Well, well, well! It's a happy day to be a Suns fan! I must say, this puts a bit of a dent in the old "$arver is a cheapskate" bromide we're all so fond of using. Upping Hill's offer to $3mil is not a cheap move. And this is confirmation that Suns are not rebuilding, and are certainly not blowing it up this offseason. Excellent! I like the fact that we're keeping the team intact, and that it's a team we know. Now, we may not be good enough to contend (who on the roster can actually play D?), but I think we're around a 50-win team, and guess what? Watching 50 up-tempo wins in 82 games is a lot of fun!
Sometimes we focus too much on winning it all and forget that the Finals are only a tiny part of the season. Obviously winning a championship would be the best, but we have to keep in mind that it's a 6 month regular season, and we have to root for this team for all that time, whether they make the playoffs or not. With Gentry coaching, Nash/Barbosa/Hill/Amare on board, this should be a very enjoyable team to watch on a nightly basis.
As for the specific moves, Frye is a nice depth signing. It's always a bad sign when a guy's career highs all came in his rookie year, so expecting anything more than a 4th big would be a mistake. But he's a legitimate NBA player, and that's better than I thought we'd have in that spot. Plus, he's a fun guy (google "bubble gut monster") and a good locker-room guy, and I always like having those dudes around. We lost so much when we lost Eddie House. I don't think Frye can fully replace that emotional role, but it's a start.
Hill coming back is nice. I would have been fine with him leaving, but he's a class act, a good player, and a guy you definitely want to root for. Nash's extension is definitely too much money and it may be 1 year too long, but Kidd unfortunately set the market for ancient point guards, and with what Nash means to this team, it's probably worth that extra year just so he'll retire a Sun. Can't we have one of our great players retire a Sun for once?
Overall, I'd say Kerr's talking point of "flexibility" is more than just lip service. The contracts the Suns just gave out (counting Nash's, which hasn't been signed yet) make it look like the Suns are NOT trying to clear all-out cap space in 2010 or any other year. Which is a good thing! Even with the shrinking cap, too many teams will have all-out cap space in 2010. There's only a few elite free agents. The cap spacers who miss out on LeBro/Wade/Bosh are going to be doing things like giving max money to Carlos Boozer. I'd much rather have a mix of good players and expiring deals that can be used in trades, and not be forced to throw money at someone. Look at Detroit this year. They threw like $100 million at Ben Gordon and Chaz Villanueva. Ugh. I still remember the Longley/Googs signings that completely crippled us for years, and I really don't want a repeat of that.
The big thing left is Amare. From his agent's recent comments, it sounds like he (the agent) understands that no one will trade for or sign Amare until he proves he's healthy. Which is good. Hopefully he comes back with a vengeance in a contract year.
