1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:04,120 What's up, y'all is Drewski and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,679 a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Due Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories 3 00:00:08,679 --> 00:00:11,839 of your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a 4 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:14,720 favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no? Was the 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,199 Raptors even started around the top of Come on, bro, I had that 6 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,320 old tell you like I'm Vifty, Taylor Rogues, Asian Wilson, and many 7 00:00:21,359 --> 00:00:23,960 more. You won't want to miss this. Listen to The Due Zone with 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:32,600 Drewski on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm 9 00:00:32,679 --> 00:00:36,200 jane O Bloomackay, I'm Lisa Leslie, and we're very excited to tell you 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,640 about our new podcast with Blue Wire Front and Center. Lisa and I are 11 00:00:40,679 --> 00:00:44,880 breaking down what's going on in our lives in the world and keeping it one 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,159 hundred. We're also learning from amazing guests as well, like Emmanuel Acho, 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,600 people that show off to me, I forever got their back, Devoca a 14 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,039 Fox. If the foundation is right, then the rest of it's gonna go 15 00:00:56,079 --> 00:01:07,599 wrong from there anymore. Subscribe to front and center today. What is up 16 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,040 Hardware Knox listeners. I am Damp Valley, coming at you without my co 17 00:01:11,159 --> 00:01:15,640 host Adam from all this time. I am, however, super pleased to 18 00:01:15,719 --> 00:01:21,799 be joined by fellow Blue Wire podcaster and co host specifically of the Timeline podcast 19 00:01:21,879 --> 00:01:26,200 about the Phoenix Suns, Mike val Mike Veal, Sorry, I told you 20 00:01:26,239 --> 00:01:29,120 I was gonna like mess it up out of like thinking about it too much. 21 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,799 You can follow him on Twitter if you were not already at protected pick 22 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,040 spelled exactly as it sounds. If you cannot tell from that intro, we 23 00:01:38,079 --> 00:01:41,040 are going to be diving deep into the Phoenix Sun, So get ready. 24 00:01:41,079 --> 00:01:45,000 But first and foremost, Mike, how are you doing. I'm really good. 25 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,319 I'm really excited to talk about this team. As we were talking a 26 00:01:48,359 --> 00:01:51,840 little bit before we started recording here, there's a lot of intrigue in the 27 00:01:51,879 --> 00:01:56,560 Suns this offseason, so I'm excited that people care. That's a lot that 28 00:01:56,879 --> 00:02:00,200 more than previous off seasons. I think, well, this is like a 29 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:05,079 referendum on nothing. But our content plan here is like it has to shift. 30 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,719 Because we thought we had through January going to deep dives with all thirty 31 00:02:07,719 --> 00:02:09,639 teams, and now I'm at a point where like, well, we're gonna 32 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,800 have to consolidate some of these outlooks and I'm going to do the singular dives 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:15,919 and the teams that I find most interesting. And the Suns were like they 34 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,319 made the cut of a team that does that because they're so And I sent 35 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,840 you the outline of questions I want to talk to you about. There's just 36 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,639 so many different directions this offseason alone could go, and then you also just 37 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:29,439 have to weigh it against like what that actually means for next season in the 38 00:02:29,479 --> 00:02:32,520 context of not just their future but competing in the Western Conference. Yeah, 39 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,599 and you know, I want to ask you, is that specifically bubble related 40 00:02:36,719 --> 00:02:39,000 or do you think you would have the same interest without that eight eight No, 41 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,479 because I do think and it's okay if it's because of the bubble, 42 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,159 for the record, but I just curious. I don't think it is. 43 00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:50,479 So I think maybe it's more optimistic leaning because of the bubble. But I 44 00:02:50,479 --> 00:02:53,879 always would have been fascinated by them because I don't necessarily think I mean, 45 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,000 this touches on what I was first going to ask you is how the performance 46 00:02:57,039 --> 00:03:00,439 like impact in the bubble impacted how they're going to try to build this team 47 00:03:00,439 --> 00:03:02,479 immediately. But I just feel like that sense of urgency, even knowing there's 48 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,439 gonna be you know, let's say twelve to all fifteen teams and less trying 49 00:03:06,439 --> 00:03:08,759 to compete for the playoff spot. I don't think them going, you know, 50 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,759 four and four in the bubble, two and six in the bubble. 51 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,319 Not even making the bubble would have thrust them into a different sort of timeline. 52 00:03:15,319 --> 00:03:20,120 They've already maxed out Devin Booker, they spent on Ricky Rubio DeAndre Eton 53 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,240 is really good now, and so from my point of view, it felt 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:24,599 like they were going to be trying to be good all along. And I 55 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:30,560 think the lack of spending power in this market and flexibility among teams is actually 56 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:36,000 probably what makes them more fascinating than anything else. Yeah, you know, 57 00:03:36,039 --> 00:03:39,240 I agree with that, And I think it's just interesting because the eight and 58 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:45,439 oh things, it's set expectations different for so many different people. I think 59 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,919 James Jones, to his credit, said that he's not gonna let what happened 60 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,879 at the Bubble dictate how they run this off season, which in my opinion, 61 00:03:53,919 --> 00:03:58,960 is the right approach as good as it was. The situation was so 62 00:03:59,319 --> 00:04:03,400 unique, so different from what any season is going to be like going forward, 63 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:09,639 that you can't read too much into like every single thing that happened specifically 64 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,080 in that bubble. So but for a lot of people now they just expect 65 00:04:13,159 --> 00:04:15,920 the playoffs if they even like stood pat and didn't make a lot of moves, 66 00:04:15,959 --> 00:04:19,079 which I think could happen, but maybe it won't. And I know 67 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:23,680 we're gonna get into that, yeah, So like that's the you know, 68 00:04:23,959 --> 00:04:28,120 and we'll go deeper into the postseason like throughout or the offseason, excuse me, 69 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,959 throughout this podcast, But like what are they, like what type of 70 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,680 player away? Are they from being a foregone conclusion playoff team or are they 71 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:42,399 more than one player away from entering that territory. So that's a very interesting 72 00:04:42,519 --> 00:04:46,160 question that would garner a lot of different answers depending on who you talk to. 73 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,480 I think, like if you like a lot of people talk about Chris 74 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:54,000 Paul specifically, and forgive me for the people who hate the idea of Chris 75 00:04:54,079 --> 00:04:57,399 Paul that are listening for bringing it up so early in the podcast here, 76 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,480 but if Chris Paul's on the Suns, you give up Ricky Rubio and Kelly 77 00:05:00,519 --> 00:05:03,680 uber that's a playoff team. Like, that's that's definitely a playoff team. 78 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,120 You're also giving up on Kelly Ubra and you and you're giving up on Ricky 79 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,920 Rubio. And I think the value of Ricky Rubio is something that's very hotly 80 00:05:11,959 --> 00:05:15,120 disputed among NBA twitters, So I think a lot of people might have different 81 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:17,759 opinions on that as well. But if you throw that out, because I 82 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,439 think there's a chance that Chris Paul just doesn't want to play for a Robert 83 00:05:20,439 --> 00:05:25,680 Sarver owned team, like, just throw that out entirely. Then you look 84 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,879 at the team itself. And when I look at the team, there's two 85 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,000 things that stand out when you look at a lot of the stats. I 86 00:05:30,079 --> 00:05:32,879 think they had one of the best lineups in the NBA. The starting lineup 87 00:05:32,879 --> 00:05:36,800 that included Michael Bridges and Kelly Ubre that was one of the best lineups. 88 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,079 In fact, I think it may have ended the season at the top of 89 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,879 net ratings of five man lineups in the NBA. And another stat that stood 90 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:50,360 out to me is of starting backcourts. The Ricky Rubio Devin Booker backcourt was 91 00:05:50,399 --> 00:05:55,959 the fourth best in the NBA as well at plus seven point three. This 92 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,480 is in net rating. So if you look at the starting line and saying, 93 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,199 well, that's already pretty good, then why did they lose so many 94 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,959 games? Well, one, DeAndre Aten was suspended twenty five games. That 95 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:12,680 affects them a lot too. They had no backup guards that could really control 96 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,560 the ball. You know, the best backup guard they had during the season 97 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,399 was Javon Carter. Javon Carter can't really penetrate, he can't really create his 98 00:06:18,439 --> 00:06:23,040 own shot, and he's not creating shots for other people. He has value 99 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,199 and I like him a lot. But if that's the guy that's coming off 100 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,040 the bench and controlling the offense when Devin Booker and Ricky Rubia are off the 101 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,240 floor, it's not going to go very well. So if you just isolate 102 00:06:33,319 --> 00:06:36,199 that, then you say, if you could fix that backup, that bench 103 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:41,000 scoring, and those bench guards, then I think that would go along ways. 104 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,720 Whether or not that could be enough to make the playoffs will depend on 105 00:06:44,759 --> 00:06:47,480 a lot of other things. How the West shakes out and health. I 106 00:06:47,519 --> 00:06:50,240 think that matters a lot too. Like if Aaron Baines was just healthy the 107 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:55,199 entire season as well, even without DeAndre eight and it's possible the Suns would 108 00:06:55,199 --> 00:06:58,600 have already made the playoffs this season. And that's what I think when people 109 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:00,519 point to, like, there were some matchups that favor them definitely in the 110 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,600 bubble, and like you said, even just the sheer unprecedented circumstances of it 111 00:07:03,639 --> 00:07:09,040 all could just that gives itself to wacky outcomes. But they dealt with not 112 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,480 having eighten for so long, and then Baines was totally banged up for much 113 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:15,439 of the year, and then you had Diosaurs was just playing like absolute ass 114 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,279 basically until Disney World, where I felt like, oh, they were definitely 115 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,160 going to renounce him, and I's like, well, is he like the 116 00:07:21,199 --> 00:07:25,439 guy, like that punch off the bench that they actually need, And so, 117 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,759 like, I actually do feel that maybe not exactly what we saw in 118 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:32,079 the bubble to success, but it feels like this team is closer to that 119 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,600 version of themselves than they would be to an inferior version or wherever we might 120 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,959 have seen through the first quarter half of the regular season. Yeah, and 121 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,959 I agree with that. And if you remember the first you know, eleven 122 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:46,279 games, there were seven and four, and there was a lot of talk 123 00:07:46,319 --> 00:07:50,079 about the Suns at that point of the season because it looked relatively good and 124 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:55,240 Baines was of course on a heater for a while where he just couldn't miss. 125 00:07:55,279 --> 00:07:58,560 And then, you know, and just so people know what happened to 126 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:03,120 Baines, he took a knee in the ribs from Jalen Brown that basically took 127 00:08:03,199 --> 00:08:05,279 him out for a while, and when he came back, it took a 128 00:08:05,279 --> 00:08:07,720 while for that shot to get going again. And then when he came back 129 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,720 into bubble, he actually had COVID, so he didn't play in the bubble 130 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:16,959 because he hadn't fully recovered by the time those games were done. But yeah, 131 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,759 I think I agree with you. I think the one thing I will 132 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:24,800 say is if they do sort of keep this roster together and Charts is an 133 00:08:24,839 --> 00:08:28,800 interesting one that you brought up and try to improve that bench role, this 134 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,720 is a chance that they easily make it in the playoffs. But I think 135 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,919 the likelihood is they're still sort of competing for that seventh and eighth spot, 136 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,840 which at this point now is not even necessarily a playoff team. It's a 137 00:08:39,879 --> 00:08:45,240 play in team. They have to win a tournament to still make the playoffs. 138 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,440 At that point, And for me, I'd feel a lot more comfortable 139 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,799 if the Suns were the sixth seed at that point. And I think if 140 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,759 you want to shoot for the sixth seed, you might have to look for 141 00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:56,679 something a little bit better. And it gets pretty complicated as we're gonna get 142 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,440 into. Yeah, I mean, look, this year sixteen was playing it 143 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,440 almost in the jazz was playing it almost a fifty wind pace. It's like, 144 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,919 that's a really paul order for a team that was playing a closer, 145 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,840 like a forty win pace. But before delving into again, we'll get back 146 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:11,159 to the offseason. I have to. We're gonna start with Devin Booker and 147 00:09:11,159 --> 00:09:15,240 we're just gonna come up with all these hypothetical trades for him. I'm absolutely 148 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:20,120 just kidding, dare you? It does seem like I know, there's been 149 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:26,960 definitely a chasm in the past between how Sons have valued him and then how 150 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,759 just nationally people have valued him. And look, that always happens, I 151 00:09:30,799 --> 00:09:33,679 think with you know, fans and their stars and then national puntins. But 152 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,200 like this was like a huge like it was just there was a galaxy separating 153 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,080 it. And I feel like that sort of bridge now where the empty calories 154 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,919 label at least feels like it's gone. And I don't know that it and 155 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,679 I can't even I don't think I ever said he was, but maybe I 156 00:09:46,759 --> 00:09:50,000 did. I don't know that it ever should have been there, because I 157 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,600 think at that point, can you plead like heavy usage while being super young, 158 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:58,639 like that's an actual that's an actual thing. But knowing that that empty 159 00:09:58,639 --> 00:10:01,840 calories label, even if whether it need to be there or not, is 160 00:10:01,879 --> 00:10:05,519 officially gone, what is it that you have been most impressed by over the 161 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,440 past couple of years from him, or maybe something that you still think is 162 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:15,799 just undercovered about what he does? Well, I think what's sort of difficult 163 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:24,720 to talk about with Devin Booker particularly is his route in the NBA. And 164 00:10:24,799 --> 00:10:26,519 actually, you know what, Dan, I hate, I hate to. 165 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,399 I hate to change the subject here, but I think we may have to 166 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,519 because Brian Windhorst just tweeted the Phoenix Suns have had discussions about acquiring Chris Paul 167 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:45,039 from the Okase Thunder sources tell me and Tim bondtips story forthcoming that just that 168 00:10:45,159 --> 00:10:48,480 just happened just now. I think that was just tweeted while we were talking 169 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,080 about it. It's funny. I turned my phone over when the notification came 170 00:10:50,159 --> 00:10:54,120 up because I just assume that they're nothing notifications now and I have to get 171 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:58,399 out of the habit of it being that. Look, we can talk unless 172 00:10:58,399 --> 00:11:01,519 you have to go now to record the time path, like I'll talk about 173 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,879 Chris Paul and the signs. I'm a proponent of that deal. You would 174 00:11:05,879 --> 00:11:07,799 need to see what the end look, do you have to go like that's 175 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,200 no, no, no, let's do it. Let's talk about it. 176 00:11:11,639 --> 00:11:15,840 I'm ready. This is absolutely fantastic. Now it's good. It's good radio 177 00:11:15,919 --> 00:11:18,879 if you want. I think the idea of Chris Paul and Phoenix makes too 178 00:11:18,919 --> 00:11:22,679 much sense because and I was going to save this when we were talking about 179 00:11:22,759 --> 00:11:26,279 Ricky Rubio later on. I do feel like he's part of the problem of 180 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:31,080 needing to like alleviate the the pressure on Devin Booker, like where it certainly 181 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,639 helps to have him on the floor with Devin Booker, but the Sun's offense 182 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,080 was in the twenty second percentile when he played without Devin Booker, And yes, 183 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:39,320 that could be an indictment on the rest of their roster, but it's 184 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,120 also kind of an indictment on how he plays because he's not that traditional scoring 185 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,679 threat, and Chris paul with or without Devin Booker is just a better fit. 186 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:50,679 I think what I have again, they haven't even you know, we'll 187 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,840 have to see in that story what the terms of the package art. I 188 00:11:52,879 --> 00:11:58,080 assume it's some form of Ubrey and Rubio, like if they're given and then 189 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,080 stuff but not great stuff. And if it's other stuff, then that's where 190 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,879 it's a problem because and this is what I'm getting at. What I do 191 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,120 think you have to bring yourself to consider is that your whatever you're giving up 192 00:12:07,159 --> 00:12:11,639 is for two years of Chris Paula and you could even look at it as 193 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:13,120 one because then he'll have leverage going to last year of his deal with the 194 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,840 player option if it really goes badly. And so that's why you don't you 195 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,759 know, mcael Bridge's name should not come and maybe I over value kill Bridges, 196 00:12:20,759 --> 00:12:24,440 but his name shouldn't got in like fifty miles of this. Of this, 197 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,080 I would say even giving up cam Johnson would be a no for me. 198 00:12:28,279 --> 00:12:31,559 It's also curious for you land On that. I absolutely agree. I 199 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,000 think it's essentially comes down to the trade that makes sense. I think moneywise, 200 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:39,360 is a combination of Ricky Rubio and Kelly Ubrey. And then beyond that, 201 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,039 I'm afraid to give up anything else, and I think for good reason. 202 00:12:43,159 --> 00:12:46,240 I think one these guys. First of all, it's difficult to come 203 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:50,000 up with trades for the Phoenix Suns because those are the only two guys that 204 00:12:50,039 --> 00:12:54,519 have sort of medium sized contracts Ricky Rubio at seventeen million and Kelly Ubre at 205 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:56,679 fifteen million. Beyond that, the only large contract is Devin Booker. He's 206 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,399 not going anywhere. So to come up with the trade, you automatically include 207 00:13:01,519 --> 00:13:05,960 those two guys. Now you can look at the okaycy Thunder and say, 208 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,320 well, why would they want either? And fair because it's a difficult to 209 00:13:09,399 --> 00:13:13,360 understand what they're even going to try to do next year. But I think 210 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,200 they could easily flip Kelly Ubrey into some draft assets if that's what they want 211 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,720 to do. And if you look at the other teams that are potentially going 212 00:13:20,759 --> 00:13:24,000 to bid for Chris Paul, I mean, what are they going to give 213 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,799 up? I think it's a it's a relatively good offer for what it is. 214 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,480 And if you have to, if you have to include that tenth pick 215 00:13:33,399 --> 00:13:37,720 you can and should, but you try and get maybe, you know, 216 00:13:37,759 --> 00:13:39,919 the okaycy Thunder have a lot of picks. Maybe you try and get the 217 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,320 twenty fifth pick back or something like that, so you still have one swing. 218 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:48,000 Maybe you get Desmond Baine or somebody like that in the draft to help 219 00:13:48,039 --> 00:13:52,960 a little bit. What's tough is that essentially it's still those two contrasts combined 220 00:13:52,159 --> 00:13:56,799 still don't make up what Chris Paul fakes, and that means that you're eliminating 221 00:13:56,879 --> 00:14:01,799 essentially all of your flexibility in free agency. But to me, that's okay. 222 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,399 You know, I look at Chris Paul and what he did with the 223 00:14:05,519 --> 00:14:09,000 Okasey Thunder, and I see a essentially a top ten level player in the 224 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,320 NBA last season. And maybe you can dispute that, but I think the 225 00:14:13,399 --> 00:14:16,320 types of guys that show up on a team and then automatically make them a 226 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:20,960 playoff team, those are usually top ten players. It's it's difficult to really 227 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,039 figure that out. And if you add that to the Suns, I don't 228 00:14:24,039 --> 00:14:30,519 know. To me, how they play in the regular season with Chris Paul 229 00:14:30,799 --> 00:14:33,519 is interesting because does he play every game? Can he stay healthy? All 230 00:14:33,559 --> 00:14:37,919 of that? But if they make the playoffs and then you have a lineup 231 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,120 of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, McHale Bridges, Cam Johnson, and DeAndre 232 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:46,799 Eton on the floor for the majority of that game. I really like that 233 00:14:46,879 --> 00:14:48,360 a lot, Like That's just something I look at, like, how do 234 00:14:48,399 --> 00:14:52,159 you guard? How do you guard that? That's gonna be really difficult, 235 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:56,559 verging on impossible. And I'd agree with everything you'd say, And I might 236 00:14:56,639 --> 00:15:01,000 even have a larger concern about the reason you acquire pauls to make it so 237 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,279 you get into the playoffs, but he becomes most important in the playoffs, 238 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,200 and the Thunder as top heavy as they were, like they were in part 239 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,240 because they were these crunch time superheroes, like they were able to fairly limit 240 00:15:11,519 --> 00:15:13,720 his minutes where it didn't feel like he was overstrained. And even look, 241 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,399 I don't even think you could count on that good of health from Chris Paul 242 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,639 like they got this past year. And so that's where I would say that 243 00:15:20,679 --> 00:15:22,480 you want to figure out a way to complete this deal so that you're not 244 00:15:22,639 --> 00:15:28,360 really punting on what free agent flexibility you have. You know, maybe it's 245 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,600 you know, if you time it right, like and you're giving up the 246 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,879 tenth pick and you move him as an actual salary, that plus Ubre and 247 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:37,840 Rubio gets it done, and it almost feels that, I don't know, 248 00:15:39,279 --> 00:15:41,320 it blows my mind that I'm saying is I would do that deal from Phoenix, 249 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:46,159 but including the number ten pick feels like a slight overpay. And then 250 00:15:46,159 --> 00:15:50,360 if you remove it, it's like, well then yes, Ubre Junior is 251 00:15:50,399 --> 00:15:52,559 good and Rubio those are good players, but they don't fit anything the Thunder 252 00:15:52,639 --> 00:15:56,000 or trying to do long term. And so what makes me wonder, like 253 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,559 is there a third team then involved in this? Or if you are giving 254 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,440 up the ten the pick and you already like alluded to this is what are 255 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,440 you else are you going to get back? As you mentioned, they do 256 00:16:04,559 --> 00:16:07,360 have the twenty fifth pick. I think that one was from from Denver if 257 00:16:07,399 --> 00:16:11,600 I'm not mistaken, So like, I guess that would make it fine for 258 00:16:11,639 --> 00:16:15,240 you if they also have that stock of like all these other draft picks. 259 00:16:15,279 --> 00:16:17,799 But I don't know that they're so high if you're if you're gonna get the 260 00:16:17,879 --> 00:16:19,720 number ten pick in this class unless you just think that someone there is the 261 00:16:19,759 --> 00:16:22,679 one, I don't know why you're giving up picks for many future drafts in 262 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,279 this deal. So I think the ten pick plus those two guys is like 263 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,120 my absolute limit to the point where like I still think it's too much and 264 00:16:30,159 --> 00:16:33,519 you have to get some some other type of conversation aside from Chris Paul. 265 00:16:33,559 --> 00:16:37,879 Back in return, he was, look, I think I did a player 266 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,519 ranking leading into the bubble, and I think I might have had him. 267 00:16:40,519 --> 00:16:44,919 He was definitely the top fifteen, and he made second team All MBA this 268 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,159 year or so. He's really good. But like two years and eighty five 269 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:52,000 point six million for someone who is thirty four, like that's a lot of 270 00:16:52,039 --> 00:16:56,080 money, and even if you guarantee health, he's also thirty five, so 271 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:57,679 I was I was making him younger. You're welcome, Chris Paul. Yes, 272 00:16:59,399 --> 00:17:03,000 you're like just that two year window. It's hard for me to grapple 273 00:17:03,039 --> 00:17:04,519 with a little bit too. I think it's absolutely worth it, but like, 274 00:17:04,799 --> 00:17:07,200 if you're the Suns, I do think aside from just the cost of 275 00:17:07,279 --> 00:17:11,400 Chris Paul, which I'll spend billionaires moneies all day, like, that's not 276 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,519 gonna the fact if if they get him for like to where they're not really 277 00:17:15,559 --> 00:17:18,759 giving up anything more much more than Rubio or Ubrey, Like if they're working 278 00:17:18,759 --> 00:17:22,160 this out without the tenth pick and Milwaukee isn't involved, like, shame on, 279 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,720 shame on the Bucks. Kind of there's it's really for me just the 280 00:17:26,039 --> 00:17:30,960 finiteness of it all to where you have to just consider the opportunity cost long 281 00:17:32,079 --> 00:17:34,599 term of bringing it in. I think it outweighs the benefits will far outweigh 282 00:17:34,599 --> 00:17:37,680 it. But I'm very interested to see what the framework of this deal is 283 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,480 and whether there's a third team or if this is just okay se saying, 284 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:42,599 you know, we're going to save a bunch of money even if they don't 285 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,200 get the tenth pick, And as you mentioned, they can probably reroute Kelly 286 00:17:47,279 --> 00:17:49,240 Ubridge junior somewhere. Maybe that's a move you make mid season when he's had 287 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:53,200 a chance to sort of build up his value coming off that surgery, right, 288 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,079 and then you take something from the Knicks at that point. 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First, I do want to make I want to make the 306 00:19:06,039 --> 00:19:11,759 case for why this could be a good move short term and long term, 307 00:19:11,799 --> 00:19:15,279 because I think a lot of people will look at this immediately and think this 308 00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:18,359 is a short term move. The Suns are selling what are they doing? 309 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,920 This is a disaster one if they can do it for just Rubio and Ubre 310 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,440 or some combination and even include the tenth pick. Now, I'm not, 311 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:27,039 as we talked about, I'm not fully comfortable if we go that far, 312 00:19:27,759 --> 00:19:32,640 But say they do it for Rubio and Ubre. Looking back at when James 313 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:37,880 Jones took over the Phoenix Suns and consistently even before that, to me, 314 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,480 the number one issue with the Phoenix Suns was culture and you have to fix 315 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:48,119 the culture. Now. Winning helps some, consistency helps some as well. 316 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,559 Monty Williams was the fifth coach for Devin Booker in the five years that Devin 317 00:19:52,599 --> 00:19:56,279 Booker was on the Phoenix Suns. Yeah. In fact, this coming season 318 00:19:56,279 --> 00:19:59,960 will be the first time that he starts a new season with the same code 319 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,880 that he had at the beginning of the previous season, first time in Devin 320 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,440 Booker's NBA career. Monty Williams helps a lot with that culture. Winning a 321 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,319 few extra games helps a lot with that culture. But if you can bring 322 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,720 a team of James Jones, Monty Williams, and Chris Paul all working together, 323 00:20:15,559 --> 00:20:19,440 I think that has a pretty good impact on the young guys. Now. 324 00:20:19,559 --> 00:20:22,000 Now, it could be argued, is this the type of thing that 325 00:20:22,039 --> 00:20:26,160 can help DeAndre Aden or the pressure of praying with Chris Paul going to hurt? 326 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,640 In my opinion, it only helps. I've seen the clips of Chris 327 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,799 Paul yelling at DeAndre Jordan under the rim, and I understand what that's going 328 00:20:33,839 --> 00:20:37,640 to look like when he does it to DeAndre Ayton. But I still think 329 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,640 it would help overall. The other part is forty million dollars of cap space 330 00:20:41,759 --> 00:20:45,799 coming off the books if the Suns make the playoffs two years in a row. 331 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,839 Right, it's a two year deal, and then forty million dollars comes 332 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,599 off the books in the same year that. You have a few guys that 333 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,480 can be signed on the Phoenix Suns named Michael Bridges and DeAndre Ayton, and 334 00:20:56,519 --> 00:20:59,319 you can sign those guys over the cap because you have their bird rights. 335 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,960 It's not the worst scenario to have a lot of cap space after two years 336 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,880 of making the playoffs with this team, assuming they do, and I think 337 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,960 they would. We talked about it early in this podcast. Coincidentally, what's 338 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,160 a route to getting to the sixth seed or above? This is it? 339 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,400 You know, this is probably the main one. I think that that you 340 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,480 can talk about and now it looks like there's some credence behind it. So 341 00:21:21,519 --> 00:21:23,920 if you can make the playoffs, if you have some good culture building with 342 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,000 Chris Paul, with Monty Williams, who are friends. You know, these 343 00:21:27,039 --> 00:21:30,319 are guys who it's not it wouldn't be the first time that Monty Williams is 344 00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:34,599 coaching Chris Paul and and and you know there's a there's a lot to sell 345 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,960 with this that makes sense. And here's the thing. It all falls apart 346 00:21:40,039 --> 00:21:42,359 if Chris Paul has a season ending injury a few weeks into the season. 347 00:21:42,839 --> 00:21:47,519 And I think that's a fair thing to bring up that that that makes it 348 00:21:47,559 --> 00:21:49,880 a little bit scary. But you know, I think there's a case to 349 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,640 be made that it's good short term and it still can be good long term 350 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,799 as long as you don't give up guys like Cameron Johnson, mcil Bridges, 351 00:21:56,839 --> 00:21:59,880 Devin Booker, DeAndre and you have those four guys. It's not the worst 352 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,759 snare you And look that the short term window of it is actually beneficial depending 353 00:22:03,759 --> 00:22:06,920 on what you give up, because even if it ends up being a mistake, 354 00:22:07,039 --> 00:22:10,000 like then the mistake is is short lived because all of a sudden there's 355 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,079 only one year left on his deal. And so and look, maybe this 356 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,680 isn't matter, like just the sheer breath of Chris Paul salary. Like is 357 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,559 this an instance where this is you know, tie Jerome and then they're you 358 00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:25,640 know, picking up Campaign's team option and sending him out or I think check 359 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,960 Theaalo as a team option like those two, like two of those contracts plus 360 00:22:30,079 --> 00:22:33,839 Rubio plus Kelly everybody like that gets you to the money. And so then 361 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,720 if people are worried about the flexibility they're giving up in twenty twenty one, 362 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,400 I get it, but like you know, first of all, twenty twenty 363 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,960 one might end up sucking free agency wise because Paul George and Qui Lander chose 364 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,960 to be with the Clippers. Why would they leave Why would Lebron leave LA 365 00:22:48,079 --> 00:22:52,839 when a D is there and he can pass the torch? So like and 366 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,119 as Janna is going to Phoenix, like I just no, And so is 367 00:22:56,519 --> 00:22:59,279 is going to a Phoenix team that had to fight for the eighth seed, 368 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,839 right, That's that's kind of a way to look at it. And no, 369 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,599 I completely agree, Jannie is going to go to a premier franchise if 370 00:23:06,599 --> 00:23:08,839 he leaves and maybe he stays, maybe they're good enough that he stays, 371 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,440 And yeah, I don't I don't think that's it either. The best case 372 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,559 for the Suns to make a case to a free agent is being good. 373 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,839 That's not a bad thing. Be good, right, And even I totally 374 00:23:19,039 --> 00:23:22,279 forgot like Komiskey's team options just floating there, So it's like that you just 375 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,599 pick up and you are including him in that deal, so like there are 376 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:27,079 ways to get there. I like that trade even more if they're not giving 377 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,359 up ten I don't know that I'll despise the deal, but it'll be a 378 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,640 blatant overpay if Cam Johnson is in there. To me, yeah, it's 379 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,079 tough for me. If you give up multiple wings, it's like, why 380 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,039 bring Chris. Like the advantage of having Chris Paul on this team is that 381 00:23:41,039 --> 00:23:44,079 you could surround him by good wings immediately, and it's a team that makes 382 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,559 sense for Chris Paul. If you start giving those guys up, you know, 383 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,680 the team starts to make less sense for Chris Paul. Yeah, and 384 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,599 again that would be just straight like capitally for okay se which I don't necessarily 385 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,200 think is out of a question because I'm not mistaken they finished in the tax 386 00:23:57,319 --> 00:24:00,920 this past year, and well, I know, having money to spend this 387 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:06,680 summer is an advantage in the market, but like just look at the market. 388 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,319 And then also I've actually been surprised, and I'd mentioned this in the 389 00:24:08,319 --> 00:24:11,680 outline at how people are just penciling in the Suns as a cap space team 390 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:17,880 when they would have to get rid of bains and Dario Sarich essentially or you 391 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,279 know move you know, we're talking about Ruby Ruber's salary, Like there has 392 00:24:21,319 --> 00:24:23,920 to be collateral damage to them having cap space that's meaningful, and then that 393 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,880 cap space has to turn in to someone And so would I rather give up 394 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:33,680 what it seems like this deal will be for Chris Paul than get rid of 395 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:37,119 Baines and Saris then someone else to maybe try and sign van Fleet for three 396 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:41,400 or four years. Yes, I would prefer Chris Paul there. Even looking 397 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,160 at other trade options, I do think Drew Holiday would be a great fit 398 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,599 for this roster, but the permutations of that deal are just difficult to make, 399 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,960 not just in terms of matching salary, but what's the compensation because with 400 00:24:51,039 --> 00:24:53,319 him approaching free agency next year, you can make the argument that well, 401 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:57,799 including Cam Johnson or Mikhail Bridges, and that would be an overpay as well. 402 00:24:57,839 --> 00:25:03,359 And so if you're getting Chris All without giving up those two guys, 403 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,200 and then again maybe you're keeping the teen pick or you're at least still staying 404 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,400 in the first round if you get another selection back like that ends up being 405 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,559 a big deal for the Suns too. Yeah, absolutely, it's it's a 406 00:25:12,559 --> 00:25:18,599 fascinating I don't know, I wonder how it's gonna be viewed by because I 407 00:25:18,599 --> 00:25:21,359 think a lot of people, like Suns fans, this is kind of what 408 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,319 I'm talking about with Homerism a little bit. Some Suns fans say, you 409 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:27,279 can't trade Kelly you Bray for Chris Paul And I imagine you, as a 410 00:25:27,319 --> 00:25:32,039 non Suns fan, just don't you think that's just outright insane when you hear 411 00:25:32,079 --> 00:25:34,880 that, or did you just get it for the salary? I don't get 412 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,200 it, like the salaries of a different Like Kelly O. Brid Jr. 413 00:25:37,319 --> 00:25:41,519 Is a good play finisher, but he's not going a table set for everyone 414 00:25:41,559 --> 00:25:45,240 else. And I think like there's just a misconception about his defensive reputation where 415 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,680 he's either just considered absolutely terrible or people think that he's like really a defensive 416 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,240 asset and he's like kind of not like for his build, I feel like 417 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,839 he should be able to do things across more positions than he actually does. 418 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:02,119 And so with him coming up on agency next year himself, yes he'll be 419 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:07,240 appreciably cheaper, but I just don't view losing him as this stark opportunity cost, 420 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,880 especially because of how that lineup fired with Cam Johnson at the four in 421 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:12,880 the bubble. And it's also I was gonna mention this four wild that I'm 422 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:17,880 talking about Cam Johnson in these terms after clowning the Suns for taking him last 423 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:22,640 year in the draft so high. I mean, I mean, that's one 424 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,519 of the few times where a GM can be like I told, I told 425 00:26:26,519 --> 00:26:32,079 you so, I mean, because I think I said it recently. I 426 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:38,839 will never forget hearing Cam Johnson's name and just like what, everyone was shocked. 427 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:44,720 And I think to James Jones's credit too, there's no leaks in that 428 00:26:44,759 --> 00:26:48,400 front office. People have no idea what's coming down before it comes down. 429 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,240 Nobody knew about the Daria Starts trade, Nobody knew about Cam Johnson. This 430 00:26:52,319 --> 00:26:56,599 was not reported, and even Ricky Rubio was something that nobody really knew about 431 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,359 before it happened. There was no rumors about it that were tweeted by orders. 432 00:27:00,559 --> 00:27:03,160 It's all something that caught everyone by surprise. And in a sense, 433 00:27:03,279 --> 00:27:07,039 you know, maybe that's what makes this report about Chris Paul a little weird. 434 00:27:07,079 --> 00:27:10,519 Maybe you could believe it, maybe you don't. Maybe it matters on 435 00:27:10,839 --> 00:27:14,359 how you feel about how it would look whether or not you choose to believe 436 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,599 it. But you know, I think it's interesting that that happened. But 437 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,920 I think Kim Johnson, Now you look at Kim Johnson next to Chris Paul 438 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:25,440 and you go, wow, that was a great pig next to Chris Paul. 439 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,559 It makes it a lot of sense. I guess it'll be tough to 440 00:27:27,599 --> 00:27:30,119 go through these questions, like, you know, do we view them in 441 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,400 the context of Chris Paul, But the back to the Devin Booker stuff, 442 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,279 and if Chris Paul comes up again, we will definitely talk about him. 443 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,400 So just basically the question I'd asked is like, what's been most impressive about 444 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:47,759 Devin Booker's rise or most undercovered about it? Where maybe there's still a misconception 445 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:52,799 about how he's playing. Yeah. So I think one of the big things 446 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,160 is his playmaking, because I think a lot of a lot of people, 447 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,200 well, first of all, Devin Booker, when he came into the league, 448 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,039 he was comped as like a play Thompson type player, and he's just 449 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,440 not like, he's really not that at all. I think he uses ball 450 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,319 screens a lot more. He's a little bit more of a ball handlers, 451 00:28:08,839 --> 00:28:11,519 way more of a ball handler, yeah, yeah, way more. Exactly. 452 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,160 He's not much of a three point shooter. He can't shoot three pointers, 453 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,920 but he really kills me from mid range. And he's actually a really 454 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,559 great finisher. Uh. He had a higher finishing percentage than Lebron James. 455 00:28:22,599 --> 00:28:26,759 Not the same level of toughness on finishes, but I think it is a 456 00:28:26,799 --> 00:28:29,559 stat I think that you look at and say, wow, I didn't realize 457 00:28:29,559 --> 00:28:33,559 he was that good at that. And I think just as shot creation, 458 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:40,960 it's been incredible. But in the last two seasons alone, the improvement in 459 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,039 the types of passes that he can now make, I think has been really 460 00:28:45,079 --> 00:28:48,960 impressive. Skip passes, you know, across the floor to shooters. He 461 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,359 can do it with his right and he can do it with his left he 462 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,640 can do it at full speed. Uh, and you know, it's it's 463 00:28:55,640 --> 00:29:00,799 really impressive to see the growth in him for playmaking, and you know, 464 00:29:00,839 --> 00:29:03,839 I think that's that's one of the things that I think one of the reasons 465 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,119 people don't realize it is the Suns have been really bad at shooting. So 466 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,039 when you're really bad at shooting, you might make a really great pass and 467 00:29:10,039 --> 00:29:12,200 then it doesn't turn into an assist. Then if you look at the row 468 00:29:12,319 --> 00:29:17,079 box score, you're not going to pick up on the types of passes he's 469 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:19,480 making. You really have to watch it to figure it out. And I 470 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:25,119 think that's been a big thing. And I think when you compare Devin Booker 471 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,960 to a lot of other shooting guards in the league, that's one of the 472 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,640 things I think that sets him apart from a lot of them is that he's 473 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:33,799 a little bit more of a playmaker. And part of that is because he's 474 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,640 you know, six five six six, he's big, so he can make 475 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,319 those passes. And you know, I think that's something that's been a little 476 00:29:40,319 --> 00:29:44,119 bit overlooked, especially because like the type of things that had to happen in 477 00:29:44,279 --> 00:29:48,640 order for him to develop under five different coaches is pretty remarkable, and he 478 00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:52,279 still did which is pretty amazing. So the passing is something I think that 479 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,640 gets overlooked, and I even when people talk about it, there's still the 480 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:02,559 element of is he a good asser or is he somehow stat padding? And 481 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,519 I think when you watch him like no is I don't know that he's making 482 00:30:06,599 --> 00:30:10,559 like he's not making these Ben Simmons like reads. But I think the biggest 483 00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:14,319 compliment I could give him from again the games of the Suns that I'm helicoptering 484 00:30:14,359 --> 00:30:18,519 in to watch the shots that he's creating would not exist if it's someone else 485 00:30:18,559 --> 00:30:19,480 with the ball in his hand. I mean someone else who's you know, 486 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,400 a lesser player, anyone on the Sun's roster for the most part, just 487 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:29,440 like even looking at like him being able to back down smaller guards or even 488 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,440 rings in the post to the point where like teams are going to drift so 489 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,039 far towards him that yeah, you know what, he can fling just the 490 00:30:34,079 --> 00:30:37,119 one handed like kick out, and his teammates can will be wide open like 491 00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:41,920 that stuff really matters, And so it feels like that, and then even 492 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,240 there's still the misconception that like maybe he's like not all that efficient, and 493 00:30:45,279 --> 00:30:48,480 I feel like part of that is because people expect him to take more threes, 494 00:30:48,559 --> 00:30:52,039 but he was just look, this is just a fact. Statistically, 495 00:30:52,079 --> 00:30:55,200 he was just one of the most efficient, high volume scorers in the league. 496 00:30:55,079 --> 00:30:59,799 Ye yep, what he did as far as scoring and true shooting, 497 00:31:00,079 --> 00:31:03,160 and it just hasn't really been done by a lot of players. And if 498 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,000 you look at the list of players who have at least met those statistical criteria, 499 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,920 you're going to see a lot of names that you recognize, Kevin Durant, 500 00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:12,920 Steph Curry, those types of names as far as efficiency, and he 501 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,319 just he just is. And I think what's interesting is Clay Thompson is sort 502 00:31:17,359 --> 00:31:22,200 of the prototype of like a modern NBA player, and you know, to 503 00:31:22,559 --> 00:31:27,079 comp Devin Booker like that, he's so old school with how he does play, 504 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,640 Like he likes that mid post. He likes the mid range. He'll 505 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,920 get you in the post and back you up all the way under the rim. 506 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:40,079 He's got the fakes, he's got the moves. It's very Kobe like. 507 00:31:40,279 --> 00:31:42,680 I mean, you know a lot of people have been compared to Kobe, 508 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:47,079 but offensively, I think Devin Booker is actually pretty close as far as 509 00:31:47,119 --> 00:31:49,240 the bag, like the skill set, He's got a lot of those moves, 510 00:31:49,279 --> 00:31:52,960 and it's probably because he grew up loving Kobe Bryant, so he's watched 511 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:57,000 a lot of it and tried to emulate it. What does the next frontier 512 00:31:57,039 --> 00:32:00,200 look like for Devin Booker if he's going to be more or than I'll say, 513 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:04,839 like on the peripherals of the all MBA discussion, like what separates him 514 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,960 from being that all MBA formality right now? Well, here's that Devin Booker 515 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:15,960 was number one in points per touch in the NBA this last season, so 516 00:32:15,079 --> 00:32:19,400 as far as the amount of time he touched the ball, he scored the 517 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,839 most and points per touch, which I think is fairly interesting for a lot 518 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,000 of reasons. I think part of that is because he finally had a point 519 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,440 guard that can help set him up. But I do think that he needs 520 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,960 to be able to handle the ball more. We call it point book a 521 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:37,359 lot of times as Suns fans. This is something that's been hotly disputed, 522 00:32:37,359 --> 00:32:42,200 but I think the increase in his ability to make the passes that he makes, 523 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,759 the ability to score from anywhere on the floor has now I think allowed 524 00:32:45,839 --> 00:32:50,960 him to transition to more of just the primary guy with the ball in his 525 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,559 hands a lot. I think the Bubble was a great example because pre Bubble, 526 00:32:54,839 --> 00:32:59,319 Ricky Rubio and him were sort of sharing a lot of the playmaking duties 527 00:32:59,319 --> 00:33:01,480 throughout the game. In the Bubble, Rickey Rubio I think averaged something like 528 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:06,039 twenty seven minutes a game. It wasn't a lot, and as the games 529 00:33:06,079 --> 00:33:09,160 came down to the wire, it was just Devin Booker DeAndre and pick and 530 00:33:09,279 --> 00:33:12,880 roll over and over and over again, or Devin Booker in the post or 531 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,400 Devin Booker in the midpost. And I think that is more of the future 532 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:21,119 for him. It's just being able to carry the offensive loan even more, 533 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,680 which is kind of funny to think about, Like this is a guy who 534 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:29,599 scored seventy points at twenty years old, a guy who was seeing double teams 535 00:33:29,599 --> 00:33:34,680 before he could even drink a beer because he was the only scoring option on 536 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,480 the Phoenix Suns. But I think those types of things, as ugly as 537 00:33:37,519 --> 00:33:42,319 they were to watch for part of the history, did properly prepare him for 538 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,440 what he's looking at now. And if he ever does make the playoffs, 539 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,079 he's already seen a lot of those types of defenses that they're going to throw 540 00:33:47,079 --> 00:33:50,839 at him because he was the only guy who can score for a long time. 541 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:55,440 So I think just increasing that offensive load a little bit could help a 542 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,559 lot. But you know, if you look at his stats from this year, 543 00:33:58,599 --> 00:34:01,200 just raw stats points in his sists and last year, they're exactly the 544 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:06,160 same, essentially, the numbers are the same, but the offensive efficiency went 545 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,320 up a little bit too, and that helps every season. If he can 546 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:12,440 increase his efficiency, that makes a massive difference. And I think for him, 547 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,159 something as simple as getting really good at the pull up three pointer would 548 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:19,679 make a huge difference because that's really the only thing in his game that he's 549 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:22,000 not elite at as far as scoring. And if he ever gets that, 550 00:34:22,599 --> 00:34:27,119 good luck trying to guard him. And it's interesting that you talk about him 551 00:34:27,119 --> 00:34:30,079 shouldering maybe more of the offensive burden when before this podcast is done, they 552 00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:37,639 might have Chris Paul the proud. Yeah, that's a good point. But 553 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,199 I think even still, uh, you know, like we talked about it, 554 00:34:40,519 --> 00:34:44,119 uh, you know with Ricky Ruby on Devin Booker on the floor together, 555 00:34:44,519 --> 00:34:46,920 good, Devin Booker off the floor, Ricky Ruby on the floor not 556 00:34:47,039 --> 00:34:51,880 good. It didn't go very well. Uh, it was. It was 557 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,880 pretty bad. It's something like a ninety seven offensive rating or something like that. 558 00:34:55,119 --> 00:34:58,320 It was bad. Yeah, it was. It was pretty bad. 559 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,039 And look, that's like that's a huge upgrade in itself because you're taking we're 560 00:35:02,079 --> 00:35:07,440 assuming the major cost will be Kelly Bridge Junior and Rubio, and you're taking 561 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,159 two players who can't run the offense without Booker or even run the offenses like 562 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:15,199 the two of them without Booker, and you're replacing them with someone who can 563 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,199 like he was well Booker was to the Suns. He was for the thunder 564 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,440 last year where their offense fell off a cliff if they were playing with Shay 565 00:35:21,519 --> 00:35:24,599 and Dennis Shrewder without him on the floor. It's like, that's just even 566 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:29,000 like that's where I do think it's I could understand people if they're concerned about 567 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,320 the Chris Paul move in the vein of well, it's still the West, 568 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,960 like they could still miss the playoffs, and they're absolutely right, But that's 569 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:39,679 such a stark upgrade in the area of biggest need for the Suns that I 570 00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:44,519 would argue they would have like they would probably be if I penciled in it 571 00:35:44,559 --> 00:35:47,440 feels like there's gonna end up being seven Western Conference teams that are just formalities, 572 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,920 and I feel like with CP three, the Suns do become one of 573 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:53,679 them, right without diving like too deep into it, but like you know, 574 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:57,159 at the top of my head, like Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, 575 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,000 I'd probably throw the Mavericks in there. Let's just the Rockets, don't blow 576 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,199 it up. And if you want to say the Warriors are back back, 577 00:36:04,079 --> 00:36:06,920 that's six. I don't know that I would pick any of the other teams. 578 00:36:07,159 --> 00:36:08,480 The Thunder would clearly be sellers. There's the Jazz, of course, 579 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:12,679 but the Suns are not even the Jazz. It's interesting. The weight is 580 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:16,840 finally over. Football is back. You might not be at a game this 581 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,800 year, but you can still be in on the action at bet online. 582 00:36:21,039 --> 00:36:22,880 Bet online is going the extra mile and make sure you can get it on 583 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:28,159 every possible chance to win this season. From game spreads and totals to team 584 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:31,039 player and coaching props. Bet online gives you more options to wager on than 585 00:36:31,119 --> 00:36:36,360 anywhere else. 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Again, everything's going back to Chris Paul now. 591 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:02,519 But I have the same question for DeAndre Ayton, where he he was a 592 00:37:02,559 --> 00:37:07,639 lot better during his sophomore campaign and like the fact that he finished or was 593 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:12,519 able to put together such a stellar season after like that suspension, like because 594 00:37:12,519 --> 00:37:15,239 people are absolutely dragging him at the time, it was it was great. 595 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:20,119 And look, his offense has really always intrigued me. I love even if 596 00:37:20,159 --> 00:37:23,239 they're not shooters, guys who can get like twenty points and like you don't 597 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:27,960 necessarily even notice they have twenty points, because yeah, there are possessions where 598 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,000 they it can like revolve around him. And like the post ups like that 599 00:37:30,079 --> 00:37:32,320 he does years, like they're not the prettiest, but like it feels like 600 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:37,280 he scores so much within the flow of things and so he's enjoyable to watch 601 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:42,000 there and then just the for me, like the defense of switching for him 602 00:37:42,039 --> 00:37:45,039 felt like almost night and day between unless I missed something towards the end of 603 00:37:45,039 --> 00:37:49,199 his rookie campaign, like to have that utility from him on defense, Like 604 00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:51,920 I'm just kind of wondering, like, what is all of a sudden his 605 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,920 ceiling now after watching him in year two. Yeah, it's it's fascinating. 606 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,639 Oh, I'm sorry, my mic messed up a little there. It's fascinating 607 00:37:59,679 --> 00:38:02,760 to why DeAndre etan because I think he'll always be cursed with people assuming he's 608 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,039 the wrong pick. And I think for a lot of people that just becomes 609 00:38:06,079 --> 00:38:09,760 blinders. Uh, they're unable to recognize what he's good at. And I 610 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,639 think you need to celebrate that. I think for centers, like a lot 611 00:38:13,679 --> 00:38:15,679 of people talk about the way the game is changing, and I think for 612 00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:20,320 centers, as far as defense goes, what you need is mobility. That's 613 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,599 what you need. And he is a very very mobile, big man for 614 00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:28,599 his size. And I think if you if you, if you combine basically 615 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:34,119 a huge man who's very mobile with the ability to be coached, which is 616 00:38:34,159 --> 00:38:38,000 something that people commonly say about DeAndre eight and he's very coachable, and then 617 00:38:38,079 --> 00:38:43,639 you can have something like what he looked like last year. Uh, you 618 00:38:43,679 --> 00:38:49,199 know it's it's hard and like we're filtering everything through the Chris Paul news right 619 00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:52,760 now, But you know, you look at like what Chris Paul could do 620 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:57,760 for DeAndre eight, and I think there's there's a couple of things that could 621 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:00,360 happen there that could make a massive difference. He's going to get better every 622 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:01,599 year, I think, no matter what, because he just seems like a 623 00:39:01,599 --> 00:39:06,400 guy he started basketball late. He's a massive guy, and he's very coachable, 624 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:09,400 and I think he'll get better every year defensively and offensively. But I 625 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:14,320 think there is something about like these guys that are sort of legends about when 626 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,199 they're on your team. I commonly talk about like JaVale McGee when he's with 627 00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:22,159 the Warriors or with the Lebron compared to JaVale McGee when he's not. These 628 00:39:22,159 --> 00:39:25,400 guys step up their game a little bit when they're surrounded by a legend because 629 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:30,760 they have the weight of their sort of legacy on their backs. And I 630 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:34,079 wonder if that type of thing could be really good for a player like DeAndre 631 00:39:34,119 --> 00:39:37,519 a And not to mention just a guy who's been setting up big men for 632 00:39:37,599 --> 00:39:40,880 his entire career and he's possibly one of the best ever at it, but 633 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:45,599 I think with DeAndre a and to me, I'm not I don't want him 634 00:39:45,639 --> 00:39:46,880 shooting a lot of midrain shots, Like if we're going to talk about what 635 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:52,800 he needs to get better at three pointers is fine, But ultimately I'm really 636 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:58,320 okay with him being sort of Clint Capella plus on offense. As long as 637 00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:04,079 the defense continues to better simplify his role, that's okay with me. Going 638 00:40:04,159 --> 00:40:07,039 forward, maybe you work some sets into his posting up, maybe he posts 639 00:40:07,119 --> 00:40:10,199 up on switches a little bit more, But to me, the more and 640 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:14,280 more you forced the ball to him when you have a guy like Devin Booker 641 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,679 on your team, that's not always great. I'm okay with him just being 642 00:40:16,679 --> 00:40:20,920 a rim runner and maybe the best at it in the NBA at some point 643 00:40:21,679 --> 00:40:24,760 in his career. Just simplify it a little bit and focus on defense. 644 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,880 Make him the best defender that he can be. And with his size, 645 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,920 with his mobility, you know, and his length and his ability to jump 646 00:40:32,039 --> 00:40:37,639 very high, he could be a really good defender the things. So i'd 647 00:40:37,679 --> 00:40:42,079 actually just written something about this. You mentioned about how people have the blinders 648 00:40:42,119 --> 00:40:44,920 on that he was the wrong pick, and I think the best way you 649 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,320 might even be famous, like relative to what the number one pick is supposed 650 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,599 to represent. Like DeAndre Ayton was not the wrong pick, Like if you 651 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:53,519 in a vacuum, if Deandre's the number one pick, like that's a good 652 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:58,960 selection. It's because Luka Done was in that draft. And that's not just 653 00:40:59,039 --> 00:41:01,559 a footnote. But like I think it's what we can't like forget, like 654 00:41:01,599 --> 00:41:04,760 how good he like the look I'm gonna say, the sun's like blue? 655 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,920 That like that was this wasn't you know people were on the fringes about don 656 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:10,719 Chech but he was in the number one conversation and it wasn't you know they 657 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:14,400 could argue like the Kings did. They didn't want to take the ball out 658 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,000 of Booker's hands. It's not a report that I saw, but yeah, 659 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:20,199 don Chech would have been better. But like Aighton is still he's at that 660 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,599 all star like he feels like he'll have that All star apacks and like I 661 00:41:22,639 --> 00:41:27,079 do think if there is a chance for him to expand his range. And 662 00:41:27,079 --> 00:41:29,719 one of my questions was is this too reductive to say that maybe he should 663 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:31,079 needs to test out his three more. But if you have someone that can 664 00:41:31,119 --> 00:41:35,920 just hit, like picking pops more consistently, particularly if Chris Paul is going 665 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:37,360 to be on your team, Like we're not just talking about like an All 666 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,000 Star, but like maybe he's just one of going to become one of the 667 00:41:40,039 --> 00:41:45,760 elite bigs in the league. Yeah, I don't think it's entirely reductive to 668 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:49,400 say he needs to shoot more threes, as long as that's sort of paired 669 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:53,880 with to replace them long twos, you know, because that's still built into 670 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,280 him. And this is sort of a problem with a lot of big men 671 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,519 when they they're coming up. You know, there's still a lot of colleges 672 00:42:00,519 --> 00:42:02,840 that want him to shoot that eighteen nineteen footer. But yeah, if he 673 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:07,840 if he takes those shots and moves those behind the line, I mean there's 674 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:10,599 like he probably shot like forty three percent from mid ranger or forty two percent, 675 00:42:10,639 --> 00:42:15,320 maybe even lower, Like it's not difficult to get a three point percentage. 676 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,039 That makes that three pointer a more valuable shot than that you know, 677 00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:22,119 he shoots thirty percent, it's a better shot. So I do think he 678 00:42:22,119 --> 00:42:24,280 needs to shoot more at the very least, you have to figure out if 679 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:28,639 he can. Because it's flat, it looks a little weird, but it 680 00:42:28,679 --> 00:42:30,320 does go in, and there was shots in the bubble that went in. 681 00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:35,119 I think he's still end in the season under thirty percent or something like that. 682 00:42:35,159 --> 00:42:37,920 He started launching a little more towards the end of the season. But 683 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:38,800 you got to figure out if he can do it, because I think, 684 00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:42,880 like you said, that makes that makes a big difference if he's capable of 685 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:45,440 it. And he did it in college slightly shorter three point line, but 686 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:50,239 he shot something like thirty six thirty seven percent, So it's it seems like 687 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,679 something that he should be capable of doing, and I think you have to 688 00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:55,599 try because if he if you figure out that he can't, you can, 689 00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:59,119 you can cut it out. But if he can, I think it's going 690 00:42:59,159 --> 00:43:00,079 to make a massive different. It's just like you said, and look and 691 00:43:00,159 --> 00:43:04,000 then Chris Paul lends of things. It becomes less pivotal for him to do 692 00:43:04,079 --> 00:43:07,039 that because now visun it's so much easier to field lineups where there's just four 693 00:43:07,039 --> 00:43:12,440 shooters around DeAndre Aten when when you're replacing Ubre and Rubio with Paul. As 694 00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,639 we constantly break away from this, I saw that your podcast partner Sam Cooper, 695 00:43:15,679 --> 00:43:19,199 I don't know if you saw it. Just tweeted Mike is recording a 696 00:43:19,239 --> 00:43:22,039 pod right now, by the way, which is hilarious because like three weeks 697 00:43:22,039 --> 00:43:24,000 ago, he was the only one still gunning hard for this idea. He 698 00:43:24,039 --> 00:43:28,880 can't even relish the moment. Little little does he know you're able to relish 699 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:31,159 the moment. I'm relishing it now, and now all these people will have 700 00:43:31,199 --> 00:43:36,519 to actually come to this to listen to my life reaction. And I think 701 00:43:36,519 --> 00:43:39,280 you're right at what happened. What happened, And I'm just going to give 702 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:44,360 the little story about this because it's relevant now. A few maybe a month 703 00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:47,239 ago or so, I was just sort of looking at all of the reports 704 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:51,480 about the Phoenix Suns, and I was looking at the way that Chris Paul 705 00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:53,639 sort of ended his run in the bubble, and he thinked, okay, 706 00:43:53,679 --> 00:43:58,360 see and then just everything but name his next team that video. But you 707 00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:00,960 know, you know who he did name Monty Williams. Completely out of the 708 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:05,639 blue. He brought up Monty Williams. And then there's this report by a 709 00:44:06,039 --> 00:44:09,360 a Arizona sports radio guy named John Gambadoor we call him the Godfather on our 710 00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:15,119 podcast. He said that this Phoenix Suns told Devin Booker that the Suns were 711 00:44:15,119 --> 00:44:19,599 going to make a splash this offseason. Now that somehow went a little bit 712 00:44:19,679 --> 00:44:22,119 under the radar, because to me, that's huge because that frames the entire 713 00:44:22,159 --> 00:44:25,000 offseason as far as what the Suns are going to try to do, because 714 00:44:25,039 --> 00:44:29,239 I think the entirety of what you should do when you have a superstar on 715 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:30,599 your team is try to make him happy, to keep him as long as 716 00:44:30,639 --> 00:44:35,239 possible. So I looked at all of the tea leaves, if you will, 717 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:36,840 and I said, Oh, it's got to be It's gonna be Chris 718 00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:38,880 Paul. Guys like, it's so obvious that it's going to be Chris Paul. 719 00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:43,119 And of course everyone hated it at the time, but you know how 720 00:44:43,119 --> 00:44:45,280 fans are. The closer and closer you get to something being a reality, 721 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:49,320 the more and more they talk theirselves into it. So I think, I 722 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,760 think that's that's going to change a little bit. But I took a little 723 00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:53,280 bit of heat for saying that I think it's going to be Chris Paul about 724 00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:57,360 a month ago, But now I can now I can brag about it. 725 00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,880 I guess I never would have predicted it, even as they sort of make 726 00:45:00,079 --> 00:45:02,960 made the segue was it was like sort of trendy or like an anomaly to 727 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:05,760 say, like, you know, so Suns would be a great destination for 728 00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:07,760 Chris Paul. But then it was almost over talked about. I never would 729 00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:10,960 have ventured into the realm of Chris Paul's going to the Suns like you did, 730 00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:15,039 So kudos to you because still not official, but look for Winhurst to 731 00:45:15,559 --> 00:45:20,519 allow it to be aggregated, like that's a big deal, right, Yeah, 732 00:45:20,599 --> 00:45:25,800 He's giving writers like you something to write about tomorrow. So this is 733 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:30,159 my most pressing pressing question of the podcast. What's the over under on the 734 00:45:30,199 --> 00:45:34,519 number of all NBA teams with cal Bridges is going to make? I mean, 735 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,840 how many seasons do you think he'll play? Thirty? Like around there 736 00:45:40,679 --> 00:45:45,199 got safe to say that he's my favorite player on the Phoenix Suns. And 737 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,199 you know how it is with with NBA hipsters or whatever, like it's never 738 00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:52,360 the best player. It's always like somebody else, right, And for the 739 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:55,639 Suns Suns fans, that's Michael Bridges, and you know, I love and 740 00:45:55,639 --> 00:45:59,719 you know when he was trending, that was my fault, but he knew 741 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:04,719 it was, which was even better, right, he follows me. We 742 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:08,400 don't really interact. He does follow me on Twitter. But yeah, it 743 00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:13,559 was just something that happened. Jackson Frank, people who are NBA Twitter nerds 744 00:46:13,559 --> 00:46:17,920 like us know him, said something about how so many Suns fans are following 745 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,519 him and he's not sure that he can continue to tweet about the Suns. 746 00:46:21,559 --> 00:46:24,079 And I said, it's okay, just tweet Michale Bridges once every few days 747 00:46:24,119 --> 00:46:27,559 and you'll get one hundred or so likes. And then I said, I'll 748 00:46:27,599 --> 00:46:30,719 test it out now, and then I tweeted Michale Bridges and by the end 749 00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:35,320 of the night, I think it was over eleven thousand people tweeted just Michale 750 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:37,800 Bridges as all the best things that happened. It happened completely by accident, 751 00:46:38,119 --> 00:46:42,159 but I think it's not a coincidence in any way. This was the night 752 00:46:42,199 --> 00:46:45,320 before they played the Philadelphia seventy six ers, who the Suns traded for McHale 753 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:50,239 Bridges from, and I think it represents the love that Suns fans have for 754 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:53,840 a guy like Michale Bridges, a dirt worker who never complains and works really 755 00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:58,639 hard and just makes all the smartest plays. And there was a time where 756 00:46:58,639 --> 00:47:01,400 his jump shot looked a little broke. It looks a lot better now and 757 00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:06,239 that makes it even easier to praise a guy like him. But I think 758 00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:08,000 he'll I think he has a chance to be one of the best defenders in 759 00:47:08,039 --> 00:47:12,400 the league as early as next season. I'd be with you there. And 760 00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:15,920 the thing that I'm like more curious about with him, and look, I 761 00:47:15,119 --> 00:47:19,880 first hand experience of how much the Suns fans care about Michael Bridges. Like 762 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:23,039 I try to remain by following like writers and bloggers and podcasters who cover every 763 00:47:23,079 --> 00:47:27,519 team, I try to remain in tune with like what the thoughts are of 764 00:47:27,519 --> 00:47:30,719 each base. But I ranked Michael Bridges as the most underrated player in the 765 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:35,199 NBA this past season, and like Suns fans were angry. Some of them 766 00:47:35,199 --> 00:47:37,760 like, no, he's not underrated, like we really appreciate him. And 767 00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:40,039 I was like, well, I'm not saying that you guys don't appreciate him. 768 00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:44,519 I'm just thinking to get talked about enough. But it was really funny, 769 00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:46,599 that was my experience with knowing how much Suns. I got a kick 770 00:47:46,599 --> 00:47:49,840 out of that one because it's like, well, this was a compliment, 771 00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:52,920 So I don't know what there's to be angry about. But the question for 772 00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:55,079 me with him is on offense because as of right now, you know his 773 00:47:55,199 --> 00:48:00,559 three point efficiency like upticked this year. And if you're gonna be an elite 774 00:48:00,599 --> 00:48:02,280 three in D guy, because when we talk about three D players, like 775 00:48:02,639 --> 00:48:07,119 normally they're non elite in both areas, but he's already elite on defense, 776 00:48:07,159 --> 00:48:08,679 and if he's going to be an above average shooter, that's huge. But 777 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:12,679 unlike some of these other guys, there's more of him and it's not even 778 00:48:12,679 --> 00:48:15,000 to me just the cutting. It's like when he's passing on the move, 779 00:48:15,119 --> 00:48:19,719 like he makes really good decisions on drives. I think when I was writing 780 00:48:19,719 --> 00:48:22,840 about this, he's like one of the lowest turnover rates for anyone on the 781 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:29,880 who used his volume of drives. And so do you see him getting to 782 00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:32,760 the point where he's more than a three in D player in a sustainable manner? 783 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:36,599 Because I think the thing with him is that like on offense, he 784 00:48:36,639 --> 00:48:39,280 can go from like zero to one hundred to fifty to twenty five to eighty, 785 00:48:39,519 --> 00:48:45,440 Like it's just there's like these wide fluctuations from him. Yeah, I'd 786 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:50,320 expect that more a little bit going forward. As far as I'm not, 787 00:48:50,519 --> 00:48:53,599 I'm not fully bought into. I don't see him as someone who's going to 788 00:48:53,679 --> 00:49:00,360 create his own shot regularly right now. But I don't want to diminish the 789 00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:01,440 value of the type of player he is. And I know you know, 790 00:49:01,559 --> 00:49:06,320 but just for the people listening, he doesn't have to right now in order 791 00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:08,000 to be a really valuable piece on the team. He's a guy who entered 792 00:49:08,039 --> 00:49:12,199 the starting lineup and will likely never leave us as long as he's on the 793 00:49:12,239 --> 00:49:15,239 Phoenix Suns because of the type of value he brings defensively, but I think 794 00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:19,880 offensively, as you talked about, he doesn't make a lot of mistakes just 795 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:22,679 period. He doesn't turn the ball over a lot, he doesn't shoot shots 796 00:49:22,719 --> 00:49:25,199 that he shouldn't shoot. He can move the ball really quickly. The Sun's 797 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:29,320 run out offense that they call point five, and the idea around point five 798 00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:31,159 is that you make a decision within half a second of touching the ball. 799 00:49:31,639 --> 00:49:37,880 He perfectly and seamlessly works into that's actually relatively similar to Villanova, other than 800 00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:42,079 the fact that the Sun's run a little bit more than Villanova did, so 801 00:49:42,239 --> 00:49:46,159 it was relatively seamless for him. But I do think his shot will get 802 00:49:46,199 --> 00:49:50,800 better and that will make a massive difference. And the other thing that happened 803 00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:52,239 is this last season, and I think Ricky Rubio had a lot to do 804 00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:55,480 with this. He became one of the best cutters in the NBA, and 805 00:49:55,519 --> 00:50:00,079 I think that will continue, whether it be with Ricky Rubio or Chris Paul 806 00:50:00,159 --> 00:50:05,159 next season. Either way, when he cuts, he's going to get the 807 00:50:05,159 --> 00:50:07,719 ball if it's the smart cut, because those guys can make passes from any 808 00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:10,800 angle, and you know, to be able to do that, I think 809 00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:15,559 matters a lot for him. I think he has to get stronger offensively and 810 00:50:15,599 --> 00:50:19,639 defensively. Defensively, obviously we know what that means. It means he can 811 00:50:19,639 --> 00:50:22,840 guard essentially every position besides the center because of his length, and maybe even 812 00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:27,880 some centers in the NBA at this point. But also I think offensively, 813 00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:30,639 if he starts to get stronger, I think his finishing will get better. 814 00:50:30,719 --> 00:50:36,039 His arms are so long, like this seven foot one wingspan on a guy 815 00:50:36,079 --> 00:50:39,920 who's basically six foot seven six ft eight ish, and I think that finishing 816 00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:44,679 will get better over time, you know, and and he'll find he'll find 817 00:50:44,679 --> 00:50:46,039 easy buckets. I think that's gonna be a lot of it. That's that's 818 00:50:46,119 --> 00:50:52,559 getting open shots from three transition and then easy cuts. As far as starting 819 00:50:52,679 --> 00:50:57,000 like he's turning into Kauai, like if you will, it's going to take 820 00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:00,039 a lot to get there, a few seasons at least before we even know 821 00:51:00,159 --> 00:51:02,679 if that's anything close to that is even possible right now, I wouldn't bet 822 00:51:02,679 --> 00:51:07,320 on it, which makes his value I think really interesting going forward whenever he 823 00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:10,679 does become a free agent. Not that we need to talk about that now, 824 00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:15,480 but guys like that I think are interesting as far as how they're valued 825 00:51:15,480 --> 00:51:19,800 in free agency. Well, there's like I think, even his extension eligibility 826 00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,199 after next year, it's super interesting because like, what do you pay those 827 00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:24,360 guys to keep them off the open market? And the Raptors are going to 828 00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:28,559 go through a different player, yes, but they're gonna go through with Oganna 829 00:51:28,599 --> 00:51:30,599 Nobi. This is exactly who I was thinking about. I'm fascinated by his 830 00:51:30,679 --> 00:51:35,360 value. I can't wait to see what happens for him. An update to 831 00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:38,119 the Chris Paul reporting. Because they Nurse did release the article, it doesn't 832 00:51:38,119 --> 00:51:42,480 really release any terms of the package, but it does emphasize the Suns could 833 00:51:42,519 --> 00:51:45,800 have up to twenty million in cap space, and so I have them in 834 00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:50,880 my sheet a hair under sixteen. If they renounce Baines, the Kline Commitsky's 835 00:51:50,920 --> 00:51:54,079 option, renounced Sarich, and then they're getting they're still keeping like you have 836 00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:59,079 there's like weird non guaranteed salaries there. You have Javonne Carter's small hold, 837 00:51:59,159 --> 00:52:02,480 and so I have those. Yeah, So I wouldn't be a fan of 838 00:52:02,519 --> 00:52:07,559 them going the cap space route for Chris Paul just because now you're losing you 839 00:52:07,599 --> 00:52:09,480 know, Stars and Baines or losses there if you have to renounce them, 840 00:52:09,840 --> 00:52:14,679 and then like you still like Rubio alone doesn't get you there, nor does 841 00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:16,239 Ubre, so you still have to call it together more money, and so 842 00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:21,079 it's almost costing you more players to get Chris Paul. Even though I guess 843 00:52:21,119 --> 00:52:22,920 in that scenario, I would assume there's a higher chance if you're giving more 844 00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:28,519 immediate relief to the thunder, that you're keeping the number ten pick. Yeah, 845 00:52:28,639 --> 00:52:30,280 And I'll be honest, no matter how I look at it, it 846 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:35,719 always comes back to Rubio and Ubre, combination of those two guys. That's 847 00:52:36,039 --> 00:52:37,719 that's basically what it comes down to. Because what I would like to do 848 00:52:38,159 --> 00:52:43,760 is find a way to keep Ubre in that scenario, and it becomes really, 849 00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:45,679 really difficult. You know, there's there's some other ways to do it. 850 00:52:45,719 --> 00:52:49,519 If you want to give up like Cam Johnson, mcal Bridges untouchable. 851 00:52:49,519 --> 00:52:52,599 Obviously we're not even going to talk about that. But I don't like that 852 00:52:52,639 --> 00:52:54,760 either. I'd rather keep mcale Bridges and Cam Johnson. I mean, it's 853 00:52:54,800 --> 00:52:59,360 a great advantage to have, like funny with Cam Johnson, by the way, 854 00:52:59,559 --> 00:53:02,519 picked Everyone laughed when he was picked. But also now the Sons have 855 00:53:02,519 --> 00:53:05,960 a guy who's twenty four years old at the beginning of his rookie deal. 856 00:53:06,239 --> 00:53:09,079 He's gonna be paid like a rookie until he's twenty eight. That's not such 857 00:53:09,079 --> 00:53:12,920 a bad thing for a team like the Suns, who are trying to put 858 00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:16,519 together the best team possible. He's gonna be relatively good throughout his rookie deal, 859 00:53:16,519 --> 00:53:20,639 and that's not something that you find that often. So you gotta keep 860 00:53:20,639 --> 00:53:22,599 a guy like that. So, you know, no matter how I looked 861 00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:25,199 at it, no matter how what I tried and talked to some guys that 862 00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:30,199 I know that are relatively experts on the cap, it always comes back into 863 00:53:30,239 --> 00:53:34,199 trading those two guys somehow. So Yeah, because even if you go in 864 00:53:34,239 --> 00:53:37,159 the cap space round like it's going to be somewhere you need to if you're 865 00:53:37,199 --> 00:53:40,000 including Rubio like it might. Let's say they can get to twenty million cap 866 00:53:40,119 --> 00:53:44,039 room, that's still gonna leave you twenty one million short of Paul. You 867 00:53:44,119 --> 00:53:47,440 need to cobble together another four to five million in money after Rubio to keep 868 00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:51,119 ubright. And like, just like you said, yeah, okay, it's 869 00:53:51,119 --> 00:53:53,119 cool like Cam Johnson mckel bridges can plug into that, but those are the 870 00:53:53,119 --> 00:53:55,760 only salaries that can plug into that, and those are players that you want 871 00:53:55,760 --> 00:54:00,119 to give up here. Yep, exactly x up on my list. This 872 00:54:00,199 --> 00:54:05,159 is this is I'm loving the Chris Paul tangents that I was just absolutely not 873 00:54:05,599 --> 00:54:10,559 not expecting. Who's the one who's more uh Chris Paul news obviously changes this, 874 00:54:10,599 --> 00:54:15,599 but who's more important to this team's outlook between Rubio, Cam Johnson and 875 00:54:15,679 --> 00:54:22,400 Kelly Ubrad Jr. Well, it's funny if we're just going to take out 876 00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:28,159 anything that we've learned today from this conversation, it's absolutely Ricky Rubio. Uh. 877 00:54:28,199 --> 00:54:30,000 Well, and that's that's to say, only because this team is so 878 00:54:30,079 --> 00:54:35,599 awful without point guards, and we saw that last year and the difference he 879 00:54:35,679 --> 00:54:38,440 makes, and I think he makes scoring easier for a lot of guys. 880 00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:42,480 It's not a coincidence that efficiency went up for a few of the guys on 881 00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,920 the Phoenix Sunds, whether it be Kelly ubre Uh, Devin Booker, Mcial 882 00:54:45,960 --> 00:54:49,920 Bridges, or even DeAndre Aton actually was pretty damn efficient in his rookie years. 883 00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:52,960 So that's something we can take out of it. Credit to Igor Kokoshkov, 884 00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:57,159 I think didn't get a lot of credit for how well he used DeAndre 885 00:54:57,199 --> 00:55:00,480 at in on a bad team. Uh, you know, but just sort 886 00:55:00,519 --> 00:55:04,440 of looking at all of it, Ricky Rubio I think makes the biggest difference 887 00:55:04,599 --> 00:55:07,079 on the court right now. And if you like, if you look at 888 00:55:07,119 --> 00:55:10,360 the player impact stats which take him or leave him, I think they are 889 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:15,760 good for context. Ricky Rubio is the best on the Suns currently and I 890 00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:17,440 think that's not a coincidence. Now if you look at a long term going 891 00:55:17,480 --> 00:55:22,199 forward. You know, Cam Johnson, you said Ricky Rubio, Cam Johnson, 892 00:55:22,199 --> 00:55:24,519 who else did you say? There? Kelly right? Right? Well, 893 00:55:24,599 --> 00:55:27,679 Kelly your bright one year left on his deal and it's going to be 894 00:55:27,679 --> 00:55:30,119 a free agent. So I think that just disqualifies him there. I think 895 00:55:30,119 --> 00:55:34,000 it makes him the most expendable, which is when you when you talk about 896 00:55:34,039 --> 00:55:36,360 how much you know on this podcast, we've sung his praises, but how 897 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:38,559 much it seems like he Suns Feds are attached to him. It's absolutely wild 898 00:55:38,639 --> 00:55:43,480 to think about it in those terms. Yeah, I mean he's really charismatic, 899 00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:46,159 Like he's a really charismatic guy, and you know what that means. 900 00:55:46,639 --> 00:55:51,320 That means he's used a lot in the marketing for the Phoenix Suns. And 901 00:55:51,719 --> 00:55:53,480 look, I'm not going to deny it that that makes a difference in the 902 00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:59,679 fans eyes. If you constantly see a player that rep that in your mind 903 00:55:59,679 --> 00:56:02,880 now presents the Sun's actually getting better, then of course you can value him 904 00:56:02,880 --> 00:56:07,239 a lot. So I definitely understand why people value him. And look, 905 00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:09,760 Kelly Ubred was good. He was part of that lineup that that Suns fans 906 00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:13,920 love to talk about, Rickey Rubio, Devin Booker, Michale Bridges, Kelly 907 00:56:14,039 --> 00:56:16,840 Ubray, DeAndre and that was the best lineup in the NBA by net rating 908 00:56:16,880 --> 00:56:21,280 five man lineup. So he was good. But I think you're right. 909 00:56:21,320 --> 00:56:25,480 I think you have Michal Bridges, you have Cameron Johnson, and listen too, 910 00:56:25,719 --> 00:56:29,440 if you're trading him, this is not the worst year to try and 911 00:56:29,480 --> 00:56:30,920 be on the market for a forward. You got Jay Crowder, You've got 912 00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:35,280 Jeremy Grant, you got Christian Wood. Like, there's a lot of David 913 00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:39,760 Davis, Burton's Gallinari, there's a lot of guys that you can replace them 914 00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:43,440 with. Maybe not if Chris Paul's and they're that kind of ruins your cap 915 00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:46,320 a little bit. But there's a lot of guys that you can actually replace 916 00:56:46,400 --> 00:56:51,679 Kelly Uber with. That also makes him a little more expendable. So I 917 00:56:51,719 --> 00:56:54,559 think in the short term Rickey Rubio, the longer term Cameron Johnson, and 918 00:56:54,719 --> 00:57:00,000 unfortunately Kelly Ubre. You know what's Kelly Ubre should be better at defense. 919 00:57:00,039 --> 00:57:01,840 So I think this is a big part of what makes it complicated for him. 920 00:57:01,880 --> 00:57:06,639 He actually has longer arms than mcal Bridges. Most people don't realize this 921 00:57:06,679 --> 00:57:10,280 when watching the Suns seven foot two wingspan to mcal Bridge is seven foot one. 922 00:57:10,679 --> 00:57:14,760 But he just has a lot of brain farts. He's not always focused 923 00:57:14,760 --> 00:57:17,639 to the way Michal Bridges is and I think if he was, then that 924 00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:22,119 value would be there because his athleticism is off the charts, but he makes 925 00:57:22,119 --> 00:57:24,320 a lot of mistakes defensively that makes it tough to keep him around. And 926 00:57:24,719 --> 00:57:30,000 he was just like a lot better or if he was noticeably better in like 927 00:57:30,079 --> 00:57:32,119 any one area there's defense. But like if he was, if he would 928 00:57:32,119 --> 00:57:35,840 guarantee he would shoot better from three, or if he was more of a 929 00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:38,320 passer, like you could trust him to run more sets than a half court. 930 00:57:38,480 --> 00:57:42,440 Like if he just did one of those things better, he would seem 931 00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:45,559 a lot less expendable to me. But look, the contract situation is part 932 00:57:45,599 --> 00:57:47,400 of it too. Just you don't know what he's He's not going to cost 933 00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:50,559 the moon, absolutely it's to retain, but he is going to end the 934 00:57:50,599 --> 00:57:52,559 free agency in twenty twenty one one. There will be a ton of cap 935 00:57:52,599 --> 00:57:54,920 space. Something else to bring back to this, Chris paulfin I just considered 936 00:57:57,360 --> 00:58:00,280 with the way the we don't know how the NBA schedule is gonna shake out, 937 00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:04,280 but there's been talk of like more regional play, and so if you're 938 00:58:04,320 --> 00:58:07,239 going to have the Pacific Division teams playing each other like six to eight times, 939 00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:12,159 now, yeah, what in absolute bloodbath that becomes if Chris Paul's on 940 00:58:12,199 --> 00:58:15,039 the Suns, the Warriors, or let's say they stay healthy, the Lakers, 941 00:58:15,039 --> 00:58:19,719 the Clippers, like this is great for the Sacramento Kings's lottery. Odd's 942 00:58:19,719 --> 00:58:23,599 probably if his trade gets pulled off. So I'm that will be I would 943 00:58:23,599 --> 00:58:27,360 wonder if, like, you know, if if Phoenix like throws the first 944 00:58:27,719 --> 00:58:30,039 punch and gets Chris Paul, I would think it's it's not going to put 945 00:58:30,039 --> 00:58:31,239 pressure on the Lakers of the Clippers. But like if you're a Golden State 946 00:58:31,440 --> 00:58:35,679 and you're sitting there and you're looking at Clay Thompson coming back from the ACL 947 00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:38,920 injury, is Draymond Green regressing or did he just not give a crap about 948 00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:42,480 last year? Like you might have to feel at least a little bit more 949 00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:46,159 pressure to go do something this offseason if Chris Paul winds up on a team 950 00:58:46,199 --> 00:58:50,079 in your division at a time where you might have to go through them six 951 00:58:50,119 --> 00:58:52,360 to eight times in addition to the Clippers and the Lakers. Yeah, it's 952 00:58:52,400 --> 00:58:55,519 interesting when you look at the season. This is a common talking point, 953 00:58:55,559 --> 00:59:00,639 right every team in the Western Conference thinks they can make the playoffs next season, 954 00:59:00,719 --> 00:59:04,239 but Also, the twenty twenty one draft is considered one of the better 955 00:59:04,320 --> 00:59:07,760 drafts in a long time. And I imagine halfway through the season some of 956 00:59:07,760 --> 00:59:12,079 these teams will actually pivot into all of a sudden now being okay tanking, 957 00:59:12,159 --> 00:59:14,280 and I imagine the Kings, like you talked about, could be one of 958 00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:15,960 those. But other than that, it's the Lakers, the Clippers, and 959 00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:20,719 the Warriors with the Suns. So I mean, it's gonna be tough, 960 00:59:21,440 --> 00:59:24,239 you know, in that in that division, and it always is. I 961 00:59:24,280 --> 00:59:27,960 mean for the Suns, it always is. There's no coincidence that they always 962 00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:32,199 have one of the toughest strengths of schedules for the entire NBAB. I want 963 00:59:32,199 --> 00:59:36,079 to ask you something, and forgive me for always going on tagants. Here 964 00:59:36,639 --> 00:59:40,280 just from the top of your head, here, Devin Booker next season, 965 00:59:40,400 --> 00:59:45,119 if Chris Paul is on the team, where would you rank Devin Booker as 966 00:59:45,360 --> 00:59:49,559 on like Chris Paul teammates, Like, where would he be? Like, 967 00:59:49,719 --> 00:59:53,480 say you put James Harden number one, maybe you put Blake Griffin number two, 968 00:59:53,559 --> 00:59:58,079 or maybe you can consider Devin Booker next season to be close to that 969 00:59:58,119 --> 01:00:00,760 Blake Griffin level. How good of a teammate. Do you think Devin Booker 970 01:00:00,760 --> 01:00:05,559 would rank as far as Chris Paul teammates. I think he does. He 971 01:00:05,639 --> 01:00:07,400 would automatically become number three for me, Like I'm trying to think of, 972 01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:12,079 like you know, Pyson Chandler was never at that level in New Orleans or 973 01:00:12,119 --> 01:00:15,199 his career. He would have a chance to be number two and depend on 974 01:00:15,239 --> 01:00:17,960 where he peaked, because I do think Blake was like all NBA caliber for 975 01:00:19,079 --> 01:00:22,119 a couple of years beside Chris Paul. I do think his game would be 976 01:00:22,239 --> 01:00:25,840 easier to unlock alongside Chris Paul, even though like Blake, Griffin's more of 977 01:00:25,880 --> 01:00:29,199 the natural play finisher. But after Chris Paul left, it was like, 978 01:00:29,440 --> 01:00:32,119 oh, Blake Griffin can hit off the dribble threes and like run things like 979 01:00:32,760 --> 01:00:37,039 that. It's not going to impact a Booker to that degree. And so 980 01:00:37,519 --> 01:00:39,719 there's a he could depending on if they're together for at least two years, 981 01:00:39,800 --> 01:00:44,239 there's a chance he could establish himself as his second best one. But I'm 982 01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:47,920 trying to think if I'm forgetting anyone otherwise I would assume he's automatically number three. 983 01:00:47,960 --> 01:00:52,679 I don't know who's gonna argue for DeAndre Jordan and Los Angeles even I 984 01:00:52,719 --> 01:00:55,679 think, Yeah, Pete David West, I don't even think is there. 985 01:00:57,199 --> 01:00:59,679 Yeah, No, I agree with that, and I think that's probably where 986 01:00:59,719 --> 01:01:02,400 I would rank him. And depending on Devin Booker's efficiency and level of effort 987 01:01:02,440 --> 01:01:07,760 on defense next season, I think he could match some of Blake Griffin's best 988 01:01:07,760 --> 01:01:09,239 seasons as far as impact on the court. Maybe that's the Homer in me 989 01:01:09,320 --> 01:01:14,000 saying that, but I also just like guys like Devin Booker and their type 990 01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:17,239 of impact a lot. It sure would be nice for Suns fans to be 991 01:01:17,360 --> 01:01:24,400 the team that is able to exercise that Warriors demon somehow for Chris Paul at 992 01:01:24,440 --> 01:01:29,639 some point in the playoffs. But that's gonna be tough. That's just look, 993 01:01:29,679 --> 01:01:31,960 and then it depending on how well Chris Paul would do there and what 994 01:01:32,000 --> 01:01:35,880 happens with the Suns. Like the jokes that could fly at Tillman for Tita's 995 01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:39,519 expense, as I'm here for that that con Oh yeah, absolutely funny enough 996 01:01:39,599 --> 01:01:45,440 the two of the cheapest and worst owners in the NBA somehow still being the 997 01:01:45,440 --> 01:01:50,360 two that actually paid Chris Paul like close to forty or plus forty million dollars 998 01:01:50,400 --> 01:01:52,920 per season kind of funny. That's why we need to see the terms of 999 01:01:52,920 --> 01:01:54,840 this trade to make sure that Robert Sarver isn't trying to get CP three dollars 1000 01:01:54,880 --> 01:02:00,440 per dollar next season where he is including all these other glass that hurts to 1001 01:02:00,480 --> 01:02:06,480 even consider. Again, all these questions are more loaded following the Paul news. 1002 01:02:06,679 --> 01:02:09,320 But we talked about how so many people are writing the Suns in his 1003 01:02:09,239 --> 01:02:12,760 his cap space team and to me, they look, I mean, Frank 1004 01:02:12,800 --> 01:02:15,119 Kimisky's team options a part of this, but they have three key free agents 1005 01:02:15,159 --> 01:02:21,320 to me, in Bain's Sarich and then Javon Carter even throwing Frank Kimisky in 1006 01:02:21,360 --> 01:02:22,480 there, and then you want to throw Cameron Baine's team option. They're like, 1007 01:02:22,480 --> 01:02:28,000 who among this gaggle of could be free agents do you think are most 1008 01:02:28,039 --> 01:02:30,760 likely to leave? Who do you expect to be back? What is the 1009 01:02:30,800 --> 01:02:34,559 push and pole balance? They're like, for you, I think Bain's is 1010 01:02:34,800 --> 01:02:38,960 most likely gone at this point, and it's not necessarily because I wouldn't want 1011 01:02:39,039 --> 01:02:44,119 him on the team. I just think, like we're talking about Dario Sharitz 1012 01:02:44,159 --> 01:02:46,119 coming alive in the bubble. One of the reasons Dario Scharitz came alive in 1013 01:02:46,119 --> 01:02:51,599 the bubble is he started playing center, and that seemed like a more natural 1014 01:02:51,719 --> 01:02:55,079 position for him, backup center. And if you keep Dario Saritch, which 1015 01:02:55,199 --> 01:03:00,519 obviously maybe couldn't happen with Chris Paul as well, But if you do, 1016 01:03:00,840 --> 01:03:02,440 that's kind of where you want him to be. You actually want him to 1017 01:03:02,480 --> 01:03:07,119 play the five as much as possible. He looked really good doing that, 1018 01:03:07,159 --> 01:03:09,639 and I think it unlocks his playmaking a little bit more because all of a 1019 01:03:09,719 --> 01:03:14,519 sudden, he didn't look slow like you know, when you play power forward, 1020 01:03:14,519 --> 01:03:16,559 you look a little slower next to a lot of the power forwards that 1021 01:03:16,599 --> 01:03:20,719 are guarding you when you play center. Maybe he has a little more of 1022 01:03:20,760 --> 01:03:24,039 a step on those guys, and that unlocks his playmaking a little bit more. 1023 01:03:24,400 --> 01:03:27,480 And I think if you if you can keep Dario, you should. 1024 01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:31,400 The other guy I love is Javon Carter. Carter, I don't think he's 1025 01:03:31,440 --> 01:03:36,440 gonna make a lot like and that helps when you talk about keeping him, 1026 01:03:36,480 --> 01:03:40,840 because offensively, he's at best a stand still three point shooter that actually the 1027 01:03:40,840 --> 01:03:45,320 best on the suns. He had the best shooting percentage from the three point 1028 01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:51,159 line on the suns this last year, boosted by an incredible bubble run where 1029 01:03:52,239 --> 01:03:54,639 from beyond the Arc or something like that. Yeah, him and Cameron Payne. 1030 01:03:54,679 --> 01:03:59,159 Just Cameron Payne also shot fifty percent from three in the bubble. Another 1031 01:03:59,199 --> 01:04:02,840 reason to not overvalue what happened in the bubble, right there, Cameron Payne, 1032 01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:06,480 who was not in the NBA before the Bubble, shot fifty percent from 1033 01:04:06,519 --> 01:04:13,920 three in a huge role for the Phoenix Sun. Yeah, if he can, 1034 01:04:14,280 --> 01:04:16,239 if he can sustain that, just they'll never lose. Actually, we 1035 01:04:16,320 --> 01:04:20,239 have a statistical event to point at that says they'll never lose if he can 1036 01:04:20,239 --> 01:04:25,199 shoot fifty percent from three. But Javon Carter, he's just the type of 1037 01:04:25,239 --> 01:04:28,199 guy that has a role in the NBA, even though he's tiny, because 1038 01:04:28,480 --> 01:04:31,440 he's all effort on defense all the time. He gets right into guys, 1039 01:04:31,519 --> 01:04:35,719 just right in their jerseys pretty much and shadows them across the court. He's 1040 01:04:35,760 --> 01:04:41,400 the guy for the Suns that actually successfully shut down Duncan Robinson in the bubble 1041 01:04:41,920 --> 01:04:45,840 when they were getting killed by Duncan Robinson. Everyone tried to guard him, 1042 01:04:45,320 --> 01:04:49,199 and finally Monty just said, you know what, Javon, harass him. 1043 01:04:49,880 --> 01:04:54,239 Just go out there and harass him, and he did and he did that 1044 01:04:54,320 --> 01:04:58,719 well also blocking bam at a Baio at the rim. You know, Javan 1045 01:04:58,800 --> 01:05:01,840 Carter tiny, Chris Paul sized if you will, uh, And I love 1046 01:05:01,880 --> 01:05:03,960 him and I'd like to keep him, and I actually think it might be 1047 01:05:04,079 --> 01:05:06,280 kind of hard. I think, you know, other other teams are going 1048 01:05:06,320 --> 01:05:09,719 to look at Javon Carter as a guy too. He's restricted though, so 1049 01:05:10,280 --> 01:05:14,119 I think the Suns have a little bit of an advantage there with Javon Carter. 1050 01:05:14,639 --> 01:05:15,920 I think there is a chance that none none of those guys are back, 1051 01:05:15,960 --> 01:05:19,400 though I do think it really possible. Yeah, I think the guy 1052 01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:24,760 that wouldn't want to keep the most is Sharich and I think Cameron Payne too. 1053 01:05:24,960 --> 01:05:27,960 It's he's not necessarily a free agent, but it's a team option. 1054 01:05:28,320 --> 01:05:30,920 That's why I would think, wouldn't he just be at one point basically two 1055 01:05:30,960 --> 01:05:33,159 million, Like, wouldn't you just bring him back? Yeah? Yeah, 1056 01:05:33,199 --> 01:05:38,280 I think that's definitely something that you probably do too if he can. But 1057 01:05:38,320 --> 01:05:42,119 if you're trying to maximize a cap space, like these guys can't come back, 1058 01:05:42,559 --> 01:05:45,320 you know, that's that's really what it comes down to. Yeah, 1059 01:05:45,440 --> 01:05:46,920 I would wonder, Yeah, Yeah, You're right, that is a good 1060 01:05:46,960 --> 01:05:50,199 point, and I think what helps I think what helps the Suns. I 1061 01:05:50,239 --> 01:05:53,760 don't really think it matters. He won't get paid this much, but paid 1062 01:05:53,800 --> 01:05:57,159 this much, but no one can offer him more than the non tax players 1063 01:05:57,239 --> 01:06:00,639 mL E in year one and so I'm not paying that to keep Javon Carter, 1064 01:06:00,800 --> 01:06:02,400 but I guess something to consider. I will be interesting to see his 1065 01:06:02,440 --> 01:06:05,440 price point because there's just no cash fling around in this market. And yeah, 1066 01:06:05,480 --> 01:06:08,800 I think that helps a lot. I think there he's even a chance 1067 01:06:08,800 --> 01:06:11,840 that there's no market for Dario Scharitch, like I tried, Like, if 1068 01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:15,239 he wants to start in the NBA, I'm not sure that there's a team 1069 01:06:15,280 --> 01:06:18,079 that can do that right now. For Dario. He probably has has to 1070 01:06:18,119 --> 01:06:21,239 have a bench roll at this point, and I just wonder. I don't 1071 01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:24,559 know if you've you've thought about that, are considered it that one of the 1072 01:06:24,559 --> 01:06:27,599 teams I considered was the Spurs. I could see them considering him, but 1073 01:06:28,519 --> 01:06:30,920 it's it's difficult to come up with a team that would actually start Dario Scharits. 1074 01:06:31,119 --> 01:06:35,760 And you know, maybe he leaves to Europe and doesn't even play on 1075 01:06:35,800 --> 01:06:40,320 the NA and makes just makes a lot of money there or maybe he even 1076 01:06:40,320 --> 01:06:43,400 accepts his qualifying offer. You know, that's something that could actually happen. 1077 01:06:43,679 --> 01:06:45,960 Yeah, because like I don't know that any of the Caps based teams, 1078 01:06:45,960 --> 01:06:48,679 and there's gonna be like three or four of them are going to give him 1079 01:06:48,760 --> 01:06:51,079 more than the MLI and I would I would assume if you're the signs, 1080 01:06:51,079 --> 01:06:54,960 if he's getting mL E money, like that's the offer sheet he signs. 1081 01:06:54,960 --> 01:06:57,880 If you say, go out, signed the best offer sheet you can and 1082 01:06:57,960 --> 01:07:00,440 it's not a sign in trade and he gets you know, four forty basically 1083 01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:03,320 like from them years, Like you matched there? Yeah, I think you 1084 01:07:03,360 --> 01:07:06,280 can't think you can and should I you know, we talked about it. 1085 01:07:06,320 --> 01:07:10,639 The bench was one of the biggest problems for the Suns, and if you've 1086 01:07:10,880 --> 01:07:14,239 found the right role for him, you keep it. I will say one 1087 01:07:14,280 --> 01:07:17,559 thing. The Suns had an assistant coach named Darko Riyokovich last season. Darko 1088 01:07:17,639 --> 01:07:25,079 Riyokovich was the guy that was credited with the sort of change in Darya sharch 1089 01:07:25,199 --> 01:07:27,760 And and finding the right role for him. He wanted him to be a 1090 01:07:27,800 --> 01:07:30,559 point center, that's what he called it. He's gone. He's actually on 1091 01:07:30,599 --> 01:07:34,719 the Memphis Grizzlies now, so I'm not sure how close those two guys were, 1092 01:07:35,480 --> 01:07:39,559 but if they were very close, there's a chance that Dario SARTs. 1093 01:07:39,599 --> 01:07:42,559 He's a little more open to leaving now than he was when he was on 1094 01:07:42,599 --> 01:07:48,320 the staff. Are there any outside free agent targets that you are both favorite 1095 01:07:48,320 --> 01:07:51,440 fits of yours? Would also seem like gettable for Phoenix And I'm not trying 1096 01:07:51,480 --> 01:07:55,360 to like dump all over the idea that they could get Jeremy Grant, but 1097 01:07:55,519 --> 01:07:59,159 like that seems like the one who's mentioned the most, and for the number 1098 01:07:59,159 --> 01:08:00,880 of players that they would have to give up to create the cap space necessary 1099 01:08:00,920 --> 01:08:03,800 that it would take to poach him from Denver, and then there's no guarantee. 1100 01:08:04,039 --> 01:08:06,760 Denver isn't just like, well, we'll pay him fifteen million dollars anyway. 1101 01:08:08,239 --> 01:08:10,960 He's someone that like I've i've kind of like written off for them. 1102 01:08:11,519 --> 01:08:14,000 Yeah, he's got such a small cap hold and they have his bird rights, 1103 01:08:14,039 --> 01:08:17,399 like they're going to keep him. And also Paul millsapp coming off their 1104 01:08:17,399 --> 01:08:20,920 books. It's a nice situation for Denver. They're gonna be good or argued. 1105 01:08:21,239 --> 01:08:26,399 It's I almost find it tough because they're just well it's not tough if 1106 01:08:26,399 --> 01:08:29,439 they were willing to go into the tax because like if you signed Paul Millsapp 1107 01:08:29,680 --> 01:08:31,239 and Jeremy Grant to new deals, like you could be right at the tax 1108 01:08:31,279 --> 01:08:34,079 line and that team's not going to go into the tax and so like that's 1109 01:08:34,079 --> 01:08:36,720 where it gets tough. But yeah, I mean, like they're they have 1110 01:08:36,840 --> 01:08:41,199 the flexibility to pay Jeremy Grant fifteen million dollars a year. And so if 1111 01:08:41,199 --> 01:08:44,039 you're the Sun's why are you clearing the space to go after a player? 1112 01:08:44,479 --> 01:08:46,279 Which is the predicament that teams will look at. With Sarich, it's like, 1113 01:08:46,279 --> 01:08:48,920 why do we want to tie up our cap space for forty eight hours? 1114 01:08:48,920 --> 01:08:53,399 And someone who would exactly get yep, And I think that's definitely something 1115 01:08:53,399 --> 01:08:57,319 that could happen. I think Christian would, I think is a guy that 1116 01:08:57,359 --> 01:09:00,640 a lot of Suns fans have looked at. Davis Berton's. The tough part 1117 01:09:00,960 --> 01:09:05,760 is for everyone. I think it's not just guys prognosticators like us that try 1118 01:09:05,760 --> 01:09:10,119 and figure out what these guys are going to make. But I think even 1119 01:09:10,159 --> 01:09:14,199 for the NBA teams is understanding the market. Like you said, not a 1120 01:09:14,239 --> 01:09:17,520 lot of teams that have space. How many of these guys are now just 1121 01:09:17,640 --> 01:09:20,920 going to sign for the mL E and how do you plan for that, 1122 01:09:21,079 --> 01:09:25,039 and how do you plan for that as a team that didn't even make the 1123 01:09:25,039 --> 01:09:27,560 playoffs, Like you have to convince these guys when there's a little bit more 1124 01:09:27,560 --> 01:09:30,640 of a market at a mL E level than without that. You know, 1125 01:09:30,920 --> 01:09:34,359 the Sons have been rumored to even look at Fred van Vleet, which I 1126 01:09:34,439 --> 01:09:39,479 just don't see any way possible of doing that. Not that I would hate 1127 01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:42,439 it, I actually would. I think he would be really interesting next to 1128 01:09:42,479 --> 01:09:45,680 Devin Booker. I just don't see it possible. But then you look when 1129 01:09:45,680 --> 01:09:49,159 you're talking about the backup guard spot, you look at like smaller moves like 1130 01:09:49,640 --> 01:09:55,359 DJ Augustine Alec Burke's are guys that could come in and actually be relatively good 1131 01:09:55,399 --> 01:09:59,680 bench pieces, but they're just not needle movers. But I will say, 1132 01:09:59,760 --> 01:10:03,039 like you fix, they didn't have a backup point guard or a backup shooting 1133 01:10:03,079 --> 01:10:06,239 guard that was valuable this last season. Like you fix, you fix those 1134 01:10:06,359 --> 01:10:12,319 roles. I think it'll have a bigger difference than most people realize. They're 1135 01:10:12,359 --> 01:10:16,079 just not exciting to talk about if they and look Christian Wood could end up 1136 01:10:16,079 --> 01:10:18,840 falling in the same category as just Jeremy Grant, because he also kind of 1137 01:10:18,840 --> 01:10:23,199 feels like someone that CAPS based teams might go after, like a Charlotte I 1138 01:10:23,199 --> 01:10:26,279 think is the one that's been linked to him most. But if if Christian 1139 01:10:26,319 --> 01:10:29,680 would is someone who's like Pete Phoenix's interest and they're like kind of looking to 1140 01:10:29,760 --> 01:10:33,000 fill that combo big role without spending too much. I think I will now 1141 01:10:33,079 --> 01:10:39,000 have successfully said every game should sign him. But Chris Boucher from Toronto someone 1142 01:10:39,039 --> 01:10:41,960 who's intrigued me. It's just someone he's proved that he could shoot the three, 1143 01:10:42,359 --> 01:10:45,119 not necessarily well for a sustainably long period of time, but he shot 1144 01:10:45,159 --> 01:10:48,520 well in the bubble and he's just like a pogo stick when he's protecting the 1145 01:10:48,560 --> 01:10:50,760 rim, and he can really like he can give you the four or the 1146 01:10:50,800 --> 01:10:55,039 five minutes. And so if you need a cost effective option, we're talking 1147 01:10:55,039 --> 01:10:58,760 about another early Burger restricted free agent, so his max isn't too high. 1148 01:10:58,880 --> 01:11:00,119 I don't know that you would need to go out how to get him from 1149 01:11:00,119 --> 01:11:04,399 Toronto, especially with you know they have siakam Abaca is a free agent who 1150 01:11:04,399 --> 01:11:08,000 knows what's gonna happen. With Cassoul there. So, but he would be 1151 01:11:08,079 --> 01:11:11,399 just like a I don't think he's gonna People have said like, oh, 1152 01:11:11,439 --> 01:11:13,680 could he be the next Christian Wood, And I don't really see like him 1153 01:11:13,680 --> 01:11:15,159 being able to put the ball on the floor as well. But he's definitely 1154 01:11:15,159 --> 01:11:18,279 gonna be a better defender, I think. And I would assume that he'll 1155 01:11:18,319 --> 01:11:21,439 get a third or like, you know, like if he gets more than 1156 01:11:21,479 --> 01:11:26,600 five to seven million a year, I would be surprised. Right, that's 1157 01:11:26,720 --> 01:11:30,359 excellent. And that's actually somebody that my co host Sam has brought up before, 1158 01:11:30,600 --> 01:11:33,159 so that that's a great name, somebody that we haven't talked about in 1159 01:11:33,199 --> 01:11:35,520 a while. So I'm gonna steal that from you if you don't mind. 1160 01:11:35,800 --> 01:11:40,319 Oh yeah, no, that's fine with me. So I look, I 1161 01:11:40,359 --> 01:11:44,279 just I don't even know how Chris Paul then affects what they do in free 1162 01:11:44,279 --> 01:11:45,479 agency, because we don't know if they're using cap space or not yet. 1163 01:11:45,520 --> 01:11:48,399 I do think there would still be a path regardless of what you do that 1164 01:11:48,439 --> 01:11:53,920 if you get Chris Paul, you're still able to use the full mL E 1165 01:11:54,079 --> 01:11:58,359 without going into the tacks. The issue becomes though, like who are you, 1166 01:11:58,760 --> 01:12:00,560 like, what do you still need because if you're using cap space to 1167 01:12:00,600 --> 01:12:03,920 help get Chris Paul, so now it's okay, Aaron Bain's and Dario sarage 1168 01:12:04,000 --> 01:12:08,119 or are both just gone, and that changes what you're looking for. Yeah, 1169 01:12:08,239 --> 01:12:10,079 backup, big would be the first thing that you look at, and 1170 01:12:10,119 --> 01:12:13,560 there's a chance they could keep check Diallo in that case, but that's not 1171 01:12:13,600 --> 01:12:16,279 a like that. You prefer him to be your third big in a lot 1172 01:12:16,279 --> 01:12:19,319 of ways, and I think that's you know, it's interesting though, because 1173 01:12:19,319 --> 01:12:23,800 we haven't done a lot of we haven't talked a lot about filling those rules 1174 01:12:23,800 --> 01:12:26,439 because you just assume they have options there. But with Chris Paul in the 1175 01:12:26,439 --> 01:12:30,079 mix, it changes things. You've got to look at different things. And 1176 01:12:30,119 --> 01:12:33,439 also what does it do for the Sun's appeal and free agency where it's some 1177 01:12:33,479 --> 01:12:36,760 of these veteran guys And I think you could look in particular at the big 1178 01:12:36,800 --> 01:12:41,880 man spaces where these guys are gonna get squeezed anyway, likes Paul Millsapped like, 1179 01:12:41,920 --> 01:12:45,359 Hey, like I'll go play in Phoenix for the minimum, but maybe 1180 01:12:45,479 --> 01:12:47,960 maybe I'm going too far like low on his value because he could get clearly 1181 01:12:48,000 --> 01:12:51,239 more than that. But you know, for half the not like for five 1182 01:12:51,279 --> 01:12:54,960 million a year, I'll go play in Phoenix or I'll play it bi annual 1183 01:12:55,319 --> 01:12:58,439 money in Phoenix. And so having Chris Paul I think does give you that 1184 01:12:58,560 --> 01:13:01,680 magnetic pull other free agents, so long as he's happy to be there obviously. 1185 01:13:02,159 --> 01:13:04,560 Yeah, and I think a combination of Chris Paul and Monty Williams, 1186 01:13:04,560 --> 01:13:09,000 who's relatively well liked, I think people understand what they're going to get into 1187 01:13:09,039 --> 01:13:13,399 if they signed with the team, you know, I think could make a 1188 01:13:13,479 --> 01:13:16,119 difference when looking at that. But the market, like we've talked about, 1189 01:13:17,079 --> 01:13:21,239 it's just it feels a little unpredictable in a way that previous years have not. 1190 01:13:21,840 --> 01:13:26,520 At least we have a cap number now for sure, we understand that 1191 01:13:26,560 --> 01:13:30,279 it's gonna be one o nine, and we can actually sort of make assumptions 1192 01:13:30,560 --> 01:13:31,920 based on that. But yeah, if Chris Paul is there, I think 1193 01:13:33,159 --> 01:13:36,399 there's a chance they still look at a different starting power forward, Like maybe 1194 01:13:36,439 --> 01:13:40,520 you don't want to start Cameron Johnson in his second year in the NBA. 1195 01:13:40,600 --> 01:13:44,239 Maybe you do want to try and find someone like Paul Millsap or somebody else 1196 01:13:45,199 --> 01:13:47,960 like Jay Crowder. I'm not sure how much he's going to make somebody like 1197 01:13:48,000 --> 01:13:51,359 that to slip into that role. That would be excellent, but it's it's 1198 01:13:51,359 --> 01:13:57,159 tough to know how to fill out that team without understanding the deal entirely. 1199 01:13:58,000 --> 01:14:01,239 And so this was a question I had written down, was would you consider 1200 01:14:01,279 --> 01:14:04,399 a deal for CP three? And so I'll just there was another part of 1201 01:14:04,720 --> 01:14:08,399 the general question, was there any trade target you have your eye on? 1202 01:14:08,439 --> 01:14:11,880 And so I'll say, aside from CP three that you would be interested in 1203 01:14:12,279 --> 01:14:15,479 if you're the Sons, assume let's say the CP three deal doesn't go through, 1204 01:14:15,520 --> 01:14:19,199 because the fact that we haven't even heard like relative package framework is a 1205 01:14:19,199 --> 01:14:23,119 little weird to me. So let's assume a fall. Yeah, well, 1206 01:14:23,119 --> 01:14:26,479 I think I think if anything, the CP three rumors, if anything, 1207 01:14:26,680 --> 01:14:29,279 it proves that he might be open to it, which I think makes a 1208 01:14:29,279 --> 01:14:33,560 big difference with Chris Paul because it's still a Robert Sarver owned team. But 1209 01:14:33,720 --> 01:14:39,079 beyond that, to me, we still have I think you kind of have 1210 01:14:39,159 --> 01:14:44,319 to go in on a guard regardless because you have an advantage of Wings being 1211 01:14:44,359 --> 01:14:46,479 on rookie deals. Kelly, youbra if you keep him on a relatively cheap 1212 01:14:46,479 --> 01:14:50,000 deal for what he does and then DeAndrea and on a rookie deal. That 1213 01:14:50,000 --> 01:14:54,720 means you have a little extra money to spend on a guard if you want 1214 01:14:54,720 --> 01:14:57,880 to do it. Obviously, with Devin Booker making the line share of that 1215 01:14:57,960 --> 01:15:01,319 money, Drew Hall, Day, Spencer, Dinwoody, those are guys that 1216 01:15:01,399 --> 01:15:06,000 have come up with a lot of regularity. We actually just did a podcast 1217 01:15:06,079 --> 01:15:09,960 on that, Yester or just released it yesterday, right, and I listen 1218 01:15:10,000 --> 01:15:12,720 to that. I love the Dinwoody idea you guys had, and I feel 1219 01:15:12,720 --> 01:15:15,279 like you might have even had it earlier in the year too, like leading 1220 01:15:15,319 --> 01:15:17,560 into this trade deadline. I love the Dinwoody fit in Phoenix. Yeah, 1221 01:15:17,640 --> 01:15:20,800 I think that's really interesting. One trade we made up on the fly on 1222 01:15:20,880 --> 01:15:25,600 that episode was for Shrewder. We're trying to find a way to fill the 1223 01:15:25,640 --> 01:15:29,680 backup guard position without getting rid of Kelly Oubrey because I think if you're going 1224 01:15:29,760 --> 01:15:32,399 to do the minor moves, like the non Chris Paul moves, then you 1225 01:15:32,399 --> 01:15:35,359 should try to keep all three of those wings if you can, just to 1226 01:15:35,399 --> 01:15:40,960 see what it's like, because I think the best fit around Devin Booker and 1227 01:15:41,279 --> 01:15:45,199 DeAndre in our switchable wings like that. So if you can't keep them you 1228 01:15:45,199 --> 01:15:47,560 should. And one of the moves we made up was like a trade Frank 1229 01:15:47,640 --> 01:15:50,560 Kimitsky in the tenth pick for Dennis Shrewder in the twenty fifth pick. Is 1230 01:15:50,600 --> 01:15:55,119 something that we pitched to our okay see friends and they actually like that. 1231 01:15:55,199 --> 01:15:59,359 And I like it too, because Shrewder, you know, he wants to 1232 01:15:59,359 --> 01:16:01,119 start, and maybe he wouldn't like coming off the bench for Ricky Rubio, 1233 01:16:01,199 --> 01:16:04,840 but I still think he would. But it'd be nice for a single year. 1234 01:16:05,000 --> 01:16:08,119 It's tough to go up that tenth pick, but if you have that 1235 01:16:08,159 --> 01:16:11,319 twenty fifth pick and you can get a guy like Grant Riller or Desmond Bane 1236 01:16:12,159 --> 01:16:15,319 with that twenty fifth pick, it becomes a little more palatable, I think, 1237 01:16:15,640 --> 01:16:18,359 almost interesting in a lot of ways. If you want to keep Kelly 1238 01:16:18,439 --> 01:16:21,720 Ubray. But you know, compared to Chris Paul trade, it doesn't sound 1239 01:16:21,800 --> 01:16:26,800 all that exciting. No, obviously, anything they do now is not because 1240 01:16:26,800 --> 01:16:29,199 it's not going to be Chris Paul. We're talking about tell when we finished 1241 01:16:29,199 --> 01:16:31,720 all NBA this year. The dim what you want, as you guys mentioned 1242 01:16:31,720 --> 01:16:35,039 on your podcast, is tough to work out because the Sun's best package is 1243 01:16:35,079 --> 01:16:39,640 not going to interest Brooklyn per se, just because they're not going to be 1244 01:16:39,680 --> 01:16:43,520 interested in picks or prospects, and so their best route to getting him would 1245 01:16:43,520 --> 01:16:46,000 be the latch into a three team deal that Brooklyn's already having. And I 1246 01:16:46,039 --> 01:16:50,359 don't even think you guys mentioned Drew Holiday. The framework there is just still 1247 01:16:50,760 --> 01:16:55,000 it's almost impossible. Yeah, And so I think you're the Suns are being 1248 01:16:55,000 --> 01:16:58,560 a better spot if Brooklyn needs a third team to complete Brabby Beal deal, 1249 01:16:58,680 --> 01:17:01,640 because then the number ten pick just becomes so much more valuable. Where in 1250 01:17:01,640 --> 01:17:05,520 that scenario you're imagining, Brooklyn's almost certainly giving up Lavert and Dinwoody, and 1251 01:17:05,560 --> 01:17:10,119 so Washington, with three years left on Leavert's deal, can definitely talk themselves 1252 01:17:10,159 --> 01:17:12,520 and okay, we'll take Laverty's lot old they're twenty six, but he's really 1253 01:17:12,560 --> 01:17:15,680 good. He's locked up, but we don't want Dinwoody. And so like 1254 01:17:15,680 --> 01:17:17,800 that's when the Suns would be easier for them to get involved. I love 1255 01:17:17,840 --> 01:17:20,840 that. That's a really great point. Yeah, I think Dinwoody would be 1256 01:17:20,840 --> 01:17:24,399 a great fit. I just think he would look really good on that team 1257 01:17:24,399 --> 01:17:28,119 and fix all the bench problems immediately, and on a good salary. He 1258 01:17:28,279 --> 01:17:31,199 is a free agent. I think he is a player option that he's definitely 1259 01:17:31,239 --> 01:17:35,199 going to decline after this year and sign some sort of weird bitcoin deal or 1260 01:17:35,199 --> 01:17:40,239 whatever whatever he tries to sign. But I think he would be a really 1261 01:17:40,319 --> 01:17:44,840 great fit. I think it's it's sort of fascinating to picture him next to 1262 01:17:44,920 --> 01:17:47,760 Devin Booker in lineups, just sort of as the backcourt. You know, 1263 01:17:47,840 --> 01:17:54,199 that's two guys that play relatively similarly actually, but Dinwoody can really create off 1264 01:17:54,680 --> 01:17:59,199 the dribble from that three point line and that makes that pretty unguardable too. 1265 01:18:00,079 --> 01:18:02,199 So yeah, I really like that fit a lot. It's something that sam 1266 01:18:02,199 --> 01:18:06,960 My co host once again has really been hammering home, and I definitely agree 1267 01:18:06,960 --> 01:18:10,479 it's a really good fit. There's and there are not a lot of options 1268 01:18:10,479 --> 01:18:12,960 out there when looking because I try to look at guard specifically, and so 1269 01:18:13,039 --> 01:18:15,359 like the point guard market in free agency is just it's terrible. After Fred 1270 01:18:15,399 --> 01:18:19,079 van Fed, it's Fred Van Leader Dj Augustine, like those are your option. 1271 01:18:19,119 --> 01:18:23,359 It's either a guy for twenty two million that's making too much, or 1272 01:18:23,479 --> 01:18:27,239 you try and compete with other teams that are using part of their mL E 1273 01:18:27,439 --> 01:18:30,159 for Dj Augustine, and he's probably going to go to a contender if he 1274 01:18:30,199 --> 01:18:32,279 can. So it's just it's it's not a great market. I agree, 1275 01:18:32,359 --> 01:18:35,319 and even but and then even the trade market is a little naked too, 1276 01:18:35,439 --> 01:18:39,319 and like the names you can come up with is like Patty Mills, just 1277 01:18:39,319 --> 01:18:42,560 not someone's going to come in and run the offense. H Thomas said. 1278 01:18:42,640 --> 01:18:45,920 Ranski is like, like I wouldn't hate that, but that as like your 1279 01:18:46,079 --> 01:18:50,199 big like solution to the let's just call it the notebooker minutes essentially like I 1280 01:18:50,239 --> 01:18:54,119 don't I don't know how I feel about that, and so like it just 1281 01:18:54,159 --> 01:18:58,239 gets really difficult to like the answer is not in free agency in all likelihood 1282 01:18:58,359 --> 01:19:00,800 for now it doesn't appear so. And then it's just gets really even hard 1283 01:19:00,800 --> 01:19:02,920 to find like something that they could pursue via trade. It definitely would be 1284 01:19:02,960 --> 01:19:06,319 easier for them to address the four spot via trade. And are there any 1285 01:19:06,359 --> 01:19:12,680 names that use zero in on like they are cough Aaron Gordon cough. I 1286 01:19:12,720 --> 01:19:16,720 mean Aaron Gordon is somebody that I'm not fully against the idea of what do 1287 01:19:16,800 --> 01:19:19,640 you when you talk about Aaron Gordon as a potential trade partner, how do 1288 01:19:19,720 --> 01:19:21,640 you view that deal? Like, what do you think it could be. 1289 01:19:23,199 --> 01:19:30,239 Maybe it's something like Kelly Woobray junior and number ten for Aaron Gordon and number 1290 01:19:30,279 --> 01:19:34,119 fifteen or something else. I don't know if number fifteen and Gordon is too 1291 01:19:34,199 --> 01:19:38,439 much. I view Gordon is the better player in that deal. Not necessarily 1292 01:19:38,479 --> 01:19:41,760 someone i'd want to give up number ten with four a loan when you're giving 1293 01:19:41,840 --> 01:19:45,520 up Kelly bridging her, but I think he's a better fit for Phoenix's roster 1294 01:19:45,720 --> 01:19:48,039 given what he can do just defensively and then being able to soak up like 1295 01:19:48,399 --> 01:19:51,479 those small ball five minutes as kind of a backup center, like he sort 1296 01:19:51,479 --> 01:19:56,640 of pras two holes for them. Yeah, I think I don't hate it, 1297 01:19:56,680 --> 01:19:59,359 and for a couple of reasons I don't hate it. I think he's 1298 01:19:59,359 --> 01:20:02,439 signed longer at a relatively good deal, which I think is nice because then 1299 01:20:02,439 --> 01:20:05,960 you're not in that situation immediately with Kelly Ubrey that you would be at the 1300 01:20:06,039 --> 01:20:10,920 end of the season. I think they I think their value is relatively close. 1301 01:20:11,119 --> 01:20:13,640 Like I think Aaron Gordon is a little bit better, And I think 1302 01:20:13,640 --> 01:20:15,640 the reason I think he is a little bit better is he's a little more 1303 01:20:15,640 --> 01:20:18,520 focused defensively and he's a better pass or where Kelly Ubrey just doesn't pass. 1304 01:20:19,399 --> 01:20:24,359 It's just not something that he does right currently. So I think that makes 1305 01:20:24,560 --> 01:20:28,319 makes a big difference. So I don't hate it, but he's just not 1306 01:20:28,479 --> 01:20:32,359 Like the shooting is so inconsistent that it's just hard to picture what the offense 1307 01:20:32,399 --> 01:20:34,760 would look like. And if you look at if you look at every single 1308 01:20:34,800 --> 01:20:38,720 thing that James Jones says when he talks about this team, I mean it's 1309 01:20:38,800 --> 01:20:41,520 James Jones, Like, how did he play in the NBA? He was 1310 01:20:41,560 --> 01:20:45,039 a shooter. He wants shooters, like, I think that's just something he 1311 01:20:45,119 --> 01:20:47,159 wants. And look at who he picked. He picked himself in the draft 1312 01:20:47,199 --> 01:20:50,600 of last year in Cameron Johnson, Like this is a guy who wants to 1313 01:20:50,800 --> 01:20:55,039 you know, and I don't. I don't know that he's the type of 1314 01:20:55,039 --> 01:20:58,319 guy that James Jones would like. I think the ideal situation is a shooter 1315 01:20:58,319 --> 01:21:03,000 who's relatively good at team defense at the very best. But I don't hate 1316 01:21:03,000 --> 01:21:06,359 it. I don't think it's a bad trade. I just don't know if 1317 01:21:06,359 --> 01:21:11,359 it's like a massive needle mover. Of note, he did shoot thirty six 1318 01:21:11,399 --> 01:21:15,560 point one percent on catch and shoot threes after January first, I also believe 1319 01:21:15,600 --> 01:21:18,159 he fell off a cliff though on that number post All Star break, and 1320 01:21:18,399 --> 01:21:21,840 I feel like that's something that's cyclical with Aaron Gordon is he always shoots better 1321 01:21:23,399 --> 01:21:25,720 towards the end of the season, but not really the whole end of the 1322 01:21:25,720 --> 01:21:29,199 season, Like then he'll trail off. Yeah, I still just I guess 1323 01:21:29,239 --> 01:21:31,479 because of what he does for them, could do for them positionally for defense, 1324 01:21:31,640 --> 01:21:33,920 I view him as a better player than Ubray in a vacuum, and 1325 01:21:33,920 --> 01:21:36,680 I consider him actually a much better fit for this roster, and I do 1326 01:21:36,800 --> 01:21:40,560 Look, the contracts are part of that two years left on a declining scale. 1327 01:21:40,680 --> 01:21:44,119 Yeah, I think that makes a difference too. Yeah, So you 1328 01:21:44,159 --> 01:21:46,680 know, I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. So 1329 01:21:46,920 --> 01:21:50,000 what does the end look now that Chris Paul information is within this, What 1330 01:21:50,039 --> 01:21:55,560 does the ideal offseason look like for the Suns in terms of like the whole 1331 01:21:55,560 --> 01:21:59,239 shebang of free agents, they resign, they poach who they drafted ten and 1332 01:21:59,640 --> 01:22:01,039 if you to work into Chris Paul trade at this point, like go for 1333 01:22:01,199 --> 01:22:05,520 it. Look, I think the best possible team if we're just talking about 1334 01:22:05,520 --> 01:22:09,199 next season, is it Chris Paul team. I just think it is. 1335 01:22:09,720 --> 01:22:12,760 And I think you can argue, well, could that be the best team 1336 01:22:12,840 --> 01:22:15,399 during the regular season, right this might be a condensed season, hopefully less 1337 01:22:15,439 --> 01:22:18,760 travel that would help a guy like Chris Paul and maybe he gets injured and 1338 01:22:18,880 --> 01:22:23,159 maybe it's not the best team in the regular season, but I think it 1339 01:22:23,239 --> 01:22:26,039 is. I still think it is, and I think ultimately in the playoffs, 1340 01:22:26,039 --> 01:22:29,760 as we talked about, when they're minutes increase that it's just a beautiful 1341 01:22:30,079 --> 01:22:33,119 fit, you know, all around. But if you don't do that, 1342 01:22:33,640 --> 01:22:36,359 I think what you have to do is you have to shop Kelly Uber. 1343 01:22:36,479 --> 01:22:39,920 You just have to. You have to see what's out there, and then 1344 01:22:40,000 --> 01:22:43,359 marginally as well, I think Ricky Rubio, just to see if you can 1345 01:22:43,359 --> 01:22:45,159 improve. But as we talked about the point guard market, it's just not 1346 01:22:45,199 --> 01:22:47,680 that great and if you're trying to move a guy like Ricky Rubio, it's 1347 01:22:47,680 --> 01:22:51,000 gonna be hard to get an upgrade as far as you know, fit next 1348 01:22:51,039 --> 01:22:57,079 to Devin Booker. So that really doesn't look great to me. I pitched 1349 01:22:57,319 --> 01:23:00,319 like, if you want to make a massive move, you know there's us 1350 01:23:00,399 --> 01:23:03,279 that the Warriors were willing to trade the second pick for the tenth and Kelly 1351 01:23:03,399 --> 01:23:09,279 Ubre. I pitched trading the tenth and Kelly Ubre for the second pick and 1352 01:23:09,279 --> 01:23:13,239 then packaging the second pick in DeAndre eight and for Bradley Beal and just trying 1353 01:23:13,279 --> 01:23:15,720 to pare Bradley Beale next to Devin Booker. That's like a massive, massive 1354 01:23:15,800 --> 01:23:21,560 move. But it's a really good like package for Bradley Beal as far as 1355 01:23:21,640 --> 01:23:27,359 the Wizards are concerned. At that point, you need to call Houston and 1356 01:23:27,479 --> 01:23:30,840 James about James Harden though, just what it's all the weird stuff that's going 1357 01:23:30,880 --> 01:23:33,000 on there. Yeah, And actually it's an excellent point. You know, 1358 01:23:33,039 --> 01:23:35,479 if you want to look at massive, massive moves, that that's what you 1359 01:23:35,520 --> 01:23:38,880 do. But at that point, you're blowing up something they've built for a 1360 01:23:38,880 --> 01:23:42,520 long time. Good you know, great teams trade good players. That's something 1361 01:23:42,560 --> 01:23:45,359 that happens relatively regularly. So I'm not fully against that. I'm I'll tell 1362 01:23:45,399 --> 01:23:48,119 you right now, a lot of Suns fans hate when I talk about stuff 1363 01:23:48,159 --> 01:23:51,279 like this, but I think when you have a guy like Devin Booker that's 1364 01:23:51,319 --> 01:23:56,279 at the level that he is currently at, all options have to be on 1365 01:23:56,319 --> 01:23:59,479 the table because there's a chance that he could have like one of the best 1366 01:23:59,680 --> 01:24:05,079 offensive, high load offensive seasons next next season, Kevin Durant type offensive season. 1367 01:24:05,119 --> 01:24:09,319 That's possible out of Devin Booker next year. And like, you know, 1368 01:24:09,359 --> 01:24:12,399 you look at okay See and I brought this up on our podcast before 1369 01:24:12,439 --> 01:24:15,079 you look at okay See with Kevin Durant, that window was open earlier than 1370 01:24:15,119 --> 01:24:18,560 they thought and then they never made it back to the finals. With that. 1371 01:24:18,680 --> 01:24:21,720 With that, yeah, that's great point. So sometimes you look at 1372 01:24:21,720 --> 01:24:24,680 these guys and say, oh, next year, it could be that year 1373 01:24:24,720 --> 01:24:27,600 where he has at Kevin Durant level season. And right now, if you 1374 01:24:27,640 --> 01:24:30,359 want to look at what the value is for DeAndre Aan, right now is 1375 01:24:30,359 --> 01:24:33,199 not the worst time to do it as far as just seeing what's out there. 1376 01:24:34,239 --> 01:24:38,119 But you know that that's that's kind of a massive, massive thing, 1377 01:24:38,159 --> 01:24:41,960 and who knows if that lines up to what people want. It's just something 1378 01:24:41,960 --> 01:24:45,039 to look at, Like LaMelo Ball and DeAndre Aan on the Wizard's kind of 1379 01:24:45,039 --> 01:24:50,159 fun. That's it's a fun team. Uh. But beyond that, fixing 1380 01:24:50,199 --> 01:24:54,720 the bench if you can if like if there's no big upgrades that you can 1381 01:24:54,760 --> 01:24:58,079 get out of trading Ricky Rubio and Kelly, which I think they're likely, 1382 01:24:58,159 --> 01:25:01,439 isn't other than the potential Chris Paul trade that's on, you know, rumored 1383 01:25:01,560 --> 01:25:05,399 now. Then you have to fix the bench as much as possible, and 1384 01:25:05,720 --> 01:25:10,079 I think if you can find another guy that's sort of in that mid contract 1385 01:25:10,239 --> 01:25:15,159 level we talked about Dennis Shrewder, and if you can keep a pick that's 1386 01:25:15,159 --> 01:25:17,399 particularly good, that's good because what you're doing is you're loading up on contracts 1387 01:25:17,399 --> 01:25:20,119 that are a little more tradeable in the mid season. Like if you have 1388 01:25:20,119 --> 01:25:24,920 two fifteen million dollar guys like Dennis Shrewder and Kelly Ubray and you want to 1389 01:25:24,920 --> 01:25:26,960 make a trade in the middle of the season, it's not the worst thing 1390 01:25:27,000 --> 01:25:29,760 to have, Like, that's a nice thing to have. So it's tough 1391 01:25:29,800 --> 01:25:31,760 because I want the best team possible. So I kind of always go back 1392 01:25:31,800 --> 01:25:34,399 to the Chris Paul thing in my mind. I just don't think it's the 1393 01:25:34,439 --> 01:25:38,479 worst. But you gotta take swings if you can. But if you can, 1394 01:25:38,600 --> 01:25:41,199 if nothing makes sense, fix the bench as much as possible and see 1395 01:25:41,239 --> 01:25:44,319 if you can fight for that eighth seed. Not the most fun offseason, 1396 01:25:44,720 --> 01:25:46,640 And look, that's why I think Chris Paul moved might And this is odd 1397 01:25:46,680 --> 01:25:48,720 to say, about someone who's so good and make so much money. But 1398 01:25:48,720 --> 01:25:51,520 it kind of straddles the fence because I don't think you need to short circuit 1399 01:25:51,560 --> 01:25:54,960 your future in any way to do it. But you bring up a great 1400 01:25:55,000 --> 01:25:58,960 point in that, like people will point you bake well, Devin Booker has 1401 01:25:59,000 --> 01:26:00,399 four years left on his like there's no urgency there, and like, no, 1402 01:26:00,520 --> 01:26:03,079 the goal isn't to get to the final year of his deal so that 1403 01:26:03,119 --> 01:26:05,479 he can force a trade or the final year and a half, like you 1404 01:26:05,560 --> 01:26:09,720 need to maximize the time you have with him. The fact that you've already 1405 01:26:09,760 --> 01:26:13,479 maxed him out is your timeline, Like you've a max player who deserves it. 1406 01:26:13,600 --> 01:26:15,039 He's on your roster, and whether he can be the best player in 1407 01:26:15,079 --> 01:26:17,920 a title contending team, yes, that remains to be seen. But he's 1408 01:26:17,960 --> 01:26:21,800 top twenty five, top twenty, like he's there now, and it's like 1409 01:26:21,840 --> 01:26:26,239 that is your urgency. And I feel like, at least nationally and maybe 1410 01:26:26,239 --> 01:26:29,439 even when you localize it, fans get too caught up in well, like 1411 01:26:29,479 --> 01:26:31,079 there's no urgency there because he's not almost a free agent, and it's like, 1412 01:26:31,199 --> 01:26:33,840 well, you're not trying to win just in the year before his contracts 1413 01:26:33,880 --> 01:26:38,600 up like, that's not how this works. Yeah, I completely agree. 1414 01:26:38,640 --> 01:26:41,079 I think you just you know, as fans, you get attached to the 1415 01:26:41,079 --> 01:26:43,840 players that you draft, and you just want to see those guys be good. 1416 01:26:43,840 --> 01:26:45,560 You want to win with them. You know, there were some Lakers 1417 01:26:45,640 --> 01:26:49,359 fans that were worried about trading Kuzma for Ad. You know that that's the 1418 01:26:49,359 --> 01:26:53,840 type of thing that fans do. They're just worried about those types of things. 1419 01:26:53,840 --> 01:26:57,079 So I understand why fans do that, But I think, yeah, 1420 01:26:57,439 --> 01:27:01,000 I think Devin Booker has made a every single season. He's gotten better every 1421 01:27:01,000 --> 01:27:05,000 single season, and he was really good this year. He gets better next 1422 01:27:05,039 --> 01:27:09,079 year. You gotta treat him like he's ready. You gotta. At some 1423 01:27:09,159 --> 01:27:12,319 point you paid him like he's ready. So like that's like, so I 1424 01:27:12,359 --> 01:27:15,079 would treat him like he's ready anyway. I would think definitely after this past 1425 01:27:15,119 --> 01:27:16,319 season. But yeah, if if he's gonna have that type of year, 1426 01:27:16,359 --> 01:27:18,960 Like, how do you not view this as a as a win now situation? 1427 01:27:19,000 --> 01:27:23,359 I know that's not a license to go full Nicks here, but it's 1428 01:27:23,800 --> 01:27:26,000 it's like the Chris Paul trade, Like, yeah, that's a middle ground. 1429 01:27:26,039 --> 01:27:28,880 I think you could argue you're talking about beal, but like if a 1430 01:27:28,960 --> 01:27:31,000 move like that presented itself, like outside Chris Paul, where yeah, it's 1431 01:27:31,039 --> 01:27:34,159 gonna cost you some future assets, but like you are sort of on that 1432 01:27:34,199 --> 01:27:36,520 timeline. You don't need to be reckless, but I do think you need 1433 01:27:36,800 --> 01:27:40,880 it needs to be You're not even open minded. I'd probably call it like 1434 01:27:40,920 --> 01:27:45,600 an active aggression. Yeah, to me, if you can get Bradley Bill 1435 01:27:45,640 --> 01:27:47,560 and Devin Booker on the same team, you're creating one of the greatest offensive 1436 01:27:47,560 --> 01:27:51,520 backcourts of all time, and you'll be fine. You'll figure it out from 1437 01:27:51,560 --> 01:27:56,880 there. You have options at that point. Teams become a lot easier to 1438 01:27:56,880 --> 01:28:00,000 build when you have two offensive superstars than just one, right for sure, 1439 01:28:00,079 --> 01:28:04,279 So I don't hate it. The final question I have for you is me 1440 01:28:04,359 --> 01:28:06,680 throwing it to you. Is there anything I missed you wanted to discuss, 1441 01:28:06,880 --> 01:28:13,319 or just what's the biggest misrepresentation or most undercovered thing about this team right now? 1442 01:28:13,960 --> 01:28:20,520 I think a continuity of front office and coaching staff matters a lot in 1443 01:28:20,560 --> 01:28:25,640 the NBA. I think just having guys that speak the language that you speak 1444 01:28:25,680 --> 01:28:28,760 matters a lot. And I think a lot of people are discounting how much 1445 01:28:28,760 --> 01:28:30,800 that's going to matter for Devin Booker and the guys that stay on this team 1446 01:28:30,840 --> 01:28:35,640 going forward. Just having a guy like Monty Williams who they like, they 1447 01:28:35,680 --> 01:28:40,000 trust, they understand, and they have a relationship with and he's not going 1448 01:28:40,079 --> 01:28:44,399 to be fired. And I think those types of things matter. And with 1449 01:28:44,520 --> 01:28:46,159 Robert Sarver, some of those firings were the right move. I think Ryan 1450 01:28:46,239 --> 01:28:49,560 McDonough did a terrible job as the general manager of the Phoenix Suns. The 1451 01:28:49,600 --> 01:28:53,039 firing was at a weird time, but fire that guy. He did a 1452 01:28:53,039 --> 01:28:55,960 bad job and he picked the wrong guys just about every single draft that he 1453 01:28:56,039 --> 01:28:59,319 drafted outside of Devin Bookers. So definitely let him go through another draft in 1454 01:28:59,359 --> 01:29:02,399 free agency first though, before you find yeah and pick the wrong guy. 1455 01:29:02,800 --> 01:29:05,640 But it is what it is. I mean, you have sometimes you have 1456 01:29:05,680 --> 01:29:10,159 to fire guys and there's no right timing for it. But now they don't. 1457 01:29:10,239 --> 01:29:13,399 I think now they have the right group. I tend to trust James 1458 01:29:13,439 --> 01:29:16,560 Jones and maybe I shouldn't, but the fact that the Cam Johnson move worked 1459 01:29:16,560 --> 01:29:19,520 out a little bit I think matters. But I think going forward, continuity 1460 01:29:19,520 --> 01:29:24,760 will matter. The other thing I want to say is that was really great 1461 01:29:24,800 --> 01:29:30,039 timing to record this podcast, Dan, because that news came out. I 1462 01:29:30,079 --> 01:29:33,079 mean within the first twenty minutes of this podcast, all of a sudden, 1463 01:29:33,119 --> 01:29:36,640 the entire tenor of the podcast changed, and now you can use that to 1464 01:29:36,720 --> 01:29:40,600 market this podcast. I don't know if you had some inside knowledge or something, 1465 01:29:40,640 --> 01:29:43,279 but feel free to share it with me. Yeah. I definitely have 1466 01:29:44,039 --> 01:29:46,359 knowledge of the inner workings of how Ryan Winnhorse is going to report things, 1467 01:29:46,359 --> 01:29:50,079 so that is definitely something I'm a specialist. Then, the one thing I've 1468 01:29:50,079 --> 01:29:53,960 been seeing since the news came out is there are many there. I don't 1469 01:29:53,960 --> 01:29:56,479 want to say people are overvaluing Chris Paul, but a lot of these deals 1470 01:29:56,520 --> 01:29:59,720 that the Sun's giving up an awful lot. I've seen too many proposals with 1471 01:30:00,159 --> 01:30:02,680 they're twenty twenty one pick or Michael Bridges. Yeah, first of all, 1472 01:30:02,680 --> 01:30:05,760 no, Michael Bridges is one of the two most untouchable players in the NBA 1473 01:30:05,800 --> 01:30:10,000 behind Frank niel A Kina, and so like that just needs to that needs 1474 01:30:10,000 --> 01:30:14,840 to stop. But the one thing I tell people I have consistently told people 1475 01:30:14,840 --> 01:30:17,760 about Chris Paul throughout this time, is that he will be traded for less 1476 01:30:17,760 --> 01:30:20,840 than you think. I think that is the main thing that's going to happen, 1477 01:30:20,920 --> 01:30:26,479 because there's just not a lot of ways for contenders to make the space 1478 01:30:26,560 --> 01:30:29,920 for him, and their picks are valueless for a team like okayc that has 1479 01:30:29,960 --> 01:30:32,960 four hundred picks. It's just I think he's going to be moved for less 1480 01:30:33,000 --> 01:30:38,479 than people realize. Yeah, if they get more, I think that'll probably 1481 01:30:38,479 --> 01:30:41,960 say, be an indicator of the team that they were dealing with, rather 1482 01:30:42,000 --> 01:30:45,159 than Chris Paul's value itself. Like if a Nicks come in at the eleventh 1483 01:30:45,199 --> 01:30:47,880 hour here and they're like, take all our future picks, but would you 1484 01:30:47,920 --> 01:30:53,000 give up all protected twenty twenty one pick for Chris Paul because in theory, 1485 01:30:53,039 --> 01:30:56,640 the value of that pick should be less. But it's even just the way 1486 01:30:56,640 --> 01:30:59,119 people talk about that draft class, and I have not dug into it in 1487 01:30:59,159 --> 01:31:02,279 the slightest, like I'd have to put like lottery protection on it to feel 1488 01:31:02,319 --> 01:31:04,960 even okay, just because if you're in the Western Conference, Yeah, the 1489 01:31:04,960 --> 01:31:08,239 reality is that, yeah, you could trade for Chris Paul, but you 1490 01:31:08,279 --> 01:31:11,399 also might finish in the lottery if you can, if you can keep the 1491 01:31:11,439 --> 01:31:14,760 tenth pick this year and then lottery protected next year. I think I would 1492 01:31:15,159 --> 01:31:17,079 okay if you're giving up the tenth pick this year and then you're also including 1493 01:31:17,079 --> 01:31:20,119 another pick next year. I just don't think you have to like I just 1494 01:31:20,159 --> 01:31:24,760 think you can get him for less than that. I'm gonna be interested to 1495 01:31:24,800 --> 01:31:27,319 see one where he goes. If it's I hope it's Phoenix, Like I 1496 01:31:27,359 --> 01:31:30,760 wanted to see him going to a dark Horse or Milwaukee would have been fun 1497 01:31:30,800 --> 01:31:32,680 just to play with you, honest, But if it's not gonna be Milwaukee, 1498 01:31:32,760 --> 01:31:35,399 I hope it's Phoenix. That was a That was a fantastic time to 1499 01:31:35,640 --> 01:31:40,119 record this podcast. Thank you for giving me ninety minutes on the air. 1500 01:31:40,600 --> 01:31:43,359 This was great. Mike. If you guys are not love billing him on 1501 01:31:43,399 --> 01:31:47,600 Twitter, he is Mike fe Hill at Protected Pick spelled exactly as it sounds, 1502 01:31:48,399 --> 01:31:53,800 and definitely check out the Timeline podcast part of the Blue Wire Podcast Networking. 1503 01:31:53,840 --> 01:31:56,439 You can follow them on Twitter as well. At the Timeline pod spelled 1504 01:31:56,439 --> 01:31:58,760 exactly as it sounds. I love these handles that I don't have to spell 1505 01:31:58,800 --> 01:32:01,159 out. So thank you. Rest ashured I will be pestering you again in 1506 01:32:01,199 --> 01:32:04,159 the future. So thank you so much for coming on I'm looking forward to 1507 01:32:04,159 --> 01:32:15,159 it. Sugar Ray, Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, 1508 01:32:15,159 --> 01:32:19,720 and Thomas Hearns. Legends whose four way rivalry define one of the greatest errors 1509 01:32:19,720 --> 01:32:26,199 in boxing history, relive their decade of dominance in the new Showtime Sports documentary 1510 01:32:26,319 --> 01:32:30,399 The Kings, a four part series premiering Sunday, June sixth, only on Showtime