Re: Suns are done. Time to bring back KD?
Posted: Fri May 3, 2024 8:15 pm
Just spit balling but I like how KD changes the dynamics of different lineups.
While the Suns failed and some of it is depth it’s also just a redundancy of talents and a lack of floor balance. Having three guys on the court together who all prefer to go iso from the wing who aren’t naturally pass first is a bit redundant. The bigger issue being a perimeter defensive unit of Beal, Booker, Allen which is small with nobody being a plus defender. We had CP3, Curry, Klay play together and it’s tough if none of your guys 1-3 are good at defense, even with the individual offensive talent. When you are hemorrhaging points teams usually turn around and force it on offense to keep pace and that throws off playing with a controlled pace, that’s how you get a lot of blowouts.
I am comfortable trading Kuminga because I am not sure how you balance the floor with him, Dray, and Wiggins. If you play Dray, Kuminga, and Wiggins together in the frontcourt it’s fine on offense but it doesn’t have the size to compete with some of these teams out West. If you slide TJD/Looney into a lineup with Dray, Kuminga, Wiggins it doesn’t have the floor spacing to compete at the top. You would need a big like Lauri or Towns just to get floor balance with those three, at minimum a guy like Turner or Lopez who can hit an outside shot.
KD brings some iso game. KD brings the size and shooting. KD is a strong enough shooter to play with a traditional center and slide Wiggins to shooting guard and still be able to shoot from outside and compete inside.
CP3+Looney+Kuminga+Podz+Picks how you see fit
For
KD
Or maybe you swap GP2 for Looney because you prefer size over perimeter defense. Maybe you swap Moody for Podz because you prefer a ball handler over a wing.
You can run a lineup with size to disrupt everything getting into the paint. Dray+KD+Center were an absolute terror on defense. All three guys able to provide length, switching inside, and help recovery to contest shots. That was a monster defense.
C TJD
PF Green
SF Durant
SG Wiggins
PG Curry
6th Thompson
7th GP2
8th Moody
Or you spread the floor completely out, just break teams with our motion offense and floor spacing. Get back to where you have enough outside shooting to break teams. Even lineups with Klay inserted with Curry and KD you have three guys being tightly face guarded, you have so much space for guys to get to good open spots on the floor.
C Green
PF Durant
SF Wiggins
SG Moody
PG Curry
6th Thompson
7th TJD
8th GP2
If it falls flat then you still can trade KD, Curry, Dray, Wiggins etc for a haul of picks. We can still have plenty of draft picks after going all in.
While the Suns failed and some of it is depth it’s also just a redundancy of talents and a lack of floor balance. Having three guys on the court together who all prefer to go iso from the wing who aren’t naturally pass first is a bit redundant. The bigger issue being a perimeter defensive unit of Beal, Booker, Allen which is small with nobody being a plus defender. We had CP3, Curry, Klay play together and it’s tough if none of your guys 1-3 are good at defense, even with the individual offensive talent. When you are hemorrhaging points teams usually turn around and force it on offense to keep pace and that throws off playing with a controlled pace, that’s how you get a lot of blowouts.
I am comfortable trading Kuminga because I am not sure how you balance the floor with him, Dray, and Wiggins. If you play Dray, Kuminga, and Wiggins together in the frontcourt it’s fine on offense but it doesn’t have the size to compete with some of these teams out West. If you slide TJD/Looney into a lineup with Dray, Kuminga, Wiggins it doesn’t have the floor spacing to compete at the top. You would need a big like Lauri or Towns just to get floor balance with those three, at minimum a guy like Turner or Lopez who can hit an outside shot.
KD brings some iso game. KD brings the size and shooting. KD is a strong enough shooter to play with a traditional center and slide Wiggins to shooting guard and still be able to shoot from outside and compete inside.
CP3+Looney+Kuminga+Podz+Picks how you see fit
For
KD
Or maybe you swap GP2 for Looney because you prefer size over perimeter defense. Maybe you swap Moody for Podz because you prefer a ball handler over a wing.
You can run a lineup with size to disrupt everything getting into the paint. Dray+KD+Center were an absolute terror on defense. All three guys able to provide length, switching inside, and help recovery to contest shots. That was a monster defense.
C TJD
PF Green
SF Durant
SG Wiggins
PG Curry
6th Thompson
7th GP2
8th Moody
Or you spread the floor completely out, just break teams with our motion offense and floor spacing. Get back to where you have enough outside shooting to break teams. Even lineups with Klay inserted with Curry and KD you have three guys being tightly face guarded, you have so much space for guys to get to good open spots on the floor.
C Green
PF Durant
SF Wiggins
SG Moody
PG Curry
6th Thompson
7th TJD
8th GP2
If it falls flat then you still can trade KD, Curry, Dray, Wiggins etc for a haul of picks. We can still have plenty of draft picks after going all in.