btimsah

After watching the Jazz defense versus the Spurs, Doesnt it really prove that our defense was fine? We made them work for everything, but like all great teams they still won. But in large part because of the suspension to Amare. It's like taking Duncan away from the Spurs.. What happens then? I mean, really should we really go nuts changing this team when we lost because of one of the worst NBA rullings of all time? Ridiculous in my opinion.

I mean it really comes down to weather or not you believe we would have won game 5 at home with Amare and Diaw (who I don't like).

While some changes to make a more cohesive team would be welcomed and I think a big time scorer at the 2 would really help, we really could have beaten the Spurs in game 7 had the suspensions not happened.

Nasser22

We don't have to blow up the team but some changes need to be done. We need better defense. Kurt will probably be gone so we need to replace him with someone younger who can block shots and rebound well. We won't win if we let guys like Tony Parker do lay-up drills on the D. We also need bench players who fit our system and D'Antoni needs to start increasing the rotation to 9 or 10. I agree that this team is fine, but it does need improvement. It's mostly on the coach though to start making smarter decisions.

gdiddy

More depth and a backup for Nash. Preferably a solid shooting guard like Joe Johnson.

btimsah

I agree.. But sometimes against great players, you just have to outscore them. That is - they will get theirs, try to limit them as much as possible but if you don't think it's likely you can stop em' it's better to get a guy who can outscore HIM instead of stopping him. See, I think in some ways when we play Bell and Marion so much we get hurt on offense. But their good on defense.. Give and take I suppose.

So when people talk about how bad Ray Allen is on defense, well yes he may not be very good. But he can score an extra 25 a night for us. Garnett.. same thing. That's what makes the Spurs so good (ugh I hate saying that!) they have Ginobli, Parker and Duncan who are great scorers. Inside and out.

We need to dump Marion for a more offensive player, and get a bigger allstar 2 guard. That would really go a long way to give us more weapons to combat the Sterns with..

HooverDam

No major changes are needed. If the Suns get Atlantas pick and are lucky enough to get Horford, they'll have a young KT like player for years to come. Even though Horford was somewhat abused by Greg Oden, KT will be able to tutor him and if we are lucky enough to keep Ivaroni around, he can school Horford as well.

Then if they can find a decent back up PG option to give Nash some more rest, I think they'd be most people's pick to win the NBA title.

In a series against the Spurs, imagine the team we could field:

C KT
PF Amare
SF Marion
SG Bell
PG Nash

bench
F/C Horford
F Diaw
F Jr Jones
SG Barbosa
PG Aaron Brooks/Free agent signing/trade

So there is certainly a lot of reasons to be hopeful

btimsah

Yeah Horford would be nice.. I'm afraid I'm more of an NFL man when it comes to the draft and don't understand the NBA draft at all.. what pick do we really have??

About that lineup..

Can you imagine that lineup with a Ray Allen type at the SG position? I don't like players like Bell in the playoffs. Their guarded like glue and cant really do much one on one. They gotta be wide open.. kills us.

sharkman

Someone's going, make no mistake about it. Sarver doesn't want to pay luxury tax...not only is it a dollar for dollar penalty...but the team doesn't share in the revenues.

This year the Suns were about a mil over the tax...but Sarver lived with it because he thought the team had a legitimate shot at a title (thanks to Stern we'll never know).

Next year, with Barbosa and Diaw's new deals the payroll is at $76million for ten players...not including the draft picks. The tax for the full roster would put total player payroll somewhere around $96-$100 million mark...

...not a chance Sarver does it...especially when San Antonio is around the $65million mark ($30-$35 million less).

Most of the core will stay...but someone's large salary is going...KT will probably stay (he'll almost certainly exercise his option because only one team - Charlotte - has more cap space than what his salary will be)...and he'll be an expiring contract who'll be off the books at the end of the year.

Diawsome

That is true about great players. Tim Duncan is a great player, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are not, you can't allow them to get the basket as easily as they did. You need a shot altering big man in the middle to stop their penetration because good perimeter defense will only help you to a certain extent.

Ray Allen would not help the Suns. He takes too many bad shots to play in a team oriented offense. He would either chuck up a bunch of 3 pointers with a hand right in his face or he would drive to the basket where Tim Duncan would be ready to alter his shot (see Leandro Barbosa's MIA in this series).

If you are going to trade Marion for say a Ray Allen to hope your offense becomes even better you might as well trade Nash so he can have an actual shot at a championship because there would be no chance at all of contending here with the only player capable of playing defense being Raja Bell who all of a sudden gets his minutes cut in half because of him and Allen playing the same position.

Nasser22

But the Spurs did what they wanted with them. We need to improve more defensively, not forget about that and go with more offense.That won't solve anything. They just need to get the ball to Amare more often and I'd like to add a bench player who actually shows up offensively and can make some shots to replace James Jones.

Hoover, it's pretty likely that Kurt will be gone to free up some cap room as well as Iavaroni who will probably get a head coaching job.

sharkman

We'll know Tuesday after the lottery...Atlanta had the 4th worst record...but if they are lucky in the lottery and land one of the top three spots, they keep the pick. We'll get the pick if it is 4-7. We also have Cleveland's #24 pick and our own at #29.

History tells us that unless there is a salary purge, the Suns trade at least two of the picks.

sharkman

Kurt's not going anywhere unless he's part of a salary purge (in which case Diaw's $9mil is a better purge option). KT's salary is scheduled to be $8,091,187...and only one team (Charlotte) is more than that under the cap (Orlando, Washington, and Atlanta will just be a few mil under). That means the highest salary KT can earn outside of Phoenix is the MLE (less than $6mil)...unless he goes to Charlotte.

KT will exercise his option...and his contract will expire at the end of next year...when hopefully we can sign him to a reasonable 2 year deal.

elindholm

The Suns need more margin for error. Counting on perfect health, perfect officiating, and perfect luck is a losing proposition.

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OldDirtMcGirt

Agreed. We need defense and rebounding... the same thing we've pretty much always needed.

Dan H

I can see the merit in standing pat, save for our draft picks.

Rose, Burke, Jumaine Jones, and Sean Marks are free agents. I say re-sign Burke. That leaves three roster spots for four draft picks.

Stoudemire (Thomas)
Marion
Diaw (James Jones)
Bell (Barbosa)
Nash (Banks)
B - Burke

Then, assuming we get the Atlanta pick - draft Horford at 4. He'd add toughness and rebounding to the backup power forward position.

At 24, go Josh McRoberts if possible (might need to package the second rounder and move up, NBADraft has him going 21). I don't know why, but he just looks like a Suns player - and he can reliably hit the mid-range jumper (keeping out of Amare's way in the post), as well as get up and down the floor. Plus he's another big on the bench to backup the 4/5.

At 29, tab a 2 - Morris Almond would be my first choice, followed by Brandon Rush or maybe Marcus Williams from UA.

Give Nash 24-28 minutes a night, let the rookies get some playing time, and I think we're in solid position by the time the playoffs roll around. There's no reason three rookies can't contribute in the playoffs - especially guys like Horford and McRoberts who are battle-tested from big programs.

EDIT - just wanted to add, I think a guy like Morris Almond would be awesome on the Suns. He's a lights-out shooter.

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sunsfn

Certainly a big key to next years team is the Atlanta draft pick. If the suns can get that and end up 4-6 apx. they can draft someone who may contribute next year. They may use it in a trade to get a veteran player from? I have thought all along that KT would be gone, but not so sure now. Without him against Duncan it would not have been a fun playoffs at all.
Remember, the luxury tax is based on the team payroll at the end of the trade deadline, that is the end of February. So if the suns draft or trade for a big, they have until then to see if the new player/players are working out before they make a trade for some cap relief.
I think they need two things. A big and I mean a big, not another 6'8" pf/c. They need someone that can be a threat to block a shot at all times when he is in. And they need another shooter. I had hopes for James Jones but he is just not doing it and may never be a consistent shooter. Jones is not a big salary though, and whatever the suns do he may still be back.

I can tell you that trading Marion is not something that I want the suns to do at all. I think without him this system does not work as well as it does.

If the suns could have ended up with Tim Thomas and John Salmons last year, I think they would still be playing.

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