Suns, Bucks Agree On Butler Trade For Smith, Kravtsov

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Phoenix Suns have agreed to trade Caron Butler to the Milwaukee Bucks for Ish Smith and Slava Kravtsov.

Butler has found appealing the prospect of playing for his home-state team. He was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Suns seven weeks ago and was expected to bring leadership to Phoenix.

Butler, 33, will make $8 million this season on an expriring contract but the Bucks could absorb most of that with $7.5 million of cap space.

It is unclear what the Suns have planned for Smith and Kravtsov.

Via Paul Coro/The Arizona Republic

[Sam195]

Suns plan to tank with smith and kravstov. Apparently Herb Kohl, owner of the bucks has told his GM he does not want his team to tank and the bucks need to make the postseason for the team to at least make a profit. Bucks barely break even with their current attendance and team payroll.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I'm disappointed they didn't bring back Maggette for another run instead. That would've made me so happy, I could've read the Buck board for days.

[burritoKURUMA]

Suns plan to tank with smith and kravstov. Apparently Herb Kohl, owner of the bucks has told his GM he does not want his team to tank and the bucks need to make the postseason for the team to at least make a profit. Bucks barely break even with their current attendance and team payroll.

Yeah, the Bucks want to build a new arena, and they want to use public funding for a good portion of it. His thinking is probably that if the team sucks, and no one goes to the games, no one would be all right with the city forking over the money.

[UN-Owen]

Suns plan to tank with smith and kravstov. Apparently Herb Kohl, owner of the bucks has told his GM he does not want his team to tank and the bucks need to make the postseason for the team to at least make a profit. Bucks barely break even with their current attendance and team payroll.

I do not say this lightly, but I think the Bucks are one of half a dozen teams or so that should contract

They are just never going to be relevant come playoff time, so what is the point of their existence?

[Dolphin Lips]

I do not say this lightly, but I think the Bucks are one of half a dozen teams or so that should contract

They are just never going to be relevant come playoff time, so what is the point of their existence?[/quote]


What other 5 teams do you think should contract?

[StickAndMove]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

[King4Day]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

So just because some teams are struggling means they should contract? I'm guessing you will want the Lakers to contract if they have a bad season too.
The Suns were a force in the mid to late '00's and 90's as well. Now that we're rebuilding it's time to close up shop?
Your post was not well thought out at all.

[NashtyNas]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

That's a joke, right?

Most of those teams have at least been RELEVANT and great PO contenders in the past.
Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Washington, Orlando, Cleveland are all great cities with a long NBA basketball history.
Most of those teams were relevant till just a few YEARS ago, not even decades.

Toronto is a young NBA city, they have yet to see their shine.

From that entire list, only 2 teams are even WORTH mentioning for contraction and those are Milwaukee and Charlotte. I don't think Charlotte has ever been relevant.

[bucksbrewers3]

Suns plan to tank with smith and kravstov. Apparently Herb Kohl, owner of the bucks has told his GM he does not want his team to tank and the bucks need to make the postseason for the team to at least make a profit. Bucks barely break even with their current attendance and team payroll.

I do not say this lightly, but I think the Bucks are one of half a dozen teams or so that should contract

They are just never going to be relevant come playoff time, so what is the point of their existence?

well that's just stupid thinking because everyone said the same thing about the clippers for years

[burritoKURUMA]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

That's a joke, right?

Most of those teams have at least been RELEVANT and great PO contenders in the past.
Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Washington, Orlando, Cleveland are all great cities with a long NBA basketball history.
Most of those teams were relevant till just a few YEARS ago, not even decades.

Toronto is a young NBA city, they have yet to see their shine.

From that entire list, only 2 teams are even WORTH mentioning for contraction and those are Milwaukee and Charlotte. I don't think Charlotte has ever been relevant.

Plus, you gotta factor in attendance. Portland had the 4th highest attendance in the league last season. Cleveland was 3rd in the league for the first post-LeBron year.

Pacers and Grizzlies are great teams, but no one goes to their games.

So if you want to argue for contraction, you really need to put forth a solid reason (that isn't aimed at any given team) for it. And "they suck" isn't going to cut it, at least not to educated billionaires.

For the record, I'm against contraction. I'm also against expansion. The league is great; don't mess with it.

[bucksbrewers3]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

So just because some teams are struggling means they should contract? I'm guessing you will want the Lakers to contract if they have a bad season too.
The Suns were a force in the mid to late '00's and 90's as well. Now that we're rebuilding it's time to close up shop?
Your post was not well thought out at all.

its been a quite a bit longer for the bucks but they were a top 5 franchise in the 70s and 80s banner after banner for the division title but always ran into either philly or boston in the 80s in the conference finals

[King4Day]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

So just because some teams are struggling means they should contract? I'm guessing you will want the Lakers to contract if they have a bad season too.
The Suns were a force in the mid to late '00's and 90's as well. Now that we're rebuilding it's time to close up shop?
Your post was not well thought out at all.

its been a quite a bit longer for the bucks but they were a top 5 franchise in the 70s and 80s banner after banner for the division title but always ran into either philly or boston in the 80s in the conference finals

Right.
I'm not a fan of fans losing their teams (I really felt for Kings fans before they officially stayed).
I live in NC and would hate to lose the Cats. Their my only source to see the Suns once a year.
BUT, if they did leave, I'd get it. No one goes to the games still.

[P3JA for 3]

From the team that has the best weather to the team that has the worst weather.

Stop trading one of my favorite players like he is nothing!

[NashtyNas]

I'm not a fan of fans losing their teams (I really felt for Kings fans before they officially stayed).
I live in NC and would hate to lose the Cats. Their my only source to see the Suns once a year.
BUT, if they did leave, I'd get it. No one goes to the games still.

I never understand why no one goes to games in Charlotte or Indianna. I mean, those are supposed to be basketball lovers down there. There REALLY is no reason in Indianna - the team has been GREAT the last few seasons and the attendance is still mediocre. Sure, the Cats suck, but the whole point of being a FAN is supporting your team. It's unacceptable that these teams in 'basketball cities' don't get the right amount of viewers.

I mean the Raptors absolutely suck yet their attendance is pretty good - they're making money. They've NEVER been good minus the entertaining years with Vince.

[the_process]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

How are you gonna have a contraction list and not include Sacramento?!? And just due to market size TOR and WSH stay.

[Chuck Newhouse]

I think the reason they let Smith go is they realize that Nate Wolters may be the steal of the second round.

[grumpysaddle]

Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, Phoenix, Utah, Portland, Orlando, Washington

I agree with UN-Owen and I'm guessing his half dozen are within these ten.

HAHAHAh... So, the Suns have been bad for 3 seasons, so they should contract? Don't even think about how they are something like the 4th most successful franchise in terms of winning percentage over the course of their history.

[UN-Owen]

Cold, low populated cities have almost no chance at retaining or attracting the superstar caliber talent needed to compete for a title

Milwaukee
Cleveland
Minnesota
Indiana
Detroit

[holla3mikeg]

From the team that has the best weather to the team that has the worst weather.

Stop trading one of my favorite players like he is nothing!

Don't worry. He is no longer a player. At this point, he is nothing but an expiring contract. He won't do much on the court. Good guy, but he's done.