Okay boys, girls, men and women - NOW it's time to ROSTERBATE.
There's 4 days till the trade deadline. To our dismay, the Phoenix Suns' front office has remained absolutely quiet (I mean, come on, we deserve to hear everything they're working on right? amiright?). The Suns have been on a 12-6 tear with the new rotation with a +5 on PPG. Marcin Gortat and Robin Lopez are a nice C tandem, Channing Frye is playing well at PF, Grant Hill is a BAMF and Steve Nash is Steve Nash. The Suns don't want to upset chemistry with any trade.
But there is one guy the Suns would be completely open to move for talent: Vince Carter. They are overloaded at the wing, so they can afford to offload Vince for something good. They would only trade him for nice young/usable talent though - otherwise, he's $14 million worth of expiring deal in an uncertain summer.
(Writers note: Vince Carter is NOT a "get out of jail free" card. If he's on the roster on July 1/beginning of next CBA then he gets all 18 mil guaranteed. So he's simply $14 million worth of expiring contract this season.)
Otherwise, the Suns would likely only pick up someone with their remaining TPE ($5.7 mil) in exchange for Orlando's #1 pick.
Let's analyze some possible deals. If you don't like these, go ahead and post some REALISTIC trades instead (ie. all teams getting what they want).
And feel free to talk about why you picked which deal. Comments are the lifeblood of this blog.
You all know how I love hate Boris Diaw. He's lazy, doesn't like to bang and passes out of open high-percentage shots. Yet, the Suns' second team could use some of what he brings - post-defense, passing, and post-up offense conversions.
He's obviously not the end-all/beat-all, but he generally plays well for his new team for the first season (Suns '06, Bobcats '09) before he starts coasting. After this season, he only has 1 year left - same as Nash.
And, most of all, there would be very little transition period for him. Nash and Hill know exactly what he brings to the table, and Diaw knows more about the offense/defense schemes than anyone other than Nash/Hill/Gentry. There would be very little transition period here.
For the Bobcats part, they are wanting to rid themselves of Diaw and would love to shed some long-term contracts. The Bobcats have the same cap number as the Suns ($65 million) and they're only 24-32 in a weak East. The new coach, Paul Silas, has mentioned recently that Diaw is not his type of player. He wants bangers at PF and passes up too many open shots.
Otherwise, I'm not real sure what the Suns would do this week. They cannot afford to gut the team again if they want to make the playoffs, and there's NO WAY the Suns are gutting the team for the lottery. NO WAY. It's the 6-8 seed or bust. We all know it.
So have at it.
The realistic, logical rules are simple:
1) Suns cannot trade anyone on the roster in 2009-2010 season (Nash, Dragic, Hill, Dudley, Lopez, Frye)
2) Suns cannot ruin chemistry by acquiring anything more than a backup PF. They are shooting for the playoffs, and any big rotation change would cost games.
3) No new long-term contracts, unless the player's talent is likely to exceed that contract.
[Note by Seth Pollack, 02/21/11 12:44 PM MST ]
A couple of other Suns trade-related links:
The Phoenix Suns Don't Owe Steve Nash A Trade - SB Nation Arizona (Scott Howard)
Lately, people have begun to suggest that the Phoenix Suns should trade Steve Nash because they owe it to him. That couldn't be further from the truth.
NBA Trade Deadline For Phoenix Suns Focuses On Childress And Pietrus - SB Nation Arizona (Seth Pollack)
This is why Pietrus gets my vote for Most Likely To Be Traded Sun, but I would only put the odds at about 30 percent.