The Suns were sitting in salary cap trouble before the trade took place. Read Here for clarification. So why the deal? Part of the blame falls upon the record. The Suns showed so much promise last year, but haven't shown much this year. Why? Becuase they don't have the talent and right players. Say what you want, Marbury, Marion, and Stoudamire aren't going to get past the Wolves, Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, or the Kings. So the question then becomes, "What do you do next?" The Suns owner had a payroll at $65.8 million. Would you pay that much money in salaries for a team that was showing no signs of making the playoffs? I wouldn't either. The Suns were in a hole, and had to dig themselves out. Then the Knicks came along, and provided the shovel. Lampe, Ward, McDyess, Vujanic and 2 1st rounders. On top of that, they also took Hardaway off the Suns hands. So why did Phoneix do this? Now its time to talk about the ever so boring cap, which many will not read. For your conveniance, I shall put it in italics, so you can skip over it. The Suns were going to head into the offseason with just a shade under $56 million. After the draft, that figure would jump up to $58 million. Meaning, they can only offer the MLE, LLE, and mimimum contracts for Free Agents. That would leave them very close to losing out on appropriated fund given back to teams who don't cross the threshold. And for what? Marbury, Marion, and Stoudamire still wouldn't be able to get past the Kings, Mavs, Spurs, etc.....So why pay that much for a team that wasn't going to win anything in the forseeable future. So you pull the trigger on a deal designed to rid some of the cap problems, acquire picks, and prospects to re-tool. As it now stands, Pheonix will have just under $34 million in committed salaries after this year. After the draft, that will be ushed to somewhere in the $37-$38 million range(2 1st rounders). With the cap expected to be around $43-$45 million, that will leave roughly $6-$8 million in cap space, not the $20-$30 million many are 'claiming' around here. Ignore them. Pheonix will have enough to draw a Rasheed Wallace type player(note, I am not saying Rasheed himself....but a player of that caliber). Or the Suns could wait another year, clearing White's (near $6 million) contract, making them able to pursue a maximum contract Free Agent. To summarize: Kobe won't be in Pheonix next year. But that wasn't the plan. Pheonix wouldn't make a deal intended to clear room just for the small shot of singing Kobe. It never was about that. It was about managing cap. Phenix made smart moves. They were going to have to deal with tough decisions down the line, monetary wise. Corners would have to be cut. And when that starts to happen, you won't be making many appearances in the 'deeper playoffs.' The Suns couldn't afford to go year in, year out of paying the luxury tax. They are a smaller market team. They cannot keep profits doing that. The NBA is a business, and many forget that. I think sim leagues distort people's thoughts. Everyone looks at a trade from a talent prespective, then stops. Many ignore the fact that some moves are made based on financial decisions. When cush a trade occurs, many simply say "cap reasons" and move on without understanding why. The Suns cannot afford multiple years of paying the luxury tax in a row. Thats where they were headed.(They paid it last year, will pay it this year, and would the following year most likel) What does Lampe, Vujanic, McDyess, Ward, and 2 1st rounders bring to the table? McDyess will be a abackup, giving the Suns experience and talent up front in the meantime. McDyess will most likely gone after this season, but for the time being, should provide the Suns with interior help. Ward will be bought out, clearing cap space and roster room. Vujanic is an interesting Euro PG prospect. At draft time last year, many teams were interested in trading for him, but the Knicks never seemed to be overly interested in parting with him. Lampe was expected to be a top 5 pick at one point before the draft, until contract disputes soured his stock. The Suns are getting a highly coveted prospect. Outlook for the team: Before the draft, I thought Barbosa was going to Seattle. He slipped. His long arms make him a very interesting prospect. He has shown flashes of being a good/great player. He is already one of the better 'thiefs' in the game. I believe he will end up being the leader the Suns are looking for at the PG spot. Lampe/Cabarkapa/Stoudamire will form the Suns frontcourt for many years, giving them a good inside and oustide game. Jacobsen and Barbosa will also be the outside threats needed. Throw in 2 1st rounders, they could acquire a SG to start over the inconsistent Johnson, and another big body. Overall, the Suns are better poised to have a great team than they were before. 2 1st rounders can cover up for holes the Suns show this year. The Suns future is indeed bright.
Barbosa just had 27 points too. I like this trade for the Suns. If they can trade Marion and get shorter contracts and picks like what they got for Marbury I would do it. Lampe wasn't a top 5 pick before the draft. Miami didn't want him. Toronto only were only interested Ford, Podkolzine and Bosh at the 4th pick. Lampe should of been a top 12 pick tho. Vujanic should come over now that he should get playing time on the Suns.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Vintage:</div><div class="quote_post">Marbury, Marion, and Stoudamire aren't going to get past the Wolves, Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, or the Kings.</div> Yeah I agree, remember when the Lakers were bounced from the playoffs WITH Kobe and Shaq, that obviously didn't work out -- oh that's right it's called giving them time... perhaps more than 30 games!! Nobody, including the Colangelos figure the Suns to be anything but the 6th seed in the West, so they are currently last, the only difference is they'll get a better draft pick! <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Vintage:</div><div class="quote_post">And for what? Marbury, Marion, and Stoudamire still wouldn't be able to get past the Kings, Mavs, Spurs, etc.....So why pay that much for a team that wasn't going to win anything in the forseeable future.</div> In a few years Shaq and Phil are out of LA (perhaps Kobe this summer), the Maloofs have been talking about trimming down the Kings roster to save some money, the Mavs STILL won't play defense and may be without half that roster, and the Spurs will be decent, but without help Duncan can't do it all. The Suns had a young team and in 2-3 years would have been THE contender in the West. Forget this year, the Colangelos obviously are able to wait, why not wait with Marbury? <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Vintage:</div><div class="quote_post">The Suns couldn't afford to go year in, year out of paying the luxury tax. They are a smaller market team. They cannot keep profits doing that.</div> Small market? Phoenix? Is that why the D-Backs have top 5 payroll every year? Is that why Phoenix has all 4 major pro teams? Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the US... small market? The Suns used to sell out games, before they traded their star players anually. Also I'd like to comment most of the people who posted on the OTHER thread did agree to the trade as a good financial move. With all that said, I have said several times that this trade was an okay trade, that is, IF the Suns get something out of the draft picks, and extra money they'll have to spend... if this was only so Jerry could stuff his pocket with even more money, than it shouldn't be praised by the fans! We've waited 35 years, and it looks like we'll be waiting at least 3 more!!
Very good points.. One queston, Lang(from Slam) and seem to think the Suns might be for sale. What is everyones take on this? I personally don't really have an opinion(can't really).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting scorbutic:</div><div class="quote_post"> [/i] Small market? Phoenix? Is that why the D-Backs have top 5 payroll every year? Is that why Phoenix has all 4 major pro teams? Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the US... small market? The Suns used to sell out games, before they traded their star players anually. Also I'd like to comment most of the people who posted on the OTHER thread did agree to the trade as a good financial move. With all that said, I have said several times that this trade was an okay trade, that is, IF the Suns get something out of the draft picks, and extra money they'll have to spend... if this was only so Jerry could stuff his pocket with even more money, than it shouldn't be praised by the fans! We've waited 35 years, and it looks like we'll be waiting at least 3 more!!</div> Smaller market in terms of money. Sales, marketing, etc.
Well, looks like I was right about that cap room. 20 million? ha. It's going to be right around 8 mil or so.
Nice write up vintage. It really opened up my eyes, and i am glad they made that trade, but i think Phoenix should hold on to marion for a while.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting The Prophecy:</div><div class="quote_post">Well, looks like I was right about that cap room. 20 million? ha. It's going to be right around 8 mil or so.</div> Yes you were right... but does the cap even matter? What others and myself were talking about was the tax threshold, we already posted that after you mentioned the cap being at $42 mil. The Suns are now going to be nearly 30 million under the tax threshold (which is around $60 mil). 90% of the teams are over the cap, so obviously that doesn't matter. The Suns and most teams are only worried about going over $60 million, so really the Suns have 20-30 million... granted they can't just SIGN these player via free agentcy, because I'm sure you can't sign a FA that puts you over the cap... but you can always trade and resign which puts you over the 42 mil mark.
