J Rich to SUNS. Pacific got TOUGHER

[Verbal]

The Suns got a nice All-Star team shaping up.

Things might just get realer.

[ReaListik]

I don't know if this trade made them better or not. Sarver has taken what the Colangelo's built and he's dismantled it one block at a time. Steve Kerr was a good role player and had a great shot from outside, but it still remains to be seen if he is a great GM. Right now, I don't think that Shaq trade has helped them much, and losing D'Antoni hurt them a lot more than anyone in that management wants to admit.

[hermes]

i wonder if the suns think they are actually getting better with this, or is it a move for the sake of making a move

although its early for that kind of thing

[Dexmor]

We could get Wallace anytime for Odom. They were thinking of Wallace for Mccants and Collins.

[CX44]

J Rich is an upgrade but where are his shots going to come from. Amare and Shaq have complained about getting more touches. They still have Nash who is probably their best shooter. Richardson will probably only get 10-12 shots a game. Not sure how much offense they will run for him.

[Dexmor]

Well if they somehow revert back to running then this team is gonna be redicoulsly good again,

[Verbal]

Showtime vs Showtime?

PHX vs LA?

Splendid.

[DEEP3CL]

They got better for sure. Raja Bell is very overrated IMO, he was always big when they faced us in the playoffs, but since then, not so much. And jeez, J-Rich is so underrated it's not funny. He was HUGE in the Warriors/Mavs upset a couple years back and all fans from cities he's played love him. great trade for the suns.

Yeah.......if your just looking at for the offensive value. But in reality the Suns are confused, defense.....no no offense. If people thought the trading for the Diesel was bad and cost the Suns a deep playoff run, this one has all but put the tomb stone over the Suns grave.

Nash already has thoughts of New York and his old coach, Shaq is trying to mend the relationship with Phil and Kobe and Amare is absolutely frustrated with what's going on there. This team will be off the radar in 3 seasons................book it.

[ClubLakers KB8]

If we call up Charlotte it's going to be for Gerald Wallace, not Raja Bell.

Try taking on that salary with Bynum's extension kicking in. Won't happen.

[joe.linnen]

I honestly think this is a bad trade.
You give away a decent defender in Bell, and Diaw has done a pretty good job for them so far, and I really dont think they are a threat to the Lakers more than the Clippers would be.

I'm incline to agree, the Suns have no one to defend Kobe Bryant at all. Matt Baranes and Grant Hill is the best they got and I really don't see that going over well for the Suns at all. In a 7 game series I give it to the Lakers in 4.

[joe.linnen]

I know I might get ostracized for saying this, but part of me thinks we should give Charlotte a ring and see the availability of Bell. Battle tested, money shooter, defender to back Kobe. He's a two-way Sasha. Instantly makes our bench better. I know his history with Kobe (even though they seem to be cool with each other), but one thing I like about the dude is that he doesn't back down. He's a little dirty, but so wasn't Boston... we need guys like that. A swagger if you will.

I think that would be a good damn idear. We could use a hard, never back down defencive player. I would like to see a line up of:


SF:Trever Ariza
PF:Pau Gasol
C:Andrew Bynum
SG:Kobe Bryant
PG:Raja Bell

[realfung]

Since Kings, Clippers and Warriors are not really there, so Pacific is only Lakers and Suns now.

Not that tough.

[Slava]

J-Rich isn't the caliber of player to change the direction of an entire division by himself. If it was Vince Carter, that'd be an entirely different thing but not J-Rich.

[Verbal]

J-Rich isn't the caliber of player to change the direction of an entire division by himself. If it was Vince Carter, that'd be an entirely different thing but not J-Rich.

Why's that?


Rich isn't exactly Joe Johnson or Vince, but he can play solid defense and he could actually complement what they do run in PHX well.

He especially excels in the open court, and he's playing with one of the best uptempo guards in Nashtay.

It'll be interesting to see what goes down with them, I got a feel of what they're trying to do though.


We might be seeing them in the playoffs.

[dingclancy]

Offensively he'd help a lot. Having a decent penetrator adds a dimension to the Suns offense that they lost when they traded Marion. He catches lobs well and is also a very good shooter especially when he spots up.

Defensively, he is not a lackey by any means. Besides, the real problem of the Suns defense is the head of Amare and the age of Shaq.

[Basketball4Ever]

i don't think its as good for the suns as people are making it out to be. with nash/amare/shaq, jrich is going to be a role player. its one thing if they were still running, but they're not. as a 4th option role player, i'd rather have raja bell. raja brings the defense and the outside shot and as much flak as he gets, diaw is a good player that has killed the lakers before. they just became a weaker defensive team, and lakers fans should know all too well about the value of good defense.

Nash after tonights win against New York...
(On speeding up the offense)
“I think we’re finding a better balance. Terry has encouraged us to get back to running the way we did last year and moving the ball and playing at the pace and tempo that benefits our talent, and at the same time we can go into Shaquille and use him since he’s been playing really well.”