Sunny Days

Like everyone else, I couldn’t help but scratch the old noggin when I heard the Suns had given away even more assets this offseason for salary cap relief. The moves: 2 future first round picks and Kurt Thomas to Seattle for an $8 million dollar trade exception after giving away Rudy Fernandez and James Jones to Portland for $3 million on draft night. It’s a lot more of the same for Phoenix who gave away 2 potential Steve Nash replacements at the draft in ‘06 by trading Rajon Rondo to Boston and Sergio Rodriguez to Portland in identical cap-related moves.

However, these trades do not affect the team’s core. The offense happy Suns don’t allow just anyone to become part of their rotation - in the playoffs, they only ran 7 guys - and with 9 players locked up for the next 2 seasons, there isn’t much burn to go around. Sure, you can argue this kills the team’s future for some dolla dolla bills in the short term, but Phoenix is also picky about the young players occupying space on their bench, and they simply don’t play kids. The roster for this coming season now sits at 11 players, including the newly drafted Alando Tucker and will likely be 12 when 2nd round pick D.J. Strawberry (what a name!), inks a contract.

So, there is some youth there. And, then there’s the rest of the green squad: Amare, Boris Diaw, Barbosa, a boyish 29-year-old Shawn Marion, and a withering Marcus Banks who has the legs of a teenager because he never sees the floor. There just aren’t many minutes to be given out in this tight rotation for the foreseeable future. Not to mention, the team owns Atlanta’s 1st round pick in 2008, which will obviously be a far better player than any of the selections they’ve traded to Boston, Portland or Seattle. The Suns prefer to fill those last roster spots with veterans who can help them win now - your Jalen Rose types - and those guys are available throughout the season.

As for Kurt Thomas, I personally really admired his game. He is a pro’s pro. I loved watching him hammer his own head in frustration when he made a mistake guarding Tim Duncan this postseason. People are now asking, “Who’s going to guard Duncan or Carlos Boozer?” The answer is: NO ONE! These guys are virtually unstoppable and I’m sure Phoenix thinks the trade off of having a front line of Grant Hill-Marion-Amare will give them the advantage on the offensive end - the end they care about. By signing Hill, the Suns more than made up for whatever professionalism and locker room presence they lost by giving away Thomas. On the floor, people forget how good Hill was. Yes, that was signifies the past, but in an offense with so many other weapons, Grant will have room to use his skills and smarts.

Despite everyone ragging on their moves, the team is one year older and ready to contend for the gold ball. And, hold up. Isn’t the Thomas move what the salary cap was designed for? To ensure there was some parity in the league so you didn’t have teams buying championships like you have in Major League Baseball? Even though the NBA’s cap is softer that Elton Brand’s voice, it does work to a degree. All in all, you’ve gotta like the Suns’ chances the next few years.

Share This

By Tas Melas at 11:10 am on 07.25.2007 — Tags: Suns

Comments

11 Responses to “Sunny Days”

  1. JTExperience at 1:18 pm on 07.25.2007

    Nice post Tas. I agree: Even giving up Thomas, the Suns still sit in good shape with their core. I just hope D’Antoni will actually play these rookies and Marcus Banks more after their excellent summer league performances. They bring things to the table and can be a help in the right situations.

  2. stopmikelupica at 3:17 pm on 07.25.2007

    Nice post, but I don’t like the Suns chances anymore than I liked their chances in the past. They won’t win a championship, and probably won’t even make it to the NBA Finals, either.

    They’re historical significance will be minor, like those really fun, high scoring Alex English-lead Nugget teams of the 80’s. We’ll remember them as the most exciting team of the era, but that’s it. They won’t win, and their lack of depth will cost them again this year.

    Those roster spots? 6 deep plus Hill. That’s not even enough to fill out a 8-man rotation. Who else is going to get burn? Marcus Banks? Eric Piatkowski? Alando Tucker? Sean Marks?

    Maybe DJ Strawberry will work out - I like that guy. Otherwise, that’s a lot of running and minutes being racked up by an team with injury (Hill, Nash, Amare) problems.

  3. Tas Melas at 11:59 pm on 07.25.2007

    The team was a couple points away from winning it all last season. They barely lost game 5 of the Spurs series, sans Stoudemire and Diaw. They win that game, they’re up 3-2 and go on to win the title in my opinion. They’ve been that close the last couple years. The margin of winning and losing is so small, especially when you’re talking about the San Antonio’s, Phoenix’s and Dallas’s. The Suns have been, and continue to be, .

    In terms of the rotation, you don’t think trading James Jones for Grant Hill is an improvement? Doesn’t that move make them a couple baskets better? And since the margin between the top teams is that close, shouldn’t that put them over the top?

    The Suns are going in to next year with the exact same core. 1 year of maturity + G-Hill + an even year for the Spurs = a nice opportunity.

  4. J.E. Skeets at 10:50 am on 07.26.2007

    … an even year for the Spurs …

    Brilliant.

    Grant Hill >>> Baby face Jones

  5. Matt D at 12:20 pm on 07.26.2007

    Last weekend I saw Steve Nash in his Charity Classic in Vancouver… ordinary game, but I heard a great crowd chant… “Can-Je, Can-Je”… Canadian Jesus.

  6. J.E. Skeets at 12:30 pm on 07.26.2007

    … Can-Je, Can-Je …

    Sounds like they wanted me!

  7. Matt D at 12:34 pm on 07.26.2007

    … or Bryan Adams.

  8. Sunspots: 7/26/07 « Hustle And Flow at 1:55 pm on 07.26.2007

    […] The Basketball Jones discusses the Suns current situation […]

  9. Sewagemaster at 9:52 pm on 07.26.2007

    Anyone know whether Pape Sow will make it to Phoenix’s team? He was playing for Phoenix on the summer league team. Pape Sow can be a pretty good addition to Phoenix as an athletic shot blocker that can free up Stoudamire a bit. But he doesn’t have Diaw’s move where he drives in, spins around and kicks it back out….. *ahem*

  10. blake at 3:44 am on 07.27.2007

    intereseting post tas, but what about the suns defense. what the factor thatthomas offered in guarding the land that factor that AMARE just can’t and doesn’t want to provide. Even though I am a spurs fan I would have loved for phoenix to have gotten KG for amare and thomas. This was their only legitimate way of contending against the spurs, mavs and jazz. I think the suns will be the best team again during the season, but once the playoffs come it will be the same old thing- which is too bad because they are a fun team to watch. Hell even if they come up against houston in the playoffs, who is going to guard yao? Marion? I think he will have his hands full with TMAC because I don’t think raja bell can hadle the size and speed of TMAC. Suns needed more interior defense not more perimeter offense… i guess the spurs will have to life the trophy agian in 08 ;)!!

  11. Will at 2:42 pm on 07.31.2007

    Crimeny, boys…The suns are still the second best team in the league, and will be until Dallas shakes things up.

    That being said, the Thomas deal pissed me off. He was a glue guy, a great teammate, and one of the best low-post defenders in the league. Unfortunatly for the Suns, his only REAL value was in guarding TD. I just hate to see the ownership disrespect him and his contributions for something as silly as the luxury tax.

    In response to Blake…the Rockets are not a threat to the Suns, if only because they can completely run Yao off the floor (if Boozer could do it, I’m pretty sure Amare could handle him). Unless Yao can figure out how to put up 35 points on every team as he huffs and puffs down the court, the Rockets cannot be contenders with him on the floor.

Leave a Reply




Close
E-mail It