LB and TPE for Turk and Childress

[PhxGametime]

Would Utah Trade Kirilenko for Richardson/Amundson??


Lopez C
Kirilenko PF
Turkoglu SF
Dudley G/F
Nash PG


Judging by last year, the starters wouldn't play an extended amount of time.


Frye F/C
Warrick PF
Hill SF
Childress G/F
Dragic PG


Five more players that don't play extended minutes and 3 still have PF's in Clark, Lawal, and Collins.

 

[SirStefan32]

You forgot his bread and butter moves of forcing up a brick and yelling "and one", facing up his man and getting stripped, and driving to the hoop and charging into the rotating defender.

LOL!

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Good first move. I think its funny how many people were ready to jump off the ledge and two days later our team is VASTLY improved. Some will never be happy (see Slinslin) but who cares? Depending on the follow up from here, the team is going to win 50+ and might even repeat last years run depending on whose good in the West.

As many have noted we are going to get killed on the boards so I hope a traditional big like Jefferson, Horford, or even Gortat is considered to round out the roster. Right now we are SG and SF heavy.

Very positive move all together though and Hedo will thrive here with Nash. Also I like that we are paying midlevel deals to character guys, as its obvious we value chemistry quite a bit.

Hopefully there is one more move to be made and I am okay if Richardson is the bait ultimately.

This was THE most positive thing I pulled from some of these articles.

Sarver said he is seeking "a new structure" with hires who excel in talent evaluation, communication, knowledge of collective-bargaining agreements and negotiation skills.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...-suns-robert-sarver-future.html#ixzz0tTjzVnqL

I am not absolving Bob here but I am thinking back to a quote i read recently where he said, in business (sic) " the result was ten times more important then the process to get there, and in the NBA he has had to get used to over analysis of the journey, rather then the end result"

(does that even make sense what I just wrote?)

Sarver on his own just rebuilt the Suns on the fly, and I am somewhat impressed. We will see going forward, but maybe hes not the COMPLETE ass clown most of us previously thought?

 

[SirStefan32]

Good first move. I think its funny how many people were ready to jump off the ledge and two days later our team is VASTLY improved. Some will never be happy (see Slinslin) but who cares? Depending on the follow up from here, the team is going to win 50+ and might even repeat last years run depending on whose good in the West.

As many have noted we are going to get killed on the boards so I hope a traditional big like Jefferson, Horford, or even Gortat is considered to round out the roster. Right now we are SG and SF heavy.

Very positive move all together though and Hedo will thrive here with Nash. Also I like that we are paying midlevel deals to character guys, as its obvious we value chemistry quite a bit.

Hopefully there is one more move to be made and I am okay if Richardson is the bait ultimately.

This was THE most positive thing I pulled from some of these articles.

Sarver said he is seeking "a new structure" with hires who excel in talent evaluation, communication, knowledge of collective-bargaining agreements and negotiation skills.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...-suns-robert-sarver-future.html#ixzz0tTjzVnqL

I am not absolving Bob here but I am thinking back to a quote i read recently where he said, in business (sic) " the result was ten times more important then the process to get there, and in the NBA he has had to get used to over analysis of the journey, rather then the end result"

(does that even make sense what I just wrote?)

Sarver on his own just rebuilt the Suns on the fly, and I am somewhat impressed. We will see going forward, but maybe hes not the COMPLETE ass clown most of us previously thought?

Very good post. I agree about Sarver. Assuming we get a big man, even if we lose J-Rich in the process, I will be VERY impressed with Sarver.

 

[Kolo]

Wow. Interesting moves. I did not expect anymore activity until later in the summer, when cheaper vets were looking for homes. Gotta say I'm impressed by Sarver, Gentry and Co here.

I'm a big Barbs fan, and was really hoping to see him bounce back with the Suns this year, but I like both moves.

I think it'll be good for Barbs to get a change of scenery (as much as he may not think so now) and more playing time. He has the skills to really light it up on a team that needs offense (which the Raptors appear to be now) and earn his current contract and raise the value on his next one. He was not going to get that in Phx with the direction the team is going.

Hedo was a total stud in Orlando. He really filled a tremendous and versatile role on that team. The question is how he rebounds after the bad year in Toronto. I think he will shoot lights-out with the Suns. Hope he is in shape - can he run enough to keep up with Nash n Co? And where is his head? Can he buy into the team-first concept and just play, without worry for shots, touches, etc?

Childress is a talent - the question is also if his head is right. I think the years in Greece were good for him, by the looks of his numbers. If he has matured as a person and a player, he could be a total steal. Efficent offense and really solid defense. He and Dragic could really shut down opposing backcourts if they gell together. As someone said, add in Dudley, and opposing teams have got to cringe.

I actually like what the team has done contract wise. More mid-level deals for versatile, talented players, rather than a few huge superstar contracts. Sure, if we could land a Lebron, etc, I'd be fine with the huge deals. But don't overpay because you cannot get a top 5 player. I thought they offered Amare a fair deal, given the injury and insurance risks. Amare also did the smart thing and took the money in NY. You just don't leave 40million on the table. Odds are high he gets another Micro during the lockout and cannot play up to the end of that contract. NY can afford that. Not sure the Suns can.

Anyway, if we can't field a Suns 05 (or Miami 10) team, with a few spectacular, top-flight starters, I really like having a deep, talented, versatile team. If they can play with the same camaraderie and team-first attitude as last year's squad? Sign me up to watch, even if they have minimal odds of winning the ring.

Even without a trade for another big, if all these guys hustle, they may be a better defensive team than last year, with not much drop off on offense.

My thoughts exactly.

If nothing else, the Suns will be damned fun to watch next year. We've never had more playmakers (I count six) and never had more quality three point shooters (eight). I'll bet we're as good offensively as we've ever been. And Turkoglu may struggle defensively and rebounding against power forwards, but we're used to our starting power forward getting abused in the post. I think Sarver deserves some real credit here. If nothing else, he's spending money and thinking outside the box and not giving up first round picks anymore.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I'm on the fence with these moves as well.

Love the Childress move. I think he's a good fit on all counts; a terrific athlete with good defensive instincts and decent range on his shot. As others have mentioned I love the idea of a defensive lineup of Dragic, Childress, and Dudley. Throw Clark in there (not that he'll get any time with this team) and you have a pretty good wall even with Frye manning the 5 spot.

Turkoglu though is a bit puzzling. He thrived in Orlando because when Jameer Nelson went down they relied on Hedo to be the primary ball handler during crunch time. He was great as the guy who initiated the pick and roll with Dwight Howard and made some great decisions, but was an absolutely a disaster in Toronto where they already had relatively good 1's in Calderon and Jack to run the offense. He just didn't look nearly as comfortable waiting on the wings, which is largely what he'll be doing in PHX.

Hopefully there's a followup move that brings a bit more balance to the team, but I don't think this significantly changes our outlook either short or long term (maybe even hurts us long term).

 

[elindholm]

Yeah and we know how that worked out. Porter got fired, Nash's numbers fell off and he was unhappy.

Porter got fired because he was a "defensive coach" who had no clue how to teach defense, and Nash was unhappy because the team sucked. O'Neal wasn't the problem (on offense).

 

[SirStefan32]

I'm on the fence with these moves as well.

Love the Childress move. I think he's a good fit on all counts; a terrific athlete with good defensive instincts and decent range on his shot. As others have mentioned I love the idea of a defensive lineup of Dragic, Childress, and Dudley. Throw Clark in there (not that he'll get any time with this team) and you have a pretty good wall even with Frye manning the 5 spot.

Turkoglu though is a bit puzzling. He thrived in Orlando because when Jameer Nelson went down they relied on Hedo to be the primary ball handler during crunch time. He was great as the guy who initiated the pick and roll with Dwight Howard and made some great decisions, but was an absolutely a disaster in Toronto where they already had relatively good 1's in Calderon and Jack to run the offense. He just didn't look nearly as comfortable waiting on the wings, which is largely what he'll be doing in PHX.

Hopefully there's a followup move that brings a bit more balance to the team, but I don't think this significantly changes our outlook either short or long term (maybe even hurts us long term).

I think that we will see Hedo take some pressure off of Nash when it comes to ball handling/ play making. Nash is a great shooter, and if Hedo can run the offense, I think we will see Nash standing at the three point line. With Dragic and Hedo, Nash doesn't have to play as many minutes and he doesn't have to run the offense alone when he is in the game. If we can hold him down to about 20 minutes at point, and 25-30 minutes per game total, we may see a healthy, fresh Steve when playoffs roll around.

 

[SirStefan32]

Porter got fired because he was a "defensive coach" who had no clue how to teach defense, and Nash was unhappy because the team sucked. O'Neal wasn't the problem (on offense).

Exactly! Suns' offense was one of the best (if not THE best) in the league.

 

[Mainstreet]

From vague memories of them playing, and assume both are healthy, Kirlenko would fit in much better then Jefferson on this current roster.

IMO, Kirlenko would be more of the same type of player as Turkoglu and Warrick at PF. I think the Suns need a banger like Jefferson. Once Jefferson gets the ball down low he has great moves and can get the tough rebound. If healthy, Jefferson would make the Suns a legitimate contender. The Suns would need a replacement for JRich. I believe Dudley can play some SG but the Suns need another pure shooter at this position. I dom't believe Childress is a pure shooter.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

You know what kind of player we need? Luis Scola. A banger and scrapper who gets boards and does dirt work. Him and Lopez tearing up the paint would leave our 1-3 free to roam and shoot.

Consider, Turkoglu plays the point, so we could conceivable run Turk-Childress-Hill-Scola-Lopez when we have to go big and really cause some havoc.

Richardson to MIN for Jefferson

Jefferson to HOU for Scola/parts/#1

Can it work that way OR would HOU just do a JRich for Scola/parts straight up?

 

[Chaplin]

IMO, Kirlenko would be more of the same type of player as Turkoglu and Warrick at PF. I think the Suns need a banger like Jefferson. Once Jefferson gets the ball down low he has great moves and can get the tough rebound. If healthy, Jefferson would make the Suns a legitimate contender. The Suns would need a replacement for JRich. I believe Dudley can play some SG but the Suns need another pure shooter at this position. I dom't believe Childress is a pure shooter.

IF (and that's a big "if") we get a guy like Jefferson, there won't be any more acquisitions to get a JRich replacement. Either Childress or Grant Hill would be our starting SG, with Hedo, Big Al and Robin up front.

 

[Mainstreet]

IF (and that's a big "if") we get a guy like Jefferson, there won't be any more acquisitions to get a JRich replacement. Either Childress or Grant Hill would be our starting SG, with Hedo, Big Al and Robin up front.

I tend to agree the Suns may need not need a typical SG as their SFs can play that role. This also gets the Suns more height out on the floor. It helps that Turkoglu can hit the 3 point shot.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I think that we can put to rest any speculation that Turkoglu will just kick back and sit on his expensive contract. He waved $11 million to come here. So he isn't all about the money.

Also, in a Coro article a couple days he ago, he mentioned we're interested in Andrei Kirlenko. He's not as big as Al Jefferson, but he can play PF and still run.

kirilenko is the LAST thing this squad needs. older version of what we kinda already have. a ton of tweener/SFs that can play PF. definitely not a low post offensive presence. pass on him. big time.

if we could trade for horford somehow he'd be the best opportunity (even better than jefferson imo, unless the training staff could shaq-up jefferson).

 

[Arizona's Finest]

kirilenko is the LAST thing this squad needs. older version of what we kinda already have. a ton of tweener/SFs that can play PF. definitely not a low post offensive presence. pass on him. big time.

if we could trade for horford somehow he'd be the best opportunity (even better than jefferson imo, unless the training staff could shaq-up jefferson).

Totally agree.

List of potential big guys that may actually be available in order of my preference:

Horford
Jefferson
Scola

 

[az jam]

I like the moves and feel that the Suns will be a fun team to watch next season. They certainly will put up lots of points. Things sure look a lot better this Monday than they did on Friday. We once again do have a playoff team.
I'm happy to see Sarver roll the dice for Phoenix.

 

[taz02]

So if we could somehow add Jefferson:

lopez 7-0 255
jefferson 6-10 265
turk 6-10 220
childress 6-8 215
Nash

Size, defense, scoring, rebounding and a great bench. There isn't much to complain about.This could be the most balanced suns team ever.

 

[Mainstreet]

So if we could somehow add Jefferson:

lopez 7-0 255
jefferson 6-10 265
turk 6-10 220
childress 6-8 215
Nash

Size, defense, scoring, rebounding and a great bench. There isn't much to complain about.This could be the most balanced suns team ever.

This team could play even with the Lakers or Heat, then our bench would finish them off. Adding Jefferson would put this team there with the best. I'm seriously drinking the koolaid.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

So can someone smarter then myself work out the cap implications with a potential Al Jefferson trade?

Jefferson is two years removed from knee surgery so this should be his bounce back year. I know the Knicks will be an easy two wins a year if we acquired Jefferson

 

[AzStevenCal]

Good first move. I think its funny how many people were ready to jump off the ledge and two days later our team is VASTLY improved. Some will never be happy (see Slinslin) but who cares? Depending on the follow up from here, the team is going to win 50+ and might even repeat last years run depending on whose good in the West.

I think it's quite possible that Sarver has just made the 2nd worst basketball deal of his ownership tenure. I can't see the Hedo deal ever being as bad as the Kurt Thomas deal but when I first heard about it I couldn't help envision a robot running around waving his arms and shouting Danger, Danger, Danger. Even with the aspects that were altered, that's a very scary contract we're looking at when you consider his most recent performance.

Still, Sarver deserves a lot of credit for being willing to take this risk. It's clear he wants this team to compete and he's willing to spend to get there. I don't know if this crazy experiment will succeed or fail but I'm impressed, regardless. I do hate the fact that this team could tease us with greatness and ultimately falter if Nash can't survive another year of wear and tear though. However, we added the kind of pieces that, along with Goran, could help smoothe the transition from Nash to the next generation.

Add Horford, Love or Jefferson to this mix and I'll really be impressed. Jefferson is probably the only big that we have a reasonable chance to get but Horford and Love would fit our talent better. All 3 of them seem to bring it every night though and with our new roster that's very important. We've recently added two pieces that are notorious for taking nights off (Warrick and Turk).

Steve

 

[TJ]

Being that Turkoglu has only had two impressive seasons in his entire career and TOR was *desperate* to get rid of him, it seems completely insane that the Suns could not garner at least a protected 1st rounder or some average prospect, or at least a 2nd rounder?!

Turk could work out well here, but if he doesn't, it may be painful. I really hope they add a rebounding C or PF. To be honest, I'm kind of digging the depth. At the very least, this season will be interesting for a few games as we see which pieces work.

I can stop laughing about TOR turning around and bringing in Diaw. If they thought they didn't like Turk . . .

I believe it was the other way around. Turkoglu hated being in Toronto so much so that he waived his kicker clause and reduced his salary at the end of his contract just to make the move happen. Im sure had he stayed, his number would have increased because of the departure of Bosh but in this system, it allows him to do what he is known for and that is to jack up threes like it's going out of style

I have no problems with this move except it does not help our rebounding issues. The way I see it, moves like these put more pressure on Lopez to be a force on the boards.

 

[Suns_fan69]

You know what kind of player we need? Luis Scola. A banger and scrapper who gets boards and does dirt work. Him and Lopez tearing up the paint would leave our 1-3 free to roam and shoot.

Consider, Turkoglu plays the point, so we could conceivable run Turk-Childress-Hill-Scola-Lopez when we have to go big and really cause some havoc.

Richardson to MIN for Jefferson

Jefferson to HOU for Scola/parts/#1

Can it work that way OR would HOU just do a JRich for Scola/parts straight up?

I'm a huge fan of Scola and I love this idea. I don't know enough about Jefferson but where Scola would shine for us is off the pick and roll. With Nash, you don't necessarily need a banger down low (which Scola could be as well), you need someone who can dive hard to the bucket with good hands. That's the reason why Nash to Stoudemire worked infinitely better than Nash to Marion, even though Marion (in his prime) and Stoudemire were relatively close athletically.

Scola, from what I've seen from him, has got soft hands and great touch around the bucket. He may not throw it down as much as Stat did, but he'll find a way to convert.

Unfortunately, I just don't think Houston is interested in parting with Scola. Maybe if they had landed Bosh, but right now he's a great fit for them.

 

[Rab]

I think people should take Horford's name out of the equation. ATL will not let him go anywhere. They'll trade Josh Smith for peanuts before that happens. If not for his huge contract, Josh Smith would be a good fit here at PF.

I like the Childress signing. He brings length, and solid defense. Not a fan of Hill off the bench however. Remember two years ago when Barnes was the starter? Hill was useless coming off the bench. I still like him starting for a few minutes before resting, and then playing some with the second unit.

The Turk aquisition has me scratching my head a little. I applaud the effort here, but he doesn't fill an immediate role. I guess like was said earlier, if something else is in the works that will net us an Al Jeff or some big that can rebound, I don't see how this improves us that much.

 

[Rab]

I'm a huge fan of Scola and I love this idea. I don't know enough about Jefferson but where Scola would shine for us is off the pick and roll. With Nash, you don't necessarily need a banger down low (which Scola could be as well), you need someone who can dive hard to the bucket with good hands. That's the reason why Nash to Stoudemire worked infinitely better than Nash to Marion, even though Marion (in his prime) and Stoudemire were relatively close athletically.

Scola, from what I've seen from him, has got soft hands and great touch around the bucket. He may not throw it down as much as Stat did, but he'll find a way to convert.

Unfortunately, I just don't think Houston is interested in parting with Scola. Maybe if they had landed Bosh, but right now he's a great fit for them.

Exactly. They're not letting him go without a replacement like Amar'e or Bosh. I think Scola plays well with Yao too.

 

[Ronin]

Much better than getting Beasley. I like it.