any chance of us signing Lee or Boozer if STAT walks

[Sun Scorched]

Nash and Lee work out in the offseason in NY together and are great friends from what I understand.

Boozer? Meh.

[tsherkin]

I like the post as well, but while reading it, I had a strange feeling we've been here before. It smells of the McDyss/Googs situation and I now feel uneasy about the whole thing.

You can't well predict injuries... *shrug* Having said that, Googs was screwed before he became a Sun, so picking him was a mistake waiting to happen. Same sort of thing with McDyess.

Lee, on the other hand, has played 81 games in each of the last three seasons (before which he was the last pick in the first round and played sparingly in his first two years). He looks pretty healthy to me. Very different situation, IMO.

[JasonDaPsycho]

AFter some thoughts, I'm actually thrilled to see him here.
As a matter of fact, I anticipate having him here over re-signing Amar'e.

If he can put up 20+11 in D'Antoni's system, he should fit well with us.

[JohnVancouver]

Lee's demanding price of 10-14 mil per year is way too high. He should be, and is, best suited to be a role player for a playoff team. Gimme a break, he was playing on the horrendous Knicks the last couple of years, stat stuffing. He is this year's Turkoglu and bound to disappoint wherever he lands. He'll only disappoint because he is paid too much and can't do nor has the talent that puts him at the next level of superstar.

His defense is the rebound, live and die. He gives no help defense nor has any foot speed. For all the value of his double doubles, the Knicks didn't get 30 wins this year or much more any of the last 3-4 years with Lee. The era where you can get by with a smallish "Wes Unseld-like" center is gone.

Keep looking.

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

+1 - Lee is a stud, and likely to continue improving his game every year as he has done since coming into the league. Bizarrely, his defense would likely improve here - playing under Mike is not a situation where anyone concentrates on defense

[JohnVancouver]

Hoopsworld reported that Sarver is hot to get Lee here, but no more info than that statement. I'd love to see a sign and trade to NYC - I think we could come out pretty good in that. I don't think there's any bad feeling between Stat and Mike - when Stat talked about practicing defense, he was just trying to be politic about the change to having Porter as coach, and say some positive things. He didn't actually crap on mike personally, just said it was very different

I've been big fan of Lee since his rookie-soph game at ASW.

[RunDogGun]

You can't well predict injuries... *shrug* Having said that, Googs was screwed before he became a Sun, so picking him was a mistake waiting to happen. Same sort of thing with McDyess.

Lee, on the other hand, has played 81 games in each of the last three seasons (before which he was the last pick in the first round and played sparingly in his first two years). He looks pretty healthy to me. Very different situation, IMO.

I could see that, and I like Lee as well, but right before we lost McDyess I was watching Googs in a Minny game. His stat line was insane for that game, and I was thinking he would be a great pickup. Turned out, we lose McDyess and pick up Googs in that offseason, and I felt at the time, that it was an okay move.

Again, it just smelled strangely familiar, that is all. Funny that a few days after I made that comment, Gambo said something very similar.

[tsherkin]

Again, it just smelled strangely familiar, that is all. Funny that a few days after I made that comment, Gambo said something very similar.

No doubt, but like I said, you're talking about two guys who had notable injuries prior to their time in Phoenix. I think Lee would be a literally ideal addition to this team, even if it's as a replacement for Amare (perhaps even especially so). Seriously, 20/12 with Chris Duhon as his PG, versus with Nash?

[ruiner]

Lee seems to be deemed pricey for a step back

per Coro.

Gambo said, they'd rather fill up PF spot for a season and be mediocre than give him a big deal. Keep flexbility instead of being locked in 5 yrs

[rsavaj]

Being mediocre for a season is wasting another year that Nash/Hill really don't have

[Kerrsed]

Being mediocre for a season is wasting another year that Nash/Hill really don't have

+10000000000000

Not to mention, this is one of the biggest FA classes ever! So what, are we going to wait for the 2011 FA class? According to this article (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/369153-restricted-free-agents#page/1) the top 2011 FA are:

1. Carmelo
2. Yao
3. Duncan
4. Tony Parker
5. Z-Bo
6. West
7. Butler
8. Crawford
9. Jrich
10. Big Baby

[JohnVancouver]

Can someone explain got me how TPE works ? A Hoopsworld piece said that ClE and TO could both end up with huge exceptions if they let their guys walk - how could that work for us?

[rsavaj]

Can someone explain got me how TPE works ? A Hoopsworld piece said that ClE and TO could both end up with huge exceptions if they let their guys walk - how could that work for us?

If we sign and trade Amare to a team that is under the cap, we then get a traded player exception that matches the amount of Amare's first year salary with the new contract.

I think.

[ruiner]

Being mediocre for a season is wasting another year that Nash/Hill really don't have

+10000000000000

Not to mention, this is one of the biggest FA classes ever! So what, are we going to wait for the 2011 FA class? According to this article (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/369153-restricted-free-agents#page/1) the top 2011 FA are:

1. Carmelo
2. Yao
3. Duncan
4. Tony Parker
5. Z-Bo
6. West
7. Butler
8. Crawford
9. Jrich
10. Big Baby

We can also make a trade then too. Maybe one of the young PFs like AR become available. Never know. Also, maybe have a shot at Harrison Barnes or Perry Jones or other PFs in draft possibly.

A lot of us have wanted a Blazers/Thunder type rebuild for a while.

[Frank Lee]

Can someone explain got me how TPE works ? A Hoopsworld piece said that ClE and TO could both end up with huge exceptions if they let their guys walk - how could that work for us?

If we sign and trade Amare to a team that is under the cap, we then get a traded player exception that matches the amount of Amare's first year salary with the new contract.

I think.

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q70

When in doubt, consult the Coon
Q #70 and #71 .... you might as well read monopoly rules in chinese as to understand some of that stuff.

[Sun Scorched]

Can someone explain got me how TPE works ? A Hoopsworld piece said that ClE and TO could both end up with huge exceptions if they let their guys walk - how could that work for us?

No. Exceptions can only be created in a S&T. If the players walked, CLE and TOR would have cap space, but no TPE.

The TPE is one part of a "non-simultaneous" trade. Essentially, most trades we see are simultaneous. Player A for Player B. End of trade.

In a "non-simultaneous" trade, Player A is traded to a team with cap space and the team trading Player A receives a TPE for the difference in the amount they sent versus the amount they received. The logic here is that the TPE can be used to acquire Player B at some point in the future.

Truth is most teams let them expire after a year and enjoy the breathing room. The TPE, however, is NOT cap room. It count's against the cap (not the tax) and impacts a team's ability to sign FAs and RFAs with cap space. In order to determine cap space, teams must count up all of their salaries and exceptions, including any TPEs.

Basically, a team cannot use BOTH cap space and exceptions to sign players. It's one or the other. A team can renounce it's exceptions to reflect where they actually stand salary-wise, but then they are only able to use the space they are under the cap to sign players. The MLE, Bi-Annual, and Traded Player Exceptions would be null and void.

Additionally, you can only create a TPE by sending out one player, i.e. Stoudemire. You cannot send both Stoudemire and Barbosa out and receive a TPE. Remember the Marion/O'Neal Trade? Marion was shipped to South Beach for O'Neal straight up, which worked under the 125% + $100,000 rule... THEN we shipped Marcus Banks to MIA by himself, creating a TPE since we recieved nothing in return. Had we included Banks in the Marion/O'Neal deal, no TPE would have been created.

[grumpysaddle]

We can also make a trade then too. Maybe one of the young PFs like AR become available. Never know. Also, maybe have a shot at Harrison Barnes or Perry Jones or other PFs in draft possibly.

A lot of us have wanted a Blazers/Thunder type rebuild for a while.

While both those teams look to have bright futures because of their young stars, the Suns just don't have a GM (or an owner smart enough to get one) that is smart enough to build up this way. Also, you can say a lot of these teams success is luck-based. One more thing no one talks about concerning these teams is that all these young players rookie contracts will be up at relatively the same time. So, while the teams are young, talented, and cheap ATM, the new contracts will all collide at the same time. The bright players on each team will no doubt want hugely expanded contracts and the teams won't be able to afford them anymore.

[MarJJMar]

Being mediocre for a season is wasting another year that Nash/Hill really don't have

It would still be better than sign Lee or Boozer and be mediocre for the next 6 years.

Dirk Nowitzki is the only solution to stay competitive next year if Amare goes, anything else and we better blow it up completely and start looking for our new franchise player in the lottery.

[RunDogGun]

Again, it just smelled strangely familiar, that is all. Funny that a few days after I made that comment, Gambo said something very similar.

No doubt, but like I said, you're talking about two guys who had notable injuries prior to their time in Phoenix. I think Lee would be a literally ideal addition to this team, even if it's as a replacement for Amare (perhaps even especially so). Seriously, 20/12 with Chris Duhon as his PG, versus with Nash?

Just cautious this time around. I do like Lee, I think he would fit in nicely with this team. But I felt that Googs would do the same, and I was wrong.

[RunDogGun]

Being mediocre for a season is wasting another year that Nash/Hill really don't have

It would still be better than sign Lee or Boozer and be mediocre for the next 6 years.

You're just guessing at that. I bet you felt the Suns could have gone nowhere when Boris took Amare's spot. It comes down to team dynamics, and Lee could fill that need much better than many think. I do like Dirk though. Lee passes better than Amare, and a team full of unselfish players can go far in this league.

[ruiner]

We can also make a trade then too. Maybe one of the young PFs like AR become available. Never know. Also, maybe have a shot at Harrison Barnes or Perry Jones or other PFs in draft possibly.

A lot of us have wanted a Blazers/Thunder type rebuild for a while.

While both those teams look to have bright futures because of their young stars, the Suns just don't have a GM (or an owner smart enough to get one) that is smart enough to build up this way. Also, you can say a lot of these teams success is luck-based. One more thing no one talks about concerning these teams is that all these young players rookie contracts will be up at relatively the same time. So, while the teams are young, talented, and cheap ATM, the new contracts will all collide at the same time. The bright players on each team will no doubt want hugely expanded contracts and the teams won't be able to afford them anymore.

If we hire Penn or Lindsey I think we could do it. Blazers already locked up Roy/LMA. Durant will get his big deal and they're safe after that. New CBA is coming, which means, we'd be able to afford any talent worth getting paid in rebuild like that.

I agree luck comes into though. Need good evaluators.