Free Agency Thread

[Arizona_Sting]

Another thing to keep an eye on is for them to move Bledsoe in a S&T. They could be wary about his knees and like I mentioned the other day... a Bledsoe for Parsons swap in a S&T would make a lot of sense for both teams and Phoenix would still have tons of cap space.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

But I think the best "Plan B" option would be to re-sign Bledsoe and Frye and then try to sign Hayward, Parsons or Deng and then make a run at another big man that can rebound and defend.

 

[Davis_Mike]

I am not a fan trading Dragic unless it was part of a bigger deal that included getting Lebron & trading for Love. Trading Dragic with other players for Love isn't appealing to me. Dragic is the best player on the team & it's not even close. I'd trade Bledsoe before I would Dragic.

I would much rather have Hawes on the team than Frye if the money is the same. He is 5 years younger, a better rebounder & defender, plus he shoots the 3 better than Frye did last season.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

I am not a fan trading Dragic unless it was part of a bigger deal that included getting Lebron & trading for Love. Trading Dragic with other players for Love isn't appealing to me. Dragic is the best player on the team & it's not even close. I'd trade Bledsoe before I would Dragic.



I would much rather have Hawes on the team than Frye if the money is the same. He is 5 years younger, a better rebounder & defender, plus he shoots the 3 better than Frye did last season.

Yup, I mentioned that when free agency started. Hawes would be a very good fit for this team. I'd much rather have a Hawes-Morris starting lineup with Plumlee off the bench than overpay Frye.

 

[Davis_Mike]

I don't think anyone in Phoenix that this rumor was true.

11:58am: The Suns have no interest in trading Dragic, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

 

[Orange602]

I like Hawes. Would love to see him in purple and orange next season.

I agree with the idea of dealing Bledsoe before Dragic (though I greatly would prefer to keep both). Bledsoe is younger, but I'm worried about his knees. How much more mileage does he have before he begins to break down (especially with his attacking play style)? However, Dragic plays a similar style and constantly plays through small, nagging injuries. How long until that catches up to him? Tough choice.

 

[Orange602]

I'd be happy with a "plan B" that includes the Suns re-signing Bledsoe, picking up Parsons or Hayward (Deng if we can't get one of those guys), and signing Hawes.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

I'd be happy with a "plan B" that includes the Suns re-signing Bledsoe, picking up Parsons or Hayward (Deng if we can't get one of those guys), and signing Hawes.

That would be a very, very good team.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

The Suns are one of four teams that met with LeBron's agent (as most of you already knew)

ESPN finally reported it.

 

[tlance]

Have you guys heard the Dragic trade rumors? I don't know if Phoenix would do this, the idea is a 3 way trade with the Pacers and Boston.

Indiana would get Dragic, Phoenix would get Rondo, and I have no idea what Boston would get or what other pieces would be involved.

I think Dragic is better than Rondo, so I am not sure why the Suns would want this unless they get something else in return also. Thoughts?

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Have you guys heard the Dragic trade rumors? I don't know if Phoenix would do this, the idea is a 3 way trade with the Pacers and Boston.

Indiana would get Dragic, Phoenix would get Rondo, and I have no idea what Boston would get or what other pieces would be involved.

I think Dragic is better than Rondo, so I am not sure why the Suns would want this unless they get something else in return also. Thoughts?

Local beat writers have said that Phoenix has no interest in trading Dragic at all. They'll listen on everyone, but it's unlikely he actually gets moved UNLESS they really think LeBron is coming. Then I could see him getting shipped off possibly.

 

[The Derski]

Have you guys heard the Dragic trade rumors? I don't know if Phoenix would do this, the idea is a 3 way trade with the Pacers and Boston.

Indiana would get Dragic, Phoenix would get Rondo, and I have no idea what Boston would get or what other pieces would be involved.

I think Dragic is better than Rondo, so I am not sure why the Suns would want this unless they get something else in return also. Thoughts?

I think the Suns said they have no plans to trade Dragic.

 

[tlance]

I think the Suns said they have no plans to trade Dragic.

They shouldn't. He is legit.

 

[Orange602]

Dragic is better than Rondo at this point. That trade would make little sense for the Suns.

 

[GMATCa]

I like Hawes. Would love to see him in purple and orange next season.

I agree with the idea of dealing Bledsoe before Dragic (though I greatly would prefer to keep both). Bledsoe is younger, but I'm worried about his knees. How much more mileage does he have before he begins to break down (especially with his attacking play style)? However, Dragic plays a similar style and constantly plays through small, nagging injuries. How long until that catches up to him? Tough choice.

... all the more reason to keep both of them. Indeed, I doubt that that trading for Love would guarantee that LeBron James would sign with Phoenix. I'm interested in trading for Love, but not at the cost of Dragic (or even Bledsoe).

Let me also say that while I like Bledsoe and would pay the "max" to keep him, I am not entirely sold on the idea of him constituting the sole leader at point guard. His decision-making and passing accuracy still have a long ways to go, as evidenced by watching him play or just examining the numbers. His assists-to-turnover ratio last season (1.64:1.00) proved terrible for a point guard, and his career mark (1.58:1.00) is similarly poor. Plus, his ratio this past season was actually slightly down compared to '12-'13 (1.70:1.00), so he is not making steady progress (not yet, at least).

To provide some perspective, Kevin Johnson's career assists-to-turnover ratio was 2.9721:1.0000, and Steve Nash's career assists-to-turnover ratio is 2.9715:1.0000. In other words, Bledsoe's assists-to-turnover ratio is barely half what one would like to see from an elite point guard (and in K.J.'s era, there was much less court spacing and much more perimeter contact, meaning that avoiding turnovers proved more difficult). Bledsoe's assists-to-turnover ratio is even much worse than Stephon Marbury's career mark of 2.54:1.00.

Granted, Dragic's assists-to-turnover ratios (2.10:1.00 last season, 2.14:1.00 for his career) are far from great, too, but they're at least significantly better than Bledsoe's.

And this issue will loom larger in the playoffs, where every possession can be critical. If you want to seriously contend for a championship, you cannot be throwing possessions away, and "live ball" turnovers are especially deadly, because of how they tend to create fast break and transition opportunities for opponents. Some fans and media members have found analogizing Bledsoe to K.J. fashionable. Well, take the respective second halves of Game Seven of the 1994 Western Conference Semifinals and the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals versus the Houston Rockets both times. K.J. played every second of each second half for a total of 48:00 minutes. In those 48 minutes, he scored 42 points, passed for 11 assists, and committed 1 turnover. In the two fourth quarters of those games, he combined to play 24 minutes, score 19 points, pass for 5 assists, and commit 0 turnovers.

The Suns still lost those games, but at least they came close. If you want to play point guard on a championship level as a star, that's what you need to be prepared to do: dominate the biggest playoff games with both scoring and passing, while protecting virtually every possession, even when fatigue and exhaustion may be setting in. Through four seasons, Bledsoe has not shown any indication that he could be that kind of player, and the fact that he has played the last three years with either Chris Paul or Goran Dragic has masked this glaring weakness.

Again, Dragic is not great in this regard, either, but at least he provides some protection. I want Bledsoe back, as he brings plenty of talent and athletic ability to the floor—on both ends. But at this point, he has not given an indication that he is a championship-caliber star point guard, at least not if he does not possess some other star point guard to lean on.

 

[GMATCa]

Have you guys heard the Dragic trade rumors? I don't know if Phoenix would do this, the idea is a 3 way trade with the Pacers and Boston.

Indiana would get Dragic, Phoenix would get Rondo, and I have no idea what Boston would get or what other pieces would be involved.

I think Dragic is better than Rondo, so I am not sure why the Suns would want this unless they get something else in return also. Thoughts?

... they wouldn't want it. This notion just represents the Pacers' (rather clueless) attempt to facilitate a trade that nets them Dragic.

 

[Davis_Mike]

Hawes is off the board.

At that price tag the Suns should have signed him. Frye will cost more to bring back. I am thinking there are still hoping for the Lebron Xmas miracle & didn't want to spend money yet.

 

[Davis_Mike]

I wouldn't mind this for picks after the dust settles with Lebron/Melo & we have either Parsons/Hayward/Deng in the fold. I just don't want hem taking back crap contract unless there is a 1st round pick involved.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Hawes is off the board.



At that price tag the Suns should have signed him. Frye will cost more to bring back. I am thinking there are still hoping for the Lebron Xmas miracle & didn't want to spend money yet.

Hopefully all this means is they're still in contention for LeBron.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

BTW, Drunk. Happy 4th of July, Suns fans!