Happy Holidays Brightsiders, today is Christmas and its a Sunday, after you have opened your presents and eaten and drunk eveything from the table maybe you are sitting down and watching the start of the NBA season.

Maybe you can share with us anything funny that has happend today with your family and maybe comment what Santa bought you this year.

I am watching the New York Boston game, its wierd hearing Steve Kerr's voice and watching and actual NBA game oh well comment away.

The Suns Brain trust i do not know even if you can call it that have a plan, and what ever that may be it will be executed in 2012 so for this season all kind of suckage will be endured (i.e the signing of Sebastian Telfair) therefore patience will be needed this season and doom and gloom will prevail in the game threads.

2012 will have the Phoenix Suns salary cap in a better health and with some creativity 2 max slots available.

The front office if they are really clever should be thinking of our 2 main assets NASH and HILL, they are both not
contracted for next season and we the fans would like them to come back and retire for us but at a more affordable price.

I have not studied the new CBA page by page but what i was thinking was a clever move OKC GM Sam Presti has done as well as the GM of the Wizards. If a team is under the salary cap then they can extend a current players contract for example, Sam Presti gave Kendrick Perkins a contract extension after he was traded last season. but he got an wage increase last year where he was around $5m and it went up to $7m. this was also done with Andray Blatche of the Washington Wizards and Nick Collison of OKC where his contract got front loaded with $12m in his first year and around $3m for the next four years.

So why am i telling you these examples is since we are going to suck this year maybe we can give more money to NASH and HILL this year and have them except less next year. An example would be if we ask HILL what kind of money he is looking for, he says 2 years and $8m and we say this year $7m this year and next year Vets minimum. The same could be done with NASH.

This is kind of an grey area as i do not know if its included in the new CBA but it would be a good tactic to employ this year and have 2 max contract spaces available and sign NASH and HILL on vets minimum deals depending on the number of years they have been in the NBA which would be around $1.5m or higher i do not know the exact number.

One major quirk i do not know is if cap holds count towards this rule maybe someone in the comments knows or this post was useless just like the coming season. Bring on DEC 26.

UPDATE from

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7329408/new-items-added-nba-collective-bargaining-agreement

A new "renegotiation and extension" provision allows an existing contract to be renegotiated so the player is paid a smaller amount over a longer period, but the player's salary cannot decrease by more than 40 percent. Renegotiations previously could only increase a player's salary.

To start of my annual rosterbation post i must say i am impressed by how many comments we get on a post each night and our team is not even in the playoffs well done boys and girls. it shows you all are true fans and love to see the teams you hate loose so we can mock then and feel better about our team not making it this year.

Talking about feeling better about ourselves our beloved franchise has come to an crossroads, rebuild or retool is the question i am sure the front office is trying to work out whilst the media are saying rebuild time to trade MVSteve let BAMF sign onto a title contender and start getting  picks and young athletic talent. Since the front office in
Babby is saying Steve is staying and we are not trading him so is Coach and Nash has said it at the end of the season who knows what will happen. All i know is i have watched this team without Nash and it does not look pretty. Lets hope he sort all his pelvic and groin issues out in the off season.Steve loves the City,the weather his twin girls and boys are here so i think he might sign an extension if the FO do a good job in the off season.

Since the CBA is coming to an end after the NBA Finals no one will know what the future will look like and Sarvar has said he hired Babby to see if they are any loopholes they can find in the new CBA because he was a Lawyer/Agent for many many years so he know what he is doing we hope.To be honest i think since we are still in this CBA their is a little rule as when your season finishes i.e if you do not make the playoffs you can started trading players again but you can only start trading player who are under contract for next season so we can not package Grant Hill for a trade since the last day of the regular season he was paid and his contract finished and he is a free agent but we still hold his bird rights.

Just some personal random observations the contract to Amare was fair its just he want to be the man on the team in the biggest city on earth as you could see early on the season he embraced it and was early season MVP candidate was on all the TV talk shows and was a New York star  but Mike D played him out of position and too many minutes that is maybe why he got injured plus that $100m contract has no insurances and when Carmelo came i personally think it took the gloss of Amare being the main guy on the team as Carmelo is a local native and its his boyhood team.

If and when the time comes when we loose Steve Nash the only replacement in terms of point guard play and shooting percentage numbers who is even close to him is Steph Curry . This season SC was 3rd in 3PT% and 1st in FT% in the entire league. Steve currently has the Free throw Percentage title but when it comes to Steph and his last game he will have that title my prediction of the future.

Since we don't know what the salary cap or whatever else will look like and all the scare mongering the owners and the David Stern are doing. our projected salary for next season will be $52m that is when we buyout THE CORPSE and his contract and i am assuming his $4m will still be left which will still be on the books for that year. so it looks like we wont be signing any major players in the off season who will make a impact and as Sarvar or someone on the site wrote a post which said you either get lucky in the draft and get a franchise player or you trade for one. Since looking at the playoffs and how each team are improving out in the west we cant stay and do nothing and wait for the new CBA. we must start trading now with other teams who are also not in the playoffs.


To win you need efficiency in your shooting and consistency in  your play game after game and we need it in two starting positions i.e SG and PF. Here are the following SG i would like to play for our team next season and if their is a player on this list i have missed its because i don't like him to be on our team and or i consider him a small forward.

The following stats are from ESPN Stats and ranked in the SG category only.

Marcus Thornton 23 years old  6`4= since he was a 2nd round pick i cant find his qualifying number so looks like he will be an unrestricted free agent. he puts up big numbers, but not efficiently 19in FG%  27th 3pt%  22nd FT% scored 933 points on two different teams this season which ranks 21st in the SG pool

Arron Afflalo 25 years old 6`5= Restricted free agent, consistent starting player plays defense and 2nd FG% 2nd in 3PT% 11th in FT%. he has scored 867 points which ranks 23rd in the SG pool all from starting 69 games.

Courtney Lee 25 years old 6`5= under contract for Houston untill 2012, played well year before when he was starting for NJN, 672 points which ranks 34th in the SG pool from 81 games of the bench and 1 game starting. 8th 3PT% due to him coming off the bench he doesn't shoot much due to him playing 20 mins therefore he doesn't qualify in FG% and FT% but they were  439FG% 792FT%.

OJ MAYO 23years old 6`4 = had some problems with the team and nearly got dealt at the deadline so maybe his available. came of the bench only started 17 of 71 games. 29 in 3PT% 25in FG% (was the last person who qualified for the category) didn't qualify for FT% due to not going to the line more often, scored 803 points for 26th on the SG list whilst Afflalo  whilst starting scored 867(23rd), good player maybe change of scenery would do him good.

Stephen Jackson 33 years old 6`8 =plays on bad/rebuilding team has $19.3m left for next 2 years after this season and  was the teams go to player so he shot the ball more, decent all round player who played and started only 67 games scored 1240 points for 13th in the SG category 24th FG% 40th in 3PT% and  16th in FT%

Jamal Crawford 31 years old 6`5= unrestricted Free agent comes of the bench to play 6th man but plays 30 mins
played all 76 games off the bench  1077 points make him 15th amongst SG and VC scored 1022points at 17th
21st in FG% 38 3PT% 7th FT%

AND JUST OUT OF COMPARING NUMBERS I'M GOING TO LIST JRICH AND VCARTER AND THIER NUMBERS INDICATE THEIR RANKING AMONGST OTHER SG

JRICH GP=80  POINTS=1249 11TH FG% 10TH 3PT% 14 FT% DID NOT MAKE LIST
vCART GP=72  POINTS=1022 17TH FG% 16TH 3PT% 33 FT% 26TH


We need to look at the VC contact as that same as the Eric Dampier contract. Cuban was clever he traded Dampier and turned it into Tyson Chandler who has made a huge difference to their side and MJ just Waived/bought Dampier out. we need to give this kind of financial relief to a team and the team i personally choose is the Detroit Pistons.

The proposed trade which works on BasketballRealgm.com and ESPN trade machine would be we gladly and i mean gladly give them Vince Carter and $3m cash(incentive to buy his contract out well their new billionaire owner can cough up the other $1m) and we get Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace who we say to them we will buy out his 2012 contract ($2.2m) and he can sign with them and finish his career there. i am sure Detroit will ask for a 1st round pick but i say beep off and take the offer and i think they will cave into the demands as he is owed $12.5m in 2012 and 2013 and it will cut their 2012 salary down to about $38m.

Richard Hamilton 33 years old 6`7= plays on a bad team who need to deal him got 2 years left on his contract($25m), has won a ring. had problems with the coach and front office and TPrince will find a new team so most of his championship winning team has gone. good veteran efficient scorer/ defender should be fresher having only played 55 games and started 39 to score 777 points28th in SG category did not make the FG% category but shot 288-671.429  20th 3PT% 10th FT%

If anyone has a better player we can have and kind of switch with VC contract please comment below.
since i was writing this i did the word check and got to 1400 words so i thought instead of doing the
second part of my evil master plan and research the stats and  find our starting PF and i will just
quickly list them and say who we should trade for.

Paul Milsap= under contract we nearly acquired him at the deadline the FO might go for him again since they have Al Jefferson and the young DFavours on the roster.

Kris Humphries= free agent played well in his contract year. i will be surprised if NJN let him become a free agent.

Carl Landry= free agent played well for two different teams, will hit free agency and currently is "killing it" against LAL

ABargnani= plays at centre but we all know he is a PF. his Dirk lite as he can shoot from all over the floor

DArthur= someone to look our for in the future only in his second year and came off the bench and made a difference in 20 minutes of play.


So trade number 2 says we send Robin Lopez and Mickael Pietrus to the Houston Rockets for Luis Scola and Courtney Lee (trade only works if MP picks up his option for 2012) and send 2012 future 1st Round Pick (maybe a 2014 one as well) we get two decent positions in SG and PF filled for the starters. =Houston do it because they get a centre and i think Robin and his health and legs would have improved over the summer and also they have a pf playing centre in Chuck Hayes and they  have Patrick Patterson and Jordan Hill and they can have MP to help will defence they lost with Shane Battier a veteran presence at their SF position and his contract is for 2012 only.
also this trade will help the Rockets get down under the Luxury tax for this season.

Luis Scola= top 10 in scoring and top 15 in FG% in the PF rankings he got 606 total rebounds and Amare got 636 and LS only played 74 games(Amare 78 games). he has 4 more years (at8m,9m,10m,11m) after this years contact and his last year is non guaranteed .

So my thinking is i am not ready for the Suns to be rebuilding whilst Nash is still on the roster i want to give 2Time and BAMF  another chance to make the a deep run in the playoffs .I do not think we can be players in free agency and build a deep team therefore i think we should go down the trade route. we all know VC is not going to be on the roster next year so we need to see if we can flip  his contract for something decent. i personally have not seen much of Richard Hamilton to  make a decision to join our team and be a  starting SG but can he be any worse than VC? maybe hopefully not. i think we can all agree if the FO can flip Lopez for a decent starting PF then i am sure we would be all for it. i guess only time will tell what our roster will be like at opening game but lets hope the FO has some magic and we can do the we missed the playoffs year before and this season we can go to the Western Conference Finals again HOPEFULLY.

SO boys and girls who would you like to see realistically at  SG and PF on opening day?

First off lets get  the Amare thing off our chest. Amare is like the ex GF who we had a rocky
relationship with every trade deadline we thought of breaking up but we kept together
then when it was time to pull out the engagement ring to save the relationship in the
off season the rock was too small and he found a better suiter with a bigger rock and
Amare finally became the face of a franchise in the biggest market in the world.
while he has been there in NY and patched things up with Mike D and playing MVP level
basketball he is playing out of position at C and not his preferred PF position and playing heavy
minutes surprise surprise Mike D who has not played his bench. the knicks will make
the playoffs  but with Amare playing heavy mins maybe his knees will not hold up
and maybe Sarvar will look like a genius or Amare will take the knicks to the promise land.

So lets get this out of the way the Suns live by the 3 and die by the lack of
a true PF this season, not CF who is a 6-11 SG who has found some defense this season,
or HW who knows how to PNR and the odd jumper but no Defense or rebounding. they need a 4
who can hit the jumper who can work in the post(TBH i am kinda still iffy of
what the post is but everyone says it so will i) and rebound(or box out well) a little bit
 but most importantly who performs consistently every game like 2time and BAMF.

therefore with the struggles that were inevitably going to happen with
the departure of Amare (ala cardinals with Warner) they has been no natural replacement
and rosterbation has hit an all time high on this site. therefore looking at the market
logically  and listening to the rumors as to which players are available
 (sorry Josh Smith and Kevin Love fans) via trade i produce you the following list
in no particular order:

CLandry
ABlatche
TMurphy
JThompson
ARandolph
AJAmison
ZRandolph
DWest
JGreen


as you can see these are available due to the teams not wanting them
or there are going into free agency. DWest and JGreen will resign with their
teams plus i don't like their size. JThompson will stay and
ARandolph couldn't make it in the nelli/dantoni system so pass.

we are left with the good, the bad, the forgotten, the crazy and the old guy.

The good: CLandry 27 year old and 6-9, who is averaging 11 points 5 rebounds
read today he is available and will be dealt and  with a starting salary
of $3m which expires this season a deal can be made but 
most unlikely due to being in the same division.

The Bad: ABlatche 24 years old 6-11, 16 points 8 rebounds this season,
read last week his available,has got a reasonable salary who signed a contract
extention this year. his play is improving but he has character issues which
can be knocked into shape by BAMF and 2Time.

The forgotten: TMurphy who is really has been forgotten by the nets, 6-11 30years old
who has a career stat of 11 points and 8 rebounds. i read on the site that
LORD SETH says swap him for Carter(sorry if i read it wrong seth) but it didn't work on trade machine
i guess u can give cash and other castoffs but the Russian is loaded anyway.

The Crazy, ZRandoph is a 20 and 10 machine who has many red flags but is always on
a loosing team who has not received a contract extension from the grizzlies.
lets face it his not coming to the suns more chance PManning signs with the Cardinals.

The Old Guy: AJamison 34 years old, averaging 15 points 5 rebounds.
contract ends in 2012, he is overpaid at $12m this year and $15m next year.
not read if he is available but I'm sure the cavaliers will want to get rid of his
contract. if he somehow land him we would probably have the oldest starting lineup
36,33,38,34, and the centre.

i personally think we go for Landry first see if they want HW or JC or the
 1st round pick from Orlando and the $3m in cash. if we cant strike a deal
then we go with Blatche due to his upside and improving in the suns system.
i know his has red flags and a toxic personality but i have a theory that if you want
to win a championship you need a crazy person on your team ala Rodman with the bulls,
Wallace with the Pistons, Artest with the Lakers. HW,GL and the Orlando 1st round pick
to make the trade work with the Wizards, then if that doesn't work whoever the Nets or Cavs
are going to want to get rid of in Murphy or Jamison.


One thing i don't understand that coach has not figured out is not the defense or the
new ways to close out the 4th quarter its the rotation. there are 4 quarters, 12 mins each
which = 48 mins a game . lets say we get Blatche or whoever as out starting PF.
lets say the starting 5 should AVERAGE 30 mins each that leaves
 18 mins of playing time *5 positions= 90mins
therefore a 5 man rotation of each player getting about 18 mins
or a 6 man rotation of players getting 15 mins each


nash     30     dragic         15       
carter    30     pietrus     15       
hill     30         jchil/dudley 15/15   
blatche 30     frye         15
gortat     30    lopez         15


sorry for my bad English/maths/grammar/ranting and sorry if you read all that.

Poll

So Boys and Girls who do you want as out starting PF?

21%

CLandry

15 votes

34%

ABlatche

24 votes

8%

TMurphy

6 votes

15%

ZRandolph

11 votes

1%

AJamison

1 votes

18%

Other State Below

13 votes

70 votes | Poll has closed

since my love of the NBA and specifically phoenix suns and this blog has taken me to a new level of krazy love for our team and with the things that have happened this week i think i need to write something just to get my frustration and opinion out. along with England drawing with Algeria ffff**^%$££ ahahhhh. any way.

Well i like Amare as a person and his game i don't think he is a max contract player. i would give him the same contract extension Pau Gasol got until 2014, with amares player option next year 17m and 18m 19m 19m the following 3 years after that until 2014. if he doesn't accept and that is more than likely then this is the following i would do.(being the new GM )Cough cough.

All the next part is from my limited knowledge of the CBA so i may be wrong so i apologise from now.(Maybe Dking97 or anyone else can correct me)

Trade Amare to the Miami Heat and get a traded Player Exemption (it might be his player option of $17m) and defiantly a future 1st round pick.

Then go to Minnesota Timberwolves (this is where i get a bit confused)use the sign and trade with LB or a Traded Player Exemption from Amare deal to Miami to sign Al Jefferson. he is a similar player to Amare and maybe a better rebounder , and is 25years old and more importantly for SARVAR he comes in Cheap.  so basically im thinking after Amare is gone send LB for Al Jefferson via some method. throw in Miami's first round pick or maybe some second round picks to sweeten the deal.

 

Then the teams salary will be $52m. Waive Collins, LA Cap hold is $1M and CF Cap hold is $2.3m which i then believe we can sign both of them with the cap being at $56m.

LA to a 5 yr contract worth $15m (1m,2m,3m,4m,5m.) works out $3m a year

CF with a 5 yr contract worth $25m (3m,4m,5m,6m,7m). works out $5m a year

 

that would bring the roster to 11 players resign Collins and Dwayne Jones(read somewhere he got cut) for league minimum then you have a minimum roster of 13 then add someone from free agency or both our second round draft picks to take it to 15 players and a salary around $60m dollars which i am sure Sarvar can live with.

like i said lots of ifs and buts to make the following happen but since i am the new GM of the Phoenix Suns and Barkley is my Assistant GM we can do what we want.

What do you guys think? Would you like me to be the new GM?

P.S i am sure there are some Grammar and Spelling mistakes in there somewhere so i apologise.

I don't know if  everyone would agree with me but i think J Rich should go before Amare.

So i started looking at teams who do not have a decent shooting guard and we can trade with. Below are teams who have a need at SG and maybe we can trade with.

Washington

Indiana

Nets

Minnesota

I think since Washington are in free fall we get rid or Jrich and his huge contract, so i propose the following (works on trade machine)

J rich and a second round pick for Mike Millar (SG) Frabricio Oberto (C) and J Critenton(PG/ Suspended for rest of season)  all are expiring contracts this year. money works out the same and both teams are over the cap any way.

Why Phoenix does it: we get a SG and C who come off the books and give us cap space for  the summer.

Why Washington does it: gets rid of several pieces and get a decent SG . there team next year Arenas (if they cant void his contract) J Rich JHoward(if they pick up his option) AJamison(if he does not get traded) and D .Gooden(if they can re sign him) and some nice young players . if they get rid of Jamison(trade) and Howard (don't pick up his option) they will have $30m in salary and can build from there.

So come on Kerr get it done but seriously what do you guys think of this trade and what other plausible trade scenarios can you think of for J Rich ?

i think all the deals out there for amare are soft ish and we should keep him until the end of the season.
then i came accross the following article and read the last bullet point

http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/20035997

out of all the people we have been linked with like beasley, igoudala etc i think we should go after Luol Deng, did some research and his contarct is

(2010)$10,365,000      (2011)$11,345,000      (2012)$12,325,000      (2013)$13,365,000      (2014)$14,275,000

his career numbers are 15 and 6 and this season he is avergeing 18 and 7

my trade proposal (works on trade machine) is Amare for Deng and Thomas

Thomas is a bit of a head case at 13 but is a PF at 6,10. see what he is like for the rest of the season is he does well sign him for less but i am  not really bothered if he stays or goes.

this trade would put Chicago over the tax level so send T.Griffin to Chi for Devin brown(expires this year and works on trade machine) and chicago would be under the tax  level with 13 players.

i know what you guys are saying he plays SF where we have Grant starting and Dudley and Clark waiting in the wings. but i would start with Nash JRich Deng Thomas Lopez and bring on Dragic Hill Dudley Frye Admunson.
Deng would beign some defensive presence probably the best defender we have onteh team(better than grant even though i love grant).
maybe start him at some PF he is 6,9 but at 25 i think he is a good investment with our young squad and has a decent contract.

What do you guys think of Deng on the team?

is he the best/realistic piece we can get back for amare?

 

 

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Would I do these trades depends on what time of night I am calling other team’s GMs.

Any how, before A. Tucker got traded I thought of the following trade it worked on the ESPN trade machine but next day he got traded and I didn’t publish it.

We send Amare, Tucker, Griffin, & Collins to New York for D Lee, J Jefferies and C. Mobley. Maybe convince New York to cut Collins and griffin not take their options and we can re sign them for rest of season and keep the 13 man team. With this trade New York would get there payroll down from $83m to $77m.

Anyhow the numbers game, the payroll of the team would be $79.5 million with the $9.5m of C Mobley being covered by insurance.

Therefore it wouldn’t be any different to now because we are $75m now therefore $5m million goes to player’s contracts and the other $5m to go to luxury tax bill.

Another crazy trade ship J rich to Dallas for J Howard. $10.89 is Howard’s 1 year contract and $13.33 and $14.44 is J rich contract, works on ESPN Trade Machine. This trade might not happen because of Sarver and Cuban and their wired relationship (let’s call it love) but Dallas needs a 2man and we get a crazy man.

 

If all of the above would take place next year our wage bill would be $35million Because D Lee and Howard’s contract comes off the books as well as Frye bolting for a better contract but J Jefferies has a player option of 6.8m.

Obviously loads of players in free agency lets say cap is $53M

£9m each to sign J.Johnson and D Lee which gets us to $53m I know I know I have not slept well past couple of nights.

I would say MLE to sign JHoward or CFrye but I think we can’t do that because click link, point no2

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_feature_pieces/855/20100111/2010_offseason_primer/

Like I said just for something to comment on because no game today, all criticisms welcome.

As the days are counting down and all the top free agents are signing with other teams and we will pick up what ever is left i found this link http://www.rotoevil.com/nba/2009-free-agents-centers (credit goes to them) i was just wondering who you guys and girls think should start centre for us on the first day of the season?

Ben Wallace and Tyson Chandler are not on the list but you can use them if you wish.

could you put the name of the player you want to start for us in the Subject box and your reasoning in the message box so it makes its easier too read for everyone, thanks (sorry if i sound anal)

The list below i copied and pasted it so its easier to look at and comment on and the credit goes to the origonal posters.

the top 5 have been signed up.(just about)

 

                                                  Top 5 Centers Available

 

 

While I listed the Top 10 players available for all of the other positions, this year’s crop of centers is extremely thin, and in my opinion, only 5 of them will be highly coveted. They are:

1. Mehmet Okur (Early Termination or $9.0 million)

Okur is coming off a very strong season for Utah, and since he just turned 30, he wants to secure a big contract while he still can. Memo has said many positive things about the city of Utah, and he wants to stay in a Jazz uniform, but at the same time, he wants to get paid handsomely. On his website memo13.com, he recently stated: “I will not be changing teams if there is a difference of $3-5 million in the total worth of the new contract. I believe my managers and I have let our feelings be known (to) the Jazz management.” This makes it sound like he’s going to opt out of his contract to see what kind of money he can command as the #1 center available in 2009. Fantasy Impact: assuming he stays in Utah, his stats could go up even further without Boozer around.

2. Rasheed Wallace (Unrestricted)

‘Sheed was a great fit in Detroit, but after 5+ seasons, his Pistons career has come to an end. At the age of 34, Wallace is on the decline. He shot a career-low 41.9% from the field this past season, and his 13.5 points per 36 minutes was his lowest scoring average since his rookie year. However, he can still spread the floor and play rock solid defense, and he has plenty of moxie and experience. Since he could be the “missing piece,” several playoff teams will show interest this summer. One rumor has him going to Cleveland to play with LeBron (intriguing), while another has him retiring if he doesn’t earn $8 million next season (pulling a Sprewell).

3. Chris Andersen (Unrestricted)

In one of the best NBA comeback stories of all-time, Andersen rebounded from a 2-year drug suspension to re-join his former team and help lead them to the Western Conference Finals. Along the way, he finished 2nd in blocked shots and set career-highs in several categories. Now he’s an unrestricted free agent, and I’m guessing that several teams will be contacting his agent on July 1st. His excellent production as an energy big man off the bench is undeniable, but the value of his “Birdman” persona should also be considered. Andersen is one of the most electrifying players in the league, and as a result, he’d be a fan favorite on any team. Surely the Nuggets want to bring him back, but they’ll have to pay a pretty penny to keep him. Fantasy Impact: no matter where he plays, he’ll be one of the best shot-blockers around.

4. Marcin Gortat (Restricted)

The Magic tried to keep Gortat a secret in ‘07-08 by playing him in just 6 regular season games, but in 48 playoff minutes last year, Marcin managed to scored 10 points, pull down 8 boards, and block 4 shots. In 63 regular season games this past year, Gortat made 57% of his shots and averaged 4.6 boards, .8 blocks, and 1.8 fouls in just 12.6 minutes per game. Per 36 minutes, that translates to 13.0 boards (4.4 offensive), 2.4 blocks, and 5.0 fouls. He’s getting valuable playoff experience right now, and at the age of 25, his future looks bright. Orlando would love to keep him, but they’re going to have enough trouble bringing back Hedo Turkoglu. Fantasy Impact: if he lands in the right situation, Gortat could play big minutes next season.

5. Zaza Pachulia (Unrestricted)

Pachulia is actually the same age as Gortat, because he entered the NBA at the tender age of 19. With 6 years of experience under his belt, Zaza has developed into one of the most reliable backup centers in the league. He averaged just 19.1 minutes this past season, but he shot a career-best 49.7% from the field and pulled down 10.7 rebounds per 36 minutes. The Hawks have several free agent decisions to make this summer, and if they don’t act fast, Zaza could be playing for someone else next season.

                                                      26 and Under: Decent Talents

 

Ryan Hollins (Restricted)

This past season, Hollins played in just 45 games and averaged a quiet 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds. However, it was a solid year for the 24-year old, as his per 36 minute stats translate to 11.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. He also made 53% of his shots, and that number should rise as he gets more experience. Hollins is an excellent athlete for his size, and due to his relatively young age, I really like his potential. I’m not sure what Charlotte was thinking when they traded him to Dallas for DeSagana Diop, but now the Mavs will be able to match any offer made to Hollins. Fantasy Impact: for those wondering, Erick Dampier still has 2 agonizingly long years left on his contract.

Solomon Jones (Restricted)

Jones hasn’t improved much since his rookie year, so it will be interesting to see if the Hawks choose to bring him back. He’s a rather skinny big man, but his long wingspan and nice leaping ability help him to block and alter shots. His offense still needs a lot of work, and since he turns 25 in July, it’s questionable how high his upside really is.

Joel Anthony (Restricted)

Anthony turned some heads this past season, blocking 93 shots in limited minutes, for an average of 3.2 rejections per 36. Like Jones, Anthony has very long arms and is a restricted free agent this summer. One negative is that, despite only 2 years of NBA experience, Joel is already 26 years old. This means his upside is also limited, so Miami shouldn’t pay a lot to re-sign him. Fantasy Impact: is worth watching if Jermaine O’Neal can’t stay healthy.

Kyrylo Fesenko (Restricted or Team Option for $.9 million)

I’m a fan of Kyrylo Fesenko, but I’m not sure if Jerry Sloan is. The 22-year old still has a lot of maturing to do, but he has a huge body with big soft hands, and is fairly mobile for his size. Comparing both his NBA and D-League stats from his rookie year to sophomore year, he cut back on his turnovers and fouls while improving other aspects of his game. Having a guy like Kirilenko around to mentor him is hugely important, so I hope the Jazz exercise their team option on Fes.

                                                   Savvy Veterans: Solid and Cheap

 

 

Rasho Nesterovic (Unrestricted)

Believe it or not, Rasho set career highs this past season by averaging 14.0 points and 3.2 assists per 36 minutes played, and he’s shot over 50% from the field 4 seasons in a row. His rebounding and shot-blocking skills have declined, but he’s still a decent player on both ends of the floor, and at the age of 33, but he’s still a solid backup. Will the Pacers re-sign him, or are they ready to lean heavily on Roy Hibbert? Fantasy Impact: if he signs elsewhere, Hibbert and Jeff Foster will get more minutes.

Brian Skinner (Unrestricted or Player Option for $1.3 million)

Skinner was forced to play more minutes than expected due to several Clipper injuries, and he averaged a decent 7.5 points, 5.9 boards, and 1.4 blocks on 47% FG shooting in 21 starts. However, with Chris Kaman healthy and Blake Griffin arriving shortly, there won’t be much need for Skinner’s services in Los Angeles, so the 33-year old may not exercise his player option.

Theo Ratliff (Unrestricted)

Ratliff re-joined the 76ers this past season, the same team where he once averaged a league-best 3.7 blocked shots per game. At the age of 36, he’s still an elite shot-blocker, but after criticizing their coaching staff and skipping their final team meeting, Theo won’t be back in a Philly uniform.

Adonal Foyle (Unrestricted)

Foyle played a total of just 59 minutes this past season for Orlando, and in that limited action, he managed to rack up an incredible 26 rebounds and 8 blocks! So the 34-year old can still be effective, but his real value lies off the court, where he’s one of the smartest and most professional players around.

Sean Marks (Unrestricted)

He played in just 57 NBA games before the age of 29, but since then, Sean Marks has suited up for the Spurs, Suns, and Hornets. He’ll turn 34 in August and his skills are quite limited, but he’s a good 12th man/practice player, so another minimum contract seems likely.

Jamaal Magloire (Unrestricted)

He just turned 31, and he peaked a long time ago, but Magloire is still a serviceable backup center. He played 47 minutes this past postseason, and while he scored just 2 points, he pulled down 11 boards (5 offensive) and racked up 9 personal fouls. His career average of 10.8 rebounds per 36 minutes is very solid, and he’s still a physical defender who’s not afraid to mix it up. Someone will make room for the “Big Cat.”

                                                                       Borderline Options: Risky or Unproven

 

 

Jason Collins (Unrestricted)

Jason Collins has started 429 games in his NBA career, so it’s tough to knock the guy. However, if you look at his detailed on court vs. off court stats, you’ll see that Minnesota was a MUCH better offensive team when he was on the bench, and they were a better defensive team when he was on the bench as well. Sure, he sets good screens and does the dirty work without complaining, but he’s become a major liability, and teams should be wary of signing him.

Lorenzen Wright (Unrestricted)

Over the past two seasons, Lo-Wright has played 286 minutes for 3 different teams, averaging 1.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in the process. He’s never been much of a scorer, but his rebounding rate has declined in recent years, and at the age of 33, it’s unlikely to bounce back. Someone may consider the 13-year veteran, but they’d have to be really desperate.

Mikki Moore (Unrestricted)

In ‘06-07, Mikki Moore had a career-year in New Jersey, averaging 9.8 points and leading the league in FG% by running the floor with Jason Kidd. Overestimating his abilities, the Kings decided to offer Moore $18 million for 3 years. After 1 1/2 disappointing seasons, Sacramento waived him. Luckily, the 3rd year wasn’t fully guaranteed, but they’ll still have to pay him $2 million next season. Mikki played in 24 regular season and 10 postseason games for the Celtics after being waived, but he didn’t give them the boost that they were hoping for (and sorely needed due to Garnett and Powe going down). At 33 years old, he is now a very risky option.

Aaron Gray (Restricted)

The good: Gray has excellent size, is a solid rebounder, and a decent touch around the rim. The bad: everything else. Gray is very limited athletically, so it’s no surprise that he fell out of Chicago’s rotation. He’s a restricted free agent, but I doubt that the Bulls want him back, so he’ll be available to any team that wants to take a chance on him.

Patrick O’Bryant (Restricted or Team Option for $1.6 million)

I’d really like to write this guy off, but since he’s fairly young (turns 23 on June 20th), he could still develop into a decent bench player I suppose. Despite three seasons of NBA experience, O’Bryant still picks up fouls left and right (for his career, he has 116 rebounds compared to 114 fouls), and after being traded twice already, his confidence can’t be very high. The Raptors have a team option for him, but they could opt for this next guy instead.

Nathan Jawai (Restricted or Team Option for $.7 million)

Since Jawai played just 19 minutes for the Raptors as a rookie, let’s examine his D-League stats instead. In 14 games, he averaged 11.1 points, 6.4 boards, 5.1 free throw attempts, 1.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 3.4 fouls in 24.1 minutes on 52.6% FG and 77.8% FT shooting. Decent stats, but nothing to write home about. He’s 22, he has a big body, and is fairly athletic, so the potential is still there, but he has a LONG ways to go before being an NBA rotation player.

Johan Petro (Restricted or Qualifying Offer for $2.9 million)

Petro has 4 years of NBA experience now, but his career is headed in the wrong direction. After shooting 51% from the field and averaging 1.4 blocks to 6.0 fouls per 36 minutes as a 20-year old rookie, Johan shot just 41.5% from the field and averaged .9 blocks to 6.9 fouls per 36 minutes as a 23-year old. He’s still young enough to turn his career around, but in my opinion, he rarely looks comfortable on the floor, and I’m guessing that he’ll continue to disappoint.

Robert Swift (Unrestricted)

Swift was the #12 pick in the 2004 draft (ahead of Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin, JR Smith, Trevor Ariza, etc.), and while injuries have certainly slowed him down, he needs to start producing immediately if he wants to stay in the NBA. In 26 games for the Thunder this past season, he averaged a mediocre 9.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 5.2 fouls per 36 minutes. He’s still just 23, but it looks like picking him and Petro (ahead of David Lee, Ronny Turiaf, Monta Ellis, etc.) with back-to-back 1st round picks turned out to be a bad idea. Of course, that was before Sam Presti took over as GM.

                                                                                                   Out of the League???

 

 

Raef LaFrentz (Unrestricted)

Raef LaFrentz didn’t play at all in ‘08-09, and he played sparingly for Portland in the couple of seasons before that. To see how much he’s fallen off, just look at his outside shot. After making 112-of-286 threes (39.2% 3P) in ‘05-06, Raefer has shot a sorry 2-27 from beyond the arc (7.4% 3P) since then. He isn’t very valuable without his 3-point shot, because LaFrentz is no longer the intimidating shot-blocker that he once was. At the age of 32, his NBA career might be over.

Chris Mihm (Unrestricted)

After missing the entire ‘06-07 season, Mihm played just 383 minutes for the Lakers over the past couple of years, shooting just 47-135 from the field in that timeframe. He was traded to Memphis in February, but had right ankle surgery and never suited up for them. Injuries have derailed his career, and at this point, he’s likely played his last NBA game.

Jake Voskuhl (Unrestricted)

Back in 2000, who knew that Jake Voskuhl (8.5 points and 6.4 rebounds for UConn in ‘99-00) would play in 400 more NBA games than Khalid El-Amin (16.0 points and 5.2 assists for UConn in ‘99-00 after leading them to a National Championship in 1999)? Since big bodies are always in demand, Voskuhl is a 9-year veteran, despite never having blocked more than 29 shots in a season. Someone might want his veteran presence around, but I would rather gamble on a young player with some athleticism.

Calvin Booth (Unrestricted)

Another overpaid 7-footer? Despite career averages of 3.3 points, 2.8 boards, 1.0 blocks, and 1.9 fouls, Booth managed to make over $36 million over the past 8 years. Can we please let him retire now?

 

 

My preference would be in order: Gortan( why didnt we offer him the MLE (damm you Cuban),Pachuila(RealGM says he is close to sign a new contract), B Skinner( was decent when he was  here if i remember correctly), J Magloire(only player i like on the list can play defense and who we can seriously afford)

 

Who do you guys think, since you guys and girls know more about the game than me?

 

Looks like the GSW trade isn’t happening now. Unless they throw in next years 1st round unprotected I don’t see why we should get another scrub instead or Curry.

 

We have never heard (or I have never heard) Ben Wallace says he wants to retire.

He has a $14 million dollar salary he might want all of it bought out or he may want to play. Lets face it $14 million in this credit crunch era is a lot.

 

I read somewhere( don’t know if its true) that last year if we got into the playoffs and played 2 more games Sarvar would have made even throughout the year.

 

If I was in control and wanted to put a winning product on the floor this is what my crazy British idea would be. (God help us all)

 

Fist I would try and buyout Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. Therefore the total salary for the team would be $56 million.

 

The basic idea is that a team can only sign a free agent if the total payroll for the team will not exceed the salary cap, so what I have been researching and trying to understand is that we can sign a free agent because our team salary Is $56 million and the salary cap is $59 million.

 

Hopefully this is right or this post will be for nothing.

 

I hit free agency looking at the needs of the team which are starting SF and C. With Shaq gone and G.Hill (probably signs with contender) and M.Barnes.

 

Starting with SF free agency

 

Trevor Ariza, would love him to come but probably re-signs along with Lamar Odom.

 

Shawn Marion, love him to come back but since he doesn’t like management he will sign somewhere else.

 

Ron Artest, love to have his defence and on court presence, I am sure Amare once said he would like to emulate him. Ron said he wants to get paid but if my first choice (going to list below) doesn’t sign then he would be a nice backup.

 

My first choice would be Hedo Turkoglu. He would be great in the run and gun would give good size at 6-10 could operate the high pick and role, shoot the 3 take it to the basket, underrated defence and take some point guard duties away from Steve Nash and we know how clutch he is and he would be threat on out of bounds plays.

I read somewhere that his agent aid he wanted a Corey Maggette type contract 5 years $50 million. For the 09/10 season I would offer him $9.2 million.9.6,9.9,10.2,10.9the following seasons.

 

Next is the Centre position

 

Love to reunite Hedo T with Memo Okur but his price is too high, the birdman will sign with Denver and R.Wallace is old, lots of technicals and will sign with a contender in the east or maybe SAS.

 

Obvious choice is Marcin Gortat, (we drafted him) his 25 years old, mobile for the run and gun, rebounds a lot with little playing time he had, has a decent offensive game(probably gets better with Steve Nash at point), his biggest asset is his man defence as well as his pick and roll defence. Obviously he is going to get a lot of teams asking for him (Dallas Detroit New York Knicks OKC Portland and SAS

) who need starter centre help but I think we can offer him starting job decent money as well as the city of phoenix and the fact we got Hedo on our team by now.

Sign him for 5 years $35 million. Starting at $5 million 6,7,8,9 million the following season.

 

If Grant Hill wants to sign the minimum we can give him is $1.3 million, but doubt he will be back, not heard anything from him or management.

 

Robin Lopez was drafted 15th and signed a $1.6 for the first season hopefully we can sign Ear Clark for the same amount.

 

The Salary Cap and Luxury Cap Numbers are from that Google Spreadsheet Document which has all the other teams salaries and other statistical information

 

There we go our starting line up as follows with average points next to them(total team average 105points per game) but we probably score more than that. We have a decent team, under the tax and a shot at at least the second round of the playoffs.

 

SN 15pts

JR 15pts

HT 15pts

AS 20 pts

MG 10 pts

 

LB 15 pts

GD 4 pts

JD 4 pts

LA 2 pts

RL 5 pts

 

PLAYER	2009/2010
Marcin Gortat	$5,000,000
Amare Stoudemire	$16,378,325
Hedo Turkoglu	$9,275,862
Steve Nash	$13,125,000
Leandro Barbosa	$6,600,000
Jason Richarson	$13,333,332
Goran Dragic	$1,836,000
Robin Lopez	$1,745,520
Jared Dudley	$1,307,640
Alando Tucker	$1,071,720
Louis Amundson	$855,189
Earl Clark	$1,623,720
13th man/ D League	$797,581
TOTAL	$70,528,588.00
PLAYERS UNDER CONTRACT	13
Luxury Tax	$71,861,500

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?page=09DraftBuzz2&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2009%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fpage%3d09DraftBuzz2

"One rumor that won't go away has the Suns and Thunder talking about a draft-day swap that would give Oklahoma City the 14th pick and land the Suns the Thunder's 25th pick and, more importantly for the Suns, the return of their first-round pick in 2010. The Suns traded that pick to the Thunder several years ago as part of the Kurt Thomas trade. The trade is unprotected next year, and with the Suns flirting with rebuilding, they don't want to lose it.

Sources say the Thunder have an eye for Ohio State center B.J. Mullens and likely will take him if he's available at No. 14."

This just in, personally i would just so we can get out 2010 pick back and proably draft Jonas Jerebko with the 25th pick as both Gant Hill and Matt Barnes dont look like there coming back.

Paul Harris or Danny Green with the #48 and Lester Hudson or John Bryant with the #57

 

Would you guys swap the picks?

Obviously after the top half of the draft  to pick 60 all the talent level is nearly the same so with that in mind who would you pick with our two second rounders? would you package them both to buy another first round pick or draft a European and store him in Europe for a few years or address some of the needs Steve Kerr talks about like getting better with defense and rebounding? Any other ideas?

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06192009/sports/moresports/lincoln_star_stephenson_in_sights_175022.htm?&page=2

Are the Suns considering exchanging Shaquille O'Neal for the Cavs' unwanted goods? Depends on how strapped owner Robert Sarver is for cash. He improved his position by selling a small piece of the team to a current investor.

P.s anyone know or heard of who he sold to and for how much ?

 

With all that in mind, Suns GM Steve Kerr was in New York yesterday in an attempt to extend Steve Nash past next season. During the finals, Nash told me he wants to stay in Phoenix but, at the same time, wants to be able to legitimately compete for a title. To that end, I've got an idea: Why doesn't Jerry Colangelo re-purchase the Suns.

 

P.s i only have been following the suns for a couple of years but was there a reason why JC sold the team?

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Looks like Amare is going in 2010, sounds like he isn’t getting the max he wants and probably going to New York for the money that they MIGHT give him and probably some marketing opportunities to expand his brand.

 

http://phoenix.fanster.com/suns/2009/05/29/amare-stoudemire-the-walking-contradiction/

 

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/knicks/archives/2009/05/amare_knicks_sh.html

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Here is a brief Summary of the team’s payroll for 2010, I am sure it will change due to this years free agency and trade deadline. Its pure speculation.

 

 

Atlanta Hawks(Major Player): 22 Million without Mike Bibby who is a free agent this year (probably will resign with the team) and our beloved ahem Joe Johnson in 2010

 

Boston Celtics: 50 million on the books without Ray Allen who most likely will resign along with most of their current bench which needs resigning. (Probably sign lower end free agents to fill there bench)

 

Charlotte Bobcats: 55 Million on the books, Raja Bell is free plus not many players will end up there unless looking for a pay day.

 

Chicago Bulls: 41 million on book this is without Ben Gordon there’s a 50/50 he will sign for 10 million plus if they do then not a major player in free agency but if they do not sign Ben Gordon   they have an outside chance of getting Dwyane Wade in 2010.

 

Cleveland Cavaliers: 20 million on books without the king (37M With), Depends on what The King does if he stays someone might join him (Basically the summer of 2010 will depend on the King)

 

Dallas Mavericks: 65 Million Dirk will probably finish his career there

 

Denver Nuggets: 68 million with all there top 5 players signed

 

Detroit Pistons: 2009 will be there free agency signing year so can’t speculate too much

 

Golden state Warriors: 63 million all young players unless big trade comes they will stay the same

 

Houston Rockets: 36 million, Yao Ming will finish his career there Scola probably resign this year depends what happens with Tracy Mcrady and Ron Artest

 

Indiana Pacers: 60 million, not much will happen

 

L.A Clippers: 52 million, let’s hope they give more effort just for their fans

 

L.A Lakers: 77 Million, Kobe probably stays (well he should be loyal to the team)

 

Memphis Grizzlies: 31 million, up and coming team the draft will be there best friend.

 

Miami Heat: 30 million, depends if Dwyane signs someone might want to team up with him.

 

Milwaukee Bucks: 59 million, not much activity

 

Minnesota Timber wolves: 32 million, Al Jefferson will need help but won’t get any.

 

New Jersey Nets: 47million they will probably keep building with youth.

 

New Orleans Hornets: 70million, moving on, unless trades

 

New York Knick: 23 million, The Holy Grail of the Free Agency where probably Chris Bosh will end up.

 

Oklahoma City Thunder: 32 million, The Scariest Place if a super star lands here to help the thunders big 3 then they will be the elite team in the west for years to come.

 

Orlando Magic: 54 million need to sign Turkoglu

 

Philadelphia Sixers: 62 million, need to resign Andre Miler.

 

Phoenix Suns: 47 million with Amare 30 million without. We all know he wants a Max contract.(i am sorry I don’t know what a max contract is if anyone does can you comment below as to how much money Amare gets over how many years)  It will depend on what Steve Nash does and how much he signs for he will probably ask for 2 year 15 million each. Shaq could surprise us all and sign a grant like contract but he will probably look for 2 years 10 million each

 

Portland Trailer blazers: 39 million, they could add a few key signings and challenge the elite of the west.

 

Sacramento Kings: 35 million, most likely rebuilding through the draft next couple of years.

 

San Antonio Spurs: 34 million without Manu Ginobli which they should resign and I am sure will attract good role players.

 

Toronto Raptors: 50 million with Bosh 33 without, again player looking to get paid will be there.

 

Utah Jazz: 41 million, someone might go there because of the coach or d-will?

 

Washington Wizards: 63 million, plus this year’s rookie signing

 

Basically looking at the free agency list for 2010 (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12156)

I don’t think any of the top tier free agents will land in phoenix for 2010.

 

LeBron James (owed 17.2 million in 10/11)
Dwayne Wade (owed 17.0 million in 10/11)
Chris Bosh (owed 17.1 million in 10/11)

 

None of the above will sign for the suns

Amar'e Stoudemire (owed 17.7 million in 10/11)
Dirk Nowitzki (owed $21.5 million in 10/11)
Paul Pierce (owed $21.5 million in 10/11)
Yao Ming (owed 17.7 million in 10/11)
Mike Redd (owed $18.3 million in 10/11)
Tyson Chandler (owed $12.8 million in 10/11)

 

Amare should sign and finish his career here but he wants to be the man probably looking for 20 million a season. (Hope not)

 Maybe Tyson chandler might sign because of the Bill Cartwright link but I doubt it.

 

All the rest Dirk, Pierce, Ming and Redd won’t come.

 

Joe Johnson
Ray Allen
Manu Ginobili
Marcus Camby
Tracey McGrady
Brad Miller
Jermaine O'Neal
Mike Miller
Shaquille O'Neal

 

Would like Joe Johnson but probably won’t be back, would love Camby or Shaq but both probably wont come. All the rest will reup with their teams.

 

Udonis Haslem
Zydrunas Ilgauskas (option to opt-out prior to 2010)
Anderson Varejao (option to opt-out prior to 2010)
Al Harrington (option to opt-out prior to 2010)
Ben Wallace
T.J. Ford (player option for '10-'11, owed 8.5 million)
Jamal Crawford (option to opt-out prior to 2010)
Richard Jefferson (ETO)
Amir Johnson
Raja Bell
Jerry Stackhouse
Peja Stojakovic (ETO)
Josh Howard (*Mavs have a Team Option for $11.8 million in 10/11)
John Salmons (ETO)
Travis Outlaw
Rafer Alston
Luis Scola (restricted)
Roger Mason
Chris Duhon

 

Don’t like any of the above as well as don’t know there games that well, maybe Raja Bell might come back probably not.

 

 

Best of the rest

 

Joel Przybilla (ETO)
Larry Hughes
Eddy Curry (option to opt-out prior to 2010)
Quentin Richardson
Carl Landry (Team Option)
Chuck Hayes (Team Option)
Rasual Butler
Bruce Bowen
Earl Watson
Luke Ridnour
Matt Harpring
Derek Fisher
Speedy Claxton
Brian Scalabrine
Tony Allen
Patrick O'Bryant
Anthony Roberson
Randolph Morris
Sasha Pavlovic
Antoine Wright
Steven Hunter
Anthony Marrow (restricted) 
Brent Barry
Marquis Daniels (Team option for '09-'10)
D.J. Mbenga
Chucky Atkins
Kelenna Azubuike (Player Option) 
Darko Milicic
Dorell Wright
Yakhouba Diawara
Mark Madsen
Craig Smith
Dominic McGuire (restricted)
Kurt Thomas
Francisco Oberto
Antonio Daniels
Jerome James
Brendan Haywood
Tony Battie
Anthony Johnson
Tim Thomas
Brian Cardinal
Damien Wilkins
Mark Blount
Bobby Simmons
Kenny Thomas
Matt Bonner
Etan Thomas

Most of these would probably could come and be bench and role players.

 

I personally think that the suns should target this year’s free agency

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12445

 

These are the players I think we should target but wont.

 

Ron Artest: perimeter/man defender would help Amare better because Amare said he wanted to be like him lol

 

Hedo Turkoglu: jack of all trades as well as Mr clutch 4th quarter well I think he is.

 

Marcin Gortat the guy we drafted in 2005, 25 years old , back up center or starter when shaq goes give the MLE ( whatever that is? about 5 million a season?)

 

Basically being realistic I would like to resign Grant Hill, pick up Steve Nash’s contract and sign Marcin Gortat. Proably have to draft a point guard of the future, I love Dragic  but we will need his back up and this is a point guard draft plus Gentry said they might draft someone and keep them on the bench for the rest of the season. Plus we don’t have a draft pick in 2010. The second round draft picks should focus on SF and PF.

Since the first order of business was to sign Alvin Gentry and now that is official lets get behind him and the team.

the second order of business is free agency and draft. Whilst I think Grant Hill will be our only free agency signing this year (hopefully there will be a surprise like Lou) the next thing to look at is the Draft.

Looking online it looks like our 14th pick is a lock on for Jonny Flynn via the links below.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/156074-the-goal-of-the-nba-draft-find-the-perfect-fit-part-1#page/4

http://www.nbadraft.net/node/5605

To be honest I don’t like this pick, it looks like the suns are going to draft a point guard with this being a point guard draft I would rather have Ty Lawson PG (probably goes earlier but if he slips he would be a good offensive PG and some steals. Most likely plays defence like Steve Nash.

I have no knowledge of the college game but looking at the millions of NBA Draft Mocks and databases If I was picking I would take the 2 players below at 14. I could list all their attributes, the pros and cons all are on the links below but who do you think we should draft guys and girls?

Gerald Henderson

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Gerald-Henderson-1042/

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/gerald-henderson

Terrence Williams http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Terrence-Williams-507/

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/terrence-williams

 

I have been following the suns for the past 4 years (from the UK have to stay up late most nights and find streams most of which are crap) and this site for the past year keep up the good work guys.This is what I think what we should do in the off season with trades to get ourselves in the upper echelon of the Western Conference.

 

1. Give Gentry a 2 year contract, the players love him, I like him and I think no one else can come in and have a positive effect. The difference between him and Porter was he knew how to manage the egos and personalities.
2. Hire a coach who specialises in perimeter defence or pick and roll defence.

      We need to improve one (which I will give reasons for below)

1. Re- hire the athletic training staff (I personally don’t know there contracts but we will need them to keep the oldies off the injured list.

 

The next part involves trades I don’t know the trading and salary stuff too well but this is what I think could work. (I am probably wrong)

 

Pick up Steve Nash’s option and trade him to the New York Knicks for a 1st round pick (maybe for 2010 since we don’t have one (Steve Kerr) and the talent pool in this years draft is not that great) and a second round pick or cash considerations (whatever that means).We could get David Lee, Jared Jefferies or Nate Robinson but I have not followed them that much this year so I don’t know the pros and cons of their games.

 

I know if your reading this now you will be going what this British guy thinks he is doing, be patient and you will understand my reasoning. Steve Nash is out best offensive player and has been for the past 4 years (somewhere he has had 2 MVP years). He is out best playmaker and best shooter. But since his lover Mike Dantoni has left and his got older he has lost that je ne sais quoi that being involving shaq in the offence or porter’s attempt to change the system or any other number of reasons. But the worst thing was opposition guards playing against him and scoring career high points, a la B. Roy, Mo Williams, D. Harris, D Wade etc.

 

2. Trade Jason Richardson the trade has not worked he is hit and miss and not consistent enough and several game winning shot against us which were kind of blamed on him and personally I don’t like him as a player and as a person with his dui and speeding. I would even buy his contract out but I don’t understand how that works so trade him. The only reasonable teams that I think that could take his are the Minnesota Timberwolves who are £50 million 09/10 and can be there second scorer after Al Jefferson. Another team which is more unlikely are the New Jersey Nets with the J Rich’s contract is £13 million and they will be over the tax and they could give us one of their scrubs contact for $4 million, which we could buy out.

 

These first 2 trades are because our perimeter defence is getting abused time and time again and captain Canada and J Rich are simply not getting the job done and need replacing. I could have gone and traded Shaq or Amare because of the lack of pick and roll defence but I think Amare is the future which is kind of scary but if he was healthy after the all star break we might have got the last seed and give the LA Lakers a run for the money but most likely out in first round. Also shaq is in the last year of his contract and I think he can be a factor in the playoffs if healthy.

 

Get rid of Matt Barnes the most hit and miss player of our team all season, kept jacking up threes and making stupid passes thinking he was a quarterback thinks he deserves a raise more like a kick up the back side.

 

Swift you got to go!! enough said.

 

So that is 26 million of the books and 8 players on our team with 51 million in guaranteed money and tax is at 69.5 so 18 million to play with

 

Next part is free agency which we need to sign a couple of defensive players we have had a great offence the past seasons but we need to stop the perimeter and dribble penetration.

 

Re- sign our MVP in the 08/09 season which was Grant Hill, his contract his 1.9 million now and I am not sure but there is a rule like you have to give veterans certain amount of money do lets say $1.5 million.(which is probably the wrong amount)

 

Ramon Sessions

Trevor Ariza

Ben Gordon

And the controversial players

Ron Artest

Rasheed Wallace

 

What a starting line up those 5 players could be, if only we can pull it off and sign them all on vet minimum, like that’s ever going to happen. These are the players I think we should target. Realistically we can get 2 of them.

 

No 1 priority is signing Ramon Sessions since trading Nash we need a point guard duh and I think Sessions will develop into a top tier point guard given time. He is a true point and I think gentry will get the best out of him, at 6-3, he averages 10 points per game and 6.5 assists and has already had a triple double against the Lakers with 16 points, 16 assists, 10 rebounds, and two steals, only 7 other players (Wade Kidd Lebron Paul Kobe Rondo and other one I think is Devin Haris but I am not sure) this season have achieved this. Last season he had 20 assists season before in a meaningless game plus his numbers will be up in an up-tempo offence. Since he has been paid $722,517 past 2 seasons I would say give between 7-10 million since both the top point guards Steve Nash Jason Kidd Deron Williams and Chris Paul get about 13 million a year. I would settle at 7 million. Plus the Milwaukee bucks are just under the tax by half a million or so in 09/10 what ever they offer him they will be over. Plus I am sure they want to offer Villanueva extended contract too. So should be interesting for them and I think who ever gets him will be the steal of the free agency. Plus I think him starting with hill Amare and Shaq would be a decent pitch he can’t refuse to play with. Or can he?

 

These are his assist stats (below) which were 18 overall during the season of all point guards and his scoring average of the 2008/2009 season were 12.4 points per game

GP MPG AST  APG  TO    TOPG    AP48M     AST/TO

79   27.5    452   5.7    152      1.9          10.0           2.97

 

Signing him probably is 8 out of 10 to a $7 million starting contract.

 

Update: after proof reading this article I am writing (and there are probably spelling/ grammatical mistakes as well as mistakes in understanding free agency.)

Just looked up stuff on free agency and found out he is a restricted free agent, I am sorry still after looking it up I kind of understand what it means. We can offer him $7 million the bucks can match it, so is it up to the player where he can sign or up to his team. Hopefully it’s his option and he signs with us if not my whole post is for nothing. Oh well lets carry on.

 

The Lakers are 77 million without odom and ariza in 09/10, (with the tax at $69.5 million which gives us hope in the pacific) and ariza is a decent SF who can play defence. Lakers no1 priority would be to sign odom to a smaller contract and if that doesn’t happen then they will turn to ariza and give him something a little bit more than the 3.1 million he currently gets paid, we could offer him 5-6 million. 

 

Signing him probably 1 out of 10 because odom will sign somewhere else and they will probably give ariza the mid level exemption (sorry don’t know what that means)

 

Ben Gordon the moron should have signed that big contact before the  economy went down the toilet. Am I right and saying we had his draft rights or something I probably am wrong. Any way we know he wont sign anything under $6.5 million but looking at the Google spreadsheet nba salaries thing  player salaries increase every year and we know shaq 20 million is coming off next season so we can offer him $7 million 1st year then 8 the next then 9 then 10 a four year contract.

 

Signing him is probably 1 out of 10 only if he signs a vet’s minimum with us and re-signs a bigger contact in 2010 which probably won’t happen.

 

Now to the controversy from the brief knowledge of the game Ron Artest is somewhat known as a problem here and there but he has settled down of late and knowing the rockets won’t make it far through the playoffs (hopefully out in the first round ) we can sign him. He currently gets paid 7.4 million we can offer him 8 to 10 million for 3-4 years plus he can play the guard position he is playing since T Mac went down or he can switch with grant hill in the starting line-up. This would beef our perimeter defence where got killed last year.

 

Signing him would be 5 out of 10, to $8 million to start with, he will probably get better offers from other teams.

 

 Lastly the crazy signing of the year of Rasheed Wallace, this would only work if Detroit do badly in the payoffs and he and shaq decide to rotate the centre position each game or depending on match ups or injuries to either and the fact he gets technicals and he would sign for the veterans minimum . Also Detroit are 40 mill without rasheed and Iverson on the books and are rumoured to sign Boozer, Marion or Gordon, boozer gets paid 12 million which he can opt put of and he said he is going to say he probably signs a 15 million plus which I think he probably is looking for then maybe rasheed might stay like I said a long shot.

 

Signing him 1 out of 10

 

Every year we have a signing like that surprises us couple of seasons ago it was grant Hill becoming the player he should have been in his career this year it was Louis Amundson and for next year we should sign

 

Othyus Jeffers playing for the Iowa Energy from the d-league, You’re all like what is this crazy guy thinking never heard of him.

 

Just won rookie of the year 08/09 in the d-league and who ranks in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and steals. In 46 games (31 starts) for Iowa, Jeffers is averaging 20.9 points on 53 percent (354-for-667) shooting from the field, to go with 9.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.1 steals who is know as a defensive player.

 

Starting line up

 

Sessions Artest Hill Amare Shaq

Dragic Barbosa Dudley Lopez Admunson

Tucker Jeffers 1st round rookie

Our 13 man squad

 

PLAYER	2009/2010
Shaquille O'Neal	$21,000,000
Amare Stoudemire	$16,378,325
Ron Artest	$8,000,000
Ramon Sessions	$7,000,000
Leandro Barbosa	$6,600,000
Grant Hill	$1,500,000
Goran Dragic	$1,836,000
Robin Lopez	$1,745,520
Jared Dudley	$1,307,640
Alando Tucker	$1,071,720
Othyus Jeffers	$797,581
Louis Amundson	$855,189
Rookie 1st round(shooter)	$1,300,000
Rookie 2nd round overseas
offer 2nd round for another future 2nd
TOTAL	$69,391,975.00
PLAYERS UNDER CONTRACT	13
Luxury Tax	$69,400,000

 

Plus we had a first round pick and I think but I am not sure but 2 second round picks some mocks have us at 2 picks and some have as 1. I don’t know who we should draft because after Rubio and Griffin the rest are hit and miss. But I think we should draft a pure shooter or defender. Ty Lawson, Cole Aldrich or Darren Collison are some of the players I like. The second round pick should be an international player whose contract we can buy next year when Shaq monster contract comes off the books.

Went to Draft Express and Donatas Motiejunas the Lithuanian 7 feet (without shoes) who plays PF/C, Vladimir Dasic a 6’9 SF/PF who is probably a prospect  as is Jan Vesely a 6’11 Centre.

I guessed Grant Hill’s salary and 1st round rookie contract.

 

For all this to pan out (ASSUMING IM RIGHT AND I HAVE A FEELING I AM WRONG) several miracles needs to happen to pull this off at the same time but if this roster change happens we should be a force to be reckoned with in the western conference and the Phoenix will rise again and like all fans who post stuff like this I will finish with the dream of

 

PHOENIX SUNS 2009/2010 NBA CHAMPIONS !!!!!!!!