2017-18 Season
With Len and presumably Knight off the roster, the Suns will still have some serious cap space to spend on possibly extending P.J. Tucker, as well as adding more pieces around the core of Bledsoe, Booker, and Cousins. They might also trade Jared Dudley as well freeing even more cap space, sending the franchise into the 2017-18 spending season with a lot of money to blow, and now a very talented, young core to build around. Most importantly, they do not have their first round pick as it was part of the Cousins deal, so adding through the draft will be next to impossible.
In this scenario it is not entirely unfair nor unreasonable to compare this particular Suns team to the Seattle Seahawks while Russell Wilson was under his rookie contract. The Seahawks were not only able to add talent because Wilson was so far outperforming his contract, but they – for a time – were able to re-sign their best players on defense without killing their cap. The same situation could apply for the Suns and give them the opportunity to adevelop to their core with the addition of Cousins and his soon to be massive contract.
Because of this, I am going to make a very bold prediction: The Phoenix Suns will sign Serge Ibaka.
Serge would fit right in to what the Suns would both need and hope to accomplish. Offensively Ibaka has evolved into a nice stretch four who shoots well from the outside and does not need to score 20 points to be productive. Offensively, stretching the floor helps create space for Cousins and the guards, and having a lineup where literally all five starters can drop back for a three would be deadly.
Defensively of course, Ibaka is one of the best. No longer the 3+ blocks per game player he once was, his 1.6 per game average in 2016-17 would still be a very nice addition to the defensive game plan. He is a decent rebounder averaging between 6-8 per season in his career, and has the length and quickness to guard anywhere from small forward to the center.
The lineups would look a little like this:
PG – Eric Bledsoe, Tyler Ulis
SG – Devin Booker, Leandro Barbosa
SF – P.J. Tucker, Possibly a New Backup SG/SF
PF – Serge Ibaka, Marquese Chris, Dragan Bender
C – DeMarcus Cousins, Tyson Chandler
An Ibaka signing is entirely hinged upon whether or not he is traded by the Orlando Magic before the 2017 trade deadline to a team that he would want to re-sign with, and if not, whether or not he wants to stay with the Magic long-term. Granted, the Magic can offer a larger max offer, but he is an unrestricted free agent. And, unless another team comes along with a better opportunity to begin winning right away, then Phoenix might be a very interesting option for him.
Even if the Suns do not sign Ibaka, they will have an opportunity to make a splash in free agency with plenty of cap space and the core to use at the heart of their sales pitch. Additionally, after two seasons of less than 30 wins, there is a very real chance that the Suns could put together an above .500 team, if not above 50 wins in one off season. Very enticing for free agents who want to win now.
For 2017-18 Cousins will *only* make $18.9M; Eric Bledsoe will only make $14.5M; and most importantly, Devin Booker will earn a paltry by comparison, $2.3M.
A major key in the rebuild is that all three core players will be under contracts signed before the cap exploded. For 2017-18 Cousins will *only* make $18.9M; Eric Bledsoe will only make $14.5M; and most importantly, Devin Booker will earn a paltry by comparison, $2.3M. Bringing in another big named free agent immediately will be very important if the Suns want to compete right away since for 2017-18 they will have significant room to wiggle.
On the court, the onus of personality coagulation will fall squarely on the shoulders of Head Coach Earl Watson. His outside-the-box coaching and leadership strategies may very well be what the doctor ordered for DeMarcus Cousins. The speculation is that he needs several alpha-level authority figures to guide and mentor him, essentially putting his ego in place. If that is the case, and the Suns do not have that sort of organizational environment, than the DeMarcus Cousins experiment could be an abject failure.
However, the Suns have placed a lot of emphasis on Watson’s fundamental idea of love, something that in the NBA Cousins has never received. Could Cousins be Watson’s ideal social experiment? Could Watson be exactly who Cousins needs to straighten him up?
Presuming the Cousins-experiment works, the team could easily be looking at a 44 to 54 win season, the higher end putting them in contention for at least home court advantage in the first round. What, if any, moves are made during the regular season would surely be contingent upon if the Suns are moving in the right direction and want to continue to improve, or if Cousins in purple in orange is quickly proving to be a failure.
Either way the Suns almost undoubtedly make their way into the postseason tournament and depending on a favorable match-up or not, are ousted in the Semi Finals at the latest. A success, though leaving Suns fans wanting more.