FanPost

Almost every potential or likely option for the Suns in the 2010 Off-season


The title might be slightly misleading as I'm not exactly using every possibility but rather the redundant options, with my opinion added on. Many will continue to laugh at the recurring possibility of certain players coming here, but I feel I make solid cases for them, despite the lack of statistics (Sorry I'm not John Hollinger). This post is either sparked from pure boredom, lack of new news on the NBA front, or some other form of strange, astronomical reason that I can't imagine. Feel free to blame me for any misinformation of fact, typing error, etc. Here we go...

What we know so far..

Kerr and Griffin are out. That much we know for sure. For those of you who have been living in caves, I'm sure this is news to you. Robert Sarver has essentially lost all respect from us Suns fans by being cheap and ignorant. By letting Kerr and Griff walk away, Sarver is basically letting Amar'e walk too, which, unfortunately, is not surprising due to his obvious lack of belief in Stoudemire. Of course, it isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is going to have some serious repercussions as to the level of star power and effectiveness of the Suns offense to a certain extent. Unless, of course, we can make a serious splash in the draft and free agency. Speaking of which...

Free Agency

This is by far the sketchiest aspect of the off season, because there are so many unknown variables to consider. This is especially true this year, because only one person that I know of which has out right gave a list of which teams he wants to go to is Chris Bosh. Other than that, every free agent has gone the obvious, "My current team is the number one option" route. The only one I actually trust in this is Dwayne Wade. On to the Suns action!

Option 1- Re-sign Amar'e

In my opinion, the smartest and safest move to make for the Suns. You know what you're getting health wise, play wise, and there is always room for improvement on the defensive end. If he does re-sign, I'd make him commit to becoming a better rebounder and defender fundamentally. Nothing crazy, but simple drills to get basic things down that will prevent him from having 2 to 3 rebound nights. Sadly, unless Sarver has some sort of epiphany or vision of the Suns winning the title Stoudemire, he'll likely just pass.

Option 2 - David Lee

A solid move but the financial aspect of it can get in the way. I'm sure some poor team will be willing to over pay him just because no other free agent is willing to get paid to lose. Realistically though, he's a perennial 20 and 10 guy that will get his hands dirty, even if he doesn't wow you while doing it. The only issue is I haven't heard a peep about him wanting to win so all signs point him to taking the money and running somewhere else.

Option 3 - Dirk Nowitzki

Everyone says it shouldn't be considered an option, but in all honesty, it has to be. Sure, Cuban's going to throw money at him that Dirk can't even imagine, and they obviously have a good relationship. But dirk is at that age where it really isn't about money anymore, but rather winning a title. The Suns have the tools in place and I have a tinkering that Dirk likes Nash just a little bit more than Cuban. Now before you go all crazy like the pessimists I know you all can be, think of it this way. He's basically money from anywhere on the floor while rebounding at 7.7pg. His defense and rebounding don't astound anybody, but playing with phoenix, he won't be relied on to score constantly to win, so he can pay more attention to those aspects. He's gonna give you a stronger and more reliable offensive option but it isn't positive if he'll be willing to take as much as a pay cut as he would have to in order to come here.

Option 4 - Carlos Boozer

What he lacks in offense he'll make up for in defense and rebounding. He's higher up there in age and by far the last resort for Phoenix in terms of talent, but I think they'll feel obligated to take him if younger, better guys start signing with other teams. It'll force the Suns to rely far more on the bench and probably Jason Richardson, as he'll be are best one-on-one scorer when he's on the floor. He'll be able to bang in the paint and finish on some opportunities, but it's extremely hard to tell how well the offense will function with a player that is drastically different from Amar'e.

Option 5 - Small Name Players

Credit goes to Valleyofthesuns.com for pointing out 3 possibilities to make things easier for me by describing Al Harrington, Kenyon Martin, and Tyson Chandler. They are all are viable options and will provide some suitable, but definitely not preferred forms of help instead of Stoudemire. Kenyon and Tyson have some issues involving injuries to start, which isn't what we want to see as a Stoudemire replacement. Al Harrington has a solid enough offensive presence but the drop off in rebounds is worrisome at 5.6. And worse than that, is that he's never really been solid rebounding through out his entire career. Another capable name is Jermaine O'neal, who is on the list of free agents. I'm not sure what his intentions, but if he's no longer playing for money, he'd be my favorite for a cheap, yet still capable option. He's lost a few steps but he had a solid enough season in Miami that he shouldn't be blown off.

Draft

This is gonna have a good indication of the how free agency is going to go for the Suns, as it will show if they believe they can still get a solid Amar'e replacement in FA or if they'll have to find another in the draft. The smartest thing to start with is to trade Barbosa to a willing team. Minnesota would be the best choice as they have two extra picks in the first round and they're still struggling to find scoring in the backcourt. That would give us, hopefully, the 16th pick which is a great position to be in if you're the Suns. Unfortunately I haven't followed college basketball this year like in years past so I know little to none about many of the players on the board. I do know Larry Sanders from VCU would be the ideal replacement for Amar'e at the 16 (if they get it of course). He's 6'9 and averaged 14ppg and 9.1rpg while getting 2.6bpg last year. He's raw enough that you can mold him into a better offensive player around the basket but his defense leaves alot to be desired as I've seen him get bullied around in the post on more than one occasion. Another player I like, but I'm not sure if he's good enough to take at our hypothetical 16th spot is Stanley Robinson out of UConn. He's a good fit for the Suns as he's reawakened his long range shooting this past season shooting about 45% from behind the arc. He's physical and very athletic but isn't necessarily the Amar'e replacement you want but he has fantastic offensive moves I've seen which I think DraftExpress worded best as "mini post moves". My final suggestion for the Suns, while risky is to get Da'Sean Butler if he's still available in the second round. When that kid gets healthy, he's gonna be out to make a name for himself, and I think he can learn a thing or two from Grant Hill and J-Rich in his time here. Plus he's polished enough offensively that the transition should be easy. Complain all you want, continue to be pessimists, but his upside is too good to pass up in this draft. I think it's pure Genius.

That's all I got for now, and if you don't see my opinions as worth while or logical that's fine. I'll just blame it on this overwhelming feeling of anxiety this off-season is causing so early. Critique and alter any of the options I've given or even add some new ones. I'll admit, I'd like some more input on potential draftees or draft trades for that matter.

Draft Express Profiles

Larry Sanders: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Larry-Sanders-5148/

Stanley Robinson: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Stanley-Robinson-1075/

Da'Sean Butler: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Da-Sean-Butler-1184/

Looking forward to your comments on my repetitive post :]