Locked On Suns - Daily Podcast On The Phoenix Suns

On today’s episode, we go player by player reacting to the preliminary round of Las Vegas Summer League games.

Deandre Ayton’s debut has been less dazzling than we expected, but his value to the team is already apparent as an interior force.

The backcourt cluster of Davon Reed, Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, Shaquille Harrison and Elie Okobo has created more questions about next season’s rotations than answers.

And Dragan Bender, ever the lightning rod for Suns negativity, has had an uneven three-game performance.

We try to make sense of it all.

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On today’s episode, Brendon is joined by Bright Side of the Sun’s Dave King to discuss all the latest news surrounding the Summer Suns up in Las Vegas.

From Deandre Ayton, Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, Elie Okobo, Dragan Bender, and even Jack Cooley, we have you covered as they dish out their first impressions from the opening weekend.

After a dominant 2-0 start, are the Suns about to cruise through the playoff portion with their loaded roster?

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On today’s episode, we give our initial thoughts on Devin Booker’s looming maximum contract extension before diving into the shape of the Suns’ roster moving forward.

Despite a Tyler Ulis-sized speed bump perhaps stalling discussions momentarily, the Suns met with Booker’s group in Los Angeles Tuesday and in all likelihood wrapped negotiations on Booker’s extension, which will kick in for the 2019-20 season.

With Booker in place long-term and most of the rest of the roster still playing on their first contracts, we try to make sense of how this team can play and how it will be most effective.

Finally, a quick look at the point guard market — are there any obvious candidates to fill out the Suns’ rotation?

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On today’s episode, we discuss the Suns acquiring Trevor Ariza, as well as the decision to cut Tyler Ulis and its impact on Devin Booker’s future.

Phoenix stole Ariza from the defending conference finalist Houston Rockets on a one-year, $15 million deal, satiating their reported desire for a(nother) 3-and-D forward.

And after moving back the guarantee date on Tyler Ulis’ minimum contract, the Suns indeed waived the third-year point guard, who was one of Devin Booker’s closest friends. This reportedly frustrated Booker, who of course is eligible for a maximum extension this summer. Does this situation really matter? We discuss.

Finally, a preview of the Marquese Chriss-less Summer Suns.

Note: We recorded this podcast before the Suns officially announced the release of big man Alan Williams.

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On today’s episode, we wrap up our free agency preview with a few final mailbag questions and a mock Suns offseason.

Our audience questions lead us to a discussion about the trade market for Marquese Chriss and Dragan Bender as well as a debate about the Suns’ targets for big man depth come July 1.

Then we try and address those decisions head-on through Evan’s mock offseason, with Brendon acting as facilitator/opposing general manager. Who do the Suns go out and get in our imagination?

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On today’s episode, our free agency preview continues with a look into the market for Aaron Gordon and several Twitter mailbag questions (keep submitting them to @LockedOnPhxSuns and we will answer the rest on Friday!) linked to the Suns’ potential interest in him.

Gordon’s restricted free agency could push the price too high for the Suns to clog their cap flexibility next week and limit their ability to add talent in 2019, but he would be a major boost in talent for the franchise.

The Suns’ willingness to spend money next year will determine how they handle their business this summer, as well as what they do about Devin Booker’s contract extension.

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On today’s episode, we discuss our final takeaways from the Suns’ media availability after the draft and on Friday morning at the new players’ introductions. Then, we briefly start out week-long free agency preview.

With a weekend to breathe after the Suns’ surprising draft, we evaluate where the team currently stands from a roster and locker room standpoint. How does Mikal Bridges fit into each of those equations?

We go out by brainstorming three free agent guards and three free agent stretch bigs who could help the Suns next season.

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On today's episode, Evan was joined by The Stepien's Cole Zwicker plus David Nash and Max McCauley of the 7 Seconds or Less Podcast to recap the 2018 NBA Draft, especially diving in further from Phoenix's point of view.

How do we see Deandre Ayton blending in to the current ecosystem built for him alongside Devin Booker and Josh Jackson? Should we expect plenty of growth from Ayton defensively, and how about his fit into Igor Kokoskov's scheme?

Then, we went into the discussion relating to Phoenix's aggressive push for Mikal Bridges and getting great value with Elie Okobo at No. 31. How do we see Bridges' winning pedigree impacting the Suns, including his elite two-way wing skill set? For Okobo, he's raw but also has tantalizing upside. How do we see the Frenchman long term next to Booker?

Overall, the Suns are seemingly going all-in on Devin Booker as their franchise. Unlike last year, they now have given him so much space to operate that he could be on the verge of taking his All-Star leap in 2018-19. Are we heading down the James Harden path with Booker? It's certainly an intriguing idea.

We ended the podcast with overall draft thoughts. Who were the biggest winners? How does Luka Doncic have three teams pass on him while De'Anthony Melton, a lottery talent, slips into the 40s? There was definitely some interesting selections by some teams and it will have long term ripple effects for their future in terms of roster construction.

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On today's episode, we recapped the 2018 NBA Draft live courtside from Talking Stick Resort Arena. Wow, what a night it was for the Phoenix Suns.

After landing Deandre Ayton at No. 1, Phoenix traded one of their most valuable assets in the 2021 Miami pick to Philadelphia for the rights to Mikal Bridges. Also, the Suns landed their possible point guard of the future at No. 31 with Elie Okobo, who GM Ryan McDonough said has a high long term ceiling.

With the addition of Bridges, what does this mean for T.J. Warren on the Suns? We dissected that even further alongside the strong haul Phoenix pulled off in its most important draft in franchise history.

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On today’s episode, we dove into the mailbag on Twitter and came out with several great questions from listeners about Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Conversation ranged from trade possibilities at No. 4 or No. 12 to get a guard such as Luka Doncic or Trae Young, to other options such as Michael Porter and Aaron Holiday.

It seems like the Suns will be right in the thick of things on draft night, and we could see some fireworks at Talking Stick Resort Arena.

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