Are Phoenix Suns REPEATING MISTAKES With Jalen Green & Devin Booker Duo?

Are Phoenix Suns REPEATING MISTAKES With Jalen Green & Devin Booker Duo?

Mailbag Mondays. I’m super pumped, but I gotta be honest, Gerald. I think you’re a little too close to me. Yes. [Applause] [Music] [Music] Psychos and sitos unite for a mailbag Monday edition of PHNX Suns with a full squad minus the juice man unfortunately. Here in studio K presented by Circle Kane. Join the inner circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today. Terms and conditions apply at participating locations. I’m Eric and I’m wearing sunglasses to make our producer Shane mad. That’s Gerald. There’s Steven back from vacation and the deli man behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. Order up on a Monday and we have a nice juicy meal to dive in today on PHNX Suns. But of course, the most important people, all of you in the chat, joining us live, listening on audio after the fact, and of course joining us on YouTube or on TV. So many different ways to look and listen to Gerald Borg because that’s why we’re all here, right? Stephen, how you doing? How’s your weekend? Good to have you back, Stephen. How was how was going home WNBA Allstar weekend? Yeah. Uh it was fun. Much needed time away. Um we don’t take breaks around here ever really the last like five or six years if I’m being honest. So to take an earnest break, even if it was legitimately like maybe two or three days, it was much needed. Order restored. And I’m looking forward to getting back to work. We got a lot of summer league ccentric stuff to get into as far as details. So, I’m looking forward to kind of getting into that over the next couple of weeks. Yeah. Keep your eyes out for Stephen’s film breakdowns. By the way, on that note, I will be leaving for vacation on Thursday. So, these two will be holding it down. So, the hashtag is vacation boys. # vacation boys for sure. Uh Gerald, you’re still here though. No vacations for you. Even when you’re home, you’re just up taking care of a human child. Doing my best. A human child. Yes. Well, as opposed to like distinct choice of words. I mean, am I wrong? Something else like am I wrong? I don’t think I’m wrong. uh Juice Man hoping to get him back here uh sooner rather than later, but we will hold things down in the meantime nonetheless before we get into uh mailbag money. Mario says, “How many vacations do you take, Eric?” None. This is like the first one. Uh but let’s get into an update. Obviously, earlier today, Chris Paul officially returned to the Los Angeles Clippers. And Gerald, uh, we got some details on the Suns involvement in it and what’s next for Phoenix after not going after Chris Paul. Yeah, so Suns were Paul’s preferred landing spot. Like we’ve been talking about on the show, it didn’t feel like the Suns were as interested in a reunion there. So Clippers kind of became the deacto landing spot for him. Suns we know have been looking for another ball handler outside of Devin Booker, Colin Gillespie with Taius Jones going to Orlando. Um, and then Mark Stein said that league sources say the Suns have had some recent dialogue with former all-star Ben Simmons, who’s also drawn interest from Boston, New York, and Sacramento. And then we’ve got, uh, Arizona Sports John Gamadoro shooting that down on Twitter. So, uh, yeah, I don’t know. I’m kind I’m kind of okay with not adding Ben Simmons. If you look at the numbers he put up once he was traded to a winning team on the Clippers, they’re not great. and I’d personally rather just see what Gillespie has in that backup point guard role. So, I’m good with that. We do have some Ben Simmons conversation in a question later. So, let’s go ahead and just dive into Mailbag Monday. If it’s okay with you, chat, we’ll start off with our first question from Z. Zay asks, “Do you guys really think that Booker can be the number one option on a championship team?” And I’m talking about current day, not in 2021. I personally think of course, but he just needs even a better surrounding cast than 2021. What do y’all think? Is he still good enough? Stephen, can Book be a number one on a championship team today? So, I flipped the question to you all. Does Ev Booker draw double teams? Mhm. Yes. Is he an efficient scorer? Yes. Is he an efficient playmaker? Yes. Has he shown to hit a certain ceiling on the defensive end of the floor? Yes. Yes. Does he have a disposition that uplifts the level of play for everyone that’s on the court with him more often than not? Mhm. Does he step up to the occasion more often than not when the lights glow the brightest? Yeah. Yeah. So, there you go. Thank you for actually um counterpoint counterpoint. Um he has empty calories and uh actually he’s not good. So there you go. But yeah, to saying that about someone that’s literally represented this country as the most selfless player on that team with all of the best talents in on the state side as far as basketball goes. I feel like there shouldn’t be much more that needs to be said if the literal masterminds of the NBA all agreed to have him be in the starting position when there were other players that fit that role better but didn’t accept that role to the extent that Booker did. And you see what it resulted in. Yeah. Yes, I I think we’d all agree that he can be the best player on a championship contender. The will he is the question for me cuz he’s coming up on, you know, he’s going to turn 29 before this upcoming season. You look at the roster around him, it’s a lot younger and that’s good and the way that they’re building it, I appreciate, but are they going to run out of time before his prime is up and he’s no longer that player that can be a number one on championship contender is the question for me. So I I think Book’s not in that echelon of like Nicole Joic or Giannis or these guys that like you can put players around them and they’ll be great. You have to build it a very specific way around Devin Booker um more so than some of those other guys that are in that top tier. But I think it’s possible. I just think they have to really nail the moves that are coming next if they actually want to see that happen. I think Devin Booker and like Tyrese Hallebertton are on similar planes now. Obviously, they’re very different players and and Tyrese obviously leans more into the passing. Book leans more into the scoring, but of course, both can do both. But you saw with Indiana and with OKC, who had a transcendent guy in Shay Gildas Alexander. The most important thing when it comes to building a championship team is what’s around the star player, right? And that’s what we saw over the last two and a half years through the Kevin Durant saga and everything is you had the top end talent, but nothing fit around there. So, if you have Devin Booker as your best option, yeah, your your depth and your second best, third best, fourth best, fifth best player probably need to be better, you know, than usual if he’s going to be your best, but I certainly think it’s still an option. I I think it’s a it’s a tough hill to climb for sure. But, is it possible? I I would say yes. I’ll say real quick just to round it out. I feel like the attention at the top of a championship caliber team sometimes gets too heavy on the top half when we constantly talk about the playoffs all about what your others do. The people whose others players step up are typically the ones that get to the championship round. And this season was a more direct example of that than anything. Andrew Nehar step back threes in game one. Lou Door, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hardinstein having multiple moments over the course of that series. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the blueprint. Yeah. I mean, that’s every championship team, right? You could look at 2021 and you can look at, oh, Chris Paul and Devin Booker. It’s like Yeah. But it’s it’s literally the depth and the bench and losing that is also what ended up costing the Suns in 2021 as well. Let’s not revisit that even though it’s a couple Yeah, it’s a couple years removed almost the day uh that that happened. But, you know, that’s every championship team is you lose one of your important guys on the margins and that could screw you over. Which is why the margin moves for the Suns have been so important. But a big move and a big decision that they seem to be making is Point Book, Gerald. And that brings us to our second question from Suns World. Thank you so much, Sunssworld for submitting your question. Says, “What do you guys think of running point book again this year and for the foreseeable future? He’s at his best when he plays shooting guard and I don’t see the Suns having the assets to afford a point guard to the level of CP3, the level CP3 was when we first acquired him. So, how do you feel about point Book this year and building around Point Book in general? I feel fine. I I I think there’s this misconception about putting Devin Booker at the point that he’s less aggressive or that he’s at his best at the two guard spot. I think he’s at his best when he is in attack mode. And I think nobody that he has played with put him in attack more mode more consistently than Chris Paul. And I think people got the wrong takeaway that Book being at the two and Book having a traditional point guard is what needs to happen for that to happen. I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think it helps, but I think if you look at, you know, going all in on Bradley Beal and then now you make the Kevin Durant trade and you bring back Jaylen Green and he’s kind of the new guy that slots in next to Devin Booker. I think this is by design. I don’t think it’s by accident. And I think Devin Booker wants to have the ball in his hands. If he didn’t want to have the ball in his hands, they probably would have went out and signed Chris Paul back or they would have gotten a more traditional ball handler. So for all the people that are complaining about, oh, I’m sick of point book, point book, like I think he wants to have the ball in his hand because he is the best advantage creator with the ball in his hand because his playmaking has grown. So, I I think there’s something to having another ball handler like a Colin Gillespie or somewhat like bringing I was on board with bringing back Chris Paul because it would have put Booker off the ball every now and then and let him attack in that way because in the NBA you can’t just attack one way. Defenses will adjust. They’ll throw the things at you. You need to be versatile. So, having that other ball handler would definitely help and I would like to see him spend time off the ball as well. But, I do think for the Suns offense, you look at who they have on the roster, he is by far their best playmaker. And so I want the ball in his hands. The question is, can the other guys do enough around him to make sure that Book’s not just constantly getting double teamed and it’s disrupting their entire offense as a result? Um, just double checking myself going off the top of the head, 271 three-point assists last season, 11 more than second place Trey Young. Yeah. Also had, and let me double check this too, 105 secondary assists, nine more than second place Steph Curry. also finished the season last season um I think seventh in total assist points created over the course of the season. You factor in the games that he did miss due to injury, you see he’s easily in the top three. All of these signs are statistical context to apply to the eye test that you watched all of the last two seasons now with Deon Booker where he’s just taken leaps and bounds of growth in the playmaking department. Not even talking about him creating for himself, which he’s still growing into and still adding more elite layers to. This is someone that can thrive with the ball in their hands for a significant amount in terms of usage um relative to the rest of the league. Yeah, I everybody points at Chris Paul and I get it right because obviously the team had a ton of success when it was Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Stephen, how many point guards out there are like Chris Paul? Well, I can tell you not even just now in the history of the NBA, there is only one Christopher Emanuel Paul. Mhm. And I think that some people then conflate like, oh well because book and and we saw this book with the highest level of team success next to Chris Paul, right? And that’s in in effect then Deon Booker is the best when he’s next to a point guard. Now I don’t I think that Devin Booker needs to be on the court with somebody else who’s a good playmaker, who’s a good advantage creator. It’s why when him and Kevin Durant were the one two in the playoffs that one year that they got bounced by the Nuggets before the Nuggets went on to win a championship and Book was going literal like Michael Jordan mode on the court, right? Because he was playing off of another playmaker in Kevin Durant who wasn’t a point guard. Point book isn’t the problem. It’s if you only have point book, your team’s going to have a ceiling. The same way that if you only have Tyrese Hallebertton, your team’s going to hit a ceiling. or if you only have Luca or if you only have Jokic and maybe the ceiling’s higher on those latter two guys, but they need other playmakers and other great players to play off of. So, does he need another great point guard? It would help if you had another Chris Paul to put out there, but I think it’s just you need to have another top caliber player. And of course, Jaylen Green is who the Suns are putting their money on currently. We’ll get to him in a second. But before we go there, let’s round out with another question about Devin Booker specifically. This one coming from Kenny. Thank you so much, Kenny. love what you’re doing with the ASU football program. Says, “What does Devin Booker need to improve the most on to help carry this team to a possible playinplay off appearance?” Uh, for me it’s defense. A lot of people are going to point to the on ball offball stuff, but he needs to be better defensively. He needs to help set a tone, especially on a younger team that’s going to be better hopefully defensively that has the tools to be better defensively than bottom five of the league. I think he does need to be a little bit more aggressive than we’ve seen in the past in terms of getting off the ball when he gets double teams or getting back on the ball after a double team. Um because last year he had Kevin Durant, he had Bradley Beal. He doesn’t have those things this year. So, they’re going to need him to do more in the face of that. But for me, it’s the defensive end. For me is the the defense is definitely first. But my thing with him is how high do you want his ceiling to be on the defensive end given what he’s going to have to do on the offensive end. And for me, especially in Jordan A system, I look at the context of um Darius Garland last season and Donovan Mitchell, both of them having absolutely just prolific elite level pullup three-point seasons. Um career best for both of those two. For Jordan system to be its best, for Devin Booker to be his best self, especially if he’s going to have the ball in his hands as much as he will, the pull up three-point shooting has to resurface. Last season it was es and flows, but it was a whole lot more of the es than the flows on the top end side of it. So, he has to be more efficient on that front for everything else to work the way that it potentially could. I also think with him and and one thing that we were a little frustrated with last season was when Katie was out, when Be was out, when Book was just the guy he he kind of struggled to create consistently and score consistently. When you look at the raw numbers over the last season, it’s like, okay, like that’s a good season for most players. But if you watched Devin Booker, like most psychos and sickos here, and of course all of us who are doing pregame, postgame shows and and covering every game either in person or here from the studio, it wasn’t the same book, right? Like this is probably the worst season from book that we’ve seen in a long time since he’s really entered his prime. And yes, the defense was a big part of that for sure. The pull at three-point shooting for sure, but I also just think consistently night in and night out. You did have this question of are you going to be the best Devin Booker, right? And for me now, you’re going into this season now. Part of that is injuries and the players around you, including the vet men that the Suns front office missed on. It was, in my opinion, the lack of a system implemented by Mike Benhenholes or lack of an offensive identity. you’re going into this season, you know, you are set up relatively well to overcome that, but at the end of the day, you are the sole number one offensive option night in night out on this team. Do what we’ve seen you do for nine years and at multiple points in year 10, which is hit these consistent streaks and not, man, book hit, you know, 30 for the first time in a week today or okay, he was scoring in the low 20s and then he exploded for 40 against the Jazz, right? Like I just need to walk into every game knowing, Gerald, that I’m getting consistently the best Devin Booker that we could get. Yeah, he he just needs to be better. Last year, he missed a lot of mid-range shots that he normally makes. He has always been a tough shot maker, shot taker. Um, you need to get back to making some of those shots. That’s going to be difficult now that you don’t have a Kevin Durant or Bradley Beal taking some of the attention off of you. But hopefully the way that they are playing differs things. Hopefully he’s a little bit more aggressive and like I said, hopefully defensively uh he fits in a little bit better than he did last year with a bottom five defense. Well, he’s going to have to fit in with Jaylen Green. Are the Suns repeating the Bradley Beal saga right after moving on from him? What will Eric take his sunglasses off? Oh, come on. Don’t step on the transition like that. Is Jaylen Green Bradley Beal 2.0? Will Jaylen Green end the season in a Suns uniform? How do signin trades work with the hard cap? Royce O’Neal, Grayson Allen trades, top remaining free agent creators left. We have a ton that we’re still going to dive into on PHNX Suns, but we’re going to do all of it right after our first break. Everybody getting mad at me for wearing shades inside. Everybody knows I love shade, okay? And I love keeping cool, and that’s why I love APS because I have a smart thermostat with APS and I’m also part of APS Cool Rewards. Does that make me cool? No. But it does save me money and time because Stephen, I was laying in bed last night and it was a little bit too warm. Forgot to turn the AC down. I like to keep it crisp. I had a cat laying on me and I’m like, I’m not going to disturb this cat. This cat doesn’t like me as much as it usually does right now. I don’t want to make it angry. So, I grab my phone and I turn it down because I can connect with my APS smart thermostat from my phone. I could do it right here, right now during this ad read. You could have done it when you were back home visiting your family and your friends and covering WNBA Allstar weekend. All because of APS’s smart thermostat. And right now, APS customers may be eligible for smart thermostats for as low as $0 when you enroll in the APS cool rewards program. If you already have a smart thermostat at home like me, see if it’s eligible to enroll in cool rewards. Plus, free install available at marketplace.aps.com. Must be an APS customer and pay shipping and taxes. Other restrictions apply. Go to marketplace.aps.com for more information. Cat concessions. Uh, by the way, I’m not going to do my Phoenix Raceway noises because I went back and and listened to that, Gerald. It was really bad. But you know what’s not bad is witnessing four champions crown in three days. Thank you, Shane, for a little bit of ambiance there, Deli. Man, uh, for NASCAR fans, you’re getting the best access in sports when it comes to Phoenix Raceway. And if you’re not a NASCAR fan, but you’re just a sports fan and you haven’t been to the Phoenix Raceway Championship since it’s been here in the valley, you’re absolutely missing out on cars roaring at almost 200 mph, witnessing four champions crowned in 3 days. So don’t miss your chance to witness NASCAR Championship weekend in person coming to Phoenix Raceway October 31st through November 2nd. Tickets for Sunday’s Cup Series Championship race sell out every year, so move fast to get yours now before they’re gone. And here’s the kicker. NASCAR is taking championship weekend on the road starting in 2026. This is your last chance to catch it in Phoenix for a long time. Tickets, hospitality, and upgrades are all still available. Get yours now at phoenixraway.com. Real quick, so those sound effects from Shane Yeah. Mhm. don’t sound no different than how it sounds by my crib around any specific time in the evening or night time over here in Phoenix. I appreciate that. It sounded like a cat drive by, Eric. Okay. Sorry. Moving on. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. By the way, uh we have a pickle ball tournament this Saturday, July 26th at Chicken to Pickle out on the west side. So you’re way over there and uh hang out with some of PHNX’s own and real hoopers show up to that. So if you’re a real pickle ball player, sign up at gophnx.com/events. And if you are a diehard, we have a discount code that is shared in the Diehard Discord. So become a diehard today. Get discounts on all of our events, plus access to all Gerald’s writing, our dieh hard discord. Add free experience on our website. So much more. Free hat or shirt when you sign up. Really good stuff over for the die hards. Also great stuff here from Noah, not former producer Noah, but a different Noah. A interesting question here saying, “How do we see Booker and Jaylen Green coexisting? My biggest worry is it being similar to Beal and Booker where it’s just disjointed guard play in the starting lineup. Is that a valid concern, Gerald? Yeah, like I’m I’m very concerned about it. I I think Jaylen Green definitely brings some traits to the table. We’ve talked about his ability to get downhill, his ability to create his own shot. He’s among the best in the league in terms of being able to do that. He’s very quick. Um, and I think if he is able to attract the defense’s attention, that will help Booker. Obviously, what I don’t see is efficient shot making at this point, and that is what needs to come with it. And when he does drive, he’s not a very good passer. He doesn’t He has a low assist rate on drives and he’s not a very good finisher at the rim. He’s not very good from the mid-range. He takes a lot of threes. So, by volume, he’s a decent three-point pull-up threat. And I think that will help with the offense a little bit. But, I I am definitely concerned. And I think for me, the defensive end, I I’ll be concerned on that end as well. Like, the Rockets were a top five defense last year. But Jaylen Green, I think the Rockets were almost 10 points per 100 possessions better when he was off the court than when he was on it defensively. So there’s there’s going to be a lot that they’re going to have to prove. I’m not completely out on it because I do think Green can help in certain areas, but he’s going to have to be a lot more efficient and tweak some elements of his game under Jordan. This is why I’m very, very, very excited about Jaylen Green in the Phoenix Suns jersey. You have a player that’s been kind of dubbed to be a specific type. Mhm. unfair for a 23-year-old who’s played with a team that’s had to put him in those positions to even stay afloat offensively up until last season. Even though he had an all-star teammate, he still had a certain demand on his table every game to take a certain type of shot multiple times over the course of games because of how he was guarded. Opportunity. Talk about challenge in terms of the fit with Deon Booker. I see it as opportunity. opportunity for Jaylen Green to experiment with new ways of operating, operating with a new head coach, a new team context, gonna be different demands placed upon him. How does he kind of adjust and adapt to those things while also not losing the core things that make him that elite type of shot creator that he is, but obviously more than anything uptaking that efficiency. Tons of opportunity for him. I think he’ll have the ball in his hands, not as much as he did with the Rockets last season, but an appropriate amount for the style of play that he’ll be able to be unlocked to play off of Devin Booker. And I see a lot of that coming in an off off the ball type of manner. Much like Jaylen Green in general, I think the highs are going to be really high and I think some of the overlap when it comes to the lows are are going to be tough to overcome. Can Jaylen Green kind of balance that out? and does playing with a creator like Devin Booker, a passer like Devin Booker, the best outside offensive option that he’s ever played with, right? And maybe be insulated a little bit more to where it’s like we have some shooting around you if you are playing with a Grayson Allen or a Royce O’Neal if they’re still on the team, right? So, I think that there’s a world where this does work better than Bradley Beal. I think availability is a big part of it as far as, you know, gaining confidence and synergy and chemistry with each other, right? I think the athleticism is a massive difference than with Bradley Beal attacking the rim. I mean, how many times did we talk about during last season how much the Suns needed Bradley Beal to put pressure on the rim? And it’s like, okay, maybe they’ve done a little bit better with the supporting cast around Devin Booker as far as rim pressure because KD, while he was super efficient around the rim, wasn’t the one who was always driving to the rim. I think Jaylen Green’s going to do that even more so than than Bradley Beal. Can you eliminate some of the bad mid-ranges from his diet? Give him on like a a mory ball three-pointers and layups only type of package. I think that’s very important as well. And at the end of the day, Gerald, I think having Jordan’s offensive system compared to what Bradley Beal and Devin Booker were put were put into, which was Frank Vogle, who was clearly a defensive mind and was not as attuned on the offensive end, and then Mike Benhoer, who was barely attuned to the fact of being a coach, like being put in those situations and just saying, “Okay, you have two overlapping skill sets. Go hoop.” versus, “You have two overlapping skill sets with a couple key differences. let me fine-tune everything around you to get the most out of them. If Jordan’s that guy, which we don’t know if he is, but if he is, I think that lends itself to a much more positive outcome with Green and Booker than with Booker and Beal. Yeah. A lot of this for me in terms of looking at the upside and how it could work out relies on Jordan not being able to tweak his approach for sure um and put him in situations that like Stephen mentioned will be different from what Houston’s offense needed him to do because they just didn’t have those types of shot creators um and electrifying dynamic players that would attract a double team here in Phoenix. He won’t have to be that number one guy who has that burden on his shoulder. Um, but yeah, I I still do have my concerns cuz as much as rim pressure is much needed, it’s something that I don’t think the Suns tapped into with Bradley Beal as much as they should have, especially off ball cutting. Um, you have to finish around the rim to put pressure on it. Like you can’t just drive every time and put up a bad layup and like he was not very good finishing around the rim. So, he has to be better. I do think Au will be able to lean into his offball cutting a little bit more. That’s one of the big things that I think they can tap into that will be effective. Um because Au talked a lot about leaning into more cutting and Jaylen Green is quick as hell. So hopefully you can utilize that athletic advantage and tap into some of that. But like I said, Au’s going to have to be able to get him to really touch on some elements of his game and and fine-tune them. And he can cuz he’s still young. I I don’t want that to be lost on anyone. It’s not like he is who he is at this point at 23. Um, but there is going to be need to be significant change in the way that he operates compared to last year. Yeah. Uh, for all the I’ll just kind of add that for all the conversations about spacing, cutting is spacing because it literally creates space or it occupies an unoccupied space that either results in a high shot quality in terms of layup or floater or another pass or opens up pockets for others. So, I think Jaylen Green is going to be leaned into to provide more of that, especially around everything that Devin Booker is as a offensive hub and the attention that comes with that from a defense. I don’t think Jaylen Green could be better positioned to have career best efficiency on the volume of scoring that he’s known to be able to go off on. And I said it a couple weeks ago when I was on, I’ll say it again. I think the Suns end up finishing next season with two top 10 scorers again, which is no different than they had each of the last like three seasons. Yeah, I agree. Last thing is that you’re also banking on his upside, right? He might just get better, right? Some of these weaknesses that he has, he might improve, but will he be in a Suns uniform the full time that he’s here, at least this season? Suns dude asks our next question. Do you think Jaylen Green ends 2025 2026 season in a Suns uniform? Let’s just do real quick yes or no answers. Gerald, yes, but ask me again for the following season. I think he’ll be here for one. I think he’ll be here for the duration of the next season. Yeah, I think he’ll be here the entirety of next season. All right, let’s keep it moving on. Thank you for the question, Suns. Dude, you’re you’re like you would say he’s gone after this year. No, I don’t know that. I’m saying ask me again in a year. Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought we all just skated over that. No, no, no. Sorry. I was trying here for the year. They won’t they won’t ship. I was trying to push some mission formation. That’s my bad. That’s usually what I like to do. Okay, I see. Breaking. I’m going to put out a graphic. Breaking. Gerald Borg says Jaylen Green will not be back 26 27. Fine. Uh, Debback Stan account with another question saying, “Illustrate an example of how signin trades would quote hard cap the Suns if they choose that route. Are there any other moves they should make first before being hardcapped?” Meaning, in what sequence should moves involving a sign-in trade be made? All right. So, a signin trade automatically hard caps you. Um, so that like if you acquire a player via sign and trade, you are hardcapped at the first tax apron. Um, so that is something to keep in mind in terms of what amount you’re assigning someone to like a Jonathan Kamingo like we talked about last week. Um, and it depends on how much money you’re sending out as well. So, it’s kind of hard to answer that full question without going into specific numbers, but you probably want to make sure that you are not like you can’t cross the first apron if you sign and trade for a player. And to be honest with you, I don’t I don’t know. There there would have to be some really smart moves lined up ahead of time before you do something like that. For me, signing trades, I think I think this is a perfect time to go back behind the curtain drill. Yeah, we just got done talking about like an hour and a half ago undoing all of the cap constraint perspectives on things and being able to have that liberation and practice to see what they could potentially do. Yeah. Um I think that’s fun. I think it’s an opportunity to learn and unlearn and relearn things. And I think that this is again just something else that the Suns are going to be heavily considering going forward. Yeah. And and I don’t know that necessarily you have to accomplish any moves before you do the sign and trade because once you do the sign and trade, you’re hardcapped at that amount. So you can’t like go over and then do the sign and trade and be fine because you’d be over. So you wouldn’t be able to do the sign and trade. So a hard cap lasts throughout the rest of the season no matter what. You cannot cross that first apron threshold, which is like 195.9 million, I think. Um so it it honestly doesn’t matter. If you do the sign and trade, you’re going to be hardcaped there no matter what. At a Phoenix Rising with a 499 super chat with no text. I said send a regular chat and I’ll read it. They said just supporting. Thank you. Thank you for supporting. Haven’t seen you around here. If you’re new, make sure you subscribe. We are live every single day, bringing you that sweet, sweet sons content for you psychos and sickos. Plus, of course, all of Gerald’s writing, Steven’s film breakdowns, all of my mini pods that I put out there as well. And make sure you become a diehard today as well. If you are not, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. We talked about signing trades. What about trades involving Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neal, and so much more. We’re going to rip through them all after our second break. Make your money work for you. And you can do that with Mountain America Credit Union. They’re committed to helping their more than 1 million members through 100 branches throughout the West. And right now you can get two times the amount of points on your rewards credit card purchases now through July 31st. It’s been going on for a long time. You still just have 10 more days, but I guarantee you in those 10 days you’re going to be spending money. And use your Mountain America rewards card and watch the points pile up. It’s perfect for gas, groceries, travel, home projects, and all other purchases. It’s an easy way to stretch your dollar since you earn twice as many rewards and you can redeem those double points for rewards like travel rebates, gift cards, and event tickets. But like I said, it’s a limited time only. Take advantage of it while you can. Get details at macu.com/double. Loans are on approved credit. Offer can change or be withdrawn at any time. It’s a limited time offer. Terms and conditions apply to get double the amount of points on your rewards credit card purchases from Mountain America Credit Union. And like guy said before, I love shade and I love all pro-shade concepts. You think that one’s real funny, don’t you, Stephen? Yeah. Amen. Uh, the most trusted local shade company voted number one by ranking Arizona for patio shades in 2024. Check. A+ better business bureau rating. Check. Over 1,000 five-star reviews on Google. Check. In business for over 20 years in the valley. 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Uh Brett Seagull with you and I Gerald last week said the Suns are talking about possibly moving them and Luis aka sauceboss3 another great name says trade ideas for Royce andor Grayson. Now I know tomorrow Gerald we’re going to dive into a lot more of these so we’ll keep it light but do you have a little little appetizer for the people when it comes to Grayson All and Royce O’Neal trades? Uh, not really, guys. To be honest with you, like all of the trade names that I’m going to throw out there are guys that I don’t see the Suns being able to get with just Grayson and Royce because they don’t have a ton of draft capital to offer. And you would probably have to throw in a pick on top of Grayson and Royce to get some of the names that add up. But it is nice to be able to stack contracts again and look at guys in the 2530 million range and try and figure out who they how they might be able to get here. um a couple to just sort of chew on and I don’t really know how I feel about it. But for those of you that want a point guard or someone to get Devin Booker off the ball more, I don’t think the Wizards have a plan for CJ McCollum. No. Please, God, no. I don’t want it. I don’t want anything to do with it. No. But if you want a point guard, he’s one of the few that’s available that could play on or off the ball. Um a lot of people have thrown out Josh Giddy for sign and trade. You can make that happen. and I just don’t really have an interest in Josh Giddy. Um, if things go poorly in Denver, Cam Johnson, it’s not going to go poorly, but we’re still going to keep Cam on the radar. That could go better. It’s not going to go poorly, but Cam Johnson, Nicole Yok. Also, uh, the Blazers are an interesting team to me. Don’t know what they’re doing. Don’t know what the plan is. I think they’ll be better. Dame is not going to play next year, so maybe Drew Holiday is off limits, but I don’t know what they’re trying to do with Drew Holiday. I also don’t know what they’re trying to do with Jeremy Grant. If you’re someone that thinks the Suns still need a starting for. So, those are a couple of the names I’m going to throw out there. None of them exciting. Drew Holiday, I don’t think you’re getting for just Grayson and Royce. You’d need to find a pick. Yeah. Uh, that also plays into our next question. It’s either from Javier or Xavier, one of our dieards, also known as El Nino. You got to let me know how to pronounce that one. Uh, says, “Now that we can add contracts together, what do we think of Royce and Allen trades would look like?” We’ll get into more of that tomorrow. But a second part to the question, Stephen says, “Also, how do we think the rookies will be incorporated into the rotations?” That’s a good question. Um, because of the ambiguity at the four spot, I still don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Rashir Fleming does start for this team come the end of training camp, end of preseason. Now, obviously, after the little bit that we were able to see of him in summer league, there are corners he’s going to need to turn. However, if you’re talking about someone that can knock down an occasional three and bring a level of positional size and versatility to everything that you’re doing on the defensive end first and then putting that in tando with things that he can provide that’ll be um complimentary on the offensive end, I think there are avenues and routes in which he can go about potentially starting for this team because of it. What about Malawatch, Gerald? How do you see the plan with with that? I I think day one starter is probably off the table because you traded for Mark. Yeah, I think so. I think Malaw watch honestly I don’t know how Au is going to value what Malwatch brings and how NBA ready he’s going to be because in summer league we saw some very uh necessary areas for improvement. I don’t know if they’re going to be using him in that same capacity with as much of the onball stuff that they did. But if they are and if he struggles to that degree, he could be the third string center because they still have Nick Richards. I think they’re going to try to play O with the four next to a Mark Williams, next to a Malawatch, next to a Nick Richards based on how they used him at summer league and how they’ve used double bigs in Cleveland. So, I I don’t know, man. Match is he’s going to have to prove himself. It would be a real bummer if we go into this year and all three of the rookies are kind of not really in the rotation. And I think that is a possibility at this point in time. I think with Kobe Brea, there’s definitely an opportunity there as a two-way player to get some burn. And we saw the Suns are open to doing that. I think they’re going to look at Isaiah Livers who’s another two-way and see how can they use him as well. We saw last year with Colin Gillespie who got a good amount of minutes and bouncing up and down. I think especially if Kobe Brea goes and lights the G-League on fire, which I do believe he will start the season uh only getting minutes in the G- League and have to like Malawatch and like Fleming earn his way up. I do think that there’s a pathway for him though, especially if there is a Grayson and a Royce trade and they need some more shooting. I I think he can slide in there. I would not look at somebody at as at him as somebody who fits into the rotation immediately, but I think by December and January, we’ll be seeing some somewhat consistent minutes from Brea. And I think by the end of his first season, he will be on a full standard contract. So, I think with Fleming maybe the most ready potential starter, but only because of the lack of the depth at position there, not because we think he’s head and shoulders above the other two. Right. I love this comment from the Goon saying, “Put Malaw Watch in the wait room, feed him pasta and cinder blocks. Call me in a year.” I like that as well. Uh, now looking at a year though, Alex asks, “As of today, what do you think the starting lineup in rotations will be?” So, we won’t, we just talked about the rookies. Let’s give our game one starting lineup predictions. Stephen, who is the starting five for the Suns and give me the sixman, too. Okay, for sure. Uh, starting with obviously Devin Booker, Jaylen Green. The three spot is up for grabs, but right now I imagine that’s probably Royce O’Neal and their current construct. Um, at the four I imagine it’s probably Richard Fleming. And then at the five is Mark Williams. And then six man, Ryan Dunn. See, I I disagree with two of your starters. I obviously Green and Book and Williams are three for me and Jared, I’m assuming those three are locked in for you as well. I have Dylan Brooks and Ryan Dunn, which would be undersized for a four, but I think that Royce O’Neal, I believe, will start off the bench for this team and be a spot starter. I think they traded for Dylan Brooks to make Dylan Brooks a starter. And I think Ryan Dunn, ideally, you have him at the three, you have a hole at the four. I think that he starts either at the four. Him and and Brooks swapping that role of whoever can guard the four. Gerald, do you agree with me? Do you have a different lineup than both of us? No, I I have Booker Green, Dylan Brooks at the three, Ryan Dunn at the four, Mark Williams at the five. I think with Dunn, I think normally Royce would be probably slotted in at the four, but then you have two 66 forwards at the three and the four, and I think that’s just too undersized. So, I think even though Ryan Dunn is technically somewhat undersized for the four, like he’s still six foot eight, he’s still long as hell. Um, he’s going to have to continue to get stronger to hold that that spot down. But, yeah, I think Booker and Green are are automatic. Mark Williams, if he’s healthy, is automatic. I think from there, you get into a lot of questions about what Au is going to prioritize in terms of veterans or athleticism or where he’s going to lean. I would probably guess Brooks and Dunn, but just because it’s fun to say, you know, I think to start I think to start the season, it’ll be them. I think Gillespie has a good shot to be the sixman off off the bench this year, the first guy off the bench. I’d probably go Grayson most likely. Yes. But I I think I think Collins in that conversation. Any thoughts about Oso starting at the four? No, I don’t I don’t see it. I’d be surprised. I won’t rule it out entirely just because of the way that they’ve talked about using dual big lineups and the way that they used him at summer league. If they think that that leap is real um and sustainable at the NBA level, not just summer league maybe. But I I’d be surprised. All right, let’s keep it rolling here. Mbappé. Oh, no, sorry. DJ Birdman, we’ll get to Mbappe in a second. Big fan of the show, Mbappé. Uh, we’ll get to DJ Birdman says, “How do you see the Suns addressing the turnovers and second chance points issues this year?” So, how do you see the Suns addressing the turnovers and second chance points this year? I don’t know. Hopefully, that’s a product of a different head coach and a different offensive system. Um, Book has to be good on the ball and I think he will be. He’s He didn’t have a terrible turnover season last year if I remember right and they were better last year in turnovers as it was. Um, I think the second chance points is going to be more of a more of a uh a point of emphasis for me. Um, but yeah, I think turnovers should be fine. Like Kevin Durant was incredible on the ball, but he did commit a lot of turnovers if you just look at the raw numbers of it. So yeah. Yeah, the margins are going to be very important for Jordan not and everything that he’s looking to establish. Um turnovers naturally if Devin Booker has the ball in his hands more and the spacing is significantly better in terms of functionality, but also people understanding their roles around them, that’s going to naturally put them in a better position there. Second chance opportunities, I feel like they have a few pieces that are really good in that particular multiple efforts EGB type of scenario. also someone obviously past just him though. Um Nigel Hayes Davis was an elite level offensive rebounder in terms of everything he was bringing overseas. Um Rier Fleman is another player that brings that as well and there are other players on the Suns that bring multiple efforts. Dylan Brooks chips in there as well. I I mean that’s been a huge talking point for this front office and coaching staff since the offseason started is they’re going to fight for offensive rebounds and every move they’ve made minus drafting Kobe Brea has pointed towards that like Fleming was grabbing O boards in summer league Malawatch battles for it like like you mentioned Dylan Brooks gives an extra effort Mark Williams can do that as well. Uh I think just sheer effort for second chance points and offensive rebounding and then turnovers hopefully they just have a better offensive identity. However, with all the young guys on this team, with Jaylen Green having the ball in his hands a lot, I could see turnovers also being a problem again, but we’ll see. Let’s get to Mbappe. Mbappe for MVP asks, “Do you expect the Suns to be better ranked on offense or defense this season?” For me, it’s defense. I look at the Suns and I think like Devin Booker on offense, we know what he can do. Jaylen Green is going to be the number two off option. And then outside of that, like it’s basically those two and Colin Gillespie that I can trust running a pick and roll, maybe some Grayson. I I think they have some shooting, but I think they have a lot of younger guys that either are going to be out of the rotation or trying to figure out how they can contribute to it. So, I think defensively, you look at the athleticism, the the length, the height, um, and the defensive-minded skill set of a lot of those guys, and I’m hopeful that they’ll be better on that end. What about you, Eric? I think the offense will reach higher heights than the defense, but the defense will be more consistent than the offense. So, I think overall the defensive rating will be higher, will be more consistent um or lower, I guess, at how that goes. And then I think the offensive I think it’ll be close. I don’t think they’re going to be elite at either, but I do think that they’re going to have some some clunkers of some games. And I think the defense will translate a little bit more. They have lots of size, lots of athleticism, and scrainess. and Ryan Dunn and Dylan Brooks to sick on your perimeter initiators. And if Malawatch develops, I think there’s just a lot of more consistent potential there on defense. 13th in offense last season, 27th in defense. Do the math there. One side is significantly easier to be better at than the other. I think they address that alone off of the roster that they’ve put under Jordan Knox. And I think naturally because of the defense, the offense will also at least maintain that 13th, if not make it up to top 10 potentially. And then you’re talking about a team that at least in pockets of games looks like a team that could thrive in some capacity in the first round of a playoff series. Yeah. Uh Andy Cruz in the chat is banging on the table asking for some Nigel Hayes Davis. I just mentioned talk. He could be in the running. I would be surprised if the guy that they signed to a vet minimum from overseas comes in and immediately grabs a starting spot. I won’t rule it out because I I do think we there’s a lot to be said for how what he’s been doing overseas translates to an NBA environment, especially against a lot younger competition. You look at the four spot, it’s Ryan Dunn, it’s Rashier Fleming, it’s a lot of Oso Gadaro, it’s a lot of first or second year guys. So, it’s not impossible, but I would probably be surprised if he came in and immediately stamped himself as a starter. I think his rotation piece off bat. I do think he’s going to get run. And again, part of that goes to how shallow they are at the position. I think if you’re talking about like last year’s team and whatnot and okay, we have Kevin Durant there. Probably not going to get him. Uh but I I think he’s going to get minutes and a chance to earn it. I I think that power forward spot is the most up for grabs. Uh but hopefully he is at least a rotation piece. If you can get a rotation piece off of a vet minimum guy from overseas, uh that would be an absolute win. Uh Levi asks, “Do we think the Suns have enough talent to make the playoffs? I truly believe that they are a fringe playoff team, a little better than a playin team. I could see them as a six seed. Do they have the talent to reach the postseason, Stephen? Uh, do they have the talent to be a fringe team? Yes. But it’s about how quickly do they acquies to the process of Jordan not if they all align there, which for all intents and purposes with the word being the hot word, it seems like that’s very much something they’re working towards. If they hit the ground running in some capacity, allowing for the defense to set the tone for what they do on offense, I think they have an opportunity to be there and potentially shock some people in the season that’s being dubbed as a retool. I don’t think it’s out the room for them to make the playoffs. Yeah, it’s not impossible. I I think we’ve seen like last year heading into the year, I don’t think anyone had Detroit being a six seed. I don’t think anyone had the Clippers being a five seed. Um, I was high on the Clippers, but I I I think what Jaylen Green said about it’s similar to Houston last year. We were a young team and we made this big leap and nobody was picking us to make the playoffs. You’re hoping for something similar to happen in Phoenix. I think their ceiling is kind of a first round playoff exit. To be honest with you, I think they’ll probably wind up somewhere in the nine to 10 slot personally. But again, we’re in July right now, so I’m not ruling anything out depending on how all these pieces align. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Wow. I mean, come on. 47 minutes in. That’s a record. That’s a good good record there. I just said it three minutes ago. Oh, did you? Sorry. When you say it, but when you say it, it’s like you you say it all the time, so it just kind of like slides through. I also just don’t listen to you when you talk. I only Yeah, it’s true. Uh, so now we get to the meat of it. Uh, I think they can make the playoffs. I think they have the talent. I I think playing is is kind of what you should hope for with this team, but you just want an identity. And the West, I mean, the West, holy crap, the West, it it might they might miss the playoffs and not and just be in the playin, but be a fun, scrappy team that you you see all the things that you want to see out of a team, but because they’re in such a brutal conference, it just keeps knocking them down with teams like the Clippers, the Rockets, the Nuggets, right? Like OKC as well. I mean, it’s going to be an absolute blood bath. We got, by the way, just real quick for context, transparency, Eric, you believe playoffs by way of the playin. Correct. Most likely. I think six seed is the ceiling. Yes. Okay. Just making sure for people to understand and I’m very much the same way. I think they probably finished 87 and they worked their way into the first round through the playin. Yeah. I I I definitely think that that is that is on the table. Okay, we got a lot more questions to get to, so let’s get to them right after our final break. I got to get myself to a Circle K. 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Join the Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today. Terms conditions apply at participating locations. Visit surfk.com for full details. And talking today, I’m talking Empire today because you want your flooring psychos and sickos. You don’t want the big box stores who just don’t care. Empire today, they care. I’m talking dedicated flooring professionals that will give you a free in-home estimate and give you clear, upfront, all-inclusive pricing. And you don’t have to wait. You don’t have to schedule your installation for 6 months from now, 12 months from now, whenever the big box store can help you out, or maybe they’ll just give you the materials and say, “Go figure it out yourself.” Not with Empire today. You can schedule installation as soon as the next day. Get precise measurements taken, have all your questions answered so there are no surprises. Schedule a free in-home estimate today cuz some things are just better off at home. And PHX listeners can receive a $350 off discount when using promo code PHNX. That’s right, $350 off when using promo code phnx. Restrictions apply. Visit empire.com/phnx for full details. I’m not going to acknowledge that. Uh let’s keep it moving here. Uh it’s Pooky and the crew here on uh PHNX Suns. Uh from pessimistic Sunsf fan on Twitter says book said he didn’t want a rebuild, but with all these new rookies, Green and Williams being an experiment, wouldn’t you call this a rebuild in disguise? Uh I don’t know if I’d say rebuild. I think the Suns are high on the fact that they got younger, but they got two established players in Jaylen Green and Mark Williams. Now, I’m personally not crazy about the Jaylen Green fit, and I think Mark Williams, there’s the big question mark of can he stay healthy? Um, but they’ve said it when he’s healthy, they believe Mark Williams is a top 10 center in the league. I don’t know if I would go that high personally, but I think he is very good when he’s out there. Um, so I think for them, the word that keeps being used is retool. It’s not a rebuild, but it is a retool. And I think they are high on the rookie potential to contribute early on and continue to get better and be great because they are leaning in hard on the player development side of things which I think before Brian Gregory started implementing these changes to that side of things um was not giving the attention that they felt it deserved. I mean the Suns are not significantly removed from what a rebuild looks like, right? Mhm. So comparing that and a feeling where there’s no optimism, everything is definite, we know how this is going to go. Followed up from we’ve been through this before, so it’s not like our first rodeo. Yeah. I think the fact that there is ambiguity that leads to conversation about seeing if they’re a 36 win team or they’re 44 win team or they’re 48 win team. The fact that there is even a conversation to be had says everything much more retool than rebuild. Right. Well, we’ve heard from the pals. What about Pooky? It’s a good name. Spooky. Pooky. Spooky and the pals. It’s better than the glazed donut. Yeah. Oh, Tory called me the glazed donut on on Sunundevils. Hated it. That’s terrible. I hated it. Um, yeah, this is pretty damn close to a rebuild. And again, it’s like a rebuild without stockpiling picks, which that doesn’t always work out, but you’ve got a ton of young players and you have some veteran talent. Now obviously it’s like a rebuild with the focus of contending not in the next six to seven years but the next two to three years because you have Devin Booker but also this is a league that’s increasingly thriving off of youth right and you look at OKC generally an extremely young team right so you kind of are able to walk that line of rebuilding reloading and contention a lot easier so I do like that Villa Valley or Via Ali uh says, “Do our rookies in young core have an equal, higher, or lower ceiling than the team that made the finals?” So, the young core now versus the finals team. The ceiling, uh, it’s too early for me to say that honestly. I would just say lower by default because we know that one has been to the finals and that it’s produced several players that are still on contenders and key pieces, starters of contenders. It’s hard to replicate that type of thing. So, I’ll say lower just by default. But again, it’s it’s too early for me to we haven’t even seen them play NBA games yet. Yeah, too early. But for the sake of answering the question, I say even I think they have equally as much opportunity to do so. But I will also be Mr. Context, man, and say that if the context around them improves, they have potential to even show that they maybe might be a half step better than that collective group was in terms of the role players. DeAndre Aiden was a really big part of that finals team and I don’t want to discredit him for anything that he’s done. However, the ceiling that he hit as a player and right now what you would say the in theory ceiling is for Kaman Malawatch which is a long way away. He is an absolute project, right? But I think the ceiling for Malawatch is higher than the player that we saw DeAndre and at his best here in Phoenix, right? I don’t know if there’s a player on here whose ceiling is going to equal what Chris Paul was for that team. Then you look at Male Bridges and Cam Johnson, like what is Rasher Fleming and Kobe Brea’s potential? What is Ryan Dunn’s potential? Right? I think that’s when you have to start looking at it. I think even is fair. I think I would lean towards lower because again, we saw that team make the finals. But if we’re talking about ceiling and potential in best case scenarios, the best case scenario for a couple of these players on this roster are very, very high level players that would be the core of a championship team, but that’s a long way away. Uh, how about right now? S Dudear asks, “What’s going on with Rasheir Fleming? Looks lost out there.” I don’t know if he looked lost. I just don’t think he popped the way that you were kind of hoping a rookie, a guy that should have been taken in the first round would. I think he averaged 7.3 points, four rebounds, 1.7 steals, shot 50% overall, 36% from three on just under four attempts a game in the three games that he played in summer league. So, it wasn’t terrible, but he is an auxiliary piece. He’s not a guy that is going to go out there and create in a summer league setting. And similar to what we said last year when we were talking about Ryan Dunn and Oso, their games are more complimentary to what’s around them. So coming into their rookie summer league experience, expectations were not high for them. I think for him, especially coming off the sore knee, my expectations were not very high. He knocked down threes at a reasonable clip. He defended well. He generated some steals. I don’t think he looked lost. I just think he needs to fit in with the context and the context will be better on the real Suns team. Yeah, I he’s the same type of guy that it’s like you’re not going to get wide open corner threes in summer league like you’re going to get when you’re playing with Devin Booker and Jaylen Green and Mark Williams, right? Like I think there’s more of a role for him. That being said, I I I think a lot of people including myself have very high expectations for for Rashir Fleming. Stephen, there is a chance that he’s just, you know, a below average role player this year as he continues to develop his game. Yeah, it’s possible. But I think again a player coming off of an injury, having having his rhythm broken and then being immediately thrown into the fire just to obviously start to process getting into the NBA level of play. It’s going to look a certain type of way. I don’t think that’s the best version of him at all. But I also think that’s probably the worst you’ll see him as in his tenure as a son. I hope so. I hope that’s the worst that you see him as his tenure as a son. We will see. Let’s keep it rolling here from not Bob Sarver and we’re thankful that you aren’t. Uh three-part question. Let’s start with question number one. Please review draft capital we have over the next five to six years. Seems to be a lot of confusion around that. Oh, um this was not on my list of questions. We did this recently when I went through all of the various draft picks. Um so we might need to clip that and share it if I can’t pull it up here. But um Oh, okay. Here we go. Uh, Suns have their 2027 first round pick, which is the worst of Utah, Cleveland, and Minnesota. They have a 2028 first round pick swap with Brooklyn, Philly, Washington. That is convoluted as hell. They have a 2029 second rounder, and they have a 2030 first round swap with Washington, then Memphis. Um, so their 2026 first is either going to Washington, Memphis, or Charlotte. Uh, their 2027 first goes to the Rockets outright. their 2028 or I’m sorry 2029 first to either Houston or Brooklyn. 2031 first to Utah. Their 2032 first is currently frozen and their 2033 first if they stay under the uh second tax apron they will have their 2023 first round pick. It’s that simple. So just a quick notes version there. That simple. Second question from not Bob Sarver says second unit power forward Oso alongside Malawatch. If Malawatch can shoot the long ball, can Oso thrive in a 76ers Ben Simmons role alongside an Embiid? Stephen, that’s a very specific question. Um, I mean, it has the potential in terms of synergy, but Malawatch has to get to a certain level that we haven’t seen them at yet. So there’s no guarantee that we ever actually do see it because of the way that roster building goes and OSO’s contract being up years before you know Malawash is there’s a lot of things in limbo with that. So maybe I’m going to say no. That’s like OSO’s game like OSO is a good facilitator for a big man. He is not the ball handler that Ben Simmons was coming in the point guard. Um so that on top of the fact that Model Watch has a long way to climb before we’re even throwing him in Embiid conversations. I’m I’m going to say no. Just off rip. Yiannis with a jump shot. I’ll say that for Juice Man. If you’re like Juice Man, maybe he’s watching us on TV. Maybe you’re watching us on TV. The party always continues over at gophnx.com, which means it’s time for overtime. Lots of you in here on a mailbag Monday, but not a lot of you are hitting the like button. This is a show made off of your questions, and you’re not hitting the like button. Do it for Pooky and the Pals. What the hell? Thank you, Shane. Thank you for getting angry because I’m just sad. Do it for Pooky and the Pals. Okay. I think that’s nicknames run its course now. I don’t know if I like the pals. Yeah. I don’t know if I like it anymore. Or No, you’re not talking about Pooky and the Pals. Yeah, I am. Oh, I liked it a lot and now after the third time you’ve said it in a row, I don’t like it anymore. That makes that makes Pooky and the Pals sad. No, I think it just makes Pooky sad. Pooky and the pals are pouting. Okay. Pals, are you guys sad? Pooky and the pouty pals. Oh, all right. The party new life. Yeah, there we go. Third part of not Barb Sarver’s I guess question just says Kuminga. I vote yes. Let’s do a quick yes or no. Do you vote yes on Kuminga, Gerald? Nah, not for what you’d have to sign him to. Stephen, that’s what I was about to say. What is he coming in at? And what is he costing you? Wants 25 to 30 million. No, thank you. Costing you too much. Uh, another guy that you might be able to sign and trade for who’s going to cost you a decent amount of money presumably. Luke Lee asks, could the Suns try and trade Giddy? I guess trade for Giddy. uh adding him to the young core. Yes, there’s a joke there. Uh but Gerald, should or could the Suns try to acquire the former Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard? Maybe they could. I don’t know that they should. Um I think he wants around 30 million a year. I think the Bulls are around 20 million a year. Similar to Jonathan Kaminga, I think it’s the exact same. And similar to Kaminga, I don’t want to be paying Josh Getty 25 to30 million a year. Mathwise, for those wondering, in a signing trade, if you sign him to 20 million a year for that first season, um it would be Grayson alone that would make the math work. 25 million still Grayson alone. If he was at $30 million a year, it’d be Grayson plus Nick Richards. Or it would be Grayson plus Royce with Royce going into Chicago’s MLE. So, that’s how the math would work. I don’t want any part of this. Stephen is a noted Chicago Bulls fan. Uh Josh Giddy went crazy after the All-Star break. like insane numbers. Is he worth, you know, maybe trying to take a shot on? I ask the question if you believe in the second half or the latter third season of Josh Giddy or do you believe in what it was that he was prior to the trade deadline? Um, that remains to be seen. If he’s coming in at that at that price line and what what it would cost you in terms of assets, I don’t know if you do it because your roster is not in a definite position right now. It’s in a kind of es and flows. There’s moving parts around right now. So you bring him in, for example, if it is Grayson and if it is Grayson and Nick Richards, for example, now you have another starting caliber guard that’s just not going to get the minutes that he needs to be his best version. So is it worth it? And my answer is no. So no. Yeah. Especially because the price tag, even if it is like 20 million for a Kuminga or or for a a Giddy, I’m not in love with those guys. I’m not going to be mad if the Suns the same I said this the same thing about Kaminga. I’m not going to be mad if the Suns miss out on Josh Giddy, right? Like I’m not a goal. You could have gotten him for 20 million and he’s playing like a $30 million per year players. I don’t care. Can you imagine the defense though? That would be awesome. Jesus for the other team. Book Jaylen Green and Josh Giddy lock down. Oh boy. Oh boy. Indeed. Now Deon Booker is guarding small force again. Yep. Let’s uh let’s keep this conversation about guards and creators going. Russell, one of our dieards, asked our next mailbag question. said, “Which of these guards would you want the Suns to sign?” Delano Banton, Ben Simmons, even though Gambo said no, Jordan Goodwin, DeAnthony Melton, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddy. Well, Kaminga is not a guard, but we’ll still put him in there. Uh, it’s DeAnthony Melton way up here in the sky above the skyscrapers. Way up here. Way up here. No, I love DeAnthony Melton, but he’s way up here because the rest are way down here. Maybe Dano Banton’s number two. You are a Delano Banton denier, and I will not stand for it. If he was Okay, look. He’s got the size. He’s a point guard. Great. He hasn’t like done anything, man. Like we’re just we’re looking just at raw measurables and nothing else. Like I think Banton could be decent, but it’s like Melton who actually makes sense and then the rest of these guys way beneath that. Stephen, I was going to let y’all go ahead. I am I am a Delano Banton truther, a 68 point guard. And for a team that’s looking to take shots on people, I think I would rather just go with Banton in a year like this and see what’s there rather than DeAnthony Melon. Even though I think Dean Anthony Melton is a better player, you would rather have Dano Banton than DeAnthony Melton for You were watching a lot of Blazers games last year. I say for for a for a one I don’t know why you’re so mad about this. First of all, Gerald, cuz Melton’s an actual player, man. Bon is a flyer. We’re going to sign DeAnthony Melton to a one-year deal. Cool. I don’t care. Where where did we get one year from? What are you going to sign him to? You going to give him the MLE? I’m not giving DeAnthony Melon the MLE. Can’t stay on the court. He has back issues. He can’t stay on the court. Give me the 68 young point guard. Let me see if there’s something there. We need a point guard for the future. I’m not going to bank on Kong Glesby even though I like him. I I saw flashes from Delano Banton. I know you joked about, oh, I watch a lot of Portland Trailblazers ball. I did watch Delano Bon play basketball last year and I liked what I saw. 68 point guard. He could do a little bit of everything. I like Delano Banton and if I can get him for a vet minimum, I’m taking a shot on him. in a year like this year. Okay, I’m getting angry about Delano Bon. That’s what real July hoop talk is about. That’s rough. That’s crazy. Um I would say for me, I like I like Delano Benson, but he’s not going before either of Ben Simmons, the Anthony Melton, or Jordan Goodwin. For me, I’m a goody truther. He is a good, no pun intended, basketball player. Mhm. And he plays a specific role at the point of attack that I think the Suns need to address because it can’t all come down to Ryan Dunn. Can you guard insert elite level offensive creator at the hub of a offense here? It can’t just be him. If you have a Jordan Goodwin, if you have a Dean Anthony Melton to go with that, a Ben Simmons that can just play everybody. That helps to lessen that load, makes him a better defensive player because of it. And it helps to build lineups off of Jordan. I just want to take a shot. I’m not saying he’s better than Jordan Goodwin right now or better than the Anthony Melton, but it’s like we’re talking about Jordan Goodwin and DA Anthony Melon. And also Melton’s a good player. Yeah, he just can’t play. Doesn’t He’s not on the court. Last year we have our starting center is in the same category. We’re feeding the people hope about Mark Williams. I I’m not feeding the people hope about Mark Williams. There are very clear concerns about Mark Williams. Gerald, we’re going to have to talk about this after the show. No, we’re not. Uh Pooky Pooky and the Pouty Pals are breaking up. Okay. I ain’t pouty. I don’t know. Uh, Black Hole Suns fan asks, “If the Suns win a championship the next five years, does Beal get a ring since he’s on the payroll?” Great question. I would assume no. I don’t think so. It’s a really good question. That is a great question. I think you have to have participated in that season in some Even if it’s training camp, I think you get a ring if I remember correctly. Right. I think if he was a funny question if he actually played a game or if it was on the roster, but I don’t think Dead Money. Yeah, you have to be on the roster. Although, I like where your head’s at. That’s a funny question. Uh, Brent says, “If Bradley Beal could essentially control any trade, why did we have to give up a million seconds in multiple swaps to get him?” [Music] I mean, you have to give Washington something, I guess. I don’t know. I I think it’s one of those situations where you kind of want to do right by everybody in that type of trade. Um because you’re what the Wizards were getting was Chris Paul who they weren’t going to keep and Landry Shamut who had zero value. You have to give something. So gave up some first round pick swaps which weren’t picks and then you gave up second round picks. You gave up a lot of second round picks and maybe that was a little shortsighted in terms of Beal being able to force his way here but I think there was probably a mutual desire for Beal for the Wizards and for the Suns to make sure that everyone was properly compensated for that and it kind of bit you. I think Nate also has a good point. Says his value was a lot higher then. Also, yes, that’s what I was going to say. His value was significantly higher than especially for the team he was coming into and what they were working towards and prospect compared to the way he’s leaving. Yeah. And how he’s being viewed on that contract in particular. Yeah. I mean, people were like, “Wow, that’s great value.” Like it was essentially Bradley Beal forced his way to the Suns and the Suns gave up less value than usually you would have to give up for a player of that caliber at the time. Right. So, I I think that in hindsight, obviously, it sucks, but in the moment, it was relatively good value for a guy that was forcing his way to a team. That being said, wish we didn’t do it. Uh, last two questions here. This ain’t Mike says, “A Eric Ruby, if there was one player in NBA history you can get into a Twitter slap fight with, who would it be?” Now, I don’t know why you would ask me this question. Um, Sunny Williams at the top of the list. Um, you want to fight with Sunny Williams? Yeah. Why? You got beef. Yeah. Dean Anthony Melton. Yeah, he’s on the list now. He’s on the list now. Uh, no. You have to think You have to think farther back. You have to think people that have never experienced Twitter on Twitter or the internet. I mean, I would love to get into a nice I’d love to get a nice little goat debate with Michael Jordan. I think that would be fun. Um, great for the brand. Uh, this man wants to punch up. I mean, any NBA player that’s talking to me, I’m punching up. Like there’s you sunny weems. I’m punching up. I don’t know. I appreciate that. We’ll check the follower count, but thank you. I don’t really want to get into follower comparisons. Uh yeah. Okay. But give me uh give me Mike. The same Mike. Give me Mike Jordan. Um crazy. Sean in the chat says, “What’s my social security number and banking info for dieards only? Join the Discord.” Mhm. Mario not Bros too with our last question here says, “If you were unable to work in anything sports related, what would you be doing for a living? Writing is not an option.” Well, that seems targeted at me because I would have said writing about something else. I would have been writing the next great American novel about what the Anthony Mountain. Yeah. So people like you could be informed. Um, no. I don’t I honestly don’t know what I’d be doing. Am I allowed to sell podcasts? Can I just like can I do like a Survivor podcast because that’s what I would like to do. This man, why not? God forbid I love a TV show. Why not be on Survivor? Uh, I would like to be on Survivor. Although, I would probably crumble. You’d be horrible. I’d probably crumble. I think I would probably have gone into music if basketball wasn’t on the table. Probably would be a a musician. Oh, wait. Can you play an instrument? I cannot, but I would. It was it was it was a choice from a young age between basketball or learn an instrument and I went basketball. There was not time for both. Usually people are like, “Oh, I go into music.” Like, “Oh, do you play?” Like, “Oh, you know, a little bit. I did a little bit there.” Can you sing? Nope. Do you have any rhythm? Nope. Stephen, your answer. I would probably be either a sociology teacher or Wow, that’s a real answer. Thank you. either a sociology teacher or like a African study studies type of teacher. Um, two subjects I enjoyed most in school outside of obviously doing major specific things with sports journalism and I feel like I have opportunity to go back to that at some point if I want to. That’s kind of what piques my interest non- basketball related. We need more teachers like Stephen. Yes. Uh, I would probably be a cult leader most likely. Uh that’d be cool. Uh I it’s something with speaking. Like if I’m not talking about sports, like that’s my my only good asset is my voice. And only Yes. Don’t be selling yourself [ __ ] Thank the nicest thing you’ve ever said about 10 times you said that. Man, can you can you name something else good about him besides the speaking right now, though? Uh yeah, Eric knows a lot about Sun’s basketball other than the job. Um the um was heavy there. You reflect light like nobody else in the studio. All right. All right. All right. You can follow the show. Wow. PHNX sons. Eric’s a great Eric was a great producer. Thank you. Even though that’s literally still the job. Uh Andy Cruz said, “Eric, you do voice acting. I think I’d be a good anime voice actor.” Oh my god. Yeah, that’d be dope. I’ve thought about it. I made an account on voices.com and then they started like asking me like what equipment I use and I just stopped doing it because I’m like I don’t have got too or what? Yeah. I was I was like I don’t have good enough equipment at home to like do this. They were like, “Oh, what like professional brand microphone do you use?” I’m like, “Crap my voice.” Uh yeah, I was uh I I was a voiceover for a local commercial recently. I won’t I won’t say what place, but um but I was Max Let ads. All right, before I get dunked on again, uh, let’s wrap things up here on PHNX’s Mailbag Monday edition. Thank you all for all of your questions. If you would like to be a part of our Diehard Discord, you can join at gophnx.com/join. But of course, we put our mailbag Monday tweets out every Sunday. Respond to that. We’ll answer your question on the following show. Tomorrow will be trade machine Tuesday. We will have some fun trades to bring to you then. But for Pooky and the Pals, you can follow us at phnx_sons. You can follow Gerald at Gerald Borgay. You can follow Shane at Shane D. You can follow Stephen at Steven PG3. That’s Stephen with a ph because he balances us out. See, it’s easy to say nice things about your co-host. You can follow me at e r i k r u y. We’ll talk to you all tomorrow. That’s crazy. [Music] [Applause] We all silly like the mayor. with

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The Phoenix Suns have made a lot of changes since their season ended in April, including trading for another shooting guard, Jalen Green. Did the team just replace Bradley Beal, with another Bradley Beal? Can “Point Book” work? Do the Suns have a better young core than they’ve had over the last decade? Who should they target to add to this new, younger roster? Is this a rebuild, or a reload?

PHNX Suns answers all your questions on another Mailbag Monday! They also discuss recent news around the NBA, like Chris Paul choosing to rejoin the Los Angeles Clippers over returning to wear purple and orange alongside Devin Booker.

Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @GeraldBouguet, @StephenPG3, @ErikRuby & @ShaneDieff!

0:00 – Intro
3:00 – Phoenix Suns Chris Paul Rumors Dead
4:30 – Can Booker be the best player on a NBA Title contender?
13:00 – Where can Devin Booker improve most?
20:20 – Can Devin Booker and Jalen Green coexist?
28:00 – How NBA do sign-and-trades work?
33:00 – Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale trade rumors
38:00 – Suns Starting Lineup Predictions
45:42 – Can the Phoenix Suns make the playoffs?
57:20 – Suns draft picks
1:00:30 – Suns Josh Giddey trade rumors?

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