JT could be next???

[The_Jamal]

Doesn't Pho like JT? They've been rumored as interested for a few years now.

Id' float a package based around JT for Dragic. Dragic is a decent defender, a facilitator and while he can run the pick & roll and penetrate at times, he's also comfortable off the ball and can spread the floor.

He wouldn't be at the top of my list but Dragic could be an ok PG for this team given it's current makeup. His game isn't completely based on being a high usage player. He is high usage at times but he's also comfortable playing off Bledsoe and has been comfortable playing off others previously. Not sure if Pho would listen but they have a real lack of NBA caliber bigs. Maybe even offer JT/IT.

We'd then have Dragic starting and Ray backing him up. We'd need another big at that point to replace JT but this roster is clearly a work in process.

Haven't checked how the salaries fit.

Im a huge Dragic fan. Great willing passer, extremely aggressive, excellent ball-handler, and a very capable off-ball player. Also an extremely efficient scorer. I lobbied for him hard when he was a FA a few years ago.

It's funny that we all wished we could combine IT and GV's talents together. Now that I think about it, Dragic's game kind of exemplifies that.

 

[chief bromden]

I don't care who we get back, I would love to get rid of Thompson. He hasn't improved a single aspect of his game since he entered the league. How can someone lose that many games and not improve his game to give his team a better chance to win? He's a nice guy, but I'm not sure that's worth 6 mil per.

Dragic would be awesome.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Put me in the Dragic camp as well. If we somehow land him, this could be one of the most unreal turnovers of a roster that we've ever seen through trade, in a very short time

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

How did "maybe he could fit in well" infer "Biyombo has the potential to become significantly better"?

It didn't. The part which infers that "Biyombo has the potential to become significantly better" is the part that read "but we know JT has reached his ceiling," because the subtext of that statement is that Biyombo has not reached his ceiling.

 

[Bricklayer]

The Suns are 11-9, a surprise team hanging in playoff contention. I think people overestimate the stomach for tanking sometimes. Can Toronto tank? Sure. They are losing horribly every night, might as well get something out of it. But Phoenix has been one of several pat the coach on the back Cinderella stories so far, and it gets a bit difficult to see them so blatantly ****ing it up by dumping Dragic so they can go lose. Don't get me wrong, looking around the league he's on my shortlist too of people who actually might be available, maybe. But its low %.

Jeremy Lin...eh. Raymond Felton...eh. Maybe Mario Chalmers if they could be convinced to take Marcus as DWade insurance. Maybe Jack out of Cleveland given their dysfunctional team and his history with Malone. Nothing truly as inspiring as Dragic except for Rondo, and Rondo isn't even supposed to be visiting his knee doctor until over the holidays.

The other thing is, I think we like Ray McCallum. I don't know if it was just rookie front office stuff, but our front office really seemed to crush hard on our rooks. And if that's true, I'm not 100% sure we would be looking for another PG to platoon with IT and bump McCallum back to 3rd strong/D-league guy. It would need to be a stud worthy of swapping IT for. The Rondo scenario.

 

[Kingster]

The Suns are 11-9, a surprise team hanging in playoff contention. I think people overestimate the stomach for tanking sometimes. Can Toronto tank? Sure. They are losing horribly every night, might as well get something out of it. But Phoenix has been one of several pat the coach on the back Cinderella stories so far, and it gets a bit difficult to see them so blatantly ****ing it up by dumping Dragic so they can go lose. Don't get me wrong, looking around the league he's on my shortlist too of people who actually might be available, maybe. But its low %.

Jeremy Lin...eh. Raymond Felton...eh. Maybe Mario Chalmers if they could be convinced to take Marcus as DWade insurance. Maybe Jack out of Cleveland given their dysfunctional team and his history with Malone. Nothing truly as inspiring as Dragic except for Rondo, and Rondo isn't even supposed to be visiting his knee doctor until over the holidays.

The other thing is, I think we like Ray McCallum. I don't know if it was just rookie front office stuff, but our front office really seemed to crush hard on our rooks. And if that's true, I'm not 100% sure we would be looking for another PG to platoon with IT and bump McCallum back to 3rd strong/D-league guy. It would need to be a stud worthy of swapping IT for. The Rondo scenario.

Agreed. I don't see the Suns' motivation in trading for JT and giving up Dragic. It seems more likely to me that a team in the playoff hunt might want JT to round out one of their weaknesses. Also, I agree about Rondo I think it's very unlikely that any team is going to trade for a guy coming off knee surgery like Rondo when he hasn't stepped foot on the floor yet. .

 

[KingMilz]

Do no want Bismack I would much rather Josh McRoberts great skills.

Btw I think one guy we are overlooking in this deal is Acy, while he is undersized as a PF he's got Reggie Evans in him (physical and mental not as elite rebounder) with fairly crazy athletic ability and he's a thug out there which we badly need. He could be this year's Tony Douglas imo he's a defence first guy that Malone will love.

 

[Hadlowe]

I fully expect the Suns to fade, in the next month, and if they don't, for the front office there to start making moves so they will. They have been in basketball hell for five years now. Good enough to miss all the good picks in the draft, bad enough to narrowly miss the playoffs or make a first-round exit. They desperately need a star to pair with Bledsoe, and the roster right now is playing them right back into basketball hell territory. They need to tank and are failing at it.

I wanted the Kings to tank as well, but a JT/Jimmer for Dragic exchange might be enough, if only just, to put the Kings into the playoff conversation. Yes, you are shipping out your last remaining non-cousins piece of length, but you are getting a top 15 all-around point guard in return who is equally capable on both sides of the floor.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

I fully expect the Suns to fade, in the next month, and if they don't, for the front office there to start making moves so they will. They have been in basketball hell for five years now. Good enough to miss all the good picks in the draft, bad enough to narrowly miss the playoffs or make a first-round exit. They desperately need a star to pair with Bledsoe, and the roster right now is playing them right back into basketball hell territory. They need to tank and are failing at it.

I wanted the Kings to tank as well, but a JT/Jimmer for Dragic exchange might be enough, if only just, to put the Kings into the playoff conversation. Yes, you are shipping out your last remaining non-cousins piece of length, but you are getting a top 15 all-around point guard in return who is equally capable on both sides of the floor.

It hadn't occurred till now, but Jeff Hornacek would probably be the ideal coach for Jimmer

 

[Hadlowe]

It hadn't occurred till now, but Jeff Hornacek would probably be the ideal coach for Jimmer

Jimmer might play pretty well on that team with Bledsoe handling most of the point guard duties and Jimmer cutting off screens. The extra pass is killing it for them right now with a Morris, Gerald Green, Dragic and Bledsoe all able to knock down threes at a decent clip.

 

[Gary]

I don't care who we get back, I would love to get rid of Thompson. He hasn't improved a single aspect of his game since he entered the league. How can someone lose that many games and not improve his game to give his team a better chance to win? He's a nice guy, but I'm not sure that's worth 6 mil per.

Dragic would be awesome.

What you just said exemplifies what a role player does. You explained it perfectly (with or without meaning to do so). He doesn't make a bad team better but he can come in and play within the confines of the offense/defense and do a decent job doing so with the team he's playing for not skipping a beat.

We don't need that right now. We need to get talent, and I would be all for getting Dragic if that were available to us.

 

[ESP47]

I don't care who we get back, I would love to get rid of Thompson. He hasn't improved a single aspect of his game since he entered the league. How can someone lose that many games and not improve his game to give his team a better chance to win? He's a nice guy, but I'm not sure that's worth 6 mil per.

Dragic would be awesome.

He's improved defensively by leaps and bounds. He's also added a bunch of post moves and has a slightly better touch around the rim. His shot (non FT) is also a lot better now than it was when he first came out.

His problem is that he's not really great at anything. He's also not really that bad at anything either other than fouling. He's just basically slightly below average. He's been our starter for years because we can't seem to get anyone that's any better than him. His contract is slightly high for his production but it's not a bad deal by any means.

The guy is what he is. He's not the reason why we lose games and he's not the reason why we win them either.

 

[VF21]

What you just said exemplifies what a role player does. You explained it perfectly (with or without meaning to do so). He doesn't make a bad team better but he can come in and play within the confines of the offense/defense and do a decent job doing so with the team he's playing for not skipping a beat.

We don't need that right now. We need to get talent, and I would be all for getting Dragic if that were available to us.

We do need a couple of role players right now, in fact more than before. You know what you're going to get with JT. With all the other changes going on, there needs to be a bit of stability. I don't think he's going anywhere. I strongly suspect it will be MT who packs his bags next, despite the rumors.

 

[dude12]

I'm wondering if the JT contract is moveable. Somehow we got rid of the immovable Chuck Hayes contract...and I'm not saying JT is like Chuck cause he's a better player for sure but wondering what we could actually get.

 

[VF21]

I'm wondering if the JT contract is moveable. Somehow we got rid of the immovable Chuck Hayes contract...and I'm not saying JT is like Chuck cause he's a better player for sure but wondering what we could actually get.

I'm sure PDA is already considering what he might be able to get, but I don't get the feeling he's going to make a deal just to make a deal.

 

[nebs]

He may have to wait until after tonight's game to actually make a deal lol. If we made a deal now we'd probably have to forfeit tonight's game due to lack of players.

 

[upinsmoke]

It didn't. The part which infers that "Biyombo has the potential to become significantly better" is the part that read "but we know JT has reached his ceiling," because the subtext of that statement is that Biyombo has not reached his ceiling.

What the hell are you talking about...?

 

[JLoss22]

Let's deal this dude ASAP! You would think it's for either another big or a PG but we'll see.

 

[sdballer]

What the hell are you talking about...?

That he may have already reached his ceiling, in which case he's worse than JT.

 

[Sluggah]

I can't say I'm as unhappy with JT as a lot here seem to be, and I also don't think his contract is terrible. While tossing in Jimmer as a sweetener could potentially net something pretty legit, Dragic is a pipe dream. But I like the fit. I'd like it more if he was an established 7 foot rim protector.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

I'm not entirely sure why we'd want Dragic. He is, essentially, Isaiah Thomas. Same production, worse deep shooter, worse defender. I mean, Dragic is fine, but I think JT may be a bit more valuable to us as one of the only full sized bigs left on the roster, and currently our best interior defender.

Moving JT scares me, because that means we are locking into either Rudy Gay or Derrick Williams at power forward. We might be doing that anyway, which I would fundamentally disagree with. Not saying it can't or wouldn't work - I just don't think it will. Not as well as it could with JT starting at PF.

If Thompson is on the way out, I'd be more interested in a guy like Shumpert who can come here and give us something we don't have - defense at guard. Knicks could use some size with Chandler out.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

but I think JT may be a bit more valuable to us as one of the only full sized bigs left on the roster, and currently our best interior defender.

Don't forget that we just picked up Gray who has a huge frame and also already played for Malone, to which he stated that he's a player who works well within the system and game plan. Sounds like a solid role player big that we need, especially if we end up moving JT.

As for a post forward, that's where Landry comes in later

 

[LPKingsFan]

If Thompson is on the way out, I'd be more interested in a guy like Shumpert who can come here and give us something we don't have - defense at guard. Knicks could use some size with Chandler out.

Came here to post the same thing. If we do start Cousins/Gay/Williams/IT, Shumpert would make sense as a role-playing, defensive SG that can also handle the ball some. Bring Ben off the bench where he can get more touches. I'd still want to find a better big than Gray, though, to back up Cousins or play next to him when we go big.

 

[Chubbs]

Don't forget that we just picked up Gray who has a huge frame and also already played for Malone, to which he stated that he's a player who works well within the system and game plan. Sounds like a solid role player big that we need, especially if we end up moving JT.

As for a post forward, that's where Landry comes in later

Yep. NOW I have nothing to say about that signing. We miss him badly in the bench right now. I get it.

Ben may actually be best on the bench if we can find a sg who doesn't take a lot of shots to start and play d. A sefolosha type, with Ben as the harden type. Shumpert?

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Came here to post the same thing. If we do start Cousins/Gay/Williams/IT, Shumpert would make sense as a role-playing, defensive SG that can also handle the ball some. Bring Ben off the bench where he can get more touches. I'd still want to find a better big than Gray, though, to back up Cousins or play next to him when we go big.

Do we really know enough about Gray to already be looking for someone else instead? Malone has already coached him and had good things to say

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

Don't forget that we just picked up Gray who has a huge frame and also already played for Malone, to which he stated that he's a player who works well within the system and game plan. Sounds like a solid role player big that we need, especially if we end up moving JT.

As for a post forward, that's where Landry comes in later

Yea, my issue wouldn't be with the bench crew. I think Gray / Landry is a serviceable combo there.

It's the starters that worry me. I feel like we may need JT there until we find a legit defensive replacement for him.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Yea, my issue wouldn't be with the bench crew. I think Gray / Landry is a serviceable combo there.

It's the starters that worry me. I feel like we may need JT there until we find a legit defensive replacement for him.

I understand your concern. With these kinds of things, I have to remind myself that nobody in the NBA, including all the recent teams who have won the Championship Finals, have had a starting 5 with every player being "ideal" on both ends of the floor.

In other words, "ideally" doesn't really exist in every spot. We have to weigh out our positives in the overall matchup scenario to see if we would have enough advantages. Example, what does our potential stretch 4 in a Rudy Gay, have in advantages over other 4's? He can light up a score board better than they can, with a better overall skillset of ball handling, shooting, and getting up and down. At the end of the game, the scoreboard is what matters

 

[Chubbs]

I understand your concern. With these kinds of things, I have to remind myself that nobody in the NBA, including all the recent teams who have won the Championship Finals, have had a starting 5 with every player being "ideal" on both ends of the floor.

In other words, "ideally" doesn't really exist in every spot. We have to weigh out our positives in the overall matchup scenario to see if we would have enough advantages. Example, what does our potential stretch 4 in a Rudy Gay, have in advantages over other 4's? He can light up a score board better than they can, with a better overall skillset of ball handling, shooting, and getting up and down. At the end of the game, the scoreboard is what matters

Dirk can't dream of guarding a guy like Gay. And if I recall gay can post up and score from anywhere. I think we will see a lot of him in the post to get him out of true gunner mode.

The ideal thing is having 5 athletic guys that can play basketball. Together. That can overcome all kinds of things. With caps the way they are, no one has a super strong bench. It's just not possible without guys playing for very little money.

 

[ShastaKingsFan]

Dirk can't dream of guarding a guy like Gay. And if I recall gay can post up and score from anywhere. I think we will see a lot of him in the post to get him out of true gunner mode.

The ideal thing is having 5 athletic guys that can play basketball. Together. That can overcome all kinds of things. With caps the way they are, no one has a super strong bench. It's just not possible without guys playing for very little money.

I think there's a good possibility that in playing him at 4 and 'forcing' him away from the 3 point line, it could really help bring up his shot selection and efficiency

 

[Chubbs]

I think there's a good possibility that in playing him at 4 and 'forcing' him away from the 3 point line, it could really help bring up his shot selection and efficiency

They'll have to run plays for Gay. If a lot of those are post ups, he can be a whole lot better.