Originally posted by Mainstreet
Joe, the sky is the limit if the chemistry and coaching continues to develop.
The Suns don't really know what they have. The core of JJ, Shawn, and Amare should be enough to make them a competitive team. What really matters is whether the other young players develop as well as hoped:
Lampe - He has the size, athleticism, and skills to be a very good player. The question is "how good and when"? His skills are outside player skills, so he may play but not be the center the Suns need. What they hope is that he can be the kind of high post center that would get them a championship.
Barbosa - He is an amazing athlete and very unpolisihed. No one knows if he will ever be a first rate PG, but he will certainly play. If he develops the point guard skills to go with his athletic ability, the Suns could be a big factor.
Carbakapa - He has been injured or recovering from injury for most of his career in Phoenix, but in brief stretches he has looked very good. The main challenge he faces is to deal with the physical aspect of the game and to get strong enough to play defense. At minimum he will be fine backup player, but he has the ability to be much more than that.
Vujanic - He has been called the best guard in Europe. At minimum, his outside shooting ability should make him a valuable addition on a team that regularly gets zoned. It s not clear if he is any closer to being a full fledged point guard than Barobasa, but he will certainly play.
Jacobsen - Casey was drafted as a shooter, but lately his main role has been on defense. CJ's overall game keeps improving such as changing direction on his drives to the basket and even hitting short jumpers. He seems to be willing to work hard and this has shown up with his 4 to 5 rebounds a game over the past couple of weeks.
White - Jahidi is often mentioned as a candidate for trade or to be dumped for cap space. But his overall game keeps improving and he gives the Suns a level of toughness they have usually lacked. White has been in the NBA for a while, but has not been pushed to develop his skills. He needs to lose weight to become quicker, but he may have more potential than most people realize. For example, this season White averages more rebounds per minute than Dampier's career average (.316 to .272). At the age of 29, Dampier jumped from 6.6 rpg to 11.6 rpg in one year.
Voskuhl - If the Suns do upgrade the center position, Jake could be one of the best backup centers int he league right now. As he improves and maybe even gets some respect, he could be a key player on a championship team. His short jump shot is a huge addition to his pick and roll offense.
Overall, even without draft picks and FA's, the Suns look like a solid playoff team in as soon as they get healthy and a little more experienced. To get to the elite level, they will need more, but maybe not a huge amount.
