The Phoenix Suns Have Terminal New Owner Syndrome | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix

The Phoenix Suns Have Terminal New Owner Syndrome | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix

another team that I thought was uh had an interesting night and that was the Phoenix Suns who have had an interesting couple of years they they continued to uh bumfuzzle me at times with some of their moves uh so at the the 10th overall pick the Suns select uh from Duke Kaman Malawatch uh good player uh picked up basketball pretty late so he’s just kind of coming into uh the game had a good year last year at Duke people like his tools his potential to continue to grow around the exact same time they do a deal to get Mark Williams the center out of Charlotte um so now and they give up a 2029 first round pick uh to get Mark Williams so now they have Mark Williams they have Malawatch they have Nick Richards who I think is still there and uh I’m blanking on the I don’t want to mispronounce his last name but they have one more big man that’s in that uh that mix remember when Phoenix had like eight point guards
when did Senters become like this thing again like when did like pivots like when when even like I was watching a little bit of the ABC draft coverage and Bob Myers who is loathed to criticize anybody in those situations bob is very positive all the time even Bob was like “Huh?” Like centers who are the easiest guys in the league to play off the floor right like we’ve seen it happen over and over again in the postseason like even like in the the championship team the Oklahoma City Thunder Isaiah Hardenstein did not start for the first few games of the NBA finals because the Thunder want to play down you’re gonna grab two of them who both have questions around them like I My watch is such an impressive kid to to like show up at an NBA academy in Africa and turn into what he’s turned into similar with like VJ Edgecomb i’m not sold on the story like the story doesn’t do a lot for me when I’m talking about using a top 10 pick
it’s a top 10 pick i’m talking about a top 10 pick Rachel like you’re using a top 10 pick
on Malawatch i don’t know what his offensive ceiling is um I think he can be a good defender i don’t know what his offensive ceiling is going to be mark Williams put up numbers with Charlotte but something was going on with him physically that made the Lakers who were desperate for a player the ilk of Mark Williams to veto the trade to resin the trade for Mark Williams so now you’ve got the Suns I I wrote this at si.com the Suns perception of what they are like you put the Suns perception of what they are right here
oh it’s very different from the reality
it’s very different from what they are like in the sun
wait move your hands because they’re not right now for people who aren’t watching on YouTube Chris’s hands were right next to each other and they should not be
they’re not yeah like all right we’ll make a bigger gap spread your hands out wide the Suns believe that they add Mark Williams and Malawatch to a team with Jaylen Green Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and whatever stuff they have there Grayson Allen that they’re a playoff contender next year we just did this thought experiment with the Pelicans as a uh a playoff team next year do you have the Phoenix Suns in your playoff field
are you playing point guard for the
No because that’s another big question I have again I made the joke because it was I mean I got this point Isaiah Thomas is who I’m talking about and and that that glut of point guards so it was what 10 years ago but that’s the team that stacked up on three starters at the same position and now here we are again having this conversation and you know I I do think big men have sort of revived at being you know more valuable in the NBA stratosphere but you cannot just sort of throw them out on the floor the way you can with wing and backcourt players and say “You guys will figure out how to play together.” This is this is it it does not make sense and Mark Williams there’s got to be something going on there because Charlotte has been trying to get rid of him we now know
for six to eight months
yes injury issues have plagued him and the Hornets who who by the way the Hornets are like this this fun springy team you know LaMelo Brandon Miller you add Coniple to that mix like theoretically you’ve got your outside shooter what you need now is kind of that shot blocking big man that Mark Williams would seem to be but the the Hornets have have done everything they in their power to get away from this guy to move him and to not be in a position to pay him now I did read a couple places on the internet people talking about the Suns getting the Lakers sloppy seconds and that’s not right we should not be talking about him that way
but but I do look I again wish him the best hopefully I I felt it was it was rough what happened with that Lakers trade because regardless of whether it was his physical fault or whether it was Charlotte’s fault or whether it was the Lakers fault for having a change of heart you get kind of just sort of marked when the team says they don’t want you back so I hope he’s somewhere and clearly Charlotte has continued to try to get rid of him so I hope for his sake he’s somewhere where he flourishes um but it is again a perplexing move from the Phoenix malawatch like this i keep going back to Malawatch here um and I wrote this like I had heard immediately after they made that pick they were dangling him in trades to other teams so that they were looking to to maybe move off him like they’re they’re trying again this goes back to the perception versus the reality like they’re trying to be a winner like everything that Matt Ishbia says we’re going to build a win around Deon Booker we’re going to win a championship with Deon Booker i’ve said this to you and I’ve said to many other people there is a 0.0% 0% chance that Devin Booker wins a championship in Phoenix not that Deon Booker won’t win a championship great player probably will but it will not be with the Phoenix Suns now you draft a player in Malawatch who is both young and has not been playing basketball for more than what 5 years it’s going to take him time to reach whatever potential that he’s ultimately going to get to i don’t get it i don’t get what the thinking is in Phoenix i don’t get what the strategy is in Phoenix i don’t know Brian Gregory at all um not vastly experienced in in the general manager position they’ve got a young head coach obviously Jordan Kn’s got a lot going for them uh was on that Kenny Atinson staff i and I have said it many times i love when these kind of coaches get these type of opportunities but they are a team that on Monday is acting like it is preparing to rebuild and then Friday acting like it’s preparing to compete for a championship that makes no sense to me
new owner syndrome new owner syndrome
been like three years now though
he’s clearly still got it
still got I’m just saying and look you know Malich I hope also turns out to be great because his story is inspiring thank you very much heartless Chris Manx but aspiring doesn’t win doesn’t
I do always wonder when you play with a player the caliber that Cooper Flag is supposed to be how much is he making everyone on that Duke
how many first round picks they have that I mean can can it they two top four picks there
that’s what I mean yeah I know is that you know I’m curious to see him in a Cooper flagless universe
and and what kind of player he is Amen

Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols discuss the Phoenix Suns loading up on new centers through the draft and trade market and why it seems like ownership believes they still compete right now in a competitive western conference
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