Ugh!
I don't like it. Maybe Trybanski has more offensive potential than Tsakalidis, and maybe he doesn't.
But think about how hard the Suns worked to get Tsakalidis to Phoenix. They crossed their fingers that the infamous last-minute fax (in which Tsakalidis's Greek team said he wouldn't be available) would do the trick. They sweated it out in the war room. They deployed Skiles and who knows how many legal experts in order to release him. All the time, they said that they'd be happy to wait even a couple of years to get him -- that he really was worth waiting for.
Was he? We never got a chance to find out. Last year was only his third year, and he was hurt all the time. Sure, he might not have panned out, but no one had a way of knowing yet. All of that investment has gone to waste.
Trybanski has scored a grand total of 14 points in his NBA career -- to go along with 13 fouls, I might add. And he's basically the same age as Tsakalidis, only three months younger. I think it is extremely unlikely that he is the answer to the Suns' center problems -- even less likely than Tsakalidis was.
The only advantages to this trade are:
1. They get an established backup PG as injury insurance in case Marbury or Hardaway goes down.
2. They save some money next season.
The disadvantages are:
1. They give up a young, once-highly-rated center prospect who still had potential.
2. They lose a valuable clubhouse presence and energizer.
Now....
If they use the money they're planning on saving to sign Stepania now, I'll change my tune. That would be cool.
