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How can the Phoenix Suns return to championship contention?



How can the Phoenix Suns return to championship contention?

after a less than seller end to the Year by the Phoenix Suns dropping in the first round to the Timberwolves getting swept by a team that could not even make the finals the Suns need to seriously reload if they want to be a threat in the Western Conference and potentially make a finals and it’s going to take a lot of work because right now the roster is not where it needs to be you can’t just expect to fire your coach and replace him with another championship coach who just won it the year after and just think that everything is gonna be okay going from the 2021 2020 Championship coach to the 2021 Championship coach is not going to change everything this team needs a serious overhaul at least in the foundations because the major contracts are really locked up right now you got three players on super max deals you got two players on pretty big contracts and a few other guys um that are tradable for the team and the Suns they got to make some moves if they actually want something to happen because if he’s sick with this current roster and just fill it out with veteran minimums I can guarantee you right now they’re getting swept by any team in the Western Conference like any team in the Western Conference because there’s just some major issues so let’s just start it off taking a look at the C salary cap sheet and if you’re wondering why there’s no film this video I’m quickly recording this video and moving on to my next video of filming it that’ll be released close to the draft talking about the draft prospects that I mention in this video and uh yeah um this video is also pre-recorded so if anything happens between Friday the 21st and Sunday the 23rd uh it’s not going to be in this video about the Suns so sorry about that but anyways here’s the calor the calorie sheet the uh salary cap sheet with the three super maxed contracts youf nurkic Grayson Allen’s extension kicking in and missere little on this uh pretty ID contract David Rody with these team options that the Suns will choose to accept or decline in this offseason I’m not sure yet jury Eubanks did not declined he should not have a box here but he just declined his contracts he’s going to be an unrestricted for agents um I’ll break it down on another slide but these are the guys who are under contract right now and this right here is not a championship rotation anyway you look at it I mean we’re going to take a look at the biggest issues but use of nage is a big issue and just the lack of size right here you got three dudes 65 and shorter that’s just not great and KD should not be leaned upon as your best defensive player in the starting lineup and these guys were completely unplayable in the playoffs so you got to make some moves uh in terms of the rest of the uh contracts on the roster Eric Gordon Josh shogi and Damen Lee are player options while all of our two-way players are restricted free agents they can be signed to full contracts or to two-way contracts in my opinion maybe we shouldn’t be doing that with you know either two-way or uh or full contracts for any of these players in my opinion but uh we’ll see later in this off season if any of these three players accept their player options they’re all making around a minimum contract so I guy like Damien Lee who might not get back onto an NBA team if he doesn’t accept this off season might be picking that up or you know we might see what happens with Eric Gordon or Josh Ki I’m not sure yet they might be trying to get more money and even if they don’t I even if they end up declining there’s a chance they come back to the Suns simply because the Suns will be willing to give them a home I think I think they would for both of those players uh we also have some unrestricted free agents Royce O’Neal b b and then three guys the Suns won’t be resigning dad young Isaiah Thomas Drew Eubanks those guys aren’t being brought back but these two guys are more important in my opinion let’s talk about team needs um the number one need for this team is absolutely a rimrun Running Center they needs to be someone who can be a vertical lob threat and provide vertical spacing they can also protect the rim I think that’s the number one need I know people really talk about the point guard thing and it’s right down here at the bottom too but the center position is you know just such a huge issue for this team just having use of nurit the rotation was nerkach Eubanks and way to bring in asabuki a lot during the season and that was just awful man we had easily the worst center rotation in League and it was obvious from last off seon we are going to have the worst center rotation in the league like even then I was only talking about how Eubanks needs to show up and needs to be really good for the center rotation to be anything and since that didn’t happen our team was awful just completely awful Center rotation was completely unplayable and yeah we were going to get swept because of the center rotation like simply put you need to have better centers I know people like to up point guards but Center is way more important in my opinion needs to be the number one priority of this off season and I really believe that’s what the Suns need to be spending their first round pick on another priority should be finding like a four5 who can be switchable can play the fiveman position and uh not get played off the court and you know be able to switch on guard sometimes and maybe shoot the three ball maybe not it’s not a requirement um they also could use a big wing Defender I still think I think all three of these things are more important than having a point guard a big Wing Defender just such a huge thing um we just have no one to match up against a guy like Anthony Edwards like we’re rotating between you know sometimes ryce O’Neal sometimes book sometimes Grayson Allen and that’s just not cutting it man you need to have a bigger Defender who’s at least 66 who can you’s got a pretty long wi span who can hold up against the bigger wings like we might be seeing LeBron in the playoffs again like that’s scary threat uh Kawhi Leonard um I don’t know the western conference is Big Man like uh Michael Porter Jr I don’t know and the Dallas Mavericks I mean that guy Luca donic like we just have no one who can hold against those type of guys and we’re going to get abused by basically any team we play because we don’t have a bigwing Defender like that so bigwing Defender who can also kind of keep up with guards and definitely needs to be able to shoot threes cuz they’re probably going to be a starter for team who that is exactly I’m not really sure because that’s probably the best you know value player we’re looking for this offseason as a player like this then finally yes I do think point guard should be a ho that the team fills someone who can initiate plays and control the offense try to reduce the amount of turnovers the team uh generates and just help set up plays a little bit better it just this team is so quick to just get out of their system get out of their plays and just run random isolations or random post-ups all the time and yeah you need to point guard who’s actually going to hold them accountable because everyone else plays without the ball in their hands and I think they could use another guy who can initiate and make good passes um play some good defense probably on the bigger side if you’re going to be adding a point guard to any of those rotations with on the smaller guards and Bradley Beal Devin Booker and Grayson Allen so yeah maybe a larger point guard at least a good defensive point guard and also resigning Royce O’Neal and B B should be priorities I think both of those guys are going to be valuable playoff rotation players rice O’Neal is working on a contract that’s worth about $10 million per year that’s an insane capit man the Suns will have like $200 million in contracts locked down before even like working on anything else so we’ll see what happens I think B wall is also a solid addition I don’t think he’s getting a big contract anywhere else this season so maybe try to bring him back for one more year and see what you can do with him um the assets we have available to trade are Yousef nurkic David Rody I forget to list nir little but nir little um pick 22 uh in the upcoming drafts which can only be traded after making the draft selection and then some other first feature first round pick I kind of just don’t know what pick this is um I I haven’t been paying atten attention to a lot of things including like what late round late later year assets the Suns have and just like the overall CVA of the NBA I’m going to say some things about like signing trades later probably and I just don’t really know about it cuz I don’t really know how the CBA works I just know the Suns can’t really do much because they’re a second apron team and they get pretty much denied of any exceptions and uh yeah one of the things I saw is that Yousef nurkic and ner little cannot be packaged together um they each have to be traded individually for one player or multiple players they cannot be traded together so just watch out for that I don’t think Rody can be traded with them either so it would be have to be like nerkish plus a first round pick or nerk plus two first round picks or n little plus two first round picks but it can’t be nerkish plus little plus Rody for someone so yeah that’s going to be something interesting to monitor I tried to keep uh the uh players I listed in terms of suns might be targeting wise to contracts that are less than nish’s contract or less than Little’s contract explicitly because you know those are the most available to trade for pi 22 I would really like the Suns to make this pick because the team is so old they need young Talent they need a young infusion and they could really use a big hitter pick at pick 22 like you have to look at what the Mavericks did with bringing in Derek Lively you have to look at the nuggets with Christian Brown and uh players like Julian Str and um I don’t really know who else on that roster is GNA be a long-term contributor but they’ve taken a lot of swings to improve their roster and yeah you just got to realize that these late round picks are important um the NBA champion Boston Celtics they took Payton Pritchard late into the first round that’s been a pretty solid pick for them as well so I’d like the Suns to make some draft picks this year please at least make this number 22 and then worry about two-way contracts this team has no money we can basically only sign players for the veteran minimum and to 2-way contracts so that’s all you’re going to be seeing this off season all right let’s start taking a look going from the top of the list to the bottom in terms of our needs some free agent centers the number one free agency Center available is Goa Vaz um I’m not even sure he’s going to sign for a minimum contract this off season but he is the best available Center um the rest of these guys don’t really come close in my opinion he’s a nice rim protector he can kind of move his feet the rebounds and should have been a big part of the magic rotation during the playoffs I think he just kind of fell out of it with Mo Vagner really hitting his stride and yeah go go Paz I expect to see him in free agency he would be a nice pickup but maybe not a starting caliber type guy I’m not really sure any of these guys are starting caliber which makes things all the more worrying really the only starting caliber guy on this players that are currently in the league side of my uh graphic is Nick Richards I think everyone else is like backup tier jel McGee I’m not really even sure if he’s that good at this point he might have kind of fallen off Andre German would be solid and pretty close to startings here the rest of these guys would all be swings Mason Plumley mooma Jackson ha Luke cornette uh for trade targets Nick Richards would be huge and Charles bass is kind of like a backup look um you know if you’re able to convince the Spurs to hand him over to you guys um I would definitely be looking at Charles Bassie I think he’s kind of get he’s going to get thrown out from the Spurs with all their young Talent they’ve been uh you know they they’re acquiring they’re probably going to bring in another Center during this off season in terms of centers they can bring in through the draft donon Holmes I mean that man has to be the number one option e Missy and Zach Edy are two other potential swings that the Suns could add these are the three guys I’m going to be making a video about so expect to see that video before the drafts maybe the day before it so keep your eye out Wednesday before the draft we’ll be talking about these three in full detail but I truly believe if the suns are drafting at number 22 it should be one of these two players if neither player is available then I could completely justify trading the pick at that point but I think these two players are definitely worth number 22 two-way centers i’ would be looking at Suns really should be improving their roster with two-way contracts because I mean it’s one of the cheapest and easiest ways to do it and you can find all sorts of good towns I believe like um I believe Sam Sam Hower with the Celtics was a 2-a contract so just like finding those guys on two-way deals who turn to be very turn out to be very valuable players Vince Williams with uh Grizzlies is another name that I’m just like hey sign two-way contracts do it Austin Reeves Lou Dort sign your two-way contracts man don’t mess around centers like ADM Bona out of UCLA and FY Dante out of Oregon Jesse Edwards out of West Virginia are some of the bigger names to monitor all three of them could go in the second rounds Bona might even go first rounds but if they end up dropping the sun should be on the line trying to get them to sign a 2-way contract 4/ FS um this is shorter list because you know there’s just not many players who fit the molds Xavier Tillman Robert Covington Jaylen Smith Jeremiah Robinson Earl uh Jaylen Smith probably the biggest candidate to get a big contract this off season but the other three should all be targets Jeremiah Robinson Earl might be the best available there not even really sure what team he’s on I think he’s on the Pelicans so I would try to go after him he’s got kind of a jump shot he’s a pretty nice Defender and he’s pretty switchable so I like him Robert comington also foren old player he’s really solid I would monitor the Cleveland Cavaliers I think they have a somewhat early draft pick in this year’s draft and they might have Dean Wade as an Expendable player I think Dean Wade is such a critical part of how good the Cavs have been and I think if he’s available for trade you have to go after him he’s such a nice player he would be uh less than uh nir Little’s contract so definitely try to trade for him he would be like maybe the number one trade Target I have written down in my opinion he’s just really nice really nice 345 that you can add to the team really nice switchable shooter like he he’s got it he’s got a lot of good things you want out of 4/5 um some drafts 4/ FS I look at donon Holmes again he can play Four he can play five he checks the boxes of both of the positions that I’ve listed and uh yeah I mean Don hes might be my favorite Prospect Kell wear um also just a nice guy uh he’s a pretty he could be a five as well but I listed him four five he can do both Jonathan MBO Kesha Johnson and Ry Freeman uh osar Garo Isaac Jones Jaden Le just a bunch of names that I would mention in terms of for Clash fivs none of them are really great shooters from what I recall maybe Enrique Freeman is I’m not really sure but all them kind of bigger body Defenders some of them are on the smaller side MBO Kad who can’t really truly play the five but um definitely keeping an eye out for these guys to uh to add in terms of 2A contracts I I think the sun should be going after them big wings torian Prince may be the number one player on this list it’s arguable all of them are right around the same level of challeng chuma KK Jay Crowder Tory Craig O’Shea brette Naji Marshall Mar Stevens some trade targets I would mention are Usman Jen from the Thunder and Jabari Walker from the uh Trailblazers both of them I think are on their way out since those teams are continuing to add more young talent and they’re going to be looking to move on from the guys they’ve already seen a lot of um maybe not the best big wings I think most of these free agents might be better than them but also a lot of these fre agents won’t be taking minimum contracts which are basically all the Suns have to offer so just keep an eye out for these guys they got smaller contracts I think they’re both on one-year deals so maybe the Suns can swing a trade for either of them I’m not really sure some draft big wings the number one guy is Ryan Dunn he’s such a great defender he doesn’t really do much else but just such a great defender like if you just want a really good Defender and you want kind of like a Josh aogi replacement I think Ryan Dunn is the guy maybe figures things out offensively long term Bobby Clinton I know he’s solid I think he does some good stuff offensively and Kevin mcculler was I don’t think he was he the defensive player of the the nation he might have been the defensive player of the year for the full the whole nation in college basketball I would have to double check that but he was an amazing defender in college and some two-way big wings could be like Jaylen Bridges Spencer Jones Blake Hinson out of uh Baylor Spencer Jones is Washington State and uh Blake Hinson out of um pit yeah he’s on pit so uh any of those guys could be solid as well in terms of two-way contracts and finally the point guard position Dennis Smith Jr is your number one target obviously he should have been the number one Target La Target last off season and uh definitely did not give him the time of day considering it took him like two and a half weeks to get a contract last off season I believe so yeah dsj should be the number one Prospect uh in terms of free agent point guards he is just such a great defender he can do stuff off the dribble he can initiate an offense he’s clearly the number one guy Jordan mlin a little undersized guy but he’s solid Chris stuns great defender Spencer did when he we know his track record blon right all these guys kind of oversized point guards and they’re they’re all pretty solid christon Delon Wright being amazing Defenders potentially even all NBA type Defenders uh depending on the year so keep an eye out for them trade targets include TJ McConnell from the Pacers Gabe Vincent from the uh Lakers and Trey man from the Hornets these two would of course take use of nurkic’s contract to trade for because they’re making more than uh n little is making this offseason so you’d have to trade nerkish to get either of these guys I don’t know if that’s happening but I would try to keep an eye out if you’re at the Suns try to get either of those two players if they become available if they are available I’m not really sure and then Trey man yeah he might be Expendable for the the Hornets so keep an eyee out there draft point guards your number one target is absolutely Devin Carter such a great defender he should probably be a lottery talent but he ends up dropping then you want to draft him bub Carlton Carrington he’s a bigger point guard he could be solid Tyler KCK also a bigger point guard Isaiah K Kier just made a video of him with in the brownie video he gets mentioned a ton Collier he’s a really solid point guard he’s pretty big body guy who can get through Defender some two-way point guards AJ Mitchell at UC Santa Barbara Jamal shed out of Houston KJ Simpson from Colorado Trey Alexander from kraton bronny James of course from USC teammate isah col Collier and T Newton out of the uh NCA Champion Yukon should probably be the top two-way Prospect out of those guys considering um a lot of these guys could end up getting drafted actually I’m pretty sure four of these six guys will get drafted probably not KJ or Tristan but if you want to proven winning player Tristan Newton is probably a pretty solid two-way contract Target for the Suns I really think that the sun should be focusing on this draft to fill out their two-way contracts especially because you could just get rid of their two-way contracts they’re non- guaranteed so if they have like a bad summer league or they just have a bad experience with the team okay you can just you know decline their their contracts you can just fire them essentially and you can move on two a different Prospect but if you’re talking just right post draft maybe you should just be going right after these uh rookie type deals that uh could end up paying long-term dividends I’m not really sure who the best prospects are but I would definitely take my chances with a lot of these two way guys and finally I’m just taking a look at what I want this roster to look like at least in terms of your like 10man rotation this is kind of the goal for the off season you want to get your big Wing to start at the power forward position or maybe small forward depending on how big they are but you want a guy who can start in place of Royce O’Neal or Grayson Allen because I think both players are just not tall enough to start you need a bigger guy out there and it’s got to be a big Wing you want a fiveman and you want a four four5 man to fill out your Center rotation it’s got to be a new center rotation for the Suns I would bring back bullbull he’s probably the 10th man in this rotation but we can we’ve seen flashes we can we’ve seen how good he could potentially be so i’ like to see him back in the rotation and finally if Point G to back up be and book who can take the ball out of their hands and help set up plays and help uh initiate the offense but yeah I think that about covers it there’s a lot of stuff for the Suns to do this off season but they don’t have a lot to work with not a whole lot of assets not a whole lot of money but they can put in a whole lot of effort and they probably should put in a whole lot of effort to making this team better because they need to you know they really need too fiveman 4/5 man point guard big wing and get rid of use of nkit and miss little and all those guys uh who just don’t need to be here you want to retain these seven guys or these six guys add your three add your four new players and fill out the rests with uh young players or guys who could turn into rotation players and that would be successful off seon but that about covers it for this video next time you see me talk about the off seon um once we start getting fre agents in it’s probably going to be July 10th I think so I think will be after re agency is already started so yeah got to wait and see for that one Kevin Durant hopefully we’ll have some good news in terms of him signing a contract extension doesn’t mean he’s going to be playing the whole contract extension for the Suns but maybe we’ll be seeing that come in as well that’s another priority make sure your star is locked down long term assuming he wants to stay and the Sun want them to stay but suns are in a pretty non-negotiable situation with the big contracts they have in play just having traded for Bradley Beal like you got to stick with this roster you can’t really change that much in terms of these core four players that you really want to you can’t really trade Grayson Allen can’t be traded until like I don’t know like October or something so not until the offseason’s already over so you’re pretty much locked into these four guys and it’s just a question of what you do with the rest of the roster it’s got to be a lot of young talent I really think the sun should make that 22nd pick especially if they’re drafting a center I think that’s a big deal because I think that’s the easiest position to fill on this roster with the draft pick and could easily be a starting like starting type of guy you know like say that Dallas Mavericks found with Derek Lively who’s just really just good enough to be a starter they should be hunting for a guy like that but that about covers it I will see you in the next video If you haven’t subscribed already maybe scroll down and hit that button that’ be pretty cool y’all and I will see you in the next one goodbye

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How can the Phoenix Suns return to contention?
How can the Phoenix Suns improve their roster this offseason?

7 Comments

  1. Find a way to trade Nurk in a package for Kessler and Kris Dunn, draft a wing like Dunn, Smith, or Tyson and sign Goga Bitadze as the backup 5

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