Phoenix Suns Preview Part One WIth Hayden Cilley!

Phoenix Suns Preview Part One WIth Hayden Cilley!

[Music] [Music] And we’re back with another episode of the Lakers Fast Break podcast. It’s Gerald Glford. Thanks so much again for joining us. Truly appreciate you catching all of our NBA team previews. And it’s time to go to the Valley of the Sun to go ahead and talk about the team that makes this location in the Valley of the Sun. It is the Phoenix Suns. And I want to just go ahead and make sure you know that we are going ahead with a great discussion on the Phoenix Suns. here today to talk about the Phoenix Suns. He’s someone who has the inside knowledge on what’s going on. He’s studies this team on a on a regular basis. He writes about this team on a regular basis. Arizona tried and true. If you look at his bio that’s out there that’s available for you on Clutch Points where he writes just a great man indeed. You got to go and check out what he’s doing today. Again, like I said at Clutch Points right there for you. It is Hayden Silly. Hayden, great to have you on the program. Appreciate it, Gerald. I’m I’m excited. You know, I I know you’re going through every single team alphabetically, so I’m I’m excited to be a part of the puzzle and uh yeah, I’m excited to share what’s uh what’s been in store for the Suns throughout these last few months of the offseason. Absolutely. Looking forward to it to hearing your thoughts. Uh, and then also as well near the end, I do ask for your comments on the Lakers, what you see them as going in the season because it helps uh formulate my thoughts uh to my audience in regards to what I think about the Lakers because getting outside perspectives from outside the Lakers bubble, as I call it, uh is always good because sometimes it’s it’s a clearer vision or clearer thoughts on what uh you know, people should evaluate and think of the Lakers. as well. So, that’s always good as well. But Phoenix uh is a team um in recent years that uh with the new owner, well, he’s not new anymore, but uh with the owner Matt Ishbia coming in shaking things up. I will give him credit for that. He came in and he definitely shook things up. Now, did he shake things up too much? I’ll leave that for your interpretation. But uh I guess after a couple years of trying to go allin uh going beyond the second tax threshold, paying the taxes, paying the fines, paying all the extra charges, and not getting the kind of return on investment that he would have liked, uh he’s decided to go in a little bit different direction. uh training Kevin Durant uh bringing in new players from Houston, from Charlotte through the draft. Uh tell me what the mood is like there in Arizona right now with Phoenix and tell me what the mood is like as far as possibly competing in what is now becoming a even tougher Western Conference. Yeah, great question, Gerald. I think um I think for fans it’s a mixed bag. of reactions. Uh there’s definitely more optimism in terms of the uh the I call it the youth movement. You have a lot of young players in there. you know, Jaylen Green, Kaman Malawatch, Kobe Bre, Rashier Fleming, you know, the guys they got through the draft, but they also they they did their due diligence and they also in that Houston trade where, you know, where they sent Kevin Durant to Houston, you know, obviously they get back Jaylen Green, but they get somebody back like Dylan Brooks who, and I could talk about this a little bit later, but can really be an X factor for them. He’s somebody that that teammates have said you want him on your team, you hate to play against him. He had a career year in Houston last year. He can shoot the three ball really well. He’s a great defender. He can, you know, he can play on guards. He can play on some bigger forwards. And he’s just kind of an irritant. And I think the thing that the Suns have lost even with that big three was an identity. I don’t think people really know knew who they were to be honest. Um, I think this this time, um, you’re going to have a team that is obviously youthful. They’re energetic. Um, you have a lot of great athletes on this team. You know, Jaylen Green being the number one example. Um, you know, Malawatch, I think, you know, a lot of raw talent there. And then also, you know, someone like Mark Williams, you know, even though he’s been, you know, injuryprone the last few years or really ever since he’s come into the league, the super athletic center, you know, can get rebounds, block shots when needed, you know, when need be. Um, and I think they’re just going to get after it. That that’s really what I see. Um, you know, they don’t have the star power that they obviously once had, but I think that with the players they got, um, I mean, the these kids just look like they want to have fun, like they just want to go out and compete every single possession. Um, you know, the beauty of Jordan’s offense is that it’s very fast-paced, as everybody knows, you know, with the Cleveland Cavs last season had one of the best offenses in NBA history. And so, um, I think fans are a bit sort of iffy, like they’re they’re 5050 in terms of their reactions because they haven’t seen it. They they don’t know what they’re going to get. Um, but I think for us, you know, for us as beat writers that have been on the ground, we just have a good idea that this team from an identity standpoint is actually going to have one and they’re just going to be competitive. You know, I I’ve said it time and time again. I don’t think a team should go 36 and 46 like the Suns went last season with that amount of talent and they just look so flat. I don’t really think that’s going to be the case this year. Um, so that would be my number one thing to say to fans. You know, the the record obviously probably won’t reflect, you know, what it has been in the past. But I think in a retooling year where you know everybody’s together for the first time, Booker’s sort of that number one again, like this is his team again. Um I think they’re willing to wait. I think they’re willing to be patient with it. Um, but yeah, I mean I think fans are a bit concerned because they haven’t seen anything. But I think for some of us that have done some of the, you know, inside reporting that have gone to media availabilities, um, some of us that went to Vegas, I wasn’t a part of that, but some of my other colleagues did for summer league. And I think our general consensus is is that this team will be competitive. How they’ll perform, that kind of remains to be a mystery. Once again, I’m on with Hayden Silly. Please go ahead and check out the great work he’s doing today at Clutch Points. So, I ask you this, Hayden. Uh it we’ll start with Booker uh because I think that’s that’s the first place that I think a lot of people want to go to. Uh they broke out the big three. Now they have the big one in essence in Devin Booker. uh they’ve committed to him longterm um with a very expensive on the tail end two-year extension on top of what he’s making right now which is right around the 50s but then it gets into the 60s and in his third age 33 year it gets into the 69 million a year contract. Uh I I’m just saying right now for a guy that’s going to be 29 at this point his time is now. So maximizing him now is is probably something that a lot of teams would would normally try to do, but it seems like like you said, retooling is the way to go. Um I know Booker, when you sign that kind of deal, when you sign the extension deal and all that, you’re you’re committing to him long term here in Phoenix, but is that the right move for both the Phoenix Suns and Devin Booker himself? I mean, at the when will the retooling be available to him? Will he be the same player on the other end when this retooling is done and the team is really set to compete at a high bar? That’s a great question. I think um someone like Devin Booker, he definitely can because he doesn’t rely on athleticism. Um you know, he he’s a good athlete, but he’s not gonna jump out of the gym. He’s not going to have, you know, a 42-inch vertical and, you know, dunk on everybody that that comes in his path. Booker is very um he’s very crafty with the way that he scores. Um whether if it’s off of pick and roll, um one of I think the most underrated parts of his game is him in the low post and manipulating defenders and using, you know, fadeaways and rip through moves. and he’s a very cerebral player and someone like him can average 25 to 27 points a game in this NBA for a very long time. You know, we we’ve seen lots of players before that have been very crafty that have had very, you know, long and fruitful careers and and I think Booker is on that list as well. But do do I think that it might be I think it’s a lot of money personally. I I understand signing him and giving him that extension and making him feel valued in Phoenix, but at the same time, as you said, how much like what’s the window, right? And like like is this going to make them want to go out and get another start? Are they dependent on Jaylen Green becoming and transforming into that superstar in the next two years? Um, is is this going to be a 1A and 1B scenario? Kind of like what we saw with Chris Paul and Devin Booker when the two were when the two were in Phoenix together for that finals run. And these are some questions that I don’t really know if the front office knows the answer to. I think they’re kind of taking a gamble and I I respect them for doing so. I mean, I think everybody knows how talented Jaylen Green is and I I do think he would have been great in Houston, but I think a change of scenery um was definitely best for him. He also compliments Booker very well. Um very much like a slasher will get into the paint. Like I said, he’ll he’ll dunk on your head if you’re not careful. And then you have Booker who’s very cerebral and just calculated with his approach. So I think those two can feed off each other really well. But you know, if it doesn’t happen this year, I think the alarms are going to start to go off because not only do you have to worry about his age, yes, he’s technically in his prime, but what’s going to happen three years from now, as you pointed out to, he’s going to be owed almost $70 million. that’s going to eat up, if I’m not mistaken, probably 30 to 35% of your cap alone just for one player. And so, um, I get the move. You know, you want the franchise guy to stay and he’s shown a love to Phoenix that as someone that covers the team, I really appreciate because I don’t think you see a lot in sports anymore, someone that is committed to one franchise for their entire career. But at some point, you know, you have to win. And Booker needs to win. He He’s a player that has sacrificed a lot. His first five or six years were terrible. And then he goes to the finals and he goes to the playoffs and he and he shows that he really does elevate his game in the playoffs. But is is this team going to work for him two, three years from now? I can’t I can’t say I’m certain. We haven’t seen them play together yet. Um, you know, the vibes are good from what I’m hearing, but but still vibes and actual encore production are are two totally different things here. So, the thing is though, when you look at the lineup that you guys are going to be putting out there in Phoenix, um the one thing that that sticks out is the point guard position where you’re having Devin Booker play a position that I don’t know he’s best suited for. Suited for. A lot of people have said that. Um, and you talked about the way he plays or when he’s best suited for playing plays more should be more in an offball point of point of view, but it’s something that the team really hasn’t addressed now in in two seasons uh now as the point guard position. Is this a concern to you? Because again, Devin Booker, maximizing Devin Booker, especially as he gets more uh older, uh you obviously want to just don’t want to put too much wear and tear on him. Plus also the fact that he gets more expensive and and you know, the con the value to the team uh becomes more evident on that. Where do you find that happy medium on trying to find someone that can facilitate an offense, run the offense, and be able to take care of uh you know, all the necessary components on that and it doesn’t have to be from Devin Booker. Well, they tried that last year with Taius Jones and Taius is a good player, but the biggest issue with him was defense and not that he was a bad defender, but that he was just too small. And that that forces everybody to kind of have to guard a little bit more because you know Taius Jones is they say he’s 6 foot he’s 6’1. He’s not like like and I’m not saying that to be mean. He’s he’s just not like I’m five I’m 5’9. He’s maybe an inch or two taller than me and and that’s no knock on him, but that’s that’s hard when you, you know, when you’re a point guard and you’re getting constantly exploited on that end and regardless of how good of a playmaker he was. I mean, he came in and everybody was like, you know, including myself, I was saying like his efficiency is great. You know, assist to turnover ratio is one of the best in the league. You know, you had him and Monte Morris, but they’re both undized. And but also I think that the NBA is going away from your traditional point guard of of bringing the ball up the floor and just one guy to facilitate the offense. And Booker has shown like serious potential and he’s actually been really good from what the numbers say in terms of uh of efficiency, usage rate, um and just the assist numbers too when he has the ball. But as you alluded to, Gerald, it it limits his effectiveness as a scorer. But having someone like Jaylen Green come in, someone that is also kind of a scorer, but someone that also handles a lot in the pick and roll. Um, again, you know, he is such a dynamic athlete that you have to worry about, okay, if I, you know, do I have to go over versus under the screen because he can still shoot the ball, right? And so I I don’t think that they’re going to have an exact set position. from what I’ve heard that they’re making Jaylen Green the point guard and and I say that kind of loosely like like that’s the spot that they’re going to slide him into. But I could very I could very much see it being where where Jaylen Green, you know, is the one facilitating the offense for a few possessions and then Booker and then they just kind of rotate it. Um, but yeah, I mean it’s also I think the offenses the past few years haven’t really done a good job of getting Booker involved at all off the ball when he doesn’t have the ball. Like he’s kind of been standing in the corner. he’s been standing on the wing and yeah, he’ll cut to the basket, but like if you’re a coach and you see someone that is that good coming off a pen down or a floppy set or or whatever else that why not exploit that mismatch that he has on so many people. And so I think a lot of it has just come from coaching and that they’ve, you know, they’ve seen how good he is as a point guard and they’ve used him there. But it really does limit what he can do scoring wise. But luckily you have someone like Jaylen Green coming in that that is huge. Like that’s that’s pretty big because you have someone that defenses have to pay attention to and he’s big enough to where he’s not going to get disrespected on the defensive end to where you know you have to you either have to move him to the bench or you have to bench him because of that mismatch. So, it’s uh it’s a very tough question that I don’t know if I specifically have the answer to because they haven’t gone out and signed anybody that can really be a point guard and the point guards that they’ve had in the last few years have been relatively undized. So, they might just sort of do, you know, a 1A 1B thing. Here, Jaylen, you handle the ball. Here, Book, you handle the ball. And then I think they’ll just kind of see, you know, how it goes from there. And I think they’ll kind of they’ll they’ll decide that. One thing I want to ask you before we get into some of the final questions on as far as uh your team that you cover uh where you think the Lakers are and then obviously a chance to go ahead and promote your great work on Clutch Points. U I wanted to go ahead and ask uh come on Malawash, you know, you talk about him being drafted I believe number 10 or was it number 11? Yep, number 10. Number 10. and then announcing within minutes be just before or just after the trade for Mark Williams. Um I don’t know if Phoenix is the new tunnel for uh Charlotte Centers, but it’s just want to know. Seems like that’s what I’ve been thinking for the last couple years or so. Honestly, exactly like Lakers players to go to Washington and yeah, Miami players go to LA, whatnot. So that being said though, uh all kidding aside, they are similar players uh Mark Williams and Kaman Malawash and and I was just curious why uh the decision process was made on within minutes getting a a sevenfooter that could dominate on the defensive end and be a rim running uh just a great addition or at least somebody that could alleviate a lot of things. uh and help Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns in many ways, but limiting that as far as his time on the floor because you have another young sevenfooter that’s a defensive rim or can be in theory defensive rim specialists that also is a rim running. it seems like a duplication of efforts that uh may prevent one or the other, you know, from allowing to reach their full potential. Your thoughts on that? If Mark Williams stays healthy, which again, the Lakers obviously had buyers remorse and thought they thought, well, maybe he won’t stay healthy for the long term or whatever the reasoning may be or just the fact that they thought they spent too much on it. whatever you know people want to say about that next Nick nexted trade on that. Your thoughts on Mark Williams and Kamano Malawatch? I mean having two great sevenfooters that play similar styles is great but uh I don’t know if it’s really the best for both of their developments long term to be able to maximize both their skills. I think this is the million-dollar question and this was one that I certainly asked after the trade because I’m like you get Malawatch and then you get Mark Williams like like you get you get a guy that is almost the same player but yeah a lot of people forget that Kamal Malawatch has not been playing basketball very long. He’s only been playing I think professionally I want to say like for four or five years. Like he has not been playing for a very long time. And that’s crazy because he was one of the best players in the country at his position as a freshman. And so there is so much raw talent there. Um you know obviously like he has the size, he has the wingspan, he has the agility. Um but again I think a lot of this goes back to can Mark Williams stay healthy. I think you make the trade because you you don’t you didn’t need that second round pick initially. Uh, I think there were other guys the Suns wanted to target in the draft that they didn’t need to use the 32nd pick on. Um, because that pick ultimately was Liam McNeely who ended up getting traded to to Charlotte in that whole deal. But, you know, you draft Rashier Fleming and then you draft Kobe Brea way later. And so, I think with that trade, you you get someone that is a starter like like you have your starting center figured out. So, I think that that was a big part of why they did it. Yes. Is he injuryprone? Yeah. But also, you have to look at Jor. Um, he was really the guy that had that double big lineup with the Cavs be so successful with Evan Moley and Jared Allen and like he knows how to maximize the best out of centers. But yeah, I mean it’s it is interesting because they are both the same players, but Williams is a little bit more ahead in terms of development than Malawatch is. I think Malawatch obviously has a higher ceiling. I think he could really be one of the best centers in the league in the next five years if everything go if everything goes right for him. But in terms of right now, because like the Suns still want to compete, that’s that that’s a no-brainer. you have Devin Booker on your team, you’re automatically going to try and compete to win and to get a spot into the playoffs. And so, Williams is also, I think he’s 22 or 23 years old. He’s still relatively young. Um, and this might be another case sort of like it was for Jaylen Green where you need a fresh start. I think if you’re the Suns, you didn’t have anything to lose in the trade. You know, the the Lakers, you know, I think what what was the initial trade it was? You guys traded was it two? Well, it was the it it was a number one uh and essentially a number one and also as well Dalton Connect. Yeah. And I’m not sure the Dalton Connect part was was what they were adverse to is the number one. Uh I think again that’s what I think of ultimately they decided to go ahead and say you know what we want to probably utilize that number one somewhere else. But I think that ultimately what they thought on as far as uh you know the virus remorse type deal as far as that’s concerned. I mean they can say all they want about the health issues and how he failed a physical and whatnot. I mean you found it it it it does seem a little bit suspicious and anybody that’s not a Lakers fan saying haha you know what you’re probably right. It it does not uh look good as far as how the Lakers handled that uh uh and whatnot. But it it’s just something where Mark Williams, if he stays healthy, the more the longer he stays out there for the Phoenix Suns, the more that it looks like the Lakers had a case of buyers remorse. Yeah. Um, but I I just say that because a couple months before the draft, this like at the trade deadline, Martin Williams went from being a player that you had to give up a number one pick for, I mean, a lot of teams were interested in him to where if you only have to give up a second round pick, done. You know, you have a young center that if I mean, and Phoenix does have a history of players that have been historically injured, you know, you look at a guy like Grant Hill, right? um a guy that came to Phoenix and was able to play really well towards the end of his career and you know like health and you know health and sports medicine has definitely changed over the last you know 101 15 years but I mean I think it was a great chance for them just to say you know what if it works if it works awesome if it doesn’t it is what it is but no matter what well I will say though but I will say my apologies for interrupting my will say though that um that Charlotte now well traded Mark Williams twice within a matter of months. So it’s some reason why Charlotte probably wanted to get rid of him also. So whether it’s you know his attitude there or his health or something something says that you know that Charlotte wanted to get rid of him also. So it doesn’t look good on the Lakers side. It doesn’t look good on Charlotte’s side. it just, you know, Mark Williams has to, like you said, if he’s going to be given the starting spot, has to definitively show that he’s a starting center in the NBA so he can prove that to uh the league, but also show up, you know, the Lakers and also show up the Charlotte Hornets for, you know, for for their the way they they both teams dealt with this with with, of course, Mark Williams. Yeah. And he’s in a great situation to do that, too. I mean, you obviously Malawatch is going to be the name that everybody’s going to have their eyes on, even us in the media. Like, I I’m sure we’re probably going to be thinking at some point, you know, it might be a matter of time before Malawatch gets the start. Uh, but also, you know, Oso Igadaro, he played fantastic in the summer league and he just looks a lot more confident. He looks a lot more comfortable. uh especially with the ball handle and there were glimpses last year where you saw how smart of a defender he was. I mean when he was at Marquette Shock of Smart raved about he’s such a great help side defender, weak side defender as a big which you don’t really hear a lot of you know from a big that can you know that can rotate well that can step out on the perimeter. Um, I remember there was a game against the Cleveland Cavs where he where he played 44 minutes and he really held his own. So Mark Williams is gonna have a lot of competition at that spot. Um, and I think for the Suns, it’s going to be a great test to see what he’s made of. Is he going to rise to the occasion? Is he going to, you know, show, you know, show why it was that that Charlotte selected him in the NBA draft years ago? Why he was a standout at Kentucky? or is this going to be a case of, you know, we like the Suns try to make, you know, they try to make a move for him, see if it works and and it doesn’t. You know, the beauty of Phoenix is that they have multiple players that could start in his spot. So, I don’t necessarily think that they’re worried. I think if he’s able to start for them, cool. If not, they have, you know, they have two other guys that have shown that they’re more than capable of doing so. Yes. Well, you got Oso, you’ve got a Nick Richards to say, right? Yeah, exactly. Who I mean, and Nick Richards basically started for a good chunk of the games after he was traded. I remember he got traded and then he joined the team in Detroit and and he had like a 20 and 10 double double and every and even I was like, dang, like that’s actually kind of impressive considering you’ve you were in Charlotte, flew to Detroit, and you know, you picked up the system like that, you know. Thank you for bringing that up, Gerald, because that’s a that’s another name that that Mark Williams will have to have to compete with. Like I said, Charlotte’s funneling the feeder system for centers to But before we head on out, uh it’s a question that I ask uh all my guests except for one, which is Oklahoma City, because they really can’t uh uh say this uh without saying, you know what, well, we already are at the mountain top. If everything goes right for the Phoenix Suns, if everything goes right for the Phoenix, all uh works out well healthwise, uh Devin Booker, uh you know, has another great season. Um you’re able to overcome the fact you don’t have a pure point guard right now, uh leading the team. And the fact that you you Jaylen Green and Booker hit on all cylinders as a back court, that needs to be one of the most fearsome in the NBA. If everything works out well, the center rotation, uh, Dylan Brooks is not mad at the world and actually focuses on on being able to, uh, be a a really solid forward for you guys, everything works out well, where do you see your season ending up? If everything goes right, I I see I see a playoff spot. How far they’ll get, I don’t know, because the Western Conference is as jam-packed as ever. Maybe my entire life. Like, I mean, heck, you had the the two and the seven seeds last year. It’s funny. I I say last year, but last season was separated by three or four games. Like, that’s crazy to me. Like, Golden State had 48 wins and and Houston had 52 if I’m not mistaken. Yes. And Houston was a two and Golden State was a seven. A lot of other years you win 48 games, you’re you’re you’re a four seed, you’re a five seed. Sometimes you’re a three seed. And that just goes to show how competitive things are, but some of the teams like Golden State, they’re getting older. Um, with the exception of Luca Donuch, like like the Lakers are are a bit older just because they have LeBron, you know, and some of these other team, I mean, even Houston got older because of Kevin Durant. And so this could be a prime opportunity for the Suns to sort of squeak into the playoffs. And sometimes like, you know, hard work beats talent when talent fails to beat hard work. And we have I saw a lot last year. You know, I’ll reference guys like OSO and Ryan Dunn again because they were workh horses and they were like the two players that Devin Booker I think talked about the most in such a positive way because he’s like, “Yeah, they’re rookies, but they just get after it. They’re hustling. Like they’re diving for loose balls. they’re, you know, they’re they’re trying to match up with the best player uh with the best offensive player and like that type of motor and enthusiasm, that stuff can really carry into the playoffs. But again, the sometimes talent does win and a lot of times talent wins and there are plenty of teams that are way more talented than Phoenix is right now. But I think if everything goes right, I think that they’re able to squeak into the playoffs, whether if it’s through a playin spot or if they’re able to secure that, you know, that seven or eight seed. And then I think that alone would be a good win for them in the season just because it will show to people, hey, you know what, like this team is really young, some inexperienced players, but they still got to this point in a tightly contested Western Conference. And who knows? I mean, it might entice more free agents to uh to land in the Valley of the Sun. We’ll see what happens. Uh but I do appreciate your time and and consideration and talking in detail about the Suns. Uh but before we head on out, I do ask about your thoughts on those other purple guys down a little bit west from you in the Los Angeles Lakers. Your thoughts on the Lakers. Uh, you know, of course, everybody talks about the skinny Luca that’s going to be heading into training camp. Uh, LeBron age 41 year. Uh, DeAndre Aiden, uh, who won’t be hating like he’s on the Suns, he’s got to be he’s got to play nice because he’s, you know, in order for him to get paid up coming next summer. Your thoughts on the Lakers and how they will compete along with the Suns in this tough Western Conference? I mean, I I think for starters, they’ll they’ll obviously be better than Phoenix. Like, I I don’t think that’s that’s up for debate. JJ Renick definitely impressed me as a first year head coach. I I didn’t think he was going to sustain success for this long, and especially when the Lakers got Luca. I mean, they were actually one of the best defensive teams in the league for about a three or four week stretch, which I was really impressed by, and I think a lot of other people were too, just because you look at Luca and you generally think, oh, you know, he’s a generational offensive player, but he’s a step slow on defense. But, you know, JJ Reic and the entire, you know, Lakers coaching staff made the defense work with him and LeBron out there. But I think if the Lakers are to really succeed, LeBron needs to get out of his way. And LeBron is still a great player, but like Luca can he can lead the league in scoring and assists. Like he easily could. Um, and he has the capability to do so. I actually think like Luca’s really like in his prime physically. And for LeBron, I mean, I think if he wants a chance at winning another championship, I think the best case scenario is for him to kind of get out of Luca’s way and let Luca be the one to run the show because we’ve seen what happens when Luca is the guy to run the show. They go to the finals. You know, Dallas went to the finals two years ago and they surprised a lot of people, but people within the team were like, “We’re not really surprised because this is what he’s capable of.” JJ Reic has obviously put him in great positions, but I would like to see Luca be used more offball because you do have LeBron facilitating and in my mind, he’s still one of the best facilitators in the league. No matter how old he is, that dude is just 10 steps ahead of everybody else on the floor when it comes to process in the game. But, you know, if LeBron gets out of Luca’s way in terms of scoring and just lets Luca do his thing, I I think they’ll be really good there. I do think though DeAndre Aiden is going to be the big X factor. He’s going to be the guy to where he could possibly make or break their season. And I do get a little bit worried sometimes if the hard coaching from JJ Reic is going to get to him. uh JJ has not been afraid to be like, “Hey, you know, this player has to play better or this player has to play better or calling out players to the media, which I’m not personally a fan of just because I think it kind of sets a bad precedent, but you know, if you some guys love that, some guys, you know, revel in that.” Is DeAndre Aton one of those guys? I don’t know. But it’ll be very important for that entire coaching staff and for those players on the team to get the best out of him. Obviously, money talks. That’s a big thing you alluded to earlier that he will get a pretty big payday if he performs really well, but I think at this point I think he should play for pride. I think it’s just about, you know, proving to himself that he still belongs in the NBA because he has all the physical tools. He has the ability physically to be one of the best centers to ever play, but the big question’s up here. The big question is the motor. And when you have a championship standard, and he has been to the finals before, and he was actually, in my mind, you know, he was one of the big reasons that the Suns even got to the finals in the first place. Like his defense was really, really good. And so it’ll be interesting to see what happens there. But will the Lakers win 50 games? I don’t know. I definitely think it was a little bit of a shock last season. Um especially, you know, with the Luca trade and everything, but it’s JJ’s second year, another year for LeBron, first full year for Luca in the purple and gold. You bring in some key pieces. Will they have the depth? That’s always the million-dollar question with Los Angeles. They have a lot of stars, but if they have the depth around them, you know, they they can make some noise. Anything can happen in this Western Conference. I I think awesome conversation. Uh once again, it is Hayden Silly. Please go ahead and check out his work today, which he will tell you about here in a second. So, last but certainly not least, it’s what I call the cheap plug. want you to go ahead and make sure you tell everyone out there how to follow you, how to get a hold of you, and as also as well, you know, to make sure that they check out all the great work that you’re putting out there on the Suns and the NBA. I appreciate it, Gerald. So, uh, so my Twitter handle or X, however people want to say it now. Uh, it’s just Hayden Silly, hyd. And it’s all one name, which is super nice. Um, if you go in my bio, um, I actually have my, uh, my author, uh, profile in there. So, you could just click on that and it will actually take you through all my stories. Um, I cover, you know, the Suns NBA. I also cover the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury who were actually in the playoffs right now as of recording this. So, that’s where a lot of my time has been. Uh, you know, if I’m not doing Sun stuff, if the Suns aren’t in season, it’s me doing WNBA and vice versa. And then um I actually recently just made a uh an a professional I say it loosely professional uh Instagram account. Uh it’s just silly so clly reports and it’s literally just clips of me um you know from postgame. Uh sometimes I’ll have uh you know digital interviews I’ll record on my phone and then you know I’ll do the whole audio waveform and yada yada yada. And so I I’ve made that about I’d say a month and a half ago or so. Um, that’s that’s a public account. Um, if you guys want to reach me, uh, my my DMs are always open. Just please don’t send anything hateful. I I’ I’ve gotten that a lot this past W season. So, like, if you do have any basketball related questions, feel free to shoot me a DM and I’d be more than happy to answer. uh as someone who has been the the bane of some people’s existence when it comes to the Lakers uh but my opinions as well I know of as where you speak uh and I’ll just leave it at that but once again it is Hayden Silly please go ahead and support him with good comments by the way just just be all be positive here uh please go ahead and support him by go ahead and following him on social media and also as well on Clutch Points and his great work there as well Hayden It’s been a fantastic conversation. Uh I would hope if you have available time during the course of the season that we revisit our conversation to see how things are doing as we check in with the Suns once again. But Ken, thank you enough for stopping by on the show here today. Yeah, of course. And and like you said, I would love to hop hop back on at some point in the season. And uh maybe my predictions will have come true and maybe they won’t. But um I think uh we we’ll see until uh until we do another one of these episodes. Absolutely. We’ll find out. And of course, well, you and I will also be, you know, find out because of the stuff that we’ll get back as far as the comments to make sure. But but once again, it is Hayden Silly. Please go ahead and support him today on Clutch Points and social media as well. Well, Hayden, it’s been great having you on. Looking forward to bringing you back on once again for another great conversation right here on the Lakers Fastreak podcast. [Music] [Music]

Hayden Cilley from Clutch Points is here to talk about what he’s looking forward to this season from the Phoenix Suns. Hayden goes into detail about the all-new lineup post-Kevin Durant and what that will look like on the court. He also talks with Gerald about all the changes and how they might fit for a possible playoff run this season. All this and, of course, he has some thoughts on Western Conference rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, as well. Our NBA Team Previews heads to the Valley of the Sun in part one of our look at the Suns right here on the Lakers Fast Break podcast!

Check out Hayden’s work today on Clutch Points at https://clutchpoints.com/author/hayden-cilley

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