Could Charlotte Hornets Actually WANT Bradley Beal?
look it’s a long shot but God we got to find some way to do this huh it’s going to be a fun mailbag Monday edition of PH Next Sons let’s get into it [Music] stephen yep numb to it good psychos and sickos unite for a mailbag Monday edition of PHNX Suns coming to you live from Studio K presented by Circle K join the inner circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today terms and conditions apply at participating locations visit circlek.com for more details hope everybody had a great weekend i’m Eric that’s Stephen we got the freckled Mamba aka Eritton behind the Mac making all of the magic happen but of course the most important people coming to us live on YouTube on YouTube after the fact and of course on audio everybody in the chat everybody listening and watching i’m talking Ay Soldier 520 Brent Leo Patrick Matt we’ve got a whole group of people including fake Eric Ruby in here as well everybody hit that like button hit that subscribe button as well five star reviews go a long way i got a feeling this is going to be a spicy one Stephen but we got some business from the weekend to take care of first things first happy belated birthday to you Mr birthday Boy how was yesterday uh it was it was fun and fun for me especially if it’s not considering work cuz I love doing what I do is taking my foot off the gas and that’s something I do on you can count on one hand how many times I do that over the course of every year so being allowed opportunity to do that by the heavens because of the schedule on the NBA side and the WNBA side aligning for me there was it was bliss yesterday so there we go i kicked my feet up i wasn’t on vacation or nothing but I felt like I was yeah you know it’s so funny and you’re right we are we’re blessed to do what we do to to be able to talk to everybody in the chat live every day and of course oh apparently it was John’s birthday yesterday too happy belated birthday appreciate you my man birthday buddies heck yeah you know we we love what we do we’re so we’re so happy to do what we do but it’s a brutal schedule and sometimes it can wear down dude I did nothing this weekend it’s like the first time in over a year that I just I didn’t even go grocery shopping like I got everything done beforehand i did nothing uh Patrick has a question that’s not part of our mailbag says “How’s my car repair going have I tracked down the hit and run?” As Eric the Batman Ruby PHX host by day vigilante by night well uh I am driving a rental car right now while I am enjoying that is much nicer than my actual car um we were not able to track down the person who rear ended me uh even throughout all the video cameras that we have in in a major metropolitan city we still can’t track down the person who rear ended me and drove away so yeah nothing really fun happening on on that end but the car is getting repaired insurance is covering that uh AZ Soldier says “I hit a solid $300 bet off that bet 365 app that we referred.” Oh we’re doing a little finals betting man oh god it feels like it has been a long time since we talked to everybody and everybody’s happy to be in here if you missed it over the weekend I hopped in my home studio and I recorded a little mini trending podcast on the reports from Jake Fischer that Giannis is off the market and of course that Kevin Durant and the Toronto Raptors are now linked together we’ll have some KD trade talk today we’ll have some Bradley Beal trade talk today of course from the headline and the thumbnail you all know that and we have so much more so everybody just clock in grab a drink grab a snack let’s have a good day here on PHNX Suns a fantastic day how about that eric how was your weekend good it was good it was easy got to see my dogs that’s always a good time your dog or your dog two dogs okay oh yeah okay no like your dogs yeah yeah oh no dg’s cuz you know what I’m looking at right now Eritton a dog i’m looking at a dog d A WG there we go all right let’s go ahead and dive into it some more news from over the weekend according to Mark Stein he continues to confirm that the Phoenix Suns will be offering Devin Booker a 2-year $150 million extension as soon as they are able to do that this summer uh this kind of opens up a lot of conversations Stephen uh including our first question from Ryan Dunn Superfan not my burner account still love the name Ryan Dun Superan says “What are your thoughts on Booker’s alleged 2-year $150 million contract i think it deserves it for all he’s been through but I also don’t think spending so much money in the CBA is a good idea we’ve seen the issues it’s created.” What was your response when you have consistently seen reportings I know Wendy floated it out a couple months ago uh about Booker and the Suns two years $150 million extension um well first of all it’s a great bit of business to have your franchise player locked up for multiple seasons going forward to at least have clarity on the franchise player side of things to then allow for you to we can go ahead and get the tracker started now alignment tracker in tomorrow for Jordan’s presser for sure you can have the rest of your roster align with the top end of it and no other piece that you’re either bringing in or that’s already on the roster is going to top Deon Booker on that so having the top piece in place allowing for you to know okay at least for the next two seasons he’s on the books align everything else with that it will help you move forward with a lot more clarity 100% this is an absolute unequivocal no-brainer to me now listen I will not lie and say that I do not see the side of people who look at Devin Booker who is who is not a certified top 10 player i do believe at his peak he’s a top 10 player uh but who look at that and see 75 million a year and get a little sticker shock right and say why would you invest that in in a player that’s not a Luca a player that’s not a Jokic right and I understand that that being said even if you’re on team trade Devin Booker which I’m not you’re not eritton I don’t think you are eritton’s shaking his head we’re all not on team trade Deon Booker here but let’s say hypothetically you are i’m not going to call you stupid i’m I’m just I disagree with you having him under contract is essential in trying to trade superstars what’s one of the reasons why everybody’s trying to drive down Kevin Durant’s trade value right now he’s basically going in as a one-year mercenary if he doesn’t sign a contract extension with somebody when you trade for a star and they have multiple years left like they did when they traded for Kevin Durant the Phoenix Suns then that becomes a lot easier for you to to part with these big packages that you see a male Cam Jay thigh first round five second round picks because he’s under contract right so that is to address the people who are trade Devin Booker side of things this is still a no-brainer for people like us who are team don’t trade him you have publicly stated that Devin Booker is your your franchise cornerstone Right you’ve doubled down on it Stephen to go out there and not by the way the sticker shock will wear off because by the time this extension kicks in multiple other people will be getting paid more money per season this is this is a no-brainer of no-brainers indeed it is a no-brainer you also bring him in to help facilitate to ultimately who the coaching decision is for the team going forward because you plan to have him firmly involved in everything that’s going forward in the on the court sense even more so but also on at least a solid percentage of some of the decisions being made off the court from the head coaching side of things in particular so yes you it’s not news that a franchise is looking to accommodate their superstar player in some capacity yeah Ted offensive says Brunson took a cut to build a team that could contend i get it i I guess you could look at it and say Devin Booker could have taken a pay cut that being said that’s a very rare case with with a guy like Brunson and also with Booker Booker’s been with this franchise for a long time he’s seen more head coaches than anybody else in the NBA in that time period he’s stuck through thick and thin i I think he’s perfectly within his rights to want to get paid the max amount that he could get paid good for Jaylen Brunson to to build that team um I I think most of us if put in that situation wouldn’t do the same thing n and and you can’t get upset at Book for that but you know we’re not just looking at this as one contract under the current CBA under a super team you’re looking at it can you build a team around Devin Booker it’s fine if you have one max contract player maybe two it’s when you get into three is where you really bind yourself like the Suns did it’s overkill the fit has to be as perfect as a hand going into a glove custom made for the finger sizes you mean not having two shooting guards that’s one way to put it yeah for sure and you run into these these especially with the aprons you run into so many constraints with roster building because of that so like Tim Leggler mentioned to us probably what three weeks ago at this point which is crazy to even think that was three weeks ago only too many cooks in the kitchen essentially you only need one or two of those top level guys build out the rest evenly dispersed with contracts to complement them yeah all right well that puts a bow on books things in case you unless you got anything else to add there uh Cash says “Book getting a salary increase in a year but he took a step back good business practices.” Devin Booker took a step back probably the worst season of his prime last year still was around top 10 in points and assists and was on maybe the worst fitting team for him that you could imagine um he’s he has an entire body of work that spans a decade now and that’s what he’s getting paid off of so I get it cash doesn’t like Book he’s always not like Book and some people just don’t i don’t care like I do regardless of regardless of whether you like him or not it’s always a good bit of business to keep your best player around for multiple reasons and naturally with a lot of the rest of the roster being in in flux right now you need consistency to build a roster and to have a coach come in to understand what he’s going to be coaching going forward so yeah and why did you get Chris Paul on this team why did you get Kevin Durant on this team exactly and and I don’t like you know obviously the Beal fit now but why did you get Beal on this team at the time lauded as a good move mhm because they wanted to play with Deon Booker you keep that guy honestly you don’t get the coaches that you’ve gotten since Monty Williams was was let go if you don’t have Deon Booker yeah Book is is a great asset he’s he’s a borderline top 10 player i think when he’s on he’s borderline top five um he he he can be one of those guys now he needs to prove it this season be better on defense overall% 100% but I I am a very big fan of what he brings and and he honestly he’s a son for life like he should be a son for life and and I like that it continues to look like that’s going to be the case somebody who will not be a son for life whether they’re traded this off seasonason or not is our good friend Bradley Beal let’s get to our second question from Steve Voss steve Voss says “Is there any truth to the Charlotte Beal interest being anywhere near true?” And adds a Bugs Bunny praying hands emoji gif underneath this comes from a very weird report that came out of nowhere at the end of last week stephen we stayed away from it but we’re attacking it today for Mailbag Monday because quite frankly there’s absolutely no proof behind it nba trade report says “Charlotte has shown trade interest in Phoenix’s Bradley Beal #nba.” Now when you sent this to me Stephen I I went on my sole and I looked around and I didn’t see anything i didn’t see anything that even referenced this in an article that aggregated something that was referenced in an art article so my initial instincts is that this is not true i don’t want to refute it i think I think there’s a little bit of sense there but what I will say which continues to be my stance is would Bradleyville want to go to Charlotte well uh we have a super chat that kind of plays into that a little bit thank you so much for the super chat some guy named Justin $2 says if Beal treasures that no trade clause he better play ball right you know maybe he wouldn’t mind going to Charlotte but you’re right Stephen like would that be a place that he would actually want to go exactly and if he doesn’t want to go there then this is all for not yeah i Do you Do you think that there’s something that could talk him into it you know whether it’s Listen I know Bradley Bill wants to compete for a championship but he he would be a starter on that team it would be LaMelo Beal Brandon Miller he’d be the vet on a young team that has that has promise um especially when it comes to the Eastern Conference which is a much weaker conference for him there’s positional fit there they don’t really have a shoot first shooting guard they got Brandon Miller i would put Brandon Miller as a three i think he has a threes frame but he has a twos first of the game that’s respect to him but he’s just not i I think if you’re trying to sell Beiel you’re saying you’re you’re play yes for sure 100% bread and bread not as much of an overlap as it would be book book and deal uh maybe the biggest selling point is just simply this isn’t Phoenix like you’re not going to be here like Charlotte’s a good city right you know it’s not one of the top markets but it’s it’s a good city to go and bring your family to um it they could have some promise and what they’re giving up most likely would not be uh would not be a massive package that would then completely desert them because obviously they’re trading for Bradley Beal um well we have somebody who who brought a Bradley Beal trade package and we’ll get to that in a second here after our first break but do you feel like from Charlotte’s perspective that they would want a player like Bradley Beal on this current iteration of their team i like the idea of him being with the team that has a lot of young guys he has a reach and we saw that with the Suns this season to where he can kind of identify with the young guys and be that vet that can bridge the gap between maybe potential older players that are on the roster and obviously being able to kind of be that middleman middle child if you will and I think he would be he would relish that opportunity because it’s a lot of what he was doing in his last couple of seasons with the Wizards as well so him being able to mentor a guy like Brandon Miller and to a lesser extent because it’s not the same position LaMelo Ball and whatever potential picks they might have coming into their team context going forward as well i think there will be an organic kind of fit in terms of opportunity for him with them yeah I could I could see Charlotte talking themselves into Bradley Beiel i I think they could talk themselves into Bradley Beal for a couple of reasons one I I think he’ll get a level of freedom that he wouldn’t get here uh and two you’re you’re betting on you know we’ll give you scraps right we we’ll give you nothing hopefully we’ll get maybe an asset in return and we do have some questions about that in the future and a trade that does land them um some assets as well you know Grant says “Hake get Nerkage back.” God could you Yeah this it’s the There’s no uglier headline than Bradley Beal traded for a use of Nerkage to the Charlotte Hornets gross independent of the nerkish part of it it’s the spin the block with Charlotte for a third time within months that that’s just ironically hilarious to me but yeah I if again it’s all contingent upon if Brad would actually even want to go to Charlotte which I just don’t see based off of the things that we heard from um this previous trade deadline but again if ever it was a time that something like this would happen it would be in the offseason where there’s a little bit more open-mindedness about um potential locations he might be going to so remains to be seen i mean we we if we came into the season saying that Luca was going to get traded to the Lakers I would have said “You are insane you are out of your mind.” Especially for Anthony Davis and look at where we are now going into the offseason uh who who was it somebody said “Oh where are you?” Regulator says Nick Smith Jr and Brandon Miller both belong to Beal’s Aaou team interesting that is very interesting there were they in the clip where Beal was like “You’re going to have to come into the league and you’re going to have to beat me you have to work harder than me you’re going to have to smile when the other team hits threes on you like me uh Ted offensive also follows up says Gambo’s recent comments are leaving the door open that the Suns are stuck with Beal his contract is that bad i I did I didn’t notice that in the phrasing of Gambo’s uh comments on Beal that we went over I think it was last Friday or Thursday where at the start of the off season Gambo was saying there’s there’s 0% chance that Bradley Beal’s back on this team next year right for whatever it is a wave and stretch a trade blah blah blah now it’s the Suns are 100% trying to get Bradley Beal off the team for next year and and the way that those words are phrased I I think is very intentional i Gambo picks his words extremely intentionally and and to me that that signifies that they tried and they’re they’re having a little more difficulty than they want and I just don’t think that they want to do the wave and stretch because it creates a a five-year problem out of a two-year problem um so it it would be tough level outlook asks “Although we would receive back less can’t be ve part of any Durant multi-team trade?” I do believe it can work and that will take us to our next question because this person did submit a trade we’re going to get to that plus more questions on Kevin Durant and the San Antonio Spurs about Matt Ishbia and so much more all after our first break listen last week all of you were tapped in on Thursday for our Frosty Take segment where we ate some Frosties from Wendy’s some of the new flavors and Frosty Fusions and I’ve been thinking about it ever since me personally on our Sunundevil show I got the Oreo brownie on this show I got the strawberry swirl and my lord they were delicious you also had the strawberry swirl right Stephen swirl yep you straw big strawberry guy mhm yeah i mean fire dectable delicious amazing how many different ways can I put it now I will say this I might have to put in a request with the PHNX team here and the Wendy’s team that the next time on this Thursday when we do Frosty Takes we get some nice piping hot French fries alongside with it cuz nothing goes better with a Frosty than some nice salty Wendy’s French fries whatever flavor you’re craving odds are they’ve got a Frosty for it so clock in for sweet treat time anytime including midnight or later with Wendy’s all new frosty flavors a refresh on a classic it’s got to be Wendy’s at participating US Wendy’s locations hours may vary by location you know I’ll go on a limb and say that Wendy’s have the best fast food fries and you know who’s got the best hats in the game it’s Branded Bills whether you need snapbacks truckers fitted beanies or TE’s Brandon Bills has you covered with performance and style i hopped in the home studio over the weekend and of course what did I throw on a branded Bills hat looking for some gear to make your brand stand apart from the crowd branded Bills has you covered the best custom headwear start your order and their dedicated team will help you create the exact custom apparel you need partnerships with great schools amazing schools number one in innovation schools like Arizona State University and they do charity work with the University of Arizona of course they also partner with the Phoenix Suns you can get their hats at the PHX Arena merch gift shop and of course they’re a local company out of Mesa Arizona again get your own branded bills with Branded Bills and head to brandills.com use code BBPX for 10% off your first order once again your first order 10% off brandills.com use code BBPHNX it was hot this weekend and we ain’t get nobody coming in on Monday telling us about what frosties they went to get over i know i know Stephen Vice uh in the PHX Sunundevils chat was talking about how he was eating a Oreo Frosty um let’s see here that’s what I want next hold up we have a we have a new contender for greatest chat name of all time outside the Orleans got hose says Beal the Blazy gang we all gonna be mad at him no trade clause to this to the point it’s funny it is I if this was any okay if this was any other team let’s just take a step back here as we welcome y’all back into PHX Suns hit the like button hit the subscribe button we’re doing mailbag Monday right now we’re talking Bradley Beal and the Charlotte Hornets if we all just look at this from an objective perspective Stephen what’s going on with Bradley Beal and the Suns is downright hilarious it’s so like if dude if this was like the Lakers that were dealing with this Oh I wouldn’t shut up about it um I don’t really shut up about anything but that’s so true this is not objectively funny if we were not firsthand experiencing the pain yes what I think is funny about it though maybe a little different than everybody else and I just got done talking to Noah and Ericson about it before before we started recording nightmare blunt rotation bringing us back on the tracks I said it’s ironic and it’s funny that the Suns willingly got themselves involved with a player that has a no trade clause ignored the ramifications that that might have down the line and ultimately find themselves in a position to now they’re hamstrung in a literal sense yeah because they can’t do anything without his stamp of approval yeah like it’s it’s just got to be better with the decision making having foresight you got to have more force people in the chat are being like “Eric this is not funny.” Look it’s not funny to me okay i live this this stuff just like y’all i almost said a word I can’t say like I I live this just like y’all live it man i Stephen can attest not five seconds goes by in a Suns game where I’m not screaming at the television this is true like I standing up all of that trust me I care and and it’s not funny to me but sometimes you just got to take a step back look from the outside dude if I was like a Magic fan I’d be laughing my ass off at the Phoenix Suns um anyway let’s keep going with the Charlotte questions this next question comes from Dared Judley great name Darren Judley that’s top 10 for sure says “Validity of Bea Charlotte rumors could we see a rerouting of number 14 from the Katie Spurs trade plus a future first round pick and second round pick for them to take the contract charlotte’s potential starting lineup of Melo Beal VJ Edgecom in this year’s draft brandon Miller Mark Williams with Beal’s money off the books before Miller’s payday derek Judley also follows up with a potential 14 trade with San Antonio Charlotte and Brooklyn uh this trade has the Brook the sorry the Hornets getting Bradley Beal the 14th pick the 29th pick and the 2027 first round pick from the Suns uh the Spurs get Kevin Durant Nick Richards and a second round pick the Suns get Devin Vaccell Nick Claxton Miles Bridges Harrison Barnes Josh Green and three second round picks all in this year’s draft in the 30s i do not see you did not include in the screenshots Derek Judley what the Nets get um in this case I’m not sure exactly what they get so that’s a pretty big part of it but they could follow up and say uh Grayson Fragoa and second round picks to flip and then flip Facel and Barnes and other assets for Lowry JJ Darius Garland level player secure setter deps adds all-star next to DB swinging early second the draft okay a lot of moving pieces here um I’m not in love with uh getting Miles Bridges on my basketball team uh for a lot of different reasons uh I’m not in love with Devin Vel’s fit next to Devin Booker personally as a 65 shooting guard basically just a worse version of Deon Booker a little bit better on defense right now um but is this a framework maybe not this specific trade but uh this framework something that you’d be interested in i don’t know if this trade would even work there’s a X next to the Sun’s name so well what what starts for me again is Bradley Bill having to want to go to Charlotte because everything else can make sense to a T in terms of second tax apron restraints sally cap implications etc etc but if he does not agree to go to said location or destination that he would be going to via these trades like it’s great work and we’ve done the same type of work in similar context but if he doesn’t agree to dance then there’s no party to go to at that point so it just speaks to what I’m talking about and you involving yourself with this and now you’re stuck within two seasons trying to get rid of him and you you can’t do it without a having another team that wants to take on his contract because he’s not playing up to that level but B him also having a no trade clause that being said though the Miles Bridges part the off the court stuff not acceptable not even and y’all and anybody that’s been consistent in here knows how much of a Michigan State fan that I am i was severely disappointed this is this is like a non-negotiable no for me on that part now if you find a way to make it work where he might not be involved Sure then I might be I might be forward a little bit more depending on what alternate route you might be able to compile but him being involved there no the off the court stuff is like how can you go from everything that took place prior to Ishbia coming into ownership and then one of the immediate responses is you know adding someone that has that type of that type of stigma going on about them off the court right now it’s not even a stigma it’s it’s proven stuff that’s been going on yeah you can’t this dude if you don’t know was like throwing like pool balls at his significant other and child like it it it was bad um also in this trade specifically Charlotte’s getting way too much value i mean the 14th pick for parting with Miles Bridges Josh Green and taking on Beal um they’re trading a couple second round picks but to to then move up to 14 for that I I think is pretty ridiculous uh I think the Spurs walking away with Katie and Nick Richards giving up Vel and Harrison Barnes i mean that’s not enough i I think the Suns come away from this pretty big losers personally um and again I don’t even know if it if it works um to to kind of unpack the the San Antonio thing a little bit more I did a I did another solo uh trending pod that is going to come out later tonight just talking about what Bill Simmons had to say about about the Spurs and we’ll have some more Spurs KD talk later in the show do do you have any any final thoughts on Beal and Charlotte specifically before we get to some more Beal specific questions for Mailbag Monday nothing more on Bill and Charlotte because he has to actually want to go there and I just can’t see him wanting to do that right now but what I will say real quick is if the Suns were able to get someone like Josh Green a doit all type of guardwing that’s similar to that Josh Hart type of cloth that would be a major plus for them to build a team around Deon Booker gives you a point of attack defender person that does all the blueco collar stuff would certainly fit and I will say I I do not look past the offc court stuff i I don’t like that and I will always stand by that for owners for coaches for players on the court Miles Bridges does fit with Deon Booker i don’t like I don’t like that but it’s it is true bs Marie in the chat says “I leave on vacation for a week come back and someone’s turning us into Michigan State University at least we know they’re aligned.” mentioning Jordan Knot whose press conference is tomorrow by the way uh says “Does Orlando have any interest in Beal?” I would hope so that’s that’s a team that we’ve pegged as hey they could use some scoring help from a guard perspective but the the the longer we go into this Stephen the less likely I feel like he gets traded and I would flip the question i think it’s a relevant one because it’s relevant from Orlando side but it starts with does Bradley Bill want to wave his no dude I don’t even know if it starts with that anymore i genuinely don’t know i think it starts with would you be willing to take Bradley Beal because it doesn’t matter if Bradley Beal doesn’t want to go anywhere if nobody wants that dude right like it starts with hey are you like open are you willing to take Bradley Beal and then the no trade clause comes in it’s still a massive part of it but it’s probably much harder to find a team that wants to trade for Bradley Beal than it is to find a team that Brad would trade his no trade wave his no trade clause for mhm for sure that’s relevant yeah uh not not thrilled about all of that not even a little bit something else I want to be thrilled about lev with a chat had some some good conversations with Lev on on Twitter this morning but they submitted a question on Twitter the next in our mailbag Monday edition hit that like button ton of you in here on a mailbag Monday says “If the Suns trade Beal with picks acquired from a KD trade what would your level of fr frustration be um depends on the picks right yeah definitely depends on the picks but it also depends on what players you’re getting back in return in said trade as well are you getting back some younger talent to that could kind of serve as a pseudo pick for you in some capacity young talent that you can invest into and context matters with that just kind of speaking on it at face value i’m not mad at it because I imagine that there’s going to be some type of value that the Suns are getting in that scenario but it’s a slippery slope and they got to walk that fine line as closely as they possibly can to making sure they’re getting what they need in return i would I be really mad again if they’re trading like a future second round pick you eat that right you move on past past that if they’re trading a first round pick of any sort especially a first round pick within the next three years where it’s crucial to revamp around Devin Booker I just yikes that I mean I’d be I’d be pretty upset i’d be pretty upset unless like you mentioned you’re getting some sort of value back right if it comes with some sort of player or anything then maybe we can we can talk about that a little bit more but more often than that I want to avoid I want to avoid draft capital as much as possible because you look at like Yousef Nerkish right you trade Yousef Nerkish to the Hornets you include a first round pick in that just to get off of him and it doesn’t do anything to save your season and now you’re down a first round pick mhm yep that I mean it’s bad business it’s bad business very much so that’s the overarching point that I’m getting with you level outlook says trading be equals freedom to move on trade a pick with him i I get it but it just depends on the pick too if you’re not going to compete over the next two years when Bradley Beal’s contract is is still on the books do you want to give up a future asset you know just to not compete the next couple of years at least like I mentioned last week at least there’s a really experienced guy leading the front office um to really navigate this tricky situation in these murky waters i just I just feel so assured that it’s all going to work out okay because of the decades of front office experience that our general manager has you see where they might be running into a little bit of trouble but stay tuned first opportunity is coming up relatively soon probably before the draft andy Cruz says “Why are we ignoring Beiel made 18 points per game on elite shooting?” Cuz I watch the games that there’s nobody in the NBA who looks at his statline who thinks that guy is worth anything right now he He’s the worst individual asset from a value perspective in the entire National Basketball Association yeah his his um his 18 points did not hit the same as at any other point in his career prior to this uh this past season um and that’s that’s the harsh reality of it honestly it is what it is he just just didn’t he just he just just doesn’t fit with where this roster was the past two seasons it was overkill to add him to what you already established and what showed to be successful as a template around Booker and Durant in particular you add all the other complications of a lack of a system and process on offense in addition to his role going up and down and all other types of ambiguity around the roster you see why they are where they are now it’s time for a change and I think it starts with with him in particular now I do wonder and if if we’re going down this path here just just walk with me we got a lot of questions so we’re This is going to be a long show i do wonder if I in and Mario or Ted I forget which one of you said it but I know one of you said it in chat where where Gambo was also saying that one of the questions that people were asked in the coaching interviews was about uh how would you use Bradley Beal if he’s still on the team i do wonder if if in the back of their head they’re thinking to themselves okay we’re going to suck anyway right so let’s roll Bradley Beal out there fully healthy because he got that last game of rest against the Kings thank God um full fully healthy Bradley Beal new coaching system no Kevin Durant more of a focal point on offense and let’s let’s value right let’s get you some touches let’s get you to 20 points per game and then come trade deadline time cuz you’re still going to be under contract for the next year we’ll we’ll try to trade you at least to somebody that would maybe want you somebody that’s desperate for a scoring punch and and possibly get like a second round pick back right i I do wonder if that is something in their head where they don’t want to wave and stretch and and our next question is about that so we’ll get there in a second they don’t want to wave and stretch and make a two-year problem a fiveyear problem they have no way to trade him now so they say “Let’s just try to bump that value up.” Yep i can see it and I think that naturally him being a part of an ecosystem that’s a lot more productive and a lot more conducive a lot more intentional with the details a lot more aligned a whole lot more a whole lot more structured would naturally up the production of his activity especially if he’s also featured as more of a number two piece than he is a number three piece if Duran is out of the picture because of trade that feels like it’s looming like there’s a lot of things that would better suit him to eventually and kind of or or honestly organically up his his value and him producing closer to the level of what his contract suggests that he is as a player so there’s a lot of things that will certainly naturally improve as time goes on just because of the attention to detail that they’re moving forward with going forward but yeah it’s tough situation that you willingly got yourself involved with yeah shout out to all the homies in the chat shout out Jaden Burns in the chat shout out Psycho Blue Andy Casha My Holy King Boom Shaka Laka Ted Offensive Bees we’ve got a packed packed packed show but again uh best name in the chat outside the Orleans Got Hose great great name outside the Orleans Got Hose okay let’s get on to our next question here we got a lot of mailbag questions this is going to be a long edition of PHNX Suns but we haven’t talked to y’all in a couple of days so get used to it all right debb’s Stan account says “If we were to buy outwave and stretch be does it matter if it happened before or after the KD trade any benefit which order they happen?” I’m not sure if there’s a benefit to the order if it happening because I don’t think waving and stretching him uh affects us in the apron which which runs to the next question from Nate says “If we were to buy be out would it affect us being in the apron despite it being dead money i think the possible flexibility might be worth it.” Um I’m not sure because then that becomes a a $20 million salary cap hit which means they’re losing about 30 mil for this year that’s got to help them a little bit it helps on the margins it helps on the margins because it gives them access to the to the MLE which is about I think it was around like 13ish million maybe a little bit more than that potentially um so it gives them opportunity at portions of that and as they continue to work around other pieces like Vila Mish as well as Cody Martin um you figure out what you want to do with those pieces that gives you a whole lot more to work on those margins as well to bring in new talent via veteran minimums via percentages of the MLE i think it was and don’t quote me on this but I remember them saying if they were able to get rid of two if not all three of the three players that we’re talking about between Meich Martin and Bill it would open up more of a portion of that MLE you get the full MLE you get like a portion of it or you just get none of it with the second tax apron you don’t get it but when you get rid of two of those three you get more of a portion of it and I think if you get rid of all three you get the full thing so yeah I if you if you’re able to to get rid of me Chichin and Martin that helps you a ton and then I definitely even wave and stretch just helps yeah wave and stretch helps but tough it’s tough cuz it’s on the books for long enough right it again it’s like you have it’s like you got a huge cut on your arm and you’ve taken ibuprofen and you’re like “Oh I’m not going to I’m not going to get surgery i’m just going to take ibuprofen.” It’s like okay you’re helping yourself in the short term you’re feeling a little better but this thing is not going to heal properly if you don’t take care of it right now and it’s going to be a problem for a lot longer like that’s that’s what happens when you turn a two-year problem into a five-year problem az Soldier says it’s not our money let Matt pay off the thing is it’s still your it’s not off of the salary cap right it’s it’s still a part of your roster building around Devin Booker for the next five years right five years i just I can’t do that i just I can’t I can’t do it all right uh anything else on Bradley Beal before we start talking about a little KD action question for you and I guess people in the chat can respond to this uh whenever they get to it in the listening too if it comes down to you having an opportunity to add specific types of talent or potentially bringing in talent via a trade and you’re able to do so if you wave and stretch bill is that a crossroads that you’re willing to walk down and eat the salary long term to add talent so give I I’m not going to ask for specific players but let’s just say this facilitates what a top top 20 like top 20 type talent like a top 20 type talent you can go top 20 you can go top 30 you can also go pieces okay it if this is a top 20 talent and they they’re going to sign a long-term contract in Phoenix this is not like a one-year rental mhm i I depending on the player I’d probably be willing to do it for for bench pieces for a team that isn’t going to compete over the next couple of years or for some somebody in like maybe the 30 to 40 range i I don’t I don’t think so so you wouldn’t do it for like young pieces that might I guess it depends on the young piece right i I that’s a that’s a very I really I like the line of questioning i like the line of thinking um I’m just imagining situations they’ll be in where they have to make decisions going forward in the near future very near future yeah okay interesting stuff we will get to more Bill stuff as the off season goes on we’ve got Kevin Durant Spurs trade talk plus more we’ll be getting into all of it on the other side of our final break you mentioned it’s hot earlier in the show and it is hot but I still like to spend time outside and I would love to be able to exp extend my outdoor living space with all Prochade Concepts but I live in an apartment so I’m not allowed to do that but you if you live in a home you can do that again with All Pro Shade Concepts they’re custom fit awning hundreds of designs and colors to choose from to match any home i know Espo got it installed on his home he was raving about how quick and easy the installation process is how slick and nice the roll down patio shade looks for him plus he could trust all ProShade concepts because they’re an A+ Better Business Bureau rating because they have over 1,000 five-star reviews on Google because they’ve been voted number one by ranking Arizona for patio shades in 2024 and because they’ve been in business for over 20 years in the valley started making window shades by hands for friends and family now they’re one of the largest installers in Phoenix plus the roll down patio shades keeps the sun out of your patio keeps it up to 20° cooler and in the shade and 20° cooler when it’s 115° outside makes a massive difference call 632041476 or visit allproshade tra allproshadeconcepts.com right now to schedule your free estimate and if you’re spending money you’re living and if you’re living you’re spending money and that’s why Malin America Credit Union wants to help you by giving you double rewards on credit card purchases now through July 31st that is a long time for you to get double the rewards and watch your points pile up when you’re purchasing stuff like gas groceries travel home projects and all other purchases it’s an easy way to stretch your dollar and you earn twice as many rewards and what rewards can you redeem that for at Mountain America Credit Union well you can get rewards like travel rebates gift cards and event tickets this is for a limited time only mountain America Credit Union double points on the rewards credit card so take advantage while you can get details at macu.com/double loan on approved credit offer can change or be withdrawn at any time limited time offer terms and conditions apply sparrow Andy Bees what’s up everybody chilling with us in the chat you know I love that there’s so many of you but I do have a little bit of a beef do you know what that beef is Stephen i do not not enough likes i mean a lot of people in here and not enough likes help grow the show help grow the community hit that like button hit that subscribe button nobody’s bringing you Suns content on the daily like PHNX Suns i know Steven’s working on a breakdown video for what to expect with Devin Booker under Jordan Au i also just recorded a trending podcast that’s going out tonight on the potential Spurs Kevin deal that Bill Simmons says is already done and of course that was complete conjecture but I dove into the Devin Velit in Phoenix as well uh Teddy with a $4.99 super chat says “Cutting Meech and Marking Martin gets you under the second apron which then gives you the stretch provision then stretching Beal puts you all like 25 million under the first apron.” Thank you i I I still wouldn’t I still wouldn’t stretch be still wouldn’t do it to get under the first apron no I wouldn’t do it i I I I think out of all the options I I think stretching and waving be unless there is a a a guaranteed like you can guarantee me that I now have Devin Booker’s next running mate for the next five to seven years who wants to come here and the only way that we can get them here now is if we wave and stretch be the only way I do it i just I can’t dip my toes in those waters you just got to take your medicine thank you Teddy for providing what I was kind of trying to get to without having a chance to pull it up to speak specific to it that’s pretty much what I was getting at the point being with me bringing that part up so imagine you get in a situation where you are able to get one of these top 20 top 25 players but you can’t do so without having to combine salaries and you need and that’s what opens it up in addition to you also having access to a faction of free agents that hits a certain tax bill number that you simply just would not have when you have these contracts on your books i know I know Ether Frog is tough i understand that part but if you give yourself opportunity to in the now expedite your retool process put yourself in a much better position going forward to execute to however Jordan A needs you to to get the most out of him as a coach as soon as possible and that’s the ASAP dynamic of all of this the retool was very much a ASAP fashion not that we’re sitting back on our hands and we’re willing to waste two years of Devin Booker’s prime they’re trying to get after it now and I feel like a lot of what I’m speaking to is getting number two in alignment with everything that it is they’re saying that they’re working towards and getting there as quick as possible insulating Booker with the pieces he needs to be as good as he can be as soon as possible while doing the same thing with Jordan OP to uphold the style of play that he wants on offense and defense with depth with versatility with youth all of these things they’ve been asking for and that sounds great i’m listening like that that sound that sounds great right but are you not are you not putting yourself in a position where you cannot properly build around two stars two whatever it is because you have $20 million a year next to Bradley Beiel for the next five years for a guy who’s not even on your team so are you rushing things again and trying to put a band-aid on a broken arm and saying “Hey we’re going to wave and stretch be so we could try to fix things now and now we’re not properly building a team again we don’t have the draft capital draft assets to to build around these guys and now we’re flaming out and this is another experiment gone wrong right there there’s a reality where that works out and there’s a reality where waving and stretching be to have you do something now is like it’s your quick hit of dopamine and that feels good right but is it working out every day is it getting up early every day is it treating your body right or is it just a like a quick hit you felt good you kind of solved your your immediate problems now you’re three years down the line it’s Devin Booker and I don’t know Jaylen Brown together and you can’t sign a piece to help you contend for a championship because Bradley Beal is still getting paid $20 million to smile for the Charlotte Hornets you know like it it it could be so so many different things in a row um I guess my question in rebuttal to you is that I guess it kind of comes down to would you rather potentially let Bill in a literal sense being on the roster hamstring Booker and the Suns going forward yes or would you rather him be a portion of God might get in your way part of me really wishes I was not emotionally attached to this team not part of me a lot of me i I’ll never give it up baby this is my addiction but this it’s so like and I feel like this is maybe one of the best conversations that we’ve had over the last couple of months and and we’re we’re pushing a lot of other mailback questions aside and and we’ll get to them um it it’s so fascinating because it’s do you want to be like extra hamstrung for two years or do you want to be like slightly hamstrung for the next five right and yeah Beal could take back less right and Teddy brings that up as well beal could take back less i don’t think he does that why would he want to help this place out right taking the wave and stretch is something that in his mind is probably already helping the Suns out so why why would he do that um to be able to go more freely to Yeah but does he care like does he give a crap i don’t think he does i don’t I like and and I really hate saying this but like I I don’t think he gives a flying f like I really don’t he’s getting paid $50 million he lives in a beautiful city with his family they’re well taken care of like if he really cared he’d probably already be gone because he would have played better and waved his no trade clause michael says “Can Beal be a key contributor?” Not on a good team i don’t think so not Not at $50 million a year but they might just try to have him do that for the season to to trade him i don’t know i I think it’s fascinating fascinating fascinating stuff yeah it’s a conversation we can certainly revisit if he’s still with the team after like July going into August yeah which which he he might be i I would be prepared to watch Bradley Beiel in his son’s uniform for at least three or four months this season and then we’ll we’ll go from there okay we good on Beiel you ready to go to some Katie yep all right by Entertainment with the next question asks “Does anybody want my Durant jersey?” I did see uh that a local sporting goods store was selling Kevin Durant jerseys for $50 on sale all the different ones the Valley the the city edition ones um good deal honestly might have to might have to pick that up uh speaking of jerseys by the way Espo has confirmed the Suns are bringing back the Valley jerseys how do you How do you feel about that fire can’t replace the vibes but you So that’s the thing i I think it might have been Voida who brought it up on Twitter was like you know I’m not super thrilled about this because that was a team that it’s it’s a very it’s in a very era specific and a ve it’s the best era of Suns basketball we’ve had since the early 90s right technically speaking as far as far as um success goes now sustained success the mid200s with Steve Nash and all that that’s something right um Sean I see you and I hate you um I just want to put that out there so tough with with those jerseys i’m thrilled they’re coming back if you’ve seen I I keep on mentioning my home studio because I’m just I’m so proud of it uh but if you’ve seen it I have the the Valley jersey in the background i I love it um I’m all for it i I want another jersey too i know there’s some rumors about another jersey as well uh Leo says “The fact that we’re not going to see KD in a Valley jersey.” Yeah well it is what it is uh Kevin with a mailbag question says “Why would the Suns do a trade with San Antonio and not ask for the hashtag two pick?” I think they’re saying number two pick mhm in return why would you help them become a title contender and still keep a pick that would allow them to possibly become a dynasty i get KD is getting older but still yeah that’s why I said when we were talking about Durant trades each of the last two or three weeks I know you might not get the number two pick but there is no way you don’t hold them to the fire with if you want KD we need to have the number two pick and this is me speaking as if I’m Brian Gregory need the number two pick if they move off of that perch okay whatever i still imagine that if a Durant trade does happen it’s going to take a three-team deal to suffice the Suns and the and the um Spurs in particular to which I’ll continue to tap the sign on hey Brooklyn is doing everything they possibly can to move up in the draft to move up in the lottery as much as they possibly can they already have four picks in the first round they’re trying to find a way to either um condense two of those and turn those into a super high pick or find a way to just add another one to their treasure trove if you can appease Brooklyn and get San Antonio to move off of that perch with the number two I’m sure Brooklyn will be more than okay with dancing in that and getting you some more talent in addition to what the young pieces will be giving um you will be getting from uh San Antonio so all of that to say I still think it’s going to be a three- team trade and a three- team trade might be making it more easy for the Suns to get the U Spurs to get off of that number two pick you You absolutely ask for it right i mean it’s not even asking you got to beg for it cuz they’re not going to give it off you got to pretend like you have the leverage right and we can play the leverage game and and and discuss who actually has leverage and who doesn’t have leverage you know at the end of the day we’re not in these negotiations we don’t know right but I I I find it far-fetched that you can get the number two pick now maybe you can get Stefan Castle right like maybe that’s like hey you want to give us 14 Vel Kellen Johnson we we we’re fine with 14 right we want number two you won’t give us two you say it’s not negotiable fine you keep number two right we want 14 you can give us Vel we don’t love the fit with Velc again i dove into that on the trending that’s going out at 7 o’clock tonight audio and video you know we think there’s too much overlap with Book we’ll take him maybe we’ll reroute him but that’s fine to be a part of the package you’re gonna include Stefan Castle yeah right like there’s there are layers to what the Spurs are able to offer and because you know Kevin Rant is older some might say well he doesn’t have a big trade market but we know that there are four to six teams reportedly interested and these teams that were floating out there Minnesota New York Houston you know San Antonio maybe Atlanta you know maybe a secret team in there like the Warriors if they decide they want to do something big right um it it feels like there will be a market for him right and so you might be able to say you know okay two you won’t give us two we fight hard for two all right we’ll end on Castle right that that to me is is something in there that you could go after that might be where San Antonio draws the line either you can get Castle because we know everybody wants them or you can get two you can’t get both and that’s what Leo says leo 199 super chat thanks Leo for always being in here we really do appreciate you says would you rather have Castle or the second pick what would you choose i’d rather the second pick i think and that’s no disrespect to Stefon Castle i think is going to be an all-star within the next 5 years i I think Dylan Harper is an all-star before Stefan Castle for sure i Dylan Harper man for sure but I also think that the optionality that that gives the Suns whether they want to use it or move it elsewhere I think that opens up a complete different things you don’t have i’m not mad at either direction honestly I would use it or I would trade for two top 10 picks but I I would I would use it i And Brooklyn has Brooklyn has one i think they just outside of the top 10 with their second pick with their second pick in the first round but that’s something that you Yeah that’s something you could certainly entertain you can’t even get into that conversation without having it so yeah I I I would value two for sure augustine Benjamin says “You guys aren’t getting Castle or the number two pick.” Uh and and honestly I Yeah I I totally get that i totally get that right now that being said maybe San Antonio is desperate you know I I think you got a taste of of Wemb’s mortality this year obviously a very freak uh I think it was deep thrombosis so blood clot um very freak injury with him and we hope he’s okay but I I think that that can kind of awaken something in a franchise when you have this this elite i mean we’re talking this guy has potential to be the one player in the NBA right there’s four three people who currently have the the the resume to be competing for that uh Joic and Giannis are pretty much going back and forth at it every single year for for best player obviously Shay in there this year um but you got you kind of got a taste of of Weby’s mortality here right and maybe it’s not the deep vein thrombosis maybe it’s an ankle maybe it’s an ACL i I don’t know but you you see that your window is now this this guy WBY he is good enough to compete now right let’s get this proven guy who can play perfectly alongside WBY defensively offensively and KD and we’ll give up one of these future guards when when we have De’arren Fox like you know you’ve got your bird in hand already maybe they just decide we’re going to roll with that and keep one of the two right if you’re trading Castle you still have your point guard of the future in in Dylan Harper you trade the number two pick you still have the reigning rookie of the year in Stfan Castle right so I I do think that there’s a chance where San Antonio wants to to part with with something to bring on an older asset gabe who I’m going to be joining his podcast uh later today says “Sadly agree the Spurs don’t come off assets like that especially not for older players i think two and Castle won’t be on the table.” I I agree i would say if I had to predict no neither of those pieces will be involved in the deal but Phoenix is going to try pretty hard at them uh and they wouldn’t be the same as like a Giannis a Giannis deal which I know a lot of people have been looking at as well yeah well if that’s the case if and it’s I’m I’m not saying it’s not possible because I think all of this that we’re talking about is certainly possible everything’s on the table right now if they’re not getting two or Stefon Castle for me and this is for me they have to have a third team involved to where they’re getting some assets from another team to appease them getting off of Durant’s contract because if it’s not Stefan Castle who else is sufficing for you in return for Kevin Durant who is your best player by far it’s not it’s not it’s a Deon Vel package and again I I highly encourage people to to to tune in at 7 o’clock tonight on on this channel and on audio i know I’ve said it a couple times um but I we went was going back and forth me and Brennon Clean were with uh some people including Lev who asked a question earlier today about Deon Vel’s fit on the on the Suns um and I just I don’t love it i I don’t love it i I think he’s a good player i like Vel um long term as a player in this league but he’s a slightly better defender but overall much worse version of Devin Booker he’s not big enough to consistently play the three or the four uh Devin is I know he hates being called Devin but Book is going to have to be guarding a lot of bigger players because just got done doing this season and then we just saw that that didn’t fit i I just I can’t have the main piece of my Kevin Durant trade package be a shooting guard like that’s just the one position that it can’t be uh I want to make sure that Jay uh who also asked a question uh uh for mailbag Monday gets his question read even though we did just answer it uh says “If any trade for Katie happens with the Spurs and you could only pick one involved in the trade would you pick the second pick in the draft Harper or Stfan Castle?” We both go with Harper uh but thank you for your question Jay we do appreciate it uh Martin your boy Martin uh asks a question says “If the Suns get the second pick in the draft would you rather they use it who would you take Harper or would you rather trade for other assets if the latter what are concrete ideas to trade the second pick for i love the show keep up the great work.” Thank you Martin appreciate you Martin um you want to kick this off yeah uh I would now obviously you have to like depend on what the trade package is of course right for sure i would rather they use it because I see Dylan Harper as a guard that can play alongside Devin Booker and can eventually take the mantle from Devin Booker once Book is at the end of his prime you don’t get those type of opportunities often especially for a team in the position with the Suns i think you definitely draft Harper unless the the package that you get is a top five pick and another top 10 pick then maybe you think about it um or if it’s a certified young player that wants to sign a long-term deal with Phoenix it’s kind of proven but that being said I most most of the time I lean towards drafting Harper before we get your response I want to remind everybody who’s watching on TV that the party does always continue over at gophnx.com which means it is time for overtime first order of business in overtime Stephen is would you draft Harper or would you trade that second pick for more assets it’s again context matters for me just at face value um I I don’t see any harm in actually I don’t see any negatives in building around a team of Deon Booker and Dylan no I don’t at all in any capacity uh that being said though I think there are teams that would be able to enable more usage and more freedom for Harper than the Suns potentially could based off of what it is that they’re trying to get to if Harper is the primary ball handler instead of one of the primary ball handlers I think one of those two contexts might potentially put him in a better position to get the most out of him especially early on naturally you you send him to a team like let’s just say Brooklyn where they have abundance of uh salary cap in terms of uh salary available but also assets to trade for and put pieces around them things like that that’s something where I think there’s a there’s a literal tie in terms of timing fit context opportunity that would fit with Brooklyn for him that might not fit for him in ways that if he was with the Suns so that being said I would go that route brooklyn’s gone as far as to say that they’re willing to they’re willing to cut ties with a pick and potentially Camp Johnson and obviously Nick Clax involved with all of that and I feel like those are things that would appease the Suns in multiple capacities get a starting center you get a familiar face that’s a floor space in four that you can add to i’m I’m not saying that I’ll press the button on it but options on the table i would listen wow factor says “What if you get three first round picks and and and a second round?” I genuinely think Brooklyn will be willing to go go part with three of their four first round picks to get the number two and also tie cut their ties with Cam Johnson and and I get it right and I and I totally get it i just you have a chance to to draft a guard that doesn’t you know overlap with Book right that could be your guard of the future it’d be so easy to build a team around those two um and you could trade for three future first round picks there’s no guarantee that any of those first round picks are even the lottery but the thing is thing is for me though that opens up optionality with Bradley Beal yeah sure sure i I get it i puzzle pieces i would I would look at it i would look at it however if I ended up with the number two pick the only trade that I would be actively trying to make is what do I need to do to get to number one for sure for sure hey Nico would you be interested in Bradley be the number two pick for the number one pick no that that would be my my first order of business let’s keep it rolling here i got a ton of questions still to get to uh we got scr that’s probably better says “Is Katie going back to the Clippers or going to the Clippers i would say back switching uh to Zubots is a good choice mentioned this uh was it Friday friday or Thursday last week and I don’t see the Clippers putting all their money in on Zubox uh or trading Zubox for for Durant i think there’s a lot of overlap with Kawhi there but very old but if the Suns could walk away with with Zubac then I I would I’d take him in half a second yeah that would be one of the best types of fit pieces that you could get around it might not be the loudest in terms of name and especially considering other superstars we assume are on the table but fitwise with Devin Booker that gives him the best center that he could honestly ask for in a realistic situation correct on both ends of the floor defensively and on offense 100% agree marwin with another question says “Do you think the Suns will be traded before or on draft night?” I think before I I well maybe on draft night I think was the latest but I I think that it’s going to happen either before so you know where you’re going to pick or well before those picks um if he doesn’t get traded by draft night then I I don’t really know what’s going on yeah I imagine because the Suns are either valuing getting pick compensation to directly apply to this upcoming draft or if another team is involved they’re going to want to have control of their own picks unless there is an agreement to where this is this is me speaking on speculation now unless there’s an agreement in place to where we have this trade template if you do this at that pick and we do this at this pick we can swap and do things like that and make this trade happen post trade might be able to agree to terms on something like that that makes it super complicated because you can’t predict what other teams are going to do that might throw that complete trade template off so that’s complicated but I could see them going different ways to try to get it done to where he might not necessarily get traded before the draft actually takes place yeah it it could be but maybe some draft picks would be involved with that that were just selected teddy with a 499 super chat says “I’ll give y’all Teddy’s a Sixers fan by the way i’ll give y’all Joel Embiid Paul George and a 28 Clipper first round pick for Katie Beal and Richards no that don’t sound like a Daryl my move yeah no thanks i’m good appreciate it though uh Teddy says “Take the Cameroonian away from me.” Hey he represented the United States of America okay oh my god uh can’t believe that was like a year ago man wow i was thinking back like I was looking at like last offseason and stuff i was like man we got we had a lot of basketball coverage at the Olympics that was that would have been nice to have this year too all right Russell what’s up russell says “What do you think is a realistic trade package from San Antonio Houston New York and other teams that are interested in KD?” All right let’s let’s run through these rapid fire here Stephen san Antonio realistic Vel Johnson 14 that’s the main basis of it houston uh 10 Jabari Smith Jr and and maybe Jaylen Green or Tardy Een right realistically or Reed Shepard or Reed Shepard new York it’s going to be male Mitchell Robinson and whatever picks they can scrape together m likely a second pick heavy second round heavy which I just like please stay away from that i can’t do that uh Minnesota is interesting i’m not really sure what Minnesota’s would be uh but those are just a couple of generic uh baseline trade packages something built around Julius Randle where he’s going directly to the Suns or going to a third or fourth team yeah yeah i just I can’t I can’t I can’t do the the male and second round picks for for Katie i just can’t do that um okay no one cares again i care no one cares hope the new addition to your family is doing well see I remembered which means I care no one cares uh any chance we see a Grayson trade before a Katie trade to help get below the second apron after declining Meech’s option what would be the best and worst case scenario for an Allen trade maybe I I maybe before KD to help get below the second apron now maybe you wait to trade Grayson when you’re under the second apron to try to aggregate uh Grayson’s salary yep um I would say best case is probably like a goat type yeah I was going to say not to put a specific name to it but to get a starting caliber center yeah trade a strength of yours for a weakness for um for another team you get a starting caliber center they get something to address their weaknesses in shooting shake hands and keep it pushing yeah uh Ted Defensive says Grayson for Jonathan Isaac please i think that’s interesting the fit would be so much better with with Isaac but the injuries are just I mean it’s tough sledding i’ I’d want If he strikes I’d want at least a second round pick back i feel that if he strikes the bit of of health that he sustained last season he can apply that to the Suns context but he played like what like 15 14 minutes a game last season 15 14 minutesish yeah I mean high impact but he’s he can’t be like a starting caliber that’s what I’m saying maybe he’s just a puzzle piece maybe that comes in tender with a cam train with Nick Classic he’s certainly a piece and I like his fit with with Book more than You don’t want him starting though to your point yeah I I don’t want him Well you he can’t he physically cannot start uh Javon Romero says “A lot of reports have come out about Ishbia being involved more than desired are you prepared to be underwhelmed with the KD trade?” Uh on okay first part of it aside because we we Gerald reported about the ISB stuff and we’ve we’ve covered that are you prepared to be underwhelmed with the Kevin Durant trade i mean you got to be prepared for every single at this point it’s been going on for so long in terms of discourse yeah for sure i would say I’m prepared i wouldn’t say I’m fully expecting it i that part I expect to be welmed i I don’t expect to be wowed i don’t expect to be underwhelmed i I feel like you’re going to get good value for Katie but not great you’re not gonna get poor value you’re either gonna get solid players or you’re going to get heavy picks and I don’t know if you’re gonna be able to strike a c in a chord where I feel like you’re getting both of those two yeah optical Illusion says “Be prepared to be underwhelmed for the whole season or two.” And that’s why we’re here damn it that’s why we’re here Optical Illusion to make this better for all of y’all hit that like button hit that subscribe button tune in later today we got more trending mini pods going out a reminder for everybody who’s still sticking around here Jordan’s press conference is tomorrow at 3 we will be going live at 5:30 in order to facilitate that press conference to be there to get the video for you to bring it back cut it up and present it to you on a show we’ll have the full press conference right here on PHX Sports and we will be doing a live show at 5:30 tomorrow so mark down your calendars for that one okay let’s keep it rolling here some more rapid fire mailbag fun zachary J irwin asks “Will we have a Michigan State Alumni Night game in 202526?” Well you start with they’re likely being another Well are they They’re not in China for the entire preseason um going into next season are they uh wait hold on sorry andy says that face swinging your super chat is ignored let’s go away let’s take a look at Andy I’m so sorry did we ignore your super chat let’s Let’s go ahead and take a look because that’s not something that that we do around here if y’all super chat we read it that’s just what we do oh there it is sorry about that Andy i I there’s a couple super chats that we got to read for y’all um yes andy says “Beal’s situation is a lot like Russ with the Lakers scapegoated.” Feel like Beiel’s been scapegoed to certain extents yes but there’s just there’s so much there’s so much context involved with it it can’t be specific to one person but some people stake in that is louder than others i will say that yeah i I think that and and we’ve said this we’ve said this multiple times with be man and you know what it’s actually been a long time since we really dove into this so I’m not feeling as uh as worn out on it but be was not put in the best situation from an individual perspective like this was not a situation that was great for Bradley Beal you can laugh about it all you want you’re not being put in a good position if your coach is going to you and asking you to be a completely different player who’s a completely different archetype with Bradley Beal right and so you know I I don’t think that it was fully I don’t think that it was fully his fault but I do feel like it was a lot on him and his onc court and and his contract as well so I get what you’re saying Andy i appreciate the super chat psycho Blue with the $5 super chat says “Basketball Apollo Sunsp Spartans unite likes how Mr no Trade Pat Riley said Matt is a nightmare to deal with pot calling the kettle black where did that come from i didn’t see that and Matt is a is is hard to deal with um interesting i didn’t see that i’ll have to take a look at that wow factor asks another question in the chat says “Rumors that the Raptors are interested in KD they are saying that they’re okay with KD being a rental as they’ve done it with Kawaii and won the chip my question is what are we getting?” Uh probably a package around RJ Barrett and Yaka Portal um I did talk about that slightly on the the trending uh that I did over the weekend uh from home psych says that was from the Dan Leard show interesting i’ll have to go check that out psych will also get to uh get to some more from you in a little bit here uh let’s go from the phoenix suns.com who loves trolling me on Twitter got to say I appreciate a good consistent troll on like fake Eric Ruby in the chat who showed up for one comment and then left coward uh says “How many Suns players from the 2024 2025 season will be on the roster in 2025 2026 deon Booker Nick Richards Oso Eigodaro Ryan Dunn those are the only names I am confident in stating at this moment not sure about Royce not sure about Grayson not sure about KD not sure about Brad tyus Jones I don’t think so monte Morris I don’t think so even Tai Tai is like a free agent i mean yeah Colin Gillespie is technically Gillespie is a free agent yeah I You just named about nine to 10 players right there yeah I four i’m not sure about Me i’m not sure about Cody Martin i’m pretty There’s reports that Me has already signed with an an overseas club he’s gone and for Cody Martin I’m not sure if he’s going to be back you know I like Cody i like I like Martin i like Gillespie i I think those are good fits for this team um but I I don’t think they’re locks by any I mean Killespie hasn’t even been signed yet and we were asking for that guy to get signed before all right uh let’s keep rolling on here a couple more questions this one from William says “Which assistants from the previous regime will be staying which external assistance is hoping to hire for his staff?” Then the next question is also once again from Dared Judley who asks odds that Jared Dudley joins the coaching staff and any insight on likely assistance for a once again his intro press conference tomorrow at 3 the Suns YouTube account is live streaming it but uh I’ll start this one yeah go for it if Jason Kid is indeed headed to the New York Knicks to be their next head coach I imagine that puts a scrambling dynamic to all of those assistant coaches the Sean Sweenies the Jared Dudley’s the Dared Jutley’s of the world if you will the Dared J that’s awesome i love that presents with that presents opportunity for Jordan to go and pick I imagine they give him the they give him the liberty to pick who he wants on his uh staff i wonder if that’s going to include David Fisdale and if it doesn’t I imagine the Suns find a role for him to be a part of this franchise going forward so that looming remains to be seen i could see Jared Dudley being around i just don’t know if Jordan is going to value does the way that other coaches might have potentially or the way that the franchise might even yeah it’s hard to to fill out assistant coaching staffs i think you’re right with some musical chairs going on here with with maybe the Mavericks the Knicks the Suns the Cavaliers i do think that David Fisdale I think there’s a good chance that he is is back with this franchise in some capacity either as an assistant coach or as a front office personnel um would love I I would love Jared Dudley as an assistant coach here that being said he wants to be a head coach one day and I don’t know if if this is the best spot for him currently maybe sticking with with Dallas as well um maybe he can get Johnny Bryant i don’t think so but it’s possible Johnny Bryant might be the next head coach of the New York Knicks maybe he ends up going to Dallas maybe he ends up going to Dallas maybe you could steal Sean Sweeney even though Sean Sweeney and Jason Kidd have been attached to the hip since um I believe their Milwaukee days uh with with Jason Kidd in Brooklyn as well so uh I I would say the only name that I’m really looking at that I feel comfortable saying it it could happen is is Fdale other than that it’s just going to be a hodgepodge of of guys from allowed around the league yep and I will also say quickly that assistant coaching ties to a head coach always play heavy into who’s brought into a team that’s why you see a lot of retread coaches get opportunities with main state head coaches you see Kenny Ainson with Steve Curry you see Mike Brown with Steve Curry doc Rivers with Darinham you got it erin how do you feel about Doc Rivers i think I have the same thought as everyone else does no I don’t think you do because I bashed Doc Rivers and said that he was a complete clown and Gerald and Steven came at me for it and said you were not going to disrespect Doc Rivers like that well then in that case I think I align closely to you then yeah I think he’s a clown okay uh we have a question that we don’t we don’t have a screenshot for but Psycho Blue put it in our Dieard Discord says “Why does the national media ESPN The Athletic Levit Simmons Pablo etc have such a stick up their ass about the Suns and particularly Matt save some of that energy for the more consistent fail factories like the Hornets.” not even about the lawsuits recently or even saying he’s going to be Jerry Bust this to try to install consistent culture like the Heat or the Pistons closest to Spartans and I’m pretty sure ISO took heavy inspiration from the Bad Boys but now he’s not really a billionaire i actually had to Google if some big UWM thing happened recently and other than their stock being kind of meh I couldn’t find anything like that um basically asking is the national media too hard on on Matt Ishbia maybe trying to find problems where there’s not yes it feels like they’re searching and naturally an easy target at this moment in time low hanging fruit is Matt Ishbia so yeah but that’s no that ploy is as old as time at this point very very predictable and we can do we can do better we can do a whole lot better plume says “Did Matt send this question?” He might have he might have oh that’s good stuff all right uh any any final thoughts here on a very successful mailbag Monday uh I’ll just quickly say there are a lot of there are a lot of different ways that a Durant trade could swing especially if you get two or if you get three to four teams involved in in terms of picks and players that could be going to the Suns and if the Suns are able to deduct that tax aprons that opens up opportunity to trade other pieces in that there’s a lot of things on the table and we just are not privy to enough information because obviously they’re keeping those things as confidential as they can after they slipped up and did what they did at the trade deadline and lost leverage as a result so just be calm stay tuned be calm see clearly stay tuned the draft is right around the corner and naturally the end of the finals is going to be a trigger point for a whole lot of things across the entire NBA but specific to Phoenix as well yeah uh also just enjoy the finals please yeah i mean good basketball going obviously OKC bounce back and takes uh takes game two as they usually do alex Russo and Tyresce Alburn have scored the same amount of points in this NBA Finals just something to chew on okay I do not have an Ishbia bill in any capacity all right uh before we go down the Ishbia shilling lane let’s just remind everybody what we got going on over here at PHNX Sports tonight you will have a trending mini pod in your audio and in your video feeds on PHNX Sports and of course wherever you get your audio uh that is going to be me talking about what Bill Simmons had to say about the Spurs and the Suns and specifically really diving into Devin Bell’s fit with Devin Booker and why I just don’t like it um Tony says “So we know for sure team Durant wants out of Phoenix now i think it’s just it’s we don’t know for sure but we we believe it’s likely.” Yeah sounds like it’s likely based off of the reporting but we have no literal information saying that he wants to be gone yeah so So uh we we’re just kind of going off reports now of course when a trade happens we’ll get you a breaking news pod here on PHNX Sports mario says “Is tomorrow’s pot on draft prospects?” No draft prospects will be Wednesday tomorrow will be a reaction to Jordan as introductory press conference we will then do trades on Thursday for agents on Friday uh once again happy birthday to Stephen leo was saying belated birthday yesterday um and then we will have a breakdown on how Jordan and Devin Booker might be meshing on the court from of course Steven that’ll be coming sometime later this week most likely after Jordan A’s press conference tomorrow but we will be live tomorrow at 5:30 mark that down on your calendars live at 5:30 tomorrow press conference live at 3 we’ll be talking about it breaking it down reacting in real time in our dieh hard Discord and then we will be going live at 5:30 until then you can follow the show at phnx_sons we appreciate Eritton behind the Mac making all the magic happen you can follow him at freckledmamba on socials you can follow Steven don’t call him Steve at Steven PG3 that is Steven with a ph and of course you can follow me at E R Kruby the real Eric Ruby not the fake one who showed absolutely no commitment today one comment before the stream started and then you left i’m disappointed if you’re going to troll at least put some effort into it maybe I’ll see you tomorrow fake Eric Ruby but if not I’ll talk to all of you at a later time tomorrow [Music] [Applause] we all silly like the mayor
Could the Charlotte Hornets have real interest in trading for Bradley Beal from the Phoenix Suns?
This is one of many questions Erik and Stephen dive deep into on another edition of Mailbag Monday on PHNX Suns! They also cover questions surrounding the Spurs and a potential Kevin Durant trade, potential coaching staff additions around Jordan Ott and how many players from last year’s team would return next season?
They also preview Jordan Ott’s introductory press conference, and recap Game 2 of the NBA Finals that saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder take down Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers!
Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @StephenPG3 & @ErikRuby!
0:00 – Intro
4:40 – Devin Booker Contract Extension
11:52 – Bradley Beal to Charlotte
29:00 – What to do With Bradley Beal
49:21 – Kevin Durant’s Future in Phoenix is Becoming Clear
An ALLCITY Network Production
SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube: https://bit.ly/phnx_youtube
ALL THINGS PHNX: http://linktr.ee/phnxsports
MERCH https://store.allcitynetwork.com/collections/phnx-locker
ALLCITY Network, Inc. aka PHNX and PHNX Sports is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Phoenix
PHNX Events: Get your tickets to PHNX events and takeovers here: https://gophnx.com/events/
ALLCITY — including us here at PHNX — is teaming up with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America for an exciting three-year partnership. To learn more, visit https://www.bbbs.org/allcity/
bet365: https://www.bet365.com/olp/open-account?affiliate=365_03330244 Use the code PHNX365 to sign up, deposit $10 and bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets!
Disclaimer: Must be 21+ and physically located in AZ. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-NEXT-STEP, text NEXTSTEP to 53342 or visit https://problemgambling.az.gov/
Circle K: Join Inner Circle for free by downloading the Circle K app today! Head to https://www.circlek.com/store-locator to find Circle Ks near you!
Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/phnx
Gametime: Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code PHNX for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
Branded Bills: Use code BBPHNX at https://www.brandedbills.com/ for 20% off your first order!
All Pro Shade Concepts: Call 623-204-1476 or visit https://allproshadeconcepts.com/ now to schedule your free estimate!
When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
#KevinDurant #Durant #KD #DevinBooker #Booker #Book #BradleyBeal #Beal #PhoenixSuns #Phoenix #NBA #basketball #Big3 #hoops #sports #BolBol #GraysonAllen #JusufNurkic
15 comments
Beal say No !!
Desperation leads to fantasy
Ruby laying on the sarcasm real thick today lol!
Beal for Lillard! 1 year sacrifice
Someone ask Beal. End of story.
That’s happening a lot hit and runs
Do we take a gamble on Lillard or Embiid? They both work straight up on the trade machine for Beal.
Erick sure its a hit on the cap going forward but the rise in the cap may offset this payout and I do believe we all want Beal gone and as you mentions the salary cap relief it will provide – getting rid of Micic and Martin you are under the 2nd Apron and pretty close to 1st Apron and we dont need to trade them to do this. Micic has team options for next season and Martin needs his last year guaranteed by June 30 according to hoopshype. Wavie and stretching Beal gets us under 1st apron as well as Micic, Martin. Last resort we will be eating salary I believe.
He’s no where near worth 75 a yrs.
A body of work of losing
I think you better go rethink this one Erick but while you on edibles 😂
Hell not Booker is not worth that much..
Wouldnt it be funny if Otts no 1 assistant was Bryant !
This is my last show because they are not being truthful about book and his deserving of a contract extension Also if I was Beal I would stay and force them to pay him plus booker is going to to need a scapegoat got his inconsistency
People really hate book but he’s one of the most consistent players in the league. His “bad year” this year are a lot of players who I see get praised career year 😕