News about Shaq, Amare and the Suns draft

[MaryvalesFinest]

Some things from the article that may be interesting

-The Suns have never talked to the Cavs within the last few weeks and no trade is imminent

-There have been offers for Amare but nothing of quality

-The Suns might want to trade up on draft night


http://ktar.com/?sid=1179562&nid=624

Let's clear one thing up right off the bat. The Suns and Cavs haven't talked at all in the last few weeks about a trade involving O'Neal and any belief that a trade is imminent is total BS.

As for Amare Stoudemire, all is quiet on the trade front with the Suns most talented player. If the Suns cannot get a great basketball deal in exchange for Stoudemire they may just decide to keep him and play next season out. So far there are a few teams very interested but no quality offers.

On the draft front, Phoenix would love to move up to have a shot at Memphis' Tyreke Evans or Davidson's Stephen Curry, but if they stay at 14 there are several players they have their eyes on right now, including Louisville's Earl Clark and Terrence Williams, Wake Forest's James Johnson, Duke's Gerald Henderson or North Carolina's Wayne Ellington.

[toucansma]

Excellent find Maryvales!! Do you think since Gambo is a mouthpiece for the Suns, that this is an intended leak to clear up what is going on? Also a leak to tell Cleveland what they want?

Trading Amare right now makes 0 sense. If , and a big if, he looks like he will bolt, wait until the trade deadline.

[MaryvalesFinest]

Yeah it seems like the Suns want to wait until the deadline next season before trading Amare so he can increase his value after the whole eye surgery thing.

I also believe it about the Shaq trade because I remember a few weeks ago Kerr said he will only make a trade that makes basketball sense and not just financial sense. I know we can't take Kerr seriously but I do have a hard time seeing the Suns giving away Shaq for a salary dump.

[-SDU-]

gambo has lost ALOT of credibility with me over the last few years

[lilfishi22]

It's a little reassuring our FO is not turning into some kinda basketball charity. But with Sarver and Kerr, you just never know.

[Go7enKs]

Some things from the article that may be interesting



-The Suns might want to trade up on draft night

REALLY!?!?! FANTASTIC! WE WANT TO TRADE UP!! THAT'S GREAT NEWS!

Oh wait...didn't I hear the same thing the last 3 drafts?

[chrice]

^We're going to trade up so that we can get more cash for our pick.

[Kerrsed]

Actually i talked to Kerr at the airport and he told me we were moving up in the draft because he wants to make sure he gets his man this year, so with the #5 pick, the Phoenix Suns select........................................................... Chase Budinger!

[The Diesel]

Kerr was on the radio today and here's what he said:

The Suns have a lot to figure out before the upcoming season. For now, the Suns would like to focus primarily on the NBA draft on June 25. As much as they would like to zero in on the draft, the Big Cactus is hard to ignore.

The rumors of where Shaq may be traded have been ongoing since the trade deadline. Steve Kerr told KTAR's Doug and Wolf that there is plenty of interest around the league, but the team won't pull the trigger on a deal unless it is beneficial for the Suns.

It's no secret the Suns are trying to free up some cash, but Kerr wont trade Shaq away like Kurt Thomas was a few years ago. Thomas was traded away for that reason alone. If Shaq is traded, Kerr wants something back in return.

"You want to get assets in return in any deal," said Kerr. "That's the idea. That's why we are willing to listen to everything. We'll see what comes our way and what's out there. There is definitely a lot of interest in Shaq as there should be. The guy had a great year last year and he can still be unstoppable. It's easy to see why Cleveland would be interested based on the situation they are facing having to deal with Dwight Howard for the next 10 years."

While Cleveland is the team that has been portrayed as the front runners to win the Shaq sweepstakes, Kerr said a lot of the rumors are not necessarily true. He said he has been in talks with maybe 15 other teams and hadn't talked with Cleveland for about a week. During that week, the rumors began circulating that a deal was on the verge of completion.

http://ktar.com/?sid=1180165&nid=112

Kerr also says he's meeting with Nash and his agent on Thursday.

[TASTIC]

Very interesting/nerve wrecking time to be a Suns fan..

In a month's time who knows who the hell we're going to have on the roster

Anybody seeing Barnes coming back for another go to make some $$$? Wouldn't surprise me if he bolts to NY, though he had a bad run there the first time round

[ruiner]

If the need is there after draft/trades, I do. At this point, it's hard to imagine anyone giving Barnes more than a 1-2 yr deal anywhere. He is what he is. He also blew up in GS and still had to settle for something low.

[JohnVancouver]

Very interesting/nerve wrecking time to be a Suns fan..

In a month's time who knows who the hell we're going to have on the roster

Anybody seeing Barnes coming back for another go to make some $$$? Wouldn't surprise me if he bolts to NY, though he had a bad run there the first time round

--- I think Barnes will have to take something less than he hoped for, and i really don't think it will be in PHX. He didn't add enough of anything Kerr likes

[Mr. Sun]

At this point, it's hard to imagine anyone giving Barnes more than a 1-2 yr deal anywhere. He is what he is. He also blew up in GS and still had to settle for something low.

Not only that, but playing time might be a real issue.

[Mr. Sun]

As for Amare Stoudemire, all is quiet on the trade front with the Suns most talented player. If the Suns cannot get a great basketball deal in exchange for Stoudemire they may just decide to keep him and play next season out. So far there are a few teams very interested but no quality offers.

Translated: Suns will be forced to extend him.

[The Diesel]

The latest from Chad Ford:

There obviously has been a lot of talk about what the Suns will do this summer. In the past few weeks, rumors of a Shaquille O'Neal-to-Cleveland deal and an Amare Stoudemire-to-Washington deal have re-emerged. On Wednesday evening, the latest rumor had the Suns dealing Stoudemire to Minnesota for Al Jefferson and the No. 6 pick.

The first two deals were discussed at the February trade deadline, but talks this time around may be premature -- Suns sources say neither deal is hot at the moment. And the one with Minnesota is totally bogus, I'm told. A Suns source says that the team has had zero conversations about it.

Still, rumors are coming out of Phoenix for a reason. The big question continues to be: Where are the Suns headed? Are they still trying to be a championship contender? Or are they blowing things up, cutting costs and rebuilding from scratch?

Trading Shaq or Stoudemire doesn't make much sense in the former scenario. Lose either guy, and the Suns are less likely to be a serious contender. Although the Suns seem way more inclined to move Shaq and keep Stoudemire, a Suns source conceded that both players could be moved, and it could correspond to moving up in this year's draft.

If that's the case, here's a theory (and that's all it is, folks, a theory): What if you combine the two most prominent Suns trade rumors into a mega three-way deal?

It would look like this:

The Suns send Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland and Amare Stoudemire to Washington.

The Cavs send Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic to Phoenix and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Washington.

The Wizards send the No. 5 pick, Etan Thomas, Mike James and JaVale McGee to Phoenix and Antawn Jamison to Cleveland.

Call me crazy, but isn't this the ideal deal for all three teams?

The Suns would lose a lot of talent in the deal and basically would be blowing up the team. However, if they think they'll lose Stoudemire next summer anyway and don't believe they have a real shot at winning a title next season, why not get something for Stoudemire now and jump-start the rebuilding process?

In this deal, the Suns would pick up the No. 5 pick and McGee, a talented 7-footer who would be a good fit in Phoenix. More importantly for them, they would save a ton of cash next season. Pavlovic's salary is only partially guaranteed. Wallace likely could be bought out for less than he's owed. And the Suns would take back less money in the deal to begin with. When you factor in the reduction in luxury taxes and consider that they might save enough to eke below the dreaded luxury-tax line ... could owner Robert Sarver really pass on saving potentially $12-14 million in salary and penalties next season?

The Wizards essentially would replace Jamison, a couple of role players (Thomas and James) and two prospects (McGee and the No. 5 pick) with Stoudemire and Ilgauskas. Yes, Jamison is very important to the Wizards, but he'd be replaced by Stoudemire. And Ilgauskas would give them a legit big man in the middle. Suddenly, they would look like contenders for the Eastern Conference crown. And if things don't work out, they'll have cap room in 2010 when Ilgauskas, Stoudemire and Brendan Haywood all come off the books.

And the Cavs? They would get Shaq, whom they apparently like. And Jamison, an athletic scoring 4 who can do what the Cavs' bigs couldn't during the playoffs -- guard someone on the wing.

I'm not saying this will happen. Again, I'm just putting together two deals that have been buzzing for a while. But the deals would give all three teams clearer direction.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?page=09DraftBuzz&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft2009%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fpage%3d09DraftBuzz

[lilfishi22]

^ We're the garbage collector in that scenario. But this would be a good start if we want to start from scratch and rebuild.

[The Diesel]

^ We're the garbage collector in that scenario. But this would be a good start if we want to start from scratch and rebuild.

Which the team WON'T be doing according to Kerr and Sarver.