is he that? No, he's
not that. He's very involved in basketball

286
00:19:42,599 --> 00:19:48,359
decisions, you know, and that
ability to accept that is entirely dependent on

287
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the moves that are being made.
Yeah. So the fact that the moves

288
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that are made so far are things
that Sam and I think sorry to speak

289
00:19:56,759 --> 00:20:00,799
for you, Sam, but agree
with so far is why everything is fine.

290
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You know. As soon as things
start to go south, or if

291
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things ever do start to go south
with his involvement in basketball decisions, I

292
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think that will change maybe how we
evaluate that relationship between him and the fans,

293
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,799
you know, even dependent on if
they trade DeAndre and for use of

294
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Nurkics. There's gonna be a lot
of people who now hate Mattish at least

295
00:20:18,519 --> 00:20:22,279
in the short term, and not
me personally, but there will be a

296
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lot of people out there that will
react negatively to that. But so far,

297
00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:29,240
so good, I think, is
how I can put it. Dan,

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00:20:30,039 --> 00:20:33,599
No, do you are you a
cord cutter? Do you have a

299
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,680
capable package? I'm serious. Actually
we actually just cut the cord a few

300
00:20:37,799 --> 00:20:40,759
a few months ago. Okay,
could you envision, because I know you're

301
00:20:40,759 --> 00:20:45,079
a New Yorker, could you envision
Dolan mailing you and antenna to receive over

302
00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:49,160
the air television channel so you could
receive your network affiliates and like owning a

303
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:55,160
sports team apparently a little shit bag. I can't stand that guy. I

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00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,160
mean that just to reiterate the fact
that you know, these kind of what

305
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,279
are right now unconventional move on the
part of its being again, this is

306
00:21:00,279 --> 00:21:04,440
not basketball related. This is the
money making stuff, but has the potential

307
00:21:04,519 --> 00:21:08,440
to double our fan base over the
next ten or twenty years, potentially at

308
00:21:08,519 --> 00:21:11,720
least in state. It's it's something
to be really excited about. I think

309
00:21:12,079 --> 00:21:17,039
I do think like making him accessible
feels important because I don't know how I

310
00:21:17,039 --> 00:21:19,319
feel about the people who say this
is the most all in team of all

311
00:21:19,319 --> 00:21:23,240
time. I still think given the
ages involved of that that nets team that

312
00:21:23,319 --> 00:21:27,279
gave like their future to the Celtics
for you know what was every left ball

313
00:21:27,319 --> 00:21:32,720
Pierson KG was more all in.
But when you look at Mike and mentioned

314
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,440
this him being involved in basketball decisions
specifically, I come back to the Kevin

315
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,960
Durant negotiations based on that reporting and
then this is not on him specifically,

316
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,839
but like now you start making those
like weird swap decisions with the Bradley beyond

317
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:51,119
the post Bradley beald ones, and
it's it's just uncomfortable because you're saying like

318
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,440
we're so all in that if it
doesn't work out. But I think what

319
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,119
you could hang your head on,
look how young Devin Booker still is and

320
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,880
the contract that he's on, and
like if it doesn't kind of work,

321
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:03,480
there's just like, oh, Devin
Booker's just here all alone, and how

322
00:22:03,599 --> 00:22:07,680
sustainable will that be? So I
worry like long term, but I don't

323
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,960
every single move that he has made. I think for the Kevin Durant negotiation

324
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,400
was fascinating. I think everything he's
done I don't have like a real criticism

325
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,240
of. But now it's just when
you're trying to scale ahead, I do

326
00:22:18,319 --> 00:22:21,400
wonder, like, okay, this
level of all in if it does go

327
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:26,200
bad, did you somehow you know, diminish the odds that Devin Booker would

328
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:30,519
be here past the Bradley Beale Kevin
Durant window. Can I just say that

329
00:22:32,079 --> 00:22:36,640
Kevin Durant salary falls off the Sun's
books right when Jayson Tatum becomes a free

330
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:44,640
agent, So just expect me to
start that campaign relatively early to try to

331
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,359
I do think that their books are
kind of clean, like after that,

332
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,480
now Bradley Beal competency anymore unless they
play for the Raptors apparently. Yeah,

333
00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:59,640
yeah, that's true. But I
do I do wonder to what extent players

334
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,079
will be interested in playing for an
owner who cares about winning to this extent.

335
00:23:03,279 --> 00:23:07,359
You know, maybe that doesn't matter, and maybe I'm just being you

336
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,160
know, the grass is greener on
this side right now, but I do

337
00:23:11,279 --> 00:23:15,640
think that they have to make some
proper moves and free agent. Look,

338
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,240
we're not gonna be able to trade
Bradley Beal. It's not like that,

339
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,720
no trade clause goes away once he
has traded to the he still has that.

340
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,119
That means that we're not gonna be
able to trade him anytime soon.

341
00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:27,960
And the moves they make beyond that
is going to be really important for long

342
00:23:29,039 --> 00:23:32,160
term success. But I think they
are sort of looking at free agency as

343
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:36,160
the next way to build this team
long term, because you can't do it

344
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,359
if you have no draft picks.
Now they do actually have some, they're

345
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:45,440
swapped picks, but we'll see how
they actually manage that. So they killed

346
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,880
the minimum contract game. As we
already mentioned, Sam and Mike. If

347
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,599
you end up having a different answer
to this, but Sam, as currently

348
00:23:52,599 --> 00:23:55,799
constructed, who do you view as
their fifth most important player, and is

349
00:23:55,839 --> 00:24:00,279
that player the one that you would
assume we're picked to be in this starting

350
00:24:00,319 --> 00:24:04,319
five to round out that lineup.
It's so close. I'm DeAndre and just

351
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:11,200
kidding. He just doesn't he doesn't
mean that. That's yeah, yeah,

352
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,559
that's good. Good on you for
catching that. So who outside of the

353
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:21,000
four household names? Yes, I
think Eric Gordon. Uh, but it's

354
00:24:21,039 --> 00:24:22,400
so close, and I'm not sure
what Mike is going to say. I

355
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,960
have a feeling Mike is gonna say
Eric Gordon too. It's not close for

356
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,359
me, it's Eric Eric. So
for me, it's close and it's Eric

357
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:30,759
Gordon. And the reason I say
that is because Eric Gordon is a known

358
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,519
quantity and there are some guys whose
names are not Eric Gordon who I think

359
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:40,039
have breakout potential. And if one
of them can achieve breakout potential, then

360
00:24:40,079 --> 00:24:44,000
this conversation changes for the time being. Though I don't have Eric Gordon in

361
00:24:44,039 --> 00:24:45,599
my starting lineup, but I do
have Eric Gordon in a hell of a

362
00:24:45,599 --> 00:24:48,920
lot of our closing lineups, and
I think that could be really fascinating to

363
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,400
watch. To me, there are
a bunch of players who are on minimum

364
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,799
contracts because they're not proven over time, and there's one player who's on a

365
00:24:57,839 --> 00:25:03,799
minimum contract because he wants to compete
for a championships, and that's Eric.

366
00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:08,960
Eric Gordon is is a player that's
probably too good for that. He's the

367
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:14,079
only proven player who has playoff successes. And by the way, I don't

368
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:18,640
know if you read the reporting on
the Houston situation over his time in Houston,

369
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,720
but my god, that team was
a complete and is still by the

370
00:25:21,759 --> 00:25:26,279
way, it was in total mess. And and the idea that you can't

371
00:25:26,319 --> 00:25:29,319
even look at any of his time
there, like the difference between he I

372
00:25:29,319 --> 00:25:33,799
think he shot thirty four percent from
three in Houston and forty two percent in

373
00:25:33,839 --> 00:25:36,759
the Clippers, And at first you
look at that and you kind of write

374
00:25:36,759 --> 00:25:38,839
it off and say, well,
you know, that's just variance whatever,

375
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,559
And then you read the reporting on
Houston and you're like, oh, okay,

376
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,640
yeah, there will be trying to
build their franchise around Kevin Porter Junior,

377
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,720
which even assage from all the off
court stuff and the domestic violence allegations

378
00:25:51,759 --> 00:25:55,759
which I've shipped all over him on
his podcast race. We don't need to

379
00:25:55,759 --> 00:25:59,759
go into them further, but imagine
like being in charge with NBA franchise and

380
00:25:59,799 --> 00:26:02,799
think Kevin Porter Junior based off what
you see on the core is oh,

381
00:26:02,799 --> 00:26:06,000
we need to make sure no Shane
Goon can't start because he Kevin Porter Junior

382
00:26:06,039 --> 00:26:08,799
needs a lob threat. Yeah so
yeah, good for Eric Gordon for not

383
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,839
completely flaming out there? Is there
a do you guys have a consensus and

384
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:17,079
I'll start with you, Mike,
assuming DeAndre Atan's one of the first five,

385
00:26:17,559 --> 00:26:19,519
who then becomes the sixth most important
player for this team. Mike,

386
00:26:21,319 --> 00:26:26,279
Okay, So that's interesting because if
I'm looking at them, I would personally

387
00:26:26,279 --> 00:26:29,119
start Eric Gordon. I've mentioned this
on the podcast, but I understand the

388
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,599
argument against that. I'm just saying, like Scorched Earth offense, kill everyone

389
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,039
on threes and see how it goes
with that kind of spacing. It would

390
00:26:37,079 --> 00:26:40,799
be bold. I think it would
be kind of insane, and based on

391
00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,000
what we know of Frank Vocal,
it's just not going to be the opening

392
00:26:44,079 --> 00:26:45,960
day starting lineup, but I respect
the decision to try and go with that.

393
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:49,880
I will say it would be And
maybe this is Galaxy branding it a

394
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:55,799
little bit, but if you are
worried about Bradley Beal on defense at the

395
00:26:55,799 --> 00:26:57,559
moment, and like some of the
assignments he might have to cover, Gordon

396
00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:03,440
can like defend up inside. Radley
Beal is probably not going to be able

397
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:04,880
to do that as well. It's
the point guards that are that would kill

398
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,319
us in those in those lineups that
these small guards, it would be Devin

399
00:27:08,319 --> 00:27:12,400
Booker guarding them. You don't,
I guess the Devin Booker all defense campaign,

400
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,319
We're not going to start that.
I think he would. I think

401
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,279
he's gonna do fine. But I
also think that in a team that probably

402
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,559
is built not to get too far
off the question you asked to switch everything,

403
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,839
they're gonna be able to attack whoever
they want to attack, because if

404
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,720
teams are playing like any sort of
playoff style offense, the Sons are gonna

405
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,599
switch everything and then they're probably gonna
go at Bradley Beal one hundred times a

406
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:37,000
game. Now, as far as
the sixth most important player on the team,

407
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:41,240
I think it's I think there's some
obvious candidates. And obviously it's Utah

408
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,240
Watanabe and and you know it's not
exactly like he's not proven either. Katibates

409
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,359
the up I think is the next
probably the name that you would mention,

410
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,680
and then I actually think you Banks
is one that I might even say it's

411
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:59,000
you Banks to be that guy.
Uh, you know, the trade has

412
00:27:59,039 --> 00:28:04,240
already happened. In my mind,
if they have any if they have any

413
00:28:04,279 --> 00:28:07,839
thought of trading for Nurkis, they
have to believe in you Banks, because

414
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,960
Nurkis isn't going to play every single
game, and that means that you Banks

415
00:28:12,039 --> 00:28:15,680
is going to be starting quite a
bit if if Nurkis was traded. So,

416
00:28:15,799 --> 00:28:19,079
if any if there's any truth to
these rumors, then they clearly believe

417
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:22,920
in him. But when I to
me, when I watch film of all

418
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,480
these guys, the one that stands
out as a player that's probably better than

419
00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:33,359
his contract is you Banks. Now
having said that if katabates the up can

420
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,480
be a slightly better defender than he
was and then continue the three point shooting

421
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,000
and he's six foot nine, basically
that's pretty unbelievable for a player, and

422
00:28:42,039 --> 00:28:45,640
that would be really amazing for the
Suns. I think that I'm a little

423
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,519
scared to go all in on believing
in guys who have one year of great

424
00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:52,680
three point shooting and not a consistent
track record of great three point shooting.

425
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,599
Which is Kata Bates the up and
you to Watt Nab. I'm a little

426
00:28:56,599 --> 00:29:00,319
scared still, Sam, who is
your six most I player. It's Kata

427
00:29:00,359 --> 00:29:04,759
Bates stop. But to speak to
what Mike is talking about ultimately both him

428
00:29:04,759 --> 00:29:07,480
and what Nabe, I mean,
Bates stop, I'm looking right here.

429
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:12,200
One hundred and forty three point attempts
last year is what we're working with.

430
00:29:12,319 --> 00:29:15,759
So it's great that he shot thirty
nine percent and well in the corners.

431
00:29:15,759 --> 00:29:18,920
And to speak to Watt Nabe as
well, shot fifty two percent in the

432
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:23,039
corners. That is nuts. But
I believe also one season and there's a

433
00:29:23,079 --> 00:29:26,799
reason these and like six minutes of
games. Yeah, yeah, exactly so.

434
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:33,279
But Bates d UP is clearly the
best intermediate option between himself, what

435
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:34,799
Nab and a Kogi is the other
guy. You have to at least include

436
00:29:34,799 --> 00:29:41,599
in this conversation that he at least
shot the three well last season and can

437
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,000
also defend. Kind of between these
these two options, if you want to

438
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,359
go all in on defense, you've
got a Kogie. If you want to

439
00:29:48,359 --> 00:29:52,079
go I guess the best shooting option
would be Watt Nabe. But Bates DAP

440
00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:56,240
feels like the most versatile option,
and I think that's why he is my

441
00:29:56,319 --> 00:29:59,319
pick to be the fifth starter on
day one. We'll see how well it

442
00:29:59,319 --> 00:30:04,319
works. So my co host,
Grant Grant, if you guys are familiar

443
00:30:04,359 --> 00:30:07,400
with him, is obsessed with kadabates
the app, and we got into was

444
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,160
an argument, which is like,
I he KaiB said didn't hit like a

445
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,559
guarded three last year, and so
I was like, I'm kind of skeptical

446
00:30:15,599 --> 00:30:18,079
of what he could do for this
team offensively, and then he's not gonna

447
00:30:18,079 --> 00:30:21,559
be guarded. Brand pointed out,
he's not gonna be guarded on this team

448
00:30:21,599 --> 00:30:25,160
anyway. I still think I would
Lean is my fifth I know I didn't

449
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,599
give this most important player. I'm
still a Utah wants an Abby guy,

450
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:30,759
and I especially think if you want
to kind of switch, I might.

451
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:36,039
I would definitely prefer him to.
I feel like when you look at maybe

452
00:30:36,039 --> 00:30:38,880
a d Op and a Koki,
they're gonna be better to handle these like

453
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,400
singular top end assignments. But if
you were looking to switch, I still

454
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:47,920
think I trust you to want a
Nabby in that situation. More so,

455
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:52,039
I'm just curious what you guys think
about that. I think that what's nice

456
00:30:52,039 --> 00:30:56,720
about both of those guys, Utah
and Kadabates, the app is they're both

457
00:30:56,799 --> 00:31:00,319
tall and capable of shooting threes.
Now, the Sun's defense, of course,

458
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,920
is going to be probably the biggest
concern that we're looking at for this

459
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:10,200
team going into the season because the
offense, obviously they have all stars offensively

460
00:31:10,319 --> 00:31:15,480
three of them, and the way
that size can make up for some defensive

461
00:31:15,799 --> 00:31:21,319
deficiencies, the way that could work
on this team can actually be pretty interesting

462
00:31:21,319 --> 00:31:23,039
because you can talk about putting Josh
Cogian, who plays bigger than he is,

463
00:31:23,519 --> 00:31:27,160
but then you know you to six
nine and can shoot threes, and

464
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:33,000
there's there's value in putting size out
there. So I think there's there's a

465
00:31:33,039 --> 00:31:34,920
merit to to what you're talking about. But I also think it kind of

466
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,559
applies to Kadabas the up two as
really long arms and size. Now whether

467
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:44,599
or not he's capable of defending on
the perimeter is a question. I think

468
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:48,359
Suns fans feel really confident in that, whereas I kind of want to see

469
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,119
it a little bit first, and
I'm excited to see it though, because

470
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:55,319
I think that size could make a
huge difference with seven ft Kevin Durant.

471
00:31:55,319 --> 00:32:00,279
I mean, that's the cheat code. Sam. Is there any concern about

472
00:32:00,279 --> 00:32:04,480
the lack of non star playmaking on
this team? There's the element of me,

473
00:32:05,039 --> 00:32:07,880
just to preamble this is I can't
bring myself to care because you look

474
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,279
at the top end talent Bradley bel
Devin Booker, and then it's like,

475
00:32:10,279 --> 00:32:14,160
okay, if one of them is
out, that's when you could see things

476
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:15,079
like kind of going off the rails
a little bit. And so I'm just

477
00:32:15,119 --> 00:32:19,599
curious land on that. Well,
you know, I actually think it's interesting

478
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,319
because the Cameron payn the move to
get rid of Cameron Pain was a little

479
00:32:23,319 --> 00:32:27,119
bit surprising to some of us.
And you know, one guy we haven't

480
00:32:27,119 --> 00:32:29,920
brought up yet is Jordan Goodwin,
who came in over in the Bradley Beal

481
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,640
trade, who I think is going
to get some minutes at least in the

482
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,599
regular season. I don't really see
him at this point as a playoff rotation

483
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,319
guy. Could be interesting at the
point guard position, but there is a

484
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:43,599
lack of what feels like a more
staple backup point guard on this team,

485
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,839
and I think that's led to even
some rumors that have swirled around recently.

486
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:50,200
I don't think any of them have
especially caught on to be like this is

487
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,759
going to happen, But there is
a hole there that could be filled at

488
00:32:52,759 --> 00:32:57,720
some point, whether it's now or
in February, of bringing another point guard

489
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,440
into this team who is a more
depth playmaker than Eric or Jordan Goodwin to

490
00:33:01,519 --> 00:33:07,240
slide in next to either Booker or
bial in some heavy minutes. If you

491
00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:08,319
look at the rest of the team, though, I think most of these

492
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:14,680
role players are either average or above
average playmakers in their roles. You know,

493
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,559
I look at the U Bank's acquisition
as a guy who I think can

494
00:33:17,599 --> 00:33:21,960
make some basic reads out of the
center position. I look at some of

495
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,279
these wings, not not really Bates
d Up, but I've seen a little

496
00:33:24,319 --> 00:33:28,440
bit of evidence out of Wattonabe.
I've seen a little bit of evidence in

497
00:33:28,519 --> 00:33:32,119
the past out of a Kogi.
Eric Gordon obviously can can make some plays.

498
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,799
So you know, I think the
role players for the most part are

499
00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,279
going to be fine. I still
just wonder if there is a missing traditional

500
00:33:39,319 --> 00:33:45,640
playmaker on this roster who would really
suit them well. If let's say,

501
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,279
you know what happens in this season
is what happened in the past several seasons

502
00:33:49,319 --> 00:33:52,319
that Booker and Bill both end up
playing sixty five seventy games and you need

503
00:33:52,359 --> 00:33:55,240
someone to fill in the gaps,
Sam, is this like an issue that

504
00:33:55,359 --> 00:34:00,880
you would expect them to prioritize when
we get to buy out season, provided

505
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:02,720
under the new rules of the player
that was wave or brought out couldn't have

506
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,640
been making more than I think twelve
point two millions in number twelve four?

507
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,159
Is it kind of a thing when
you get to that point? To me,

508
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,239
I look at it as like this
void, if you want to call

509
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,639
it a void, this wrinkle,
whatever. It's important to eat innings in

510
00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:17,840
the regular season. But if you're
going to be reliant on I don't care

511
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:20,719
whether you got them on the buyout
market or if you were going to be

512
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:25,039
reliant on campaign come playoff time,
then something else that you just weren't built

513
00:34:25,079 --> 00:34:30,840
to overcome had already happened. Yeah. So the thing is anyone they bring

514
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:32,519
in has to be built for the
playoffs, don't. I don't think they're

515
00:34:32,519 --> 00:34:36,639
gonna bring in someone just to eat
innings. If they if they need someone

516
00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:38,880
just to eat innings in the regular
season, they still have you know,

517
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,960
obviously it's not ideal, but they've
got Sabin Lee on a two way contract.

518
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,679
Like I think, there's a certain
element of let's just throw anyone who

519
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:47,559
can who can run an offense out
there if we need someone for the regular

520
00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:51,639
season. If it's going to be
a buyout candidate, it needs to be

521
00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:54,519
someone who can who can guard up
and defend. Which makes me less likely

522
00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:58,760
to think that they're going to bring
in a six two point guard with a

523
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:00,679
six four wingspan or whatever. You
know, just just someone who is not

524
00:35:00,679 --> 00:35:06,800
going to be a capable defensive player
at the playoff level. Are they going

525
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,800
to be able to find that on
the buyout market. I'm not I'm not

526
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:12,280
really sure. I mean, I
guess we'll just see how that develops between

527
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,360
now in February. But it's up
there as one of my priorities. It

528
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:19,039
might not be priority number one either. I just want to mention too that

529
00:35:19,119 --> 00:35:25,360
I am personally less confident in Jordan
Goodwin backup point guard on championship team as

530
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,440
a player. It's not to say
that I don't think he's going to be

531
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,920
good. I think there's a lot
of well earned hype on what he could

532
00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:37,719
potentially be, but you know,
he's not a great offensive player as he

533
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,960
currently stands, a good defensive player, and it's just it's there's just something

534
00:35:42,639 --> 00:35:45,320
this team feels like it's missing a
backup point guard to me, and and

535
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:49,480
and getting rid of Campaign for nothing
just to sign Bowl Bowl was I think

536
00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:53,840
one of the only weird decisions of
the offseason for me, just because Campaign

537
00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:59,280
not not exactly somebody that I'm super
confident in after the last few playoff runs

538
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,960
as well, but at least capable
in the regular season. There is some

539
00:36:04,159 --> 00:36:07,519
trade slop that I'll mentioned to you, Dan that I have yet to mention

540
00:36:07,599 --> 00:36:14,199
on any podcast so far. Yeah, that is the rumor of a four

541
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:17,760
team trade that was out there for
the Suns with DeAndre In going out,

542
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:25,559
included Nurkics, Caleb Martin, and
TJ McConnell coming back to the Suns.

543
00:36:27,039 --> 00:36:30,039
That's the one I was hinting at. Yeah, And I think at this

544
00:36:30,079 --> 00:36:32,079
point, I personally think the fact
that I've talked to so many people that

545
00:36:32,119 --> 00:36:36,440
have heard the same rumor, I
feel like it's probably dead and not going

546
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:39,239
to happen. But it was supposedly
something that may have been talked about at

547
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:43,880
one point or another, and if
true, I think it shows that the

548
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:49,280
Suns probably are looking at somebody to
potentially be that backup point guard that maybe

549
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:53,239
TJ McConnell can play in the postseason, but probably not at Arizona getting into

550
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:57,519
the second or third rounds. Here
Arizona guy, and we know how much

551
00:36:57,519 --> 00:37:00,039
Suns fans love the Arizona guys.
I like TJ mccon as a regular season

552
00:37:00,039 --> 00:37:02,760
player, but I'll be honest,
this is just exactly who I was hinting

553
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:07,519
at, the undersized guard who has
had a really solid four or five year

554
00:37:07,559 --> 00:37:09,039
stint in Indiana and in all that
time, do you guys want to know

555
00:37:09,079 --> 00:37:14,639
how many minutes he's played in the
playoffs? Less than thirty. So it's

556
00:37:14,679 --> 00:37:16,280
kind of just what I was referring
to of. You know, are you

557
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:21,239
really going to stake your your mid
season acquisition on t J McConnell. Yeah,

558
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,760
I guess he He eats innings in
the regular season, but that would

559
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,719
be about it. I like it. I like him. I mean,

560
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:31,079
I'm I would balance at the opportunity
of Kayla Martin on this team. That

561
00:37:31,119 --> 00:37:35,719
was actually one of the I very
rarely disagree with either of you, but

562
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,000
I can't remember which one said that
something about Kayla Martin's defense and I think

563
00:37:38,039 --> 00:37:42,039
it was the Patreon pod. And
I think I think that dude's like more

564
00:37:42,119 --> 00:37:45,800
closer to a caps lock defender than
not when you look at the level of

565
00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,639
assignments he takes on, specifically from
the point of attack up to some of

566
00:37:49,679 --> 00:37:52,239
these these bigger wings, like when
it's like going back and looking at the

567
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:54,840
players he either guarded the most or
watching the film, like, I think

568
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,039
that's someone he comes in. What
do I want? Is Ogi Hada Nobia

569
00:37:59,039 --> 00:38:00,639
a better fit? Yes, of
course, But like if it ended up

570
00:38:00,679 --> 00:38:05,639
being like Nurkic and Caleb Martin as
you're like that's the DeAndre and package,

571
00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:09,119
I think you actually make out a
lot better there than many people would probably

572
00:38:09,159 --> 00:38:14,199
believe. I agree, I actually
agree with that. I'm happy. I'm

573
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:16,880
probably the person that casts a little
doubt on his He didn't shot on him.

574
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,400
I want to make that clear.
No, yeah, no, I

575
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,320
think he's I think he's a good
defender, you know. But like we're

576
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,320
talking about comparisons like o Gianna Nobi
just like you said here, so in

577
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:30,639
comparison, uh what what what I
think would be nice is and this is

578
00:38:30,639 --> 00:38:32,400
so rare and we're lucky that we
had mcaal Bridges on this team for so

579
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:36,599
long. It's just players that can
guard from one to four, and and

580
00:38:36,639 --> 00:38:40,360
maybe Caleb Martin can do that in
the right circumstances. But I just we're

581
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:45,360
all any team that doesn't have a
micaal Bridges is trying to get one at

582
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,440
this point, and I think the
Suns are still kind of looking for somebody

583
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,119
to replace what he did on this
team. Sam, do you have any

584
00:38:52,559 --> 00:38:59,159
insight into or just guesses or interested
in what stylistic changes you're expecting or hoping

585
00:38:59,199 --> 00:39:02,400
to see either on offense or defense
with Rank Vogel running the show? Now,

586
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:07,360
Yeah, I think we've talked about
a defense. I don't see too

587
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,400
many changes. I think, you
know, we touched on it already,

588
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,519
switching one through four and then keeping
Ayton on the back end, really,

589
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:16,760
you know, comfortable in that drop. I think he might move a little

590
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:21,639
bit less than he did under Monty. But but frankly, even in the

591
00:39:21,639 --> 00:39:23,519
past couple of years, it felt
like Eyton was moving his legs less on

592
00:39:23,559 --> 00:39:28,079
the perimeter than he was in some
of his earlier years as part of the

593
00:39:28,119 --> 00:39:30,000
Monty stint. So defense, I
don't know how many changes we're going to

594
00:39:30,079 --> 00:39:34,800
see offense. I think we're really
hoping for a little bit more modern flare

595
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,679
from this team, and so maybe
that means some more Kevin duran at the

596
00:39:37,679 --> 00:39:42,440
five. I'm jumping ahead here,
but you do at I think, you

597
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:44,360
know, you want to know at
one point in this podcast, like,

598
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:47,559
what are some lineups we're looking forward
to, and just let's start with any

599
00:39:47,559 --> 00:39:51,639
lineup that features Kevin Durant at the
five. And then you know, maybe

600
00:39:51,639 --> 00:39:54,519
you throw Eric Gordon in there alongside
Beale and Booker, and you throw Watton

601
00:39:54,559 --> 00:39:59,039
n Abbe in the corner, and
you just bomb away from three and you

602
00:39:59,079 --> 00:40:02,639
have maybe the team could stand to
do by the way, you just have

603
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:07,840
the best offensive all time, maybe
in minutes where you play with those five

604
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:09,480
guys. So, you know,
I think that's that's the big thing I'm

605
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:16,920
looking for on offense is just not
as much of a focus on necessarily DeAndre

606
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:21,440
Atan's pick and roll talents, where
certainly he has some value to bring,

607
00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:24,800
but more of an emphasis on the
two man game run between k D and

608
00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,480
bal or Kady and book or one
guy could always be playing on the week's

609
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:31,559
side, the other guy could be
working driple handoff games with Kadi at the

610
00:40:31,599 --> 00:40:37,440
elbow, and really focusing on the
gravity that those guys bring on offense without

611
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:42,920
worrying about a big man, you
know, sitting underneath the basket and kind

612
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,800
of taking away some spacing. Mike, It's probably taking me too long to

613
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:49,519
get here, But I have so
many Radley Beal questions, and so I

614
00:40:49,519 --> 00:40:52,880
think starts with what is the biggest
thing to you that he will bring or

615
00:40:52,960 --> 00:41:00,199
add in the context of this team. It's a good question. One thing

616
00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:02,880
I was thinking about, and this
is not necessarily just Bradley Beal related,

617
00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,960
was without Chris Paul on this team, they're going to play a lot faster

618
00:41:10,079 --> 00:41:15,559
because Chris Paul just couldn't anymore.
He just wanted to and he doesn't ever

619
00:41:15,599 --> 00:41:17,159
like to, to be honest,
Chris Paul played on slow teams like throughout

620
00:41:17,159 --> 00:41:21,440
his entire career. But without Chris
Paul, I think the Suns will be

621
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:25,320
able to play a lot faster.
But I think if you look at what

622
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:32,519
happened in the postseason for the Suns, even before Chris Paul was hurt,

623
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:42,280
the majority the offense shifted over to
Devin Booker as the lead playmaker and guard.

624
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,800
And when you have Chris Paul in
the off ball role, he's not

625
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:51,000
built for that. He wants to
dribble, he doesn't want to shoot.

626
00:41:51,039 --> 00:41:54,159
He doesn't really have a fast release
on his catch and shoot shots anyway,

627
00:41:54,199 --> 00:41:58,719
So teams feel comfortable playing off of
him. So the amount of space that

628
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:00,679
this team is going to have,
now, it's tough to compare it to

629
00:42:00,679 --> 00:42:02,920
the playoffs because we were playing Josh
Kogie as well, who nobody guards when

630
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:06,760
he's at the three point line.
But the amount of space that this team

631
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:09,559
will have with the player that's capable
of playing off the ball as well as

632
00:42:09,599 --> 00:42:15,119
Bradley Beale can is kind of insane
to even think about. And the other

633
00:42:15,159 --> 00:42:19,079
Sam was talking about dribble handoffs at
Bradley Beale is one of the best in

634
00:42:19,119 --> 00:42:22,559
the league at shooting off of dribble
handoffs. Last season, I think his

635
00:42:22,679 --> 00:42:28,880
total percentage, forgive me of going
off memory was fifty five percent on dribble

636
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:31,960
handoffs. So when he's taking the
ball on those and flying around those screens

637
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:37,559
fifty five percent, it's pretty insane. He can shoot from any point coming

638
00:42:37,599 --> 00:42:39,800
around that screen, So that's where
a lot of that rim pressure that Dan

639
00:42:40,039 --> 00:42:43,840
I know has talked about. Yeah, it comes to is on those plays

640
00:42:44,199 --> 00:42:46,719
and the rim pressure, by the
way too compared to to I think Chris

641
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:52,199
Paul shot like less than forty percent
in the restricted area last season. If

642
00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:55,199
I'm not, I'm Chris Paul was
good on the Suns. I'm not.

643
00:42:55,280 --> 00:43:00,840
I'm not trying to turn this into
Yeah, there are some fans who who

644
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:04,800
weirdly have like really turned in the
opposite direction. Maybe they were just holding

645
00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,679
their tongues. He was secretly kind
of bad last year. Well, It's

646
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:13,039
like Chris Paul and Monty Williams did
so much for the Sun's organization over the

647
00:43:13,039 --> 00:43:15,039
past several years, and there were
some people who it just surprised me some

648
00:43:15,119 --> 00:43:17,320
of the takes that came out kind
of as soon as they were pushed out

649
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:20,960
the door. You know, I
still have respect for both of those guys,

650
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,320
even though I think they were flawed. I do want to address one

651
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:27,119
thing real quick, Mike, because
I'm not sure we've covered the pace angle

652
00:43:28,199 --> 00:43:32,199
from this perspective yet. Does the
potential of acquiring two hundred ninety pound use

653
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:37,760
of nurke its change your feelings at
all about if this team is threes if

654
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:39,960
this team is actually going to play
play faster, because I was with you,

655
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:44,679
I want them to play faster,
and I know Vogel has said they're

656
00:43:44,679 --> 00:43:46,920
going to play faster, but then
the nurk Its rumors come out and suddenly

657
00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,280
I kind of it casts a little
bit of doubt for me. So I

658
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,360
don't know what you thought about that. I personally have about a similar level

659
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:58,760
of confidence of DeAndre and consistently sprinting
down on offense as I do of use

660
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:00,599
of Nurkeds. At this point.
We just have never seen DeAndre and do

661
00:44:00,679 --> 00:44:07,039
that on a regular basis. Occasionally, yes, but consistently over the course

662
00:44:07,039 --> 00:44:12,440
of a season. No, I'm
not super excited about Nurkics in general,

663
00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,679
but I am not really worried about
that fit offensively. First of all,

664
00:44:15,679 --> 00:44:20,360
he's a great illegal screen or something
I love to talk about. He just

665
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,639
doesn't get called for those for some
reason. Really good at screening, and

666
00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:28,079
I'm much better pastor than A and
A and can pass the ball, but

667
00:44:28,119 --> 00:44:32,320
there's always another extra second or two
of processing time with his passes that slows

668
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:36,719
down the offense pretty significantly. I
know you were joking, but the trailing

669
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:39,280
threes thing. Actually, I mean, I know Dave listen to our conversation,

670
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:42,920
Like he did actually shoot the ball
well from three last year, so

671
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,920
yeah, yeah, and he's like
and he's had like even the years,

672
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:50,400
he hasn't show like we're in year
two or three now, the actual experimentation,

673
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:52,840
so it's not just sort of a
one off with the volume. I

674
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:55,480
think like he's been dabbled out there
for a little bit and so that like,

675
00:44:55,760 --> 00:45:00,239
and you could look at it like
they could just play faster by you

676
00:45:00,519 --> 00:45:02,039
might mention the trail three. So
it's like, even after a made shot,

677
00:45:02,119 --> 00:45:07,079
I would bet that their offense could
technically be inherently faster with nurkics than

678
00:45:07,199 --> 00:45:14,800
eighten just because of those types of
shots that would be available. So I

679
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:16,400
guess you already mentioned this, Sam, But is that sort of then the

680
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:21,000
stylistic ring goal that you expect the
Suns to integrate most to try and optimize

681
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:23,719
Bradley beals we're just going to see
them run a bunch more or maybe not

682
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,719
a bunch more, but run more
handoffs or is there there gonna be different

683
00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:30,119
screening patterns, like what are you
most fascinated to watch what this team does?

684
00:45:30,159 --> 00:45:34,880
To try and optimize Bradley Beale.
I hope so, I hope We're

685
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,320
seeing a lot of utilization of handoffs. Specifically, the one I was thinking

686
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:42,440
of was with Kevin Durant, but
it could work with Deandretan or with use

687
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,079
of Nurkics as well. You know, those guys are good screeners. Besides

688
00:45:45,119 --> 00:45:50,360
that, we should note that Kevin
Young is returning the lead, the guy

689
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,199
who's kind of the offensive coordinator,
the offensive brain trust behind the Suns for

690
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:59,239
a last season. We don't know
to what extent he is being given the

691
00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:01,119
reins to control the offense this year, but it would make sense to me

692
00:46:01,199 --> 00:46:05,000
that a lot of the features of
the Sun's offense last year, the elbow

693
00:46:05,039 --> 00:46:07,760
sets, the double drags, the
spain pick and rolls, are going to

694
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:14,079
return, and any variation of those
plays with just where you plug in Bradley

695
00:46:14,079 --> 00:46:16,559
Beale, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant
is going to work. It's just any

696
00:46:16,639 --> 00:46:21,119
variation where you have three players who
are that versatile on offense. As long

697
00:46:21,159 --> 00:46:23,480
as the guys in the corner or
if it's Eric Gordon, you know,

698
00:46:23,519 --> 00:46:28,880
standing thirty five feet out above the
wing, the spacing will work. It's

699
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,599
just you plug in the players on
this team, and I have no qualms

700
00:46:31,599 --> 00:46:38,639
about any of that. Mike,
aside from the defensive matchup equation, what

701
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:45,199
is the biggest concern you have about
Bradley Beale's potential fit on this team.

702
00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:51,920
It's not an exciting conversation in its
injuries. I mean, it's not necessarily

703
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:54,559
about the basketball fit, I guess
I'll say, because you know, for

704
00:46:54,639 --> 00:46:59,559
him, it's about staying healthy this
team in order for it to succeed,

705
00:46:59,599 --> 00:47:04,199
because it is top heavy, they
all have to be healthy for extended periods

706
00:47:04,199 --> 00:47:07,159
of times in the playoffs. I
do think the level of star talent means

707
00:47:07,199 --> 00:47:10,840
that maybe at times they could withstand
somebody missing a game or two the way

708
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:15,440
that they actually have in the past. You know, Chris Paul missed games

709
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:20,960
in the Clippers series when they went
to the finals, Devin Booker missed games

710
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:23,440
in the New Orleans series when they
beat New Orleans, and still the Suns

711
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:27,239
were capable of winning. But I
even think they're more built to withstand that

712
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:30,960
kind of thing now with with multiple
stars. But any sort of long term

713
00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:37,559
injury is probably the scariest part.
But I do think just from an overall

714
00:47:37,599 --> 00:47:39,719
perspective, if you're looking at the
team, just to give Chris Paul credit

715
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:44,360
for how good he was last year, he never turned the ball over,

716
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:47,599
just just never turned the ball over. And as good as all of these

717
00:47:47,599 --> 00:47:52,599
guys are at playmaking, they don't
have the type of unbelievable assistant turnover ratios

718
00:47:52,599 --> 00:47:57,559
that Chris Paul had. So this
team, as they do milk all the

719
00:47:57,559 --> 00:48:01,920
playmaking they can out of these three
offensive threats, probably will have a dramatic

720
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:06,480
increase in turnovers, which which is
just a little scary. When it comes

721
00:48:06,519 --> 00:48:09,119
to transition defense, they need to
get back. They need to play the

722
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:14,320
defense, and overall, not just
Bradley Beale, the team as a whole

723
00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:16,760
needs to make a concerted effort to
take care of the ball as much as

724
00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:22,280
possible. You're gonna say something saying, go ahead, well, just I'm

725
00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:25,280
gonna use Mike slogan for him,
the slogan he's been using all throughout the

726
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:30,480
summer as everyone does everything, and
you know, I think just transition defense

727
00:48:30,559 --> 00:48:35,360
is going to be one of those
things where it applies. We're doing positionless

728
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,480
basketball, we're doing the thing we're
playing modern basketball here in twenty twenty three.

729
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,119
You know, is Bradley Beale,
the point guard is Devin book or

730
00:48:42,159 --> 00:48:45,639
the point guard is Kevin Dury,
Like who cares? Everyone's doing everything on

731
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:47,400
this team, and yeah, but
you know what, it doesn't matter you

732
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:52,760
care because if you want to maybe
rank these players in a certain way,

733
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:54,400
like is Devin Booker the best shooting
guard in the NBA or not? Who

734
00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:58,239
cares? We don't know what position
he even plays at this point. So

735
00:48:58,559 --> 00:49:00,920
everyone on this team is going to
be kind of playing a fluid role.

736
00:49:02,039 --> 00:49:07,239
Sam, who among the big three
here is going to need to make like

737
00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:12,480
either the most conceits on offense or
how to make the most adaptations on offense.

738
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:16,599
This is a really good question.
All of them are. I think

739
00:49:16,639 --> 00:49:20,639
it's probably still Bradley Beale. At
the end of the day. He is

740
00:49:20,679 --> 00:49:23,679
going to start a lot of possessions
with the ball in his hands. The

741
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:28,079
opportunities just are not there for him
to play in the same way that he

742
00:49:28,119 --> 00:49:31,480
did in Washington. I think that's
the guy. I mean, at the

743
00:49:31,519 --> 00:49:35,400
end of the day, if you're
looking at you're sorting through the stats,

744
00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:38,360
and you're looking at the various play
types and you're thinking, who really needs

745
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:42,679
the ball in his hands in the
last five minutes of the fourth quarter,

746
00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:46,639
like who should really get the ISO
possessions? And the stats that Booker and

747
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:52,519
Durant are posting are gonna mostly blow
bal stats out of the water because he

748
00:49:52,599 --> 00:49:55,159
is just not the player that he
was in twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, and

749
00:49:55,199 --> 00:49:59,360
so he's going to make the most
offensive concessions. I would think there's still

750
00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:04,320
a pathway for Bradley Beal to average
twenty five points per game on this team.

751
00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:07,559
We've yet to do. We've yet
to do our yearly over under podcast.

752
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:10,159
You're gonna say, I know what
you're getting pick on that one.

753
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:14,280
No, not necessarily, because I
don't know. Mike is always the one

754
00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:16,880
he sets over unders for like statistically
for everyone on our team, and we

755
00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:20,800
have a lot of fun and we
kind of play against our audience where they

756
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:23,800
pick over and unders against us,
and so we've yet to do that episode

757
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:29,199
that should be fun. I don't
know how to evaluate what our expectations are

758
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:32,159
just statistically of Beal this season,
but I would say there is a pathway

759
00:50:32,199 --> 00:50:37,039
there for him to get up there. I do wonder part of me has

760
00:50:37,159 --> 00:50:40,480
wondered if it could end up being
Kevin Durant me too. The two things

761
00:50:40,679 --> 00:50:45,679
are you guys have mentioned it already
him if he has to play center at

762
00:50:45,679 --> 00:50:47,920
all, like that's just that'll be
an adjustment if that becomes a staple.

763
00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:52,559
But the other thing is sort of
when you watch how defense is reacted to

764
00:50:52,639 --> 00:50:55,199
him in the playoffs, like throughout
his career, but specifically the past two

765
00:50:55,199 --> 00:51:00,360
postseasons and how he's kind of struggled, that might be a change for him

766
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:04,039
if he has to become more of
the deferential guy or he can't hold onto

767
00:51:04,079 --> 00:51:07,440
the ball necessarily as much as he's
Look, he's a great off ball player,

768
00:51:07,599 --> 00:51:09,239
but I'm just saying if he has
to become more of a ball mover

769
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:15,079
or connector that's not something that he's
like needed to do and hive on because

770
00:51:15,079 --> 00:51:17,280
you don't necessarily want him to do
that. But on this team, I'm

771
00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:20,960
wondering, and Mike you had said
something, So is that like kind of

772
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,480
where you're at or is it a
different pathway to him having to adapt if

773
00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:29,880
you're envisioning it. I hate to
put it this succinctly, but he's thirty

774
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:36,440
five and at a certain point over
this contract, the skills will diminish now

775
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:39,639
they haven't yet in a lot of
ways for him. But I do agree

776
00:51:39,679 --> 00:51:45,519
with you that if you look at
playoff stats and playoff efficiency, turnover rate,

777
00:51:45,639 --> 00:51:49,159
like it has mostly gone down for
him from the regular season to the

778
00:51:49,159 --> 00:51:53,199
playoffs over the course of his career. But you know, like I do

779
00:51:53,320 --> 00:51:57,960
think that, And the reason I
think it has to be a big change

780
00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:00,239
for Kevin Durant is that he's used
to having the ball in all the biggest

781
00:52:00,239 --> 00:52:04,760
moments all the time, and I
think there will be a time on this

782
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:08,360
team where that has to shift to
Devin Booker or that has to shift to

783
00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:14,360
Bradley Beale. Do I think there's
going to be a Draymond Green moment yelling

784
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:17,280
at each other on the floor like
in Golden State. No, because it's

785
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:22,599
different when Draymond Green has the ball
compared to Devin Booker or Bradley Beale.

786
00:52:22,639 --> 00:52:24,480
And I think they're very close right
now, and I think they're on the

787
00:52:24,519 --> 00:52:30,079
same page basketball wise. But if
we're looking at sort of these three guys

788
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:35,719
on their full contracts on this team, there will be a point, and

789
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,519
it could be this season where the
most important player on the team has to

790
00:52:38,559 --> 00:52:42,320
be Devin Booker, and I think
a lot of people believe that's right now,

791
00:52:42,719 --> 00:52:46,760
including Kevin Garnett, who had a
conversation about this on his podcast very

792
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:50,840
loudly. And you know, I
don't know when that's going to be,

793
00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:53,840
but at a certain point Damant has
to be okay shifting off the ball for

794
00:52:54,480 --> 00:52:59,280
extended periods of time. I will
say he does have year's worth of experience

795
00:52:59,320 --> 00:53:02,480
watching Russ or Westbrook take shots out
of here Eric Mayer a little bit,

796
00:53:02,519 --> 00:53:07,679
so this might be a little easier
for him. I you know, you

797
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:12,079
mentioned who is the most I guess
important to this. I always just viewed

798
00:53:12,119 --> 00:53:15,719
it as Devin Booker, but I
feel like there's also the pathway to Kevin

799
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:19,599
Durant there, depending on what type
of role you think he's gonna shoulder defensively,

800
00:53:19,639 --> 00:53:22,960
But are you guys just both at
you know, Devin Booker is to

801
00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:25,280
tie this all together, Devin Booker
is going to be if you have I'm

802
00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:29,880
not trying to get your rank them, but just in terms of most singular

803
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:31,599
importance, Sam, do you just
view it as it's still Devin Booker.

804
00:53:32,679 --> 00:53:37,159
We're talking about two way impact singular
importance. Yeah, Who's gonna like the

805
00:53:37,199 --> 00:53:40,159
defensive workload they're gonna have to carry
that. I think the look the playmaking

806
00:53:40,199 --> 00:53:43,920
one is you could say position list, but it's gonna be I think at

807
00:53:43,920 --> 00:53:45,280
the end of the day, there's
still gonna be like one guy who becomes

808
00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:50,840
sort of the the central playmaker,
no doubt, and Booker of those three

809
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:52,840
guys, is the most talented in
his ability to make advance reads. I

810
00:53:52,840 --> 00:53:58,000
think that you can say that without
a doubt. And defensively, I think

811
00:53:58,119 --> 00:54:00,000
is a guy who kind of falls
in the perfect body type where he's going

812
00:54:00,039 --> 00:54:04,280
to be taking on a lot of
these challenging defensive assignments. So yeah,

813
00:54:04,280 --> 00:54:07,280
if you just evaluate it from both
sides, I agree with that assessment,

814
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:10,320
it is Devin Booker. Well,
how does Devin Booker's role change on this

815
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:14,320
team? Like with the moves that
have you know, I get basically just

816
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:15,920
with the addition of Bradley Beale and
Kevin Durant and now you don't have Chris

817
00:54:15,960 --> 00:54:20,599
Paul or even you just don't have
like that orthodox point guard on the team.

818
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:23,719
Yeah, I think there's two guys
that are missing from Devin Booker that

819
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:28,039
will now require him to increase his
role on both sides of the floor,

820
00:54:28,079 --> 00:54:31,280
and that's Chris Paul and Michael Bridges. Every single game since Michael Bridges was

821
00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:37,599
drafted on the Suns. Every single
game Devin Booker played until the trade,

822
00:54:37,679 --> 00:54:40,119
Micael Bridges was on the floor for
because he never missed a game, meaning

823
00:54:40,159 --> 00:54:45,280
Devin Booker got to play a lot
of minutes with Michael Bridges in his time

824
00:54:45,599 --> 00:54:47,679
with the Suns. And you know, a lot has been made of Devin

825
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:53,000
Booker's improvements on defense. I think
most of that is shown in the playoffs

826
00:54:53,079 --> 00:54:57,400
because he sort of saves it a
little bit for the playoffs. I don't

827
00:54:57,400 --> 00:55:00,119
think he can anymore. I think
that defensive effort has to be pretty dramatically

828
00:55:00,159 --> 00:55:05,320
increased in the regular season because we
brought it up the team that we brought

829
00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:07,800
up as an example, and look, they're going to have their own problems

830
00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:12,039
guarding the Suns. But if the
Suns are playing the Dallas Mavericks, for

831
00:55:12,039 --> 00:55:15,199
example, and you start Katabates up
to guard Luca don Chich, who guards

832
00:55:15,280 --> 00:55:20,239
Kyrie Irving, I think it has
to be Devin Booker at this point in

833
00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:23,320
the starting five, because the other
options are Kevin Durrett, Bradley, Beale

834
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:27,199
or Devin Booker, And I think
Devin Booker is the most well equipped to

835
00:55:27,679 --> 00:55:30,199
take that assignment. And there are
teams where he's going to have to guard

836
00:55:30,320 --> 00:55:35,599
the first or second best offensive player
for the majority of the minutes that he

837
00:55:35,639 --> 00:55:38,519
plays in the starting five. So
defensively, I think that's a huge change

838
00:55:38,519 --> 00:55:43,199
for him offensively, You're right,
I mean, there's no he's the point

839
00:55:43,239 --> 00:55:46,320
guard now, I think, regardless
of what Sean Shrania says about Bradley Beale,

840
00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:50,000
and that's just to me, he
said it more as a hype thing.

841
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,840
As far as Bradley Beale is now
playing point guard for the Suns,

842
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:58,559
I do think that right. I
mean, like in a way he's right

843
00:55:58,639 --> 00:56:00,800
too, because like they both kind
of a you know, it's not it's

844
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:05,280
it's not a traditional way to figure
out who plays point guard and who does

845
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:08,280
it. But you know, Devin
Booker has average six point eight assists in

846
00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:12,960
his career on the Suns, and
you know, the expectation for him is

847
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:17,000
probably to match or maybe even exceed
that number going forward and and keeping the

848
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:20,800
turnovers down, which I think he
did really well in the last two years.

849
00:56:21,280 --> 00:56:23,760
And I'm pretty confident in his ability
to do that, and I'm pretty

850
00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:27,039
excited to see what kind of stats
he puts up this year, because I

851
00:56:27,039 --> 00:56:30,280
think it could be pretty impressive season
for him. Sam, do you have

852
00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:35,000
anything to add or differ that differs
from that? Not particularly, Biel will

853
00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:38,280
play a lot of point guarding,
just save way Blank incredible. No,

854
00:56:38,440 --> 00:56:43,199
not not always. You haven't asked
us about Bowl Bowl yet. That's where

855
00:56:43,199 --> 00:56:46,239
we really diverge. I don't want
I don't really want to have to,

856
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:50,119
but I guess I guess I will. I don't know. It sounds like

857
00:56:50,199 --> 00:56:52,440
me and Dan are on the same
way. Yeah, that's okay, you

858
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:55,679
can be wrong. That's fine.
The field will play a lot of point

859
00:56:55,679 --> 00:56:59,719
guard as well, but in the
staggered sense. Again, if we're not

860
00:56:59,800 --> 00:57:02,920
really trusting Jordan Goodwin, there will
be a lot of staggered lineups here between

861
00:57:02,920 --> 00:57:07,559
these two guys. So I think
we focus so much on how seamlessly they'll

862
00:57:07,599 --> 00:57:10,280
fit when all three are on the
court together, but we also know that.

863
00:57:10,360 --> 00:57:13,079
I mean, I think there's just
gonna be a lot of minutes and

864
00:57:13,119 --> 00:57:15,000
be a logging with the second unit. We'll see how that works. I'm

865
00:57:15,039 --> 00:57:19,880
surprised, how not that you guys
are low. I really like Jordan Goodwin.

866
00:57:19,920 --> 00:57:22,800
I guess I'm high like him.
I do feeling I don't ever.

867
00:57:22,239 --> 00:57:24,840
I don't want to say don't ever, because that defeats the purpose of having

868
00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:29,320
him, But whytching him run picking
rolls is a little painful when you look

869
00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:31,760
at that decision making. But like
defenses can still scramble, He's got a

870
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:34,800
little wiggle there. And then,
as you both have mentioned, just the

871
00:57:34,840 --> 00:57:37,360
defensive value, if you're worried about
point of attack stuff, I'm just wondering

872
00:57:37,400 --> 00:57:40,760
if he's someone who could low key
play. He got bigger role than expected

873
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:45,719
he could. It's a great point. I see a clear pathway for him

874
00:57:45,760 --> 00:57:49,480
to be a ninth or tenth man
in the regular season. I just don't

875
00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:52,880
see him surviving the cuts as we
head to a playoff rotation. But yeah,

876
00:57:52,880 --> 00:57:54,559
if you look at the options that
we have for point of attack defense,

877
00:57:54,800 --> 00:57:58,360
it's either Josh Akogi, who's not
going to be guarded on offense at

878
00:57:58,360 --> 00:58:01,519
all of I always hope that Kogie
one of these days puts it together and

879
00:58:01,559 --> 00:58:06,639
becomes the forty percent three point shooter
that I want him to be. He

880
00:58:06,719 --> 00:58:08,920
needs to put you on the payroll
Sam, Yeah for real, if well,

881
00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:13,599
if he does was awful in the
playoffs, because shut up, because

882
00:58:13,800 --> 00:58:15,239
do you want me to bring up
the net rating stats for for the last

883
00:58:15,320 --> 00:58:19,039
eight games of the regular season when
he played with k D because it was

884
00:58:19,159 --> 00:58:22,320
awesome. And if you extrapolate those
numbers, then there's a pathway for for

885
00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:27,440
josh Akogi to become. I always
say that he's a fifteen million dollars a

886
00:58:27,480 --> 00:58:30,679
year player if he could just learn
to shoot. That's how talented he is.

887
00:58:30,719 --> 00:58:34,199
Defensively, so who knows, but
but yeah, Goodwin after him,

888
00:58:34,199 --> 00:58:37,840
Goodwin's the next best guy. He's
the next best guy to be that point

889
00:58:37,880 --> 00:58:42,119
of attack defender really against smaller guards
guards under this you know, six four

890
00:58:42,159 --> 00:58:45,079
or six five. So he could
definitely play a role. There's very little

891
00:58:45,079 --> 00:58:49,719
doubt in me defensively how good he
could be on this team. He's just

892
00:58:49,760 --> 00:58:54,800
built for it. I think my
where I'm less confident in him is as

893
00:58:54,880 --> 00:59:00,679
the primary backup point guard because there
will be games where Brad Beal isn't playing

894
00:59:00,760 --> 00:59:04,880
or Devin Booker isn't playing, and
now they can't necessarily stagger those two guys.

895
00:59:04,880 --> 00:59:08,199
In his role as a playmaker,
as an offensive player is increased without

896
00:59:08,239 --> 00:59:12,760
another guy to step in and help
him the way that maybe even a combination

897
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:15,559
of him and Cameron Payne could have
been. So that's where I'm a little

898
00:59:15,559 --> 00:59:19,880
bit concerned. I also, I
do think that there will even be lineups

899
00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:22,440
where it is the starting four,
if you want to call them, that

900
00:59:22,639 --> 00:59:24,920
the four guys we know will start
plus Jordan Goodwin, And that actually could

901
00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:29,280
be really interesting. Maybe when we're
playing Steph Curry or something. Now he's

902
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:34,000
tasked with running around and guarding Steph
Curry, and his offensive deficiencies will be

903
00:59:34,039 --> 00:59:37,400
completely covered up by the rest of
the guys. So Kevin Durant and look,

904
00:59:37,440 --> 00:59:39,880
I can't like, I can't do
some of these questions. Just feel

905
00:59:39,960 --> 00:59:44,960
it's nitpicking, and I'm just I'm
looking at this team and does Son just

906
00:59:45,039 --> 00:59:49,159
have like three of the most elite
offensive players. It's just incredible. I

907
00:59:49,880 --> 00:59:53,400
with Kevin Durant, though, trying
to figure out a concern his rim pressure

908
00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:59,079
dipped in Phoenix, even relative who
is already low rim pressure. Mike,

909
00:59:59,199 --> 01:00:02,119
Was there anything timat Was it just
lack of familiarity with the team. Was

910
01:00:02,159 --> 01:00:06,480
it the knee and ankle stuff he
was dealing with a focus on lower energy

911
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:07,320
shots. Was it all of it? Was it anything? Is it?

912
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:13,679
Is it cause for concern or no? I think it's a combination of knee

913
01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:17,000
and ankle, most of the ankle. I mean that rolling of the ankle

914
01:00:17,079 --> 01:00:22,239
came at the worst possible time for
the Suns, where he just missed games

915
01:00:22,639 --> 01:00:27,039
and uh and went into the playoffs. Probably not fully healthy, but you

916
01:00:27,079 --> 01:00:30,320
know, getting older, he just
doesn't necessarily drive as much. Interestingly,

917
01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:34,199
I looked at the drives per game
stats for him, and you know,

918
01:00:34,239 --> 01:00:37,239
on the Suns he was like five
drives per game and the last time he

919
01:00:37,280 --> 01:00:40,199
had any sort of drives like that
was actually on the Warriors, but in

920
01:00:40,239 --> 01:00:47,519
Brooklyn it was pretty high. So
I'm not exactly sure how to like put

921
01:00:47,559 --> 01:00:52,360
that together as far as what it's
going to be looking forward for the Suns,

922
01:00:52,239 --> 01:00:55,880
But I think that over the aggregate, over a longer period of time,

923
01:00:55,920 --> 01:00:59,360
I think you can expect that his
room pressure will go down, just

924
01:00:59,440 --> 01:01:02,519
as it does with most players as
they get older and older. So the

925
01:01:02,519 --> 01:01:05,920
Suns have to be prepared for that
and adjust for that. And that's the

926
01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:08,000
kind of conversation we've had with him
taking more of an off the ball maybe

927
01:01:08,079 --> 01:01:13,719
shooter role. I think also that's
kind of the importance of the like if

928
01:01:13,719 --> 01:01:15,760
you believe and you guys have mentioned
this a couple of times now his age

929
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:19,280
and if like he's never been for
the past or years, he's not getting

930
01:01:19,360 --> 01:01:22,400
the rim a ton if you expect
that to kind of continue to pull back

931
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:23,840
or stay whird. I don't think
it's gonna be like four percent or whatever

932
01:01:23,840 --> 01:01:28,960
it was during his eight games during
the regular season. But knowing how little

933
01:01:29,039 --> 01:01:31,480
Chris Paul got to the rim and
now you gave up mckel bridges to get

934
01:01:31,559 --> 01:01:36,199
Kevin Durant, like you're on ball, rim pressure is pretty much non existent

935
01:01:36,239 --> 01:01:38,599
at that point unless you make the
brat like Devin Booker can still do it,

936
01:01:38,639 --> 01:01:42,320
but I feel like he's more of
an off ball guy there, And

937
01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:45,119
so getting Bradley Beale feels like it
could be huge too, if they want

938
01:01:45,119 --> 01:01:49,280
to start getting more rim pressure,
winning free throw battles. I think that's

939
01:01:49,320 --> 01:01:51,920
the upside of one of the other
upsides too, if there's so many but

940
01:01:52,000 --> 01:01:57,440
of acquiring Bradley Beal, it has
to be coming from Beal principally. Also,

941
01:01:57,519 --> 01:01:59,760
though you know you can view it
from the lens of a lot of

942
01:01:59,800 --> 01:02:01,880
these minimum signings that they made.
I don't think this was the primary reason

943
01:02:01,920 --> 01:02:05,559
they made any of these signings,
but a lot of these guys are just

944
01:02:05,719 --> 01:02:08,400
upgrades in terms of their rim pressure
over the guys they were replacing. Landry

945
01:02:08,400 --> 01:02:14,079
Shammitt never got to the rim.
Eric Gordon is a three and D moriyball

946
01:02:14,199 --> 01:02:15,800
style player who still can do it
even at his age. It's not,

947
01:02:16,159 --> 01:02:19,400
you know, the primary way that
he plays, but he can do it.

948
01:02:19,639 --> 01:02:22,559
Kata Bates Dap can get to the
rim more than Terrence Ross. You

949
01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:24,960
know, who's who's just gonna sit
there in the corner and chuck threes.

950
01:02:25,280 --> 01:02:30,440
So there are these guys who they're
also replacing off the bench where I think

951
01:02:30,440 --> 01:02:31,800
you're going to get a little bit
of extra rim pressure out of each of

952
01:02:31,800 --> 01:02:36,719
those acquisitions. Mostly it's coming from
Bradley Beal, though for sure, Devin

953
01:02:36,800 --> 01:02:42,440
Booker and Kevin Durant shot better from
mid range than Chris Paul and Landry Shammitt

954
01:02:42,480 --> 01:02:51,800
shot in the restricted area. That's
a real stat He's got an excuse,

955
01:02:51,960 --> 01:02:54,199
right, of course, but those
guys played real playoff minutes for the Suns

956
01:02:54,280 --> 01:02:58,320
last year, and yeah, they're
they're not on the team anymore. But

957
01:02:58,559 --> 01:03:00,719
and I you know, Bradley Beal, I Suns fans are infair treat just

958
01:03:00,760 --> 01:03:07,280
because the Suns just don't have They've
watched these slow, methodical pick and rolls

959
01:03:07,320 --> 01:03:12,199
by both Chris Paul and Devin Booker
for years. And you know, Bradley

960
01:03:12,199 --> 01:03:15,519
Beale is like a rocket compared to
them on a lot of pick and rolls.

961
01:03:15,519 --> 01:03:16,760
And I think Suns fans are gonna
have a blast watching that. Not

962
01:03:16,760 --> 01:03:21,159
to make by the way, Dan, this is another just quick argument for

963
01:03:21,239 --> 01:03:23,320
josh A Kogi. If you're like, no, no, no, but

964
01:03:23,320 --> 01:03:25,800
shut up, shut up for a
second. If you're egging me on,

965
01:03:27,199 --> 01:03:30,519
you're egging me on here to make
positive arguments for josh A Kogi, who

966
01:03:30,559 --> 01:03:32,960
averaged five free throw attempts per thirty
six minutes last year. Just want to

967
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:37,119
say that that is a place where
he can stand out a little bit.

968
01:03:37,119 --> 01:03:42,360
On offense. Sometimes it's useful to
have a reckless player who just curls his

969
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:45,519
body at the defense and gets positive
outcomes from it, which is something that

970
01:03:45,639 --> 01:03:50,360
very few players on the Sun's roster
did last season. But josh Akogi can

971
01:03:50,360 --> 01:03:54,320
do that is this team now?
I think with the Bradley bealudition mainly,

972
01:03:54,360 --> 01:03:58,960
but you've now mentioned it with some
of their minimum contract acquisitions. Are they

973
01:03:59,039 --> 01:04:01,880
built then put significantly more pressure on
the rim? I think they're they're built

974
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:04,599
to win more free throw battles.
And the other element of this is do

975
01:04:04,639 --> 01:04:08,519
you think it's not really are they
built for it? Would you expect them

976
01:04:08,559 --> 01:04:12,559
to do like a better job of
let's say, catering to the three point

977
01:04:12,639 --> 01:04:17,679
math? Like, Well, it's
funny because you could make the case that

978
01:04:17,719 --> 01:04:21,920
they're they're built much more to be
like a Mori ball type team, if

979
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:26,920
you want to call it that,
except that they're three stars just shoot a

980
01:04:26,920 --> 01:04:29,760
lot of mid range start shots,
you know, especially Devin Booker and Kevin

981
01:04:29,840 --> 01:04:32,519
Durant. So you know, outside
of that, I think that the addition

982
01:04:32,800 --> 01:04:38,199
of Bradley Beale and his ability to
get to the rim is pretty important.

983
01:04:38,760 --> 01:04:41,800
And I think the combination of that
in the spacing that a lot of the

984
01:04:41,840 --> 01:04:44,800
shooting provides will open up a lot
of cutting lanes for players to get to

985
01:04:44,800 --> 01:04:47,400
the rim. But without a doubt, they are going to shoot more threes.

986
01:04:47,480 --> 01:04:51,360
I think that's one of the reasons
that Monty Williams is no longer the

987
01:04:51,400 --> 01:04:59,559
coach of the Phoenix Suns is not
really adjusting to that modern style of offense,

988
01:04:59,599 --> 01:05:01,360
and the sort of unwillingness to do
that. You know, they ended

989
01:05:01,440 --> 01:05:04,280
up shooting a lot of mid range
shots, not just Devin Booker and Chris

990
01:05:04,320 --> 01:05:08,920
Paul, everyone, and that includes
a lot of players just opting for floaters

991
01:05:08,960 --> 01:05:11,679
over and over and over again instead
of attacking the room trying to get free

992
01:05:11,679 --> 01:05:15,239
throws or turning down three point shots
to drive into was defense and shoot off

993
01:05:15,320 --> 01:05:19,159
footed floaters. Was that a Monty
problem or was that a personnel problem?

994
01:05:19,199 --> 01:05:24,159
I view that personally as a personnel
problem. I think it's because if Chris

995
01:05:24,159 --> 01:05:27,800
Paul will not sit his old ass
down, what are you supposed to do

996
01:05:28,559 --> 01:05:30,480
with Chris Paul playing that many minutes? He is allowed to do it,

997
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:34,280
and the Stars should still be allowed
to do it. Mid Range shots have

998
01:05:34,519 --> 01:05:39,039
their place in the NBA. I
am not one of those guys that say

999
01:05:39,039 --> 01:05:42,400
every mid range shot is a bad
shot. I think that a player's ability

1000
01:05:42,440 --> 01:05:45,840
to score from the mid range has
a massive effect on their ability to make

1001
01:05:45,880 --> 01:05:47,920
plays for other players, because that's
what draws defense to the middle of the

1002
01:05:47,960 --> 01:05:51,440
floor, opens up shots both at
the rim and at the three point line.

1003
01:05:51,480 --> 01:05:56,000
Stars are allowed to do it,
but everyone else kind of being able

1004
01:05:56,000 --> 01:05:58,599
and capable to shoot three point shots. You're right, Sam, they have

1005
01:05:58,679 --> 01:06:01,079
more players that can do it now
and that does make a big difference.

1006
01:06:01,119 --> 01:06:04,320
But I will say in the playoffs
for the Suns, they had players that

1007
01:06:04,320 --> 01:06:08,920
could do it as well, and
they didn't play you know, Monty played

1008
01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:15,039
other guys instead. I will say, even if they can't put like noticeably

1009
01:06:15,079 --> 01:06:18,679
more pressure on the basket itself to
like the ability for all of their top

1010
01:06:18,719 --> 01:06:21,960
guys to just draw fouls without getting
to the basket. You know, Kevin

1011
01:06:23,039 --> 01:06:26,880
Durant in the playoffs last year seven
percent of his shots a small sample size,

1012
01:06:26,880 --> 01:06:29,280
but they come at the rim,
and like he still has the highest

1013
01:06:29,280 --> 01:06:32,159
free throw tenth rate on the team
above non bigs. Just just absolutely unreal.

1014
01:06:32,159 --> 01:06:34,719
Again, It's why I feel like
any concerning questions I bring up are

1015
01:06:34,719 --> 01:06:40,039
so stupid, but we need content. Are there any rendering the cookie cutter

1016
01:06:40,039 --> 01:06:44,280
portion of the podcast? Are you
both ready? Absolutely? Sam? Are

1017
01:06:44,360 --> 01:06:47,679
there any strengths or concerns about this
team that we haven't talked about yet that

1018
01:06:47,719 --> 01:06:51,880
you think need to be discussed?
Any strengths or concerns. We've talked about

1019
01:06:51,920 --> 01:06:58,440
injuries that well, right, we
have. I think we've talked about I

1020
01:06:58,440 --> 01:07:02,639
guess it's injuries plus BTF eighten is
really that? I think the top three

1021
01:07:02,679 --> 01:07:09,559
are eighten. What happens without Chris
Paul to the playmaking and in that adjustment

1022
01:07:09,639 --> 01:07:13,880
and health and that's those are the
main ones, right Mike. I'm not

1023
01:07:13,880 --> 01:07:17,920
missing any defense. Yeah, the
Sun's defense and this is just because half

1024
01:07:17,960 --> 01:07:21,159
their games were against the Denver Nuggets. But the Suns had the worst defense

1025
01:07:21,199 --> 01:07:27,400
in the playoffs last season after the
trade by defensive efficiency. So I think

1026
01:07:27,440 --> 01:07:31,320
defense is a concern. So what
does and I'll throw it with you first,

1027
01:07:31,360 --> 01:07:33,800
like, what does the ten if
you're building a ten man rotation or

1028
01:07:33,760 --> 01:07:36,679
if you want to call it,
the top ten most played guys on this

1029
01:07:36,719 --> 01:07:42,760
team look like it feels, I
guess like there's very clearly a top six

1030
01:07:42,840 --> 01:07:44,800
when you're just looking at who are
the best players, how are they going

1031
01:07:44,840 --> 01:07:47,559
to play with? Or the top
five? I guess Devin Booker, Bradley,

1032
01:07:47,599 --> 01:07:50,239
bo Kevin Rant, DeAndre and Eric
Gordon, like you all know we're

1033
01:07:50,239 --> 01:07:55,159
gonna play and it feels like it
could be absolutely anarchy. After that,

1034
01:07:55,280 --> 01:07:58,280
it's like, how do you flesh
out like the other five spots in a

1035
01:07:58,320 --> 01:08:02,599
ten man rotation. I think they
want they want to be younger this year,

1036
01:08:02,639 --> 01:08:05,760
and you can tell that just by
the players that they signed. But

1037
01:08:05,800 --> 01:08:11,639
I think Da Kata, Bates,
d Up you Banks are the three players

1038
01:08:11,639 --> 01:08:14,679
that I think these are the guys
that they want to play a lot of

1039
01:08:14,679 --> 01:08:16,199
minutes. Outside of that, I
don't know, Sam, do you have

1040
01:08:16,199 --> 01:08:20,920
any opinions outside of those guys as
far as who's going to be playing off

1041
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:24,199
the bench, because I'm curious what
you think. We haven't really talked too

1042
01:08:24,279 --> 01:08:27,439
much about this. Wait, so
sorry, you starting Eric Gordon or Bates?

1043
01:08:27,720 --> 01:08:30,800
Yeah, we're including Eric Gordon in
the five most important players. So

1044
01:08:30,840 --> 01:08:33,199
then we have Kada, Bates,
d Up not necessarily starting just Katabase dup

1045
01:08:33,199 --> 01:08:38,399
you to what nabe yea? Then
it's it's what Nabu banks a Kogi are

1046
01:08:38,520 --> 01:08:43,640
seven eight? And I think your
big question is who's ten. I am

1047
01:08:43,760 --> 01:08:46,600
leaning towards Jordan Goodwin from my tenth
most important player on this team. One

1048
01:08:46,640 --> 01:08:49,199
guy who we have not mentioned at
all though, is Damien Lee, who

1049
01:08:49,199 --> 01:08:53,800
they brought back. And I think
this was actually surprising. Granted, a

1050
01:08:53,880 --> 01:08:56,640
lot of this is because of how
many moves we made at the deadline last

1051
01:08:56,720 --> 01:09:00,239
year, but Damian Lee played the
sixth most minutes for the Suns last season,

1052
01:09:00,560 --> 01:09:03,800
at fifteen hundred minutes. He shot
forty five percent from deep. I

1053
01:09:03,840 --> 01:09:08,800
don't think he's a player with an
extraordinary number of strengths outside of just really

1054
01:09:08,880 --> 01:09:13,079
really above average spot up shooting.
But he was more smart, he was

1055
01:09:13,119 --> 01:09:15,680
more than Yeah, he was more
than solid in his role. He's another

1056
01:09:15,720 --> 01:09:17,680
one of these players, by the
way, absolutely no rim pressure coming from

1057
01:09:17,720 --> 01:09:23,039
Damian leam when we when we talk
about their lack of rim pressure last year.

1058
01:09:23,399 --> 01:09:25,800
The fact that a guy like Damien
Lee is playing the six most minutes

1059
01:09:25,840 --> 01:09:28,880
on the team has something to do
with that. But I see him slotting

1060
01:09:28,920 --> 01:09:30,960
in at various points throughout the regular
season. For sure. If I had

1061
01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:33,520
to lean on a guy who I
think is like rounding out my second unit

1062
01:09:33,600 --> 01:09:36,920
right now, though, it's probably
Jordan Goodwin over Damien Lee. And then,

1063
01:09:38,000 --> 01:09:41,800
of course, the super fun wild
card who's probably really not in the

1064
01:09:41,920 --> 01:09:45,279
rotation but he looked really good in
Summer League is Tumani Kamara, who was

1065
01:09:45,359 --> 01:09:50,199
drafted, yeah, fifty second in
the you know overall in the awesome I

1066
01:09:51,920 --> 01:09:56,520
did not I can. I won't
even pretend to know anything about him.

1067
01:09:56,800 --> 01:10:00,680
Was a total jack of all trades
in the summer league who would just be

1068
01:10:00,800 --> 01:10:03,119
really fun if if he can kind
of bring any of that combined offensive and

1069
01:10:03,199 --> 01:10:06,640
defensive impact. I'm gonna to a
rookie season and the NBA it's we're kind

1070
01:10:06,680 --> 01:10:10,319
of just desperate for young talent on
this team, which is why we're bringing

1071
01:10:10,399 --> 01:10:12,319
him up. But I hope we
get to see some minutes from him that

1072
01:10:12,399 --> 01:10:15,359
are not just garbage down. I'm
just going to mention a player that I

1073
01:10:15,479 --> 01:10:17,479
think that he could be in the
mold of Dan. For you when you

1074
01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:21,920
see him, I want you to
think about Larry Nance junior and not senior.

1075
01:10:24,560 --> 01:10:27,159
He doesn't play like a fifty eight
year old. Yeah NBA player,

1076
01:10:27,359 --> 01:10:30,560
former NBA player, but no Larry
Nance Junior. He kind of reminded me

1077
01:10:30,640 --> 01:10:32,880
of him. Now, whether or
not he can reach any sort of potential

1078
01:10:33,399 --> 01:10:36,279
of that, it is, you
know, if he can, then James

1079
01:10:36,359 --> 01:10:41,520
Jones. It feels free to boast
about that after missing out on Halliburton.

1080
01:10:42,159 --> 01:10:44,760
But I think he's gonna be good, and I want to mention to you,

1081
01:10:44,840 --> 01:10:47,479
by the way, met Chimezi Metsu
the Sun side. I don't know

1082
01:10:47,680 --> 01:10:51,239
what his role is going to be
on the Suns. I feel like he's

1083
01:10:51,279 --> 01:10:56,119
probably the player that Sam and I
have talked about the least in this off

1084
01:10:56,199 --> 01:11:00,560
season. But he was one of
the most puzzling of the minimum signings to

1085
01:11:00,600 --> 01:11:02,880
me, and obviously you know some
guys it was day one, right,

1086
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:08,000
but he was a day one because
we we we did our whole free agency

1087
01:11:08,079 --> 01:11:12,000
predictions or free you know, projections
and talking about rumors and like people were

1088
01:11:12,039 --> 01:11:16,640
already people were speculating about Judah,
for instance, the Suns for weeks before

1089
01:11:16,680 --> 01:11:19,960
it happened, as soon as the
Beal trade hit, because there's an establisher's

1090
01:11:20,079 --> 01:11:24,399
relationship there between him and kad So
Uda was not a supply. Katie mentioned

1091
01:11:24,439 --> 01:11:26,960
his name and it was just it
was curtains. As far as everybody was

1092
01:11:26,960 --> 01:11:30,159
concerned about you Banks. I remember
I mentioned on our free agency projection pots

1093
01:11:30,239 --> 01:11:32,840
you Banks was not a major surprise. Uda was not a major surprise.

1094
01:11:32,920 --> 01:11:35,479
But Mets was the third guy that
came in on that first day of free

1095
01:11:35,520 --> 01:11:40,000
agency where we kind of scratched our
heads a little bit and we're like really,

1096
01:11:40,159 --> 01:11:42,479
you know, would you rather have
that guy as as your third string

1097
01:11:42,560 --> 01:11:45,600
center over say just bringing back Based
mac Biombo, which they did not do.

1098
01:11:45,520 --> 01:11:48,039
But we'll see, you know he
or does he play in two big

1099
01:11:48,159 --> 01:11:51,680
says is? I think you know? Is Frank vocal trying to figure out

1100
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:55,439
a way to come up with some
sort of two big lineups. He has

1101
01:11:55,520 --> 01:11:59,119
not yet been great at that in
Sacramento. But I don't know. It's

1102
01:11:59,159 --> 01:12:01,720
just a guy I want to mention
because maybe they see something we don't and

1103
01:12:01,840 --> 01:12:04,840
he becomes a player who plays a
bigger role than we expected. I think

1104
01:12:04,880 --> 01:12:09,359
it's very fun. The fact that
he took basically half of his field goal

1105
01:12:09,399 --> 01:12:13,520
attempts, like close to two hundred
threes, not this past season, but

1106
01:12:13,600 --> 01:12:16,680
the season before shot thirty one percent
on them, and then basically gave up

1107
01:12:16,760 --> 01:12:19,520
this past year and didn't shoot them
again. So I would love to see

1108
01:12:19,560 --> 01:12:24,720
what they're thinking there. Yeah,
but yeah, well we'll see. I'll

1109
01:12:24,760 --> 01:12:28,439
phrase is the question this way,
Mike, who do you think And if

1110
01:12:28,479 --> 01:12:30,960
it's the same answer, obviously that's
fine. What do you think ends up

1111
01:12:30,000 --> 01:12:34,960
being? Assuming health, they're most
used starting lineup and they're most used closing

1112
01:12:35,039 --> 01:12:41,640
lineup. Yeah, I think,
you know, Vogel has actually talked quite

1113
01:12:41,640 --> 01:12:45,239
a bit about this, and he
is saying that the starting lineup is not

1114
01:12:45,359 --> 01:12:48,520
going to be set in stone,
that it could change on game to game

1115
01:12:48,560 --> 01:12:53,119
basis based on matchups. Not a
huge fan of that personally, but I

1116
01:12:53,239 --> 01:12:57,000
do understand it based on the personnel
the Suns have like and I also think

1117
01:12:57,039 --> 01:13:00,439
that that's kind of why they're potentially
shopping DeAndre and at this point point to

1118
01:13:00,560 --> 01:13:03,640
try to solidify it, solidify what
that starting five will be in that they

1119
01:13:03,720 --> 01:13:06,960
bring in a player that's clearly the
starting four or three or whatever you want

1120
01:13:08,000 --> 01:13:12,279
to call it. But I think
the closing lineups, I think we can

1121
01:13:12,319 --> 01:13:15,880
be pretty confident that Eric Gordon is
going to be in them, and if

1122
01:13:15,920 --> 01:13:19,520
we're assuming DeAndre in is playing at
center and not Kevin Durant, then that's

1123
01:13:19,640 --> 01:13:23,920
that's pretty clear. If it does
end up being a situation where the Suns

1124
01:13:23,920 --> 01:13:27,439
are going small to close games,
I think Eric Gordon will still be in

1125
01:13:27,520 --> 01:13:31,880
there, and then that fifth player
probably katabates the up or Uta Watanabe in

1126
01:13:31,960 --> 01:13:39,880
that scenario, maybe Tumani Kamara just
throwing it out there as the next PJ.

1127
01:13:40,039 --> 01:13:45,600
Tucker type thing. Yeah, probably
Kara is because I'll just say this,

1128
01:13:45,800 --> 01:13:48,399
we watched ish Waynewright. We were
so desperate the last few years for

1129
01:13:48,520 --> 01:13:51,399
young talent. Dan, you don't
even know. We watched ish Wayne Wright

1130
01:13:51,479 --> 01:13:56,560
and Summer League for the Suns in
multiple seasons, and I think Tumani Kamara

1131
01:13:56,720 --> 01:14:00,359
is significantly more scared. Ishwan Right
average like three points in Summer League two.

1132
01:14:00,399 --> 01:14:05,840
Monty average like eighteen is a fun
story because he is a thick ass

1133
01:14:05,960 --> 01:14:09,720
human, but he as a basketball
player, he is mostly a meme when

1134
01:14:09,760 --> 01:14:11,960
we talk about his impact. If
I have to be entirely honest, do

1135
01:14:12,039 --> 01:14:16,000
Monty Kamara I have some actual faith
in We'll see Yeah. But uh but

1136
01:14:16,319 --> 01:14:20,039
starting lineup, I think I think
they're not going to start Eric Gordon even

1137
01:14:20,079 --> 01:14:26,720
if I want it, And I
think Kata Bates DApp probably has the best

1138
01:14:26,800 --> 01:14:30,840
path to being the most common starting
lineup. Do you differ anywhere there?

1139
01:14:30,000 --> 01:14:33,880
Sam? Uh No, I do
not. I'll go with the same one.

1140
01:14:34,319 --> 01:14:39,640
So, Sam, what is the
quirky un conventional Maybe they won't try

1141
01:14:39,680 --> 01:14:42,840
it, but they absolutely should.
Weirdo lineup you would like to see from

1142
01:14:42,880 --> 01:14:45,399
this team? Well, let's stick
Bowl Bowl at point guard. I mean

1143
01:14:45,560 --> 01:14:48,880
let's let's let's flip. Let's flip
the whole equation on its defense. Like,

1144
01:14:49,000 --> 01:14:55,039
yeah, I do think this team
has If you just look from a

1145
01:14:55,119 --> 01:14:59,680
pure wingspan perspective, would this be
a good defensive lineup? I'm not sure,

1146
01:15:00,279 --> 01:15:03,039
but Bull Bowl has a what does
he have? A seven eight wingspan?

1147
01:15:03,359 --> 01:15:09,039
Yeah? So if you played bowl
Ball at power forward next to DeAndre

1148
01:15:09,079 --> 01:15:12,920
Ayton. Let let me sorry,
I have to organize this in my head

1149
01:15:12,920 --> 01:15:15,640
a little bit. Let's say Booker. If Booker is at point guard,

1150
01:15:15,319 --> 01:15:18,560
Kata Bates d up could be at
shooting guard. That's a seven three wingspan,

1151
01:15:18,920 --> 01:15:23,159
Kevin Durant is at small forward that's
a seven six wing span. Old

1152
01:15:23,159 --> 01:15:26,279
Bowl is at power forward that's a
seven eight wingspan, and DeAndre Ayton is

1153
01:15:26,319 --> 01:15:30,399
at center that's a seven six wingspan. That has to be in contention for

1154
01:15:30,520 --> 01:15:33,000
one of the longest lineups in NBA
history. I would think, and they

1155
01:15:33,039 --> 01:15:38,920
could do it. They could do
that. Mike, what's yours? I

1156
01:15:39,039 --> 01:15:42,079
think, Sam, you got to
replace Devin Booker with Joshua Kogi in that

1157
01:15:42,159 --> 01:15:45,680
lineup, just just because that it's
it's hilarious. Look. I think I

1158
01:15:45,800 --> 01:15:48,840
think offensively, of course, is
my first thought, and I think they

1159
01:15:48,920 --> 01:15:55,600
can put together some lineups that just
bomb threes and it might not be as

1160
01:15:55,720 --> 01:15:59,600
fun as Sam's. But the combination
to Bradley be Old, Devin Booker and

1161
01:16:00,319 --> 01:16:03,960
Eric Gordon, Udowattanabe and Kevin Durant
at center and just this, this,

1162
01:16:04,199 --> 01:16:09,279
this spacing is just absolutely you have
the fifty two percent corner three point shooter

1163
01:16:09,359 --> 01:16:13,560
and you you too, Wattanabe and
then Eric Gordon thirty five feet out and

1164
01:16:13,640 --> 01:16:15,680
then you have Kevin Durant, Bradley
Beale, and Devin Booker. Just with

1165
01:16:16,000 --> 01:16:19,800
all of that space, Now you
run inverted pick and rolls where Eric Gordon

1166
01:16:19,920 --> 01:16:24,960
is screening for Kevin Durant and then
all the other guys are standing around the

1167
01:16:25,039 --> 01:16:27,640
three point line, then good luck. What do you do in that case?

1168
01:16:27,720 --> 01:16:30,199
Good luck? Yeah, those are
probably a lot of that they should

1169
01:16:30,239 --> 01:16:32,520
explore. For sure. I don't
even have I actually don't have one for

1170
01:16:32,560 --> 01:16:35,880
this team because I feel like they're
not built to get super weird, because

1171
01:16:35,960 --> 01:16:39,920
Kevin Durant at the five. To
me, just the way they're built shouldn't

1172
01:16:39,920 --> 01:16:43,399
be considered weird. But I am
now any weirdo or on conventional line of

1173
01:16:43,520 --> 01:16:46,279
needs to have to Monti Kamara in
it. Now you're gonna like him.

1174
01:16:46,479 --> 01:16:50,079
You're gonna watch a random lead pass
game of the Suns against like the Hornets

1175
01:16:50,199 --> 01:16:54,520
in November or something, and you're
he's gonna play like fifteen minutes and he's

1176
01:16:54,520 --> 01:16:57,039
gonna really impress. Who was it? Who was it that we were tagging

1177
01:16:57,680 --> 01:17:00,960
you in clips? Was it Jock
land It was Jock Landale? I think

1178
01:17:00,520 --> 01:17:03,239
it last year. I told you
on this podcast last year, I said

1179
01:17:03,279 --> 01:17:05,920
Jack Landale is really good. You'll
see, and I started tagging you in

1180
01:17:06,000 --> 01:17:10,399
clips of him during the season and
then look at him. He outplayed DeAndre

1181
01:17:10,560 --> 01:17:13,520
in in a playoff game and closed
the game well DeAndre and sat on the

1182
01:17:13,560 --> 01:17:15,279
bench. So now we're doing the
same. I think with Tumani Kamara,

1183
01:17:15,279 --> 01:17:18,680
we're gonna tag you in clips highlights
of him. That was I know nothing,

1184
01:17:18,840 --> 01:17:21,760
but like jack Landale, I was, I think, what did Toronto

1185
01:17:21,840 --> 01:17:24,760
had him at one point and let
him go like they got him in a

1186
01:17:24,880 --> 01:17:27,560
train and I thought that was dumb. It's like I understood that was a

1187
01:17:27,600 --> 01:17:31,479
basketball like I don't know anything about
so nobody did please please tag me?

1188
01:17:31,800 --> 01:17:35,359
And that? So it needs to
be k D. Kamara like I wanted

1189
01:17:35,399 --> 01:17:39,359
to be all bigs but no big
and so like that's not fair to Booker

1190
01:17:39,399 --> 01:17:42,560
and Bo. But we'll go Kamara, KD. You don't want a Nabby

1191
01:17:43,159 --> 01:17:46,279
and how we're getting bigger. I
don't really want to see me. I

1192
01:17:46,319 --> 01:17:53,199
mean it has to be we'll give
We'll give it to Devin book Devin Booker

1193
01:17:53,239 --> 01:18:02,199
can be able kitchen there. So
is their current win total as we're recording

1194
01:18:02,279 --> 01:18:08,119
this on September twenty third is fifty
two and a half. Yeah, Mike,

1195
01:18:08,720 --> 01:18:11,560
are you taking the over the under
on that? I would take the

1196
01:18:11,680 --> 01:18:17,880
over pretty pretty confidently because even even
with even with injuries, I think that

1197
01:18:18,119 --> 01:18:20,960
they are going to be really good. I think the West is really good

1198
01:18:21,000 --> 01:18:25,239
though, and I think last year
the West was kind of not very good

1199
01:18:26,159 --> 01:18:30,000
due to a lot of weird and
different circumstances. And every every team we

1200
01:18:30,359 --> 01:18:33,119
did a podcast where we covered every
team's moves. Almost every single team in

1201
01:18:33,119 --> 01:18:36,520
the West got better. Obviously Portland
is going to get worse at some point,

1202
01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:40,520
but like a lot of teams in
the West got better this offseason,

1203
01:18:41,000 --> 01:18:43,680
and so it might be hard,
but I feel like they're going to win

1204
01:18:43,720 --> 01:18:46,000
more. Fifty fifty three doesn't feel
out of the question for me, I

1205
01:18:46,079 --> 01:18:50,079
guess, Sam, are you they
locked up? Yes? But it's just

1206
01:18:50,199 --> 01:18:55,920
weird how how our expectations have been
recalibrated with the Western Conference because we're used

1207
01:18:55,920 --> 01:18:58,039
to these years. I feel like, I mean, for me, growing

1208
01:18:58,119 --> 01:19:00,760
up, it was like every year
the top teams in the Western Conference we're

1209
01:19:00,079 --> 01:19:03,800
going sixty two and twenty And right
now we're in just such a golden age

1210
01:19:03,800 --> 01:19:08,000
of parody that it's like, correct
me if I'm wrong, where are the

1211
01:19:08,079 --> 01:19:11,000
Sun's rinks? There are? They
probably second in the conference after Denver.

1212
01:19:11,439 --> 01:19:15,039
If I had to guess, Denver
was fifty three wins last year and they

1213
01:19:15,039 --> 01:19:16,560
were in the number one seed,
right right, That's that's what I'm saying.

1214
01:19:16,600 --> 01:19:19,920
That is super weird. I remember
the Suns. I remember multiple times

1215
01:19:20,279 --> 01:19:24,720
in the Western Conference. Maybe it
only happened once, where like an eighth

1216
01:19:24,800 --> 01:19:28,079
seeded team was a fifty win team
that happened in the Western Conference within the

1217
01:19:28,119 --> 01:19:31,119
past fifteen years. Now we're talking
about a first or second seed winning fifty

1218
01:19:31,159 --> 01:19:34,159
three games. So I'm gonna take
the over, even understanding that the parody

1219
01:19:34,199 --> 01:19:39,039
will work against us in some ways, but I will say they are now

1220
01:19:39,159 --> 01:19:42,159
tied with the Nuggets for the highest
over under. What would you pick,

1221
01:19:42,279 --> 01:19:46,039
Dane, I'll give it. What's
that? Are you saving it for a

1222
01:19:46,079 --> 01:19:49,159
podcast? You can save it.
Yeah, I'm gonna save it. But

1223
01:19:49,520 --> 01:19:54,199
I mean I think you could pretty
much guess, And so I normally phrase

1224
01:19:54,279 --> 01:19:57,239
the question this will be the spoiler
on it of how many teams are you

1225
01:19:57,279 --> 01:20:00,840
prepared to guarantee are better than Team
X in the West Stern Conference if they're

1226
01:20:00,840 --> 01:20:03,000
playing in the West. That's not
really a fun question because I think you

1227
01:20:03,239 --> 01:20:06,359
can say the Nuggets, but it's
not guaranteed, and then there's just no

1228
01:20:06,520 --> 01:20:11,279
options after that. So I'll ask
you this, Sam, is there a

1229
01:20:11,640 --> 01:20:15,399
looking at the playoffs specifically, is
there a matchup that is still one or

1230
01:20:15,439 --> 01:20:20,239
two like particularly concerning for you if
you're looking at the Sun's roster without nurkics,

1231
01:20:20,479 --> 01:20:26,439
of course, like, let's look
at this Suns when I look at

1232
01:20:26,479 --> 01:20:31,000
the Western Conference? Uh No,
I'm let's see beyond the Nuggets. No,

1233
01:20:31,359 --> 01:20:34,399
is that unreasonable to say? I
think there there are a lot of

1234
01:20:34,439 --> 01:20:38,479
teams that would be fun to match
up with. I look forward to our

1235
01:20:38,479 --> 01:20:41,680
first round matchup against the Thunder this
year, where everyone is rooting for the

1236
01:20:41,760 --> 01:20:45,600
Thunder because it will be down on
their come up. That should be fun.

1237
01:20:45,439 --> 01:20:47,279
But beyond that, no, not, not really. I mean,

1238
01:20:47,359 --> 01:20:50,239
they're just there are a lot of
teams that could be really, really good

1239
01:20:50,279 --> 01:20:53,880
in the Western Conference, but they
have so many questions. Teams that we've

1240
01:20:53,920 --> 01:20:56,760
matched up with before. The Clippers, what the hell are the Clippers doing?

1241
01:20:56,840 --> 01:21:00,239
The Pelicans continue to have injury questions. You know, the Grizzlies we've

1242
01:21:00,239 --> 01:21:03,279
never matched up with. I guess
you have to throw the Warriors in there.

1243
01:21:03,520 --> 01:21:09,159
We've still never gotten a Son's Warriors
playoff series. Oh, I just

1244
01:21:09,239 --> 01:21:14,880
think it would be fun. I'm
the entertainment factor, sure, but I

1245
01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:16,760
just I can't. I guess they
could give them some problems. And like

1246
01:21:16,840 --> 01:21:20,560
that Core is old and that that
team feels more paper Tigery this year.

1247
01:21:20,800 --> 01:21:24,439
And I love Steph like one of
my favorite players of all time, but

1248
01:21:24,800 --> 01:21:27,279
that team feels more like a paper
tiger in this I mean the Chris the

1249
01:21:27,399 --> 01:21:32,600
Chris Paul narrative alone makes them super
fun to watch potentially implode or potentially succeed.

1250
01:21:32,680 --> 01:21:35,479
I'm not rooting against them, per
se. You know, I still

1251
01:21:35,520 --> 01:21:41,079
like Chris Paul, but I think
that's an objectively hilarious situation that he's game

1252
01:21:41,119 --> 01:21:44,000
one, game one of the seasons. This is not related, but have

1253
01:21:44,039 --> 01:21:45,399
you guys been accused of hating Chris
Paul? The amount of times, if

1254
01:21:45,399 --> 01:21:49,119
you needed to clarify, you like
him on this podcast is quite frankly concerning.

1255
01:21:49,439 --> 01:21:53,840
No, I've never been accused of
hating Chris Paul. It's more so

1256
01:21:53,960 --> 01:21:58,359
the fact that Chris Paul as kind
of the the NBA's mercenary that he's been

1257
01:21:58,439 --> 01:22:00,159
over the past several years of hopping
from team to team and then just making

1258
01:22:00,199 --> 01:22:06,720
them really good. Basketball fans appreciate
his impact like neutral basketball fans, and

1259
01:22:06,840 --> 01:22:10,800
I think history actually will be kind
to Chris Paul regardless of whether or not

1260
01:22:10,880 --> 01:22:14,439
he wins RING. But he kind
of just doesn't have a ton of built

1261
01:22:14,479 --> 01:22:17,720
in fans wherever he goes, and
so like, he made objectively a huge

1262
01:22:17,720 --> 01:22:20,720
impact on the Sun's organization over the
past three years, and yet now he's

1263
01:22:20,760 --> 01:22:24,640
been gone for several months and kind
of it feels like to a segment of

1264
01:22:24,680 --> 01:22:28,079
the fan base it's like he was
never here. So I feel more of

1265
01:22:28,159 --> 01:22:31,520
a necessity to defend him, if
anything. There is also a contingent of

1266
01:22:31,640 --> 01:22:38,640
Suns fans who blame DeAndre and his
failures on some sort of combination of Chris

1267
01:22:38,720 --> 01:22:42,039
Paul and Monty Williams. And I
think there's part of me. Yeah,

1268
01:22:42,079 --> 01:22:45,079
I don't get it either. Chris
Paul. Was he staring at him like

1269
01:22:45,119 --> 01:22:48,039
too intently at one black I've just
I guess Chris Paul can be grading,

1270
01:22:48,159 --> 01:22:53,840
but that's an interesting way to Yeah, So I tried to make sure to

1271
01:22:54,720 --> 01:22:58,439
distance myself from those takes when when
talking about him. I don't want people

1272
01:22:58,439 --> 01:23:01,399
to confuse me for when one of
the people that believe that Mike really quickly,

1273
01:23:01,479 --> 01:23:05,359
did you have any matchups that you
could view is particularly not necessarily compelling,

1274
01:23:05,399 --> 01:23:09,560
but problematic for this team. You
know, it's funny because then this

1275
01:23:09,800 --> 01:23:13,520
is in no way my confidence that
they're going to make the finals. But

1276
01:23:14,000 --> 01:23:17,000
you know that, you know that
gift of that dog that it has PTSD

1277
01:23:18,479 --> 01:23:21,600
where they're like showing him a plate
of cupcakes. Sam, you know what

1278
01:23:21,640 --> 01:23:25,279
I'm talking about. I know exactly
what you're talking about. This that was

1279
01:23:25,399 --> 01:23:29,119
like, Yeah, that was like
me staring into the air and just seeing

1280
01:23:29,319 --> 01:23:32,399
Yannis dunk on the Sun's over and
over and over again. So you know,

1281
01:23:32,600 --> 01:23:36,199
there's that Jannis PTSD that I have. Of course, there's Jannie Is

1282
01:23:36,199 --> 01:23:41,600
in the news for other reasons right
now with threatening the books at every change.

1283
01:23:42,439 --> 01:23:45,239
They've as long as we're talking about
the East, we've never really seen

1284
01:23:45,560 --> 01:23:48,239
I mean, of course, you
know, Bil just came and Katie's been

1285
01:23:48,279 --> 01:23:53,119
on this team for twenty games,
but we've never really seen any good matchups

1286
01:23:53,199 --> 01:23:56,760
between this team and the Celtics because
they only play each other twice a year.

1287
01:23:57,159 --> 01:23:59,720
Those are obvious states you have to
circle on account and the and the

1288
01:24:00,479 --> 01:24:03,720
the For for some reason, the
NBA schedulers constantly put the Suns on a

1289
01:24:04,000 --> 01:24:10,520
going east and playing at noon game
in Boston every year, and they have

1290
01:24:10,600 --> 01:24:14,399
to play against against the Celtics in
a weird time every year. I hope

1291
01:24:14,439 --> 01:24:15,319
they don't do that this year.
I don't haven't checked the schedule, but

1292
01:24:15,840 --> 01:24:19,439
that is an interesting matchup that I'm
looking forward to in the regular season because

1293
01:24:19,479 --> 01:24:24,640
of the Porzingist trade. If you
met in the finals and I was making

1294
01:24:24,680 --> 01:24:27,199
that prediction now, I would pick
Sons in five. I'm so out.

1295
01:24:27,319 --> 01:24:30,680
Really, the oversion of the Celtics. Yeah, really that surprises me.

1296
01:24:30,279 --> 01:24:31,760
Sam. I know you have to
go. So I don't want to borre

1297
01:24:31,760 --> 01:24:36,039
you with the details, but you
decided to trade your best passer for a

1298
01:24:36,079 --> 01:24:40,319
guy who had a better passing season
last year but is not a playmaker,

1299
01:24:40,800 --> 01:24:44,439
who has more injury issues, who's
coming off a career year for one of

1300
01:24:44,479 --> 01:24:48,720
the most nondescriptive teams in NBA history, and now you're less versatile defensively like,

1301
01:24:48,800 --> 01:24:51,039
so, I guess you're not going
to switch anymore. So the money

1302
01:24:51,239 --> 01:24:56,159
that's invested in that front line is
fine, and maybe they end up amounting

1303
01:24:56,239 --> 01:24:59,720
to two centers because of Valhorford getting
old and the injury concerns with KP and

1304
01:24:59,840 --> 01:25:03,119
r W three. But the Celtics
rat even worse playmaking deficit now, and

1305
01:25:03,199 --> 01:25:06,640
I think that they're a lot less
versatile. They'll probably win a bunch of

1306
01:25:06,720 --> 01:25:11,680
games in the regular seasons. Still, I just don't That's not a team

1307
01:25:11,720 --> 01:25:14,840
that I can't bring myself to pick
them or even consider them to come out

1308
01:25:14,840 --> 01:25:17,359
of the East. Right now,
that's incredible. Have you done your Celtics

1309
01:25:17,760 --> 01:25:21,079
preview pod? Yeah? No,
you know who the heck are you going

1310
01:25:21,119 --> 01:25:26,479
to talk to man for that episode? I haven't decided yet because the person

1311
01:25:26,520 --> 01:25:29,920
I normally talked to just is in
the process becoming an NBA agent and would

1312
01:25:30,000 --> 01:25:32,119
rather not wait into those waters anyway. So I'll let you know what I

1313
01:25:32,199 --> 01:25:36,199
decide. This was great, guys. Is there anything we left off really

1314
01:25:36,279 --> 01:25:39,399
quickly? I didn't ask you about
that you think needs to be covered?

1315
01:25:39,720 --> 01:25:42,840
Sam, don't say Bowl Bull please, I was going to so now I

1316
01:25:42,920 --> 01:25:46,359
could've been mentioned. I think I
said his name. We said his name.

1317
01:25:47,520 --> 01:25:50,119
I think we're good. Yeah,
are you guys able? So I'll

1318
01:25:50,159 --> 01:25:53,520
start with you, Sam? Are
you just able to tell our listeners where

1319
01:25:53,560 --> 01:25:56,000
they can find you, guys and
all the great content that you're putting out.

1320
01:25:56,399 --> 01:25:59,279
Yeah, find me on Twitter or
x or whatever you call it at

1321
01:25:59,359 --> 01:26:00,800
As Cooper who oops, that's where
most of them. I mean, like,

1322
01:26:00,920 --> 01:26:03,760
look, I'm on blue Sky and
threads too. Do people use those?

1323
01:26:03,920 --> 01:26:09,079
I don't know. I have like
a one hundred and fifty three followers

1324
01:26:09,119 --> 01:26:12,039
on blue Sky. So yeah,
I mean that you're in the top ten

1325
01:26:12,119 --> 01:26:15,840
percent. I think. Then just
listen to our podcast. I think the

1326
01:26:15,960 --> 01:26:19,000
internet is in a weird place right
now. And if you want sun Steaks

1327
01:26:19,039 --> 01:26:21,000
on a weekly basis, you know
where to find us. You don't have

1328
01:26:21,079 --> 01:26:25,079
to listen every episode, but if
you want to just check in from time

1329
01:26:25,159 --> 01:26:28,600
to time, we would greatly appreciate
it. I think that's all for me.

1330
01:26:29,159 --> 01:26:32,279
Mike. Where can they find you
at protected pick on Twitter? I'm

1331
01:26:32,319 --> 01:26:34,560
still gonna call it Twitter. I
don't care if that's old now. But

1332
01:26:35,800 --> 01:26:40,079
also TikTok. I don't post a
lot right now, but in the regular

1333
01:26:40,119 --> 01:26:43,880
season I try to break down offensive
plays for the Suns. There if you

1334
01:26:43,960 --> 01:26:46,800
want to see some video content.
But yes, the podcast is called The

1335
01:26:46,840 --> 01:26:50,800
Timeline of Phoenix Suns Podcast. You
can find it on all podcasts apps,

1336
01:26:50,840 --> 01:26:55,239
and if you really like us,
we have a Patreon and you could join

1337
01:26:55,319 --> 01:26:59,119
that as well. You'll find it. I will say this isn't the necessarily

1338
01:26:59,119 --> 01:27:01,039
in doors for that matters, but
I don't pay for a lot of just

1339
01:27:01,119 --> 01:27:05,600
team specific content. I pay for
the Timeline's content because these guys are fantastic.

1340
01:27:05,840 --> 01:27:09,239
You can find the link to where
you can subscribe to the pod and

1341
01:27:09,279 --> 01:27:13,239
their Patreon in the podcast and YouTube
description. As you both know by now,

1342
01:27:13,720 --> 01:27:15,319
I'll be passing you again in the
future. Thank you so much as

1343
01:27:15,319 --> 01:27:19,079
you will for giving me a bow
vote of your time. Of course,

1344
01:27:19,159 --> 01:27:20,600
Dan Boards, would you growing thank
you