It seems to be a foregone conclusion that either before, during or shortly after the draft, the Suns will be down a prominent foreigner. Either Boris Diaw or Leandro Barbosa will be traded in an effort to either move up in the draft or land a veteran who can step in and contribute pronto.
My feeling is that it's a tale of two upsides, which is odd considering we're talking about two players going into their 5th year as NBA veterans.
The Argument: We've seen the best of Leandro Barbosa. He's never going to have the vision to run the point and is best suited as a slash and shoot 2 guard that isn't going to provide much on the other end of the court. As a player, he's plateaued and there isn't much more to expect out of him. This isn't necessarily a terrible thing as he excels at getting up the court, can blow past just about anyone defending him and is a dead-eye from beyond the arc. He's also a steal at $5 million a year.
Boris Diaw on the other hand remains an enigma. We've seen flashes of him excelling at all 5 positions. In the playoff series versus the Spurs he proved he's capable of playing lockdown one-on-one defense. He has excellent court vision, often to the detriment of his own scoring output. But when challenged to be the man on offense, he's delivered. The problem is that he only does any of this to his potential... what? 40%, 50%, maybe 60% of the time? He also tends to struggle with Amare Stoudemire on the court. A big problem considering STAT-Rat is considered to be the future of the franchise. And in addition to a bloated contract (unless he delivers on all that wonderful promise), he's been know to show up to camp a little bloated himself.
So, going with the wisdom of crowds we recently used in the Ridiculous Upside draft (in which we freaking STOLE Danilo Gallinari), what do you think, BSOTSers? Would you rather see 3D or LB back next season? Or both? Is the #15 pick good enough?
I know there are other factors in such a poll such as what we could get in return for either, but since that's all speculation at this point, I'm approaching it as a straight up "either/or/neither" proposition. And, of course, please discuss your choice in the comments below.