Jason Richardson's gift to the Suns

[JCSunsfan]

Please pardon the talk about summer roster moves, but I thought it might be interesting since we have this torturously long wait for game 1.

Jason Richardson's play this year, and especially in the playoffs probably makes him a tradeable commodity now. He now becomes more valuable to the Suns but also valuable if they want to make a roster move. In this particular case, his salary, plus the traded player exception (we can take back 125% of what we trade away), makes it possible to move JRich in a sign and trade for a max player. Of course, the Suns would have to throw in cash and maybe a pick or two.

JUST AS AN EXAMPLE. If Cleveland is looking at losing LeBron for nothing, they might be interested in a package of JRich and Barbosa, plus cash and picks. Both players are productive and young enough to contribute both now and in the future. This would still allow the Suns to resign Amare.

Of course, I usually get this salary cap stuff wrong.

I am just not convinced LeBron is going to NY. That front office is notoriously poor and the shine has worn off DAntoni. Ya think LeBron and Amare could get psyched about playing together?

 

[azsportsfan01]

While the theory is good as it currently stands it will never happen. The Cavs will not, and I repeat, will not do a sign and trade with LeBron. While they of course want to get something in return for him can you imagine the backlash the fans would have if they agreed with a contract with LeBron just to trade him? The Cavs will do everything they can to re-sign him but they won't facilitate his move out of town.

 

[Covert Rain]

Interesting thoughts but I don't think there is a chance in hell of us landing a tier 1 guy like LeBron. I just don't. Guys like LeBron's ego are on a different planet. They expect things differently then say JRich.

If the Suns get bounced and we feel like Nash and company can't get us over the hump that I would be all for it. It's just a tough call to make when your team is sitting in the WCF and has possibly a shot at a title.

Make no mistake though. If you were somehow to pull this off, you would be changing your team. LeBron isn't a player that just "fits in". Guys like Lebron want the ball, demand the ball and he is more of a point forward. That is Nash's job on this team. You can't have it both ways. You make a move like this and it will change your entire team.

What I like about guys like JRich is that he is hands down one of the best SG in the league and he doesn't come with all the baggage of one of those tier 1 players. If you look at JRich's numbers they stack up against any guard in the playoffs sans the "this is my team" mentality.

If you were to some how swing a deal like this, it would be for the future and post Nash era IMO. I could possibly seeing Wade come here for the sake of winning a title be in more of a "sharing" place but Lebron? No way. If he comes here it is to be "the guy".

 

[AzStevenCal]

Make no mistake though. If you were somehow to pull this off, you would be changing your team. LeBron isn't a player that just "fits in". Guys like Lebron want the ball, demand the ball and he is more of a point forward. That is Nash's job on this team. You can't have it both ways. You make a move like this and it will change your entire team.

Nash is 112 years old (in basketball years) so I see no problem changing this team to fit Lebron's talents. Let's face it, a change is coming to this team soon regardless. However, Lebron has so many better options I really can't see any way he'd come here. Especially since, I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amare has no intention of staying in Phoenix.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

While the theory is good as it currently stands it will never happen. The Cavs will not, and I repeat, will not do a sign and trade with LeBron. While they of course want to get something in return for him can you imagine the backlash the fans would have if they agreed with a contract with LeBron just to trade him? The Cavs will do everything they can to re-sign him but they won't facilitate his move out of town.

The Cavs will do everything to keep Lebron but if it comes to losing Lebron for nothing (if he wants out), they most certainly will do a sign and trade. He would get the Cavs a lot of talent in return. Also the Cavs have a history of doing business with Phoenix dating back to the Larry Nance era.

Now do I think it's going to happen with Phoenix? No.

 

[Covert Rain]

Nash is 112 years old (in basketball years) so I see no problem changing this team to fit Lebron's talents. Let's face it, a change is coming to this team soon regardless. However, Lebron has so many better options I really can't see any way he'd come here. Especially since, I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amare has no intention of staying in Phoenix.

Steve

That was one of my points. If you bring in LeBron that you resolve to the fact that your retooling without Nash in mind.

 

[Black Jesus]

I'd rather have Dwyane with Amare. I think their styles mesh better.

 

[JCSunsfan]

LeBron would be so much more effective with Nash on the floor. He would not have to wear out bringing the ball up.

Bringing in LeBron would be a way of keeping Amare in place. Ah. Not going to happen, but interesting to think about.

 

[chickenhead]

I will be surprised if he goes anywhere other than New York, Chicago, or (stays in) Cleveland. But what does he want the most of? Money? That's Celevland, unless endorsements tip the balance. Exposure? That's New York, followed by Chicago, unless he wants to go to the Clippers and take on Kobe head-to-head . An immediate title? That's where the Miami and Dallas rumors come from. But I guess we can all just look forward to this being the #1 story for next two months.

 

[Gaddabout]

I'm guessing the Suns will do whatever it takes to keep this team together for at least one more year, then start dealing or whatever next year to rebuild through the draft.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amare has no intention of staying in Phoenix.

Actually if Amare left, this might make the Suns more attractive for Lebron because the Suns roster is solid otherwise including a promising young PG to replace Nash in Dragic when Nash reaches 112. Nash has been written off since Cuban let him walk. The Suns actually seem to be having their cake and rebuilding too.

Lebron is not coming to the Suns.

 

[Bufalay]

Suns fans are not going to be happy if Kerr trades the finals MVP.

 

[azsportsfan01]

I will be surprised if he goes anywhere other than New York, Chicago, or (stays in) Cleveland. But what does he want the most of? Money? That's Celevland, unless endorsements tip the balance. Exposure? That's New York, followed by Chicago, unless he wants to go to the Clippers and take on Kobe head-to-head . An immediate title? That's where the Miami and Dallas rumors come from. But I guess we can all just look forward to this being the #1 story for next two months.

I think he has a really good chance of going to the team that no one seems to be talking about (besides you), the Clippers. They have cleared a ton of cap space this season in hopes of signing a big time free agent. With their current make-up only one guy really fits. Wade? They already have Gordon as a scoring shooting guard. Bosh? Got their big in Griffen. Johnson? Have a high paid point guard in Baron Davis. LeBron fits in very well with that lineup and will immediatly push them to the upper-level of the western conference.

As of right now I figure he has a 20% chance of going to the Knicks, 20% to the Nets, 15% to the Clippers, 10% Bulls, 10% to stay in Cleveland and that may be a little high, 25% somewhere else.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Suns fans are not going to be happy if Kerr trades the finals MVP.

LOL. And I'm not going to be happy unless someone gives me a million dollars. But seriously, I'd love to see Kerr trade the finals MVP.

Steve

 

[AzStevenCal]

As of right now I figure he has a 20% chance of going to the Knicks, 20% to the Nets, 15% to the Clippers, 10% Bulls, 10% to stay in Cleveland and that may be a little high, 25% somewhere else.

I'd give him a 30% chance of landing in NY, a 25% chance of NJ, a 20% chance of Chicago, 20% of Cleveland, a 4% chance of Miami and a one percent chance of retiring to run his marketing empire. I'd put the Clips as the front runners for what's left over.

Steve

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Interesting thoughts but I don't think there is a chance in hell of us landing a tier 1 guy like LeBron. I just don't. Guys like LeBron's ego are on a different planet. They expect things differently then say JRich.

If the Suns get bounced and we feel like Nash and company can't get us over the hump that I would be all for it. It's just a tough call to make when your team is sitting in the WCF and has possibly a shot at a title.

Make no mistake though. If you were somehow to pull this off, you would be changing your team. LeBron isn't a player that just "fits in". Guys like Lebron want the ball, demand the ball and he is more of a point forward. That is Nash's job on this team. You can't have it both ways. You make a move like this and it will change your entire team.

What I like about guys like JRich is that he is hands down one of the best SG in the league and he doesn't come with all the baggage of one of those tier 1 players. If you look at JRich's numbers they stack up against any guard in the playoffs sans the "this is my team" mentality.

If you were to some how swing a deal like this, it would be for the future and post Nash era IMO. I could possibly seeing Wade come here for the sake of winning a title be in more of a "sharing" place but Lebron? No way. If he comes here it is to be "the guy".

i'm not sure which of the following arguments you're trying to make:

1. lebron couldn't win a championship out here b/c his role would conflict with nash's.

2. lebron has to be the man.

3. you don't want to trade jrich for lebron.

if it's #1, that's ridiculous. nash and lebron could figure out a way to not only play together, but with that cast win a championship.

if it's #2, i don't think anyone would argue with you.

if it's #3, you're just insane.



all that said, no way does lebron leave cleveland for PHOENIX. that's just not gonna happen. 'specially under sarver's stewardship.

and cleveland certainly would entertain a sign and trade if they know they'll lose lebron straight up. detroit did it when they knew they were going to lose grant hill. that team would take a greater beating for letting lebron walk for nothing than if they recouped SOMETHING in return for him. either way their front office gets killed, but they have to soften it somehow.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Nash is 112 years old (in basketball years) so I see no problem changing this team to fit Lebron's talents. Let's face it, a change is coming to this team soon regardless. However, Lebron has so many better options I really can't see any way he'd come here. Especially since, I'm becoming more and more convinced that Amare has no intention of staying in Phoenix.

Steve

i am scared to death of lebron and amare in ny. but my ny guy says that city just has eyes for lebron and bosh.

miami also frightens me with amare having FLA roots.

oh hell, i'm just flat out scared of losing amare for nada.

 

[chickenhead]

I listen to NYC sports radio basically every day, and I don't think I've really heard anyone mention LeBron and Amare as a pair of signings. I hear LeBron and Wade, LeBron and Bosh, and not Amare. Doesn't mean anything, but there was much more talk about Amare at the deadline, not so much since.

The only reason I mention the Clippers is because it's a major market, he would essentially have the franchise to himself (not that he didn't in Cleveland from the moment he was drafted), he would be in a better conference (if he's not afraid of that), he wouldn't be in Michael's shadow on the Bulls, and he'd be going head-to-head with Kobe and in the running for LA's greatest basketball star ever while not exactly playing in the shadow of Wilt, Kareem, and Magic.

Pure conjecture! And it will be this way until July.

 

[Sunburn]

I listen to NYC sports radio basically every day, and I don't think I've really heard anyone mention LeBron and Amare as a pair of signings. I hear LeBron and Wade, LeBron and Bosh, and not Amare. Doesn't mean anything, but there was much more talk about Amare at the deadline, not so much since.

The only reason I mention the Clippers is because it's a major market, he would essentially have the franchise to himself (not that he didn't in Cleveland from the moment he was drafted), he would be in a better conference (if he's not afraid of that), he wouldn't be in Michael's shadow on the Bulls, and he'd be going head-to-head with Kobe and in the running for LA's greatest basketball star ever while not exactly playing in the shadow of Wilt, Kareem, and Magic.

Pure conjecture! And it will be this way until July.

But he'd be playing for a cursed franchise. Just like Griffin, Livingston, half the roster that's come through there, if you play for the Clips something important in your leg is going to explode, according to Bill Simmons.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The amazing thing is this. The only realistic thing that would prevent LeBron from coming here and playing along side Amare is convincing him to do so.

We can give him max money through a sign and trade, and Cleveland would be likely to take it. In fact, we could actually give him more than NY or any of these other teams clearing space because we could offer the home team advantage max.

This is no knock on JRich, who has been stellar for us.

 

[AzStevenCal]

miami also frightens me with amare having FLA roots.

This. Plus Amare has mentioned Pat Riley positively before and Pat recently said he would only return to coaching if a key free agent were to insist on it. I found that comment very telling and I really believe it is directed at Amare. Things may change but at this point I really believe he's halfway out the door, next stop SoBe.

Steve

 

[Covert Rain]

i'm not sure which of the following arguments you're trying to make:

if it's #1, that's ridiculous. nash and lebron could figure out a way to not only play together, but with that cast win a championship.

Oh...you could figure out a way. The question is would LeBron accept it? I say there is no way. LeBron wants to be the man and handle the ball. That is Nash's specialty and if you take the ball out of Nash's hand it defeats the purpose of having him here IMO.

Don't get me wrong. I would jump at the chance to trade JRich for LeBron if I thought it could work. I am just not convinced that LeBron would ever take a backseat to Nash.

If the scenario was you can trade for LeBron and build around him, again it's a no brainer you do it.

However, as you stated....this is a pipe dream anyway.

 

[Chaplin]

Oh...you could figure out a way. The question is would LeBron accept it? I say there is no way. LeBron wants to be the man and handle the ball. That is Nash's specialty and if you take the ball out of Nash's hand it defeats the purpose of having him here IMO.

Don't get me wrong. I would jump at the chance to trade JRich for LeBron if I thought it could work. I am just not convinced that LeBron would ever take a backseat to Nash.

If the scenario was you can trade for LeBron and build around him, again it's a no brainer you do it.

However, as you stated....this is a pipe dream anyway.

See, that's what I don't get. How in the world would Lebron take a backseat to Nash? Nash isn't the #1 guy on the Suns. Sure, he runs the team, but Lebron wouldn't have to run the team to be out-of-this-world. I'm sure Nash would jump at the idea of having Lebron in Phoenix.

Except there's about as much chance of that happening as there is of me playing soccer for FC Barcelona.

 

[Suns_fan69]

if it's #1, that's ridiculous. nash and lebron could figure out a way to not only play together, but with that cast win a championship.

Lebron is one of the few guys that are in the realm of Amare when it comes to finishing around the rim. I don't have the stats (or the the time to look them up) but I'm guessing he's probably even better than amare.

Could you imagine Lebron being the guy setting picks for Nash and diving to the basket?

Goodness gracious that would be just plain unfair.

 

[chickenhead]

But he'd be playing for a cursed franchise. Just like Griffin, Livingston, half the roster that's come through there, if you play for the Clips something important in your leg is going to explode, according to Bill Simmons.

Oh, this is all true. Love that particular Simmons column. But was totally creeped out when it actually happened to Blake.