Get Ready To Hate A Deal With Ostertag

[George O'Brien]

Supposedly several teams have contacted Ostertag's agent including the Suns. Much as I hate to say it, the Tag and Dice combo may be the best we can hope for.

Assuming Foyle and Camby are gone, the Suns have lost interest in Okur (thank God), Etan Thomas is an RFA, Blount is getting an MLE from some Eastern Conference Team, and Divac seems likely to re-sign with the Kings for far too much money - what other options are there? Dampier has a brutal agent and is looking for an awful lot of money for a guy who has been injured a lot and had one good year.

The case for getting the combination of Dice and Tag (sounds like a board game ), is that they are exact opposites. Dice is an active, athletic (compared to Tag at least ) guy who can play center against most opponents as well as back up Amare at PF. Ostertag is a big guy who averaged 1.78 blocks per game last season and grabbed 7.4 rpg in 27.6 minutes. Tag is not quick enough to defend smaller guys but Dice is not big enough to match up with the really big guys.

I'd like to do better, but I'm not excited by the options. Ostertag leaves a lot to be desired, but he has been twice to the NBA finals. Dice has a history of injuries, but the team played pretty well with him last season. Neither guy is going to play 35 minutes a game, but between them they might be enough to be competitive.

 

[Dave64]

Ostertag is probably our best FA center option, but he is certainly not the most talented guy out there. He would fit our needs, but I still think that the guy is a stiff.

 

[elindholm]

My guess is that the Suns will get outbid for both players.

McDyess's giddiness about being back in the friendly confines of AWA will be wearing off as the summer progresses, and some team that really needs a PF -- which the Suns do not -- will gamble that he'll be bouncing back to his old self.

As far as Ostertag goes, it would be great to know how what the front-runners for Thomas and Blount are planning to pay. If either team is squeamish about going beyond the MLE, the Suns could step in and secure a solid player for a modest overpayment. Barring that, however, Ostertag might be the best choice. That's pretty sad, and a case could certainly be made for sitting on the space and waiting for a trade scenario to develop later. Just because Ostertag is better than any center the Suns currently have, that doesn't mean that they should actually pursue him.

 

[Evil Ash]

I have no problem with the signing of Ostertag (unlike others here seem to). Ostertag brings something that this team desperately needs ... SIZE.

He's a good defender and a good rebounder, which is all we need on our team. He doesn't need to play massive minutes due to him being able to split time with little Jake and Lampe.

Now in saying all that if we sign him for $3.5+ million a year, I'll be pissed

 

[Gee!]

im sure glad we saved our pennies this summer to get this guy

 

[George O'Brien]

Ostertag is probably our best FA center option, but he is certainly not the most talented guy out there. He would fit our needs, but I still think that the guy is a stiff.

I think the NBA tends to agree, which is why he is unlikely to get a particularly big offer. Now that Dallas is out of the running, I'm not sure there is playoff level team that will give him more than $3 to $4 million.

Utah will try to re-sign him, but I doubt they will go very high. Atlanta can afford to give him more, but that is a rebuilding team that would have little use for a backup center. Denver just signed Camby, the Warriors just signed Foyle, the Clippers are focused on Kobe, the Spurs are going to use their cap space on their own players. Everyone else has only their MLE and are unlikely to use it all on a backup center.

Ostertag averaged 1.78 blocks in 27.6 minutes which is pretty good. Most important, he is a straight on blocker who intimidates guys driving the lane. He gets a lot more blocks per minute than Shawn and Amare. His blocks per minute is almost idential to that of Etan Thomas. His rebounding is pretty good on a per minute basis and would be over 9 if he played 35 minutes a game.

Obviously on the Suns he would not get a huge number of minutes. I'm guessing no more than 20 a game. But this is a very small team and there would be moments when he could be useful. On April 10th he helpt to limit Yao to 5 of 11 shooting while grabbing 7 rebounds and making three blocked shots while helping to hold the Rockets to 69 points.

 

[elindholm]

I imagine the Suns could outbid Jerry West for the services of Jake Tsakalidis. With playing time, I don't see any reason that Tsakalidis couldn't come fairly close to Ostertag's level.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I thought the Suns wanted to go to a more up tempo system then they want to sign Slowstertag? With Voskuhl, Dice, and Slowstertag all logging minutes how is Lampe (who has more upside than any Sun outside of Amare and maybe Johnson) going to progress?

 

[George O'Brien]

I thought the Suns wanted to go to a more up tempo system then they want to sign Slowstertag? With Voskuhl, Dice, and Slowstertag all logging minutes how is Lampe (who has more upside than any Sun outside of Amare and maybe Johnson) going to progress?

The problem is that it is not always possible to control tempo - especially in the playoffs. Sometimes you need to be able to match big with big. Also, there are some poor shooting teams that have to rely on driving the basket and offensive rebounds for the offense. It would be nice to be able to put a shot blocker in during such situations.

Having a running team with no one over 6'9" can be very limiting.

 

[Arby]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but another factor to keep in mind, Ostertag now lives in the valley.

 

[George O'Brien]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but another factor to keep in mind, Ostertag now lives in the valley.

I didn't know that.

Maybe this is the answer for the Suns. They should figure out which guys would be great free agent targets in a few years and get them terrific deals on houses in the Valley.

 

[Errntknght]

I'm a little concerned that 'Tag' fit well with Sloan's highly structured team play which contributed significantly to his effectiveness. I don't know that that is the case but if it is he won't do too well with coach Mikey in charge.

From watching Okur, I think he'd fit well with Sloan's schemes - he did seem to know where he was supposed to be on the floor and who he was supposed to guard, but his instincts weren't very good and he didn't have atheletic ability or fast reactions to bail him out.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think the Suns will be forced into overpaying Ostertag because they don't have any options left. I also do not believe they're done on the trade end of things. I imagine they will attempt to pull the trigger on something for a center, probably an unknown and a long-in-the-tooth veteran.

There's one good thing about Ostertag the other centers on the market never had: O knows his role and never attempts to do anything other than that. At the very least, Amare should have a banging mate and may increase his effectiveness ... his blocks might increase this year with Ostertag in the lineup, if only from the space on the backside the palooka would create.

 

[George O'Brien]

There is a reasonable question about "why get rid of White only to get Tag?". I think it is the extra five inches in heigth and the fact that he will almost certainly be at least $2 million a year cheaper.

Will he be overpaid? Compared to what? Elden Campbell gets $4.4 million this coming season who averaged only 13.7 minutes a game last season. Yet the Pistons did not offer incentives for the Bobcats to take him. Campbell did relatively little during the season, yet there he was playing a huge role in the finals.

 

[Goldfield]

I feel it is very important we bring Dice back first off. He can play Center vs the smaller teams and is a real good backup for Amare.

I like the Idea of Ostertag because he gives us exactly what we need. Tuffness & Size, Shotblocking & Rebounding.

The Combo of Dice & Tag would be pretty effective IMO.

 

[George O'Brien]

I feel it is very important we bring Dice back first off. He can play Center vs the smaller teams and is a real good backup for Amare.

I like the Idea of Ostertag because he gives us exactly what we need. Tuffness & Size, Shotblocking & Rebounding.

The Combo of Dice & Tag would be pretty effective IMO.

A lot depends on EXACTLY how much cap space is available.