ESPN: KG wants Phoenix

[MrChug]

if phx gets KG... its game over for the rest of the west

Spoken like a true Kings fan...someone who doesn't know it's over because FOR THEM=====it never was

[Borosai]

Bonner owns Garnett.

[Gros Membres!]

If I were the Suns I'd let KG rot in Minny for another year. He's being making bank in Minny and will opt out next year. He'll test the FA market and I really don't see him asking for a max contract somewhere. He'll go to play with great players where he can be the missing piece to help a team win a championship.

But if I was Phoenix, I would probably offer up Marion, Diaw, and some other scrub for KG and a Minnesota pick. Why not? KG, Amare, Nash, Bell, and Barbosa is a great starting 5. Problem is they would STILL have no one on the bench. Take that back - Kurt Thomas!

[JMarkJohns]

Kwame was extended for 07-08 IIRC. Per hoopshype he has one year remaining.

Not Kwame. PJ. You mentioned PJ in the trade. He's up. His 8-per deal ended with the season. As far as I know, he's a free agent.

I don't think you can count on KG opting out. I have no doubts that he hates the losing, but his deal is ENORMOUS and he seems genuinely comfortable in Minnesota.

I think he'd opt out. More than that, being that he's earned a boat-load of money, I think he'd opt out and sign with the best team willing to offer him the full MLE. I'm serious. I think he's done with making money, but having to cash out at the end of the regular season or the first round. He may pull a Finley. I know it's different cir stances, but he's the greatest player of his generation to NOT win a le. He and Nash.

If he's traded to Phoenix and you DON'T win it all with him and Nash together next year, can he count on Sarver giving him a huge new deal and keeping the core of the team together? Is Phoenix ownership perfectly happing paying a HUGE luxury tax for a team that doesn't make the finals? Or if KG accepts a trade, could a guy who seems rather resistant to change be looking at playing for his third team in 3 years in 2008-2009?

Here's the thing. Every year the Suns have lost before the Finals. Every year the Suns have added talent and increased payroll. Every offseason there's rumors this is it. Every offseason the cycle starts over with the Suns failing to get to the Finals, talent being added, payroll increasing, taxes being payed and rumors circling that this is it.

Honestly, I think Sarver has now caught the "fever". I think he wants a le. To what extent, I'm not sure, but I think he wants to win. He knows the financial benefit a le would bring. They'd sell out every game for years. Every fan in the state would buy at least $100 dollars of merchandise. Figure there's two million or more fans, that's quite a hall.

There's reason to pay the tax.

If the Suns can actually do the Marion/Diaw/#29/2008 Atl 1st, then they'll stabalize salary-wise for a bit. This was the last of their rookie-scale-to-extension jumps in payroll.

[BillsCarnage]

If I were the Suns I'd let KG rot in Minny for another year. He's being making bank in Minny and will opt out next year. He'll test the FA market and I really don't see him asking for a max contract somewhere. He'll go to play with great players where he can be the missing piece to help a team win a championship.

But if I was Phoenix, I would probably offer up Marion, Diaw, and some other scrub for KG and a Minnesota pick. Why not? KG, Amare, Nash, Bell, and Barbosa is a great starting 5. Problem is they would STILL have no one on the bench. Take that back - Kurt Thomas!

Don't forget James Jones and there's talk of Grant Hill showing interest as well. For a minimum or half the MLE I'd sign him for 2.

Also, the other rumor is Diaw and this years #1's to the Clips for Magette and their #14.


I've never been a big fan of the KG/Amare duo because they both need the ball inside to be effective. But at this point w/ 3 straight fizzles I'm up for anything that could push them over.

Marion, Barbosa and ATL's #1 pick for KG would be nice. That would allow the Suns to then make the trade w/ Diaw to the Clips. After that they go sign Grant Hill and some other serviceable bench players.

The rotation could be something like:
KG
Amare
Hill
Bell
Nash
Magette
Jones
KT - likely traded at deadline?
#14 pick

Maybe one more serviceable player for a solid 10 man rotation; the rest would be scrubs.

[JMarkJohns]

Don't forget James Jones and there's talk of Grant Hill showing interest as well. For a minimum or half the MLE I'd sign him for 2.

Also, the other rumor is Diaw and this years #1's to the Clips for Magette and their #14.


I've never been a big fan of the KG/Amare duo because they both need the ball inside to be effective. But at this point w/ 3 straight fizzles I'm up for anything that could push them over.

Marion, Barbosa and ATL's #1 pick for KG would be nice. That would allow the Suns to then make the trade w/ Diaw to the Clips. After that they go sign Grant Hill and some other serviceable bench players.

The rotation could be something like:
KG
Amare
Hill
Bell
Nash
Magette
Jones
KT - likely traded at deadline?
#14 pick

Maybe one more serviceable player for a solid 10 man rotation; the rest would be scrubs.

That's great, but... and I hate to say it...

For money reasons, either Thomas or Diaw will have to be included in any Garnett trade, whether it's Marion as the main, or Amare. So the Suns can't keep both, plus get PG.

Also, the Maggette trade doesn't work. Diaw is base-year comp, so only 4.5 million of his 9 million earned next year counts in any trade. Maggette makes 8+ million. So, either the Suns include James Jones, which isn't too much, and maybe keep #29, or this deal doesn't float.

Let's just say the Timberwolves bit on Marion/Thomas/2008 Atl 1st, and the Clippers bite on Diaw/Jones/#24 for Maggette/#14, and Hill signs for the veterans min... the best they have is...

Nash, Bell, Barbosa, Banks for the guards.
Maggette, Hill for the wings
Garnett, Amare for the bigs

They'd also have, in said scenerio, the #14 pick and the #29 pick. and again, this is BEST CASE...

I suppose they draft a big at #14, but even if they do, how much time do you figure him to get? D'Antoni has never been one to play a bench or rookies. I figure they take best available at #29, with a lean towards a big man or PG. Either would have to be skilled enough to play right away.

Also, they are rumored to like free agent PG Travis Diener with part of their MLE. I like that, but only to an extent.

So, let's say...

PG: Nash... Diener, Banks
SG: Bell, Barbosa
SF: Maggette, Hill... Bell
PF: Garnett... #14 (McRoberts, Splitter or Thornton)
C: Amare... #29 (Sean Williams, Gasol or Fazekas)

It looks great, but it's got some serious frontline holes. I'd love to get Williams and McRoberts. Inside/outside, passing/scoring from McRoberts and rebounding/blocked shots from Williams.

However, this is heavily delusional

[BeerIsGood!]

Not Kwame. PJ. You mentioned PJ in the trade. He's up. His 8-per deal ended with the season. As far as I know, he's a free agent.




I think he'd opt out. More than that, being that he's earned a boat-load of money, I think he'd opt out and sign with the best team willing to offer him the full MLE. I'm serious. I think he's done with making money, but having to cash out at the end of the regular season or the first round. He may pull a Finley. I know it's different cir stances, but he's the greatest player of his generation to NOT win a le. He and Nash.



Here's the thing. Every year the Suns have lost before the Finals. Every year the Suns have added talent and increased payroll. Every offseason there's rumors this is it. Every offseason the cycle starts over with the Suns failing to get to the Finals, talent being added, payroll increasing, taxes being payed and rumors circling that this is it.

Honestly, I think Sarver has now caught the "fever". I think he wants a le. To what extent, I'm not sure, but I think he wants to win. He knows the financial benefit a le would bring. They'd sell out every game for years. Every fan in the state would buy at least $100 dollars of merchandise. Figure there's two million or more fans, that's quite a hall.

There's reason to pay the tax.

If the Suns can actually do the Marion/Diaw/#29/2008 Atl 1st, then they'll stabalize salary-wise for a bit. This was the last of their rookie-scale-to-extension jumps in payroll.

Finley's still making 17 or 18 mil + from Cuban so he's not taking less money, just a lot less from the Spurs.

Garnett wouldn't take the MLE from anyone, and for him to go to Phoenix the Suns' lineup would have to be blown up with Amare and Marion probably gone. That ends Suns' ball as we know it and they would have to start over. I doubt they do that.

[Borosai]

If the Suns can manage to get Garnett and keep Amare, that would indeed be a scary frontline. However, like I said, Bonner owns Garnett, and Duncan owns everyone else, so it won't be that bad.

[jbspurs]

if phx gets KG... its game over for the rest of the west

Really? thats what everybody said after the Lakers got Malone and GP. Same with the Spurs after signing Finley. Strong contender.. I agree. But, over I don't think so!!!!!

[TDMVPDPOY]

imo the wolves doesnt need to show KG loyalty, its business.

[johngateswhiteley]

i'd trade Amare for KG, especially when you consider Nash isn't getting any younger. gotta try and win it in the next 2-3 years...

[JMarkJohns]

Finley's still making 17 or 18 mil + from Cuban so he's not taking less money, just a lot less from the Spurs.

I know, but he took a significant amount less to play for the Spurs over the Heat and the Suns. Each of the latter teams were offering deals for close to the full MLE over several years. He signed with the Spurs for roughly half the amount because of their le prowess.

Garnett wouldn't take the MLE from anyone, and for him to go to Phoenix the Suns' lineup would have to be blown up with Amare and Marion probably gone. That ends Suns' ball as we know it and they would have to start over. I doubt they do that.

Then why even talk of opting out? If he's not going to sign with a contending team for the MLE, then he may as well just rot in Minny for the remainder of his productive career. No contending team will have the CAP space to sign him to a MAX contract and he's no longer a player that can single handedly make a team a contender.

Also, it wouldn't cost Phoenix both Amare and Marion. If the Suns happened to bite the bullet and traded Amare for Garnett, it would likely be an Amare/Banks for Garnett type deal.

This deal gives them a frontcourt rotation of Garnett, Marion, Diaw, Thomas, plus a few late-1sts. Throw in Nash, Bell, Barbosa and Jones on the wings, and you have plenty to contend with.

[SpursIndonesia]

First of all,you usually don´t give up a young talented big man like Amare for a Guard or a SF,unless is M.J.
Them:
Amare>Yao
Amare<Duncan,but way younger and with time to keep developing his skills.
and I´m counting Dirk as a long SF.

So,I wouldnt trade an old Garnett for a young Amare+a young Barbosa. NO!

Yao is as good/valuable as Amare, if not slightly better. Amare's much more explosive & agile, yet he can't create his own offense. Defensively, Amare's simply a dead weight, while with Yao, atleast you can expect a good effort in help defense -while his one on one D sucks against smaller & more agile player, his positional D's quite good. Rebounding & stamina wise, Amare's better.

KG & Nash would simply make the Suns an even better contender for a short term -2 to 4 yrs of championship window. Ofcourse, Amare's a better investment longterm wise, but IMHO Nash is not getting any younger & the Suns best time to grab championship is NOW (Lebron getting better & potential Portland future uber team should be considered strongly).

[SpursIndonesia]

Amare during this year's playoffs:

25.3 pts
12.1 reb
52.2% FG
77% FT
1.9 blk

Those stats are almost identical to KG's. Amare makes $12.5 mil. KG makes $21 mil.

KG doesn't have a 2 times MVP quarter backing his team -with a plethora of good players around the team, and he doesn't play in a nitro boosted offense team that inflates your stats.

[SpursIndonesia]

that would be an upgrade for phoenix's defense, but a downgrade on offense. there goes all of phoenix's inside scoring.

Nope, Amare's IS NOT a post player who can create his own offense like TD, Hakeem, or Yao. A pick & roll beetween KG & Nash would be just as good, if not even better since KG's a bonafide 3 pts threat that can further the pick & roll spot and increase its effectiveness -since KG's still quite athletic in rolling to the basket & Nash would really appreciate the opened lane out of that offensive scheme.

[SpursIndonesia]

The Suns have no future once Nash is gone no matter what. Win now.

Agreed.

WIN NOW ! Sincerely, the Heat.

[Bear Grylls]

if not even better since KG's a bonafide 3 pts threat

[SpursIndonesia]

KG gives them slightly more versatility on offense and a SIGNIFICANT upgrade on defense. With KG guarding the hoop and Bell defending the perimeter, the defensive shortcomings of Nash are almost totally masked, and that frees up Marion to be even more of an "energy" guy who can ballhawk and create turnovers on defense. The addition of KG turns them from a ty defensive team to above average at worst, even a good defensive team.

Even better, KG would be the most ideal frontcourt tandem for Marion, since KG has plenty of perimeter skills compared to Amare, would give more space inside for Marion to roam freely. I can see some high low game beetween KG & Marion if they're in the same team, awesome pair. It would also allow the Suns to play a more prototypical center in the middle -if the Suns could somehow get Camby, oh boy !!

[SpursIndonesia]

Well, he's no Dirk, but i bet my rear that he will humiliate Amare in 3 pt shooting duel.

KG : 28.9 % career 3pt FG pct (164-567)
Amare : 17.1 % career 3pt FG pct (6-35)

[SpursIndonesia]

LOL..and where will the almighty Spurs be when Duncan is gone?

Atleast Duncan already has 4 jewelleries in his fingers as the high mark of his achievement, and the Spurs already got 4 championships in their pockets. What's the high mark of Amare's achievement and the throphy collection on your team hall ?

[Switchman]

All great teams come to an end. The only difference is that the Spurs will have 5+ rings once Duncan retires...

and the Suns will have none as they waive Nash goodbye.


I just want to see KG out of Minn. money-you've made $100mil+, get your chance at a ring KG.

[SpursIndonesia]

I agree.Amare is a beast,just needs to grow up a bit.
I ´d love to see him in a spurs uniform.
I really see Amare being greater tham KG in a near future.
If S.Kerr gets rid of him,the suns will kill all the chances the have to win a tle for the next 10 yrs. or so.
Amare should be the Duncan piece for the suns in order to bild a team around him.

In the next 10 yrs, Lebron could have found a midrange jumper & consistency, turning into a new Jordan-Magic hybrid in a steroid pumped physique. Portland could have turned into a dynasty. The Suns already have an MVP, 2 times winner one indeed, It would be a shame to waste his golden age for a long term plan that counts on an unproven star bigman.

[SRJ]

In weighing this trade possibility, consider what each man's strengths and weaknesses are in relation to the other:

Interior Scoring
Amare>>Garnett

Perimeter Scoring
Garnett>>>>Amare (though Amare seems to be improving here)

Rebounding
Garnett>>>Amare (with his size and athleticism, Amare should be a more effective rebounder)

Passing
Garnett>>>>>>>Amare (this would be a huge benefit for Phoenix)

Defense
Garnett>>>>>>>>Amare (another big plus for Phoenix)

Durability
Garnett>>Amare (Amare has already missed one year, Garnett has been rock-solid. Considering the type of game he plays, I think Kevin Garnett could play another 4-5 years at his current level. I have doubts that Amare can do the same, despite his big age advantage)

Individual Excellence
Garnett>>>>>>>>>>Amare (a very subjective evaluation, I know. But Garnett has been one of the top five players in the world for many years and won an MVP award while surrounded by a lot of mediocre teammates. Amare has been brilliant playing with Shawn Marion, a player who has made several All-Star teams, and two-time MVP Steve Nash. Would Amare Stoudamire have done as well in Minnesota as KG has?)

In my view, Garnett is a more versatile, more intelligent, more disciplined, and more poised player than Amare Stoudamire is. No way in Garnett leaves the bench during the Nash-Horry thing, and he likely would have restrained Diaw as well.

Of course, I see the downside for Phoenix. But I think the potential downside is greater if they pass on this.

[SpursIndonesia]

so get rid of old nash and the Suns won't run out of gas in the playoffs right?

Agreed, Marcus Banks is still quite young, right ? Or how about sending Nash to Minnesota instead, for Randy Foye + filler, so that the Suns can have their DYNASTY with MVP Amare in the next 10 yrs.


Monosylabik, ClevelandSteamer, & Cry Havoc, i'll give you all the for some butt spanking and bondage education in this thread toward some ignorasmus .

[SpursIndonesia]

One thing that need to be straightened. If KG's willing to take just MLE money after his current contract end, as the base of thought that Minny doesn't really have the pawn to play hardball in his future whereabout, then what makes any of you think that he WON'T consider playing with the Spurs, or Mavs, instead of Suns, in his elusive championship aspiration chase ?? Heck, Lebron is a much better magnet for him to play with than Nash IMHO -can't miss playing with the next great stuff.