Hoopsworld wrote:Thompson And The Suns?
There's no question that losing Amar'e Stoudemire was a devastating blow to the Phoenix Suns. Not that it was a surprise after the team was close to trading him numerous times over the last couple of seasons, but that doesn't change the fact that a team which was just in the Western Conference Finals allowed one of the primary players who got them there to get away. Of course, the arrival of Hedo Turkoglu, Hakim Warrick and Josh Childress was supposed to help ease the sting of Amare's departure, but so far the Suns look closer to being a lottery team than they do a candidate to return to the West's final round.
Suns coach Alvin Gentry runs a system that allows players to run more freely, and sometimes allows players who might not be as good in another system to look very good in Phoenix. A great deal of that has to do with the presence of Steve Nash, around whom the system was built. Few point guards in the NBA have the knack for finding a balance between scoring and passing that Nash does, and his court vision is as good as anyone's in the league, even at this late stage of his career. It's Nash who is expected to help Turkoglu and Warrick, in particular, provide the firepower that the team lost in Stoudemire.
So far, the results are mixed. Warrick looks good, and has lead the Suns in scoring for the preseason with 10.8 points per game in just 18 minutes of action per contest. He's also shooting 58% from the field, showing the kind of improvement one might expect from a player joining Nash in the Suns' run-and-gun offense. Of course, his 2.8 rebounds are well short of Stoudemire's normal production of eight or nine rebounds per game, but considering Warrick was brought in as a money-saving alternative, you can't expect him to do it alone.
Turkoglu has been quite a disappointment early on, especially considering he is really the piece who is supposed to ease the sting of Stoudemire's departure. He played his best basketball as a member of the Orlando Magic, where he handled a large share of the ball-handling duties and lit up the scoreboard with his dead-eye three-point shooting night in and night out. He didn't fit in with the Raptors at all, but given the Suns' style of play he certainly has the potential to be an enormous factor for Phoenix. So far, however, that hasn't been the case. Also averaging right around 18 minutes per game, Turkoglu is managing just 5.2 points per game in preseason while shooting 33% from the field and 28% from three.
Reality should be quickly setting in for the 1-5 Suns . . .you can't hope to replace a perennial All-Star power forward with cheaper, less effective pieces, and still expect to be competitive.
It no secret the Suns are looking for inexpensive answers to any and all problems, and it just so happens that there is a fairly inexpensive answer to the power forward hole. The Sacramento Kings have accumulated a nice collection of front court talent, so much that one particular piece appears to be the odd man out. Thought to be a foundational piece for the Kings, Jason Thompson is quickly losing his starting spot to Carl Landry, whom the team acquired at last year's trade deadline, and should the Kings decide to move Thompson the Suns should be first on their list of possible trade partners.
Unlike Warrick, Thompson is a player with a great deal of upside, one who would benefit greatly from playing alongside Steve Nash in an offense that stresses moving the ball more and creating more touches for everyone. Thompson might even be among the top candidates for Most Improved Player in the Suns' system. The Suns would absolutely be better, and Warrick is better suited to a secondary role behind a player like Thompson. If the Suns are serious about getting back to the Western Conference Finals they're going to need to work on their lineup a little bit more, and Thompson is the kind of player who could potentially help Suns fans forget what they lost in Amar'e Stoudemire.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17644
So what do you guys think? Should we go after Thompson? What about Bass?
