Suns officially agree to 2-way contract with former Warriors guard Pat Spencer

I’m curious how much free rein Gregory has, or is Ishbia holding his leash? It is a rhetorical question because we all know the answer.

A good GM knows you can’t lock up the majority of your cap space with 2 “franchise players,” let alone one. A good GM most importantly also knows when to cut bait on a superstar, i.e., RIGHT BEFORE he starts losing his “star.” Stevens realized this a bit late in BOS and waited until Brown started complaining. Same with MIL and Antetokounmpo. Same will happen with Ishbia and Booker who is barely a star. The problem is that even though Booker is (has been) losing his star, Ishbia is still too nearsighted — and even more stubborn than those other teams — to cut bait. I liked Ishbia a lot for what he did when he first bought the Suns, but I have realized that, like every other Suns’ coach, Ishbia, the owner, is nothing more than a “Pom Pom Booker Boy.”.

After that a**h*** D Green went public about Ishbia discussing a Durant trade w GSW, the backlash by Durant shook Ishbia, making Ishbia double down on keeping Booker “forever“ so that Ishbia could drop the newfound label he received as someone who goes back on his word. That soured a lot of players and the NBA as a whole as well because we also all know that the league is nothing more than a glorified soap opera.

This all means that Booker will continue garnering massive cap hits against the team while the Suns toil in mediocrity and sign fringe players (Spencer, Kennard) while using a smart man’s foresight (Gregory) to try to outsmart and squeeze every drop out of the system to be able to sign, trade, and barter their way to eventually (hopeful) earning a #6 seed (possibly a #5 seed). And all this time, the elephant in the room will remain keeping a way overrated Booker on the payroll without the necessary flexibility to build-out the team to a next substantial level.

The one saving grace here, besides Gregory’s short term intelligence (and if you think the Suns move to trade for Bridges was a final move, you are a shortsighted / myopic reader) is the recent draft picks made by Gregory (Fleming, Maluach, Peat, even Brea) that point to his long term vision / intelligence. The Suns are trying to have their cake (Booker) while satisfying the whims of Pom Pom Booker Boy and to also eat it (i.e., succeed via their youth in the next 2-4 years).

And to anyone who rues trading away Allen and O’Neale, wake up. With Allen and O’Neale, the team would again be hovering around a #8 / #7 seed. The trade for Bridges at least provides an opportunity to do more; and if you think that giving up the 2033 unconditional FRP was an end-all-be-all between now (2026) and then (2033), again, wake up. A LOT of wheeling and dealing will happen between now and then (who knows if the Suns even get that FRP back one day).

I trust Gregory’s and Ott’s foresight to hopefully overcome Ishbia’s nearsightedness on keeping one of the most overrated players in rhe NBA, Bookie.

This is just one Bartelstein given money to another Bartelstein. And using the organization and money to do it.

Suns keep amassing talent where few saw any hope. This team will beat the spurs and knicks.