Signing LeBron? Ducking 2nd Apron? Predicting Phoenix Suns Offseason Surprises

Signing LeBron? Ducking 2nd Apron? Predicting Phoenix Suns Offseason Surprises

on today’s episode of Locked on suns we’re a couple weeks into the offseason a new head coach hired and the rumors already rolling can the sun surprise us is there something we’re not seeing we’re not looking at and what can past off Seasons tell us about How likely that might be we’ll break it all down let’s go you are locked on suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday we are back this is locked on Phoenix Suns we are part of the locked on podcast Network and I’m your host Brendan clean a credential media member covering the Suns for the past seven seasons and the hosts of the just basketball show wherever you get your podcasts thank you for making locked on suns your first listen to kickoff your week welcome back to the show if you have not already hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re getting us we’re free and available on all podcast platforms including YouTube just hit that button below get an episode in your feed every single Monday through Friday becomeing every dayer and get locked on to the Phoenix Suns all off seon long joining us as he does every single Monday is Brandon dwas he has a writer over at Bright Side of the Sun and talked about bronny James and LeBron James and some of those rumors last week we’ve talked about the head coach the G League there it’s a little bit of a quiet spot in the news cycle so what we figured we would do today is look backward a little bit but also put our uh thinking caps on a little bit be a little bit imaginative maybe maybe not a thinking cap maybe a crystal ball is more accurate here Brandon so we’re going to talk to close the show a little bit about past crazy Suns memories from off Seasons before this but we’re going to start by guessing what type of rabbit the Suns might be able to pull out of a hat this summer something we not necessarily seeing or that feels very far-fetched but could actually play out so I will give you the floor we’re going to be somewhat practical okay we’re not saying like the suns are going to get Joel embiid okay but like what do you think is something make the case for something Brandon that could wow Us in June July that we might not fully buy right now yeah so I’ll start with this there’s there’s already smoke here and I think you guys already probably know where I’m going with this and it starts with the draft and it starts with James Jones being a guy that’s not afraid to reach for certain players um in this case what do the Suns need they need size they need positional size they need ideally a point guard they need someone that can switch and guard bigger wings so how do you get that in the draft well by selecting someone’s son apparently so Brony James to me I think LeBron’s going to end up wherever he ends up like that’s going to happen um I think they’re going to work it out to where LeBron kind of controls that process so I could see I think it’s very even though it’s not really a shock at this point since there the Suns have already been linked like I think if it actually happens there would be kind of like an NBA Twitter moment where everything just kind of stops and like whoa this is really happening like I I don’t think that was leaked on accident I think there’s definitely smoke there I think it makes sense for the Suns uh just a vetman like come on guys like if if you’re going to complain about that course it makes sense for the Suns I think the other side is where it makes less sense right exactly so it comes down to how much is he going to sacrifice to play with his son is he going to leave a situation where you know I I don’t know I think there’s there’s obviously a lot of hurdles that have to like I’m not saying it’s a lock or anything crazy like that but I think I definitely think there’s smoke there I think it’s something that could happen and it would be absolutely insane um and and look that’s that’s how you kill tuers as one stone and and bronny is a prospect you could say whatever whatever you want but if that’s what it ends up resulting in I think it’s a no-brainer um but that whole process is going be very interesting to follow like there’s never been anything like it really in the sport so I think we’re in a in a unique moment where it’s like the Suns could be a part of that whoever like it it doesn’t necessarily have to be the Suns LeBron there could be a team that genuinely likes LeBron and goes him and says hey we we really want to draft your son and if you want to join us like uh feel free stop by and we will make some room for you yeah I didn’t mean to cut you off on like the Suns part of it cuz there are people who seem to be skeptical I I don’t understand what they want like d wri instead of Le like come on I like I like the lawn right but like on a vet men like just stop and I get if you don’t like player this year yeah like the guy put up multiple incredible performances in the first round against Denver he was healthy he I saw people being like well that’s not a point guard yes it is it is a point guard so I uh I I don’t get it um if you have any chance to get LeBron James over the other options which I’ll remind you like the best names I’ve said starting to break all of this down on this show are like Chris dun in free agency pton Pritchard in a trade you know maybe like Jordan Clark Clarkson in a trade these are these are LeBron James sorry to cut you off but you know what’s funny is it’s there’s probably a parallel to the people that are complaining about those names and the people that will complain about LeBron like make up your mind pick a side well and I’ve seen people be like this is also something I don’t understand um and and look to reinforce what Brandon’s saying the Sunside I think is a no-brainer this guy’s not would not just just have to be giving up the difference in his max salary this season versus a minimum logically on the table for him this Summer would be a multi-year deal so he’s giving up maybe a one plus one type of offer or something which is closer to 100 plus million to get three four from the Sun so like that’s that’s what I said on Friday that is still the biggest hurdle but I guess how let me just put it back to you how is it 1% 2% how how much are you actually buying into this just like in terms of the Suns being a viable realistic option if I just ask you right now what are the odds that it happens I’d put it at solid 10% like I I feel pretty I feel like it’s it’s something that could absolutely happen and it really just comes down to the Lakers have a pick too they pass on him the Suns if they’re going to trade theirs anyways and try to get an upgrade why not why not like it makes sense like basketball-wise for and and look LeBron’s going to be fine financially like he’ll he could he could take if anyone’s going to take a pay cut like that it’s a guy that has the endorsements and the control and all that like when when family’s involved I feel like that’s when logic kind of goes out the window a little bit so that’s why I think it’s a little more likely than people think I I might even go higher on that if just depending on if the Lakers didn’t have a pick before the Suns I would probably put that a little bit higher but but yeah I think there’s a definitely a world in which this happens yeah I don’t I don’t know I I still question how much they want the unification of those two to happen it’s and I do feel bad for Brony because he’s at first you know LeBron does that Sports Illustrated cover and everything and it’s like absolutely for sure this is happening I might even want to play with my younger son Bryce and this would be this is this is what I’m focused on you know I want to win I want to get the points record because he hadn’t done that yet and all this stuff but I I want to do this this is what’s most important then as he got as bronnie got closer to actually being in the draft then they kind of backed off that but now that the draft process is actually playing out it sort of feels like it’s it’s out there again so I feel that his home in the NBA his development his this and that is all going to be anchored to his dad because what his dad wants in the cities his dad would consider playing for that’s not necessarily a place that’s going to be best for his career and I know you mentioned some of the positives of him Bron is not contributing next year and he may never contribute he like if we’re just being reasonable I don’t think he’s as bad of a prospect as some people make him out to be I don’t think he’s as good of a a prospect as some people make him out to be but if we just consider him like any other second round Prospect forget the jeans forget the resources and money he’ll be able to have to dedicate to getting better once he becomes a pro we would be treating it as a coin flip if that so he does need to land somewhere that’s that’s right for him and I feel bad there I also just don’t know because of all of that if LeBron actually will follow through with even if the suns were to take him at 22 I’m sure like you said there’d be a big huge Twitter moment but I don’t know is that a is that a Surefire Domino that leads to LeBron coming or does he actually kind of hold true to what he’s been saying more lately which is like he’s his own man and like he even said I don’t know if you listen to the JJ reic the mind the game episode this week Brandon but he was talking about like they don’t even he doesn’t even interfere with like how he crafts and morphs his style as a player he was like oh the comps he gave at the combine like I didn’t even put those in his head I really let him do his thing so I don’t know I I don’t I’m not I guess sold on the fact that those two things will go hand in hand even if the Lakers were to take him frankly I mean bronny was born in well he wasn’t born he was raised in La so that’s also home for him maybe he just ends up a Laker and LeBron goes somewhere else like I think anything’s on the table I’d be shocked if that happened to be honest I the Lakers yeah I think I think they will I mean there there’s obviously exceptions to it like you said LeBron is backing off and I think that’s part of like what you said earlier is just like like he feel he doesn’t want to be um kind of I mean he’s always going to be in that shadow no matter what that just comes with the territory but but he doesn’t want to add to that so I think he’s done a good job of like not doing that but like you said with the draft process it’s going to happen naturally it doesn’t matter if LeBron never made those quotes or not like it’s just it’s going either way it was going to happen like he’s not lar ball or anything crazy like um but but what I do think is Bron’s worth taking a swing like even if you know it doesn’t pan out for the pick like where where the T are picking in this type of draft too like look he already played a couple like what he played a game in 10p earlier this year right so they got a new g- league team so mullet Arena so I mean there’s uh it could happen like they have a new g-league team they’re trying to sell tickets like just and develop a player at the same time where I think you have a perfect opportunity for him to develop while also uh you know a team that wants to spend and it’s it’s close like I just feel like there’s a lot of things that line up with this if it does be if it does become a reality like it’s a good situation for him and LeBron um but but yeah it’s just crazy to kind of say this out loud and who would have thought like five years ago Sun fans would be talking about yeah is LeBron going to join Durant um on the Suns with Booker and and Bradley Beal like come on but I mean I feel like honestly this might come up in our last segment because part of why I’m at least somewhat willing to believe it is like the these the connection has has come and gone over time and the proximity to LA and the Chris Paul factor of him coming partially because of how close it was to LA and then there were LeBron rumors a little bit then like it’s always been very very far-fetched I think it still is I don’t even think I would say 10% but um that that is part of why I’m at least buying it a bit more than I normally would it’s you know the suns are a good team with star players and ready to win it’s not like we’re just saying oh well they happen to have a draft pick and they could take Brony and he would just come you know it the basketball situation does make more sense but okay that’s shooting for the moon I have a oh wow holy crap moment that could come upon us this Summer that is much more playing it safe so we’ll get into that next first Today’s Show brought to you by eBay Motors my favorite place to shop for any car part that I need because passion drive and Patience are the formula for winning championships they’re also what keep your ride or die alive eBay MERS has everything you need to maintain your vehicle 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started turning with when uh when Bobby marks was on phn X’s show and a lot of uh a lot of their questions and I think some things fans are starting to think about centered on the possibility of actually getting under the second apron now that would basically require that the Suns would dump nurkic um using a pick instead of attaching a pick to nurkic to get a player it would be attaching nurkic a pick to nurkic to just basically have another team eat his entire salary so um I have a few names that that could be but generally speaking the idea here would be you get under that second apron you open up some more cap flexibility ility than you have right now not not just for this season but in the future you maybe open those doors to then get players still but not be so under the gun and kind of reset obviously with a big three if you’re keeping them you’re not you’re not ever going to take a step back but part of why it’s a little far-fetched I’m not fully sold on it but but I think it would be really impressive and another sort of like wow moment is it could do a lot of things at one time and maybe still come out of all of it with some role players some additions to the rotation that maybe they don’t have right now so that that’s I don’t I’m not smart enough to know exactly how it looks we can talk through some of those options but what do you think of the possibility in general of of pulling that off I like where you’re going with it for a few reasons just the flexibil standpoint like obviously if it does happen everyone’s going to kind of point to like oh they’re being cheap or whatever like ish is not you know he’s he’s backing down from the second apron when it it would quite frankly probably end up being the opposite in terms of their quote unquote wasting an asset or to depending on what they have to give up to dump him in order to make to aggregate salaries and trades and and do these creative things I think that could boost the roster and kind of spread the love a little bit so to me it’s really about the followup UPS if you do that and like what does that look like and and honestly like the number one and two both of our things could if those two things happen at the same time that’s that’s like even that opens even more avenues like that’s those aren’t just like one or the other like that could be there could be a lot that goes on working backwards like you said because everyone kind of tries to think what are they going to add or like how are they going to do this one for one or like I think working backwards and then spreading just like that salary is like a very creative way to go about it so I like where your head’s at okay so here are the teams that have cap space which you would need in order to pull this off right because the team taking nurkic in would need to have space to absorb his contract without sending you the Suns basically equivalent money and then you’re not under the apron anyway so the teams that have cap space at all the Pistons the Sixers who I’m not going to include here the Jazz the Thunder who I’m also not really going to include um Orlando who I don’t think makes a ton of sense given that um they have three or four playable centers there might be other types of moves you could do to get one of those centers but I don’t think they’re just going to take nurkic and not really give you anything because then they just have another one uh and then the Spurs and the Hornets so I don’t know about Detroit the idea is you’re basically wanting to take back a minimum player from that team or as close to it as you possibly can Detroit has not a lot of those guys really uh Marcus Sasser would be an option um who I think would be would be interesting and then similar Charlotte was the other one that really jumped out to me and they could maybe send you Trey man who was on the thunder so those were both kind of like scoring guards maybe they play for the Suns maybe they don’t it kind of is not really the point of all of this but then the the difference here is with the first apron the only limitations for the first apron under the luxury tax in the new CBA are no sign in trades that thing where you can’t sign a buyout guy who makes more than the midlevel which is not really that big of a deal and then uh salary matching it’s within 110% so basically the rules the Suns had this past season um so not the exact 100% that they’re under now or the 125 that most teams are under but it’s kind of splitting the difference but that’s not much restriction if you compared to where they are now where they don’t have their taxpayer mid level which is a $5 million thing um you know none of the trade exception cash in trades all that nonsense is is not involved if you’re just in the first apron but the biggest one is that taxpayer mid-level Brandon because then you could basically kill another bird with the same Stone I guess um very violent metaphor there but you like basically then you could outbid a different team for one of the guys we’ve already maybe been talking about in that minimum range but now you have five million to offer them instead of just two or three and maybe you can be the team to you know maybe it’s still some of those same guys but you for sure get them instead of just sort of crossing your fingers so like you mentioned earlier like a Del Wright or a Chris Dunn or U maybe you can even reach a little high some of the guys we thought were out of the Suns price range and go get them now you’re able to be more flexible with the trades you do make if you still want to trade nir little or sign and trade Royce O’Neal or do any of that or uh and sorry you get a free agent and then going into the season you still have that flexibility and I think if you can get it done with just one first round pick instead of having to attach both you’re kind of opening up a lot for yourself now you have to be pretty confident that because the flip side is what if you dump nurkic you don’t really get a big difference maker and then you lose nerkish who even though we’re all sort of hot and cold on him and he’s frustrating like he’s a good player you don’t want to just give get rid of that for nothing yeah for sure and I think the order in which they do it will also be interesting because like that 2031 pick is the one I would try to attach to nurkic to get off of him and then keep that pick this year for like the the reasons before if LeBron is a possibility then if not use that and then aggregate that with other salaries like have kind of have like a deal in place where you draft for another team and then you’re able to stack contracts after that trade goes down to me that like that’s a very that would take a lot of dominoes to kind of fall into place but I think if they play their cards right that could be a way where you can avoid what you’re saying is like get rid of nurkic lose him and trade assets and then end up with not a better team just more flexibility for for what so I think the goal is you have to have certain players in mind and kind of work backwards from it and so things do have to line up but it’s definitely possible and I think there’s ways they can get more depth and and get a little bit better yeah I think that’s the other good thing to hit you mentioned combining salaries that’s the another big one that they’re able to do with just being under the first apron versus the second I think two things hold me up on this one is the perception thing you mentioned of just everything’s been so Allin that even if it would take a lot of convincing from the new cap guy they just hired from Brooklyn or James Jones or whoever Josh bartelstein to Matt ishia to say hey it’s going to be sort of like give the image that we’re taking a step back but really we’re not especially given how much ISB has been so cocky about I don’t care about the second apron I know I know all the rules that are going to be triggered but I don’t care and then at the uh press conference whatever one it was where he made the Jo the allstar event when he was like sorry what the second apron like almost just being you know uh Blas about it and then uh have to deal with the repercussions of okay now we’re actually like biting the bullet and getting rid of a pick just to back up from there but if you knew in place all these dominoes would then fall I think I could see it the other thing is I’m not sure of it just like logistically like I know the 2031 pick becomes available to trade on draft night of this upcoming year because at that point in time it then is seven seven years out but would they could they trade like does it literally start like when the draft begins is it that day can they trade nurkic earlier in the day with the 2031 pick and then use I think that’s where uh my knowledge maybe runs out a little bit but okay those are our crazy ideas let’s get to some past crazy moments I’ll let brandan cook a little bit here I think he has some prep this was his idea we’ll get into the past recent era I mean this is like post Nash right is that fair to say Brandon yeah exactly post Steve Nash crazy moments in Suns offseason history 15 years-ish we’ll get into that coming up next all right back here let’s close out the show with recent holy crap Suns offseason moments where do we want to start here Brandon are you going craziest off the bat are you getting people kind of in the mood and then go crazier and crazier from there I’ll let you kick us off here so let’s just do just for organizational sake uh let’s start at like from like the furthest back and work our way up to the closest so not necessarily the crazy right away but let’s just start with the fail right let’s just start with that let’s let’s let’s take you back to 2010 there’s a lot of those so that’s a good theme to stick with yeah so we’ll go back to 2010 and this will open up some Old Wounds when Mari star leaves right and and they go ahead and replace him with with Josh hris Hakeem Mori hedo turkalo turo it was kind of a makeshift uh era where we sort of you know the the whole injury situation with Amari everyone kind of talk themselves into it there were some that didn’t and were very upset that they were cheap then there’s other ones that didn’t being a Suns fan like we kind of know how to talk ourselves into everything at this point so children’s coming from back from overseas work is like the great value of Mari where he’s going to kind of offer that same pick and roll um ability and then hedo just you know being that stretch big that kind of fit the sun’s mold at the time so a lot of suns fans talk themselves into it but to me that’s where kind of everything started like as far as the post Nash era it really or I meanor post funny is yeah basically Nash leaves not too long after this was kind of setting you know right after the Conference Finals appearance but you knew it was toward the end for Nash and I think that was like the big reason you would have made to keep am Mar is that okay you just got to keep writing this out as long as you can but I would say in hindsight the hesitancy with Amar was well founded you know what I mean like he he did break down not too long after and whatever I hate to like make an excuse for Robert sver being cheap but I I do sort of get that one the problem is what they did instead turo Warick and Chris combined to average like 23 points per game in like 50 something minutes per game and War and chis moreen even starters and don’t forget they use their their Amnesty on chis yeah and then I think tur got hurt that year right or something so um barely played so yeah very very bad and and and awful okay what what do we got next all right so next fast forward a little bit to 2012 where things are starting to you know Nash is Nash is gone and all that and we got the Return of the Dragon on on a positive this was a very I will never forget in Houston the second half of the Season Goron was tearing it up and there was a lot of similarities where you kind of made that connection of like this is going to be Stephen Ash 2.0 like he’s making his return to Phoenix after leaving to team in Texas for a little bit he’s going to come back and it was very successful for for a little bit and we had some great moments with Goron like he was honestly one of my favorite Sons uh of this decade like this last decade Plus or whatever you want to call it but um obviously we all know how that how that ended but I thought there’s a lot of excitement around that move and and that team just kind of surprising everyone um in the 2013 14 season which is kind of the next thing I’ll jump into but I’ll let you jump in if you have any thoughts on how many people given that our main audience now on this show is YouTube and we know you know how what age of people tend to be on YouTube how many suns fans listening to this do you think know what the hell we’re talking about right now I would hope at least 60% there’s probably 40% of them that are just like who who’s who’s is hedo turkalo yeah yeah yeah that’s all right okay what do we got next um so now we go to 2013 this one will be quick I think the bledo trade was one that generated some hype just because he was kind of one of those players on the Clippers that everyone was excited about is a breakout candidate baby Westbrook baby LeBron whatever you want to call him Dudley and a first round pick for a fringe Allstar I mean that’s it’s how Ryan MC Gunna kept his job for five years yeah and Gerald Green came that off season Alex Len was drafted number five and that team won uh 48 games and I think that’s what led to the Hydra fail is what we call it in 2014 which was Isaiah Thomas joining drit and bledo who I thought each individually were great additions at the time and then it kind of snowballed into let’s try something it did not work I think that is so far the first true holy crap moment we’ve talked about right that’s one where it was like how did they get this guy why did the Kings not keep Isaiah Thomas why did they just add yet another point guard what like literally what is going on here even even locally I feel like it was pretty polarizing is this a good move is this a bad move and it really work kind of Ruin what they had just had going for themselves so that that one feels like if we’re just talking the the post Nash kind of era like that is up there has really took everybody off guard yes and this is a time where everyone was trying to do the next thing be the next Innovative team and it felt like with the small ball era like they kind of took it a little too far and thought they were smarter than they were I feel like trying some like look they took a swing it it failed and then there’s another like five seasons of just stuff we’ll kind of forget about and Skip because the next one takes us to the 2018 off season wait no hold on hold on hold on uh we can’t we I know we’re you know we’re trying to be light on time here but we cannot skip the 2016 draft I mean fair enough just both players in the top 10 the way that it all went down drafting drag and Bender which look I know it flamed out it did not work I uh I will not be I’m not too embarrassed as to say I fully believed in it up until like the day they cut him um but I it didn’t work it never worked it was never going to work I think he was just too timid to to succeed in the NBA no matter where he had been drafted MH four was somewhat high but not crazy but then to trade the pick that uh the rights to um bogdanovich and I believe 27 in that year’s draft for Chris at 8 um was just wild and then of course because it’s the Suns they added yet another point guard in the second round Tyler Ulus who was way too small to succeed in the league and flamed out as well so yeah just an insane night in Suns history that draft and they got Derrick Jones Jr who’s now maybe going to win a championship so I guess there’s one swing and a hit in that whole summer yeah I opened up a lot of wounds already so I was trying to skip through that but you know what I I was a believer in Bender too and I think the timing and everything was crazy like it was the offseason after porzingis was drafted and had that same reaction from fans like tingus Pingus happened and uh so I think a lot of suns fans talk themselves into it not even comparing those two players but just it felt like that was a counter to the three-point guards like let’s draft two bigs that are versatile and can do a lot of stuff and they unfortunately did not so just way too raw way too raw and and not a time in in history where they could afford with bad coaching hires and a young GM and not a lot of investment into the franchise it’s like maybe there’s some world where those guys developed I I kind of doubt it but even then it definitely was not going to be happening here so all right what do you got next 2018 said so 2018 and 19 I think were the two most pivotal off Seasons that there’s so much that traces back to not just for the Suns but the rest of the league the domino effect is some of the stuff they did so we’ll start in 2018 this is when uh Ryan mcdo was fired um that that se that same time time frame uh eigor was higher after the off season though yeah yes so this is kind of what led to that so um we had the booker extension Trevor arza and Ryan Anderson joined to try to make rockets 2.0 Jamal Crawford um obviously the biggest headline was drafting DeAndre and number one and then the Mel Bridges trade which was great um let’s focus on that I actually don’t want to talk about the top of the draft so let’s just go on to the the male trade so the Mel trade I thought was a perfect fit um it was exactly what you needed next to Booker and what a lot of suns fans kind of hope Josh Jackson would be um to a lesser extent I think the ceiling for Jackson we was a little bit higher in terms of what people thought he could become but the bridges trade was great um and I’ll just kind of skip through this because we got to get we got a couple more offseasons to go so overall a lot happens I have one I have one in 2017 which is Tyson Chandler coming here yeah and then getting a meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge I mean that was like as holy crap as I can remember was was that back to back and actually wait they have a shot at the best agent that was 15 when he signed though originally right but that was offseason of 17 when he went to that meeting right before that’s a good point 15 15 you’re right I had the I had the number wrong in my head 15 yes yeah his book was a rookie with him because I remember that rookie vet yeah yeah yeah yeah thing yeah but yeah that’s a good call the the infamous Aldridge meeting with armed with Tyson Chandler um and then weren’t there like what what was the Summer where the Carmelo and LeBron rumors popped up that they were 13 that was 13 I believe yeah yeah okay I wanted to make sure we’re we’re missing the we’re not missing the almosts along the way either those were also just when those woe bombs hit was a moment in and of itself okay what else are we doing where are we going next all right so the next soft seon this is I think outside of the eight and stuff like this is one of the most influential offseasons of Sun’s franchise history because of what it led to and it starts with signing Ricky Rubio I think his leadership and what he did and setting the tone with uh UB getting extended as well after his stay those two guys get traded for someone who will bring up next um you bring in Frank Kaminsky you draft cam Johnson kind of turned some heads uh Ty Drome as well who’s also a part of that trade for the player to be named later uh that really I thought set the foundation for the future of their success and becoming competent and that offseason to me was like one of the most important that led to like so much so I I don’t know what your thoughts are on that but I think that’s what really elevated Booker Hing mon I mean frankly you know like that that all everything kind of changed in 2019 and obviously next the next season they almost get to the playoffs and the bubble and all that but yeah uh I would just add I guess that well in terms of just kind of the holy crap moments the Uber it’s not an offseason thing but the UB trade which of course was the Brooks versus Brooks thing um and then ends up with with UB coming instead of we thought it was going to be Dylan Brooks and it wasn’t cuz the Wizards I believe it was thought it was MarShon Brooks and then um UB ends up being the replacement there he plays great down the stretch breaks his thumb or something and then misses he only played like a month and then had to had to sip but he got enough under his belt to get a contract and then um 2019 I would say the cam Johnson pick and and trade as well and in hindsight we now know they would have taken cam six entally which I can’t even imagine how much more of a holy crap that would have been but taking him at 112 was and getting Dario yeah but just this was a guy who was like not considered a lottery pick at all and had Medical Red Flag and still the Suns took him at 11 so uh very wild stuff but okay 2020 I mean I think I know where we’re headed here yeah yeah that was another one of the just oh crap moments I think where you obviously that was one of like that was one of the best trades in Suns franchise history I I don’t care what anyone says like obviously Chris Paul it didn’t end well but I think that trade solidified them as and it kind of set the the path to acquire someone like a Kevin Durant and get to where they are in terms of being a franchise where it’s realistic for these guys to come here that trade was so important and it started with the 2019 because you dealt Rubio you dealt UB you dealt Jerome in a pick for him to bring him in Mont don’t forget yep and Monty Williams favorite abdell nater uh is also in that trade but uh I think the momenten be looking back through the box score of the finals because of Bud getting here and and just Reminiscing on those games and was reminded of the Abdel nater appearance in that postseason after being injured for months that was wild waspp series you cannot yeah the Clippers series he played like 10 minutes out of nowhere um you cannot overstate I mean I think in terms of O crap and surprise and everything else that those two summers back to back and the male trade are why James Jones still has his job for being honest with each other yeah for sure I don’t think he’s done a lot since to to earn it I think he is somewhat benefiting resting on his laurels in terms of this exact type of thing that a GM has to do to have longevity in the NBA which is kind of make something out of nothing and do things to improve the roster that are risky and you know know a little bit cross your fingers and hope it works types of things and these two summers he really really did that less so since where the two biggest moves he’s made were kind of orchestrated as a group and less of the craziness so I think he did a great job you can’t you can’t take that away from him we got to see more of that this summer yeah absolutely so then obviously you kind of know what happens from there the next few years the finals run making some small adjustments sticking with continuity all that and then Kevin Durant happens that’s not an offseason move but that was obviously the I think the biggest o crap moment of Sun’s franchise history outside of maybe Barkley the late June Kevin Durant is interested in going to the Phoenix Suns tweet from Chris Haynes is the single most holy crap moment in the history of the Suns so yeah uh even though it didn’t happen that summer and it took seven months or whatever it it has to be on there yeah yeah for sure and then we will fast forward to last off season where I call it the Fool’s Gold summer where if you go back and just look up 2023 offseason reviews about the Suns you have places like the ringer calling the Suns offseason winners you have you know different Riders from Sports Illustrated ESPN whatever you whatever Outlet you look up the suns were listed as the winners of the off season in so many different places so that’s why it’s important not to get too high or low based off offseason report cards so but I will even go back a little bit prior to that and go into offseason previews when we were talking about can they trade Chris Paul for Terry roier or can they maybe get Fred vanven a sign and trade or whatever and then they pull a rabbit out of the hat and get Beal I think getting Beal even though there were fit concerns and it didn’t go gr and the health Factor was a question mark and all the stuff just pulling that off was one of the more unexpected things I can remember that we’ve gone through on this list and yeah I guess one more year to determine if it worked and if not I don’t think he’ll be on the team after this but just from a front office from a big picture offseason standpoint like that was wild I I I was so wrong that’s like probably the biggest thing I’ve gotten wrong doing this show is I was like laughing there’s no way they’re getting him that’s not not going to happen and then yeah here he is sounds like someone we talked about at the beginning of the show um everyone not just you just yeah no but that’s literally what I said on the Friday episode and I saw people in the comments being like this is such a stupid thing to do a show you’re doing clickbait whatever and I’m like okay obviously it’s a rumor I’m not trying to tell you I know it’s going to happen but one it came from credible people I agree it doesn’t get leaked unless there’s some sort of smoke there but the other thing is I literally said that I’m like I said the be the beal move was Impractical impossible not not even a figment of anybody’s imagination and then it happened so I’m not going to sit here and act like Superstars and ownership of different teams getting together to Hash something out it happens so I’m going to keep treating it somewhat realistically but still probably not going to say 10% like you did yeah and just another thing so the Olympics take play this place this summer and who’s going to be teammates there again all three interesting not B oh well yeah interesting we’ll see we’ll see we’ll see what happens big four I guess uh all right that’ll wrap us up for the day hopefully you enjoyed that trip down memory lane maybe some of you learned a little something about the team you root for who knows we’ll be back tomorrow I’m going to do my best case scenario Suns offseason this week maybe for Tuesday I’m not fully decided if uh I’ll have time to do an episode on the holiday we’ll see hit follow or subscribe get the best case scenario offseason episode and much more throughout the week and months ahead enjoy your Memorial Day and I will catch you guys next time

The Phoenix Suns need to pull a rabbit out of a hat this offseason, could Bronny James or Jusuf Nurkic be the keys to pulling it off?

Brendon Kleen of @justbasketballfans is joined by Brandon Dueñas of Bright Side of the Sun to break down the LeBron James pursuit and navigating the NBA 2nd apron before going down memory lane to explore past surprising Suns offseasons.

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