Building A Core

[George O'Brien]

The Blazer game was a nice showcase of some of the potential that the Suns have. They have some holes and are terribly young, but this team may very well be next season's Nuggets with a huge turn around in one year.

The core is:

Stoudemire
Marion
Johnson
Barbosa
Cabakapa

(Oldest is Marion at 26)

Key role players:

Voskuhl
Harvey

(Voskuhl is 27 and Harvey is 23)

Key prospects:

Lampe
Vujanic

(Lampe is 18 and Vujanic is 23)

Targets for replacement but can help

White
Eisely
Jacobsen

Players unlikely to return

Googs
Williams
Dice

Compare this team to the one that the Nuggets had a year ago and it is not a contest, this is a much more promising team.

 

[hcsilla]

I would twist a little bit your list.

The core is:

Stoudemire
Marion
Johnson
Barbosa
Cabarkapa
perhaps PHO's pick and/or NYK's pick

(Oldest is Marion at 26)

Key role players:

perhaps PHO's pick and/or NYK's pick

Servicable role players:

Voskuhl
Harvey

(Voskuhl is 27 and Harvey is 23)

Key prospects:

Lampe
Vujanic

(Lampe is 18 and Vujanic is 23)

Targets for replacement but can help (maybe)

Jacobsen

Targets for dumping but can help but who cares

White
Eisley

Players who Suns do not need at all or will retire

Googs
Williams
Dice

 

[George O'Brien]

I was evaluating the players the Suns have. I sure hope those picks turn into core players, but I'd like the know their names first.

 

[scotsman13]

two years ago i knew that amare would be a great fit for the suns over 3 or 4 months before the draft. the day before the suns drafted marion i said that he would draft him over bender. looking at this years draft there just isnt anyone that really hits the bottons for me. while i have a lot of faith in the suns scouting staff, i dont have enough faith in this draft class to say yes they will be a big part of the core of this team. maybe someone will come up in the draft later.

the core for this team is:
amare
marion
jj
barbosa

6th man:
zarko

role players:
jake
harvey (i really like his energy and would love to keep him on the team)

jury is still out:
lampe
milo

right now our weakest spot is center, i guess that it is a good thing that this draft is heavy on center pospects. if we want to go heavy on the serbian connection we should go after kosta perovic. but who knows.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by scotsman13
two years ago i knew that amare would be a great fit for the suns over 3 or 4 months before the draft. the day before the suns drafted marion i said that he would draft him over bender. looking at this years draft there just isnt anyone that really hits the bottons for me. while i have a lot of faith in the suns scouting staff, i dont have enough faith in this draft class to say yes they will be a big part of the core of this team. maybe someone will come up in the draft later.

the core for this team is:
amare
marion
jj
barbosa

6th man:
zarko

role players:
jake
harvey (i really like his energy and would love to keep him on the team)

jury is still out:
lampe
milo

right now our weakest spot is center, i guess that it is a good thing that this draft is heavy on center pospects. if we want to go heavy on the serbian connection we should go after kosta perovic. but who knows.

I would really like to have a better read on Lampe. If he is as good a prospect as many believe, then it is unlikely the Suns would go for another project center like Perovic (none of the reviews suggest he will be an instant contributor). If Lampe isn't as good as hoped or he needs to be at the #4 position, then a project center makes more sence.

 

[Wally]

Originally posted by George O'Brien
I would really like to have a better read on Lampe. If he is as good a prospect as many believe, then it is unlikely the Suns would go for another project center like Perovic (none of the reviews suggest he will be an instant contributor). If Lampe isn't as good as hoped or he needs to be at the #4 position, then a project center makes more sence.

You're right. Lampe thinks he will be taken off the IL and I certainly hope so because they need to find out if he will play a key role in the Suns future. I guess D'Antoni (or JC / BC) thinks he need to age a bit before tossing him in the ring. I say - Let's find out now.

 

[Chaz]

If they can throw in Joe Johnson and play him even when struggling why not give Lampe some minutes?

Big men usually take longer to develop, but I would think the fastest way to develop him is give him some opportunities in a real game.

I am not saying to start him or play him 30 minutes a game but I would like to see what he does with some opportunities after a few workouts with the team.

 

[jbeecham]

I'd really like to see the Suns draft someone like Nene Hilario. I don't know much about Tiago Splitter, but he sounds a lot like Nene before Nene came to the US and started working out and bulking up. Tiago's problem is that right now he doesn't have a buyout on his contract so he may fall to the mid-to late 1st rd (which is where the NY pick could end up).

 

[CardsFan88]

I may be wrong on this but I think Marion is 25...I think I remember him being between 2 weeks- 2 months younger than me, and I won't be 26 until June 12th.

 

[slinslin]

Splitter isn't nearly as athletic as Nene as far as I know.

Right now I am pretty much down to

Howard/Okafor/Smith with the Suns pick and Iguodala/Telfair with the Knicks pick considering all of them enter the draft.

I don't really like any of the college PGs that much, Mustafa Shakur is probably the best prospect but unless he tears it up for the rest of the season he will definately not be in the draft.

Also I want our picks to be very good athletes. This team relies on athleticism and when you look at our bench there is almost no athleticism except Harvey who might not be there next season and to a lesser degree Zarko.

At some point I lost interesst in Deng. I think he could be a bust , I don't see more in him than a Joe Johnson clone except that he might have less athleticism as JJ. His stats aren't really impressive either.

 

[Chaplin]

Why don't you like Ben Gordon?

 

[slinslin]

Gordon looks like a Gilbert Arenas clone to me. That might be pretty good but I don't know if we need that.

He plays with a very talented team and likely the best player in college who is a big man on top of that. Considering that I am not sold on Gordon's playmaking abilities for someone who is a junior already in college.
I also read that Gordon has a troubled past.

 

[scotsman13]

here is a name for you shawn livingston. 6'7 point guard is said to be the best point guard in the country right now. only problem with him is that he is in high school right now but he should a good point/shooting guard.

 

[slinslin]

Livingston weights like 150lbs.

I said this in another thread but I believe that it is almost impossibly to have good success at 6'7 playing PG in the NBA.

Even if we wanted to do that we could use Joe Johnson as PG.

Livingston is ranked higher than Telfair I think only because Telfair didn't play much against 17yr old kids anymore last season.

Telfair actually played in some California leagues. He started over Omar Cook on his team in the summer. That says something for a 17yr old.

I read in one article that Telfair was talked about as a possible late lottery pick after impressive play in California.

 

[George O'Brien]

Originally posted by jbeecham
I'd really like to see the Suns draft someone like Nene Hilario. I don't know much about Tiago Splitter, but he sounds a lot like Nene before Nene came to the US and started working out and bulking up. Tiago's problem is that right now he doesn't have a buyout on his contract so he may fall to the mid-to late 1st rd (which is where the NY pick could end up).

Nene attracted a lot of attention when he played on the Brazilian team against the U.S. and blocked a couple of J. O'Neal shots. He was considered a great defensive prospect. Here is a review of Nene from 2002:

Maybyner “Nene” Hilario

6’10” 260 lbs. PF

Vasco de Gama team Brazil

Has incredible potential, perhaps more than anyone else in the draft, even Yao Ming. He has a wingspan of 7’4” and can seemingly add between 20 and 30 pounds to his already impressive build. Has all the tools to be a star on the offensive side of the floor, passes well, an okay mid range jumper, but most importantly an ability to get the job done around the basket. His long arms has made him a very good jumper and he seems to be brimming with confidence and is a smart player. Everything that he needs can be taught. He can use better mechanics on his shot, and could become better at judging rebounds and he can also improve his footwork.

Source: nbadraft.net

Splitter is much lighter and is mostly good on offense.