2025 NBA Season

[carlisle1]

That's true, Simmons is not perfect but he still belongs to the stars in the NBA, the reason why he got that huge contract with the 76ers. His FT shooting is bad and not a good 3 point shooting, but look at the other side, his rebounding, defense, and assists are his major contributions to the team, what's important is that the coach just has to manage him properly so he will be effective. Just wondering, why we haven't seen this problem before coach Rivers arrived in 76ers?

Simmons was effectively playing before Rivers arrival, he has a good relationship with the whole team especially with Embiid

not sure though what happened after new coach handle him, might have an internal issue with how Rivers treat him or whatsoever, that playoff performance

Triggered him not being interested in working again with his team. But he has no choice, unless he wanted to waste that millions of dollars which is not

the case now. Still a possibilities to see more drama after this regular season start.

[gagux123]

Sixers will trade Ben once trade opens again. That is based on my assumption that Sixers didn't get acceptable offers from other teams which is why they didn't let him go. That could change but that largely depends on Ben's performance.

Yeah, i think this is the most likely to happen, the 76ers will fulfill Ben Simmons request to go on another team.

Let's see how this whole story ends...
Can anyone tell me which are the possible teams that Simmons can go to!!?

[darewaller]

No disrespect to the Phonenix suns but they had an easy journey going to the NBA Finals, in all the teams they played in the west, at least one of the star players was injured.

For LA Lakers, - Davis was injured.
For Denver Nuggets - Murray was injured.
For LA Clippers - Kawhi was injured.

No way they'll make it to the NBA finals this season if the good teams in the West does not have an injury problem.

It was still awesome for them to reach to finals even if they were lucky, because at the end of the day they still got there, other teams could have still beat them even when they lacked players because Suns were not seen as a team that was a good team by the start of the season. However they ended up becoming second seed, which shows that they were not joking around and they were actually a good team, but at the end of the day they still beat all those injured teams and they got there.

I do not feel like going to finals ever feel like something they should be feeling guilty about because of other teams. I mean Toronto win a championship because GSW had all their players injured and it was still a championship, that's good enough for me.

[Yaunfitda]

but if they are not injured then nobody will be able to stop them, not even Nets with Kyrie in it.

We are not talking here about the core players of the Lakers in their prime. Even they will play healthy all season, we can't conclude that "nobody" can able to stop them. Maybe I will agree with your statement if those players are in their prime days. I'm not seeing the Lakers as the best contender this season, honestly even the Brooklyn Nets. There's no unstoppable team right now based on my own view and we might see competition to at least 5-6 teams that deserve the Larry O' Brien championship this season.

I agree.
Any team are capable of making to the playoffs or even the Finals. Look how the Suns are so close to winning a championship last playoffs, and they aren't even expected to make it to the Finals.
I guess the era of superteams is over. Underdog teams, composed with perfect complimentary players could actually beat the superteam now.
Even the GSW is scary this season. Especially If Klay plays the same energy after the long injury.

No disrespect to the Phonenix suns but they had an easy journey going to the NBA Finals, in all the teams they played in the west, at least one of the star players was injured.

For LA Lakers, - Davis was injured.
For Denver Nuggets - Murray was injured.
For LA Clippers - Kawhi was injured.

No way they'll make it to the NBA finals this season if the good teams in the West does not have an injury problem.

But you can't take anything from Phoenix though regarding their championship run last year. They remain healthy and they are on top of the standings in the regular season. And even if those players are injured, they still have a hard time winning against Lakers, Nuggets and Clippers. You can also add that Giannis injury, fortunately he was able to come back and win the NBA for the Bucks. So this season, let's see if Phoenix can duplicate it so that there they can proved last year's going to the finals is no fluke.

[OgNasty]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

[Viscore]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

I'm surprised as well, with what Ayton showed them in the playoffs, I think it's enough to prove to the management that they can help this team to achieve their objective to win a championship, Ayton is still young and healthy if they can offer a max deal to an aging playing, why is it not possible for Ayton. Well, if a trade will happen it will be the recipient team of Ayton will benefit from his talent.

[gagux123]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

I am also surprised about this news!
Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker can be considered "the jewels of the Phoenix Suns".

I would also believe after Ayton's performance in the last playoffs, he would have a good chance of getting a maximum deal with the Suns.
Ayton deserves it, he proved he is a good player and consequently has a promising future ahead, because he is only 23 years old, he will improve a lot in his future!

[OgNasty]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

I am also surprised about this news!
Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker can be considered "the jewels of the Phoenix Suns".

I would also believe that after Ayton's performance in the playoffs he would have a good chance of getting a maximum deal with the Suns.
Ayton deserves it, he proved he is a good player and consequently has a promising future ahead, as he is only 23 years old, he will improve a lot!

They have got to have something planned.  Booker never really seemed to get along with Ayton and Chris Paul is destined for retirement soon.  Maybe they're planning to do a sign and trade with Ayton and let Chris Paul go to do some major free agent signings?  There's been talk about Deangelo Russel and KAT teaming up with Booker, but that might be a tall order for management.  The Bridges signing for 90 million just doesn't make much sense to me no matter which route they take, which makes me think that Suns management are going to do something stupid.  If only it weren't expected at this point.

[agustina2]

Sixers will trade Ben once trade opens again. That is based on my assumption that Sixers didn't get acceptable offers from other teams which is why they didn't let him go. That could change but that largely depends on Ben's performance.

Yeah, i think this is the most likely to happen, the 76ers will fulfill Ben Simmons request to go on another team.

Let's see how this whole story ends...
Can anyone tell me which are the possible teams that Simmons can go to!!?

Check the rumors. Still, those teams on it are the candidate where Ben Simmons should go. Sixers should accept that they won't reach the agreement trading Simmons to any team if they are asking for too much in return. That's why Simmons tells them that it's on Sixers management, not him, how he can be valuable in trade. Sixers can hunt for role players or close to All-Star level rather than expect a Superstar return trading Simmons.

[btc_angela]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

Yes, that's too bad for Ayton, I'm not really sure why the Suns questions his ability when he was part of the integrals last season. And as the negotiations bog down, I don't expect the Suns to be in the championships again. They are in a momentum, but when something like this happens, a player didn't get what he wanted despite his contributions, it will trickle down to the relationships in the locker room and will put some negativity around it.

So yeah, definitely, Ayton will seek greener pasteur in the future.

Edit: and M. Bridges getting $90m contract extension?

Chris Paul may have jinx it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq5UaAmLuZI

[chaser15]

but if they are not injured then nobody will be able to stop them, not even Nets with Kyrie in it.

We are not talking here about the core players of the Lakers in their prime. Even they will play healthy all season, we can't conclude that "nobody" can able to stop them. Maybe I will agree with your statement if those players are in their prime days. I'm not seeing the Lakers as the best contender this season, honestly even the Brooklyn Nets. There's no unstoppable team right now based on my own view and we might see competition to at least 5-6 teams that deserve the Larry O' Brien championship this season.

I agree.
Any team are capable of making to the playoffs or even the Finals. Look how the Suns are so close to winning a championship last playoffs, and they aren't even expected to make it to the Finals.
I guess the era of superteams is over. Underdog teams, composed with perfect complimentary players could actually beat the superteam now.
Even the GSW is scary this season. Especially If Klay plays the same energy after the long injury.

No disrespect to the Phonenix suns but they had an easy journey going to the NBA Finals, in all the teams they played in the west, at least one of the star players was injured.

For LA Lakers, - Davis was injured.
For Denver Nuggets - Murray was injured.
For LA Clippers - Kawhi was injured.

No way they'll make it to the NBA finals this season if the good teams in the West do not have an injury problem.

And now some statements like this happened. It's easy to speculate not seeing the actual situation.

We should pray that no injury will happen so something comparison should not happen in the future. It's discrediting all team's efforts just because they were able to beat those teams with a much deeper lineup.

[danherbias07]

No disrespect to the Phonenix suns but they had an easy journey going to the NBA Finals, in all the teams they played in the west, at least one of the star players was injured.

For LA Lakers, - Davis was injured.
For Denver Nuggets - Murray was injured.
For LA Clippers - Kawhi was injured.

No way they'll make it to the NBA finals this season if the good teams in the West does not have an injury problem.

Part of the game. But yeah, I half agree with it. It's a combination of luck and also their efforts to win the game.
Even without Murray the Nuggets are a strong team with Jokic. They are just much stronger when his around. While the Lakers will be crippled with AD being injured. Now, it's better with more options from their bench to avoid that from happening again. Same goes with the Clippers when Kawhi was hurt.

Suns though may not be the same Suns as last year. They built a chemistry that would add strength in their team. They are one of the teams who retained their roster and didn't participate much in all the trades that happened.

[LogitechMouse]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

I'm surprised but not that much. Just a little bit I think .

Ayton and Booker played for at least 3 years already and they didn't went to the Playoffs with only 2 of them. Lets face it, CP3 is the key why the Suns are in the top spot last season. Yes Booker and Ayton really played well but do you think that it will be the same if CP3 isn't on the team? No disrespect with Ayton and Booker and they are great players but Paul is the reason why they played very well and without him, they will almost the same as they are years ago. In the bottom, not going into the playoffs.

Maybe that is the reason why they didn't gave Ayton a max deal. Maybe the management wants more from him - consistency I think. He can be like that one season and not in the next one and he needs to prove more that he ain't like that. If Ayton's performance this season will be the same or better last season then for sure, they will give him the max deal but right now I think its understandable that they didn't gave him a max deal. Ayton is a great Center though still

[Reid]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

I'm surprised but not that much. Just a little bit I think .

Ayton and Booker played for at least 3 years already and they didn't went to the Playoffs with only 2 of them. Lets face it, CP3 is the key why the Suns are in the top spot last season. Yes Booker and Ayton really played well but do you think that it will be the same if CP3 isn't on the team? No disrespect with Ayton and Booker and they are great players but Paul is the reason why they played very well and without him, they will almost the same as they are years ago. In the bottom, not going into the playoffs.

Maybe that is the reason why they didn't gave Ayton a max deal. Maybe the management wants more from him - consistency I think. He can be like that one season and not in the next one and he needs to prove more that he ain't like that. If Ayton's performance this season will be the same or better last season then for sure, they will give him the max deal but right now I think its understandable that they didn't gave him a max deal. Ayton is a great Center though still

One of the top centers in the league. I wouldn't even doubt giving him the max contract. But let's see how this will end up if he convinces the Suns management with the use of his own performance.
At the same time, they are also close to deal a max contract to Mikal Bridges with a 4-year $90m.
There will be a lot of locker room issues because of this. Suns will need to do something or else bad circumstances will happen that may ruin their chance for a Finals once again.

[Baofeng]

I can’t believe the Suns didn’t give Ayton a max deal. The one good player they draft in years and they’re going to let him slip away while giving 90 million to a backup and keeping Chris Paul around. Sometimes you have to wonder what management is thinking. Does this mean we’ll see an Ayton trade sometime in the future?

I'm surprised but not that much. Just a little bit I think .

Ayton and Booker played for at least 3 years already and they didn't went to the Playoffs with only 2 of them. Lets face it, CP3 is the key why the Suns are in the top spot last season. Yes Booker and Ayton really played well but do you think that it will be the same if CP3 isn't on the team? No disrespect with Ayton and Booker and they are great players but Paul is the reason why they played very well and without him, they will almost the same as they are years ago. In the bottom, not going into the playoffs.

Maybe that is the reason why they didn't gave Ayton a max deal. Maybe the management wants more from him - consistency I think. He can be like that one season and not in the next one and he needs to prove more that he ain't like that. If Ayton's performance this season will be the same or better last season then for sure, they will give him the max deal but right now I think its understandable that they didn't gave him a max deal. Ayton is a great Center though still

One of the top centers in the league. I wouldn't even doubt giving him the max contract. But let's see how this will end up if he convinces the Suns management with the use of his own performance.
At the same time, they are also close to deal a max contract to Mikal Bridges with a 4-year $90m.
There will be a lot of locker room issues because of this. Suns will need to do something or else bad circumstances will happen that may ruin their chance for a Finals once again.

It's over, the deadline has expired, you just have to think about giving Bridges a extension worth $90 million and then Ayton didn't get any max deal. And if Ayton has another break out year this season and become a free agent, what will Phoenix do? offer the max contract then? What if teams are already courting him already and giving him more money? We don't know what Robert Sarver is thinking but this is a big gamble on his side.

[carlisle1]

It's over, the deadline has expired, you just have to think about giving Bridges a extension worth $90 million and then Ayton didn't get any max deal. And if Ayton has another break out year this season and become a free agent, what will Phoenix do? offer the max contract then? What if teams are already courting him already and giving him more money? We don't know what Robert Sarver is thinking but this is a big gamble on his side.

It's a gamble from Phoenix. Ayton deserves the max deal. He's one of the reason why they play in the finals.

If he stays healthy till next season, for sure we will see lots of courting offers for him. Stay humble and play well. It's Suns loss if he chooses to play

with a different uniform next season. Or, there are underground deal or something that gives him perks that will let him enjoy staying with the Sun,

unknown deal behind to cover that max deal issue, we never know, right?

[Japinat]

It's over, the deadline has expired, you just have to think about giving Bridges a extension worth $90 million and then Ayton didn't get any max deal. And if Ayton has another break out year this season and become a free agent, what will Phoenix do? offer the max contract then? What if teams are already courting him already and giving him more money? We don't know what Robert Sarver is thinking but this is a big gamble on his side.

It's a gamble from Phoenix. Ayton deserves the max deal. He's one of the reason why they play in the finals.

If he stays healthy till next season, for sure we will see lots of courting offers for him. Stay humble and play well. It's Suns loss if he chooses to play

with a different uniform next season. Or, there are underground deal or something that gives him perks that will let him enjoy staying with the Sun,

unknown deal behind to cover that max deal issue, we never know, right?

I don't know if an underground deal is happening in the NBA, I think all the deals are transparent as it's a basis for the taxation. If Ayton would choose to play with other team after his contract expires, then we can assume that he is getting better offer than with the Phoenix, he is still young and at his age it's important for him to sell himself well so he can maximize his income while he is fully healthy.

[Yaunfitda]

It's over, the deadline has expired, you just have to think about giving Bridges a extension worth $90 million and then Ayton didn't get any max deal. And if Ayton has another break out year this season and become a free agent, what will Phoenix do? offer the max contract then? What if teams are already courting him already and giving him more money? We don't know what Robert Sarver is thinking but this is a big gamble on his side.

It's a gamble from Phoenix. Ayton deserves the max deal. He's one of the reason why they play in the finals.

If he stays healthy till next season, for sure we will see lots of courting offers for him. Stay humble and play well. It's Suns loss if he chooses to play

with a different uniform next season. Or, there are underground deal or something that gives him perks that will let him enjoy staying with the Sun,

unknown deal behind to cover that max deal issue, we never know, right?

I don't know if an underground deal is happening in the NBA, I think all the deals are transparent as it's a basis for the taxation. If Ayton would choose to play with other team after his contract expires, then we can assume that he is getting better offer than with the Phoenix, he is still young and at his age it's important for him to sell himself well so he can maximize his income while he is fully healthy.

I doubt that there will be underground deal or under the table deal in NBA.

Of course, he says that he wanted to stay with Phoenix, but with the current development he is really disappointed with how the management handles his case. Definitely Bridges getting a good extension and his other 2018 draftees getting tons of money, extensions and perks, maybe Ayton performance will be impacted by this news. For sure he still needs to play better this season for Phoenix so that he will have to get a better deal outside. And then we will see what happens next.

[Vaculin]

It's over, the deadline has expired, you just have to think about giving Bridges a extension worth $90 million and then Ayton didn't get any max deal. And if Ayton has another break out year this season and become a free agent, what will Phoenix do? offer the max contract then? What if teams are already courting him already and giving him more money? We don't know what Robert Sarver is thinking but this is a big gamble on his side.

It's a gamble from Phoenix. Ayton deserves the max deal. He's one of the reason why they play in the finals.

If he stays healthy till next season, for sure we will see lots of courting offers for him. Stay humble and play well. It's Suns loss if he chooses to play

with a different uniform next season. Or, there are underground deal or something that gives him perks that will let him enjoy staying with the Sun,

unknown deal behind to cover that max deal issue, we never know, right?

I don't know if an underground deal is happening in the NBA, I think all the deals are transparent as it's a basis for the taxation. If Ayton would choose to play with other team after his contract expires, then we can assume that he is getting better offer than with the Phoenix, he is still young and at his age it's important for him to sell himself well so he can maximize his income while he is fully healthy.

I doubt that there will be underground deal or under the table deal in NBA.

Of course, he says that he wanted to stay with Phoenix, but with the current development he is really disappointed with how the management handles his case. Definitely Bridges getting a good extension and his other 2018 draftees getting tons of money, extensions and perks, maybe Ayton performance will be impacted by this news. For sure he still needs to play better this season for Phoenix so that he will have to get a better deal outside. And then we will see what happens next.

There's no reason for Ayton not to play well because of that news, if Phoenix is not giving him a max contract, he will surely find a team that would give him that in the future. Ayton is one of the best big men in the NBA, he is healthy and he could be very vital for the success of the team especially from a team that has a chance to win a championship.

[yazher]

I doubt that there will be underground deal or under the table deal in NBA.

Of course, he says that he wanted to stay with Phoenix, but with the current development he is really disappointed with how the management handles his case. Definitely Bridges getting a good extension and his other 2018 draftees getting tons of money, extensions and perks, maybe Ayton performance will be impacted by this news. For sure he still needs to play better this season for Phoenix so that he will have to get a better deal outside. And then we will see what happens next.

If I were him I don't really care about the outcome of those extensions of the contract because I know to myself that I am capable of bringing the team back to the Finals again if they still give me the position and the role of where I was last season. If I don't get an extension in this current team, I'm pretty sure I'll be much more worth in the other teams and if they give me that chance, I'll work harder than before and continue to motivate myself until I reach my goal which is to bring my team to the NBA Finals and get that championship ring.