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I'm not sure what to think about this trade.....I guess the pieces started not to fit in Phoenix so they're axing their mainstays. I like it for the suns though...another legit option to go with Amare and Nash.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns...adeonline.html
LOS ANGELES - The Suns acquired dynamic shooting guard Jason Richardson today in a trade with the Charlotte Bobcats that will also bring second-year forward Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round draft choice to the Suns in exchange for shooting guard Raja Bell, forward Boris Diaw and rookie point guard Sean Singletary.
The deal, pending players passing physicals, brings a new dimension to the Suns' shooting guard position with Richardson, who can hit 3-pointers and be an athletic fit into an uptempo system like he starred in during five seasons with Golden State. The trade call was completed at about 3:45 p.m. Phoenix time today.
"He's athletic and gives us a really potent offensive player," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "He's also an excellent defensive players and he's in his prime. He's a very
high-character guy and well-regarded around the league for his professionalism."
Richardson, who turns 28 next month, is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound former two-time slam dunk contest champion who has a season scoring average (18.7) that is in line with his career scoring average (18.8).
Richardson has hit 45.8 percent of his 3-pointers this season and is a good rebounder for a guard, pulling down 4.1 on average this season. The former 2001 No.5 draft pick was moved to Charlotte in a financially driven trade in 2005 but is best known for being the mature captain of the Warriors, who broke a 13-year playoff drought in his final season there.
Richardson makes $12,222,222 this season, $13,333,333 next season and $14,444,444 in 2010-11. Diaw was under contract for $9 million per season through 2011-12. Bell is making $5 million this season and gets $5.25 million next season in his contract's final year.
Dudley, 23, was Charlotte's 2007 first-round pick at No. 22 in 2007 and has started seven of the Bobcats' games this season. He is a 6-foot-7, 225-pound small forward who plays more like a power forward with court savvy and a strong work ethic. He is averaging 5.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.9 steals this season in 21.4 minutes per game.
"I'm high on Dudley," Kerr said. "He's versatile and can guard multiple positions and play like a small four (power forward) or a big three (small forward)."
Dudley is on his rookie deal that pays him $1,222,320 this season, $1,307,640 next season and carries a team option for $2,151,068 in 2010-11.
Bell, 32, was averaging 9.6 points this season, his lowest average since he was with Dallas in 2002-03. Bell, in his fourth year as the Suns' starting shooting guard, is having a good 3-point shooting season at 46.8 percent but is only shooting 42.9 percent overall. The bigger problem was that he had been disgruntled with the early changes that new coach Terry Porter brought and how they affected his role and the team since the start of training camp. He was vocal about his discomfort in and out of the public eye.
Bell, considered the "heart and soul" of the team by Mike D'Antoni in past seasons, enjoyed the best seasons of his career with the Suns. He became a full-time starter for the first time in Phoenix and fired up more than 400 3-point attempts in each of his first three seasons. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team for 2006-07 and the All-Defensive second team for last season.
Diaw, 26, was also in his fourth season with the Suns but was posting his lowest averages for points (8.3), rebounds (3.8), assists (2.1) and minutes (24.5). He does have career-best shooting percentages from the field (56.7 percent) and 3-point line (35.7 percent).
edit: i thought mj was the general manger.... whatever... i'm sure it was his idea
I'm not sure what to think about this trade.....I guess the pieces started not to fit in Phoenix so they're axing their mainstays. I like it for the suns though...another legit option to go with Amare and Nash.
Spurs should now turn around and see if they can get Raja Bell.
Once again, Kerr bailed MJ out like he did in game 6 of the '97 Finals
Spurs Should Go Get Diaw!!
might as well give us felton and g . wallace for the Ldumb
MJ must be taking pointers from McHale.
Or maybe he is getting ready for 2010.
This trade would make a lot more sense for Phoenix if D'Antoni was still there.
Or maybe Porter gave up and is going back to Pringle's offense
i don;t think Larry Brown will let him go.. he'll school the whole team about D Tpark... and he has played for Larry on his Sixers stint...
LOL, after the constant annual ownings the Spurs get on the Suns...you know Sarver put in a "DO NOT TRADE TO SPURS" clause.
Amare's already crying about not getting enough shots this season, and now the Suns are adding a guy who wants to shoot 15 times a game. This should be fun to watch.
That's Amaré to you.
yea mj is not the gm...
Winning some games sometimes alleviates that.
If they revert back to running and gunning, then the addition of Richardson will basically pay for itself in generated shots.
I think the Suns should start Nash, Richardson, Barnes, Amare and Lopez and bring Dragic, Barbosa, Hill, Dudley and O'Neal off the bench.
Enough with the mix-n-match . That first lineup is run-n-gun, while the other is more suited for halfcourt.
I'd only play Amare and O'Neal at the same time for roughly 10 minutes a night. This would maximize Amare's touches, especially in an uptempo style of play, and still get Shaq his when Amare's on the bench.
Depending on the team, going Nash, Barbosa, Richardson, Barnes and Amare is an option as well.
I actually like that idea. Let the second unit pound it with oneal putting less pressure on dragic to run the offense until he matures. You should apply for a coaching position in phoenix.
Runnin' and gunnin' couldn't bring a championship when the Suns had the defensive mindsets of Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, and Boris Diaw on their team. What would make anyone think that getting older and trading away all of your defenders is going to result in overall improvement? For the past five years the Suns have had younger starters than the Spurs who ran and didn't play defense... now their starters are older... I just don't see it working... unlike the Spurs, who added Mason and Hill-- both young and both good defenders. There's really no debate to even entertain anymore: the Spurs have thoroughly outperformed, out-thought, and out-succeeded the Suns in their rivalry this past decade.
I have no delusions of grandeur. I'm not going to say the lineups I proposed would win anything. They likely wouldn't. But MUCH of Pheonix's issues this year stem from teaming halfcourt skills with transition skills in a starting lineup, aspects that slow down the tempo, relegate stars to lesser roles, confound chemistry and make for a bad environment to play in due to poor at udes directly attributed to declining stats, lesser roles, inconsistency and gripings...
If the Suns played those lineups, then Nash, Richardson and Amare would be maximized as starters, and Dragic, Hill and O'Neal would be maximized as subs. Each could thrive in their time on the floor without diminishing the situations/shots of others.
Nash would be back within his element - with athleticism and 3-point shooters flanking him as he does his thing - and Shaq and Hill would dominate opposing second stringers - pounding things inside, taking pressure off Dragic and Barbosa to fascilitate when they can't/aren't ready.
Everybody is back within their zone of success without infringing/changing others.
It would make them much more offensively efficient and the chemistry would likely improve.
Even if their record doesn't, if Phoenix is viewed as fun again, it will only help in keeping their important players down the road and attracting new ones.
However, I think their record would improve. I think having all the youth surrounding him would reenergize Nash, and not having to play/work so hard would benefit Shaq and Hill. These would contribute to being more competative, and would likely give them a significant boost in win-percentage.
True, they'll likely lose vs. the Lakers, the Jazz, the Hornets and the Spurs, but they were going to anyway. I think these rotations give them the best shot to be competative vs. these teams.
They already sucked on defense with Bell and Diaw. Truth is, they aren't going to get that much worse in this area. However, if used right, these lineups can improve their offense drastically.
Pre-trade: Suck on defense, decent on boards, average on offense
Post-trade: Suck on defense, average on boards, very good-to-great on offense.
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