From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 02:02 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

2017-18 Awards+Final Standings

Awards:

Final Standings:

Retirements:

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 02:03 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Ch. 1

April 24th, 2018

The pattern for the Phoenix Suns was the same it had been for the last eight seasons – miss the playoffs, bemoan the blown games, prepare for the draft, and hope against hope that the next season would be different. The Suns were a miserable franchise at this point, blessed with young talent and a front office that knew not how to use it.

“Incompetent,” Sam Gray mumbled to himself as he banged away on his keyboard. He would like to call the front office many things, many terrible, insulting, cathartic things. They were bad at their jobs, they criminally underperformed, and they were constantly getting excused by someone.

“The team is young,” people said. “The franchise is rebuilding,” NBA experts proclaimed. It was all bull *hit.

The fact of the matter – no, the truth of the matter – was that the franchise was run by imbeciles. Sarver was happy to own the team and reap the many benefits of depriving the fans of their hard-earned cash through keeping a cheap payroll; the front office was happy to oblige him so they could keep their jobs.

It was all a vicious, sickening cycle that seemed to have no end in sight.

Or, at least, it seemed that way when Sam woke up that morning. Now, eight hours later, there was something in his heart that had been missing since Nash was traded to the hated Lakers; hope. Robert Sarver, the bane of Suns' existence, was selling the team … if rumors were to be believed.

And Sarver was doing nothing to dispel those rumors. In fact, he had assembled the entire team – every member of the Suns roster – and was flying them to an island resort to announce the news and introduce them to their new mystery owner.

“Who's the poor *astard?” Sam asked himself as he chewed on his favorite pen (which had run out of ink months ago but it still served a purpose as a chew toy). His years in the newspaper business made having connections and sources easy.

But those connections and those sources were just as much in the dark as he. The league office was tight-lipped, unusual for this time of year, and no one from the Suns was answering his calls.

He scratched at his stubble, stood from his chair, and stretched; his back cracked louder than a firecracker on the fourth of July and he grimaced momentarily before letting out a sigh of relief. Age is the great equalizer, he reminded himself. He wouldn't haven't tightened up like this ten years ago, but now – approaching 50 and decidedly not in his prime – even sitting for a few hours at a time caused his body to ache.

He was old. Maybe that was why Sarver was pulling out now, maybe the guy wasn't going to waste his life waiting for a Phoenix title that always was just beyond reach. How close had they come to making the Finals in the Nash years? Just a few plays away, a few calls, a few whistles … always next year.

He stood there for a moment, contemplating his mortality and the futility of investing so much into a sports franchise destined to be less than the Lakers or Celtics.

“Some Barkley highlights,” he said to the empty room. Watching Sir Charles unleashed in a Suns uniform was always good for his soul, even if Charles – like himself – was old and getting older by the day. As he searched for the remote to his TV, he came across his phone buried under what was left of his feast of leftover Chinese. “uck.” He had left it on silent and the blinking, blue notification light flashed annoyingly at him, begging him to activate the display and be flooded with all the important “news.”

News that was likely to do with Twitter notifications he forgot to turn off or texts from people he rather wished didn't have his number in the first place.

He picked it up, unlocked the phone, and found he had fifty-nine new notifications. His heartbeat accelerated as he scrolled through them, working his way back to the event …

With speed he didn't know he still had, Sam crossed the room and manually turned on his TV and switched the input to cable.

There, in full view of the world and history, was the breaking news that would forever haunt his memory.

Phoenix Suns plane crashes, death toll unknown

****

May 1st, 2018

She removed the black hat from her head and tossed it casually upon the office chair — her office chair. It was all hers now, the team, the arena, everything …

Including the deaths of those people. The entire roster of the Phoenix Suns decimated in one, fell swoop — God’s sick sense of humor at work. She had bought the franchise for the team, the youth, the potential, the ability to make a statement: That was gone now.

Instead, she was left with tragedy. Pity. Death. Sadness. Grief. Guilt.

The Suns future had become cloudy, much like the weather.

A rumble of thunder echoed and the sky — poignantly enough — opened up and poured out its tears … whether it was tears from sadness or tears from something else, she wasn’t sure.

“Poetic,” her right-hand man, John Weaver, said from behind her. The ginger, freckle-faced and sporting an infectious smile (most days), was dour today. His mood, much like hers, was dark. It was hard not to be.

“I’m glad the funeral is over with,” she relayed to him, not for the first time since the entire affair had ended. The team ceremony for those that passed was … eerie. The families and friends of those that perished were there and she felt nearly every one of them had, somewhere in their mind, affixed the blame for the tragedy to her.

They were coming to see you, to meet you, she heard in her mind. The thought had tortured her for weeks. The funeral had only confirmed that her thinking, wrong as it might have been from a rational standpoint — the odds against such a crash were high — had been right emotionally; those people did blame her on some level. The entire fanbase did.

It was irrational and illogical, but her years in the business world had taught her that people were those two things above all else; to expect rationality and logic was illogical all on its own.

John cleared his throat, his hand fumbling in his pocket — a tic of his. “Regina … this isn’t going to be what we thought it would be.”

She stared at their combined reflections in the window, the pouring rain battering against it. “It isn’t. It’ll be harder … but we can’t let it be the defining moment of our tenure.” She turned to face him, her gaze unrelenting. “I didn’t buy this team to get buried with the people who died.”

John offered a nod. “Agreed. We had plans, we can still achieve those plans … if we play our cards right.”

“Then let’s see what we’ve been dealt.” She kicked off her heels and strolled across her office barefoot, a small comfort she could afford — she noted mentally to have the rugs replaced, they weren’t particularly soft. She sat on the lounge couch and got comfortable. “I assume you have news from the league?”

John loosened his tie and offered a nod. “The owners have approved the purchase, of course. Silver has communicated to me that the NBA will be instituting a disaster draft immediately after the end of the Finals … so sometime in early June.”

“A disaster draft? I didn’t know they had such a thing.”

John pulled out a small notebook and pen from his jacket pocket — he was amusingly attached to writing his own notes that way instead of using a tablet — and found his notes. “Every team will be allowed to protect five players, we’ll be allowed to select one player from the unprotected pool from each team — one player per team, no doubles — and those players can either be under contract or not for next year. We’re basically selecting their rights if they don’t have a contract.”

She absorbed the information silently for a moment. “And our cap sheet?”

“We will be responsible for honoring the contracts of the players that we lost, but in terms of the league … we have a clean cap sheet; those contracts won’t count against us ever again.”

A fresh start, good. “John, I want a memorial for those players. Cost is unimportant. A marble wall with their names inscribed in it, at the front entrance to the arena and a smaller plaque version at every entrance into the seating area. I want their names in the rafters on a banner, large and prominent.”

He took down the notes and tapped his pen against the notebook. “And their numbers?”

“Do you want the nice answer or the real answer?”

“Real,” he said without hesitation.

She allowed a small smile. She could always count on him preferring the truth over what sounded good. “The numbers of the players that died, cold as it may seem, are also numbers that are highly marketable. Someone else, down the line, may decide they want that number and I want them to have that opportunity.”

He winced. “Long-term, I agree. Short-term, people are going to be angry.”

“Anger is natural in this situation. We’ll get through it.”

He jotted some more notes down. “The NBA has also guaranteed us the first pick in the draft.” He looked up. “There’s no doubt who we’re taking, right?”

She flashed a smile. “No doubt.”

****

June 12th, 2018

“OP, it’s J-Dog!” His cousin came bursting through the sidedoor to their house and clapped his hands excitedly. “Where’s my boy at?”

Omar Pope exited from the nearby bathroom and clutched at his chest. “Jesus, man, you about gave me a heartache.” They exchanged their customary handshake — so complicated it took them three weeks of practice to master it in seventh grade — and Omar nodded towards the kitchen. “Yo, you eat yet?”

“Nah, I mean … well, I kinda did … but I really didn’t, cause I had to leave halfway through, so nah,” J-Dog said with his usual flair.

“Your mom ran you out of the house again, huh?”

J-Dog shook his head and rolled his eyes. “She’s trippin’ man, she’s trippin’. You need to get your mom to talk her down, she’s freaking out about you getting drafted; she’s all up on me and I don’t mean in a good way.”

Omar winced and grinned all at once. “God, don’t put that image in my brain.”

J-Dog waved his hands; if he was playing defense, this was the part where he was backpedaling in fear … Omar had seen that look a lot during his lone college season. “I didn’t mean it like that.” He turned his attention to his first love in life — his stomach — and started rummaging through the household fridge, filled with J-Dog’s favorite thing in existence: Leftovers.

“*hit, you guys had lasagna and didn’t invite me over? The *uck man, you know I love your mom’s Italian.”

Omar sat himself on the kitchen barstool — his 6’8” frame making it look ridiculous — and took out his phone. “Aunt Briana cooks.”

“Not like your mom,” J-Dog shot back. He popped open the lid of leftover lasagna, inhaled deeply, and nodded. “This is mine.” He pulled out some Parmesan cheese while he was in the fridge and, with one deft movement, closed the fridge with his foot while opening the microwave with his other hand.

“You should have displayed that move in high school, coach would have played you more.”

“I would have had to blow that *ss to get on the court.” J-Dog pulled a plate from the dishwasher, stared at it for a moment, shrugged, and dumped the entire container of lasagna onto it. He stuck it in the microwave, covered it with a paper towel (Omar’s mother had gotten on to everyone about the state of the microwave over the years) and nuked that thing.

The microwave started doing its work. “What you up to?”

“Texting Max.”

“Super-agent Max,” J-Dog said with thick dose of sarcasm. “He’s a tight*ss, you know that?”

“He’s my agent. I’m fine with him being a tight*ss, as long as he’s a tight*ss who does his job well.” Omar finished responding to Max’s most recent text — basically asking him what his mindset was — and tossed his phone onto the counter. “Look, there’s a lot of *hit to handle, man. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but my parents hired Max to guide us and he’s guiding us right to the top.”

J-Dog held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, OP. I wasn’t getting on you or your folks, I’m just sayin’ … your agent is the whitest white dude that ever whited in the history of white folk.”

They both laughed at that for a good minute before the microwave interrupted them, letting them know J-Dog’s food was done — well, the Pope household’s food that J-Dog was scarfing down. Truthfully, Omar’s mom didn’t mind J-Dog disposing of the leftovers; it was her husband and Omar’s father who insisted they be saved (”Leftoveritis, he got it from you grandmother,” his mother had told him a few times) but his father never really ate the leftovers.

J-Dog blew on the steaming hot lasagna, dug his fork into it and took a measured bit. “*uck, hot,*uck,” he half-whispered, half-yelled as he took a deep drink of his bottled water — which amazingly he had grabbed from the fridge before and Omar hadn’t even noticed. J-Dog always had quick hands … he also had a very short attention span too.

J-Dog held out his fork like a mic. “So, my man, Pope Omar the twenty-fifth, tell me what it feels like to be the first overall pick in the NBA draft?”

Omar found himself drawing a blank. What did it feel like it? He wasn’t sure. He still was having difficulty wrapping his head around it all … the Suns team going down in flames, the NBA granting them the first overall pick, the absolute certainty that he was going to be picked first — because the Suns called him and told him over a month ago.

J-Dog held the fork a little bit closer. “Mister Pope, Earth to Omar, you there?”

Omar slapped the fork away. “Don’t blow smoke up *ss, Ned.”

J-Dog dropped the fork onto the plate and grimaced. “*uck, don’t call me that.”

“It’s your damn name.”

“My mom was so hopped up on drugs she didn’t know what to put — it’s just a technicality, I’m getting that *hit changed when I move out, you better believe that.” He picked up his fork again and dug into the lasagna. “I ain’t Ned.”

Omar’s stomach growled, the smell of hot food waking it from its slumber. “I think I’m gonna get some food myself.”

“I saw some pork chops in the back left of the bottom shelf, they looked good too,” J-Dog said between mouthfuls.

Omar gave a nod of acknowledgment. No matter how crazy his life was about to get, he knew three things:

One, he was a damned good basketball player.

Two, his parents would always have his back.

Three, J-Dog would look out for him … especially when it came to food.

**RMJH4** · 07-04-2018, 02:37 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Yess! Great start, disaster draft! Gonna be good I can feel it. Love to see the Sun's good again. Ran with them back on NBA2K10.

Your own fictional drafts?! Love those, too difficult to keep accurate real drafts.

Good luck man. Im sold already, following.��

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 02:46 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Originally posted by seaboh

Yess! Great start, disaster draft! Gonna be good I can feel it. Love to see the Sun's good again. Ran with them back on NBA2K10.

Your own fictional drafts?! Love those, too difficult to keep accurate real drafts.

Good luck man. Im sold already, following.��

Much thanks! Yes, the almighty disaster draft -- first revealed to the world by Bill Simmons in his "The Book of Basketball" in the "What if?" section about the 1960 Lakers plane crash that almost was (pg 204, I have it permanently bookmarked).

When I first read about it, I was stunned I had never heard of it before then. It immediately set my mind afire with possibilities and I've been working, off and on, for nearly a year on this idea.

As for fictional drafts -- yeah, this first class is me (wanted to set the table with a cast of characters in the NBA of my own making) but after that, it's either user created or CPU generated (and truthfully a good portion of my first class was just user generated by 2K, I had no real issues with a lot of the players it beyond visual looks and ages).

It's gonna be fun I hope.

**Stout** · 07-04-2018, 02:51 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

The Suns needing to start over after a tragedy. Sounds familiar, Trek.

Really exited to see how this unfolds. The disaster draft concept has always been, in concept, fascinating to me. Hopefully, we won't have to actually encounter something like that in any sports league.

I like the idea of using the created/fictional draft classes. Just give me a game or two with those 2000's purple Suns jerseys and I'll be a happy camper!

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 02:54 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Originally posted by Stout

The Suns needing to start over after a tragedy. Sounds familiar, Trek.

Really exited to see how this unfolds. The disaster draft concept has always been, in concept, fascinating to me. Hopefully, we won't have to actually encounter something like that in any sports league.

I like the idea of using the created/fictional draft classes. Just give me a game or two with those 2000's purple Suns jerseys and I'll be a happy camper!

Yes, another tragedy for the Suns ... I apparently have issues with them subconsciously?

And, yes, the jersey's -- you bet we'll be getting those mid-2000s jerseys (NASH) as well as my own rebrand (as I can't stand the current iteration -- so boring and plain). Will be showing those off shortly.

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 03:00 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Suns Disaster Draft Recap

By Sam Gray

For Phoenix Suns fans, the last seven weeks have been filled with the lowest of lows — the franchise suffered one of the most tragic events in pro sports history as the entire roster from last season lost their lives in an accident no one could have predicted.

But the NBA had a plan in place in case this ever happened and that plan was enacted earlier this morning, as the Phoenix Suns participated in the first — and hopefully last — disaster draft. Per NBA rules, every NBA team was allowed to protect the rights to five players (either under contract or not) and the Suns were given the chance to draft one of the players from the unprotected pool — Phoenix was only allowed to draft one player from one team, no more.

At the helm for this draft, and for the actual NBA draft merely days away, was the Suns’ new GM David Griffin. Griffin officially assumed the role of GM two weeks ago and made it clear he understands the nature of his job.

“Right now, we’re all hurting … there’s not a person I know, in the league or in Phoenix, who isn’t feeling some form of anger or grief about the loss of those people. We’ll never get them back and they can never be replaced … but I believe the community and the league will rally around this organization and those families who suffered. We’re starting from scratch and it’s going to be difficult in ways that I can’t predict, but we will get through it together,” said Griffin.

New owner Regina Culver — only the second African-American to own a pro sports team in the NBA and the only woman to fully own her own franchise in the NBA — echoed Griffin’s statements.

“We’re committed to building the Suns back up and we’ll do that one brick at a time,” Culver said. “We’re not starting from square one, we’re starting at square zero, and it will be challenging … but it is not a challenge I or anyone in this organization will shy away from.”

Griffin’s draft strategy was apparent from the jump: grab players that can develop but also help build a winning culture.

C Harry Giles (SAC)

C Nerlens Noel (DAL)

PF Juan Hermangomez (DEN)

PF Serge Ibaka (TOR)

SF Terrence Ferguson (OKC)

SG Dante Exum (UTA)

SG Cedi Osman (CLE)

PG Derrick White (SA)

PG Terry Rozier (BOS)

The Suns had the ability to select up to fifteen players but settled on only nine, the minimum amount required by the NBA.

“We had players we wanted to target and got those players; we’re really looking to save cap space to allow future moves,” said Griffin.

The most notable name selected by the Suns would have to be Serge Ibaka — he will immediately be the highest paid player on the team and was left unprotected by the Raptors, who are giving indications that they’re looking to change the core of their squad during this offseason.

“Leaving Ibaka unprotected was a clear signal to everyone across the league that the Raptors are finally ready to move on,” said one league executive. “They can’t get to the Finals with that squad.”

The other names — Noel, Exum, Rozier, Osman — are all younger players (each under the age of 25) whom have all struggled to show their best at one point or another. Rozier is the only one out of the bunch who has proven to be successful with a winning team, albeit as a bench player for the Celtics.

Multiple sources throughout the league are also convinced the Suns will make another big move in the draft. Phoenix, as part of the NBA’s catastrophe rule, was automatically guaranteed the first overall pick of the next draft and the Suns have made no secret of their intentions.

“His name is Omar Pope and he’s going to be a Phoenix Sun on June 21st,” reiterated Culver. “We will not trade the pick and we will not entertain any trade offers for it or Omar. Period.”

Phoenix also possesses the eleventh overall pick, thanks to trading Dragic to the Heat in 2015. That pick could be used to make another move, though what moves are being considered are unknown at this point; Phoenix could swing the pick for another veteran player who needs a new home (think Kevin Love) or the Suns could use the pick to move up into the top-ten, though whom the target would be is also a mystery.

Whatever the case, the Suns objective is clear: There will be no bottoming out for another top pick next season. Phoenix will at least try to compete this season and their best player will likely be the one they will draft first overall in nine days.

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 03:22 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Suns Announce New Jerseys Ahead of 2018 NBA Draft

By Sam Gray

In an expected move, the Phoenix Suns have announced new jerseys for the upcoming 2018-19 NBA season.

“It was important to commission new jerseys as soon as we could,” said owner Regina Culver. “The jerseys that were worn by last year’s team will be permanently retired. Those jerseys are reserved for those men and those men alone.”

After the tragedy, the Suns were immediately contacted by Nike to discuss the jersey situation and Nike quickly worked up new designs based on Culver’s parameters. The new jerseys should look very familiar to longtime NBA fans.

For the home and away sets, the Suns returned to classics that have yet to be topped; the streaking sun, prominent across the chest. The updated Suns logo, combined with slight other differences, was enough for the league office to allow it as a new jersey — despite it hewing very closely to the originals.

“We had to do a little convincing, but this is not a one-to-one copy; we prefer to think of it as a redux or reboot of a classic jersey,” said Culver.

The biggest departure is the missing of a purple version of the uniform — traditionally the Suns away uniform — and that omission was intentional according to Culver.

“We are a franchise and community in mourning; there will be no purple version of this uniform this season, though we do have plans to debut one next year. This season, our icon uniforms will be black.”

The alternate uniform will represent a large departure for the Suns, at least in terms of color scheme.

Featuring only black and white, the uniforms — dubbed “The Monochromes” according to an internal Suns’ memo — are a stark departure from the usual Phoenix design choices, though the uniform is certainly eye-catching.

“We wanted to try something bold and a bit experimental for our final uniform set,” said Culver.

NBA jersey watchers across the web were largely onboard with the home and away kits, referring to the return to a classic style as “much-appreciated” and “welcome.” But the alternate jerseys are proving to be far more divisive, especially on social media.

“I think they took it a little too far on that last one,” said former Suns point-guard Steve Nash. “But, hey, if the team likes it and the kids like it, I guess that’s really all that matters. The people of Phoenix need a smile.”

Indeed we do, Steve. Indeed we do.

**RMJH4** · 07-04-2018, 03:31 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Originally posted by trekfan

Much thanks! Yes, the almighty disaster draft -- first reveled to the world by Bill Simmons in his "The Book of Basketball" in the "What if?" section about the 1960 Lakers plane crash that almost was (pg 204, I have it permanently bookmarked).

When I first read about it, I was stunned I had never heard of it before then. It immediately set my mind afire with possibilities and I've been working, off and on, for nearly a year on this idea.

As for fictional drafts -- yeah, this first class is me (wanted to set the table with a cast of characters in the NBA of my own making) but after that, it's either user created or CPU generated (and truthfully a good portion of my first class was just user generated by 2K, I had no real issues with a lot of the players it beyond visual looks and ages).

It's gonna be fun I hope.

You know what, I'm gonna buy that book on Google books. Just finished 7 seconds or less and Id recommend that to you now with the Suns! Also have Furious George ready to read too!

Yea 2k generated are def better this year. And with a few tweaks its great for writing stories. As I'm in Ireland I miss out on all the high school stuff so could never keep up with 2019 and beyond. Best to go your route all right.

Edit: Love to see 'Griff' as your GM, bring back those Nash era Suns!! Loving the roster and unis so far. Solid picks.

Just bought the white Barkley Sun's uni last week!

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 03:44 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Originally posted by seaboh

You know what, I'm gonna buy that book on Google books. Just finished 7 seconds or less and Id recommend that to you now with the Suns! Also have Furious George ready to read too!

Yea 2k generated are def better this year. And with a few tweaks its great for writing stories. As I'm in Ireland I miss out on all the high school stuff so could never keep up with 2019 and beyond. Best to go your route all right.

Edit: Love to see 'Griff' as your GM, bring back those Nash era Suns!! Loving the roster and unis so far. Solid picks.

Just bought the white Barkley Sun's uni last week!

Highly recommend Simmons' book, it's really good. And I picked up Seven Seconds or Less last week in preparation for this and that's where I found out Griffin was with the Suns in the first place! I never knew (and now that I do, I can't help but wonder why the hell they let him go?).

And thank you on the rosters and the unis. Loved those Barkley era unis and always felt they deserved to get a Philly-redux treatment, so I gave them that. Very similar but different in a few ways.

And for my picks, I definitely didn't want it to be crazy, so I figured out which players the teams protected and why, then picked the best of the ones remaining that fit with my way to play. I like the roster, but it's definitely not ready for playoffs in the insanely competitive West (even with Pope). Lots of building to be done, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 05:51 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Suns Take Pope First in Busy NBA Draft

By Sam Gray

The Phoenix Suns have their man and that man is Omar Pope, the 18-year-old star forward from Arizona.

“It’s an honor, a joy, to be here right now — I will make sure that the people of Phoenix and the Suns fans never regret this day,” said Pope after the draft, still emotional as one would expect. “I will be the greatest Sun to ever set foot on the court and bring us as many wins and titles as I can, I swear.”

Phoenix was true to their word and took the self-proclaimed (in a widely panned interview last February) “Pope of Basketball.” Omar Pope was a star the instant he set foot on campus at Arizona, part of a heralded draft class that produced three first round picks in total this draft from the university. Pope averaged 26.7 PPG, 7.3 APG, and 6.8 RPG at Arizona, lighting the college basketball world on fire and taking Arizona to the Final Four, where they ultimately fell to Duke — the 2018 National Champs.

Phoenix possessed another first round pick in this draft, eleventh overall from the Miami Heat, but engaged in a trade with the Clippers to move up to seventh overall:

That trade allowed Phoenix to draft another Arizona player, Pope’s teammate (and co-star/cohort) Brian Hammons, a sweet-shooting stretch four who was a fantastic compliment to Pope during the college basketball season, scoring 19.8 PPG and grabbing 8.9 RPG while shooting 39% from deep.

“I can’t believe it!” Hammons yelled as he shot up from his chair in the green room. Pope found him quickly and the two teammates exchanged an excited hug before Hammons made his way onto the stage.

After the rookie exchanged a handshake with Adam Silver and had an interview with ESPN, he elaborated on why he was so surprised.

“All throughout the process my agent had been telling me that I might slide a little, that I might not be in the top ten and I really took that to heart. All week I’ve been preparing to just sit in the green room and relax as best I could, and then Phoenix came up and got me; I’m still stunned and I’m ready to roll with Omar, we’re gonna rock this. We’re gonna rock this hard.”

The Suns final pick of the night came in the second round, pick thirty-two overall, where they selected Italian center Daniele Oliverio, a 19-year-old many believed could have been a late first-round pick. Oliverio will not be joining the team until next season, so don’t expect him in a Suns’ uniform for at least another year.

“He’s raw right now but another year overseas will polish him some,” said a longtime NBA scout. “He’s not too athletic but he’s heady, a hard-worker, no nonsense type … he looks soft, but he’s far from it.”

There was one other trade during the draft, made by the Hawks and Bulls:

Atlanta wanted to move up a spot to grab what they felt was their point-guard of the future and present in Brad Reynolds, a gunner point guard whom many believe will be in the running to be the best player in this draft. Reynolds lacks the all-round skills of Pope, but his shooting is vastly superior and this may allow him to excel earlier.

The Hawks are widely expected to move on from Dennis Schroder in the coming weeks, though to where is not known.

The rest of the draft unfolded as follows:

**Stout** · 07-04-2018, 06:06 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

#OmarComin

Nice move to get Hammons, too. Don't you love when the storylines write themselves? Now all we need is a Jabari Parker reunion!

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 06:17 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Originally posted by Stout

#OmarComin

Nice move to get Hammons, too. Don't you love when the storylines write themselves? Now all we need is a Jabari Parker reunion!

Dude, it was pretty awesome to see Hammons there -- I was plotting it all out and realized he and Omar were on the same team and was like "I might have a chance at this" and, after analyzing the roster of the Clippers and determining they'd like to make a dump of salary+get back a good player (like Osman, whom I was reluctant to give up but I had to have Hammons), I made the deal.

It was a gift. There was a third guy who was still available at pick 30 from Arizona too, but the Warriors were there and they had no reason to pass on him or trade out of that spot from what I determined, so he's a hated Warrior now.

But -- BUT -- the best part of this draft was the Nuggets pick at number 19. I swear, his name was 2K generated, I did nothing, but he's a small forward and his name is ...

Dick Hall. And Adam Silver SAID IT. I laughed so hard.

**trekfan** · 07-04-2018, 06:43 PM

Re: From the Ashes: A Phoenix Tale

Free Agency Opens and Things Get Wild

By Sam Gray

NBA Free Agency is now open, and the news that LeBron James is signing with the Lakers has emboldened multiple teams to make moves across the league.

With LeBron on the roster, the Lakers wanted to bolster their ranks to help James beat the Goliath Golden State Warriors, who loom over the West as he once did over the East. It’s also no secret that the Lakers heavily covet Kawhai Leonard of the Spurs, whom over the last few weeks has expressed considerable discontent with the Spurs and whom San Antonio has had no success in trying to mend fences with.

The Leonard situation is now officially resolved.

The Lakers, Spurs, and Hawks engaged in a massive three-team trade that altered the fates of every squad involved. San Antonio managed to convince the Lakers to part with Ingram and Hart, along with a little protected 2019 first rounder, and sent them Leonard; they then shifted that pick and Patty Mills over to the Hawks for Dennis Schroder, who will immediately slot into the starting spot for the Spurs.

For many weeks it’s been reported that the Spurs wanted “the kitchen sink” for Leonard, at least as it came to the Lakers’ offers, but with James now on the Lakers and Leonard’s camp loudly broadcasting Leonard’s unwillingness to sign anywhere else next summer but the Lakers, the Spurs were caught between a rock and a woodchipper.

But the Spurs, as they often do, turned lemons into lemonade; Schroder is not the caliber of star Leonard is, but he is a blur on the court and will allow Popovich to deploy sets he hasn’t been able to use in many years.

“Think of Schroder as a German Tony Parker and imagine what Pop can do with him … Parker, at the same age, wasn’t nearly as good a three-point shooter,” said retired NBA scout Gil Brand, whom provided analysis for this piece.

The mega-trade set off a chain reaction — once the cork was popped, trade season took off in full force during free agency. Who was next? Enter the disappointing Hornets, who were no longer content to tread water.

First gone was Dwight Howard — the often maligned center was once again shipped off, this time to the Bulls for Felicio, a player with a smaller cap hit than Dwight but for two years longer. Howard is far from washed up, but falling out of favor with another team — again — has blackened his reputation.

“He’s seen as a serious locker room distraction and potentially a cancer. The Bulls think they can get him to be the mentor, the old-head, and they’re willing to roll the dice on him this year; worse comes to worse, they punt him like everyone else next year when he’s no longer under contract.”

The Hornets then engaged in their own mega-trade — along with the T’Wolves. Kemba Walker was unhappy with the firing of Steve Clifford and unhappy, in general, with the direction of the franchise and had informed the front office that he was going to leave the team next summer in free agency. Jimmy Butler, similarly, made the same known to the T’Wolves (with the added bonus of sharp criticism for Towns and Wiggins).

The Knicks took the opportunity to pounce. New York traded for Walker AND Butler, giving up a highly regarded prospect in Ntllikina, Enes Kanter, Tim Hardaway, and a little protected 2019 first rounder.

“The Knicks made a play — no LeBron, no more roadblock. They can battle for East supremacy against the Celtics and Sixers … it’s an all-in move that just smacks of the Knicks; if they re-sign both Walker and Butler — likely since both wanted to play in bigger markets and what bigger market is there than New York — their cap sheet is going to look like hell, but if they win who cares, right?”

Finally, the Hornets moved Lamb to the Lakers for their recent first round pick, Bryant Westbrook — signifying the end of their moves and their goal of rebuilding with a modestly clean cap sheet. Charlotte, for the first time in years, is in the black and looks to stay that way.

But the T’Wolves weren’t done. Butler didn’t work but he was far from the only problem; the biggest (in terms of salary and disappointment) was Andrew Wiggins, who didn’t progress this past season but rather seemed to regress. With a brand new, highly paying contract, Wiggins disappeared during the final stretch of the season, much to the frustration of his co-stars and his coaches.

Minnesota decided to move him while they could.

The Raptors were the logical — and perhaps best — destination for the Canadian-born Wiggins. Once known as “Maple Jordan”, Wiggins’ ceiling as a basketball player is in question. The Raptors ceiling as a team — with the firing of Dwayne Casey and the arms race in both conferences — was also in question.

They traded their franchise cornerstone, DeRozan, for Wiggins and the Knicks pick.

“It’s a cold, cold world — especially in Canada. DeRozan wasn’t going to get much further than the Raptors had the year before, not with the way the East was going … Toronto did him a favor, though I imagine he’s pretty hurt by it,” said Brand.

DeRozan, in fact, was hurt by it.

“I wanted to be there for my entire career. I never wavered from that. Toronto will always be where my heart is,” said DeRozan in an Instagram post of himself and his teammates from this past season.

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