George O'Brien

Until tonight, I held out the hope that either the Suns would get Okafor, Howard or Biedrins. But with Washington dropping to #5 and Atlanta to #6, there is no way any of those three will fall to the Suns. Now our draft options look like taking an "OK" guard, a project Euro, or make a trade.

But I'm not sure there are any deals that make more sense than getting Eisley's contract off the books. It raises the Suns cap space to over $15 million and gives the Suns an expiring contract to work with in White. White is not as good as some of the guys we've been talking about, but he is one of the few players who can battle Shaq for position.

And if the Suns did nothing or just signed guys to one year contracts, it would give the Suns $21 million in cap space next summer when T-Mac becomes available.

I'm not sure the Bobcats would go for the deal, but it would be worth trying. No one else is going to offer their lottery pick to the Bobcats just for cap space.

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azirishmusic

Dylan

I see what you're saying.. it depends if there is someone there that
the Suns like and can get at 7. The idea of MA and letting him sit in
Europe saves us a couple mil, which lessens impact of Eisley's.
And gives us a 7'2' guy waiting in wings for a year or so. That's if
he is available at 7.. he is getting very hot in draft circles.
But if there is nothing they like, they might do the trade to get rid of Eisley.

It would really irk me tho because that really boils down to giving the Knicks a lottery pick in the Marbury trade cause we had to spend the pick to dump
Eisley. That was the worst part of the trade. I would've not gotten the
first round pick they gave us and not had to take Eisley. It probably
was for cap reasons to make the trade work, but that is a bitter pill
to swallow... if we had known that day of the trade that we were
including a lottery pic essentially, we would have been bummed.

If we don't do anything this year, let Jahidi come off the books,
we will still be in shape to get McGrady. The only problem is I think the
Suns want to do things this summer, before they have to worry about
paying JJ and Amare. I think they want to get Amare locked up asap.

thegrahamcrackr

I agree with most of what you are say except this part. The Suns will want to do something this summer, but that is more related to new ownership and keeping their fans. It would be very hard to sell sitting on cap space to a casual fan.

Paying JJ and Amare will have no impact cap wise to either this or next summer. Assuming JJ gets an extension, it will not kick in till the 2005-2006 season. Amare's won't kick in until the 2006-2007 season. So they can ink them ASAP, and not have to worry about the effect on the cap space. They have 2 summers to work without worrying about anyone's extensions.

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Dylan

That is good news. For some reason I had it in my mind that we had
to do it this summer to keep JJ. I hope the new ownership doesn't
get too much in a hurry and put money on wrong FA's. If the
right guy(s) aren't there, you gotta wait. We are not going to win the
championship this year, and if you wait a year, and get the right one(s),
you will be very good very fast.

I think we will be fun to watch next year, I can wait one more.

Those rare moments in time when you have cap room have to be
handled with a disciplined manner and not emotional.

thegrahamcrackr

This summer is the first year we can offer him an extension. We exercised the team option for his 4th year (next season), so he is under contract until then. Assuming we do not sign him to an extension, he will become an RFA next summer, where we can sign him to our own offer sheet, or match any other offer sheets he recieves. If he doesn't sign an offer sheet, or an extension, he will be tendered a 1 year contract for the 2006 season. After that he would become an UFA.

However, no matter when we sign him, it will not kick in until the 2005-2006 season. Unless of course he goes the UFA route, and then decides to resign here, in which case it would kick in the 2006-2007 season.

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scotsman13

here is what i think that we should do.
1. draft alphabit or MA. let him sit in europe for a year after playing in the summer league.

2. leave white and eisley unprotected and tell the bobcats that we'll give them 3 million to take eisley off our hands.

3. forget about kobe and tmac (unless he comes out and says that he still wants out of orlando).

4. resign mcdyess.

5 look at bring in a vet like camby for a few years. he is the best player out there to fit our needs and our system.

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elindholm

The only problem with dumping Eisley is that the Suns won't have any real PGs left on their roster. Barbosa hasn't demonstrated he can run an offense, Johnson is a threat at any moment to disappear for weeks at a time, and Vujanic, whatever his position is, may never play in the NBA.

If the Suns want to dump Eisley, they had better have a sure-fire replacement coming in through the draft or free agency.

Joe Mama

I don't know Eric. Eisley was really quite ineffective last season most of the time. It would seem to me that the Phoenix Suns should feel confident that they could find a more effective free-agent center without spending very much money this summer.

That said, I really do not think the Phoenix Suns will trade their draft pick for salary-cap purposes. I think it would be a public-relations nightmare unless they were sure they could get a high-caliber free-agent like Kobe Bryant in the summer. I read a post on the ESPN message board last night somebody who said that he heard Gambo and Ash on the radio say that their sources inside the Suns organization are convinced Kobe Bryant to the Suns is a sure thing. Take it for what it's worth... not much.

Joe Mama

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George O'Brien

I'm pretty sure the Suns will try to clear enough cap space to make a run at Kobe if the situation warrents it. It would certainly make Eisley redundant.

As I've said in other threads, I think Brent Barry would be the Suns second choice if they can't do Kobe. The Suns would not need to clear cap space to get him, but it would make it easier to sign other help.

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azirishmusic

sunsfn

Forgetting about Kobe............(I do not think that is going to happen).. The suns should move Eisley, but not at the cost of their high pick. If they can move him somehow they will probably sign a veteran point guard. I think one a lot cheaper than Brent Barry. He will demand and get much more than the suns will give him.
The suns will make a strong effort to get Vujanic and if he comes I think they will see what he can do before they try to get a high priced point guard.

It sounds to me like Vujanic is another KJ, he can do the pick and roll and is an excellent shooter. I am not sure about his defense and that we will have to wait on.
If the suns can not move Eisley he will have to be their backup.

I do not think the suns will be doing another Googs deal to get rid of Eisley. However, I never would have thought they would have done it with Googs.

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Joe Mama

I've only watched a few of Vujanic's games, but I don't think he's anywhere near the playmaker that KJ was. He is also not nearly as athletic. He's going to really struggle on the defensive end. Frankly I would be much more excited about Gordon or Harris, but it would cost the Suns their #7 draft pick where as Vujanic is already theirs.

Joe Mama

__________________
"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

slinslin

Question: Is the major need in the backcourt for your team?

Colangelo: I think that’s a fair assessment, but we have a young, emerging player in Leandro Barbosa, who we feel very strongly about. We’ve got a young player in Europe who we own the draft rights to in Milos Vujanic. We’re still in the process of evaluating if it would be a good thing for him to come over this season. He’s got some buyout issues that we’re working through and that he needs to resolve with his agent. But when you look at our team, we have options. We have the draft pick. We have free agency flexibility, we also have the opportunity, possibly with a trade, to improve our team, and I would tell you that regardless of position, one thing we need is experience, leadership, grittiness, and that’s how we’ll approach things.

Vujanic is not a given. The Suns might not even want him this season especially since they have capspace this season.

George O'Brien

The big advantage with Vujanic is that they don't have to decide until after the Olympics.

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azirishmusic

slinslin

That's an advantage?

That means the Suns couldn't use their capspace to the maximum. If Vujanic comes over this season they need to do that before the olympics.

George O'Brien

I see it as an advantage in three ways:

1. The Suns get a chance to see Vujanic in a different environment than Skipper Bologna. We don't know how much of his shoot first style was due to his team's needs or his personality.

2. The Sun will have the entire cap space available for considering deals. Not signing Vujanic right away keeps their options open.

3. If he has a great Olympics, it would improve his trade value if the Suns wanted to go that route.

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azirishmusic