Here's my entry for the free tickets Stan is giving away. GO SUNS!

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Looks like Dallas is signing a 6-7 defensive specialist wing who can knock down the 3-ball – but his name isn't Shawn Marion. The Mavs are signing Dallas native Quinton Ross.

President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said Ross' athleticism, defensive versatility and experience add depth to the Dallas backcourt.

Hmmm ... athleticism, defensive versatility and experience ... three things one would assume had attracted them to Marion.

The article goes on to say that the Mavs are re-signing Jason Kidd, extending an offer sheet to Orlando center Marcin Gortat, and also are trying to bring back free agents Brandon Bass and James Singleton. But it does not mention anything about Marion. Could the Mavs be giving up on signing the Matrix as they couldn't find a third team to facilitate a trade with Toronto? This is all speculation on my part, but one can always hope ...

According to this article by Chris Sheridan of the four-lettered network, Rudy Fernandez is really pissed at the Blazers for signing Orlando free agent Hedo Turklaglu. So, I propose this trade: Rudy Fernandez & Laef LaFrentz's $12.7M expiring contract for Jason Richardson. Suns get Rudy and about $11.7M of cap space and the blazers get an explosive scorer to play alongside Roy and Turklaglu. I have no idea if the Blazers would actually be interested in this (my guess is they wouldn't as they already have a scoring 2-guard in Roy), but it would be a great deal for the Suns as it would clear money to sign Amare and get them Rudy back. Anyway, just an idea ...

Chris Broussard of ESPN, who broke the "story" during the finals that a deal between Cleveland and the Suns to trade Shaq for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic is "not immenent" is now saying that "a deal is not imminent, but it does have a legitimate chance of coming to fruition." Hmmm, so I guess in the off-season it's news that a trade is "not immenent" and a few days later is "still not immenent" but "still could happen." Anyway, the article says that while the Suns would stand to save about $10 million in the deal, they also want to gain basketball value in any trade involving O'Neal and are not willing to just give him away solely for financial gain. So, Cleveland would likely have to strengthen its offer to get O'Neal and apparently the Suns have interest in Delonte West but the Cavs are reluctant to part with him. The article goes on to state that the Suns have "fielded calls" from Dallas, New Orleans, Portland and New York about a Shaq trade and that "While getting talent in return is a priority, the Suns' desire for financial relief is real, which means they will likely trade O'Neal and his $20 million contract this offseason." The article also states that Cleveland is Shaq's desired destination if he is to be traded (which it looks like he will at this point). I, for one am very relieved to hear that the Suns are not going to give Shaq away for no return in talent – they should be able to find a deal that nets both financial relief and some young talent, but it looks like a deal will most likely go down before the start of the season.

According to John Hollinger, the Suns are the #5 all time NBA franchise in spite of being the "best franchise never to win a championship" Hollinger admits this is something of a backhanded compliment. Hollinger also states the Suns as a franchise has "Consistently entertaining teams with remarkably few knuckleheads."  The Suns rank behind the Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, and Bulls. He says Barkley was out best player, D'Antoni our best coach and the 92-93 finals team our best team/season. This seems pretty accurate to me, what say you?

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 06/11/09 10:34 AM MST ]

Not bad for a dusty little desert town, huh?

Not to bag on Hollinger for not being fully up on his Suns history but I don't agree though w/ D'Antoni as the best coach. Not by a long shot. Last time I checked (which was last night) Cotton Fitzsimmons has his name in the Ring of Honor and finished his career 6th on the all time win list. I can't imagine a scenario that ends with Mike D's face being unveiled at USAC.

As for best Suns players...well, you can make the case for the Chuckster but there is a long list of other guys you could also argue for going back to Van Arsdale. My personal choice is Alvan Adams but that's one of those "things in the past are always better then the present" deals.

Hi there - I'm a long-time (15 years) Suns fan and have been checking this site for my Suns news and gossip for quite a while. Things have gotten so crazy this year, I decided it was time to stop lurking and sign up!

Has anybody seen this article on Amare by Steve Aschburner at SI? Pretty harsh stuff ... I thought it was a well-written critique of Amare and explains exactly why most Suns fans are ready to trade him.

He certainly doesn't help himself when he says stuff like this:

"If (Nash) is the brain (of the team), I must be the heart, huh?"

or this:

"I can't really point at myself now. I put in a lot of hard work this off-season."

I mean, he really doesn't have a clue, does he?

Still, I'm  not entirely convinced trading him is really the best thing for the team - but of course it doesn't matter what I think – he's as good as gone, especially with Sarver getting involved.

Anyway, I thought it was a good article ...