The Amar’e Stoudemire era is over for the Phoenix Suns and unfortunately it is not a good thing. You can put all the emphasis you want on how the team will now be better defensively and how his scoring can be picked up by other players. However, this new Suns team will not be as good as it was with Amar’e. Losing Amar’e will deplete the Suns of their offensive power and even though STAT is known for not playing D, this past season we saw improvement.

            What is the easiest shot to make in a game? The one that is closest to the basket meaning a layup or dunk: Hence, a shot in the paint. This is where STAT will be missed the most. He was the Suns inside presence, a presence that, at times, could not be stopped. His offense revolves around getting shots at the rim although he throws in an occasional jumper. He is efficient at what he does. Some players require 15+ shots to get 20pts. not Amar’e.

            Stat’s ability to score in the paint opened up the floor for shooters by commanding attn from every player on the opposing team by commanding double teams and at times triple teams. Without an inside presence opposing teams will now be able to focus more on the shooters and take Phx out of their game. Sure they have many shooters, but remember, jump shots do not always fall.

            Amar’e and Defense are two things never known to go together unless you are talking about the lack of. But you can’t blame him for this; D’antoni never practiced Defense. This past season we saw a huge transformation with Amar’e. He was teamed up with a coach he had a good relationship with and that coach preached defense out of his team. After amar’e’s first season learning to play D, we as fans witnessed him improve somewhat. So is there a possibility that, had he stayed, we could have seen him become the defender we always thought he could be?

            So this is how it ends: a successful season, a trip to the WCF and now the Amar’e Stoudemire era is done. Amar’e and his “Bully Ball” mentality will now serve some other team. Be prepared, because in the first meeting between the Suns and Amar’e next season, he will explode for career highs in an attempt to make a statement.

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The Phx suns were a couple of games short of making the Finals. For a team that wasn't even supposed to make the playoffs that was pretty good. With the Lakers being crowned champions full attention is now on the NBA offseason. For the suns it has now become more than just about Amar'e as a couple of the front office staff has been lost to sarver or as people like to call him “saver”. However, through all this turmoil there is hope. The size of th lakers was the suns pain in the back, but with a few minor moves this team can come back next year as an even better contender.

The biggest concern is bringing back Amar'e. We have all witnessed him become the sole creator of “bully ball” and mature this past season, now he needs to mature to where he understands that the MAX will not allow the suns to get the touch ups it needs to get over the hump. Amar'e cannot be replaced by anyone out there. Bosh and Dirk cannot own the paint the way Amar'e does so quit with the “we'd be a better team w/out him” chants. You need a paint presence and that is Amar'e with his brand of “bully ball”. Next up would be re-signing channing frye. He has stated he wants more money b/c it will be the biggest contract of his career, but he needs to understand he will not get BIG bucks. After 1 season he hasn't proven himself yet its just 1 season. The only teams he will flourish in are the suns and GSW. Lou Amundson will not be brought back and that is a good choice b/c it then gives Earl Clark time to develop. The kid has potential that is off the charts and so he must get more playing time to “get his feet wet”.

It is almost inevitable that LB will get traded. He clearly did not fit in w/ the second unit this yr. And is not needed. The only options I see for him are to get traded for Mickael Pietrus of the magic(but I doubt they would do that) or to the Nicks for a future pick ( they have the money and Dantoni trades picks like nothing) if we cannot get Mickael then we should look to get a SG that can defend in FA. Possible options are Quinton Ross(who gave Nash troubles in playoffs vs clippers), Rausal Butler, and Raja Bell. Bringing back Raja would be ideal b/c he is a good 3 pt shooter who doesn't demand the ball while playing outstandind defense. As fro a big man, most people have brought up Brendan Haywood and other bigtime bigs, but lets be realistic, they can't afford to give someone starter money when they will be coming off the bench. Kurt Thomas, Ben Wallace, and Brad Miller are all options. They might be a little short but they can bang with LA's bigs. If Ben does not retire he would be great to have. Kurt was great as a sun especially at setting screens and since he can hit the mid-range he spaces the floor a bit. Miller is a great passer, imagine running a high-low w/ him & amar'e.

Bringing back most of the team intact with a few teaks here and there could finnaly get the suns over the hump once and for all. P.S. They need to do whatever it takes to draft Zoran Dragic whether its this yr or next. Imagine this future team. Goran

Zoran

Clark

Amar'e

Lopez

Pick Your Option:

Nash/Dragic                                    Nash/Dragic                           Nash/Dragic

J-Rich/Bell or Pietrus                     J-Rich/Bell or Pietrus           J-Rich/Bell or Pietrus

Hill/Dudley                                        Hill/Dudley                              Hill/Dudley

Stat/Clark                                          Stat/Clark                               Stat/Clark

Lopez/Frye/Wallace                         Lopez/Frye/Thomas             Lopez/Frye/Miller

Steve Nash is now 36 years old although he hasn’t played like it for much of the season. We have all been waiting to see when his age will show, and I think we have begun to witness that decline in his play over the past few months. Yes, he is a little banged up, but that is no excuse to not be able to make the simple plays. There have been plays over some of the past few losses where making the simple play at the end could have helped the suns get a W. however, Nash made either the wrong play, or tried to go for the big play and could not convert. Yes, we trust steve taking some of those shots but with his back hurting those “good” shots suddenly turn into not so good shots. The lakers game was a great example of his deterioration. There were plenty of plays that could have changed the outcome of the game but Nash failed to make the right ones. First of all, STAT had 17 and 8 in the first quarter alone, there is no way he should have finished with just 29. Steve needs to recognize that when they are struggling from the perimeter they need to go inside and the way Amar’e is playing, he is the answer. We also know Nash is not know for defense, but there is no excuse in not closing out. Steve had a couple of times where the ball came right back out and Nash just stood there and stared at Artest and Fisher shoot wide open 3’s. there are times when I feel more comfortable with Dragic instead of Nash. There were also a couple of plays with under a minute where the suns defense kept them within 4 and steve made the wrong play. First they got a stop and with around 56 seconds left Nash went for a quick 3 to try and get the suns within 1 pt.. it is a shot he usually makes but with his back it’s a whole different story. The next suns possession after getting a block he tried to get the ball to Hill and turned it over. Those were 2 plays that could have made it a whole different game. So I ask you this suns fans, nowadays, do you still feel comfortable when Nash has the ball at the end of a close game? Who would you rather have in at the end of the game, Nash for his faltering offense or Dragic for his Defense? Unlike Hill, who has missed a bunch of games over the years, Nash’s wear and tear seems to be catching up to him.

At last, the Amar'e trade rumors have died, at least until the trade deadline. The suns seem to have made their decision and for the time being amar'e will be a sun this year unless an offer that can't be refused happens, which is very unlikely. Keeping Amar'e will have been the best decision the suns made this offseason. You don't see a player of his caliber come around very often and even though he has problems on the defensive end, his pros outweigh his cons, especially when playing in the SSOL system. There are quite a few things that make Amar'e a must keep. Even with his lack of defense, Amar'e is reasonably the best 4 in the league. There aren't many 4's that can keep up with his strength and speed. He pocesses crazy athleticism and has the ability to finish strong around the rim even when fouled hard. And if teams find a way to stop him down low he can take his game outside with his mid-range jumper which has become deadly. Amar'e is a matchup problem for most teams and can be the best go to guy at the end of the game. He may not be kobe or lebron, but he can score pretty much at will around the basket. His defensive lapses are his greatest weaknesses but he is still youn and can learn, as he has proven every year of his career he has become better at a certain skill. Who knows this year it might be his defensive awareness. There's a reason he is the only player out of High School to win the Rookie of the Year. Just like he dominated after coming back from knee surgery, this year he will be even more dominate coming off of the eye surgery especially with a contract year. Look out NBA, Sun Tzu is coming!!!

The 2009 Offseason is going to be a busy one for the Phoenix Suns. But with all the right moves they could find themselves being contenders once again in the upcoming season. They are looking to shed some money and still get better and will be able to by making the right moves. There are a lot of trade rumors going on as draft day comes closer, but in the end, there is only 2 trades that need to happen. The first involves Shaq. The deal would involve trading Shaq and a second round pick to the New Orleans Hornets for Tyson Chandler, MoPete/Posey/Daniels/Butler and their 1st rd pick of future 1st or 2nd rd pick.
why would NO do this trade? they need a bigman who can guard the paint and be a post threat. Although Chandler can defend, he doesn't have a postgame and the Hornets have had trouble keeping him healthy. The Suns would be getting a more mobile bigman, which Nash asked for, who can defend the pick n' roll and does not demand the ball to clog up the lane for Amare while giving Nash another pick n' roll option. They would also get a legit 3-point shooter and another draft pick whic they will need since they don't have one next yr., while saving 5 mill.
The other deal would involve moving J-Rich to LA in return for Marcus Camby, Mike Taylor/Marty Collins and a future draft pick.
Why would the Clippers do it? They have the 1st pick and will be selecting Blake Griffin which will overstock them w/ bigmen, (Camby, Kaman, Randolph, Jordan, Skinner, Griifin) while the only shooting guard they will have returning, unless they resign one of their free agents, will be Eric Gordon. J-Rich would be Gordon's back up. On the suns side they would be receiving another big man who can defend and rebound and would not clog up the lane for Amare because he can shoot the mid-range jumper. Also they would be getting another point guard to help rest nash and another draft pick while saving 1-1.5 million.
the next step would then be to draft Clark/Henderson/Williams.
The next issue for the suns to face would then be to resign some players. first they will have to try and extend Nash's contract by 2 yrs. but try and lower the amount which he is paid which may save a few million. Then Grant Hill needs to resign for at least a year hopefully at the veteran's minimum. And finally, give amare an extension he wants to be in PHX and has MVP potential. This would be the deepest suns roster in years by far and would make the suns contenders once again while rebuilding at the same time an lower the amount of money they'd be over the cap.

PG Steve Nash/Goran Dragic/mike taylor or marty collins
SG Leandro Barbosa/Alando Tucker/MoPete or other
SF Grant Hill/Jared Dudley/Clark,Henderson, or Williams
PF Amare/Lou Amundson/2nd rd pick?
C marcus Camby/Tyson Chandler/ Robin Lopez