Our John Hollinger explored some possibilities in a new piece published Tuesday morning.īy the way, did you see that Dinwiddie did a live Q&A on The Athletic last week? But this is an opportunity for the league to explore switching some things up - especially if this drags on for weeks or months. Sure, it’s way more likely that, if the league does just go straight to the playoffs, the standings freeze and played out as normal. This would allow every team to play at least two more games and would reward the regular season’s best teams. The top four seeds would get a bye, and the Round of 16 would return to the normal best-of-7 format. It would start with the bottom four teams playing best-of-three series to get to the Round of 28, which would be best-of-five series. For those who may not be up to speed: Dinwiddie proposed a no-conference, bracket-style tournament involving all 30 teams at a neutral site. And if there’s ever a time to try something wacky and new, it’s this year. How do you feel about Spencer Dinwiddie's tournament proposal? Which former Arizona star would fit better with the Suns, Markkanen, who will provide much-needed outside shooting (35.6 percent on 6.2 attempts per game), or Gordon, the super athlete who has now been robbed of two Slam Dunk titles? Remember: The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Suns did inquire about Gordon at the trade deadline. They’re obviously very different players. But I wish we had more data, as Markkanen has had health troubles the past two seasons (to be fair, Gordon has also been hurt for much of this season). Markkanen is 2-3 years younger, and would theoretically have more potential to tap into. Lauri Markkanen or Aaron Gordon, who has the higher ceiling? If the Suns use their first-round draft pick on a frontcourt player, that’s a sign that they don’t plan to bring back (or don’t believe they’ll be able to re-sign) both Baynes and Saric. That, however, would also take Bridges out of that closing-lineup combo that was so successful when everybody was available. Such a move would mean Saric - who should command nice offers of his own - would move on, and Mikal Bridges would slide back into that flexible wing spot. That could take up a ton of cap space if Phoenix landed a proven veteran such as Danilo Gallinari, Serge Ibaka or Paul Millsap. But, as was the case at the trade deadline, if the Suns take a big swing to significantly upgrade the roster (either in free agency or a trade), power forward is the most likely position that player would fill. So any “torn” feeling makes a ton of sense. That he can do a little bit of everything, especially at his size, is valuable. Saric has had an inconsistent season but was perhaps playing his best basketball when everything came to an abrupt halt two weeks ago. He’s a great locker-room presence and respected by his teammates, especially Ayton. Barring injury or some other unforeseen circumstance, he won’t need to play career-high minutes next season - and now won’t be coming off a long run of international play with the Olympics’ official postponement. We’ve seen what Baynes can do when healthy. It could be a new group around Ayton, but, more likely, at least one player will stay and at least one player will go.Īt this point, it feels more likely that Baynes stays than Saric. I’m grouping these two questions together because they are great ones and also part of the Suns’ biggest offseason decision: How do they build the frontcourt around Deandre Ayton? In addition to the free agency of Baynes (unrestricted) and Saric (restricted), Frank Kaminsky and Cheick Diallo have team options for next season. Saric – do we resign? At what level? He’s great but consistency hasn’t been there. Do you think the Suns value that cap space more and will renounce him or keep that on the books and sign him using full Bird rights? I hope the answers return the favor.Īron Baynes has a $10.3M cap hold for next year. Thanks for entertaining me with your questions about everything from Phoenix’s offseason to reality television. And the latest “Suns” mailbag reflects as much.
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