The official adding L.B. back into the lineup thread

[sunsfever68]

Hey guys. Just thinking about our favorite 6th man of the year L.B. and thinking about when he'll return and when he should return.

I'm thinking middle of march just after the Lakers game. Let him be 100 percent healthy before he gets back out there we haven't needed him so far this whole season really.

My question to all you is this:

Will barbosa be an addition that will positively or negatively impact this team?

There's no knocking this kid he's a great guy and when he's on a great scorer. But his drawbacks are his lack of court vision, his turnovers, his lack of a midrange game, his defense isn't great, and he sometimes goes 1 on 5.

Our bench has improved its ball movement alot. I don't want to see Barbosa come back where he's dominating the ball. Let Dragic run the show he can do it.

I'll point out Barbosa always plays better off of the ball. This could really be a big boost for us down the stretch. I honestly think this could put us right below the Lakers, Nuggets and Mavericks as 4th best team in the west.

We'd be legit 10 deep but the question is would gentry play 10 guys and how will be distribute the minutes?

I say take a couple from hill and j rich and a couple from dudley not many though.

I say play barbosa 15-20 minutes a game no more we don't need more than that.

I'm looking for 3's, good decision making, fast break points, steals, and smart play.

Man our bench without Barbosa is doing well imagine him with them.

I'm hoping he comes back healthy and adds a punch to the scoring of the 2nd unit.

[MaryvalesFinest]

With the way they have been playing they should just rest him until the playoffs or maybe even next season.

[impulsenine]

I'd agree with your assessment for minutes: They should mostly be used to keep Grant rested, and to keep Rich from thinking he has his minutes coming to him regardless of how many stupid plays he makes.

[thapharcyd]

Bad idea... Barbosa is no longer needed in my opinion. He can do more harm then good most games. I think he will only see 10-12mpg. However, when he is on, he is on.

[Calvin Klein]

Well I think you are spot on. I don't want him to take minutes away from Goran. So depending how well Hill or JRich are doing during the game, he could use their minutes.

[DirtyDez]

Teams have figured him out... Trade him for a draft pick so i can start a draft thread

[MaryvalesFinest]

Speaking of trading Barbosa, just last year he would have been easy to move, a guy that can give you 15 points off the bench but this year with him being injured would he be difficult to move?

[DBrimstone]

Teams have figured him out... Trade him for a draft pick so i can start a draft thread

+1

I've already got my own draft board in my head started

there are 3 SG's I want. In order, Elliot Williams, Malcolm Lee who might declare this draft, and James Anderson (all potential stopper 2's with some offensive upside. Lee and Williams are their teams primary ball handlers too).

Don't know the order of PF's but Greg Monroe, Patrick Patterson, Gani Lawal, Larry Sanders, and Vladamir Dasic are all on my list.

If Amare's gonna leave, I wanna see us use his expiring contract to get a decent pick on draft night (Prince from DET, or Peja from NO for example).

No, this does not belong anywhere, and I didn't mention anything about LB. I will do so now. He kills the benchs ball movement, which is how they create offense, and he's not a good defender, which the 2nd unit does well. Expendable!

[DirtyDez]

Teams have figured him out... Trade him for a draft pick so i can start a draft thread

+1

I've already got my own draft board in my head started

there are 3 SG's I want. In order, Elliot Williams, Malcolm Lee who might declare this draft, and James Anderson (all potential stopper 2's with some offensive upside. Lee and Williams are their teams primary ball handlers too).

Don't know the order of PF's but Greg Monroe, Patrick Patterson, Gani Lawal, Larry Sanders, and Vladamir Dasic are all on my list.

If Amare's gonna leave, I wanna see us use his expiring contract to get a decent pick on draft night (Prince from DET, or Peja from NO for example).

No, this does not belong anywhere, and I didn't mention anything about LB. I will do so now. He kills the benchs ball movement, which is how they create offense, and he's not a good defender, which the 2nd unit does well. Expendable!

The main reason i wanted Amare traded (besides the fact that he'll prob leave for nothing) is that this year's draft was stacked with stud PF's unlike last year... Cousins, Favors, Monroe, Patterson all projected lottery picks. Looks like we're stuck with 2 late Second Rounders though. Deon Thompson or Wayne Chism make sense if they're available. Also like Bouldin the SG from Gonzaga and Scottie Reynolds from Nova all of which are projected after our 2nd Round Pick from Charlotte.

As for LB he's def expendable with Dragic's recent success. Let's grab draft/FA a natural back-up PG and move Dragic to combo/SG. Barbosa is still valuable in this system though...

[DBrimstone]

Without Amare and Nash, we'll probably move to a more ball-movement oriented offense with some pick and roll thrown in now and then. Dragic makes a great point guard in that kind of system, which is more what the bench plays. If we someone managed to get Greg Monroe (I'd expect Amare's big expiring to get us a good pick from someone in need of financial aid, which seems to still happen), he'd fit into that kind of system alot better as he's a good shooter and post player who's a great passer by power forward standards. We'd probably have to get our all-star power forward later, when we suck and we have a high pick.

I really want a stopper 2 though. It seems like every great team has a stopper at one guard spot (SAS had Bowen in their dynasty time, DEN has Afflalo, CLE has Parker, BOS has Rondo, ORL has Pietrus, LAL have...Kobe... ugh...) and a great offensive player at the other. Any of the 3 sg's I mentioned would be able to be a stopper and a pretty good scorer. I expect Dragic to be a good scorer night in and night out (who goes off now and again, and goes cold now and then), with the 2 going off now and again, while both lock down the perimeter.

Looked at Deon Thompson. Sounds like he'd be a great bench guy like a Blair or Millsap. I'll take him. I also like Dasic because he's a good defender who just needs some work on his shot. Could take Frye's place as the outside threat, but can actually defend someone faster than my gandma

[DBrimstone]

it looks like 10-15 players are gonna enter the draft early... more chances of someone slipping to us!

[MaryvalesFinest]

Sure would have been nice to have a first rounder this year, even though it probably would have been in the early 20's with the way the Suns are playing that would have still helped...

[DirtyDez]

Both our 2nd Round Picks are late as hell. I'd flip both for a top 45 pick. LB for a late 1st in a second. Maybe he'll recover this year and increase his trade value. His contract is reasonable and a few contenders could use instant offense off the bench.

[sunsfever68]

You need your 2 or 3 to be your stopper preferably and historically it's the 3 who's the stopper.

James Posey, Trevor Ariza, Tayshaun Prince, Bruce Bowen, Scottie Pippen Shane Battier( I know he hasn't won a ring but he's that kinda guy)

YOu need your 2 guard to be the dynamic put the ball on the floor Kobe/Brandon Roy/Paul Pierce/T mac(pre injury) type. YOu need him to play both ways but be able to create his own shot hit from outside and attack the basket.

Hopefully one day I'll be calling the shots and drafting these guys.

If I were GM, I'd do everything in my power to turn barbosa J rich maybe a future 1st round pick into Evan Turner. Evan Turner is the guy to have as a core piece. Future stud in the league.

Role player/solid pg role player/solid 3 man star shooting guard star big man great bench great defense.

That's how you win titles.

[chriscringle95]

Barbosa is a veteran and reliable defender who can create his own shot and stretch the floor. He is also one of the 3 fastest guys in basketball if not the fastest.

The Suns are a better team with him and I think he will be fine meshing with the other guys. He is with them everyday and he sees that he can trust his team (bench).

I think Barbs alongside of Dragic will give the Suns one of the best backcourts off the bench in the entire NBA.

2 guys who can give you 20 points off the bench is a huge luxury.

Dragic
Barbosa
Dudley
Amundson
Frye

4 guys off that bench can start right now in the NBA. Amundson is the best hustle player in the NBA.

[DaDragicShow]

Barbosa is still can play a huge role for the Suns this season and the playoffs. He can easily come off the bench and give you 15+ points on any given night. Some posters here are against him coming back but we really do need him if we want to make a playoff push and do something in the playoffs.

[rsavaj]

Barbosa is still can play a huge role for the Suns this season and the playoffs. He can easily come off the bench and give you 15+ points on any given night. Some posters here are against him coming back but we really do need him if we want to make a playoff push and do something in the playoffs.

Barbosa is a veteran and reliable defender who can create his own shot and stretch the floor. He is also one of the 3 fastest guys in basketball if not the fastest.

The Suns are a better team with him and I think he will be fine meshing with the other guys. He is with them everyday and he sees that he can trust his team (bench).

I think Barbs alongside of Dragic will give the Suns one of the best backcourts off the bench in the entire NBA.

2 guys who can give you 20 points off the bench is a huge luxury.

Dragic
Barbosa
Dudley
Amundson
Frye

4 guys off that bench can start right now in the NBA. Amundson is the best hustle player in the NBA.

+1

[Qwigglez]

LB coming back is really a huge luxury. We don't necessarily need him to win games as we've proved that all season, but he'll be huge when he comes back. Adding another weapon off the bench of Barbosa's caliber will only improve our bench's productivity and give more rest to our starters.
Here is a breakdown of the minutes I'm hoping to see. When Barbosa is completely 100%:

PG: Nash-31 minutes, Dragic-17 minutes
SG: Richardson-30 minutes, Barbosa-16 minutes, Dragic-2 minutes
SF: Hill-28 minutes, Dudley-17 minutes, Richardson-3 minutes
PF: Stoudemire-37 minutes, Amundson-11 minutes
C: Lopez-29 minutes, Frye-19 minutes

And of course sporadically give minutes to Earl Clark and Taylor Griffin when we blow teams out. I think our team has too many offensive weapons now for realistically any team to keep up. Suns have a really good mix of slashers, shooters, and hustle players with overall good team chemistry. I think this team can go far once they all click with Barbosa.

[hunterxaz]

Barbs > JRich

[Qwigglez]

J-Rich has really surprised me the past 20 or so games. He's really starting to find his role on the team.