<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class="txt-mod"> <h3>Time For A Major Move?</h3> </p> NBA sources say the Suns brain trust is split between those who want to give this team another shot at success, those who think it's now time for a major move and those who are on the fence after only 24 games.</p> </p> "If we're ever going to be a championship team, we have to improve defensively," is as far as Suns general manager Steve Kerr would go Sunday. "We're watching this run of games against top competition (Utah, New Orleans, San Antonio and Dallas) very carefully. We've been talking about it but we talk all the time. Are there are concerns? Sure. I'd say we're definitely in evaluation mode,'Kerr said. -- East Valley Tribune</p></div></div>
I think this is the first time I've read about splitting up a team that is 17-7, I get whey they are talking about it but it just sounds weird.</p>
I don't think they are actually thinking about splitting the team apart, they just want to make some minor tweaks here and there and add some more defensive minded players. I doubt they are actually going to split up the core of the team (maybe with the exception of Shawn Marion). But maybe if the management wasn't so cheap and actually held on to their first rounders, they wouldn't be in this situation.</p>
We've actually discussed this on Bulls boards multiple times about a trade with the Suns (we have plenty of defense, but not enough offense).</p> Ben Wallace, Tyrus Thomas, and Thabo Sefolosha (Chris Duhon) for Amare Stoudemire and Marcus Banks.</p> A trade involving Barbosa and Diaw for that package would make more sense, but the BYC situation takes out that option. I know the Suns really liked both Sefolsoha and Thomas, and they like Duhon too, so they'd likely ask for him as well in this type of package. I know the Suns would rather deal Marion, but if push came to shove, they might trade Stoudemire for the defense.</p> PG-Steve Nash/Chris Duhon SG-Raja Bell/Leandro Barbosa SF-Grant Hill/Thabo Sefolosha PF-Shawn Marion/Boris Diaw C- Ben Wallace/Tyrus Thomas</p> Thats still a very good team. It has more defense (adding 4 good defenders). I think Ben Wallace would flourish in Phoenix. I think the coaching staff would work with him on finishing, he'd have a lot of open looks close with Nash. Thomas and Sefolosha would be good on the fastbreak. Duhon gives them the backup point guard they want to run the show when Nash is out. Suns covet Noah too though, so Noah might be traded in place of Thomas in such a scenario.</p> Bulls would be left with:</p> PG-Kirk Hinrich/Marcus Banks SG-Ben Gordon/Adrian Griffin SF-Luol Deng/Andres Nocioni PF-Amare Stoudemire/Joe Smith C- Joakim Noah/Aaron Gray</p> Bulls are depleted and a lot younger on the bench. If they could sign a veteran big to fill the hole in the middle as Noah's backup (PJ Brown maybe....). They might not be in the best position to win it all this year (but that team is still good despite the depleted depth). Thats an offensive literate starting 5, you have a top 3 sixth man still, a good big off the bench in Smith, and more time for Aaron Gray who obviously has talent. Our backup guards would be a problem...but if we found a veteran point guard (is Avery Johnson still kicking?) we might be able to do some damage in the playoffs. With the MLE this summer, get a backup guard, and then use the LLE to get another big, and our team is filled out pretty well once again, and tooled to make a run. Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, Stoudemire, and Noah give us a core that we can keep together for the next 7-8 years.</p> </p>
The Suns' biggest issue is salary. With Amare, Marion, and Nash taking down big chunks of the cap space. They clearly would like to get rid of Marion - only if they care about the Luxury Tax. People may not go for Marion, which would put the Suns in the position of dealing Amare or standing pat.</p> By our figuring, they're more than $15M over the cap and near $3M into the LT tax range (which costs them/the owner $3M + $3M + $3M = $9M).</p> If they kept the draft picks, they could have had Deng. WOW. But if they don't trade Amare or Marion, they'd be looking at paying $9M+ on top of the above $9M for him. Same figuring for any other draft picks they didn't use.</p> </p>
<h2>Salary Situation</h2> <table class="statistics"> <tbody> <tr valign="top" align="center"> <th align="left">Player</th> <th>2007</th> <th>2008</th> <th>2009</th> <th>2010</th> <th>2011</th> <th align="left">Notes</th> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">SHAWN MARION</td> <td>$16,440,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> </span></center></td> <td>$17,810,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> </span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left"></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">AMARE STOUDEMIRE</td> <td>$13,762,800 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$15,070,600 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$16,378,300 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$17,686,100 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Contract has trade kicker / BYC until 7/1/07 / Counts as $6,227,500 for trade purposes (BYC player) / Signed extension 10/3/05 for an assumed $75,352,750 for 5 years</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">STEVE NASH</td> <td>$11,375,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> CAP</span></center></td> <td>$12,250,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> CAP</span></center></td> <td>$13,125,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> CAP</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Buyout option of $6,500,000 for team in 2009-10</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">BORIS DIAW</td> <td>$9,000,000 <center><span class="tinyfont">BYC EXT</span></center></td> <td>$9,000,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$9,000,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$9,000,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$9,000,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td align="left">Signed extension on 10/19/06 for an assumed $45,000,000 for 5 years starting in 2007-08</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">LEANDRO BARBOSA</td> <td>$5,600,000 <center><span class="tinyfont">BYC EXT</span></center></td> <td>$6,100,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$6,600,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$7,100,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td>$7,600,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> EXT</span></center></td> <td align="left">4th year option picked up on 10/27/05 / Signed extension on 8/4/06 for an assumed $33,000,000 for 5 years</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">RAJA BELL</td> <td>$4,750,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td>$5,000,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td>$5,250,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Signed 8/3/05 for an assumed $23,750,000 for 5 years</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">MARCUS BANKS</td> <td>$3,966,210 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td>$4,260,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td>$4,553,790 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td>$4,847,590 <center><span class="tinyfont"> MLE</span></center></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Signed 7/20/06 for an assumed $21,300,000 for 5 years</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">GRANT HILL</td> <td>$1,800,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> BAE</span></center></td> <td>$1,944,000 <center><span class="tinyfont"> BAE</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Signed Bi-Annual Exception Deal for 2 years on 7/5/07. 2nd Year is PO</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">ERIC PIATKOWSKI</td> <td>$1,219,590 <center><span class="tinyfont">MIN MIN</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Signed 7/13/06 for an assumed minimum salary for 2 years</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">ALANDO TUCKER</td> <td>$776,600 <center><span class="tinyfont"> DRU</span></center></td> <td>$834,900 <center><span class="tinyfont"> DRU</span></center></td> <td>$893,100 <center><span class="tinyfont"> DRU</span></center></td> <td>$1,612,050 <center><span class="tinyfont"> DRU</span></center></td> <td>$2,418,070 <center><span class="tinyfont"> DRU</span></center></td> <td align="left"></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">SEAN MARKS</td> <td>$770,610 <center><span class="tinyfont">MIN MIN</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left">Signed 7/27/06 for an assumed minimum salary for 1 year</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">BRIAN SKINNER</td> <td>$770,610 <center><span class="tinyfont">MIN MIN</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left">League Minimum, partially guaranteed</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="left">DJ STRAWBERRY</td> <td>$427,163 <center><span class="tinyfont">MIN MIN</span></center></td> <td>$711,517 <center><span class="tinyfont">MIN MIN</span></center></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td align="left"></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td>Totals</td> <td>$70,658,583</td> <td>$72,981,017</td> <td>$55,800,190</td> <td>$40,245,740</td> <td>$19,018,070</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <th height="4" colspan="8"></th> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td>Salary Cap</td> <td>$55,630,000</td> <td>$57,855,200</td> <td>$60,169,408</td> <td>$62,576,184</td> <td>$65,079,231</td> <td align="left">Estimated cap grows by 4% yearly</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td>Cap Space</td> <td>$-15,028,583</td> <td>$-15,125,817</td> <td>$4,369,218</td> <td>$22,330,444</td> <td>$46,061,161</td> <td align="left">Negative number means over the cap</td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <th height="4" colspan="8"></th> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td>Luxury Tax Threshold</td> <td>$67,865,000</td> <td>$70,579,600</td> <td>$73,402,784</td> <td>$76,338,895</td> <td>$79,392,450</td> <td align="left">Estimated luxury tax threshold grows by 4% yearly</td> </tr> <tr valign="top" align="right"> <td>LT Space</td> <td>$-2,793,583</td> <td>$-2,401,417</td> <td>$17,602,594</td> <td>$36,093,155</td> <td>$60,374,380</td> <td align="left">Negative number means over the tax threshold</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p> <center>SportsTwo would like to thank Storyteller for providing us with his salary data!</center>
I never understood this whole"cheap" thing. Reality wise, Sunshave more salary on the books than 24 other owners in the league. And they're content to pay some ofthe luxary tax this season as far as I know (uness, Banks is pawned off somehow. He does nothing anyway). Sarver has said all along that he knows he would have to pay some anyway. And again, Suns traded some of those first rders because at the spots they were at, they didn't like the players that were left or rathered get someone in FA who can help right away. In the case of the Bulls, Blazers, Knicks, and C's trades, they picked for those teams and took who that team wanted. Yes, even Deng. (Suns wanted Iggy, but agreed to the trade beforehand) Suns are not trading Amare, or Marion to save money. They won't trade Amare and would only trade Marion if it made the team better and they've said this countless times andhe still remains. They do want to win. It also would've been done last yr or this past offseason. I do think as a Suns fan, we missed the boat on trading for KG. One of Amare or Marion in some kind of package with Hawks #1 and whatever. It could have been done.</p>
Reason why Suns suck at defence is bec they play small ball with amare as their C. Amare also focuses more on offence than of D. suns need to acquire a legit C for them to boost their Defence. I couldnt find it again, but im sure i read an article which states that the Suns arent happy with Amare's performance this year especially on D and there is a possibility that he would be shipped off... couldnt find the link anymore though lol
