Future of the Phoenix Suns (salary, moving, estate)

[Leona Valley]

Originally Posted by locolife

Do Denver residents care about the Nuggets? To me it felt like the lowest of the big 4 teams in the area, I attended a Suns/Nuggets game in January, I was up there freezing my tail of for a work trip and decided to take in the game. The environment inside Ball was okay, nothing like Phoenix but didn't feel rabid at all.


I was cheering for the Nuggets in the Lakers series, but now as the underdogs and 8th seed I'm pulling for the Heat to get an upset.

Guarantee a sweep. I predicted Nuggets in 4 blowouts and was surprised that the Nuggets 24(?) pt lead in game one was cut in half in the 4th qrt. Nuggets shot poorly from 3’s. Not typical. Look for them to do better in game 2.

Heat are no match. Too small and the Nuggets are playing like a well oiled machine. Jokic shot 70% against them in both wins this season (one of those wins without Murray), and went 8 for 12 yesterday, averaging a triple double for all 3 games.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...iams-4-seasons

He won't even get another year. The new owner made the decision to fire Williams, even though we can largely thank Williams for turning the Suns around. I think you're right about him being an overall great coach, but he did seem a bit passive at times.

I don't disagree with the firing. Williams brought them out of the gutter in short order, and is a great human being, but he was not the one to take them further. I have to smile at the delicious irony of Monty getting a 68 million dollar contract to coach in Ishbia's back yard.

Now, there is no big splashy move on the coach for Ishbia to make. He probably doesn't want to do what he sees as "settling" for Kevin Young, but retreading Rivers or Vogel probably doesn't appeal, either. Young is the better option, especially with the players' backing.

[AZtoCO1]

Originally Posted by locolife

Do Denver residents care about the Nuggets? To me it felt like the lowest of the big 4 teams in the area, I attended a Suns/Nuggets game in January, I was up there freezing my tail of for a work trip and decided to take in the game. The environment inside Ball was okay, nothing like Phoenix but didn't feel rabid at all.

I was cheering for the Nuggets in the Lakers series, but now as the underdogs and 8th seed I'm pulling for the Heat to get an upset.

I'm surprised that was your experience, maybe an off day for Nuggets fans. Ball is typically very loud and residents absolutely care about the Nuggets. I would argue that us old timers who have been in the area for decades are much more passionate about the Nuggets than the Avs, because they've always been here. I think part of the issue is that the Nuggets have been very forgettable for a long time, but the fandom has really picked up, especially this year. This team seems built for future success as well, so I think it's only going to grow.

Denver will always be a Broncos town first, no matter how crappy the team is. Currently, I'd say the Avs are second because of their success since moving to Denver. The Nuggets are third but I think they are getting closer to the Avs, and the Rockies are a very distant fourth. The Rockies are a terrible organization with horrendous ownership that is widely despised by the fan base. They just happen to play in a beautiful stadium that is a lot of fun to go to, and I don't think that most fans even really care about the outcome of the game.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by locolife

Do Denver residents care about the Nuggets? To me it felt like the lowest of the big 4 teams in the area, I attended a Suns/Nuggets game in January, I was up there freezing my tail of for a work trip and decided to take in the game. The environment inside Ball was okay, nothing like Phoenix but didn't feel rabid at all.

I was cheering for the Nuggets in the Lakers series, but now as the underdogs and 8th seed I'm pulling for the Heat to get an upset.

No, Denver residents don't care one bit about the Nuggets ... and I can say this for a fact after seeing on TV how Ball Arena was packed on the first night with plenty of fans wearing their gold shirts. People in Denver couldn't give a hoot about seeing the Nuggets in the finals for the very first time ever. Forget about having a parade if they become champs because hardly anybody would attend, especially considering how awfully cold & miserable it is there in June! Most people in & around Denver would rather gaze at the mountains & smoke weed for a true Rocky Mountain high!
()

[locolife]

Originally Posted by AZtoCO1

I'm surprised that was your experience, maybe an off day for Nuggets fans. Ball is typically very loud and residents absolutely care about the Nuggets. I would argue that us old timers who have been in the area for decades are much more passionate about the Nuggets than the Avs, because they've always been here. I think part of the issue is that the Nuggets have been very forgettable for a long time, but the fandom has really picked up, especially this year. This team seems built for future success as well, so I think it's only going to grow.

Denver will always be a Broncos town first, no matter how crappy the team is. Currently, I'd say the Avs are second because of their success since moving to Denver. The Nuggets are third but I think they are getting closer to the Avs, and the Rockies are a very distant fourth. The Rockies are a terrible organization with horrendous ownership that is widely despised by the fan base. They just happen to play in a beautiful stadium that is a lot of fun to go to, and I don't think that most fans even really care about the outcome of the game.

The highlighted points above are what I gathered from talking to folks in the stadium when I was at the game. It felt like they ranked mid-low level of the local pro-sports teams and I gauged that off of in-stadium experience and chatting with those in attendance.

[AZtoCO1]

Yep, that makes sense loco. Hopefully the Nuggets can win it this year, and I'm very optimistic about their future as well. That might change things a bit here.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by AZtoCO1

Hopefully the Nuggets can win it this year, and I'm very optimistic about their future as well.

Congratulations to the Nuggets, and to the city of Denver! (Too bad the celebrations had to be offset by a riot.) Now, the Suns should be even more adamant about doing whatever they can to become NBA champions. They've been to the finals 3 times, but lost each time. Makes me a little envious that the Nuggets won the title on their first run at the finals.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Congratulations to the Nuggets, and to the city of Denver! (Too bad the celebrations had to be offset by a riot.) Now, the Suns should be even more adamant about doing whatever they can to become NBA champions. They've been to the finals 3 times, but lost each time. Makes me a little envious that the Nuggets won the title on their first run at the finals.

Not to discount anything the nuggets did this year, they certainly don't have any control over who they play in the playoffs but they managed to get the 5th easiest path to a championship in NBA history. That is some luck that would be very hard to repeat.

They won, it's great, congrats and all. Joker affirmed his MVP awards from years past but that is luck the Suns and most teams have never fallen into.

Lets see what the Suns do with CP3 and DA this off season. I don't think we're too far off and still liked our chance given that we we're ahead late in game 2 when Chris went down. We then went on to beat Denver twice in PHX after that, without Chris, had we held on for game 2 which would of put us up 3-1. Once DA went down and it was clear Booker was very limited we were in trouble for game 6.

[AZtoCO1]

Originally Posted by locolife

Not to discount anything the nuggets did this year, they certainly don't have any control over who they play in the playoffs but they managed to get the 5th easiest path to a championship in NBA history. That is some luck that would be very hard to repeat.

They won, it's great, congrats and all. Joker affirmed his MVP awards from years past but that is luck the Suns and most teams have never fallen into.

Lets see what the Suns do with CP3 and DA this off season. I don't think we're too far off and still liked our chance given that we we're ahead late in game 2 when Chris went down. We then went on to beat Denver twice in PHX after that, without Chris, had we held on for game 2 which would of put us up 3-1. Once DA went down and it was clear Booker was very limited we were in trouble for game 6.

I just don't agree with the easy path to the championship. That is likely based on the seeds of the teams, which I understand. But I think most people would understand that the Suns were not your typical 4 seed, the Lakers were far from a 7 seed, etc. Heck, even Miami as the 8 seed took at the 1 and 2 seed in the East, so I don't think that should be discounted either.

I think the next few seasons in the West will be very interesting. The Nuggets are set up for future success, GS and the Lakers are well past their prime. I think it's time for some new teams to emerge, and the Suns will absolutely be part of that mix. It will be nice to have some fresh teams involved!

[locolife]

Originally Posted by AZtoCO1

I just don't agree with the easy path to the championship. That is likely based on the seeds of the teams, which I understand. But I think most people would understand that the Suns were not your typical 4 seed, the Lakers were far from a 7 seed, etc. Heck, even Miami as the 8 seed took at the 1 and 2 seed in the East, so I don't think that should be discounted either.

I think the next few seasons in the West will be very interesting. The Nuggets are set up for future success, GS and the Lakers are well past their prime. I think it's time for some new teams to emerge, and the Suns will absolutely be part of that mix. It will be nice to have some fresh teams involved!

I wouldn't care if I was a Nuggets fan, a chip is a chip. But it definitely factors into discussions about whether or not Denver has the ingredients for a dynasty and how tough to expect them to be going forward. But it does factor in to national sports talk around dynasty and whether or not Denver is one. The stat is based on the winning % of opponents faced on their path to a championship and they rank 5th lowest in that number all time. It's a stats driven league so of course it will be talked about.

I'll hold up the same argument for my own team, the Suns had an easy path to the finals a few years ago, the Clippers we're the toughest competition but they we're without Kawhi, we also swept a very injured Nuggets team and in round 1 AD went down for the Lakers and changed the entire tone of that series. They just didn't have the luck of drawing a play-in team in the finals, instead facing the very healthy Bucks.


With a big 3 now in place in Phoenix it certainly is going to get interesting in the west, health will always be a factor, and I'm not sure if DA plays here again or if they trade him for an effective but more affordable center, and pieces to fill out the bench. I think the latter makes sense if they can get a logical trade done.


https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-eas...030226378.html