I'm disappointed that Amare is leaving. He never lived up to his promise, but he played a lot of great games for the Suns. Buit I'm not upset.
I haven't found anyone who was pushing for the Suns to give Amare a $96 million deal over 5 years. I know that Knicks were willing to risk a health disaster to give him the money. But I was already conerned that $80 million over 4 was awfully risky for a guy who has been injured or recovering from injuries as much as Amare has. I remember some of the conspiracy theories when he sized for $75 million just before being diagnosed with the injury that led to the microfacture surgery.
I am fully aware that the Suns won big when they signed Nash because Cuban thoutt all the abuse Nash gets would lead him to being injured.
However, I also remember the Suns signing Penny Hardaway in spite of a history of injuries. I was one of the people who opposed overpaying for Tracy McGrady when the Magic were shopping him. His history with the Rockets seemed inevidtable.
I haven't a complete list of guys with a history of injuries getting big contracks such as Elton Brand. The problem teams have is that you can insure against injuries but not a decline in productivity. It's a judgement call, but I wouldn't try to second guess the team with the training staff that has worked with the player - who are telling management their findings.
Considering the risk of signing another Hardaway, it is not surprising they let Amare walk. They may regret it, but not as much as a recuurence of Amare's knee injury.
I wish it could have worked out for the Suns. They had a great regular season team and might have been even better this year. But I'm not convinced they were going to win in the conference finals. If I Ihought they had a serious chance of beating the Lakers in seven games, it might be different. But I'm not convinced they match up with the Lakers
I haven't found anyone who was pushing for the Suns to give Amare a $96 million deal over 5 years. I know that Knicks were willing to risk a health disaster to give him the money. But I was already conerned that $80 million over 4 was awfully risky for a guy who has been injured or recovering from injuries as much as Amare has. I remember some of the conspiracy theories when he sized for $75 million just before being diagnosed with the injury that led to the microfacture surgery.
I am fully aware that the Suns won big when they signed Nash because Cuban thoutt all the abuse Nash gets would lead him to being injured.
However, I also remember the Suns signing Penny Hardaway in spite of a history of injuries. I was one of the people who opposed overpaying for Tracy McGrady when the Magic were shopping him. His history with the Rockets seemed inevidtable.
I haven't a complete list of guys with a history of injuries getting big contracks such as Elton Brand. The problem teams have is that you can insure against injuries but not a decline in productivity. It's a judgement call, but I wouldn't try to second guess the team with the training staff that has worked with the player - who are telling management their findings.
Considering the risk of signing another Hardaway, it is not surprising they let Amare walk. They may regret it, but not as much as a recuurence of Amare's knee injury.
I wish it could have worked out for the Suns. They had a great regular season team and might have been even better this year. But I'm not convinced they were going to win in the conference finals. If I Ihought they had a serious chance of beating the Lakers in seven games, it might be different. But I'm not convinced they match up with the Lakers
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