What assets do we have/where do we go from here?

[Wzanzibar]

We all think Diaw is a good player, but overpaid. OK.
But I'm not for trading him, especially if Stoudemire is a keeper. And he is.
Why ? Because there are two ends on a floor, and Diaw is a pretty decent defender. And a good offensive weapon ON AVERAGE.
Whereas Stoudemire is an awesome offensive player, but definitly lacks an defensive game.
We can't afford an awesome frontcourt player a la Duncan or KG without giving Amare. If we sign some defensive specialist center, we'll all be upset with him on the ground very early, and go on others teams thread, they're not very happy with them.
If you're looking after a big in this league bringing the same defensive ability that Diaws does, with a better offensive package, you won't find many candidates.
And they play better together in the last months. Their chemistry is improving.

So OK, Diaw earns too much. Ok, he's waaaaaaay too inconsistent. Too frustrating, because of his limit we can't guess. We must be happy with him here.
Of course, if there's anything affordable and better, I'd support for this !

[thamadkant]

The one reason why I think Stoudemire is Not 100% secured as a sun.

Management still aware that his knees have a time frame, and will need another surgery sometime before his next contract extension. Its 50/50 but not far fetch.

Aso, as stated before his value can net the Suns a lot, especially young talent(s).

Having star playerson rookie contracts with Nash and O'Neal expiring is also very appealing. Instant rebuild in 2-3 seasons.

Stoudemire has been in the league for 6 seasons and he has not improved defensively... offensively he is amazing... but I dont think the Suns can win a championship with a BIG that doesnt dominate even the boards... heck Barkley was short, but was a HUGE rebounder for the Suns and the league... Marion too... and it'll cost more money to pair Stoudemire with a defensive BIG that will minimize his deficiency.. its better off getting 2-3 talents and build a more competent starting lineup

[nevetsov]

... and it'll cost more money to pair Stoudemire with a defensive BIG that will minimize his deficiency.. its better off getting 2-3 talents and build a more competent starting lineup

I think you touch on an interesting point that hasn't really been discussed very much around here; Amare is an offensive force but a defensive liability. To maximise his production, we need to pair him with a defensive presence who can "cover" him defensively.

The thing is, Steve Nash is exactly the same. Nash may not be an "offensive force" in the same fashion as Stat, but he does create offense while being challenged defensively.

Both players' strengths are good enough to offset their weaknesses, or at least, that is what we're led to believe from the coaching staff.

We have all seen the benefits of pairing Amare with a defensive presence, but as far as Nash goes, we usually have to use our Small Forward (Marion/ Hill/ now Diaw) to cover his man.

As long as we are starting 2 guys that need to be shielded from their defensive assignments, we're going to have to play pretty cohesive ball to make any headway. Especially in the playoffs, where the great coaches will find ways to exploit this over a seven game series.

I can fathom covering for one poor defender, as most teams will have one guy who is belw average defensively, but having to cover for 2/5ths of your starters (and your 6th man, too) puts an enormous amount of pressure on your ballclub.

The fact that the suns have been able to enjoy such success with these players is a sign of just how good their "good" is.

[Stix]

20 Random Barbosa Trade thoughts:

4. Barbosa for Stephen Jackson

I like this a lot. Jackson is pretty much the perfect solution for what the Suns need right now. He's a swingman, Excellent shooter with mental and physical toughness that can play the SG/SF spots. He just turned 30, however his contract expires along with Nash,Bell, and Shaq, clearing a HUUUGE amount of cap space for 2010.

I think we will have to hold onto Diaw, his contract is just to pricey for other teams to swallow.

[rsavaj]

So now that our season is *officially* over....can we get Shaq to retire?

Please?

[Mr. Sun]

So now that our season is *officially* over....can we get Shaq to retire?

Please?

If D'Ant isn't going to position shaq to be a scoring threat I agree.

[rsavaj]

Is there any way we could get Trix back? I'm dead serious.

No, really.

[amitg]

1. try and get Artest for Diaw. Boris's value has gone up in this series, and although he's a good player we need more bad ass defenders that can cover the lack of nash's defense.

2. get Josh Smith - a tough task, i don't know how we can pull this but he'll be awesome here.

3. trade Barbosa (either to get josh smith or to go up in the draft). he's explosive but streaky, and can't handle the pressure against tough defensive teams like the spurs. he's a defensive liability, and with him & nash together on the court, we have no chance stopping opponent guards

I'm against trading nash, even for the #1 pick (which no one will give anyway). he's done so much for us and deserves to retire as a sun.

[eastsidecrossover]

I agree, no way we trade nash.

nba_addict, some bad trade ideas for barbosa. But I will say we need to trade him to address our issues.

I wish we could have got artest for the TE we had. To bad our FO is stupid and traded so many of our assests away, and KTs expiring contract. Ahhhhh.

[rsavaj]

I think we should merge this with the offseason thread(and how do I delete the poll?)

What if we tried to get our old bench back? Hunter, Q, House, Tim Thomas, KT....bench players that know the system and have been successful in it, bench players that D'Antoni trusts.

We could sign House/KT using the MLE, obtain Tim Thomas and Hunter using the KT TPE. There's no way of getting Q, I don't think. We don't have a matching contract we could send out.

Then we could just go all out run and gun again, and bring Shaq in only in certain situations.

Nash/Strawberry/House
Bell/Barbosa
Hill/Tim Thomas/Tucker
Diaw//KT/Hunter
Amare/Shaq

Honestly, I'm at a fracking loss at what to do.

[rsavaj]

Interesting idea on the trade board (Barbosa and Tucker for Maggette and a 2nd).

What do you guys think?

[toucansma]

I think we should merge this with the offseason thread(and how do I delete the poll?)

What if we tried to get our old bench back? Hunter, Q, House, Tim Thomas, KT....bench players that know the system and have been successful in it, bench players that D'Antoni trusts.

We could sign House/KT using the MLE, obtain Tim Thomas and Hunter using the KT TPE. There's no way of getting Q, I don't think. We don't have a matching contract we could send out.

Then we could just go all out run and gun again, and bring Shaq in only in certain situations.

Nash/Strawberry/House
Bell/Barbosa
Hill/Tim Thomas/Tucker
Diaw//KT/Hunter
Amare/Shaq

Honestly, I'm at a fracking loss at what to do.

House, TT, and Q would be awesome with Girichek, Skinner, and Barbosa. Hahah too bad we would have no money, but looks cool anyway.

[nba_addict]

How about Tucker for Morris Almond swap?

[rsavaj]

How about Tucker for Morris Almond swap?

I'm all over that trade. Almond was someone I wanted last year.

[rsavaj]

Just some more ideas gleaned from the trade board, plus our potential roster if we end up keeping Skinner and Giri:

Barbosa for Blake/Frye/13

Nash/Blake/DJ
Bell/Giriceck
Diaw/Hill/Tucker
Amare/Frye
Shaq/Skinner

+picks 13, 15 and 49

***

Barbosa/Tucker for Maggette/2nd(35)

Nash/DJ
Bell/Maggette
Diaw/Hill/Giri
Amare
Shaq/Skinner

+picks 15, 35 and 49

***
Barbosa/Diaw for Raef/Outlaw/Webster/13

Nash/DJ
Bell/Webster
Hill/Giri/Tucker
Amare/Outlaw(I know he's a natural SF, but he could play PF)
Shaq/Skinner/LaFrentz

+picks 13, 15 and 49

***
Barbosa/15 for Mike Miller/Kyle Lowry

Nash/Lowry/DJ
Bell/Giri/Tucker
Diaw/Hill
Amare
Shaq/Skinner

+pick 49

[durden_tyler]

Sad to see the invasion of panic-trade ideas once again but it's understandable as Phoenix's own fans are frustrated and other teams' fans will just want to join the fray and add insult to the injury...

So for the future... It's simple really, stick to the core and have another run at it... First things first, evaluate which players are capable of making a comeback next year... In mind of course is Grant Hill, while cheap it is vital for the Suns to know if at least he can be serviceable so the team can address which positions will we be lacking...

That said, i beg to disagree that the Suns don't have important trade pieces.. i agree that Diaw OR Barbosa is enough for us to net an important player...

[rsavaj]

I'd really like to see us try to sign Jason Williams to a min contract...I don't know if we'll still be a running team, but he'd be excellent in a running offense.