2023-24 Season Discussion and Speculation 4 - A Rocky Start

[SunsRback4Good]

I would be terrified of Boston if we were in the east…. But I think it’s close to 0% chance Zinger is healthy by the finals. I’m taking Book/KD/Beal over Jrue/Tatum/Brown…. But our depth really pushes us over the edge

Yeah, if suns make the finals we will be huge favorites. Nobody has a chance of beating Phoenix in a 7 game series. Now in a 9 or 11 game series is way different but 7 is a perfect number.

[Jdiddy701]

If Booker gets injured, it doesn't mean more points for Ayton because the Suns(Moronty) style of play doesn't support it.

what do you mean by this? in January while Book was out the whole month, Ayton had 3.5 extra FGAs a game compared to the season as a whole. The trouble is his efficiency sank with the increased usage (which is what will happen in Portland) and that's why he ended up still averaging only 18 PPG that month.

and if your argument is that Monty needed to prioritize getting HIM more touches in particular compared to everybody else, then I ask...why? You don't prioritize a finisher over playmakers for touches. This isn't the 90s when forcefeeding a guy down low is the best option on offense. Bigs like Giannis, Embiid, Jokic even Sabonis don't need you to "feed" them to produce. Billups won't be doing that for him either.

The FG% dropped probably because the defense was key'd in on him with book being out I'd imagine. I never really thought about it but it will be interesting to see Ayton play a full season with out the gravity of Paul and Booker. People keep blaming them for the style of offense that wasn't conducive to DA's style of play but how much credit are we not giving them for things like pulling their defenders away from him etc.

I remember BWGOOD praised DA all the time for the gravity he creates for everyone but never mentioned the same for Booker, CP3 or KD. Portland should be really good since DA makes things so much easier for everyone!


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[sunsbum]

I think most fans are severely underestimating our roster. Not only do we have 3 unselfish superstars but we have the best bench in the NBA, a defensive minded championship coach and an entire roster of vets who want to win. On paper some teams might have top end pieces that fit together better in a traditional sense but who is standing toe to toe with Book/Beal/KD? Also, there is no way Beal is averaging more than KD this year. I’d offer a signature bet but I know better as I’ve seen these back peddling “predictions” before.

[sunsbum]

what do you mean by this? in January while Book was out the whole month, Ayton had 3.5 extra FGAs a game compared to the season as a whole. The trouble is his efficiency sank with the increased usage (which is what will happen in Portland) and that's why he ended up still averaging only 18 PPG that month.

and if your argument is that Monty needed to prioritize getting HIM more touches in particular compared to everybody else, then I ask...why? You don't prioritize a finisher over playmakers for touches. This isn't the 90s when forcefeeding a guy down low is the best option on offense. Bigs like Giannis, Embiid, Jokic even Sabonis don't need you to "feed" them to produce. Billups won't be doing that for him either.

The FG% dropped probably because the defense was key'd in on him with book being out I'd imagine. I never really thought about it but it will be interesting to see Ayton play a full season with out the gravity of Paul and Booker. People keep blaming them for the style of offense that wasn't conducive to DA's style of play but how much credit are we not giving them for things like pulling their defenders away from him etc.

I remember BWGOOD praised DA all the time for the gravity he creates for everyone but never mentioned the same for Booker, CP3 or KD. Portland should be really good since DA makes things so much easier for everyone!


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don’t even THINK about bringing up DA again.

[SlovenianDragon]

What about this if Covington gets moved in a Harden deal, we trade Allen for Covington?

I HATE covington...better to keep allen.

[Revived]

Ayton should have been traded immediately after the shouting match with Monty in the Mavs series.

I wanted Monty replaced too but it is a damn shame that the Suns never gave Monty a chance with a roster that doesn’t have Ayton on it as it was obvious both of them didn’t like each other.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

Isiah Thomas was apparently at Suns practice today…

Yeah he's Mats buddy so he'll be around. I don't love it but if that's the trade off for not Sarver I'll take it.

And hey I get it, Mat grew up in Michigan during Thomas' time there so I'm sure it's cool having your childhood hero as a friend.

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Didn’t CP3 even say that it was Isiah and James Jones who made the decision to trade CP3? So he‘s actively involved in decision making.

[grumpysaddle]

Read on Twitter

Isiah Thomas was apparently at Suns practice today…

Yeah he's Mats buddy so he'll be around. I don't love it but if that's the trade off for not Sarver I'll take it.

And hey I get it, Mat grew up in Michigan during Thomas' time there so I'm sure it's cool having your childhood hero as a friend.

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Didn’t CP3 even say that it was Isiah and James Jones who made the decision to trade CP3? So he‘s actively involved in decision making.

CP3 was just salty about being traded.

[grumpysaddle]

It's so refreshing hearing Nurkic in the training camp interviews. He's well-spoken and his basketball IQ shows through. I was iffy on the return in the trade at first, but I'm all in at this point. I think he'll surprise a lot of people with his fit on the team. He'll be motivated far more than he was on a struggling Portland team that basically just watched Lillard be the offense every game.

Wish I didn't have to work on Sunday, but I'll try and find the game stream somewhere online when I get off work.

[Saberestar]

What about this if Covington gets moved in a Harden deal, we trade Allen for Covington?

I HATE covington...better to keep allen.

Yeah, clearly Allen is the better player at this point of their careers.

[bigfoot]

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/10/05/phoenix-suns-mercury-new-team-headquarters#:~:text=At%20the%20new%20Suns%20and,and%20kitchen%20containing%20free%20beverages

Suns owner Mat Ishbia is financing the construction of a $100M team HQ just three blocks from Phoenix’s Footprint Center that will also house a 58,000-square-foot practice facility for his WNBA franchise, the Phoenix Mercury. By relocating the team’s offices to the new campus, Ishbia will also create space for premium clubs and restaurants at the arena as part of his promise to prioritize fan experience. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is,’’ Ishbia told SBJ.

The overall 123,000-square-foot development mirrors Ishbia’s more ambitious United Wholesale Mortgage complex in Pontiac, Mich., which has grown to 1.5 million square feet. At UWM, Ishbia calls his 7,000-plus employees “team members’’ and has littered that 150-acre HQ with a hair salon, doctor’s office and indoor basketball court. At the new Suns and Mercury offices -- slated to open in the spring of 2024 downtown at the site of the Lincoln Union Building -- Ishbia will provide the roughly 400 team members with indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a pickleball court, putting green, arcade, workout facility and kitchen containing free beverages and healthy snacks. A fan shop and player Ring of Honor display are also in the works.

Meanwhile, Ishbia said the adjacent Mercury practice facility will “have everything the Suns have’’ at their current practice 5G Performance complex across town. That includes private parking, two practice courts with 10 baskets, hydrotherapy pools, underwater treadmills, a player and family lounge, film room, on-site dietitian, physical therapy-massage area and oversized locker room. “There's not going to be a WNBA practice facility in the country that's as good as what we were building for them,’’ Ishbia said.

Transwestern’s Sports & Entertainment Advisory Group handled the real estate deal and is also aiding with the design and construction. The current 50,000 square-foot office space at Footprint Center is expected to be renovated into clubs and restaurants following the 2023-24 season.

[bigfoot]

https://arizonasports.com/story/3528601/devin-booker-plays-suns-teammate-trivia-gives-1st-impressions-of-new-names/

Kellan Olson article

PHOENIX — Ninety-nine.

In the last eight seasons of Phoenix Suns basketball, 99 different players have appeared in a game, and only one has seen all of it.

Devin Booker’s been here in the Valley through several roster makeovers. That number of 99 drew a whistle from Booker when he spoke with Arizona Sports on Thursday.

The latest shift came this summer with a handful of new teammates to get to know during training camp.

The franchise leaderboards since 2015 are dominated by Booker, as you’d assume, via Stathead. In the games played department, the 530 in the regular season far eclipses Mikal Bridges in second at 365, and Bridges never missed one!

With a nod to The Athletic’s Doug Haller for his Chris Paul guessing game inspiring the idea, I quizzed Booker on this leaderboard.

Booker only needed five guesses to finish out the other four in the top five.

“Mikal?”

One down.

“Deandre?”

Yep, there are the first two trailing him, correctly starting with Bridges and Deandre Ayton (third, 303 games played).

After a hint that it was two more players that were drafted by Phoenix but in an earlier era, he went with a solid Marquese Chriss guess (12th, 154) before nailing it.

“T.J. Warren? And… Alex Len?”

Yes indeed. Warren (fourth, 237) and Len (fifth, 224) round it out.

Booker obviously tops the charts in points (12,688) and assists (2,521) over that time. He’s even up there on rebounds (second, 2,105), blocks (fourth, 146) and steals (second, 449). Booker is just 19 steals off Bridges’ top mark of 468.

“Oh, OK! I’ll get that,” Booker said.

We’re going to reach the century mark on the number of Booker teammates once opening night rolls around.

Arguably the most significant additions came in the summer of 2019, when the James Jones and Monty Williams era got underway, and a new roster led by Booker started to get serious positive momentum. And at training camp in Flagstaff, I went rapid fire through the new names with Booker to get his first impressions on guys like Cam Johnson, Ricky Rubio and Dario Saric.

We revisited the same format four years later for a new group of guys. Here’s Booker on most of the new faces, along with some additional context from yours truly to fill in the blanks.

Bradley Beal
“Balance and buckets.” (Speaks for itself, like Beal’s game.)

Jusuf Nurkic
“Bosnian beast.” (Nurkic is from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Booker cited the nickname the big man has earned.)

Eric Gordon
“Square base.” (A deep cut. Pay attention the next time you see Gordon shoot a basketball and you’ll see how he sets a strong, reliable base for his shooting form.)

Keita Bates-Diop
“Versatile.” (Bates-Diop can defend all sorts of different players up and down the depth chart.)

Grayson Allen
“He has a clip, man. It’s forty percent.” (Allen is an elite shooter and Booker has the statistics down.)

Drew Eubanks
“Motor.” (Eubanks plays hard and isn’t afraid to get physical, which surely has popped in just a few practices already.)

Yuta Watanabe
“Sniper.” (Booker got the first-hand experience of Watanabe’s shooting prowess in some 5-on-5 work Thursday when they were on the same squad.)

Bol Bol
“Never seen before.” (As in we’ve never seen someone like Bol, and that’s for sure. Bol’s immense length is accompanied by an uncanny ability to get jumpers off at his size.)

[matt131]

Read on Twitter

https://x.com/kellanolson/status/1710296365522096417

Devin Booker on Jusuf Nurkic: "He's a beast. He can playmake. His IQ for a big is off the charts. And he talks. He communicates with you. ... Somebody that you know knows the game like that -- knows rotations, knows how to play. I listen to him and I try to implement it."

@GeraldBourguet followed up on this and Booker said it's a clean exchange to Nurkic if he gets trapped and that Nurkic can serve as the secondary PG on the short rolls. The pass is to the corner or Nurkic punishes the defender at the basket. Nurkic sees it develop ahead of time

[bigfoot]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Devin Booker on Jusuf Nurkic: "He's a beast. He can playmake. His IQ for a big is off the charts. And he talks. He communicates with you. ... Somebody that you know knows the game like that -- knows rotations, knows how to play. I listen to him and I try to implement it."

@GeraldBourguet followed up on this and Booker said it's a clean exchange to Nurkic if he gets trapped and that Nurkic can serve as the secondary PG on the short rolls. The pass is to the corner or Nurkic punishes the defender at the basket. Nurkic sees it develop ahead of time

IQ problem at center has been solved.

[bwoolf2]

This is a really good clip by Cam on some of the subtlety in Dbooks game and nba level basketball.

https://youtu.be/dVU9SU5ArDQ?si=y50Oig-VjojT_tCM

[enigmatics]

Love the quotes from Book about Nurkic.

Comes as no surprise to me. Offensively speaking - the Suns now have a center who's not out there coasting on pure physical talent. Nurkic is essentially another point guard on the court but at the 5 spot.

[WeekapaugGroove]

They basically need Nurk to be Aaron Baynes in this O and I think he's capable of that.

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[Saberestar]

They basically need Nurk to be Aaron Baynes in this O and I think he's capable of that.

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Nurkic is basically an hybrid of Vucevic and Valanciunas, a much better player than Baynes.

I love his rebounding. We needed to get a great rebounder to pair with KD, Beal and Book and we got one of the best in the entire league.

Ayton TRB% 18.1
Nurkic TRB% 19.5

And his passing/vision and post scoring are gonna be nice weapons to make our team more versatile and difficult to defend.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

nurk is unselfish player in every possible way, he will not go after every rebound, a lot of times he will box out

hes just not the player that plays for the stats, he doesnt care about none of that, he just wants to play bball the right way

[phx#7]

nurk is unselfish player in every possible way, he will not go after every rebound, a lot of times he will box out

hes just not the player that plays for the stats, he doesnt care about none of that, he just wants to play bball the right way

Boxing out is one of my favorite aspects of his game(also one of the reasons I absolutely love Steven Adams' game) and I think will be a huge boost to the team.

Ayton is probably the only player I never got too upset with for not boxing out, just because with his physical attributes he's still elite at grabbing boards. Overall though I'd rather have the bigs keeping the other team off the boards rather than high rebound numbers.