lefty
09-28-2009, 12:43 PM
Man, the Phoenix Suns sure could use a Russian billionaire to come in and buy the club right about now, huh? Ever since Robert Sarver came on board, the Suns have been in a steady downward spiral that they don't appear to be able to get themselves out of, and Sarver's diminishing real estate fortune isn't helping matters.
In one sense, they are committed to trying to retain the pieces that they feel work from the old Bryan Colangelo regime while at the same time attempting to bring in pieces to improve on the formula – all while cutting costs to keep from bankrupting their owner. The end result has been some rather uninspired basketball decisions that led the Suns missing the playoffs outright last season and a return to power looking farther and farther away.
At this point, the club has one major question mark looming over everything that they are doing and that question mark is Amaré Stoudemire. He missed the end of last season after eye surgery, he was having a down year anyway trying to coexist with Shaq and now he's in a contract year and has been all over the map with his allegiance to his current team.
The Suns have already made a bold attempt to trade Stoudemire to Golden State, a move that failed before it gained legs in the wake of the draft, and now the team is moving hesitantly forward with him, once again, as the anchor of their on-court existence. While he doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot in the West, he doesn't exactly prevent one, either.
The decision that has to be made on Stoudemire is two-fold: do you try trading him for pennies on the dollar (because no one is giving up major assets to take back a guy who could leave in less than a year's time) while trying to grab picks or a young gem; or do you let his deal expire and try your hand at re-signing him next summer? Both avenues have their pluses and minuses.
Trading him guarantees that the club gets something for a very valuable asset that might otherwise walk away for nothing. However, they won't get value in such a proposition and they'll never know if they could have re-signed him if given the chance.
Conversely, if they keep him they could have a shot at getting him back (if that's even their desire) but they also run the risk of losing him for nothing. Keep in mind, too, that it isn't as though this team could just spend his salary elsewhere in a rich free agent market if he leaves.
Despite Amaré's $16-million expiring deal, the club will be only $7-$8-million under the cap next summer, which means they'll be able to afford a second-rate free agent at best without Stoudemire agreeing to a sign-and-trade to net the team something in return. With guys like LeBron, Wade and Bosh less likely to leave their clubs, Amaré and his well-documented flaws may become the hottest name that's actually available next summer and teams will have space to absorb him without sending any assets back Phoenix's way. If Phoenix is then left with a 36-year-old Marcus Camby (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=marcus+camby) as the best available free agent big man in their price range, the bottom will fall out for this club in a hurry.
That's a long way away, though. Right now, the Suns have to try and stay competitive with an ever-eroding roster. Gone are guys from their heyday like Shawn Marion (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=shawn+marion), Boris Diaw (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=boris+diaw), Raja Bell (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=raja+bell), Kurt Thomas (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=kurt+thomas) and James Jones (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=james+jones) and in their place are pale substitutes like Channing Frye (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=channing+frye), Earl Clark (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=earl+clark) and Robin Lopez (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=robin+lopez). While there may be some potential in these guys, they certainly aren't ready to contribute at the level of the players the Suns have lost.
This club will need great years from Stoudemire, Steve Nash (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=steve+nash), Jason Richardson (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=jason+richardson) and Grant Hill (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=grant+hill) just to keep pace in a fight for the eighth spot in the West, and while they might manage it, it would be a quick out once they got there. This club has fallen on some hard times and the light at the end of the tunnel hasn't exactly made itself apparent, yet.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
PG – STEVE NASH (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=steve+nash)
Nash re-upped with the Suns this summer, extending his deal for an additional two years after this one, in a move that surprised some considering Nash's age and the fact that Phoenix is going in the wrong direction away from a title. However, the medical staff in Phoenix is considered the best in the league, and with Nash's wonky back, they may be able to cull more out of his last years in the league than any other team's staff would have. Plus, Nash feels at home with the Suns and knows firsthand how difficult it is to guarantee a title win, anyway. He's satisfied with his successes and now he just wants to fade gracefully into the background rather than team-hopping in search of a ring.
SG – JASON RICHARDSON (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=jason+richardson)
Richardson must be dying to play some up-tempo ball. At the end of last season, Richardson finally looked comfortable with what the Suns were asking him to do on the court, upping his shooting to over 50% in the last two months of the season while also getting his scoring up near 20ppg. If he can become a legit offensive sidekick to Amaré this year, he could significantly increase this team's chances to reach the post-season. However, people have been waiting for that kind of dependability and impact from Richardson his whole career and he has yet to deliver. He'll be 29 in January so his chances to steer his career right is diminishing by the season. This may be the best shot he gets to be an impact player on a semi-relevant team.
SF – GRANT HILL (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=grant+hill)
Re-signing Steve Nash (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=steve+nash) was a no-brainer for the Suns given his successes with the team and his ties to the best days of recent Suns ball. Re-signing Grant Hill (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=grant+hill), though, was a bit odd. His character and leadership skills are not to be questioned, but for a team going south and strapped for cash, does a two-year, $6.3-million deal make a ton of sense? If rookie Earl Clark (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=earl+clark) can play well enough to relegate Hill to more of a mentorship role, then it means things are going well for this club, but it also makes Hill a rather expensive substitute teacher. If Hill has to play at the level he did a season ago to help keep this team afloat, though, it's hard to see how the team really benefits from his efforts looking at the big picture.
PF – CHANNING FRYE (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=channing+frye)
Maybe the Suns put Amaré here and team him with Robin Lopez (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=robin+lopez), or maybe Jared Dudley (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=jared+dudley) gets a chance to discover his inner-Diaw, but this arrangement probably makes the most sense. Frye can stretch defences out to near the three-point line like Diaw could and has a nice first step to the basket. His career has definitely hit a wall but in an up-tempo Phoenix offence, his versatility might actually prove useful. If this club loses Stoudemire next summer, though, Frye won't be put in line to replace him.
C – AMARÉ STOUDEMIRE
Stoudemire only managed 21.1-points and a pitiful 8.1-rebounds-per-game last season before his year was ended after only 53 games, so even without a contract hanging in the balance, he needed a serious year of atoning. He's proclaimed himself to be so many great things that it's hard to keep track anymore, but until his effort on the court starts living up to the effort of his mouth, he's going to only dig his reputational hole deeper. He plays zero defence, has a passing interest in rebounding and his game was alarmingly jump-shot heavy a season ago (55% of his attempts were jumpers). While lacking in his ability to dominate, guys like Chris Bosh (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=chris+bosh), David West (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=david+west) and Rashard Lewis (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=rashard+lewis) have eclipsed his consistency and dependability in recent years. If he wants his status back as the best power forward under 30, he's going to have to work a whole lot harder to earn it, especially when he wants to get paid like he does a year from now.
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=292941
In one sense, they are committed to trying to retain the pieces that they feel work from the old Bryan Colangelo regime while at the same time attempting to bring in pieces to improve on the formula – all while cutting costs to keep from bankrupting their owner. The end result has been some rather uninspired basketball decisions that led the Suns missing the playoffs outright last season and a return to power looking farther and farther away.
At this point, the club has one major question mark looming over everything that they are doing and that question mark is Amaré Stoudemire. He missed the end of last season after eye surgery, he was having a down year anyway trying to coexist with Shaq and now he's in a contract year and has been all over the map with his allegiance to his current team.
The Suns have already made a bold attempt to trade Stoudemire to Golden State, a move that failed before it gained legs in the wake of the draft, and now the team is moving hesitantly forward with him, once again, as the anchor of their on-court existence. While he doesn't guarantee them a playoff spot in the West, he doesn't exactly prevent one, either.
The decision that has to be made on Stoudemire is two-fold: do you try trading him for pennies on the dollar (because no one is giving up major assets to take back a guy who could leave in less than a year's time) while trying to grab picks or a young gem; or do you let his deal expire and try your hand at re-signing him next summer? Both avenues have their pluses and minuses.
Trading him guarantees that the club gets something for a very valuable asset that might otherwise walk away for nothing. However, they won't get value in such a proposition and they'll never know if they could have re-signed him if given the chance.
Conversely, if they keep him they could have a shot at getting him back (if that's even their desire) but they also run the risk of losing him for nothing. Keep in mind, too, that it isn't as though this team could just spend his salary elsewhere in a rich free agent market if he leaves.
Despite Amaré's $16-million expiring deal, the club will be only $7-$8-million under the cap next summer, which means they'll be able to afford a second-rate free agent at best without Stoudemire agreeing to a sign-and-trade to net the team something in return. With guys like LeBron, Wade and Bosh less likely to leave their clubs, Amaré and his well-documented flaws may become the hottest name that's actually available next summer and teams will have space to absorb him without sending any assets back Phoenix's way. If Phoenix is then left with a 36-year-old Marcus Camby (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=marcus+camby) as the best available free agent big man in their price range, the bottom will fall out for this club in a hurry.
That's a long way away, though. Right now, the Suns have to try and stay competitive with an ever-eroding roster. Gone are guys from their heyday like Shawn Marion (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=shawn+marion), Boris Diaw (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=boris+diaw), Raja Bell (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=raja+bell), Kurt Thomas (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=kurt+thomas) and James Jones (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=james+jones) and in their place are pale substitutes like Channing Frye (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=channing+frye), Earl Clark (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=earl+clark) and Robin Lopez (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=robin+lopez). While there may be some potential in these guys, they certainly aren't ready to contribute at the level of the players the Suns have lost.
This club will need great years from Stoudemire, Steve Nash (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=steve+nash), Jason Richardson (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=jason+richardson) and Grant Hill (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=grant+hill) just to keep pace in a fight for the eighth spot in the West, and while they might manage it, it would be a quick out once they got there. This club has fallen on some hard times and the light at the end of the tunnel hasn't exactly made itself apparent, yet.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
PG – STEVE NASH (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=steve+nash)
Nash re-upped with the Suns this summer, extending his deal for an additional two years after this one, in a move that surprised some considering Nash's age and the fact that Phoenix is going in the wrong direction away from a title. However, the medical staff in Phoenix is considered the best in the league, and with Nash's wonky back, they may be able to cull more out of his last years in the league than any other team's staff would have. Plus, Nash feels at home with the Suns and knows firsthand how difficult it is to guarantee a title win, anyway. He's satisfied with his successes and now he just wants to fade gracefully into the background rather than team-hopping in search of a ring.
SG – JASON RICHARDSON (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=jason+richardson)
Richardson must be dying to play some up-tempo ball. At the end of last season, Richardson finally looked comfortable with what the Suns were asking him to do on the court, upping his shooting to over 50% in the last two months of the season while also getting his scoring up near 20ppg. If he can become a legit offensive sidekick to Amaré this year, he could significantly increase this team's chances to reach the post-season. However, people have been waiting for that kind of dependability and impact from Richardson his whole career and he has yet to deliver. He'll be 29 in January so his chances to steer his career right is diminishing by the season. This may be the best shot he gets to be an impact player on a semi-relevant team.
SF – GRANT HILL (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=grant+hill)
Re-signing Steve Nash (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=steve+nash) was a no-brainer for the Suns given his successes with the team and his ties to the best days of recent Suns ball. Re-signing Grant Hill (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=grant+hill), though, was a bit odd. His character and leadership skills are not to be questioned, but for a team going south and strapped for cash, does a two-year, $6.3-million deal make a ton of sense? If rookie Earl Clark (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=earl+clark) can play well enough to relegate Hill to more of a mentorship role, then it means things are going well for this club, but it also makes Hill a rather expensive substitute teacher. If Hill has to play at the level he did a season ago to help keep this team afloat, though, it's hard to see how the team really benefits from his efforts looking at the big picture.
PF – CHANNING FRYE (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=channing+frye)
Maybe the Suns put Amaré here and team him with Robin Lopez (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=robin+lopez), or maybe Jared Dudley (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=jared+dudley) gets a chance to discover his inner-Diaw, but this arrangement probably makes the most sense. Frye can stretch defences out to near the three-point line like Diaw could and has a nice first step to the basket. His career has definitely hit a wall but in an up-tempo Phoenix offence, his versatility might actually prove useful. If this club loses Stoudemire next summer, though, Frye won't be put in line to replace him.
C – AMARÉ STOUDEMIRE
Stoudemire only managed 21.1-points and a pitiful 8.1-rebounds-per-game last season before his year was ended after only 53 games, so even without a contract hanging in the balance, he needed a serious year of atoning. He's proclaimed himself to be so many great things that it's hard to keep track anymore, but until his effort on the court starts living up to the effort of his mouth, he's going to only dig his reputational hole deeper. He plays zero defence, has a passing interest in rebounding and his game was alarmingly jump-shot heavy a season ago (55% of his attempts were jumpers). While lacking in his ability to dominate, guys like Chris Bosh (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=chris+bosh), David West (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=david+west) and Rashard Lewis (http://www.tsn.ca/nba/teams/players/?name=rashard+lewis) have eclipsed his consistency and dependability in recent years. If he wants his status back as the best power forward under 30, he's going to have to work a whole lot harder to earn it, especially when he wants to get paid like he does a year from now.
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=292941