As the Suns make the fiveyear, $21 million signing of guard Marcus Banks official today at an afternoon news conference, league sources say the team will add another big man to the mix through free agency.
New Zealander Sean Marks, a 6-foot-10 center who has played parts of six NBA seasons, including the past two with San Antonio, will sign a contract for the veteran minimum salary of $932,000 and give the team a 12th player under contract for the 2006-07 season.
Marks, who played in the Pac-10 at California and became the first man from New Zealand to play in the NBA with Toronto in 1999, has never played more than 25 games in a season. He played in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics for his country and helped New Zealand to a fourthplace finish in the 2002 Wo r l d Championships.
While 6-foot-7 Eric Piatkowski, also signed by the Suns during the offseason, is known as a 3-point specialist, Marks is more athletic and an inside scorer who has never made a 3-pointer in the NBA. He shot 52 percent (37-for-71) last year, averaging just seven minutes a game.
Meanwhile, Banks arrived in the Valley Wednesday night and will sign his deal before being introduced to the media as Steve Nash’s backup.
Banks expected to be the starter in Minnesota after starting the final 28 games of last season but found himself looking for work after the TWolves signed free agent Mike James last week.
“If I’m going to sit behind anybody, I don’t mind sitting behind Steve,” Banks told the Las Vegas Review-Journal before heading to Arizona. “I’m super excited. We’re going to have some fun in the sun.
“I’m going to a great group of guys who know how to win. I always believe that things happen for a reason, and it was tough waiting to see what would happen. But this is a great situation I’m going to. The coaches there want me to be myself, and with the way they play, wide open, I think I can be very successful.”
Suns general manager and coach Mike D’Antoni was very excited to have Banks aboard.
“He’s a guy who’s on the cusp of being a very good player in this league,” D’Antoni said. “He fills our need for a perimeter defender and a backup for Steve, but he also plays the way we like to play and will fit in great with this team.”
__________________ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
"Negotiations with Lithuanian Robertas Javtokas, one of the team's former draft picks, broke down last week. Sean Marks, who spent three seasons with the Spurs, has been in contract discussions with Phoenix."
Marks is more of a PF type. For what it's worth, Spurs fans say he outplayed Oberto last season.
What this move means is no Maciej Lampe. Too bad, because I've always liked the kid, but it looks like the Suns aren't going to waste any bench spots on young projects this season.
It's still an open question whether the Suns are going to use their TE, but this move indicates they probably won't. (I can't imagine paying double the minimum salary for Marks, can you?) That means the Suns will be looking to sign their last rotation player with what's left of the MLE--about an LLE-sized chunk, I believe.
__________________
"You are not permitted to bet if you're a referee. You're not permitted to bet legally...legal betting will cost you your job."--David Stern
Burke AND Marks? I don't understand it at all. Or maybe this is our way to make Spurs worse?
He's white, he's 6' 10" tall....what's not to understand?
D'Antoni apparently likes those types of scrubs. Maybe he's thinking Marks and Burke will "develope" into NBA players somehow. A 32 year old 3rd year guy and a guy with 1 year of experience over a 6 year period of time.
Big-time general managers cost a lot of money. Even worse, they want to spend a lot of money.
You can see why the idea doesn't exactly appeal to Robert Sarver.
Nevertheless, you may consider his basketball team fortunate once again. The Suns have made their first splash of the off-season, snagging point guard Marcus Banks, a young player who seems to fit the program and offers considerable upside.
After losing Tim Thomas to the Clippers and whiffing on a handful of candidates they preferred as a backup for Steve Nash, it is not a bad save at all.
But you wonder: How long until the luck runs out?
From the zero return on draft day to the lowball offer tendered Thomas, the Suns' revamped front office hasn't exactly shined in its first off-season at the helm, although there has been little trouble showing its inexperience.
Look around. Jerry Colangelo is off chasing a gold medal. Steve Kerr was asked to take on a more active role in player personnel but declined in order to spend time with his family and his growing media career. At the moment, the inner workings of the Suns seem fairly rudimentary:
David Griffin, the vice president of basketball operations, makes the phone calls and does the grunt work. Head coach Mike D'Antoni, who also has the title of GM, makes the big decisions, and everything is ultimately ruled by Sarver's keen sense of budget.
While Griffin is both smart and observant, he's largely unproven in the GM arena. Besides, most teams don't like dealing with intermediaries, and when Griffin was recently talking draft day deals with the Celtics' Danny Ainge, you just know Ainge was thinking:
How weird. This kid was a video assistant a few years back.
While a superb coach, D'Antoni is also unproven and inexperienced at selecting players, at fitting concepts and team needs around real people. He is also off serving his country, working as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski at the Olympic basketball team trials in Las Vegas . . . as if D'Antoni needed be stretched any thinner.
So Banks was a nice rebound. Sources say the Suns are about to sign another bit player, Sean Marks, a 6-foot-10 sharpshooter who last played for the Spurs. But there will be no Executive of the Year awards forthcoming. And the ill-fated pursuit of John Salmons - a player swiped away in the final hours by a new enemy, Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo - remains a telling sign of change.
The Suns thought they had Salmons locked up. But when the player began to waver, the Suns lost their cool. They put a deadline on Salmons' decision, angering the player enough to move in the other direction.
"If you asked me today who I wanted between Marcus Banks and John Salmons, it's Marcus Banks, hands down," D'Antoni said. "And I'm not just saying that."
While that sounds like familiar Suns spin, D'Antoni insists he was simply operating on bad assumptions regarding Banks and hadn't considered him an option before losing Salmons.
Fine, but accomplished general managers don't hold bad assumptions.
The Suns also believe they can ultimately trump all charges with one name, Amaré Stoudemire, a former impact player who will return with a new number and new vengeance in 2006-07. And, yes, if Stoudemire is soon seen dunking on people's heads once again, then all these concerns are muted.
----------------------------------------------------
WHOINTERESTEDTHE SKINNY Sean Marks
Spurs
Suns Add Marks Jul 20 - The Arizona Republic reports the Suns are about to sign San Antonio free agent Sean Marks.
__________________ I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -Will Rogers
No mention of KT,LB,Banks,Jones? Who cares who the 10-12 men are when D'Antoni rarely goes past 9 deep. Sure it would be nice to have insurance in case of injury but thats not too realistic.
Marks and Burke actually do qualify as decent third-string depth--if you look at just this season, each of them is more valuable than Lampe, Skita or any project player. Plus, they're both young enough (and have few enough miles) that you can expect them to be available in an emergency.
Piatkowski is a specialist--if his shot is still working, he's a player who can punish other teams for employing non-scorers in the backcourt.
I'd prefer Casey J over Piatkowski and Lampe over Marks, but all three 'deep bench' players have a chance to be useful to the Suns, which is something you can't say about most teams.
__________________
"You are not permitted to bet if you're a referee. You're not permitted to bet legally...legal betting will cost you your job."--David Stern
__________________ Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Big-time general managers cost a lot of money. Even worse, they want to spend a lot of money.
You can see why the idea doesn't exactly appeal to Robert Sarver.
Nevertheless, you may consider his basketball team fortunate once again. The Suns have made their first splash of the off-season, snagging point guard Marcus Banks, a young player who seems to fit the program and offers considerable upside.
After losing Tim Thomas to the Clippers and whiffing on a handful of candidates they preferred as a backup for Steve Nash, it is not a bad save at all.
But you wonder: How long until the luck runs out?
From the zero return on draft day to the lowball offer tendered Thomas, the Suns' revamped front office hasn't exactly shined in its first off-season at the helm, although there has been little trouble showing its inexperience.
Look around. Jerry Colangelo is off chasing a gold medal. Steve Kerr was asked to take on a more active role in player personnel but declined in order to spend time with his family and his growing media career. At the moment, the inner workings of the Suns seem fairly rudimentary:
David Griffin, the vice president of basketball operations, makes the phone calls and does the grunt work. Head coach Mike D'Antoni, who also has the title of GM, makes the big decisions, and everything is ultimately ruled by Sarver's keen sense of budget.
While Griffin is both smart and observant, he's largely unproven in the GM arena. Besides, most teams don't like dealing with intermediaries, and when Griffin was recently talking draft day deals with the Celtics' Danny Ainge, you just know Ainge was thinking:
How weird. This kid was a video assistant a few years back.
While a superb coach, D'Antoni is also unproven and inexperienced at selecting players, at fitting concepts and team needs around real people. He is also off serving his country, working as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski at the Olympic basketball team trials in Las Vegas . . . as if D'Antoni needed be stretched any thinner.
So Banks was a nice rebound. Sources say the Suns are about to sign another bit player, Sean Marks, a 6-foot-10 sharpshooter who last played for the Spurs. But there will be no Executive of the Year awards forthcoming. And the ill-fated pursuit of John Salmons - a player swiped away in the final hours by a new enemy, Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo - remains a telling sign of change.
The Suns thought they had Salmons locked up. But when the player began to waver, the Suns lost their cool. They put a deadline on Salmons' decision, angering the player enough to move in the other direction.
"If you asked me today who I wanted between Marcus Banks and John Salmons, it's Marcus Banks, hands down," D'Antoni said. "And I'm not just saying that."
While that sounds like familiar Suns spin, D'Antoni insists he was simply operating on bad assumptions regarding Banks and hadn't considered him an option before losing Salmons.
Fine, but accomplished general managers don't hold bad assumptions.
The Suns also believe they can ultimately trump all charges with one name, Amaré Stoudemire, a former impact player who will return with a new number and new vengeance in 2006-07. And, yes, if Stoudemire is soon seen dunking on people's heads once again, then all these concerns are muted.
----------------------------------------------------
WHOINTERESTEDTHE SKINNY Sean Marks
Spurs
Suns Add Marks Jul 20 - The Arizona Republic reports the Suns are about to sign San Antonio free agent Sean Marks.
Oh God. Not Dickley again.
That ****ing anti-Suns fag just needs to start writing for the Bulls and get all his Chicago love out.
Yeah Bickley should just shut up. He use to bash BC more than anyone and was all over them last season. I guess he wanted to throw some more egg on his face.
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