Ike was their guy

[JCSunsfan]

A Suns scout was being interviewed on the radio yesterday during the draft (can't remember which one) and he was asked to comment about Ike Diogu, the ASU product going so high.

He went on about how NBA ready Ikes game was. Then he made a side comment about how well Ike's game would mesh with Amare.

With all the drafts showing Ike falling, the Suns did a pretty good job of seeming disinterested in him. But GS shocked everyone and took him at 9.

BTW, GS is going to be the turnaround team this next year.

 

[Joe Mama]

A Suns scout was being interviewed on the radio yesterday during the draft (can't remember which one) and he was asked to comment about Ike Diogu, the ASU product going so high.

He went on about how NBA ready Ikes game was. Then he made a side comment about how well Ike's game would mesh with Amare.

With all the drafts showing Ike falling, the Suns did a pretty good job of seeming disinterested in him. But GS shocked everyone and took him at 9.

BTW, GS is going to be the turnaround team this next year.

I heard that as well. It made me feel a little better about him not making it to #21.

I could understand the knocks on Ike, and how his game might not fit with the running style of the Phoenix Suns. I disagreed and thought he would be a good fit because of his rebounding and shooting to go along with his game around the basket. For the life of me I couldn't understand Gambo's comment in his article yesterday about their fear that Diogu's game would not go well with Amare's. That just made no sense to me. I felt better when I heard that guy on the radio.

Joe

 

[Mainstreet]

I heard that as well. It made me feel a little better about him not making it to #21.

I could understand the knocks on Ike, and how his game might not fit with the running style of the Phoenix Suns. I disagreed and thought he would be a good fit because of his rebounding and shooting to go along with his game around the basket. For the life of me I couldn't understand Gambo's comment in his article yesterday about their fear that Diogu's game would not go well with Amare's. That just made no sense to me. I felt better when I heard that guy on the radio.

Joe

Joe, for your sake and other Ike fans I'm glad he went at #8. It would have been heartbreaking for him to make it to #21 and the Suns not keep him (as my favorite, Nate Robinson). I got the pick right but that is absolutely no consolation as he was shipped to NY. Does anyone know if the Suns waited until #21 to finalize the deal?

 

[Gaddabout]

Joe, for your sake and other Ike fans I'm glad he went at #8. It would have been heartbreaking for him to make it to #21 and the Suns not keep him (as my favorite, Nate Robinson). I got the pick right but that is absolutely no consolation as he was shipped to NY. Does anyone know if the Suns waited until #21 to finalze the deal?

It appears the protection on the No. 21 pick was all about Ike Diogu or some other player. When the player(s) the Suns wanted did not fall, they opened up the pick to complete the Kurt Thomas trade. I'm pretty confident in speculating the trade was about Diogu. Either way, the Suns were probably looking for a 4.

 

[sunsfn]

Over the long years of following the suns, a few years ago I made a contact with a person who works for the suns.

However, he is very tight with info and most of the time will not give me anything. Anytime he has given me info it has always been right on.
He is the one that told me that there was no way the suns draft Ike even if he is there at #21.

At this point if you hear someone that says the suns were hoping to get him sometime, I will not believe them and know that it is just P.R.

I tried to contact him the last 2 days to ask if there was another trade going to happen and who were the suns going to draft at #21, but he would not answer my e-mails.

Take that for what you want, but I believed him as I always have.

 

[coloradosun]

It appears the protection on the No. 21 pick was all about Ike Diogu or some other player. When the player(s) the Suns wanted did not fall, they opened up the pick to complete the Kurt Thomas trade. I'm pretty confident in speculating the trade was about Diogu. Either way, the Suns were probably looking for a 4.

After GS did pick Diogu the announcement of the trade of Q for Thomas was reported on ESPN radio. It also may lead credence that Barbosa was not enough to move them up far enough to get into position to get into the top 10. I was expecting a deal with Charlotte at #13 if anyone was going to do a deal with the Suns.

Rick Bucher announced the deal around the time of the 12th pick.

 

[Yuma]

I actually think it's pretty savy to let NY take the pick this year if we didn't like anyone on the board at that time because we saved cap room! I'd rather have a proven veteran for $1 million, than a mid first rounder we wouldn't use!

 

[JCSunsfan]

After GS did pick Diogu the announcement of the trade of Q for Thomas was reported on ESPN radio. It also may lead credence that Barbosa was not enough to move them up far enough to get into position to get into the top 10. I was expecting a deal with Charlotte at #13 if anyone was going to do a deal with the Suns.

Rick Bucher announced the deal around the time of the 12th pick.

They might have had a deal with Charlotte in place, then backed out when their player (Diogu or whoever) was not available at 13.

 

[Joe Mama]

Over the long years of following the suns, a few years ago I made a contact with a person who works for the suns.

However, he is very tight with info and most of the time will not give me anything. Anytime he has given me info it has always been right on.
He is the one that told me that there was no way the suns draft Ike even if he is there at #21.

At this point if you hear someone that says the suns were hoping to get him sometime, I will not believe them and know that it is just P.R.

I tried to contact him the last 2 days to ask if there was another trade going to happen and who were the suns going to draft at #21, but he would not answer my e-mails.

Take that for what you want, but I believed him as I always have.

I have to ask why you didn't tell us about your contact earlier in the week when we were discussing Ike. I believe you. This has nothing to do with questioning you or the reliability of your source. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if this was just a little PR.

The other day when you were stating so adamantly that the Phoenix Suns would not take Ike I suspected that you might have some source of this information. I even opened at the opportunity for you to say so in one of my posts by saying something like "unless you have some inside information you aren't telling us about I don't understand how you can be so sure of yourself." I just wonder why you didn't say anything then when it could have helped to avoid arguments or at least clear up your line of thinking, yet you are telling us about it now.

Joe

 

[JCSunsfan]

Over the long years of following the suns, a few years ago I made a contact with a person who works for the suns.

However, he is very tight with info and most of the time will not give me anything. Anytime he has given me info it has always been right on.
He is the one that told me that there was no way the suns draft Ike even if he is there at #21.

At this point if you hear someone that says the suns were hoping to get him sometime, I will not believe them and know that it is just P.R.

I tried to contact him the last 2 days to ask if there was another trade going to happen and who were the suns going to draft at #21, but he would not answer my e-mails.

Take that for what you want, but I believed him as I always have.

I know how that is. I have a sibling that works for the Cardinals, and I get nothing as far as info (except Bill's box seats at Suns games every once in a while).

 

[elindholm]

BTW, GS is going to be the turnaround team this next year.

Don't people say that about the Warriors every summer?

 

[fordronken]

Don't people say that about the Warriors every summer?

I don't. But I will say this: they should be a turnaround team, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they aren't.

 

[Joe Mama]

I know this is terrible, but I'm just hoping Baron Davis is injured again. That team is just stacked with talent. Like I said just before the draft, I don't think help diogu is likely to become an All-Star, but he should be a good, solid contributor from the get go. Even if you forget about him altogether they also acquired Chris Taft who should be able to come in and score a few points and grab a few rebounds. Their backcourt is already pretty loaded.

Joe Mama

 

[sunsfn]

I have to ask why you didn't tell us about your contact earlier in the week when we were discussing Ike. I believe you. This has nothing to do with questioning you or the reliability of your source. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if this was just a little PR.

The other day when you were stating so adamantly that the Phoenix Suns would not take Ike I suspected that you might have some source of this information. I even opened at the opportunity for you to say so in one of my posts by saying something like "unless you have some inside information you aren't telling us about I don't understand how you can be so sure of yourself." I just wonder why you didn't say anything then when it could have helped to avoid arguments or at least clear up your line of thinking, yet you are telling us about it now.

Joe

A few years ago, on this site or the rivals site (I do not remember which) someone came on and said he had info about the suns from an inside source and said that this is what they are going to do.

The site just ripped the guy and he left and never came back. I decided not to say anything until after the fact if at all. The opportunity came and I told everyone here.

The other thing is that when someone does what I did by saying no chance at Ike, and then the suns were to draft him because the source did not know what was really going on, I would have been roasted here.

I took a chance on that, because I believe the guy does know what is going on, but did not want to say anything about the source before that and really get roasted off the site.

The way so many people came at me just because I said it in the first place, was indication enough to me to just let it lie until later.

I hope that makes sense to you.

-

 

[Joe Mama]

A few years ago, on this site or the rivals site (I do not remember which) someone came on and said he had info about the suns from an inside source and said that this is what they are going to do.

The site just ripped the guy and he left and never came back. I decided not to say anything until after the fact if at all. The opportunity came and I told everyone here.

The other thing is that when someone does what I did by saying no chance at Ike, and then the suns were to draft him because the source did not know what was really going on, I would have been roasted here.

I took a chance on that, because I believe the guy does know what is going on, but did not want to say anything about the source before that and really get roasted off the site.

The way so many people came at me just because I said it in the first place, was indication enough to me to just let it lie until later.

I hope that makes sense to you.

-

That makes sense. A while ago someone came on here with some secondhand information from a basketball mom who had supposedly talked to D'Antoni. A lot of people ripped into the guy. I actually tend to believe people with "inside information" more often than a lot of others around here. I suspected that you might be getting information from somewhere. That's specifically why I left an opening for you to tell us.

So, how long ago did your source give you information about the possibility that Q would be traded?

Joe Mama

 

[Russ Smith]

I know this is terrible, but I'm just hoping Baron Davis is injured again. That team is just stacked with talent. Like I said just before the draft, I don't think help diogu is likely to become an All-Star, but he should be a good, solid contributor from the get go. Even if you forget about him altogether they also acquired Chris Taft who should be able to come in and score a few points and grab a few rebounds. Their backcourt is already pretty loaded.

Joe Mama

I was actually hoping Felton would fall to 9 specifically because of Baron's back. Baron turned the Warriors around last year, but I have followed him too long and know his problems too well to believe he can stay healthy. Baron has changed his diet and workouts and he's still big, with his knee history it puts strain on his back and his back has caused him more pain than his knee the last 2-3 years. Great player when healthy though.

Pietrus went from a 40% shooter to a 50% shooter the day Baron arrived, and Baron is a tremendous clubhouse guy, guys love to play with Baron, his smile is infectious and he's tough as nails and guys see that and play harder for him. But he can't stay healthy.

If he could I'd say in 2 years when biedrins is further along look out, I love Biedrins.

 

[sunsfn]

That makes sense. A while ago someone came on here with some secondhand information from a basketball mom who had supposedly talked to D'Antoni. A lot of people ripped into the guy. I actually tend to believe people with "inside information" more often than a lot of others around here. I suspected that you might be getting information from somewhere. That's specifically why I left an opening for you to tell us.

So, how long ago did your source give you information about the possibility that Q would be traded?

Joe Mama

He did not give me that info. Like I said he is really hard to get info from but for the draft he relented.

-

 

[Errntknght]

If it wasn't Ike the Suns were waiting on, who the heck was it... Garcia, Gomes and Petro were there. Sounds like they just waited so it appeared they were exercising due diligence.

 

[George O'Brien]

I kept watching Graham and Granger dropping... but it wasn't to be.

There are several guys who came after 21 who will turn out to be NBA players, but the chances of picking the right one is low.

Garcia would have been nice, but he was never viewed a top player. Considering the role he would play, I'm not sure Thompson is that big a drop in potential. If the value of Garcia over Thompson is the basis of killing the KT deal, I can't see keeping Q so we could add Garcia.

I was pushing for Simien, but his history of injuries certainly scared off a lot of people.

No one projected Maxwell in the first round and the Suns did not want to hear Cheese gripe all summer if the Suns took David Lee.

In the end, the question is not whether the Suns overpaid but whether they will be a better team than if they hadn't made the trade. Trading draft picks for established players always presents the risk of passing on a future superstar. But with an established player, you know what you are getting. With rookies, you never know.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Someone came out during the draft party (I wasn't paying attention, it was either Gentry or West)

and talked after Ike went. He said that it was fabulous for Ike, and that he had found out that morning he was going to GS. He also said it was bad for the Suns, and now they will have to face him 4 times a year.

He made it sound like Ike was their guy, or that they at least didn't want him close to home.