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The Phoenix Suns will face tough decisions in the near future as the NBA is expected to expand to 32 teams with franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle. With league expansion comes expansion drafts, and the Suns must decide which eight players on the roster that they want to protect to keep untouchable in said draft, with the decision around Jalen Green being among the biggest.
The league's new franchises would have the opportunity to add anyone outside of the Suns' protected eight, adding some gravity to the decisions. PHNX Suns debates which players should be untouchable, who among the roster would be nice to keep, and the group of players the franchise should be okay with losing in an expansion-draft scenario.
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The expansion draft is right around the corner, at least it appears like it, and the sons are deep.
Who exactly should they protect? Let's talk about it. This is my personal list.
If the expansion draft was today, because it's hard to project in the future,
who I would protect, who I'd want to keep, and then who would be borderline and can't keep.
Let's start with the untouchables. Devon Booker, Jalen Greene, C'mon Mollawanch,
Rocher Fleming. With that group of four, I would say, when I put this out there,
the name that everybody was kind of talking about the most was Jalen Greene.
A lot of that had to do with, do you want to pay Jalen Greene the amount of money that he's
keeping? Is there any argument for the sons to not protect Jalen Greene in an expansion draft?
Let's be clear. This is when you put it on Twitter. Yes. Okay. Well, now we understand a lot more
about that. It's A, not your money. B, it's not that much money, and C, it would be stupid not to
protect Jalen Greene. So I think that's where I stand. Yeah. I think about Jalen Greene and his
potential, like this deal that he's on right now could end up being a value deal. We have no idea
what the ceiling for who he is or who he could be is. So thinking about the contract now, even as
you said, it's not even that much money as is and down the line, it could age very, very well.
And obviously you're thinking about what you have to pay him the next time around. But if that's a
problem you have to deal with, then you're doing the right thing. That's a great problem to have.
24 years old, average 25 a game at his floor. His absolute floor when he's at the peak of his
powers. He's a good compliment to Devin Booker. He's a whole lot of what the team needs. And when
he's not around, you feel his presence not being there, both in energy as well as style of play on
offense. Like that's, that's a home run for you in terms of especially the contract context that
you brought to the conversation. So yeah, there's no realm in where you wouldn't protect Jalen Greene.
Well, and then you've got this younger guy who is going to have yet another chip on his shoulder
going to a Las Vegas who will likely be in your division or a Seattle who will be in your conference
wanting to coach your ass every time he plays you. Like that sounds like a nightmare scenario for
a guy that's not going to really make that much money. And it wouldn't help you all that significantly
to let go. I think the good news is like the actual expansion draft wouldn't be for another
couple of years. Now this current thought exercise is like if tomorrow they say, hey, this expansion
draft is happening. Who would you protect? Because we can't project into the future. But by the
time this actual expansion draft happens where you could protect eight players, you'll have a pretty
good idea on how Jalen Greene and Devon Booker look and it'll be a little bit later in Jalen's
career. So I think that that given sample size until then will really, you know, tell a lot. But
I guess I wouldn't be like totally surprised of a couple years from now. Let's say like, okay,
maybe this isn't working out exactly the way you'd expected to currently that they don't protect
them. But I can't see any trajectory where they don't protect Jalen. They would trade him long
before they ever let him walk in an in an expansion draft, even if they only got second round picks.
Like they would, I mean, you'd never get to that. But they'd trade him long before they let him walk.
Not until it passes. Looking at things through the lens of it, it's happening right now. There's
no way it's a lot that's happened. Now not to pat myself on the back, but I would assume there's
no other arguments with the untouchable category. Devon Booker, come on, Mala watch for sheer
Fleming. I don't know. Devon Booker makes a lot of money. I feel like the unsusable is rather obvious.
Yes. Okay. So I just want to make sure we're on the same page because the next eight names are
where it gets really interesting. So I've got four and untouchable. That means there's only four
more names that the sons could technically protect as of right now, who I would want to keep.
Dylan Brooks, Grayson Allen, Colin Gillespie, and also a Gidaro noticeably missing and starting
the borderline category is Mark Williams, and then Ryan Dunn, Jordan Goodwin, and Haywood
Highsmith. I think we unpack the Mark Williams sign of things first. Is there an argument for right
now, the son saying we'd actually want to keep Mark Williams over one of the four names Brooks,
Allen, Gillespie, Gidaro, that I have being protected. There is an argument. And I think that when you
start looking at it, obviously the one for one is probably Mark Osso because of the position part,
but I think when you keep looking at it, you think about Dylan and Grayson being a little bit older.
Now Dylan feels like he almost is untouchable because of what he means to the culture of this team.
And Grayson is very important as well, but when you start thinking about Mark, especially because we've
seen this team without him, something we've said in a lot of those games where they come up short,
the absence of Mark Williams is built in this game the way he dies to the basket after setting
screens. What he can do for this team because we've seen him at the peak of his powers this season.
And I think that what we've learned in the modern NBA is a center that can do the things that
Mark Williams does well. They are easy to find. And when you have a guy like that, it's hard
to replace that. So not saying that these other guys are easier to replace, but I think you'd
have an easier time finding somebody who does that than you would have finding another Mark Williams.
Yeah, I think the argument though is injuries, right? So so whatever contract Mark is under,
you're taking a chance that he's not available because they'll dumb cliche is the best ability is
availability, right? So that's where I would understand why you might consider Mark not being a guy
that you keep protected because you are inherently taking a risk with that, whether it's it's tough
to replace them or not. If commands in your in your untouchables and then you've got oh, so
and I want to keep, I think there's there's a numbers game too. I think that's the thing for me,
Steven, which is it's not necessarily that oh, so is the guy is being kept. It's that command
should hopefully project to be the starting center for this franchise in the future. Because I don't
know if we think oh, so because I was going to be the starting center, but command is is supposed
to be right. That to me is the name that keeps Mark Williams out of the want to keep it into borderline.
That's not, I mean, that's still not guaranteed. Sure. Still, but 19 years old, he's playing basketball,
he's been playing basketball for five, less than five years at this point. There's nothing guaranteed
on the other side of even just a couple of seasons from now that command is starting caliber ready.
That being said, I think for me what Mark is the health is part of it. The other part of it is
the contract and then the third part of it for me is do you think you can find something better
on the market because you're not the only team that's going to have to cut bait with something
that you may be valued that necessarily that naturally leads itself to a more opportunity to
bring other talent in the room. And there should be a breadth of options for players that are
borderline starting caliber. If not outright starting caliber that you just can't protect because
you only have four options with that mix. So you can find something better on the on the market.
And you think that's a better way for you to bring talent in. That might be another reason why
they don't do it. Now, I'll ask you guys at the end here. If you would swap any of these names
in and out. But before I do that, let's talk about Ryan Dunn. What's the argument to put Ryan
Dunn into the protected eight? There isn't. I don't think there is right now. I mean, the only
thing is you could say, well, potential. Okay. I think the guys that you have on there have more
potential to help you out and help you win in the near term. Steven. Yeah. I mean, I think
investing in your 3 and D guys because there are dime a dozen that can actually get that job done.
And also someone that's as young as he is and kind of like you said, investing in the future with
that. I think those things have to be brought into the into the fold when speaking about Ryan,
even if he is not playing his best basketball at the present moment. You have to kind of have
a forward thinking prospective with that. And I think with Ryan, he's probably the best option
with that that's outside of your top four if you're looking forward. Also, it's a little bit in
that mix as well, but also is at a different position. It has his own diversity that he still has
the answer to. So I'm just looking at it through a different lens. It's more about what I can
come up and you see that they can get out of these guys and between also and Ryan, I think there are
some conversations to be out there. It kind of comes back and goes against what I was saying about
Mark to a certain point, but I think the argument you'd have to make would revolve around him being
homegrown talent. A guy who you believed in, you invested a draft pick in and you brought him into
your system and just to kind of keep that continuity with other guys like that as well. So I think in
that situation, you would keep him over somebody else that you've brought in either whether or not
they're a veteran, whatever, however important they are. If you're looking in the long-term potential,
which that's the conversation that has he shown enough as of late to do that. But I think when
it comes down to it, it's like we believe in this guy, we can kind of mold him into being maybe a
better version of some of these guys who are currently around, but that requires a lot of belief in
him still becoming that. Hey, when you guys start to make me change my mind. I'm not trying to tell you
that. I guess I said, he says there's arguments for him to be in that type of thing.
Your arguments make sense. He's about saying a question for you, Espo. So other than Mark and Ryan
in the borderline category, I have Jordan Goodwin and Haywood Highsmith, right? Would you then make
an argument that Jordan Goodwin or maybe even Haywood Highsmith would be somebody that you would
put above Ryan done in the pecking order to protect? I think Haywood Highsmith could get there,
but for me, I'd keep Jordan Goodwin over Grayson Allen. Okay. Hey, economics, he's going to make
less. But B, when you look at the DNA that you're trying to craft with this team and you look at the
guys that you're keeping, there's nobody outside of maybe Dylan Brooks that embodies that more than
Jordan Goodwin. And I think that I would want to protect that, keep that in my system and understand,
okay, Grayson's been out with some of this right knee management, makes a decent amount of money,
could be on that back nine of his career rather than the front nine. Maybe I look at that's the kind
of guy that I put out there. I keep Jordan to keep that consistency and how much of a dog he is,
what he's meant to bringing this group together and stick with that. That would be my argument
there is I'd rather keep Jordan over a Ryan or Mark probably because of economics and what he
means to the group. And I probably drop Grayson into that borderline category. Let's talk about
replacements. That's why I liked that one. I like that. You know, you're pushing back on you say,
Grayson Allen out Jordan Goodwin and Gil, when you look at my top eight and then you look at my
bottom group of guys as well, would you make any swaps if this was you? I mean, there's the
mark conversation in the Ryan conversation. Those are the ones that are the strongest. I think
give you the most pause. And then right after that, what Espo was saying about Jordan Goodwin,
I think about what we talked about so much with culture. And that's why Dylan Brooks, I think
so high. And at the top of that, want to keep list, but Jordan Goodwin, you think about what he's
done and having players in a locker room who honestly quite frankly do things that can't really
be replicated in the way that he does them. It's not you're not going to find somebody else that
does it just like that that means so much for this franchise and the DNN for this franchise. So
that's kind of what I think about with those guys who, again, it's not like saying certain guys
at dime or dozen, but they do things that the part of it, the production part is more replicable,
whereas like the extra parts of Dylan Brooks, the extra parts of a Jordan Goodwin, you can't really
replicate and you have to get that from that specific player. You didn't answer my question,
though, Gil. Would you make a swap? That sounded great, but I need an answer. Yes. I'm sticking
with what I said and going my own argument and probably going back in that what want to keep
and maybe taking probably taking Grayson out. Okay. All that sounds so Grayson is the guy for both
of you to take out that top eight. Steven, would you make any swaps and if you do, would it be Grayson
who gets swapped out? I think Grayson shooting in the particular style of play is a little too much
to not have secured. So I won't go Grayson. I would probably keep it as is at the moment.
That's what I like to hear. Can I throw one thing out? Please. Do we buy fully into Colin
Gillespie being that guy or is this potentially more of a, he's shown flashes, but he's not going to
be the kind of guy we've seen all year. That's the one name that I look at it and I go, I see the
potential. I think he's that guy, but do I know he's that guy? I think currently you can't take
the risk of letting him go. He started for you majority this season. I know he's at his
lows, but he's had his high. Again, this is a benefit of this happening a couple of years from now,
where Colin will have been on a standard contract for a while. I think he's a guy that a lot of
sons fans even like the ilk of Ryan Dunn don't want to give up on because he feels like
our guy as well, the internal development. But what do you think? Would you make any swaps? Am I wrong
on my untouchable category that want to keep or am I borderline crazy with having Mark Williams
in the borderline category? You let me know what I got right, what I got wrong, what you thought
about them as well. And of course, you can let us know everything that you feel about the sons
on all of our live shows. Just make sure you subscribe to this channel and hit that like button,
and we'll talk to you all very soon.
PHNX Suns Podcast