Phoenix Suns Have COMPLETELY CHANGED, Moved On From “Big 3” Era

Phoenix Suns Have COMPLETELY CHANGED, Moved On From “Big 3” Era

Man, I had such a great off day. I put my phone down. I played Donkey Kong. I just relaxed. Eric, how was your off day? Same, dude. Dramafare free, man. Eric, cut the [Applause] [Music] Psychoso and sickos unite for a Twitter fingers edition of BHX Suns coming to you live on a Friday 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. I am Eric. That is Gerald. We got the freckled Mamba aka Juice Man aka Eritton behind the Mac making all of the magic happen. Steven still on vacation even though I gave him a little scare this morning because I woke up thinking it was a Monday for some reason and I was like, “All right, welcome back, Stephen.” And it was like the Nick Young meme. The huh? Yeah. They’re like, “No, I’m actually covering WNBA allstar weekend.” Shout out to of course the most important people though. Everybody in the chat. Lots of people enjoying our off day shenanigans. By our I mean my off day shenanigans yesterday. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. We got a jam-packed show for you today. Brett Seagull from Clutch Points joins us to bring us the latest on Jonathan Kaminga, what the Suns are doing with Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal. We will give our own personal thoughts on what the Suns should do with Jonathan Kaminga. But first, Gerald, yesterday was a spicy day on Twitter. We’ll go through some of the highlights and lowlights from that and we’ll talk about just how the Suns are a completely different team in so many different facets than they were just a couple of months ago. But first things first, how are you doing? Great. Like I said, I actually did enjoy my off day. And I I wanted to for on the record, I enjoyed my off day, too. I don’t know, man. I had a I had Hey, listen. I had a wonderful day with my wife, which I know one half of my Twitter beef could say. Okay. Wow. We’re not going to get into that at all. Not even touching that. Um, let’s start with the starting point because yesterday the internet, and by internet I mean Sun’s Twitter, lost its damn collective mind. We had Bradley Beiel starting off with the Instagram post. Uh, one last parting shot for the Suns. It was four simple pictures and one simple emoji, little peace emoji as his goodbye to the Suns, the Sun’s organization, and probably most of all the Suns fan base. Um, and then we had Bradley Beiel’s wife uh quote tweeting his tweet on Twitter. Um, kind of her own parting shot as well. Going to miss the weather with a little sun emoji. And then we had uh some NBA players and Suns players reacting to Bradley Bill’s post on Instagram. You see Taius Jones, you see Trey Young, um Bam out of bio, Josh Kogi, uh Damen Lee and Ishwright who were not shown in this video. You got KD. Lots of laughing, lots of laughter emojis. Yeah, in the comments. Uh, and a lot of people interpreted that as all of those people supporting Brad kind of dumping on the Suns organization, the fan base. So, before we go on, I I want to get your interpretation cuz for me personally, I think some players that were in that chat were probably dumping on the Suns and the fan base a little bit. I don’t think all of them were and it got very vicious from there in terms of attacking lots of current and former sons for responding to that in any way. Now, this might be ironic coming from me from yesterday, but I I do think that the the Twitter stuff went a little far in a couple certain respects. Now, when it comes to Bradley Beiel specifically and Bradley Beiel’s wife as well, I honestly like I wasn’t that mad at all this. Now, am I am I happy that Brad is no longer on the team and that Katie is no longer on the team? Yes. But not because I hate both of them. But because like I am excited and ready to to do something new to start fresh. Like I just think that it would have been unsustainable. So with Brad though, the way that Brad was treated by fans, the way that Brad’s wife was harassed at games, his kids were crying. Like to me the the hate went to such a personal level with Bradley Beiel and it’s hate that you know we would talk about how it didn’t work out here and how you know me personally how I wasn’t a fan of of either how he was playing or the product or whatever it was right but we always made sure that there was a line to be drawn and you never crossed that line and if people were talking about their families we banned them from this chat so for them for them that to me I was like okay honestly you earn the right to punch back like I get it. It was the KD subs to me that I thought cross the line for the NBA players and stuff. I do think that laughing is kind of like haha a little bit at the Phoenix Suns but not serious to the point where it’s like I think that fans needed to go at Damen Lee and is Wayne Wright and Taius Jones like I don’t think it was that serious. No, but it it got serious. I mean, you saw Damian Lee respond Twitter. Um, you know, he was saying never spoke bad about anyone or any organization, but let the social media insiders and GMs tell it. Uh, and then Wayne, right, also responded, someone who hasn’t been on the Suns for a hot minute now. Uh, but didn’t know two laughing emoji or faces would make people go crazy. I’m happy that my brother is happy with the best city in the States, plain and simple. Uh, yeah. I I think we all we all collectively need to chill out. And I I am not even saying that you guys as Suns fans should be, you know, totally nice to Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant. Not saying you shouldn’t boo them or however you want to feel, but this has been a recurring theme over the last couple of years since the Suns shifted from that finals team, that 64 win team to this Kevin Durant team that had expectations uh to adding Bradley Beal and going all in on the big three to an owner that is openly saying we’re competing for championships. I think with the heightened expectations and the way that the roster has changed and the loss of fan favorites and all of this kind of coalesing into one super combative toxic space has been bad for everyone involved. I think everyone has some share of the blame. Not the fans for the way that the team played. Obviously that is on the team. I’m not even telling you that you should be cool with Bradley Beal because some of his comments like the whole thing I wake up every morning loving my life when he’s missing games left and right. um when he’s getting paid what he’s getting paid, when he’s kind of openly flaunting his no trade clause, even though he didn’t use it, I understand why that would rub fans the wrong way. But I also do think that some of that was born from the toxicity that was in his mentions, in his comments at home games every single night. I am there every single night. I hear some of the things that are yelled at these players up close and from far away. And let me tell you that like this fan base needs to get that toxicity out of it because you see players reacting with the laughing emoji. Part of it is just support of Brad. Part of it is just getting a laugh out of, you know, his petty final parting shot, but part of that is kind of a reflection of the organization and the fan base right now and the way that that whole relationship ended and the way that fans win at him directly. Like it’s one thing if you have criticism for a player or if you boo a player, whatever, that’s fine. That’s within the range. These guys know that. Sure. But in terms of photoshopping Bradley Beal as a terrorist, in terms of attacking his family at home games and making his own kids cry and ask why is a Suns fan saying that about my father, that’s when it goes too far for me. Like, and that’s when it goes beyond basketball. Because whether you like Bradley Beal, the player, the Phoenix Sun or not, and I’m not even saying that you have to, he’s a good human being and he’s still a human being. like we need to treat these people with respect because millions does not insulate you from that type of criticism. And if you’re wondering why Bradley Beal didn’t come out and say, “Wow, thanks for everything, Suns fans. Thank you for being so supportive. It was a great two years, blah, blah, blah.” Because it wasn’t. Because he felt all the toxicity and the hatred that you guys felt for him. So, I don’t want to put this on the fan base because again, I think that Bradley Beal shares a big part of the blame and how this whole thing went. I think he came here expecting he was still going to be Bradley Beal and that’s just not how it works when you’re sharing the court with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. And I don’t even want to get into the KD and the KD stand stuff today. But I will just say that like there is blame all around here. And I think we need to take a step back and look at how we treat players when they come here because it’s not just Kevin Durant. It’s not just Bradley Beal. There’s a long list of players who as soon as they stop meeting our expectations, vile stuff was sent their way. And we got to learn to not cross that line. Like I understand we have heightened expectations. And a lot of these role players have not worked out. Like Taius Jones was very bad here. It didn’t work. Yousef Nerkach, same deal. We can criticize players performances, but that’s why on this podcast we always try to keep it about that and not about who they are as human beings. because I understand as a fan you get emotional and and logic goes out the window sometimes and in the heat of the moment you say stuff that you wish you could take back or that you don’t really actually mean. But these guys see a lot of that and it and it does weigh on your mental a little bit when you know that a whole fan base wants you gone and hates your guts. So that that’s kind of where I’m at with all of this. Again, I don’t expect any I expect loud booze when Bradley Beal’s here. Suns fans are well within their rights to boo this man when he comes back. But it’s when we cross the line as fans that we need to learn to conduct ourselves better because we are developing a reputation. It’s not unique to this Sun’s fan base. But it is something that reflects negatively on us. And so if you’re wondering why so many players were reacting that way, it’s because they know firsthand what Beal and his family went through that kind of crossed the line between fan player relations. Yeah. Listen. Okay. And and I’m Listen, I’m the fan on the show, right? Like I’m the emotional one on the show, right? I am the one who will get into it with people on Twitter on the show. And I 100% agree with what Gerald said, right? I think sometimes I’m going to use the collective we, but I’m not including the people in this room and I’m not including a lot of our dieards. I’m not including like a a majority of Suns fans. I think another thing to like put out here is the people that you’re talking to and the situations that we’re talking about are a very small section of this fan base and a small section of most fan bases that end up being the loudest. And unfortunately, that’s where our society is today, where the people who have the worst things to say usually give themselves the loudest microphones. Right? Sorry, I know it’s ironic I’m talking to a microphone, but I digress. So, here here’s what I think, right? I think that you like you are perfectly within your right to talk about basketball, right? And talking about basketball, you know, sometimes can be taken too far, right? And and I think that people put it in this personal category, right? And from a basketball perspective, this was the most one of the most disappointing, awful, terrible experiences. Not as a media member, not as a host of this show, not as, you know, a producer of the show like I was at the very start of the season 2, but as a fan, right? And that is exhausting and that is tiring and that is literal decades of disappointment also building up into having the highest expectations possible, right? But what you have to do if you are making a child cry or attacking the wife of a player relentlessly to the point where they feel like they need to get a word in is you got to look in the mirror, right? It’s it’s it’s fair game when you’re talking about ball and and that’s why like Kevin Durant will respond to people, right? And he’ll go at people on Twitter because he’s like, “Okay, you have a voice. I have a voice.” And he’s well within his right to do that. Do you have to like it? No, you don’t. but he’s within his right to do it. I do think that we’ve just gotten to this point where as a society where it’s like the instant the instant way that your brain goes from confrontation is to elevate it to 10. And there’s no reason to do that. You can elevate it and express what you need to express if you pay money for a ticket, right? Or if you’re watching the show or if you’re going on social media and you’ve invested countless hours of your time as a fan into this sport, into this team specifically, right? You have a right to share and heir your concerns and opinions and grievances, but you don’t have a right to say whatever you want, however you want, right? You you can say what you need to say, but you don’t need to say it in a way that gets nasty and you don’t need to get personal, especially if you’re not going to put your full name to it. That’s that’s the thing that gets me is that a lot of people, like we in this space, I’m I’m around these guys every day. I would never write or say anything about them that I’m not willing to say to their face. Um because I have that accountability and I know that a lot of people don’t because they, you know, they have pseudonyms on Twitter. They don’t have their full profile picture. I get that’s part of the whole online experience. But just conduct yourself in a way like you would if you were saying because a lot of you say stuff online that would that you would never say to their face. And I’m not talking to most of you because again, I think Eric brought up a good point that’s key. This is the vocal minority. This is not a vast majority, not the majority of Suns fans because I do think Suns have great fans. Um, but that vocal minority online can be pretty loud sometimes and I think we as a group need to amplify the positivity and the good voices even through the harder times. Um, because again, these guys are human beings and this is just basketball. This is really not worth that. No, it’s I mean it’s not worth that, right? And I I think the last thing that I have to say on overall all of this is that like this is by no means trying to take away accountability from Bradley Beal, from Kevin Durant. They were they were large portions of some of the worst basketball that this franchise has ever seen relative to expectations. Even Kevin Durant, who played like the best player on the team last year, was a major cog in a team that won 36 games. Mhm. And missed the playin. Right. Right. Like there are valid questions and valid criticisms of his play in Phoenix and something that we’ve handled on this podcast and Suns fans have handled on Twitter and the national media has handled as well and there is no escaping that. This is not saying that you cannot hold them accountable to that or that you can’t air your grievances to that. You just can’t use that as an excuse to go nuclear on a human being and on a person, right? Like e even me when I’m getting into it with Kevin Durant, I say, “Listen, I have no problems with you as a person. I wish you happiness. I’m just glad that we’re moving on from this era. And I think that’s the main thing that we can walk away from. And I think it’s it’s ironic, Gerald, because Espo put out a tweet yesterday morning of like, ah, we can finally start fresh and a new and then war zone happened. You thought on Twitter, sorry, Espo. Uh, but I do think that now like part of the reason that I said what I said, which was that like I’m glad that those two guys are off the team was not because like I hate them, right? Woods because I’m glad that we’ve just we’ve cut ties from that era of Suns basketball, right? You have a couple players who are on the roster still as holdovers from last year, but two of your three highest paid players are gone. You have a new GM, you have a new head coach, and you have your owner going out there and saying, “We did things the wrong way before. We’re going to do it the right way now.” So, what I want everybody to now focus on is what Gerald said, which is the good parts, the positivity. That’s why it’s night and day from before because there should be hope around this team. And who knows, they might underperform to expectations. That doesn’t mean that you can go at Jaylen Green’s family, right? But you can go at Jaylen Green, the player, if you don’t like it. Again, make sure you put your face and your name to it like uh like we do here when you do that. Listen, uh we’re going to get into more than just this. We’re not just going to talk about Twitter beasts and whatever, but obviously like if we didn’t talk about it today, I think it would be disingenuous. We have a couple super chats. We’ll read those. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Make sure you’re following along. We got real basketball talk coming up for the rest of this podcast and for the rest of this off seasonason, I hope. Man, Gerald, I’m just ready to talk about hoop. August and September is going to be a little dry. We might play some games, but we will keep We’re going to talk about hoop. Yes. Not drama. Hoop and fun. Hopefully no drama. That should be our tagline. Hoop and fun. No drama. Dead season. Psychos and psychosite for some hoop and fun. Let’s get to some super chats here real quick before our first break. One from Maria. Thank you, Maria. says, “This one is for Eric specifically. Thank you. I appreciate you, your energy on this pod, and how solid you are, even dealing with the ridiculousness on social media.” Thank you, Maria. That’s nice, Maria. I also brought it on myself yesterday, but I do I do appreciate that. I saw the tweet and I was just like, “Nope. Phone going down. Not not even touching that one today.” I said what I had to say. We had a super chat. We had two from yesterday. One from Bees. Thank you so much, Bees. Sorry that you sent that for our pre-recorded what if show, which by the way is evergreen. You should check that out if you didn’t. Uh said, “Cut the bleep is now the 2025 Suns motto.” Eric, laughing face emoji. Uh I hope so. Might need a shirt. I hope they cut the bleep. Get your alignment shirt today before our cut the bleep shirt gets out there. Uh and another one from Psycho Blue, who I asked him in our Discord what his super chat was, says, “Quote, between Katie, Beiel, Nerk, Tus, Da J, the Morai, Bledsoe, and Dragic, are we the baddies?” Well, first of all, I am the baddie. Uh, but no. Uh, uh, are we the are we the bad guys? And the psychob says, “Oh, and throw Espo in there as well.” Not Espo, UB in there as well. Um, I think Espo, I think like everything in life, there is no black and white. You look at a lot of different players on that list. I think some of that was more on their end and you look at some of the other players on that list and yeah, maybe we are part of the problem, but also two different regimes, two different front offices you’re talking about. So, and some very different situations with some players that did bring that stuff upon themselves, right? It’s not straightforward cut and dry. But I, like I said, I do think it’s a very small portion of the fan base, but I do think there’s a portion of the fan base that kind of needs to look themselves in the mirror because from day one, I don’t think Kevin Durant felt supported by some of those vocal minorities of the fan base in terms of the people that were why would we trade him for the twins and all this stuff. And it was more from a place of emotion. Um, and again, we we talked about be at length. So, well, let’s stop talking about drama. Let’s start talking about who. The Suns are completely different, not just by who’s on the roster, but how they’ve constructed their team. We’ll talk about age. We’ll talk about money. And we’ll get into some Jonathan Kaminga news, some Grace Allen, Royce O’Neal news with Brett Seagull. All that right after our second break, or first break, second break. What am I talking about here? Well, I’ll tell you what I’m talking about. I’m talking about Empire today. Hey, uh, I should have just been laying on the floor when I got my Twitter fingers yesterday because Empire Today flooring is the best place to get into a Twitter battle. But listen, Empire Today will help you out there. There is no BS. They don’t have to cut the bleep, okay, from Empire Today cuz there wasn’t any in the first place, right? They have flooring experts, dedicated flooring professionals that will come to your home and answer all of your questions, tell you what type of flooring would match well with your home and give you clear, upfront, all-inclusive pricing, which so many big box stores won’t do. And they also won’t start installation as soon as the next day like Empire today will. So schedule your free in-home SMN today because some things are just better off at home. And PHNX listeners can receive a $350 off discount when using promo code phnx. That’s right, a $350 off discount when using promo code phnx. Restrictions apply. Visit empireday.com/phnx for full details. Is that a supercharged donkey? Are the sights and sounds of the championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway? We are not. And if you’ve been in Phoenix long enough, you know we’ve seen it all when it comes to the biggest sporting events, but you’ve never experienced NASCAR Championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway. And guess what? You are missing out. You can experience so much fun in person. It’s electric. Cars roaring at almost 200 miles per hour. Plus, you see the best of the best witnessing four champions crowned in three days. Gerald, you’re my math guy. That’s more than one champion per day, correct? I think so. Yeah. And that means that you need to be there. Don’t miss your chance to witness NASCAR Championship weekend in person coming to Phoenix Raceway October 31st through November 2nd. Tickets for Sunday’s Cup Series Championship race sell out every year, so move fast and get yours now before they’re gone. And here’s the kicker. NASCAR is taking championship weekend on the road starting 2026. So, this is your last chance to catch it in Phoenix for a long time. Tickets, hospitality, upgrades are still available. Get yours now at phoenixraway.com. You didn’t like that? You didn’t like my your sound effects? Yeah. Um, I think you can improve. I think you’ve got room for growth. We have a long offseason. These are things that we can work on in the offseason so we can come into training camp uh better than we were last year. I do have a lot to work on. Yeah, I’m not perfect. We’ve all learned this. I’m not perfect. Uh the Suns aren’t perfect either, and they got themselves in a pretty sticky situation. Gerald, building a team around a big three, having the oldest roster or the second oldest roster in the league. Uh these are some notes pointed out by our good friend uh Darth Vida saying, “Last season, the Suns had the second oldest roster in the league, and after moving on from Kevin Ray and Bradley Beal, they now have the seventh youngest team in the NBA. He adds on passing on from salary swish that after buying out waving and stretching Bradley Beal the Suns went from one of the highest payrolls in the NBA to the third lowest. It’s very clear Gerald we joke about the alignment thing. We joke about the oh they’re changed or whatever it is but this roster is completely different. Not just in age, not just in play style and not just in roster building, but it feels like in mentality as well. And that’s been a very deliberate message from the top from Matt Ishbia and Brian Gregory and Jordan all the way to the players on the roster. Absolutely. And I did write about this over at gophnx.com. This one is free for even noniearts. So make sure to check that out. But um I got intel from, you know, kind of some background on the Sun’s thinking into what went into this off season, why they made the moves that they did, especially the Bradley Beal waving stretch, which I think we can all agree whether you like it or not is a bold move to do that. Um, and and obviously they have been very consistent with the message that they’ve been preaching since Matt Ishpia’s exit interviews in terms of they want to be a gritty team. They want to be a defensive-minded team. They are going to turn down or they’re going to target players who fit their identity more so than talent. And I think we can all agree last year’s team was a very talented group in terms of the players they had on the roster. And that’s why our expectations were so high. But they didn’t play with that grit. They didn’t play defense at all. They were, I think, 26th in in defensive rating last year. So now you’ve got a much younger group, a much more athletic group, a much longer and taller and bigger group. Um, are they going to be better? I don’t know. Are they going to play to a certain identity a little bit more than the teams that we saw the last two years that didn’t really have an identity? I hope so. I I really do hope that Jordan N is able to instill a certain playing style. He’s talked about a lot of core tenants like um you know uh aggressive defense on the perimeter of having more rim protection of you know maybe tinkering with some dual big lineups of offensive rebounding of playing faster more cutting on offense. All of these things sound great. Um but for a first year coach it’s going to be a matter of getting everyone to buy in. I think you can do that a lot better when you know your stuff and I think Jordan not strikes me as a guy that does actually know his stuff. And when you have a younger group of guys who are going to be more willing to buy in um like we’ve seen in the past, I I think this is going to be if you’re expecting the Suns to be competing for a playoff spot, you might be disappointed next year. I don’t know for sure. Maybe they could be scrappy and surprise some people. But I think we need to start looking at this Suns team as like two, three years from now what they’re going to be with some of these young pieces that they added because even the established guys, Jaylen Green and Mark Williams, they’re both 23 years old. Um, so there’s a lot of room for growth there. You add a 18-year-old rookie, you add a 21-year-old rookie and a 22-y old rookie. Like you’ve got a lot of youth in there that you have to develop. And that’s something Brian Gregory’s talked a lot about is that player development aspect. So I think that there’s excitement there because you can buy into hope, you can buy into development, but I do want everyone to have their expectations at a reasonable level because even if these things all come together, the West is an absolute bloodbath. Yeah. I know the West is a bloodbath, but I don’t think even people are looking at the Suns as how can you contend this year, right? Because we were all begging and by we, like I’ll just speak as the fan base. Like we were all begging for a team that just showed that they gave an F, right? And as bad of a situation as a lot of guys were put in last year. I mean, hell, I was calling for Mike Gutenhoer’s job in January, right? We’ve talked about how poor the roster construction was multiple times and how they missed out on the vet mins that they were supposed to be signing and all that, right? Mhm. Like it was a bad situation. The team was not well put together over the last two years, but it certainly was not 36 wins badly put together. Like this was a team that that should have on paper been great, but worst case scenario been all right. Mhm. No scenario where they should have been out of the playin, right? With this team going into this year, they might not win 36 games. They might. I think it’s on the table. I think there’s a chance that best case scenario if your rookies hit early. Jaylen Green and Book play together well. Ryan Dunn takes a leap. Oso takes a leap, right? Dylan Brooks is the enforcer you need. Kong Gillespie is your backup point guard or maybe your point guard of the future. And we’re talking best case scenario like Mark Williams is healthy. Jordan is the mastermind behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and he brings that to Phoenix which first of all the chances that all of those things happen at once are like 0.00001%. But let’s just say if that happens, sneaky high playin team, low playoff team, six seed maybe is a ceiling. But at this point, it’s it’s effort. It’s care. And I’m going into this season confident that this team will give effort and that they will care. Not just because of their age, not just because of their salary, Gerald, but like you look at the mindset of a guy like Dylan Brooks. you listen to how Ryan Dunn and Oso Igadaro have been speaking since they’ve, you know, been trying to take the secondyear leap and doing two a days in the offseason, right? And we’ve seen Devin Booker and multiple times in his career, you know, step up and be the guy. And now it’s his chance to be the guy again. And I don’t think it’s anything personal against Brad. I don’t think it’s anything personal against KD. But I think if you’re an internally motivated athlete like Devin Booker and you saw the season that you just had and you were taking, you know, like a backseat to someone or you weren’t playing like yourself, you’re going to relish the opportunity to go out there, give everybody the middle finger and say, “I don’t care that you don’t think they shouldn’t have paid me. They should have and I’m going to prove it to you now.” Right? Like I think all of that’s on the table and I think all of that from a night-to-ight basis is going to be a product that is more easily digestible. But does it turn into good proteins and enough to build a big strong body? I don’t know, but I do know that I’m gonna be more happy during that process than I have been the last two years. But if they just lose a ton, then maybe I’ll change my tune, right? No, I I think there’s something to be said about the impact mentally of expectations because we went into the last two years expecting a team that would contend and they fell so far below that threshold that it was absolutely miserable. And now we’re kind of taking a step back where expectations are lower, much lower than the last couple of years. But people might be okay with a team that’s losing more games even than last year just because you know that you’re developing youth. You know that these guys, some of these guys are going to take some time if they hit at all. Um, and I think there’s nothing wrong with that. I do think there has to be kind of a path to get back to contention here quickly. Not maybe not this year, maybe not even next year, but like Devin Booker turns 29 before the upcoming season starts. You want to get this thing back on the rails if your plan is to maximize optimize what’s left of his prime. So that’s where where they’re going to have to really impress me. A lot of these players that they’re banking on upside, banking on development are going to have to pan out pretty quickly here in the next one to two years. Otherwise, you’re going to have to see them pivot again. And I think it’s worth noting at exit interviews what Matt Ishbia said about like patience is not my strong suit, but I can be patient if I see the vision. If I if I can buy into the vision. And I think that’s kind of where Suns fans are as a whole right now in terms of like we we hear the vision. They’ve they’ve abided by it in terms of the types of players that they’ve got. Now it’s a matter of seeing if you can bring it all together and actually translate it onto the court, which is something that Frank Vogle failed at and Mike Boenhozer failed at. There’s one thing that we have learned in this market. It’s that talk is cheap. Mhm. You can win the press conference like Frank Vogle did, like Mike Boonhozer did, like Matt Ishbia did, right? Like Kevin Durant did. Remember the the welcome parade basically that was thrown for him. I mean, you can say things during the offseason. Hell, you could be Bradley Beal saying your first game back, you know, we got to compete. We got to be better, right? Or I believe that we can still make a run or I think we can win a championship. But if you go out and get swept in the first round, which is exactly what he did after that, like talk doesn’t matter anymore. Right. Right. And and I don’t blame any fans who hear me saying, “I’ve heard nothing but good things about Jordan,” or talking to Kenny Atinson, hearing good things about Jordan. Right. or oh you know we believe in Kaman Malaw watch because of the raw potential I blame no fans who are saying nah prove it right because that’s what the Suns are going to have to do Gerald is they have to prove it so will they is a question that we’re going to dissect over this entire off season and of course you know we’ll be bringing coverage during the season as well we have uh some more super chats here and then Brett Seagull Clutch Points NBA insider and reporter is going to join the show he uh we we interviewed him before the show and he brought some very interesting information about Grayson Allen, about Royce O’Neal, and about Jonathan Kuminga. So, make sure you stick around for that. Also, some observations from him out at Summer League. Witness some of the Sun stuff out there. Before we get to that in our second break, Easy Money Chubs05 with the 199 Super Chat says, “Gerald, listen to Sleep Token album even in Arcadia.” Okay, I will. Everybody keeps telling me to listen to Sleep Token. I’ve never been a Sleep Token. I was telling you right before the show, were you? Yeah. Cut the Eric. Uh, but yeah, I really wish you could curse. I know. I will easy money chubs once I have some time now that the offseason’s slowing down. Uh, Michael Romero with 199 super chat says 36 unbothered sleeping emoji might have been bothered. Win column. Yeah, I was bothered by 36. I was very bothered. Uh, final boss. Roy Ma Mhm. 199 super chat says, “Son’s getting kaminga and a guard. How? Explain this.” We will. We’ll talk about Kaminga ourselves at the end of the show after Brett’s on. Mhm. Uh, so stick around. Final boss, thank you for the super chat. Maria with a 499 super chat says, “I have no expectations. I just want to see team chemistry, consistency, and passion on the court.” We spent a lot of time on a soap box. I’m not going to tell fans how to feel anymore, but I think that’s a good way to approach it. Maria, I agree. Uh, my father with the 499 Super Chat, also known as Street Addict One, which is We got to get you to change that, brother. Uh, Eric, thanks. If Katie challenged you one-on-one, thanks for instigating, by the way. Katie challenged you one-on-one. Would you take one for the team and get skunked just for PHX exposure? This is an ethical question. It’s not an ethical question. Yeah, I would do it. If anybody goes, if everybody’s like, “Oh, it’s Eric Ruby, a Suns podcaster versus Kevin Durant,” and they expect me to do well playing one-on-one in basketball, uh, then you’re stupid. Like, yeah, I would do it. I’d get skunked. It is what it is. We’d move on. Thanks for the super chat, street addict. I think he was more probing to see how far you would debase yourself for the That’s not debasing sake of the podcast. That’s not That’s not debasing. If he pulling the thread on if he asked if he asked me to play like if he asked me to do anything, I would do it. I’d talk to him. It’s like I don’t know. How many points am I scoring? None. None. He’s a top 10 player of all time. I’m 6’1. Like you could have played D1 college ball and you probably scor like the super high opinion of myself, which I don’t. But like especially when it comes to like basketball, listen, played pickup with me. I’m not bad. I’m not like I think I could score a point on Kevin Durant good. Like I’m not delusional like some other people. Okay, that’s just crazy. Anyway, anyway, let’s hit our second break and let’s talk to Brett. Maybe I can beat Kevin Durant in a smart thermostat off. Is that a thing? No, it’s not. Well, I’ll tell you what is a thing. It’s APS. Listen, get a smart thermostat like I have with my APS plant because what I get to do, well, I get to be lazy. By the way, I don’t have to play basketball against anybody. And if I was, I could change my thermostat from the court because smart thermostats you can adjust from your devices anywhere. And did you know that for every one degree you raise your thermostat, you could save up to 2 to 3% on your cooling cost. But you just have to remember, you have to adjust your thermostat. But it’s hard if you can’t do it from your phone and you’re at home or let’s say you’re traveling like I was over the past week or so. Listen, APS customers, you can get so much including instant rebates, discounts, and special offers on smart thermostats, energy efficient appliances, and more at marketplace.aps.com. And right now, APS customers may be eligible for smart thermostats for as low as $0 when you enroll in the APS Cool Rewards program. And if you already have a smart thermostat at home like me, see if it’s eligible to enroll in cool rewards. Plus, free installs available at marketplace.aps.com. Must be an APS customer. pay shipping and taxes, others apply. Go to marketplace onappps.com for more information. Also, here’s some information for you. 13 13 days until double rewards points on credit card purchases with Mountain America Credit Union goes out the door. I’m talking July 31st. This has been going on for a long time, but it’s ending soon. Make sure you use your Mountain America Rewards card to watch those points pile up. It’s perfect for gas, groceries, travel, home projects, and all other purchases like diapers, and everything in between. Listen, it’s an easy way to stretch your dollar. And Lord knows that as long as we’re not NBA players who are making millions of dollars, that we all need to stretch our dollar. So, take advantage of it while you can because it’s a limited time only double the amount of points at Mountain America Credit Union on the rewards, credit cards, purchases from now until July 31st. Get details at macu.com/double.loans are onapproved. Credit offer can change or be withdrawn at any time. It’s a limited time offer. Terms and conditions, Gerald. They apply. Okay, don’t forget. I’m sorry. Terms and conditions apply. I keep forgetting that the terms and conditions apply. Well, you know, we had to pre-record the interview so that Gerald can get about 15 minutes of Donkey Kong Bonanza in here during the show. But hit that like button. Uh, hit that subscribe button as well. Gerald and I will give our own opinions on everything going on with Jonathan Kaminga. Last Gerald got back on the trade machine and brought you a trade because boy it’s been too long. I thought we were done as it Gerald. But first we have Clutch Points NBA insider and reporter Brett Seagull joining us to talk about Royce O’Neal, Grayson Allen, Jonathan Kaminga. Come on Malawatch and so much more. Let’s get into it. The Phoenix Suns have changed a lot over the last couple of months. So we’re tapping in with national NBA insider and reporter for Clutch Points. It’s Brett Seagull. Brett, how you doing? I’m doing well. Just got back from Las Vegas. Obviously got a little bit of a tan out there in that 110 degrees sun. You guys are used to it. I’m not up in New Jersey, so it’s it’s kind of getting used to that and getting back in the feel of things, but free agency and trade season is winding down. We got a few more pieces to kind of figure out. Obviously, the Suns have been busy. They just bought out Bradley Beal and he’s heading in a new direction. Kevin Durant heading in a new direction. So, it’s a new era for the Phoenix Suns. Yeah, absolutely. Brett, I mean, obviously it’s been a very busy summer for the Suns. So, let’s get right into the first big move, the Kevin Durant trade. Uh, what did you think of the return that they were able to get out of that and and moving on from the big three era, you know, two and a half years after it started? Yeah. So, we kind of did a lot of reporting of that at Clutch Points, of it being the Jaylen Green package for the Houston Rockets. So, that was really the centerpiece of it all of could the Suns get a better deal. There was talk of the Minnesota Timberwolves possibly offering Rudy Gobear there and a package that seemed to be pretty decent if it if it was truly Rudy Gobear, Dante Devenenzo, a draft pick and Terrence Shannon. And so the Suns ultimately went a different direction. They went with the Houston Rockets package. They get back Jaylen Green who in my mind is kind of like a draft pick in a way because this is a young player that already comes with experience. He’s only 22, 23 years old and a guy that you can build with next to Deon Booker for the foreseeable future. and if things don’t work out, he’s still young enough and dynamic enough for you to be able to move and possibly get other assets back, whether it’s draft picks, other young talent down the road. So, I like the package a lot. Dylan Brooks is a guy that can come in and really help them set the tone defensively because that’s an area of issue for them over the last few years. And we’ve seen Dylan Brooks and Deon Booker go at it at times, but I think that they’ve kind of hashed all that out and they’ll be the best of friends now that they’re on the same team competing in the West. But the big storyline to me of the Suns off seasonason and with the Kevin Durant trade is how much younger this team got. And they did it not necessarily by acquiring draft picks, but getting the rights to some of these guys this year. I mean, we just mentioned Jaylen Green. They go and get Kaman Malawatch with the 10th pick. They add Kobe Brea in the second round who has been one of the summer league standouts. So, they’ve just gotten a lot of guys to fill gaps over the next few years that they can spend time developing. and they got significantly younger doing so without having to really wait and see what these draft picks would turn into. They went out and got the guys that they saw could help them right now. So, when you say that Jaylen Green is more like a draft pick and the potential, all that’s fascinating, but when it comes to being on the court with Devin Booker, I think there are some pretty legitimate questions on if their play style can overlap. How different do you see that being than the iteration of the back court that we just saw in Phoenix with Devin Booker and another score first guard and Bradley Beal? Well, I think that Jaylen Green’s a little more dynamic than Bradley Beal. Obviously, that’s no disrespect to Beal and what he’s been able to accomplish over his career as an all-star with the Washington Wizards, but Jaylen Green’s a guy that can push the pace in transition. And when Deon Booker’s off the floor, he can really take command of the offense. He showed the ability to grow as a passer in Houston. don’t necessarily know if he’s going to be utilized that much as a passer uh in Phoenix this year with a whole new system. Jordan Hawk coming in and looking to implement a new two guard lineup there, especially coming off of what he’s done in Cleveland with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell there. Two guards that are really reliable in terms of having the ball in their hands and looking to score first. And we saw the ability of them being able to thrive. So, I think that we’re going to see something interesting there with Deon Booker taking more of a primary ball handling ability, being in quotes the point guard, per se, but there you you’re rolling out two shooting guards in that lineup. And that’s where those concerns lie. And that’s kind of what Suns fans and you guys have been talking about over the years with well, you had Bradley Book Bradley Beal and Devin Booker. How’s that going to work? Because you have two ball dominant guards. They need the ball to be able to score. So, I think that it’s a little bit different in the sense that they can push the pace in transition and especially with this young lengthy lineup that the Suns are going to be able to roll out. I think that that’s really what we’re going to look to see. And I I kind of look at similarities of the last few years with the Memphis Grizzlies when they first kind of were on the come up with John Morant and they had that fast young dynamic team. I think we’re going to see some inspiration there for the Phoenix Suns to kind of be that scrappy fast team that really looks to push things in transition. Then like I mentioned with Jaylen Green, I still have hopes that he can be one of the best scorers in this league. I I was really high on him coming out of his draft and saying that he’s going to be a guy that could potentially lead the league in scoring one day. I still kind of believe that. And in the situation where you have Phoenix that needs a number two scoring accident Booker, he’s going to have plenty of opportunities to have the ball in his hands. He’s going to be the leader of that second unit and obviously with his dynamic athletic abilities, I think that he can really thrive in Phoenix more than he did in Houston. You mentioned the team getting younger and and obviously the overhaul that this group has had like Jaylen Green, Mark Williams, those are young guys, established guys, what they were able to do in the draft. Just what are your opinions of kind of the way that the roster looked going from very talented but very old to now uh much younger, defensive minded, a lot longer but maybe not as talented. What What are you kind of looking for from the Suns this upcoming season? I expect big things from these rookies and I think that obviously a lot of them are developmental pieces and we can touch on the tenth pick come on now watch. He’s going to be a guy that’s going to take time for him to reach his full potential but at the NBA draft combine he was the prospect that excited me the most. And I say that because not only his length and rim protecting abilities, but he can run the court a lot better than people give him credit for. He’s very very vocal on the court whether or not he’s actually playing or on the bench. I talked about a little bit at summer league and was tweeting it out that he was the the loudest guy on the court and he was sitting out one of the games on the bench and that just goes to speak about his character. He’s a team first player, just positive attitude, always has a smile on his face and I think that’s kind of the change that the Suns needed. They needed guys that want to be there and they want guys that want to develop in this system next to Deon Booker and truly believe in it. And that’s the kind of player that they’re getting with Kam Malawatch. So, I’m really high on him, especially if he can develop a perimeter shot. We saw flashes of it in some of those summer league games. And I think that we’re really going to see that be a point of emphasis during his rookie year. Can he stretch the court in those pick and roll situations, not only with Booker and Jaylen Green, but another fellow rookie in Kobe Brea? I think that he’s going to get a lot of playing time early on in his young career. And we’re talking about a guy that if if there’s any player in summer league that mimics Deon Booker, it’s Kobe Brea. and he was getting to that mid-range area, pulling up like a young Devin Booker when he first entered the league. He’s one of the best three-point shooters from this draft class. I I think that he’s going to surprise a lot of people and I would not be shocked if he ended up being an all rookie type player. You mentioned change and that feels like it’s been the biggest theme for the Suns for a long time now has just been change, but those changes that they’ve been made, they’re now in the past. Do you feel like there’s still more to be done for Phoenix this off season? I do. And the the motto has been changed and the way that they’re doing it is moneywise. They’re trying to free up their books long term and really only have Deon Booker be that guy with long-term money that they’re committed to. And when we look at their cap sheets, well, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal are still there. They’re part of that old regime, we could say, for the Phoenix Suns of them in their contending status and looking to go all in with Kevin Durant, Bradley Gil, Deon Booker. Those two guys were there to kind of be the glue and hold things together and be those secondary role players to push them over the edge. Well, not that the Suns aren’t in a contending status. We’ll wait and see what this team looks like this year, but they’ve taken a step back. There’s no doubt about that. And they’re focused on the future and how to build the best team possible around Devin Booker. So, what does that mean for those guys like Grayson Allen or Royce O’Neal? Well, talk coming out of summer league over the last few days has been that those are two players that they’re actively chatting about on the trade market. They’re talking with teams about what they could get for Grayson Allen who still has three more years left. Royce O’Neal still has three more years left on a on a significantly lesser contract than Grayson Allen. And that’s kind of where I’m at with seeing where interest is around the league. I think that there’s a lot more interest in Royce O’Neal than Grayson Allen. And that’s purely from a contractual standpoint because teams can absorb that $10 million contract. There’s teams out there that have uh player exceptions that they can fit Royce O’Neal into if they wanted to this offseason. Grayson Allen $16 million and that contract I believe next season goes up to 18 million. Kind of a harder sell and you’re going to have to try to get creative with how you’re going to move that type of player if you are to unload Grayson Allen from the Phoenix Suns roster. So that’s kind of where we’re at right now. We’re still waiting and seeing what teams are actually interested in him and what his market would look like and what return the Suns could possibly get. But I have heard that Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neal are both on the trade block. The Suns aren’t necessarily done making moves just yet and they still want to create flexibility for themselves moving forward. All that makes sense. It makes sense to shop those guys, especially as you mentioned part of the old regime, useful role players that could potentially have value depending on the team and and the contract like you were talking about. Brett, we’ve also heard Jonathan Kaminga’s name come up. What have you been hearing on your end in terms of the Sun’s interest there? Well, Kaminga’s situation is very interesting in general because this all dates back to even before last off season when the Golden State Warriors were first looking to get him on a rookie scale extension. He wanted in that 30 to $35 million range, they weren’t willing to offer more than 25. So he goes into the final year of his rookie deal kind of still searching for his role because him and Steve Kerr had batted heads before. There’s been talk about him not fitting into the system. Kerr has been on the record of saying he doesn’t even think that Jonathan Kaminga fits into what they’re doing. So when you have a coach that says that about a player and you have a player that is 22 years old and sees himself as a star in this league, those two roads are going opposite directions. And it seems weird to say that that the Warriors and Kaminga could still reunite on a new deal. But that’s kind of where we’re at in the offseason because there hasn’t been as robust of a market as many projected for Kaminga. There was talk of the Miami Heat being a team interested in him, but they went a different direction. The Chicago Bulls have still been brought up as a sign and trade destination for Kaminga, but they’re dealing with their Josh Giddy drama in restrictive free agency. So until that gets figured out, it’s hard to see them really going all in for Jonathan Kaminga. There’s been interest from the Sacramento Kings, but now they’re hardcapped at the First Apron, and for them to go out and get a player like Kaminga, they’re gonna have to move a significant salary like a Malik Monk or a Demar De Rozan just to do so. Now, there’s rumors of the Phoenix Suns being interested in Kaminga, which really shouldn’t be news to any of us because Kamiga was a name that was brought up at the trade deadline for the Suns when they were first looking to trade Kevin Durant. And in that three-team proposed trade that we reported on at Clutch Points, it was Kevin Durant going to the Golden State Warriors. Jimmy Butler was going to go from the Miami Heat to the Suns. And then you had a bunch of pieces going back to the Suns. You had Jonathan Kaminga. You had potentially Moses Moody from the Warriors going back to the Suns with draft picks as well. So it it shouldn’t shock anybody that Ma Matt Ishbia and the Suns are interested in Jonathan Kaminga. He’s a young dynamic player with length and that’s what we just talked about of what this offseason was for the Suns. was about getting quicker, getting younger, and adding guys that can do a little bit of everything on the court. That’s Jonathan Kaminga’s skill set. You put the ball in his hands, he’s going to find a way to get to the bucket and score, and there’s still a lot of untapped potential there that won’t be found in Golden State. Can a team like Phoenix potentially unlock him with their dynamic young guys? I think that it would be a good fit with the way and the direction that this team is going. But it all comes down to money because Jonathan Kaminga and his camp are still holding firm on that $30 million per year mark that’s been latest coming out of summer league. The Warriors don’t really want to go higher than 20 million now. So, it’s kind of a holding pattern and until there’s real value for the Warriors out there in potential sign and trade scenarios, they’re not just going to give them up. And that’s been the case ever since the trade deadline, ever since last offseason when the Los Angeles Clippers wanted Jonathan Kaminga when the Warriors were inquiring about Paul George. So it all goes back to them not wanting to sacrifice value. The Warriors still have leverage here since Jonathan Kaminga is a restricted free agent. They can kind of pick and choose and that’s why we’re we’re kind of in a holding pattern. This could really hold out until the dog days of August and until something gets done there, it’s really hard to project what other moves the wars are going to make. But in terms of the Suns and the Jonathan Kaminga stuff, it is real. Those rumors have been out there and we’ll see what happens. The what I reported the other day is that the Warriors don’t have interest in Grayson Allen, which shouldn’t shock anybody because of that contract size. But could they potentially be interested in a guy like Royce O’Neal who would fit their small ball style? He could be a good complimentary player to Draymond Green and what is presumably Al Horford who’s likely going to the Warriors as well. So we’ll we’ll wait and see what happens there. But there is interest from the Suns brass on Jonathan Kao. Brett Seagull, national NBA insider and reporter for Clutch Points, taking some time post summer league to join us here at PHNX Suns. You can follow him on socials at Brett Seagull NBA. Thank you so much, Brett. Absolutely, guys. You take care. Have a good one. Always appreciate talking to Brett, but he he told me, Jared, he’s like, I’m only doing it if Gerald’s on the show. Did he say that? Yes. I think the last time we did an interview with him, I wasn’t around to do it and I felt bad. So glad I was able to be on with you. Then he’s like, “Haha, I’m joking.” But like also like make sure that like Gerald’s on the show and I show I said, “Don’t worry.” I was like, “I like doing the show when Gerald’s on the show as well.” That’s nice. Uh sometimes uh that’s fair. No, Gerald, I love you, Gerald. Uh I was also loving some of what he said. What was your biggest takeaway from our conversation with Brett? Um I mean obviously that the Suns are not done. We kind of knew that. We know that they’re probably looking at a guard. I reported this last week, they’re looking at a combo guard, someone that can play on or off the ball, preferably defensive minded that can guard multiple positions. Um, but we’re going to see what they’re able to come up with because a lot of the names that would make sense have already been shot down. I shot down DeAnthony Melton. He’s probably going to wind up back with the Warriors. Um, he’s kind of like my ideal fit if that’s what you’re looking for in that respect. Um, Gambo and I have shot down Chris Paul, Malcolm Brogden, like, okay, so who is it going to be is kind of where we’re at right now. Um, say it with me, Joshua Ki. I I don’t know about that. Josh, I don’t know about that. I think we’ve been down that road before, but uh yeah, and the whole Grayson and Royce thing, I don’t I don’t know that they’re actively being shopped, but I’m sure that they’re seeing what they could do now that they have some more trade flexibility. Yeah, I do think that that would be a disservice to the front office if they’re not looking at those two players and wondering what else they could bring back. Even if they don’t end up moving them, which there are some reports that they’re not going to move them before the season, that might be, hey, let’s put out feelers now and then figure it out during the season and see if somebody needs some shooting. My biggest takeaway is does that guy look like me? Chad’s saying he looks like me. I think he’s just another white guy. If he white, then you Ben Affleck. Well, that would be a great day if I woke up looking like Ben Affleck. Yeah. Uh, would it be a great day though if the Suns were able to acquire Jonathan Kaminga? Obviously, Brett brought it up in our interview. Gerald, there has been reports out there that the Suns might be getting involved in the Jonathan Kuminga sweep stakes. Sure. According to Jake Fischer over at the Stein Line, friend of the program says uh sources say Phoenix meanwhile’s latest team to express exploratory interest in a Kaminga signing trade. Challenging as it would be for the Suns to make such a deal happen. He’d go off to talk about the context about right after buying out Bradley Beal now they could do a wave instruction. Now they could do a signin trade as well which is one of the mechanisms that they unlocked after moving on from Beal. So from your perspective, Gerald, would you want the Suns to pursue Jonathan Kuminga? Uh, depends on what you’re paying him because you would have to do this in a sign-in trade. I think he’s young enough that maybe he’s worth taking a flyer on, but I personally don’t really like the fit. I I feel like Devin Booker, Jaylen Green, and Jonathan Kaminga in the starting lineup, that’s a lot of mouths to feed. Um, and I’m just not entirely sure. I mean, like, you can say what you want about Steve Curry and the Warriors haven’t been the same team over the last couple of years, but they do have a certain culture that has worked over the last decade plus. And to me, it is somewhat alarming that like Steve Kerr and the Warriors did not find a way to use him or to fit him in or whatever you want to call it. So, that’s a little concerning to me. The fact that like Brett Seagull pointed out, he’s looking for 2530 $35 million a year, which immediately puts you back into all these conversations that we just said you got out of, right? So, it does depend on what you do trade-wise. So, if you’re looking at this and signing trades are a little more complicated. So, the outgoing salary for the Warriors would count for half of what he’s signing for that first year salary with the Suns. So if he was signing with the Suns for $20 million for that first year, that would only count for 10 million outgoing for the Warriors, but it would count for 20 million incoming for the Suns. So that discrepancy um usually is harder to make up. It’s not too hard because now the Suns have flexibility here. But something to keep in mind as well, the Suns would be hardcapped at the first apron if they do a signing trade. That’s about 195.9 million. And that means you couldn’t cross that amount for the rest of the year. um they’re 3.3 million away from the luxury tax right now and 8.8 million away from that first tax apron and that would hardcap them. So something to keep in mind there. Um I’m just going to go through some computations real quick because I did the math on some of these. Grayson for Kaminga if you’re signing Kaminga to a deal that starts at 17 or 25 million between there. Um that would work. Royce for Kaminga if it was 8 to10 million a year that would work. Royce plus Richards for Kaminga works if it’s 15 million to 23 million that Kaminga is making. Um, and then Grayson plus Royce with Royce being absorbed into the Warriors MLE works between 20 million and 35 million. So, you heard Brett say that they’re probably not going to be interested in Grayson. So, it would probably be something like Royce and Nick Richards where they take him into the MLE or something like that. Um, but I I don’t know. I I don’t really want to pay Jonathan Kaminga 20 to $25$25 million a year. Um because you’d still have roster spots to fill after that and you’d have a very limited amount of space to do so. Yeah, I’m not like out on Kum Kuminga as a player. Let’s take a look at his stats here from last season. I mean, not bad in just 24.2 minutes per game. He scored 15.3 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 50.8 two-point percentage, 30.5% from deep. And you know, he doesn’t fit in, yes, with maybe you say the Warriors culture and Steve Kur’s culture. It’s just like their style of play. Like his style of play does not fit in with the type of offense that they run. Now, was he willing to buy in to that? Clearly not because he wouldn’t change his game and and that is certainly an indictment on a player. But I also look at like being able to still produce those types of numbers in those minutes in a system that’s not ideal for you is is certainly something like I’m not out on Jonathan Kamingo as a player. I am out on Jonathan Kumingo as a player for $30 million a year, especially for this Phoenix Suns team that we have our youth now, right? Like we have the the people that were taking the shots on. We have Kaman Malawatch, Rashier Fleming, Ryan Dunn, Oso Giggodaro, Kobe Brea, even Colin Gillespie if you want to throw him in there as well. Like there are enough rolls of the dice on this team that I don’t think you need to mortgage anything to take another big one. And especially one at that big of a contract because if you then go above the second apron, like you sign them to an amount that puts you back above that, you’re refreezing your picks. You’re no longer able to aggregate contracts. all these things that it’s like, hey, this is why we turn Bradley Beal into a smaller five-year problem. All of that goes away so that you can get Jonathan Kaminga. And if at the end of the day, Jonathan Kaminga ends up being a really great player who’s worth it. I’m not going to look back at this moment and be like, uh, dang it, the Suns should have should have jumped on that. Like, I would understand the hesitancy and the reluctance to go and make a deal even if he ends up being great. Well, and that’s the thing is it’s not even up to them. like they don’t have draft picks to offer. It would be like you hope that the Warriors really want to just get rid of Kaminga and really want like a Royce O’Neal or a Grayson Allen or a Nick Richards as a as a big man. Like the Suns don’t have any leverage here, especially the Warriors have all the leverage because Kuminga is a restricted free agent and like Brett said, they can drag this out for all summer because restricted free agents don’t have the upper hand right now. Uh, it’s also worth noting for people that because I’ve seen people suggest this, well, why don’t we just, you know, sign a and trade and get him for like a year or two and see how he does. A sign and trade comes with a minimum of a three-year commitment. So, you’re looking at 3 to four years, probably 20 to 25 million is what you would be signing him for. That’s that’s a that’s a pretty significant investment, especially since we just talked about how important the wiggle room is going to be beneath the second tax apron with Bradley Bill’s money on the book. So, it dep again, it depends on the amount you can get him for. It depends on what you’re giving up. I don’t see the Warriors taking what the Suns have to offer at this point. Um, but we know that the Suns are interested and Kaminga could be a good player. He’s 22. He turns 23 in October. But for me personally, I kind of want to prioritize young pieces that actually fit with the identity that they’re trying to establish and and kind of fit next to that Booker Jaylen Green backcourt. I don’t know that Kaming Kaminga kind of feels like more of the same to me when you look at Book and Green. Real quick, just give me a number. The highest you’d be willing to pay. Me, I would say like 20 million, but I don’t think I’m thinking like 15 to 18. And I don’t think that’s getting it done either. What do you think though? Drop a comment, leave a like, let us know if you want the Suns to go and acquire Jonathan Kumingo, what price you’d be willing to pay to get him, and you who you would be ableing to part with as well. As I stumble over myself here, uh, that’s going to do it for us here at PHNX Suns for the week, for the day. Uh, keep your eyes out. Of course, more content coming your way. We’ll keep you up to date with this off seasonason. I know all of the big moments have passed, but that doesn’t mean that we are going anywhere. Make sure you follow along with the show. PHNX Suns on Twitter and on Instagram. You can follow Gerald at Gerald Borgay being level-headed as always. You can follow me rarely, but sometimes getting into Twitter wars at E R I K R U B Y. You can follow the freckled Mamba who was my backup yesterday. Freckled Mamba on Twitter. We’ll be back next week. Stephen will be back and the volume will go down. I promise. Take care. Have a safe weekend. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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The Phoenix Suns will be a completely different basketball team this year after moving on from Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, for better or worse. Phoenix went from having one of the most expensive rosters in the league, to one of the cheapest. They went from one of the oldest rosters in the league, to one of the youngest. Will it work out? Will it get worse before it gets better?

PHNX Suns breaks it down, reacts to the online eruption from the Suns community on Thursday, discuss if Jonathon Kuminga should be a target to add to this new roster and talk to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel on the new era in the valley.

Follow the show @PHNX_Suns, @ErikRuby, @GeraldBourguet & @FreckledMamba!

0:00 – Intro
2:00 – Suns Twitter was a Warzone Yesterday…
6:05 – “We All Need to Chill”
21:55 – The Suns are Completely Different
36:10 – Brett Siegel Joins the Show!
50:00 – Lets Discuss Jonathan Kuminga

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