Dirk in a Suns uniform

[flanpaw42]

I was just wondering what your thoughts would be if we tried to go after Dirk when he opts out in 2010.

we will have the expirings of shaw and raja and nash. we could offer dirk a contract and re-sign nash. dirk is an outside player who will finally have a dominant low post presence to open up the outside for him.

we all know nash and dirk are best friends and i think with robin lopez as center and barbosa at sg we would be, by far the best team in the league.

i know its a pipe dream but i think it is more realistic than getting lebron or wade.

[MaryvalesFinest]

The Suns most likely are going to keep Amare so that take care of that considering they both play the same position and Amare didn't want to play at center. You know who the Suns should target though in 2010? Brandon Roy. He will be a restricted free agent but the Suns could offer a good deal with Shaq and Nash's contract comming off the books.

[rsavaj]

I'd like to get Dirk, but he's gonna be kinda old in 2010. I'd much rather go after a young star(JJ, YAO!)

[JustMoe]

I'd like to get Dirk, but he's gonna be kinda old in 2010. I'd much rather go after a young star(JJ, YAO!)

While I absolutely agree that we should rather go for a younger player, not to mention our top priority will be resigning STAT anyway, I'm really wondering what your definition of a "young star" is, since Joe Johnson will be 29 by then and Yao will turn 30 before the '10-'11 season starts (with his legs being at least 40 due to all of those injuries ).

[rsavaj]

I'd like to get Dirk, but he's gonna be kinda old in 2010. I'd much rather go after a young star(JJ, YAO!)

While I absolutely agree that we should rather go for a younger player, not to mention our top priority will be resigning STAT anyway, I'm really wondering what your definition of a "young star" is, since Joe Johnson will be 29 by then and Yao will turn 30 before the '10-'11 season starts (with his legs being at least 40 due to all of those injuries ).

Haha my bad. Still, I wouldn't mind either at their respective ages.

[JustMoe]

Haha my bad. Still, I wouldn't mind either at their respective ages.

No doubt, it would be great to have Joe back with us, and Yao...well, as long as he's still able to walk he'd be a mighty fine addition. I doubt we'd have a shot at him, though, since he'd most likely only leave Houston to sign with one of the major big market teams.
Johnson, meanwhile, seems more realistic, even though I'm not sure how much he'd like coming back after the whole trade-thing. Did he talk trash about our franchise afterwards or anything? Not sure whether he left on good terms or not, since I didn't follow the Suns that intensively back then.

[rsavaj]

Haha my bad. Still, I wouldn't mind either at their respective ages.

No doubt, it would be great to have Joe back with us, and Yao...well, as long as he's still able to walk he'd be a mighty fine addition. I doubt we'd have a shot at him, though, since he'd most likely only leave Houston to sign with one of the major big market teams.
Johnson, meanwhile, seems more realistic, even though I'm not sure how much he'd like coming back after the whole trade-thing. Did he talk trash about our franchise afterwards or anything? Not sure whether he left on good terms or not, since I didn't follow the Suns that intensively back then.

I think he had more of a problem with Sarver than anyone else. The contract negotiations were mishandled to a pretty major extent.

[JustMoe]

I think he had more of a problem with Sarver than anyone else. The contract negotiations were mishandled to a pretty major extent.

If so, then this could be a factor keeping him from returning, not to mention we don't know whether he even wants to leave Atlanta, especially since the Hawks can offer him more money than any other team. But in general, I'd love to have him back, seeing as that year Raja, who'll be 34 by then, will expire and we could really use a new SG.

[flanpaw42]

dirk is more of a really tall small forward then a power foward. look at his skill set. that is why i made mention of him.

i doubt jj even considers coming back to us, although i wouldnt mind him being back here.

[BringinDaRuckus]

I would love JJ to return to our team. Would he be okay playing in Amare's shadow though? I mean regardless of who we go after in the FA pool that year, if Amare stays with us, it's going to be Amare's team.

And Brandon Roy would be awesome here. A really gifted player and play maker on the court.

[b-ball forever]

:vomit:

[tsherkin]

Dirk would have been really sweet in D'Antoni's system... except that his spots all conflict with the places Amare likes to start out. The elbows, the wings for high sidescreens, etc, etc. He scores from a lot of the same places, he's just also got a lot more range and a better jumper... and he draws fewer FTAs (though he's actually really good for that despite not driving or posting as aggressively as Amare).

Would he be neat? Yes. Would he make the defense even less tenable? Not really, no, he's a decent defender these days... at the 4. Would the Suns benefit more from chasing someone else in a trade with those expirings, like Dally or Chandler? Hells yes, since Shaq will have retired.

Roy would be...

I think there are two words:

1) Staggering (as in, that'd be the most staggering off-season acquisition the Suns could manage aside from the LBJ/Paul/Kobe tier)

and

2) Impossible (as in, Pritchard isn't that stupid).

[NashtyNas]

^ Agreed completely with everything you said. About Dirk, playing him at at the 3 is an option, but he would be completely torn down on the defensive end by the like's of Lebron and Caron and Marion, and there is no spot for him at the 4. Amare is never playing the 5 again as a starter, so let's leave that one out. As for Roy, it would be extremely hard to even try getting him, as he is a RESTRICTED free agent. We'd have to make an offer that the TB's feel is not fair for his value, and that would be much overpaying, and even if we did that, it's probable that they will match with Paul Allen being their owner. The Blazers are like his toy... he can spend billions on them and not care for all it matters. So, Roy is probably out of question. On topic for JJ, he has nothing against the organization as a whole, I don't think, but probably wouldn't want to deal with Sarver ever again. 2 most likely options, I think, are Joe Johnson and Dwayne Wade for us. There is no way the Heat get so much better in 2 years that he stays, and we are a pretty good destination, especially if Terry continues the running ways successfully.

[tsherkin]

Man, if Beasley pans out, that team has a totally different look, so I'd be hesitant to say that they don't have the ability to get better enough to keep Wade's interest.

[walkingart]

I think Miami is going to surprise a lot of people next year. I watched Beasley play enough times last year to think that he is going to be the real deal, and he won't have the type of pressure on him to carry a team with Wade(on offense) and Marion(on defense) around to shoulder the burden. Giving him a much easier learning curve then most young stars have.

There is no chance Roy comes here in 2010, so we can all forget about that.

As for Dirk, I think of all the players that will be available in 2010, he is the best one that we have a legitimate chance of obtaining. The question is do we go after the best players we can get and worry how to build the remainder of our team around them later or do we go after players that can fill a void at Center, Shooting Guard and possibly the Point. There are three factors that need to be evaluated before we can legitimately say yah or nah to Dirk; they are Lopez, Barbosa, and Dragic.

If in two years we can see anyone of them stepping into a starting role, we will not have to worry about finding a center to replace Shaq, a shooting guard to replace Bell, or starting PG for the future. I also think the development of an inside, back to the back game for Amare would also make the signing of Dirk more intriguing.

Amare is capable of guarding many SF's in the league as well; not the Lebrons' of the world, but he can guard Lamar Odom, West, Peja, Bowen, AK, and Artest just as well as he can guard the PF's and C's of the league. And against a team like Cleveland, you can slide Dirk onto Ilgauskas, although I don't know if he will still be in Cleveland come 2010. There are only a handful of teams in the league that have legitimate Centers to overpower a tandem of Amare and Dirk. Personally, I think Dirk might be extremely successful against some of the guys that Amare has trouble with. Bynum for example, gives Amare fits because Amare just is not big enough (Bynum is considerably taller than him). That is not the case with Dirk, who is a good 3 inches, maybe more, taller than Amare. I sat courtside a two years ago in the playoffs, and was absolutely amazed at how tall Dirk was in comparison to Amare. That being said, I don't know if Dallas will make the same mistakes they made with Nash and let him go.

[pidi]

dirk realy considering to retire as an mavs nba player and than return to alba berlin in germany -
so much i would love it, i see no realistic chance in bringing him back.

and joe i don´t want to be the fourth option johnson. man this guy has amazing talent but acted like a prostitute that never gets enough money. i don´t want him back.
talentwise no doubt, but a man that turns his back on you ?? no way

[KF10]

Mike Miller would actually look great under the Suns IMO. IIRC Grant Hill will expire this year and that will leave a spot on the SF...

[JustMoe]

^ Always been a fan of Mike. If we won't be able to sign any "big names", then he'd definitely be a nice and comparably cheap option IMO.

[tsherkin]

Mike Miller would actually look great under the Suns IMO. IIRC Grant Hill will expire this year and that will leave a spot on the SF...

Hmm... too expensive. Sarver won't shell out for that.

If in two years we can see anyone of them stepping into a starting role, we will not have to worry about finding a center to replace Shaq, a shooting guard to replace Bell, or starting PG for the future. I also think the development of an inside, back to the back game for Amare would also make the signing of Dirk more intriguing.

I don't think Amare is ever going to be a significant backdown player; you have to start that young and be really interested in it, dedicated to it. It's way tougher than it looks and seems, which is part of why everyone rags on Dwight for being so "limited." The nuances of the low-post game, and the physicality involved, are deterrents, especially in the new era where bigs are so often allowed to play facing up and farther from the rim. There's no chance that Amare, with the success he's had playing as he has, will make much of an effort to be a primary backdown scorer.

[pidi]

also love mike miller. he would help us right now. trade barbosa for mike, he could be able to see
some minutes as a our sg and be the sf of the future..