Around the NBA - 23-24 Other playoff series

[Ghost of Kleine]

That's exactly their point. Nobody cares what's gonna happen to some 7th grader in 2031. They are focused on building a contender.

What contender? They already failed badly at building one EVEN WHILE trading every fcking pick and taking on the worst contracts in all of North American sports.

So the solution to “building a contender” is trading even more picks crappy overpaid old-ass players?

Yeah so they couldn't build it properly this season. They'll have another opportunity this offseason to build one.

That would honestly be great news if that was at all realistic given what we know of the league and corresponding value tiers! But currently, the popular trend is exciting young talent being key inclusionary pieces to impact trades. Our best-remaining assets are what again? the 30th pick in every other draft? What team gets really hyped up or excited by the idea of the very last pick in the round of a draft? Or some random pick at least 7 years out? I mean sure he keeps saying that there are 29 other teams that would give up their entire rosters' and picks to be in our current situation, But of course offers no substation or vetted confirmation for this claim because he knows it's absolute disingenuous hyperbolic BS.

I'd honestly love to be able to get behind this idea that we'll get better next season and experience much more success! But hyperbolic statements like the ones that Ishbia are making just significantly diminish any credibility he has when neither he nor his puppet "yes man" GM James Jones can even give an idea of how they'll achieve this miraculous outcome. Also, neither can accurately identify and explain how this team failed so spectacularly. All they continue to offer is vague responses and open-ended non-committal responses saying the answer to our problems is absolutely this, BUT.... it could also become this......... too unless it isn't either of those at all?? It's the functional equivalent to saying of saying....................... We have the answers people are looking for, we just don't know which answers contextually apply to those issues. Or we have a plan, but we just can't share it yet because we don't yet know the logistics of it!

Just like Ishbia, I could say something outrageous like............... Next season we're going to acquire Luka Donci in a trade, and then we're going to get Giannis too in a follow-up deal, acting all excited and confident! excitedly envisioning it in my mind too! But how many would take me seriously, if I didn't give a valid explanation of how I came to that astoundingly miraculous outcome? It sounds good and exciting of course! But reality tells a very different story than what my imagination does. Ishbia keeps making these outrageously bold statements when the contextual reality and historic precedence or even recent outcomes tell us a very different story. But somehow we're all supposed to buy into this hype machine premise without him ever sharing how this result gets done. It's just incredibly silly and somewhat offputting for someone in charge of this franchise to make such unvalidated sensationalist claims all while telling us to ignore recent context.

[lilfishi22]

What contender? They already failed badly at building one EVEN WHILE trading every fcking pick and taking on the worst contracts in all of North American sports.

So the solution to “building a contender” is trading even more picks crappy overpaid old-ass players?

Yeah so they couldn't build it properly this season. They'll have another opportunity this offseason to build one.

That would honestly be great news if that was at all realistic given what we know of the league and corresponding value tiers! But currently, the popular trend is exciting young talent being key inclusionary pieces to impact trades. Our best-remaining assets are what again? the 30th pick in every other draft? What team gets really hyped up or excited by the idea of the very last pick in the round of a draft? Or some random pick at least 7 years out? I mean sure he keeps saying that there are 29 other teams that would give up their entire rosters' and picks to be in our current situation, But of course offers no substation or vetted confirmation for this claim because he knows it's absolute disingenuous hyperbolic BS.

I'd honestly love to be able to get behind this idea that we'll get better next season and experience much more success! But hyperbolic statements like the ones that Ishbia are making just significantly diminish any credibility he has when neither he nor his puppet "yes man" GM James Jones can even give an idea of how they'll achieve this miraculous outcome. Also, neither can accurately identify and explain how this team failed so spectacularly. All they continue to offer is vague responses and open-ended non-committal responses saying the answer to our problems is absolutely this, BUT.... it could also become this......... too unless it isn't either of those at all?? It's the functional equivalent to saying of saying....................... We have the answers people are looking for, we just don't know which answers contextually apply to those issues. Or we have a plan, but we just can't share it yet because we don't yet know the logistics of it!

Just like Ishbia, I could say something outrageous like............... Next season we're going to acquire Luka Donci in a trade, and then we're going to get Giannis too in a follow-up deal, acting all excited and confident! excitedly envisioning it in my mind too! But how many would take me seriously, if I didn't give a valid explanation of how I came to that astoundingly miraculous outcome? It sounds good and exciting of course! But reality tells a very different story than what my imagination does. Ishbia keeps making these outrageously bold statements when the contextual reality and historic precedence or even recent outcomes tell us a very different story. But somehow we're all supposed to buy into this hype machine premise without him ever sharing how this result gets done. It's just incredibly silly and somewhat offputting for someone in charge of this franchise to make such unvalidated sensationalist claims all while telling us to ignore recent context.

I've said it since before this season began, I believe we have the high end talent to get it done. Without the depth, the margin of error is exceptionally small but when you have guys like Durant, Book and Beal on the same team, with the right coach, I absolutely believe we can get it done. And if I believe in this team and it doesn't happen...add another notch in the history of the franchise where we haven't won. I don't live in the results

I'm also happy to give Ishbia more opportunities to prove that he's the guy that can help us get there. We've been with the guy for 15mths and I am absolutely floored that some of you think the two decades of Sarver is better. From the day he walked into the Suns office, he's absolutely tried to do the right thing. Was he naive in thinking he can get 3 star players and expect a championship? Sure and I think he's come to understand that it's a lot harder than that. But having listened to the press conference, I see a guy who is completely committed to the Suns, committed to building a competitive team, remaining upbeat in light of the disappointing end to his first season as an owner and I see a guy who wants to be a better owner. For people to write him off already after Sarver is wild to me.

Ya'll watch the press conference and take every word at face value when we all know it's PR talk. We're running it back with the starting 5? Yes that's the plan if nothing better comes up. Are we in a good position? Yes, it could be worse, it could be better but I've always said this, the hardest thing to get in the NBA is talent and we have that. Are we limited in trade assets? Yes, but we don't have nothing.

On the point of the picks which seemed to have riled up so many fans....again, taking every word at face value. I believe we will do what we need to do to build THIS iteration of the team. If it means signing that draftee and having him on the roster, so be it. If that means trading it away, so be it. The one thing that you're guaranteed to have back every year is draft picks, whether it's this season or in 2032. You're never gonna run out of draft picks for long. You will run out of the prime of guys like KD, Book, Beal and this current phase of competitiveness. Until Ishbia is consistently showing he's not about making the team better (either long term or short term) then I'm not gonna write him off and fanaticise for the next 2, 3, 4 decades about new ownership.

[sunsbg]

The only 7th grader I know people cared about was LeBron. That doesn't mean fans don't care about losing picks in stupid trades. That's Jones job actually, take better care of assets.

What Ishbia and Jones are doing is going all in for a short window of winning a title with early results looking pretty bad. My guess things will look better with a few tweaks and players looking more focused next season, but if that's not the case, they should blow it up at trade deadline and start thinking how to fix the mess with very limited assets.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Yeah so they couldn't build it properly this season. They'll have another opportunity this offseason to build one.

That would honestly be great news if that was at all realistic given what we know of the league and corresponding value tiers! But currently, the popular trend is exciting young talent being key inclusionary pieces to impact trades. Our best-remaining assets are what again? the 30th pick in every other draft? What team gets really hyped up or excited by the idea of the very last pick in the round of a draft? Or some random pick at least 7 years out? I mean sure he keeps saying that there are 29 other teams that would give up their entire rosters' and picks to be in our current situation, But of course offers no substation or vetted confirmation for this claim because he knows it's absolute disingenuous hyperbolic BS.

I'd honestly love to be able to get behind this idea that we'll get better next season and experience much more success! But hyperbolic statements like the ones that Ishbia are making just significantly diminish any credibility he has when neither he nor his puppet "yes man" GM James Jones can even give an idea of how they'll achieve this miraculous outcome. Also, neither can accurately identify and explain how this team failed so spectacularly. All they continue to offer is vague responses and open-ended non-committal responses saying the answer to our problems is absolutely this, BUT.... it could also become this......... too unless it isn't either of those at all?? It's the functional equivalent to saying of saying....................... We have the answers people are looking for, we just don't know which answers contextually apply to those issues. Or we have a plan, but we just can't share it yet because we don't yet know the logistics of it!

Just like Ishbia, I could say something outrageous like............... Next season we're going to acquire Luka Donci in a trade, and then we're going to get Giannis too in a follow-up deal, acting all excited and confident! excitedly envisioning it in my mind too! But how many would take me seriously, if I didn't give a valid explanation of how I came to that astoundingly miraculous outcome? It sounds good and exciting of course! But reality tells a very different story than what my imagination does. Ishbia keeps making these outrageously bold statements when the contextual reality and historic precedence or even recent outcomes tell us a very different story. But somehow we're all supposed to buy into this hype machine premise without him ever sharing how this result gets done. It's just incredibly silly and somewhat offputting for someone in charge of this franchise to make such unvalidated sensationalist claims all while telling us to ignore recent context.

I've said it since before this season began, I believe we have the high end talent to get it done. Without the depth, the margin of error is exceptionally small but when you have guys like Durant, Book and Beal on the same team, with the right coach, I absolutely believe we can get it done. And if I believe in this team and it doesn't happen...add another notch in the history of the franchise where we haven't won. I don't live in the results

That's a fair perspective of course man! But I'd also argue that for the majority of sports fans, The overall level of team/franchise success is result-oriented. And for lifelong fans, even if adept at detaching to some degree, because this is most fans outlet from the constraints of everyday life are attached to those same cumulative results! Our franchise for instance being one of the most winning franchises to NEVER WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP in 56 years (and counting) can make even the most measured and reasonable fan/fans feel starved for that ultimate goal. And opposing fans obviously make the results a distinct point of emphasis in random digs and chides, in competitive discussions. So it's only natural under all of those conditions, especially for a passionate and invested fanbase to feel those highs and lows with their teams. And considering how severe our recent low point was under "Saver" and the public ridicule he brought to our city/ franchise, those same passionate fans would of course feel more impatient and sensitive to outlandish or extreme situations/ decisions and statements by a very new and impetuous owner!

I'm also happy to give Ishbia more opportunities to prove that he's the guy who can help us get there. We've been with the guy for 15mths and I am absolutely floored that some of you think the two decades of Sarver is better. From the day he walked into the Suns office, he's absolutely tried to do the right thing. Was he naive in thinking he could get 3-star players and expect a championship? Sure and I think he's come to understand that it's a lot harder than that. But having listened to the press conference, I see a guy who is completely committed to the Suns, committed to building a competitive team, remaining upbeat in light of the disappointing end to his first season as an owner and I see a guy who wants to be a better owner. For people to write him off already after Sarver is wild to me.

I'm honestly fine with giving him time to prove he's that guy, and I really liked him and was a fan of his due to the willingness to spend to upgrade things and be seemingly optimistic and fan-oriented. But when you're in charge/ control of very large and high-level investments, as it is important in all things with high-end stakes involved, especially wherein large masses are emotionally (passionate/lifelong fans) and financially ( season ticket holders attached business owners promoting the team) invested in the outcome and results to be patient, measured and calculating, or at least a great communicator that can ease the concerns of those invested when very rapid and extreme changes are made by simply sharing the plan or path for how the corresponding success of said plan will be achieved. This of course is critically important in order to foster understanding and a feeling of mutual two-way respect for that fanbase's ( or those invested) perspectives and feelings. But when you just come in and make extreme decisions out of nowhere that very obviously affect the franchise on multiple levels both in the immediate and long term (especially with fans who have committed decades to this team, there's a feeling of profound attachments to these teams. Now I get that in reality, this is his team, his project, and his investment that he purchased, but that feeling of attachment and investment is still present, even if they themselves are not the sole proprietors of the team/ franchise.


So again, I'm more than fine with giving Ishbia time to prove himself, BUT IF you just come in and rapidly start making extreme changes when the previous owner pretty much already destabilized this franchise on multiple levels with his outlandish antics, then don't expect the fanbase to overwhelmingly buy in without sharing the actual framework or vision of how your strategy will succeed so there will be a clear understanding of what to expect and why. And the reference to Sarver is clearly in comparison to how they're both arrogant impetuous owners who make drastic decisions in an aloof/ superior manner without sharing pertinent details of how there strategy will work, or why their decisions were even necessary, also both are mortgage brokers (bankers) that talk to their fanbase, etc with an attitude of superiority, as if the fans couldn't understand why they make those decisions so sharing the details are ultimately unnecessary. Not really the best way to endear yourself to a fanbase in such a short time when you start making extreme changes right away.


Ya'll watch the press conference and take every word at face value when we all know it's PR talk. We're running it back with the starting 5? Yes that's the plan if nothing better comes up. Are we in a good position? Yes, it could be worse, it could be better but I've always said this, the hardest thing to get in the NBA is talent and we have that. Are we limited in trade assets? Yes, but we don't have nothing.

Well honestly, how else are fans supposed to take the things that he says but at face value when he doesn't really share the details pathway, or reasoning behind the decisions or outrageous claims he makes after making extreme decisions in such a short period of time. And the idea that we're verifiably in good position is highly debatable man? By the way, when was the last time an NBA superteam that is legitimately top-heavy and WITHOUT DEPTH PIECES, CAP SPACE, OR ASSETS actually won a championship?? And with 3 redundant players even too. You're of course entitled to your own opinion man, and optimism is important as long as it doesn't repeatedly cross the thresholds of reality into abject fantasy! But I think most would argue that being the most expensive tax-paying team in NBA history with absolutely no cap space/flexibility, No legitimate depth, no legitimately desirable trade assets, no decent or even solid value picks for the next 7-8 years, no roster balance or functionality, no coaching continuity, and not having any young cost controlled or developed talent whatsoever to help sustain/supplement your core/depth is not at all a good position to be in!!! Especially when you'll also be subject to even more exponentially punitive consequences and restrictions going forward under this strategy. It's tantamount to going to Vegas and constantly betting everything only to lose and then double down even further by telling your family and friends that you're going to put your house, your car, and your retirement on the line because you're extremely optimistic that this next time you'll win and beat the overwhelming odds! Should any rational person, or those family members and friends feel good or comfortable or "buy in" to that belief just because the person strongly and optimistically believes they'll beat those odds, even though they've lost almost everything already in a very short amount of time and in embarrassing fashion.


There's a clear reason the saying is "The house always wins" and in our context, the house is the NBA league and the new CBA. I mean honestly man, what established NBA experience or acumen has Ishbia proven so far to warrant such blind trust aside from his willingness to spend carelessly and to extremes, or to make bold and outrageous statements?? I only ask because the contextual body of work or actual proven success does kind of matter in these situations if you're asking large groups of people to blindly buy into outrageous ideas/ promises. And what is Ishbias' total body of work/ established result so far in only 15 months?..........Crippling our franchise from a financial flexibility standpoint, liquidating basically all of our assets for the coming 7-8 yrs aside from a few low-value undesirable pick swaps and a random unknown first almost a decade away. And also another historic embarrassment wherein our supposed super team couldn't even win 1 (even 1) game in the playoffs and got swept in dominating fashion by the very team we dominated in the postseason ourselves. That along with a year-long showing of inconsistencies and historically bad metrics. None of these things elicits confidence obviously man.

On the point of the picks which seemed to have riled up so many fans....again, taking every word at face value. I believe we will do what we need to do to build THIS iteration of the team. If it means signing that draftee and having him on the roster, so be it. If that means trading it away, so be it. The one thing that you're guaranteed to have back every year is draft picks, whether it's this season or in 2032. You're never gonna run out of draft picks for long. You will run out of the prime of guys like KD, Book, Beal and this current phase of competitiveness. Until Ishbia is consistently showing he's not about making the team better (either long term or short term) then I'm not gonna write him off and fanaticise for the next 2, 3, 4 decades about new ownership.

So again, what choice do any of us have but to take what he's saying at face value when he clearly doesn't share any details of how or why these decisions are necessary or even how exactly he's going to be successful in this strategy? it's just a lot of outrageous hyperbolic claims that are unproven or even legitimized in any way, and then him asking everyone to blindly buy in when his rapid and impulsive extreme changes have resulted in very clear outcomes to the contrary of the bold promises and statements he's making, regardless of his level of irrational enthusiasm. You're saying that we'll have picks every year, but that's factually incorrect man! We'll obviously only have pick swaps [size=150][b][i]every other year in 5 out of the next 7 years with those alternating picks going to Brooklyn. And our swaps again, being the very last pick of the round starting next year up until 2031. So in years 2025, 2027, 2029, and 2030 we have NO (absolutely zero picks). That's no firsts and no 2nds either. And again, our pick swaps are the very last pick in the first round of those alternating drafts and will obviously be considered low value in comparison to the other ranges of the draft depending on if that specific draft is either really deep or considered shallow. But I've not honestly ever heard of any teams lining up to try and acquire the 30th pick in comparison to the other scalable ranges of the draft. And we also don't have any 2nds over the next 7 years either as we aggressively traded them all.


So no, we aren't actually guaranteed to have back picks every year aside from the very last pick in alternating years from those swaps starting next summer for the 25' draft. And the clear reason that people are upset about this whole pick situation is that clearly, these picks represent an avenue for "cost-controlled" talent acquisition, acquiring depth pieces despite not having any LEGITIMATE high-value trade assets or cap space left now, cost-controlled trade assets with actual perceived "upside" value that vet min players who have established that minimal value they have over a broad sample don't carry yet. And KD, Book, and Beal are great players, and we are competitive (at times), BUT is merely being competitive the stated goals of this superteam, Is merely being competitive really validate having the most expensive roster in NBA history!! Is merely being competitive validate our mortgaging our entire future for the coming 7 years and leaving the fanbase with absolutely nothing to alternatively look forward to in order to displace or distract us from our misery if they fall short yet again? which they clearly did to historically embarrassing levels.


I mean we clearly made it further last year with a stated lesser roster, and point of fact, we were also clearly competitive if that is the suggested standard even prior to the KD and Beal trades, and actually had a promising young foundation ALONG WITH picks, cap space, and options in general. What exactly do we have now aside from maybe a superteam in name only, that massively underachieved in comparison to our stated expectations that we mortgaged everything for just to have a team that couldn't win even one playoff team against a team with clearly lesser cumulative star talent! So if the argument is that star talent rather than depth and balance in a roster is the standard for winning a championship, then rally what is our excuse for not even being able to win even one game, and 90% percent of those losses being double digit dominant wins again by a team with lesser star talent overall? Are we really competitive in that context? Lastly, Ishbia having the intent to try and make the team better is admirable and surely welcome! But the manner/ context in which it's done also matters. And in this strategy, the sum of the parts needs to at least somewhat cumulatively match the stated outcome for it to be considered a success. Giving away every single asset, and having no cap space or even the slightest expressed vision for future sustainability when you've mortgaged everything, only to get swept and not be able to win a single game against a lesser talented team does not really reflect making the team better in any capacity. And I'd honestly challenge anyone to show me the clear areas of this team wherein we actually improved after these decisions aside from maybe having better talent/bigger names on paper, but not in reality.

[Revived]

Yeah so they couldn't build it properly this season. They'll have another opportunity this offseason to build one.

Rock on Lilfishi… i too have great confidence trading NasLittle + our 1st will yield the pieces we need to beat those young upcoming teams. That starting five, along with a more experienced EGordan, once surrounded by the correct minimum wagers is sure to make some teams tremble. Especially once Pinochio Jones discovers the cheat code on Durant

I don't have great confidence but we're a team that just won 49 games with Beal missing almost half the season. We have opportunities to bolster this roster this offseason. We have opportunities to do something different with the coaching.

I believe a coaching change can be the same as adding real talent to this team if that coach can put in a system that maximises the roster.

Beal playing even half the season is a luxury. There is no way you actually believe he will be durable going forward when he’s been extremely injury prone his whole career?

Not to mention I have a very fine bridge to sell you if you think guys like Beal and Durant going into their mid to late 30s are gonna stay healthy next season and on.

We won’t even talk about Booker’s own durability issues.

[Desertfox]

Read on Twitter

I have a strong feeling Tobias Harris or Ben Simmons are gonna somehow end up on the Suns by season start next season. I know Simmons is under contract on an awful contract and all but still somehow I feel like it could still happen.

That’s gonna be our big addition which will propel us into championship contenders! Other 26 teams in the league will be trembling in fear.

Simmons on the vet min would actually fit the team as a small ball PF/PG that can defend and needs zero shots. Would need a C that can shot 3s though. Would be a way to get off Beal's contract if the Suns could convince him to waive the NTC. Beal would work in BKN as we know Booker was great with the twins.

[TeamTragic]

Magic with a great performance. Love how that team is built.

[SunsRback4Good]

Magic with a great performance. Love how that team is built.

I love them so much.

[TeamTragic]

Magic with a great performance. Love how that team is built.

I love them so much.

Mitchell puts up 50 and still loses. Him and Booker have much in common.

Also we should have traded for Fultz.

[SunsRback4Good]

Magic with a great performance. Love how that team is built.

I love them so much.

Mitchell puts up 50 and still loses. Him and Booker have much in common.

Also we should have traded for Fultz.

Way too many shots for Mitchell needs to get the team going more even though he shot over 60%. Funny you mention Fultz, I remember nobody wanted him cause he could not shoot. But shoots 47% off the bench, his 3 point shooting is atrocious though at 22%. Not sure many fans want him in a Suns jersey though.

[TeamTragic]

I love them so much.

Mitchell puts up 50 and still loses. Him and Booker have much in common.

Also we should have traded for Fultz.

Way too many shots for Mitchell needs to get the team going more even though he shot over 60%. Funny you mention Fultz, I remember nobody wanted him cause he could not shoot. But shoots 47% off the bench, his 3 point shooting is atrocious though at 22%. Not sure many fans want him in a Suns jersey though.

Beggars can't be choosers B4G.

[KdoubleDees23]

If we got tyus jones at trade deadline we wouldn’t have been swept

[SunsRback4Good]

If we got tyus jones at trade deadline we wouldn’t have been swept

If my grandmother had wheels she would have been a bicycle.

[TeamTragic]

If we got tyus jones at trade deadline we wouldn’t have been swept

We have problems beyond just a ball handler/point guard.

[mkot]

Magic with a great performance. Love how that team is built.

I love them so much.

Mitchell puts up 50 and still loses. Him and Booker have much in common.

Also we should have traded for Fultz.

The difference between him and guys like Jalen Brunson is game management, meaning feel of the game. Brunson controls the game by knowing when to shot and when to pass and his teammates trust him and look at him as their leader and alpha. Players like Mitchell and Book can score a lot but they don't necessary make the winning plays when it matters.

Fultz sucks. We need dawg on this team.

[mkot]

Another superteam going down.

You can't win with 3 'stars' and a bunch of vet minimum guys anymore. Teams are too talented these days and superteams like the Clips simply get beat on the margin.

[sunsbg]

Another superteam going down.

You can't win with 3 'stars' and a bunch of vet minimum guys anymore. Teams are too talented these days and superteams like the Clips simply get beat on the margin.

Don't think Clippers count as a superteam without healthy Kawhi.

Luka had one good shooting game in the series (27pts on 26 shots in this game), but Kyrie's been huge for them. Mavs got him for nothing. Smart business.

[Desertfox]

Magic with a great performance. Love how that team is built.

Wait a team built almost entirely from the draft!? Who could have guessed that would work!? And they didn't give up early on their #1 picks!? Must be Magic!

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

I have a strong feeling Tobias Harris or Ben Simmons are gonna somehow end up on the Suns by season start next season. I know Simmons is under contract on an awful contract and all but still somehow I feel like it could still happen.

That’s gonna be our big addition which will propel us into championship contenders! Other 26 teams in the league will be trembling in fear.

Simmons on the vet min would actually fit the team as a small ball PF/PG that can defend and needs zero shots. Would need a C that can shot 3s though. Would be a way to get off Beal's contract if the Suns could convince him to waive the NTC. Beal would work in BKN as we know Booker was great with the twins.

I love that you can see the Beal for Simmons/ Schroder (change) type exchange with Brooklyn too. Like I mentioned earlier, it's basically a really bad (perceived) contract for contract exchange. The incentive for Brooklyn is that at least Beal could offer significant production for his $13 million more salary difference, and would actually play sometimes and is somewhat of a star-level player looking for a bigger role anyways, which actually makes him a good fit in Brooklyn alongside Cam Thomas because they're hungry to be more competitive and make the playoffs to offset the value exchange of the picks they gave up to Houston in the Harden deal. So the incentive is definitely there! And with Beal, they'd have a very potent offensive backcourt of Beal/Thomas that Bridges and Johnson could easily play off of. Then if they just resign Claxton, they'd have a very productive and potent balanced roster to compliment there offensive backcourt of Beal and Thomas with their solid defensive wings in Bridges/ Finney Smith, and solid defensive forwards in Claxton and Clowney too.

Lastly, with them having our picks, the idea of them swapping out Beal as a legit star-level contributor, for Simmons would be a very enticing premise as we'd be swapping a player with actual impact/production, for a player that might not even play again. escalating the potential value of our picks they hold. These factors seem much more appealing than alternatively just letting Simmons expire and trying to use the cap space to target players in free agency with no guarantees. I do however envision Simmons more in a Draymond Green type of role to mitigate his lack of shooting, and try to maximize his elite defense and playmaking at the 3/4 possibly even 5 position. I wonder if you see the possibilities in such a role as defensive/playmaking jumbo wing/forward with multipositional defensive and playmaking potential. Unconventional, but possibly very effective in giving Simmons a role in which he'd be comfortable in not having offensive pressure on him.

** And during that role term, he'd increase the size of our frontline playing alongside KD at 6'11 similar to a role that Mcdaniels played for Minnesota, but with less shooting prominence. At absolute worst, I think value could be pulled having him operate as a 6'11 jumbo defensive wing that also could help handle the ball competently and pass too.

[Ghost of Kleine]

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