Well, the chase is finally over.
On Saturday, it was announced that LaMarcus Aldridge would be signing a 4-year, $80 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs, thus putting an end to the question of whether or not the Suns had a chance at the star big man.
Free agent LaMarcus Aldridge will sign with the San Antonio Spurs, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2015
According to John Gambadoro, Aldridge made up his mind before the start of free agency, which made it at least a somewhat promising sign that the Suns were able to get him to reconsider. However, in the end, Aldridge could not be deterred. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Aldridge’s second meeting with the Spurs went a big way to convince him to sign with the Spurs; the Suns did not receive a second meeting with the star free agent.
It seems fitting that Aldridge made his decision on July 4, considering the date had not been especially kind to the Suns in the past. On July 4, 2012, the Suns agreed to send Steve Nash to the Lakers for four draft picks.
What did those picks turn into?
The first pick was used by the Suns to move up one spot and get Archie Goodwin; Phoenix used the third pick in the deal for Brandan Wright; they packaged the fourth pick with Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee to get Brandon Knight.
So what about that second pick?
It seems the beginning of the Suns troubles originated with that pick. The Suns used it to take Alex Oriakhi, who then (somewhat) famously became the player Phoenix would trade to acquire Isaiah Thomas. On paper, it was absolutely a great move; in reality, not so much.
It’s no secret that perhaps the team’s best point guard, Goran Dragic, became upset with the situation and forced his way out. The move created a rift among the team that led to the Suns having to trade two point guards at the trade deadline. Simply put, it wasn’t pretty.
But back to the present, the Suns now have to figure out what their next move is going to be. They still have a need for a (hopefully veteran) backup point guard, and they still need to add a bit of depth to that frontcourt. The suggestions have been pouring in via Twitter:
So who is out there from Arizona that the Suns can lure hone? Um... Channing Frye?
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) July 4, 2015
Amare coming home or nah???
— Project Uno (@Joseph_flores20) July 4, 2015
West likely chooses Wiz, but not a bad plan for Suns to swoop in & offer chance to mentor his friend @TonyWarrenJr https://t.co/8MDgzm9t6o
— Sean Sullivan (@SeanSullivanNBA) July 4, 2015
@ToonArmySun sign a backup point guard like Stuckey. Try and trade Keef for a star. That's always the plan. Suns still got better.
— Eric Saar (@Eric_Saar) July 4, 2015
With Tobias Harris off the table yesterday, the forward free agent pool is really starting the shrink. If the Suns are going to make a move, one might expect it to happen sooner rather than later, but really there’s no need to force anything now.
The Suns have solid trade pieces on the roster, if they want to do something down the road, and making the playoffs this year doesn’t seem especially likely, unless they’re going to be able to add a significant piece. The point of this team is to play for the future, specifically to play in a way in which a title window hopefully opens up (with the addition of another big name free agent) three-to-four-to-five years from now. So it basically means if the Suns just hold tight, this season could go a long way for them, both in developing their young players and actually winning some games.
After all, the only thing that looks especially bad for the Suns right now is that they surrendered Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger for basically nothing in return, but in the end that move may end up helping the team. T.J. Warren will be able to split the minutes with P.J. Tucker at the three, which should help his development substantially, while it will become a lot easier for the team to move Markieff Morris if that is the goal; now teams that want to trade for him will know they don’t have to take on the weight of his brother as well.