At the end of the day

[JCSunsfan]

Like the rest of you, I was absolutely stunned by this trade. It was completely unexpected.

I will admit though, I was beginning to wonder if Marbury was the long term answer for the Suns at pg.

But the way we evaluate a trade is not what we gave up and we got, but what we have on our plate at the end of the day.

The Suns, right now, have a formidable front court with youth and athletic ability.

C--Jake, White, Williams, Lampe, Amare (in a pinch). It seems to me that we ought to be able to find a decent long term answer from that bunch.

PF--Amare, Dice, Zarko, Lampe, Harvey (sorry, Googs doesn't even figure any more). We just might resign Dice for a very small amount, especially if he heals some. He's not going to command alot of dough on the FA market with his injury history.

SF--Shawn, Zarko, Harvey, JJ. Thats a talented young group there, and quite productive.

SG--JJ, Casey. We are certainly thin here, but there should be some decent player we could pick up for this spot this summer--cheap--oh, and there might be one expensive one.

PG--Barbosa, Eisley, JJ (in a pinch). Actually, I am quite excited to watch Barbs play. We also have a top Euro to consider here.

The C's have 5 chances to replace Marbury.

1. The Knicks pick.
2. The Suns pick.
3. The Euro.
4. Free agent.
5. Barbosa

If any one of these options can produce a pg that is a quality distributor and a dependable scorer (15-18 ppg), then this trade is a home run.

Is there going to be a player of a Dwayne Wade type of caliber in this coming draft?

If one of these picks was Wade instead, would you feel better about the trade? I would.

I also believe the chances of finding a quality pg with the number of picks we've got is alot better than clearing the type of cap space we did with this deal.

 

[Goldfield]

The Suns didnt really wanna trade Marbury away, but the Knicks gave everything, even the kitchen sink.

Just think, the Knicks gave up ALL their expiring contracts, so the cant sign anyone as freeagents. They also gave us their draft picks so they wont be drafting anyone. Pluss they gave us both their promising young euro players. even cash to buy out wards contract. ALL for Marbury.


They offered soo much we couldnt turn it down. There is no way we would ever get a chance to get as much flexability for the future, pluss two draft picks, and young talent for pretty much one player.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Well they can sign FAs technically. They use their mid level exception as often as they can. You are right though, it won't net them any big name FAs

 

[George O'Brien]

The key to this deal was that this season is lost. What matters is the next two.

Barbosa will benefit from getting a lot more minutes than he did before. If he really is the next coming of Gary Payton (as many scouts predicted), he might make everyone forget Marbury in a year or so.

Eisley will play this year, then the Suns are likely to move heaven and hell to get rid of him when they sign Milos Vujanic

The JJ or Penny debate is over. Jerry Colangelo suggested that maybe he will feel more comfortable without Penny breathing down his neck. Seems unlikely, but maybe he's right.

Casey Jacobsen will get a lot of minutes. The Suns will find out if he really is an NBA player.

Once Amare comes back, Dice and Harvey will compete for minutes. One of them may get a minimum salary next year, but not both.

Amare is likely to see a lot of minutes at center once he is at full speed. The combination of White and Voskuhl is not very impressive, and using Carbakapa and Dice and Harvey at PF will change the way the Suns look a lot.

Marion will see his minutes reduced as Carbakapa starts playing more. Marion's energy level should improve with the reduced minutes and the competition.

This summer, the Suns are likely to go for a free agent guard and draft another big man.