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No Trades Until Camp Expected
In two games Banks first scored 42 points and in the second shot 7 of 8 from the field (officially a scrimmage). He had a minor injury and was held out for the next couple of games. When asked about him, both Weber and D'Antoni talked about how talented he is. Weber also talked about the transition to the Suns system.
At this point they just don't know if Banks is the guy they thought they were signing or if this was just a flash in the pan. But if he has made real progress, it would not make sense to trade him until his value is more obvious to the rest of the league. Two games won't do it, but training camp might.
Of course if he has made HUGE progress they might want to hang onto him. None of the other deep bench players are proven offensive threats and the Suns do need some actual depth beyond the main eight. But if the last several months are an indication, it would be hard to trade him unless he shows some serious progress.
So other than unloading Pike, I am doubtful there would be any deals before training camp that would make a lot of sense. First, the Suns don't really know what they've got in the rookies. Second, a lot of good pickups when teams decide that somebody is redundant right before the start of the season.
For the Suns, it is hard to make mega deals anyway. The two most popular guys to trade are Marion whose big contract, and ability to opt out next summer, make him hard to move for value. And Diaw who is subject to the base year contract situation which kills most deals. KT's name keeps coming up, but there are not many teams with that much cap space left nor is it obvous how they would replace him.
At this point I think the Suns are convinced their starting eight has a real chance of winning a championship. Therefore I would not expect them to do anything dramatic until well after the season started at the earliest.
Last edited by azirish; July 14th, 2007 at 03:14 AM.
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