Are LeBron James & Klutch Using the Phoenix Suns For Leverage?

Are LeBron James & Klutch Using the Phoenix Suns For Leverage?

today on locked on suns the LeBron James to Phoenix rumors are either very real or a full-on leverage play the Phoenix Suns can afford for it to be either one what they can’t afford is to be embarrassed or even worse unprepared let’s talk about it you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and we’re back this is locked on Phoenix Suns part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I’m Brendan clean your host credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons and the host of the just basketball show thank you for making locked on suns your first listen to kick off your Thursday appreciate you all being here hit follow subscribe if you haven’t already we’re free and available everywhere including YouTube hit that button I promise you a new show every day Monday through Friday becom an every dayer guys get locked on to the Phoenix Suns all offseason long right here with the show with me I’ll make it worth it for you today’s episode is brought to you by the FanDuel sports book make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks with any winning $5 bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started let’s start with the basic facts about bronny James and his connections to the Suns the fact that these rumors are even coming up which today added a little more field of the fire as far as the Suns being one of two teams bronnie reportedly will agree to a workout with additional in addition of the Lakers the suns are not taking bronny James at 22 and crossing their fingers okay nobody would be dumb enough to do that that’s the that’s step one that’s fact number one I see a lot of people online and out there in the world doing the kind of Q&A of would you take bronny at 22 and then hope you get LeBron this stuff is happening now the Lakers pick at 17 and again this very well could just be leverage it could be that LeBron is pushing for the Suns to take him and clutch behind the scenes and Rich Paul who represents LeBron James senr and LeBron James Jr here wants LeBron and bronny in Phoenix that could be real too the point is it’s happening now and the Suns aren’t dumb they know how this works they know how leverage works the question is are they okay with it are they okay with being used or do they believe there’s a real chance at all of this from LeBron’s perspective he has to decide on a player option by June 29th his agent Rich Paul sort of let it slip on a alternative broadcast of the NBA Playoffs this week on True TV that he called LeBron a free agent I’m not overreacting to that most players if they’re still a Max caliber guy they’re going to become a free agent and exercise that option so that they can maximize their money LeBron can get 2 years 104 million or 3 years 162 million from the Lakers if he goes to another team with cap space to give him a Max like the Sixers who are sort of the other team in this dance with the Suns and the Lakers he can get three years 157 million and just to repeat this because it’s it’s important to say it every time we talk about this situation the most am amount of money he can get from the Suns the biggest contract is two years $6.6 million with the player option on year two all right so he’s sacrificing 1554 Million by going to Phoenix if he even if there’s even a glimmer of a possibility of that that’s what he would be staring down so a favor exists teams Executives do favors for agents and vice versa all the time especially powerful ones like clutch so I could see the idea of you the Suns allowing themselves to be this sort of scarecrow this other team to finagle a commitment from the Lakers to take bronny at 17 wouldn’t be the it wouldn’t be the dumbest thing from the Sun standpoint to say whatever we’ll play ball utilize us you know we have your player Yousef nurkic maybe we’re going to send him somewhere he doesn’t want to go this summer and so what’s the harm in letting you throw our name out there and leak this we’ll bring him in for a workout great Jones knows Rich doesn’t hurt for Matt ispia and Josh bartlein and this son’s front office to do that favor but again that doesn’t seem like enough the sons either know something that makes them believe this is real and that they have a chance by drafting bronny to get LeBron or they are kind of flying a little bit I don’t want to say blind but maybe trusting their instincts maybe hoping Beyond hope that there’s a chance but they’re not going to go so far as to draft him with that hope but it might be inspiring their moves right now from a timing standpoint it’s good with all of this that the draft comes first as the suns are navigating it because LeBron’s player option has to be decided upon on June 29th of course the Suns have some player options and then free agencies not too far after that but they can get the draft out of the way a few days before that the draft’s a little late this year so keep that in mind it’s like the 26th one wrinkle though that complicates the timing besides the draft being late is there’s a new there’s a new portion of the calendar in the NBA because of the new CBA it wasn’t just the second apron and the inseason tournament and stuff that got added in it was also this period the day after the finals end which could be any day but the latest it could be is the 24th game s would be on June 23rd so the latest this this period could start is the 24th and what will happen in that period is that teams will now be allowed to negotiate publicly without punishment or tampering charges or any of that they’re legally allowed to negotiate but only with their own players so the Suns can’t go to TOA Madera or you know ocean 48 or St 48 with LeBron in Phoenix on June 24th but the Lakers can go out to wherever I don’t know La restaurants well enough um and they could come to a contract agreement that day so I guess in that case it would help the Suns okay before the drafts even come we already know our answer no more glimmer of hope no more nothing no more favor nothing it’s over we don’t have to worry about it but the whole league is going to have that ability and so all of this is going to be happening all at one time player options negotiations with incumbent teams and the draft could all be a flurry within that last week of June so the Suns may not have the benefit of full clarity to the nth degree by the time they have to make these decisions but again they’re not stupid enough I promise you to go through with drafting Brony without what that would mean with LeBron or any other Domino beyond that because again nobody even if you’re the most optimistic about what bronny James can be in the NBA and I would even count myself as a little more of a believer that he can be a rotation guy in the league than others he’s not the 2 second best Prospect in this draft I told you in my ideal off season this none of this was part of it because I think there’s plenty of good players of suns could get at 22 if they’re just going through a normal no LeBron option who’s the best player of course it’s not bronny so with all of that said do they have anything to lose here embarrassment I don’t really care and I don’t think they do right they’re kind of already a little bit of I don’t want to say a joke but they’re as you could tell from Matt isia’s defensiveness in his postseason press conference they’re at least a little paranoid a little uh defensive I don’t think that these rumors coming out are going to make of course they would explore it if it meant getting LeBron so if doesn’t work out no sweat off their back they don’t get LeBron they don’t get bronny maybe it looks a little bad that they let themselves be drug around like that we’ll know more as we know that but I don’t think it’s going to get between them and what they clearly think think is a real possibility again otherwise this wouldn’t have come out what I do think can be a risk is if they’re not strategic if they’re not on the money with how this works juggling the LeBron and bronny side of this while also putting feelers both in the draft and in free agency and in these other trade constructions which all would o have to be happening on draft night most likely they might kind of end up the last team here without a chair in musical chairs in the free agent musical chairs so to speak and come up short with the very real pressure that they have to upgrade this roster that is where they would not only become a laughing stock but also earn it not just oh you were leverage but you really believe you you know Goa baz had interest in coming to Phoenix and the such and such team stole him on a minimum instead of you because you really wasted your time with LeBron or the agent of a prospect that’s available at 22 is so bothered by the fact that you couldn’t get your googly eyes off of bronnie that now Dron Holmes or kle wear doesn’t want to come to Phoenix that’s where it gets dicey they cannot let that happen good news the suns are keeping David fizdale and they’ve made their first hire to fill out Mike buen holer staff a top first Today’s Show brought to you by the FanDuel sports book the official sports book of the lockdown podcast Network it’s winner take all time in the NBA and NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning five bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads money lines player props and more visit fanduel.com lockon and make every playoff shot count what I’m looking at Mavs wolves Thursday night I don’t love the money line it’s you know late in these series defensive teams I’m not going to bet on the point total or the winner that’s risky but Kyrie to score 30 plus feels interesting he’s tended to have big games after quiet games this postseason 30 is not a ton we know who’s taking the most shots plus 400 pretty pretty nice worth a look Vandal America’s number one sports book all right let’s keep the show rolling here as we talk through Suns news hit the bronny LeBron stuff very excited though about David fizdale returning from a son standpoint there was a rumor originally that he had been offered a front office roll after Mike buen holer or Frank vogle was fired and Mike bu was brought in but now we hear that he’s actually going to return and it might sound weird that he was offered a front office rle but that actually is part of the David fizdale package and it’s part of why I think it’s a home run to keep him he’s among the most experienced assistants in the whole NBA between all those years that he spent with the Miami Heat during the you know big three era he’s been an assistant coach in the NBA since 2003 but he’s been with he was with the heat from the 2008 season on and became a head coach in two different places uh in Memphis and then in New York went to uh went to the Lakers at one point and then Sons bench and is going to be sticking around that and like you can’t really get much more variety of experience longevity of experience in the whole league than that and so I think it’s it’s a great sign that I mean it’s a great get it is also a great sign that they’re keeping him because I would imagine from all that history he probably has some kind of relationship with Mike buen holer after all their you know they’re playing against each other in the finals as assistant coaches in the early 2010s and they even both have Atlanta ties I don’t know if that matters I I would it would be impossible to imagine that they never knew each other and clearly Bud coming in there was some kind of pitch made of hey I want you and fizdale went from maybe a front office role probably going to decline it to back on the coaching staff like that’s just that’s just a good sign and I think he’ll be valuable even though it it will be a new it will be a new uh hierarchy a new set of personalities to work with Bud who he’s never directly been on a staff with but he very clearly earned players trust and was a voice in the Huddle last season I mean if you’ve been in everyday or listening to this show you heard me say it many times we all knew Kevin young was paid a lot of money to stay on board after Monty Williams was fired last year but I don’t think it would have been Kevin young who took the job if Frank vogle had been fired in season I think it would have been fizdale if you were at games and you watched the huddles if you heard players quotes it was fizdale fizdale fizdale I think he just had their respect and their trust and their attention in a way that honestly a lot of the time from as the Suns try to get where they want to go which of course is a championship the other hire that was made was Vince legarza now that’s not a name I knew it’s probably not a name you know but he worked for Mike buen holer um originally in Milwaukee the last season that bud was there so it’s not really a bud guy but he did work for Snider Quinn Snyder in Utah which Snider worked for Bud Laro worked for Snider so there obviously is a little bit of a coaching tree familiarity but his history goes back even further larza has been back been in the NBA for almost a decade and he’s only 33 I always like to do searches of these guys when their names pop up from assistant coaching ranks and Scouts and assistant GMS all the guys we don’t really ever hear about whenever they pop up I’ll just Google it cuz odds are somewhere along the way if a Coach or an executive has been around long enough they’ve probably been referenced in some kind of article by a beat reporter or somebody else at some point in some story and sure enough Vince larza was where he came from was Minnesota that is the team that he was referenced about in the article I found which was that he first of all survived the Flip Saunders to Tom Tibido transition in Minnesota which is cool means that he was desirable and and valuable on the Timberwolves staff but he worked in Player Development there and was referenced in a story about developing Carl Anthony towns so early in his career he survived coaching turnover with Minnesota and was entrusted as one of the main guys working to develop their franchise Cornerstone player that’s great you know and he was on Atlanta staff I believe this past year um I believe he was I thought I saw that but it’s not listed on his basketball reference page and he’s been doing work with like basketball Africa League out uh that the NBA runs over there doing Player Development and kind of scouting of players he’s done Advanced Scout stuff so he just seems like a well-respected very experienced for his age guy with ties to Bud I’ll take it more news to close out the show I lied to you in my best case scenario offseason episode because apparently John gambadoro had already reported that Chris Dunn was unlikely to be leaving Utah unlikely to be an option for the Phoenix Suns this summer so next let’s talk through what the sun’s backup plans might be if that’s true and why point of a defense should still be a priority even if they don’t get plan a in Chris stun closing out the show John gambadoro of Arizona Sports reporting on uh last Tuesday I want to say on his radio show Burns & gambo that the Jazz are expected to keep Chris done with their non-bird rights so they don’t have a lot to offer him but more than a minimum more than the could pay him so they seem to want to do that they’re losing ton Horton Tucker who was basically out of their Rotation by the end of the season but he’s kind of a similar guy to Dun A little bit of a bigger guard um but they have Jordan Clarkson Colin seon and keonte George all on their team so it surprises me to hear that they would keep him I believe gambo there is a Danny a connection I’ll let you do with that what you might there there’s a few cities where more than any others if gambo says something I believe it 100% even if it’s not related to the Suns which this one kind of isn’t so I believe this even more than I normally would so let’s talk about what done could have been why I thought he was such a good fit point of attack defense ball handling and I feel like adequate shooting especially if he’s sort of spotting up from the corner he’s not going to be Steph Curry out there but he shot like 35% combined over the past two seasons or maybe maybe even higher 37 um bad shooter early in his career but I had optimism that he was sort of maybe turning a corner there so that’s what you want point of attack defense somebody who can generally speaking handle the ball and can make open threes my obvious Plan B here is Delan Wright he’s not as physically strong as um Chris Dunn which is to me was one of dun’s biggest attributes is that he’s he just a tank it’s funny to think too they the suns were reportedly considering Chris Dunn in his draft class when they I believe ended up selecting drag and Bender that year so uh funny how you know small the NBA world is and time just being a flat circle I guess shout out to your detective that profile has always been valuable next to Devon Booker and and in the NBA period so D Wright’s not quite that but he’s a veteran he’s 32 been in the league um actually maybe as long as Chris Dunn but actually played in that time whereas Chris Dunn bounced around and went overseas and everything else d wries has longer track record of being an average shooter or better and he’s a little taller he’s 6’5 whereas Chris Dunn’s like 61 62 and Miami is up against some tax crunches here with there are tax they’re down like a second a potentially and so they just traed the lawn Rider maybe bot him out I think bot him out he could easily not be in their plans they got to resign Heywood heith and they have to worry about Caleb Martin who’s pretty good for them and those guys are kind of similar to D Wright at the end of the day he could very well be available and would be awesome for the Suns I would have No Reservations about pursuing him but he’s one of those guys to me where could be signed by a different team for more than the minimum you know his contract last season was like 8 million sort of in the Royce O’Neal range we’re talking about Royce O’Neal getting a pretty fat raise so Delon Wright he was injured a lot last year and the year before didn’t play a ton but I don’t see why another team couldn’t get him for 3 four million and outbid the Suns completely and that could take them out of the running the other one obviously would be Josh aogi right and and I said in my best case scenario offseason I’d be totally fine with keeping him around I think in you know as an injury replacement as a end of the bench guy aogi brings defense for sure he has a a clear above average skill in the NBA that if you have a hardship with your roster with injuries or whatever comes up you can plug him into a couple of regular season games and he’s going to do okay I I have no problem with keeping Josh aogi the problem is the reason he hasn’t been able to really be a playoff player in his whole career is he doesn’t have any offensive game that is proven in the NB at the NBA level I know that sounds harsh he’s been around long enough where I’m comfortable saying it he plays crazy hard he’s a good locker room guy I’ve interviewed him one-on-one I’ve written about him for the Suns website I have no issues with Josh shogi but it’s not just that he can’t shoot the three he’s not a great ball handler he turns it over and he can’t finish at the basket so he’s this odd guy where he has crazy athleticism he kind of was a ball handler in college at a relatively you know minor college program at Georgia Tech but he doesn’t have those skills at the NBA level so even you know there’s guys in the league who make it work without a jump shot who are very similar to Josh aogi right like Josh Hart not just because they have the same first name but a smaller defense first guy who he does have the ball handling and he can at least some sometimes make jumpers and he’s aggressive in transition trying to finish at the basket aogi doesn’t have that stuff so I don’t think you can say well vogle didn’t use him but Bud can and check that need off the list no more point of attack defense no more you know small defensive option to help out book and Beal aogi is not I don’t think he’s reliable enough to be that so that brings me to the last one which is Dennis Smith Jr and I’ve seen people say mark folz here uh don’t think Marquel folz is going to be a minimum player guys you know it’d be a lot to stomach for him he’s coming off a contract making eight figures I think he has more passing and playmaking upside he’s a little bigger he’s a vet creates turnovers maybe he is I don’t think he’s a minimum player so that’s why he’s not on the list Dennis Smith Jr though he’s even worse shooter than Dunn so of right I guess if we’re ranking the four that I’ve talked about between Dunn Wright Smith and aogi Smith is third a little bit ahead of aogi but he’s way behind done or right so that puts him at a disadvantage from the jump here I guess if it was the only option I would rather sign a player like this than not so I could get behind Dennis Smith Jr he’s 6’2 he’s only 26 but his career threo percentage is 29.8 he doesn’t even have indicators that he’s gotten better with age at that in fact I think you could look at the stats and say he might have gotten worse which is very weird I’m not saying I know that for a fact but the numbers would tell you that that’s true so the positives on Smith he definitely can get to the basket he can pass and he does have that those instincts and skills of a guy who at lower levels was kind of a bucket get his inability to make threes has limited him in that regard really to make jumpers of any kind has limited him in that regard as an NBA player but he he’s a lot closer to you know that type of guy than aogi is who I just went through the limitations on I do think this is a need for the Suns if dun’s not available that makes their job even harder it gives them even puts even more pressure on them to get out early on a Delon Wright make him this year’s Eric Gordon to say hey we’ll give you you’re our six man you’re going to get playing time you’re going to have a chance to compete deep into the postseason we can only offer you a minimum but we’ll give you a player option on year two and you matter to us please come here and hope that he is sold on that um if not you know we’re already seeing how how Bleak it gets it’s can mark FS be a minimum guy and even he isn’t he was benched by the Magic in the postseason for most of it so that’s not exactly a clear-cut solution Dennis Smith Jr’s you know he’s already in year six he’s 26 years old it’s it’s a bet so if dun’s not available it’s sort of right or bust frankly all right that’ll wrap us up bronnie you know who Vince larza is now David fizdale’s back and Chris Dunn apparently already off the board a month before free agency even hits that’ll wrap lockdown Suns up for today we’ll close out the week with Steven tomorrow I think we’re going to talk about Bradley Beal as I mentioned previously what is he under bud with new players around him what if nerks gone what if there is more of a PO point guard or playmaker option what if the Suns get bigger where does Beal fit into all that so hit follow or subscribe get that episode to close out the week enjoy your Thursday and I’ll catch you guys tomorrow for

The Phoenix Suns are reportedly making moves to pursue LeBron James ahead of the NBA Draft where they may select Bronny James, but is it real or just a leverage play?

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans breaks down where the Suns stand and why it matters before recapping the latest Suns news on David Fizdale, free agent Kris Dunn and more.

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