corrado

signing Q to an offer sheet and being handcuffed for 2 weeks is by far his dumbest. I've been in the Valley since '79. I've seen the Suns in the playoffs and making the playoffs is not enough, at least for me. They need to win an NBA championship.

Don't get me wrong Q is a nice player but he is typically what the Suns go after in the mold of JJ, SM, etc. This team to contend for a championship needs some sort of defensive force in the middle. They can get into the playoffs with the small ball but will get buried in the playoffs without a defender with above average strenghts.

I realize that this WAS NOT a very strong free agent period for quality centers but what they had to pass on while waiting thru this period was BETTER than what they presently have.

You may say that if the Clippers match, the Suns will have a chance to get ED. Well, I'm not sold on ED. I like guys that play hard whether in the last year of their contract or the first year. There are some guys in the NBA like that although they are less than the majority.

I think the Clipps will match and the Suns will be left with a Pollard, JP, etc.
Wonderfull move Brian.

scotsman13

do you people ever get tired of bitching?

the suns felt that they had a good chance of getting a player that they felt was worth the risk of having the last of their cap money tied up. even right now it isnt a surething that the clippers will match. the suns management knows what it is doing a great deal better then you or me. so why dont you give them a brake and stop bitching.

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newfan101

I'm sorry, but handcuffing himself to avoid overpaying such stiffs as Ostertag and Foyle may be Brian's most brilliant move ever.

As for his worst move, have you already forgotten Googs and Hardaway?

King A

Googs was an Olympian even afterwards and a 20-8 guy, that is not too shabby.
Penny is another thing, at least he led us to 2nd round once.
But the worst move was clearly the Longley deal, especially if you consider
that draft pick did become ron artest.

George O'Brien

Making offers to RFA's is always a risky proposition.

The Washington papers say that the Wizzards are going to match the Buck's offer for Etan Thomas. It might not happen, but I've predicted that they would for match for months. So while he was a popular option, going for him would not have been any different than going for Q except the Clippers were much less likely to match.

My guess is that Hidayet Turkoglu going to the Magic will be the only RFA move this summer not part of a sign and trade. The fact that the Spurs could replace him for less money with the more skilled Brent Barry made this the exception rather than the rule.

So far, Swift and Miles have not even had offers because everyone is sure that their teams will match. This is the nature of RFA's, but the Clippers have a history of letting guys go if they want to get paid. It was a gamble, but one that had a chance of working. IMHO, the other RFA's other than Turkoglu didn't.

What should the Suns have done? Foyle and Okur were grossly overpaid. The Pistons gambled that McDyess will stay healthy, a bet the Suns weren't willing to make. Camby got a contract that pays a lot if he stays healthy and above MLE if he doens't. K-Mart got a ridiculous contract. Divac got a two year MLE, which is a lot of money for guy his age.

Ostertag might have been a good pickup, but by the end of last season he was backing up Jarron Collins who averaged only 3.9 rpg. I probably would have gone for Tag anyway, but Q is undoubtely a much better player.

Assuming Q is matched, there is still a chance of doing something. Dampier remains a long shot, but Pollard could probably be picked up cheap (I'd like to do a deal that sends them Eisley). I don't think the Suns will sit on the cap space.

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azirishmusic

fordronken

Haven't we already decided that sitting on the capspace for next season is essentially pointless because of extensions?

Gaddabout

BC didn't trade Dennis Johnson for a 40-year-old stiff. He hasn't done anything close to that. I think he has the advantage of wisdom and I doubt there are many that understand NBA politics and salary cap as well as he does. All things considered, the Suns are pretty fortunate to have a second-generation GM like BC.

JS22

I agree 100%. Lets see some of you be the GM for a day so we can piss all over your moves.

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George O'Brien

Come on, this is not even close. Let me begin with signing Luc Longley. I could add giving a max contract to Hardaway inspite of him having a history of injuries. We could add the drafting of Bedford. Or how about trading draft picks for McDyess and then failing to immediately getting him signed to a long term contract.

Losing a couple of weeks in the free agency market is nothing compared to some the major screw up of the past.

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azirishmusic

scoutmasterdave

Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Chris Andersen were all RFAs who switched teams, and Trenton Hassell could move as well, if Minnesota doesn't match.

corrado

instead of 'by far the dumbest move', I'll say 'one of his several dumb moves'.

Griffin

Trading for McDyess was smart. Not the Suns fault they couldn't keep him. To add to the list of bad trades, how about trading for Hot Rod Williams?

George O'Brien

Couldn't remember is that was BC deal or not.

My problem with the McDyess deal was their procrastination, not the trade itself. Also, there was tension between McDyess and Ainge that should have been addressed much earlier. Considering how much they gave up to get him, BC was relying far too much on the fact that the Suns could offer more money.

BC gets criticized for signing Marbury and Marion to big contracts before he had to, but after the McDyess fiasco I think it was understandable.

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azirishmusic

JCSunsfan

Trading for Hot Rod looks bad primarily in retrospect, it didn't seem to be such a bad deal at the time. Barkley was clamoring for a center. Majerle had an ice-cold playoffs and many Suns fans believed he had "peaked" and was even regressing.

Hot Rod was considered one of the best interior defenders in the league at the time. Both players had warts AND both had positives.

It was a small for a big. So that is a plus.

The problem was that Hot Rod had been in a car accident in the off-season and had told no one about it. The Suns didn't find out about it until that fall when Hot Rod started having problems with his foot. X-rays revealed he had a piece of metal imbedded in his foot from the car crash.

thegrahamcrackr

Got to love when someone starts bashing the front office when they obviously know very little about it......

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