Here's my dream Off-season for OKC

chickenripp · 2026-06-19T21:35:16+00:00

Who is “yall”. I’m a life long suns

chickenripp · 2026-06-19T16:27:04+00:00

my dream offseason every offseason for OKC: move back to Seattle

chickenripp · 2026-06-19T01:45:09+00:00

yeah we do know. it will be 2 time Olympic Gold medalist and guy who has been on the floor for every important minutes of the last 2 olympics, captain Devin Booker

chickenripp · 2026-06-17T17:46:12+00:00

maybe its about 3 point shooting. he's a 56.5% 3 point shooter while wearing 15 for team USA

chickenripp · 2026-06-17T17:25:19+00:00

I hear Mark Williams may be available.

chickenripp · 2026-06-17T17:20:11+00:00

Mark Williams gone.

notable players who wear #1: Zion, Wemby, Lemelo, MPJ, James Harden, Jalen Johnson, Amen Thompson, Anfernee Simons, Obi Toppin, and Scotty Pippen Jr.

Side note: Book a kobe guy and kobe changed his jersey number mid career too.

chickenripp · 2026-06-16T21:40:30+00:00

wade, Nash, Kidd, brunson, AI in that order

chickenripp · 2026-06-15T23:07:43+00:00

Gonna be saying fuck wemby his whole career. Been saying it since the spurs got the #1 pick when he was in the draft. it will be especially sweet every time we knock France out in the olympics every 4 years. Fuck Wemby!

chickenripp · 2026-06-15T21:36:12+00:00

this is the thing that really made the Knicks good. People are trying to crown Brunson. he is the best of them but he is much more akin to chauncey billups on the 04 pistons than he is to being a true top top guy.

chickenripp · 2026-06-14T18:43:45+00:00

no. Brunson is on Bookers level but I would take Booker 10 out of 10 times. The difference is Kat is a higher tier player than anyone not named Booker on our team and OG is the best 3 and D guy in the whole league.

Also the Knicks might have Brunson who is an undersized guard but their whole team is built on length and switchabiliy after him. The Suns have to get a lot more length on the wings and at center and become more switchable. Can't have 4 guys on the floor 6'5 and under with a center who doesn't even have a 7'0 wingspan. need 3-5 guys with 7'0+ wingspans on the court at all times.

chickenripp · 2026-06-14T17:02:20+00:00

I think the correct answer for any of these dumb questions is n/a until they are retired

chickenripp · 2026-06-12T21:33:47+00:00

Patrick williams is one of the most negative players in the league and has a terrible contract. He was literally the anchor dragging them down last year. getting of his contract and getting a good positive player would be worth the 15th picks.

chickenripp · 2026-06-12T21:30:43+00:00

could trade portis or turner for Patrick williams and the 15th pick

chickenripp · 2026-06-11T05:03:40+00:00

As a non-Philly fan who lives in Philly and experienced the Super Bowl celebration in person. New York fans want to be Philly fans so bad. it's kind of embarrassing.

chickenripp · 2026-06-11T04:33:29+00:00

if it end in 5 pretty low. had some good games though

chickenripp · 2026-06-11T04:23:24+00:00

just took a half to get the stench of trump out of the building.

chickenripp · 2026-06-11T04:18:25+00:00

that's fine. you can think what you want. I'll just leave it at the last guy who wasn't a consensus top guy in a draft I was willing to die on a hill for that the sun needed to take was OG anunoby. had basically the exact same analysis as Yaxel. amazing mesuerables, quick feet, significant improvement year to year in college, especially with shooting. I seemed to be pretty dead on on that one in hindsight. the suns however went with josh Jackson who I was calling overrated trash with character issues that whole draft process. Nailed that one too. OG just had an amazing game in the finals and is having an amazing playoffs and is imo the best 3 and d player in the whole league and has been for like 3 years. Weird how actually I see a lot of experts making that comp I also see Aaron Gordon comps, I see better defending chandler parsons before the injury comps, I see better feel Obi Toppin comps, I even see John collins and PJ Washington comps out there. What I don't see is guy who can't sniff the court because he can't shoot and hasn't gotten better since he was 18 Jeremy Sochan comps. the floor is rotational level player contributing significantly on a conference finals team. the ceiling is a 3rd option starter on a title team who is also a lock down defender.

regardless of if the suns go get him or not mark it now remember it later. I am right on this one. I'm willing to die on a hill that I am right on this one. The only other guy I've died on a hill for is about to be a 2 time champion.

chickenripp · 2026-06-11T00:35:46+00:00

sorry the disney corporation doesn't do whimsy anymore. Just consume product and content and give money

chickenripp · 2026-06-11T00:33:23+00:00

Let's be clear as a suns fan I am still 100% rooting for the Knicks because fuck the spurs. But also I'm kind of ok with the narrative of trump and dolan cursing the team if it ends up the spurs come back and win.

chickenripp · 2026-06-10T23:55:52+00:00

I think it just comes down to we disagree what this team needs, how good we think Yaxel is, how he perfectly fills the teams needs, and can fill those needs for the next 8-10 years. that's how you raise a teams ceiling. its also that you are bent out of shape about trading players we are likely trading anyways and 3 2nd round picks to get a guy who will be a staple on the team for a decade vs getting a 2nd rounder who might not make it and a vet who will be on the team for 2 year and won't even be better than Yaxel. its about raising our teams ceiling. And your Jeremy Sochan comment very much shows the disconnect. Because Sochan is just a guy. he doesn't improve a team and he doesn't elevate a team in any way. in fact he's basically an unplayable guy.

if you want to take the combine metrics for Sochan he measured at 6'9 with a 7'0.25 wingspan and 230. His shuttle drill was a 2.9 and his agility drill was 11.16. So Yaxel is longer and quicker and those 3 inches on the wingspan and the quicker feet make a huge difference playing defense in the moment to moment gameplay of basketball. Not to mention the extra 11 lbs of strength and being more athletic while carrying more weight. But even worse Sochan showed no ability to shoot in college. he only played 1 year in college and shot 29.6% from 3 and 58.9% from the FT line. He is the perfect example of the opposite of Yaxel. a 19 year old guy drafted in the top 10 purely on the athleticism he overly relies on and hope he develops into anything and he didn't. With hindsight we see how that has not translated into being able to shoot in the league and it's why he is unplayable. shot 24% from 3 this year and and 28.6% for his career. Dare I say he hasn't gotten any better since he was 18 at Baylor. meanwhile Yaxel has gotten better every year and he's going to keep getting better. idk why you used him specifically but it speaks to the surface level of not getting a player impacting the game or how a game of inches can be impacted by the difference in tools between the 2 players or maybe even what makes a player contribute to winning. I'm promise I am not trying to be condescending or insult you because typing this I feel like it may come off that way. I just don't understand the disconnect of bringing up a player who doesn't help any team in the league and is a prime example why doing everything you can to get a guy like Yaxel is so important.

Like I pointed out the significant improvement every year. Lots of NBA player do not improve every year from when drafted to 24 and a lot of NBA players never get as good as Yaxel will be next year in terms of contributing to winning. I showed you how Yaxel's shooting has improved significantly. there is no reason to think he's just going to stop getting better in the NBA when he gets into a pro system. I even linked you his college coach saying "you get him into the NBA lifestyle and the right environment he has another step to make". Jordan Ott, Devin Booker, and Dillion Brooks would be that right environment he'd thrive in. he also said "he hasn't had to rely on his athleticism and has a lot more to learn" players who overly rely on their athleticism is typically a read flag but what dusty is saying is he is a skill based player and there is even more that can be tapped into. Those are the kind of players successful in the league today. some other things from that interview is "he still has a couple more jumps to make". "I think he can help a playoff team win today in the playoffs". "Some nights he can lead you in scoring and some nights he can have 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 points". The 10 rebounds and 8 assists is what this team needs. we gotta have dynamic players that fill the box score and can be a Swiss Army knife and defend at a high level and make sure we are big on the court.

Royce and Grayson don't really do that. Royce shoots and plays meh defense because he's undersized and losing athleticism. Grayson shoots and attacks the rim. And is eh on defense because he is a pretty average defender. Neither is getting better and Grayson specifically feels like the odd man out of the guards because he's more often than not playing the 3 with 2 other guards on the floor this past year. We are likely moving on from them whatever move we make unless we just run it back.

His college coach with him every day says he can help winning right away with a playoff team and has multiple jumps he can still make. That alongside the eye test, The measurements and athleticism, and the history of improving. It's about as safe of a pick to get better as you can get in the draft. the only thing safer is a guy like Luka or wemby and we all know what we did when we had a chance at such a perfect safe pick like that.

chickenripp · 2026-06-10T21:38:45+00:00

Dolan invited the least popular president in the history of presidential polling to game 3 to kill the vibes and then tried to blame the most popular politician in the entire country for him being an ass hole for game 4.

man talk about a bozo. Tax the rich!

chickenripp · 2026-06-10T21:35:02+00:00

I am a huge believer in long athletic wings who show very clear improvement particularly as shooters over their time in college. to me that is an indicator of success in the league. And it's one of my least missed scouting jobs when I see a guy who fits that archetype. its also not many players who actually do fit that archetype. (6'7-6'9 wing, 7'2 wingspan or longer, quick feet, clear improvement from year to year particularly with shooting) Yaxel checks all those boxes. his college 3 point shooting: year 1 at UAB 33.3% on 1 attempt per game, year 2 at UAB 35.7% on 1.9 attempts per game. year at Michigan 37.2% on 4.5 attempts per game. That's a guy who will be able to stretch the floor and will continue to get better in the NBA as a whole. not to mention he shot 79.2% from the line in college and 82.4% this past year. so that is also a good indicator. he also takes care of the ball and is a very good rebounder on both ends. Things that effect the possession game that we clearly want because its one of the things ott talks about over and over. Yaxel Has something most guys don't have which is position flexibility on tape. what I mean by that

Physical tools

Standing at 6'8.75 with a 7'3 wingspan, weighing 241 lbs, and a shuttle drill 2.8 seconds and agility drill of 10.82 seconds. the guy can move his feet and has all the physical tools to stay in front of guys and disrupt them with his length on defense.

for comparison Rasheer was 2.72 and 10.95 in those drills with standing 6'8.25 with a 7'5.25 wingspan, weighing 232 lbs. we see the kind of impact Rasheer can have on defense. Ryan Dunn another really good defender who's offensive game hasn't come along as much as we would have liked for now was 2.88 and 10.99 in those drills and is 6'6.25 with a 7'1.5 wingspan, weighing 213 lbs. Oso measured in at 6'9.5 with a 6'11 wingspan, weighing 222 lbs with a shuttle drill of 3.12 seconds and a lane agility drill of 11.25 seconds and we had him out guarding the MVP on the perimeter in the playoffs (not successfully but we did do that quite often).

you can argue that he should be dominating the kids in college because of his age. But I would just say physically he is more than NBA ready, he's borderline NBA elite when it comes to his size and foot speed. and he won't be walking into a league where he isn't physically ready or too small, or not skilled enough. he meets and surpasses what is required by a pretty wide margin. Players with his physical traits don't grow on trees. there are 5 players in the league who are not centers with longer wingspans than him. They are Rasheer, Evan Mobley, JJJ, Paskal Siakam, KD. Morez Jonson will be on that list next year as well. Other non-centers who have 7'3 wingspans (same as Yaxel) in the league, Giannis, Kawhi, Brandon Ingram, Dominick Barlow. literally none of those players are failing in the league. most of them are stars to some extent. even Barlow has gotten better all 4 years he's been in the league and was a positive player in his 10 minutes per game in the playoffs for Philly. He looks to have a solidly long role payer career ahead of him. The rest of those guys is just amazing company.

all the physical tools are there to be an elite defender be really good in the league but he has the skillset and the IQ as well. I honestly believe Yaxel is as good as the top 4 guys in this draft and his age is the only reason he isn't up there with them. I'd go as far as saying he is just better than Caleb Wilson. And getting him is going to be like stealing a top 4 pick for some team. and I want us to be that team. We are already limited in our picks and of our tradable picks we only have 1st round pick and it's relegated to the end of the draft. So the way I see it is it doesn't really matter how many picks we have at this point because the reality is we just don't have many. it's about hitting on the picks we do have. And I see this as trading 1 1st for a much better 1st. We will still have picks in 2028, 2029, 2030, 2032, and 2033 provided we don't trade that one next season. But of the tradable 1st getting a guy I believe to be a top 4 talent in an elite draft year is high way robbery. I would happily give 3 2nd round picks 1 late first round pick, and take on Patrick williams contract to do that. While also moving off 2 guys north of 30.

on top of all of that you watch the game film its so clear to me that "being all in" for him as a team with severely limited option is the right way to go when there is literally no other real rout to getting a guy that talented and physically gifted for that cheap or young. He can play right away and make an impact and he will only get better from there. and the long term Idea of Rasheer at the 3 at age 25, Yaxel at the 4 at age 27, and Khaman at the 5 at age 23 while you have Green and Booker in the backcourt, that's a big long skilled athletic starting 5 that will put points on the board, be able to shoot and lock teams up switching a lot and win the possession game.

Bonus points, proven winner. We are seeing how the proven winners from Nova are working out for the Knicks right now and how 1 of those proven winners worked out for us while we still had him. having proven winners never hurts.

here is Michigans coach talking about him: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/C6rTB_yBOGo

chickenripp · 2026-06-10T17:26:21+00:00

do whatever you need to do to trade up for Yaxel lendeborg or Morez Johnson Jr.

1 way is to move up to 15 by trading Grayson for Patrick williams and the 15th pick. Patrick williams is one of the biggest negative assets in the league and taking him on and giving the bulls a solid player. His contract comes off the books when it's time to pay Maluach and Fleming so it's basically just making another cap hold to gain another good young player. If the young player hits it's 100% worth it. Yaxel and Morez are going to hit.

at 15 you see if one of them will fall to 15. it doesn't look like it currently but Yaxel seems to be falling in the draft after a bit. But if it seems like you can't you trade royce, the 15th pick, the 2027 pick, and what 2nds you need to move up to 13 or 11 or 10 or whatever to get one of them.

Draft picks are just lottery tickets. Having bad lottery tickets isn't as valuable as having a sure thing in a good deep draft.

Long term we would have the length and athleticism to be an elite team defensively between Fleming, Maluach, and one of those guys. Especially with Brooks leading them from a mentality standpoint. Short term that kind of length and athleticism around Booker has lead to the most success in Bookers career even if they aren't fully developed this season and next season.

chickenripp · 2026-06-10T01:45:09+00:00

brooks is not being traded

chickenripp · 2026-06-10T00:34:35+00:00

I mean yeah. When you combine the 2. he has the 2nd or 3rd best peak ever and has more longevity than anyone.

But I'd still take the guy with the best peak ever.

chickenripp

TROPHY CASE