…I think this is a great idea (if we were looking to make a trade, that is). As I ranted in a previous game thread, Barbosa is becoming a one-dimensional, put-your-head-down-and-drive-to-the-basket-right-away-type player nowadays. Yes, he’s got blazing speed; yes, he can score; and yes, he’s got a great attitude. But if you’re looking at a deal where you could get young talent and a 2010 first-rounder for him (like the Min. trade mentioned above), go ahead and do it. It’s not like this type of offense – even as it pertains to the second unit – would take a huge dip, or any at all, scoring-wise.

and honestly, we have too many of those guys on our team (conversely, our hustle guys tend to be offensively weak. We need more balanced players).

But therein lies the problem: the rest of the league knows Barbosa is just a scorer. We won’t get anyone with too much upside for him, and we won’t get a stat filler unless we get a loose change for a dollar type trade.

I’d say stick with Barbosa for now unless we get someone that we could instantly plug in and would contribute across the board. I would love to see us get a big guard that could defend and rebound come off the bench with the hustle squad (Dudley and Lou). I’d say a big center, but we’re somewhat stacked there, mostly because Channing and Robin are both different types of players, so they cover the gamut.

Bottom line: we don’t have a spot in the starting lineup, so we’d be trading points for overall stats off the bench, which really isn’t a big part of the team, for now.

I say for now because I would move Barbosa in a heartbeat if we had an injury (Nash and Grant are old, Amare is injury prone). Goran isn’t ready to run the team, and if we reacquired Dan Dickau (aka The Equipment Manager, cause he looks like that should be his role on the team), we’re dead. Dudley is great but he’s a hustle off the bench guy. And until Lou can get a decent shot, he’s not gonna start anywhere.

So for now, let’s stay put. If someone gets injured, I’m moving Barbosa like stock in newspapers.

This is sort of what I was getting at when I mentioned LB as the Suns odd man out in the rotation in the recap comments.

It’s no knock on Barbosa. It just feels like his minutes are getting harder to come by, especially if AG is going to continue running out that wacky 3 guard lineup with Nash and Dragic sharing the floor.

I love LB, nothing better when he gets going and scores in bunches. I like his full speed approach and it appears he is well liked and appreciated on the team.
 That being said you make some real valid points to trade him. I believe what you see with LB is what your going to get. His time to improve and expand his game is over. I would love to see the Suns get in the first round this year. I think the Suns should entertain offers and if one is to good to turn down you have to make the deal. I have no idea who would want LB but I am sure there are teams out there who could use his services.
 How about next year the Jazz get the Knicks No. 1, ouch.

With that being said, I agree with the basic premise of the post, which is that he is our most moveable piece. High production for what he’s being paid…

if we could get Rubio or Love I think you’d have to consider it, but not a fan of the proposed Minny trade as is.

As far as assets for trade LB fits the bill. His time on the court has lagged, both due to injury and also to the fine play of JRich. His contract is extremely reasonable. I just don’t know what we would get back for him

As much as I like Tucker, however, I haven’t (in limited minutes) seen anything from him that makes him a serviceable backup 2 guard. His shot is flat, he’s not explosive, and plus he’s not under contract for next year.

That being said, if we could get a 2 back in a trade or a 1st round draft pick where we could get another 2 (and plus another 4 or 5 in the trade) it would have to be considered.

That being said, I, despite being a grown man, would cry seeing LB go. I think as the year goes on, his time on-court will improve. I wonder how much of his early season struggles (even despite his injuries) are due to playing too much in the off-season…

But alas, I’m glad this is only a blog post, and not an actual occurrence, because I think at the end of the day, I would hate to see LB go. I still fondly remember his game winning shot against Chicago years ago, and hope he can return to that form….

it’s a good problem to have but he’s got quite a few guys that need to get minutes and Clark is barely getting any run and Lopez is coming back….

Just remember that anytime you think someone should get more minutes it means those minutes are coming from someone else.

Unless (until) there’s an injury.

The fact is, Amare is the most tradable asset on the team. Why?
1. Barbosa is a rotation player. Amare is a star, like it or not, and many more teams would be willing to re-arrange their roster to get a star, rather than a role player.
2. Yes, Amare gets paid more, but obviously any team that trades for him would be able to talk extension with him before it gets done. Additionally, players get moved in contract years quite a bit. And there is no shortage of dumb contracts teams can unload to make the numbers equal.
3. The trade proposed in the post in unmitigatedly retarded. Call me a troll or whatever, but neither of those two players would even begin to crack our rotation, and neither has an upside above that of Barbosa. Additionally, The Wolves had to trade Foye and Miller two get a #1, both of whom are somewhat equal to Barbosa. No, Barbosa is definitely not the most trade-worthy Sun, where lack of equal talent or even interest makes any Barbosa trade worthless

but let’s see how the team does in December. With our incredibly tough schedule up ahead, we should have a better idea of what our needs our or what who we can afford to move by the end of the year. Then, perhaps in early 2010 we can start contemplating any moves. Just a thought…