ESPN July Winners and Losers

[Yuma]

ESPN has us in the Winners column!

The Suns arguably overpaid for Steve Nash, but they had to. Nash didn't want to leave Dallas, so Phoenix knew its only shot was offering far more money than Mark Cuban to lure the little Canadian back to the desert. While it's true that a six-year deal worth $66 million ($60 million guaranteed) is steep for a 30-year-old, Phoenix has finally reversed the club's history of losing great lead guards by reacquiring an All-Star floor leader they drafted in 1996. Signing the Clippers' Quentin Richardson to an offer sheet, meanwhile, isn't as good as getting a big man like Mehmet Okur. Yet if the Clips choose not to match, Phoenix will have a surplus of swingmen that would allow it to peddle Shawn Marion to, say, Golden State in a sign-and-trade for Erick Dampier. Or something similar.

Not sure about Dampier for Marion. I don't think GS would go for that either.

Mavs listed as one of the losers:

Nash bolted to Phoenix less than 24 hours after the free-agent frenzy commenced, setting a depressing tone in Big D that infuriated coach Don Nelson while flooring the rest of the city. The disappointment is even deeper now that Shaq, after identifying Dallas as the place he wanted to go most, wound up in the East. Chances are the Mavericks will continue their makeover by swinging another big trade or two between now and February, with some $20 million in expiring contracts (Walker and Christian Laettner) to peddle. Yet it remains to be seen what Nash's defection does to the Mavericks' reputation among fellow players. There was already trepidation among some free agents about coming to Dallas because of the Mavs' tendency to shop everyone in trades except Dirk Nowitzki. Mark Cuban's reluctance to guarantee Nash more than four years and $36 million, after years of free spending, rocked the industry. If he was set on giving Nash no more than a four-year contract, Cuban could come to regret not offering $50 million-plus for that span ... an offer Nash says he would have taken.

 

[F-Dog]

Two weeks ago the Suns would have been in the 'losers' column for sure.