Bell has been declining since last year at this time.

The Full French is not worth $9M a year. He wsn’t gettin gminutes because the Suns have bigs and have a few playmakers. I’m sad to see him not develop, as he was developing, but does he fit in anymore?

More importantly, how will I get my Dirty fix? Will I have to change my avatar?

The Suns are pretty stocked at the 2-3 position, aren’t they?

I’ve got no problem with Sweet Lou White Bo Outlaw and Fropez getting a few more “energy” minutes.

And, he’s reuniting two of the Warriors from the Upset Series. That’s Nellie-Ball, not Plop-A-Pop

I don’t mind Raja “the player” going, but Raja as a person I’m going to miss.

And I LOVE Boris Diaw.

Our backup front line is turrible now…we need another big.

WTF is Kerr doing? He’s made this team even more run and gun by trading our last two competent defenders. We have ZERO defense now. ZERO.

Jared Dudley is serious hidden value in this trade. Look at his stats. He never turns the ball over, and is a well-respected to great on the ball defender (his BC pedigree as well as his first round selection will tell you the rest).

He can play the SF/PF and has a very similar body to Diaw…except he’s not frail, or dainty like Diaw.

We’ve needed another player who can create, and Richardson is just that. He is among the top 5 in 3 pointers made every season, and him and Amare in the same lineup is absolutely athletically freaky.

And again, I don’t quite see where you find any progress in Diaw this season. I’ve watched every game, and even if you haven’t seen any games, a quick review of his stat line will tell you everything you need to know about him. Diaw is a cancer, a 9 million dollar cancer, and thank the lord that he isn’t our problem anymore…

This is our shot, and i’m glad Kerr took it.

Kerr would panic and remake the ’Cats.

This is a fantastic trade. Richardson is still 27 years old. Sure he’s owed 40 million over the next 3 years, but I’d rather be on the hook to him than giving Diaw 9 million a year for an occasional spot of brilliance. Richardson is capable of getting his own points, which means you don’t need Nash on the court to always get a good offensive possession. No he isn’t a great defender, but like you said it’s not like Bell was playing great defense either. Dudley isn’t a total stiff, he can play decent backup PF minutes and you can even put Barnes at PF, Amare at center against smaller teams.

… but I know I hate it for the Bobcats.

Raja: Thank you for your defense and intensity through the years…I will never forget your clothesline of Kobe, your ice-water-in-your-veins 3 over Daniel Ewing, and your impact on this team. I will miss watching you play and hope that you can carve out more time in your career…I will not, however, miss your negative attitude; I understand your loyalty to D’Antoni, but this is a new team now, and I’m surprised you didn’t find a role.

Boris: Your talent is unmistakable. Your effort, however, was lacking at critical times, and I, too, will miss you on the dirty. You will find Charlotte has plenty of teenage women for you to find…Good luck in Charlotte…I’ve heard your new coach can be a little cranky.

Seriously, you exist? I’m baffled.

He’s never been worth the salary just dishing wide open shots season after season. I’m glad he’s gone, but I don’t understand the hastiness of dealing Bell. I’m sure his slump is only because he knew something was up. But he’s always been somewhat streaky.

I didn’t think it was possible to blow up a team any more than last season. Didn’t anticipate anything like this. I could over-think this, but last season was lesson enough not to even bother. Overall, I feel mixed. And very gunshy.

Farewell, Raja.

Bell, though, was possibly Nash’s closest friend on the team, so the trade does come with an emotional component for Phoenix.

This is true. I know Nash is always professional, but I wonder how much this will bother him.

I mean really, when Phoenix Stan wrote in the initial blog that Bell isn’t even ‘a decent defender’ he was flat out wrong. Bell was never a stats inclined defender, but a good perimeter guy who could frustrate the other team’s superstar.

People like Kobe ALWAYS seemed to score on Bell, but Raja’s toughness was meaningful. He gave us that hard-nosed attitude, that we need.
Look, if you truly don’t think Raja was even a ‘decent’ defender, than please, somehow, explain to me how having LB or J-Rich is going to make guarding Kobe/D-Wade/CP3 easier? HOW!
Bell wasn’t perfect, but he sure as hell was better than our current alternatives…
Shiiit

Well.

That was unexpected.

Dunno how I feel about it yet.

LOL

The suns have never had a real 2 guard to take pressure off of nash. Bell had no ability to create and wasn’t a ball handler. He is a good defender and good 3 point shooter, but the suns have plenty of three point offense. The goal is to take pressure of nash, so he can come out of the game and not have everything go to hell. This will bring a dynamic to the suns that hasn’t there for a while. As for Boris. Tremendous talent, played his best ball before he got a big contract, but his defense was suspect and he doesn’t come to play every night and is often time frustrating to watch. The suns just got better.

I was very surprised when I heard about the trade(s). I loved Raja, but agree that it was time for him to go. Just didn’t see his attitude or effort improving in this system anytime soon.

As for Diaw, I loved him even though it was fun to yell at the TV when he’d pass rather than score. I can see him becoming the 2005-2006 player if given the chance in Charlotte.

As for the new players, I really don’t remember J-Rich very well and never heard of the other player at all.

…who always hated the Suns, I might actually start pulling for you.

Barnes is over-rated, but JRich is a great pick-up — guaranteed. He can take over the game, is a long and strong 6’6 and gets his share of boards. Not a great one-on-one defender, but good team defense. He also brings intangibles. He wants to win as bad as anyone on the floor and he’s just entering his prime. He is a player who could help bring you Suns a championship. I didn’t follow Diaw and Bell closely, but they always seemed 2nd tier. JRich is unselfish and committed to winning. He wears number 23 for a reason.

I like the way you always put a backhanded insult in there for the psuedo-intellectuals, Stan. (still can’t spell, airport beer is wearing off)

8 AM in Hungary now, to find THIS on NBA.com this trade is GREAT. jared dudley is a really really good pickup, decent defender and worker, he’ll do whatever he is asked to do. kind of like renaldo balkman, i guess you have heard about him enough to know what i am talking about. j-rich is very very good, and as pointed out before: he was doing fine in the “Golden State Upset Season for the Ages”, even though there was s-jax, boom dizzle, and a slew of other shooters and scorers. he’ll do fine here, especially with his long shooting and great penetration (wow. this sentence is really oozing of homosexual connotations)

Honestly, Kerr is a terrible GM and just needs to be let go before he decides to just release Steve Nash. He has done nothing but ruin what was the most exciting team in the NBA since his first day on the job. It’s sad but if it weren’t for David Stern in the ’07 playoffs then this discussion would probably never be happening and everyone would still be talking about what a genius Mike D is.

As for the trade, it completely contradicts what Kerr claims the franchise needed and that was focus and intensity on defense. So if this was the team’s major problem why would he trade away the one player who actually had this calling card for a guy that is just as absent minded on defense as the rest. They also lose their most versatile player on both offense and defense which be even more problematic considering the troubles this team has had with establishing its identity. I also don’t know a guy who is best friends with the leader of this team can be considered a cancer. But whatever, the Suns will be just as irrelevant in the playoffs after this trade as they were before..

I think Diaw was the best defender on our team, That’s not really saying much, but still…Raja was getting old. He was still an average to above average defender, but I certainly don’t think he’s a All-NBA defender. The drop off from Raja’s defense to J-Rich’s is no longer as big as it used to be for sure. The best thing about Bell was his contract which expired after next season I think. I like J-Rich, but I’m no sure how the Suns spread shots between him, Nash, LB, STAT, and Shaq. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kerr is trying to trade Barbosa, a pick and Hill or Barnes for a good big man. I don’t know if it’s enough to get a Kaman or Pryzbilla, though that’d be nice. I think of it this way – if Bell and Singletary ran into each other and were out for the season, would it really matter? Probably not. Diaw does matter from time to time, but I think the players we received matter more consistently.

So with this trade has Kerr completed the transformation?
Amare, Nash and Barbosa are all that remains right?

How quickly have a lot of you forgotten the Golden State/Dallas matchup a few years back?

How crucial were Barnes and Richardson for Golden State in that series?

A+ trade. This team just got a lot stronger, and all that’s missing now is the veteran backup PG. Just wait and see.