I think the biggest problem with Erick Dampier is that his contract is going to be a bad one. It's probably going to start at around $8 million for six years. The guy is already 30 years old.
True, but the thing is, the Suns had better not be worrying about money four or five years down the road -- because if they are, they're already screwed. Nash will be well past his prime by that point, and Marion will most likely (in my opinion) be in decline. That's two players on eight-figure deals who, at that stage, really won't be worth that kind of money. Stoudemire will be on a maximum extension and (we hope) will be worth it, but that's still three large contracts right there. And we haven't even talked about Johnson and/or Richardson.
In other words, I think that the Suns are looking at the Lakers' fiasco, the possible breakup of the Kings, the disorientation in Dallas (which they helped engineer, of course), and the aging core of the Wolves, and they're thinking, hmm, maybe we should try to get ourselves in the thick of things sooner rather than later. And if that's true, it doesn't really matter how much money Dampier will be making in 2009-10, because the window of opportunity will have closed by then anyway.