KT Gone to Seattle

[Chaplin]

Barbosa and Diaw were the first two bench guys.

Also, KT was injured the second half of the year.

Oh, I see, so that means James Jones was the 7th core member, then?

Oh wait. We got rid of him too.

 

[F-Dog]

Oh, I see, so that means James Jones was the 7th core member, then?

Oh wait. We got rid of him too.

Yeah, but we replaced JR with a better player.


I'm not really arguing here, just pointing out an inconsistency.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

So does Sarver.

/Chris Sanders, et al.

I have no idea what Sarver thinks.

 

[sly fly]

These moves reek of arrogance and greed... unless another move is on the horizon.

You can't... I repeat CAN'T... go into camp with such thin depth up front.

If I'm PHX, I try and get Haywood or Thomas from Washington.

 

[Mulli]

I have no idea what Sarver thinks.

Me neither.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

So I guess you never saw any Suns games that he was the color guy for?? The guy was adamant about how we could never succeed without interior defense. I wasn't referring to KT being part of our core, although I believe he was a very important member of the team.

I saw every Suns game. With the way that he was used by D'Antoni, I don't know how you can say KT was part of our core.

He was important to our team (but not a core member), however, that doesn't make his statement hypocritical.

 

[Brianellsworth]

if nothing changes and no major signings take place lets have an ASFN strike

 

[slinslin]

I must be careful that I dont get banned again for 4 days for calling out the whiners.

What have the great Spurs done so far?

Added a player that won't play for them for a bunch of years, added a bust 2nd rounder, sold Scola and Butler for nothing to shed salarly, added nobody... Their only young player worth anything is Parker and the rest of the team all gets older.

 

[da_suns_fan]

I must be careful that I dont get banned again for 4 days for calling out the whiners.

What have the great Spurs done so far?

Added a player that won't play for them for a bunch of years, added a bust 2nd rounder, sold Scola and Butler for nothing to shed salarly, added nobody... Their only young player worth anything is Parker and the rest of the team all gets older.

They won the championship and are bringing literally everyone back.

The Suns lost to the Spurs and just gave away their best interior defender when interior defense is their biggest flaw.

Please don't remind me of what the Spurs have done.

 

[DevilPrideBAS]

I must be careful that I dont get banned again for 4 days for calling out the whiners.

What have the great Spurs done so far?

Added a player that won't play for them for a bunch of years, added a bust 2nd rounder, sold Scola and Butler for nothing to shed salarly, added nobody... Their only young player worth anything is Parker and the rest of the team all gets older.

WHy would they need to do anything?? They are the champs and besides a couple games against us, there was nobody in the league that came close to beating them.

 

[Folster]

I must be careful that I dont get banned again for 4 days for calling out the whiners.

What have the great Spurs done so far?

Added a player that won't play for them for a bunch of years, added a bust 2nd rounder, sold Scola and Butler for nothing to shed salarly, added nobody... Their only young player worth anything is Parker and the rest of the team all gets older.

They did have a big parade and got sized for rings for the fourth time this summer.

 

[Chaplin]

I saw every Suns game. With the way that he was used by D'Antoni, I don't know how you can say KT was part of our core.

He was important to our team (but not a core member), however, that doesn't make his statement hypocritical.

You're completely missing the point. The guy touts that we can't win a championship without interior help, then trades away our best interior defender. How is that not hypocritical?

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I was able to locate the template from the spin manual.

We feel good going forward having our core group of players under contract for several years, including the recent addition of free-agent _insert latest FA signing or pick(s)__ . The bottom line is there are tough decisions to make, but we have flexibility** and our __________***. We really like the ________ **** of players we've assembled and feel we can make a legitimate run for a(n)__________." *****


**When referring to selling off draft picks or giving players away be sure to mention injured star coming back next season as like or better than a draft pick. (e.g. Amare Stoudemire in 2005 and 2006)

*** Always tout "flexibility" when moving picks or players, flexibility is a vague term that leads fans into believing we can

**** Use the term "young core" or "core" depending on the talent level of the current roster.

***** Evaluate last season's performance and provide positive hope for the ticket holders to quill the angst on radio and message boards. Always shoot for the next level benchmark always in a positive direction. E.G. if in the lottery put Playoffs or competitive team. Other acceptable terms include but are not limited to Deep run for the playoffs, Championship or NBA championship or The Prize.

 

[Covert Rain]

You're completely missing the point. The guy touts that we can't win a championship without interior help, then trades away our best interior defender. How is that not hypocritical?

I completely agree. Especially if he spins this.

 

[SunsTzu]

I also enjoy how some people are spinning how we'll use the trade exception. Nice try, you were probably the same people who said we'd use the trade exception from the Joe Johnson deal that Sarver let expire.

They used about 1/2 of that TE to bring in James Jones.

Honestly this is no suprise. The reason I was so upset with the draft was because I was sure something like this would happen, atleast the Suns didn't add the Atl pick like I thought they might.

Really the only guy the Suns could have brought in to make me ok with this move was Joe Smith. Hopefully they can add PJ Brown, I don't think he is as good as KT but he's close enough.

 

[slinslin]

And we were right up there with them and might have beaten them without the bloody nose and suspensions.

We didn't need to make moves, unless we could add Garnett for "cheap". I am going to maintain that we will sign PJ Brown who is a better matchup against Duncan than Thomas to begin with.

Grant Hill > James Jones
PJ Brown > Kurt Thomas
Tucker > Nothing
Strawberry > Nothing

Amare should be better, Diaw should be better, Barbosa should be better, Banks should be better.

Bell, Nash, Marion should maintain their level...

I don't see how anyone could say we aren't improving.

Compare this to the Spurs.

Added = Nobody
Lost = Nobody (Scola, Butler)
All their players are old except Parker and at least possibly declining.

 

[Joe Mama]

I haven't read all 11 pages of this thread. I figured it would probably be too much to take, and frankly I don't have time to do it right now. I just have to ask why anybody here is acting like a Phoenix Suns are done making moves now

Believe me. If the Phoenix Suns don't adequately replace Kurt Thomas I'll be right there with the people complaining about this move. Have a little patience though. I refuse to believe that the front office just doesn't realize how important Kurt Thomas was in the playoffs.

Joe

 

[dreamcastrocks]

You're completely missing the point. The guy touts that we can't win a championship without interior help, then trades away our best interior defender. How is that not hypocritical?

I hear what you're saying. Interior defense is more than one player's responsibility though.

Maybe it is a knock on D'Antoni's defensive philosophies?

 

[hcsilla]

PJ Brown > Kurt Thomas

I like your optimism, but that's too much.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I haven't read all 11 pages of this thread. I figured it would probably be too much to take comment frankly I don't have time to do it right now. I just have to ask why anybody here is acting like a Phoenix Suns are done making moves now

Believe me. If the Phoenix Suns don't adequately replace Kurt Thomas I'll be right there with the people complaining about this move. Have a little patience though. I refuse to believe that the front office just doesn't realize how important Kurt Thomas was in the playoffs.

Joe

I agree Joe but there also should be discussion around some legitimate concerns.

Questions I have:

Any player that they bring in isn't a sure fire bet to play. What player that is big would the Suns really play more than KT?

What happens if D'Antoni loses faith in X big man and he sits?

Are the Suns willing to get into a longer term deal or are they looking for the vet min?

Banks is the wildcard in this, do the Suns think they can move his contract by the deadline? If So does that mean the Suns can go after a more talented bigman with that trade exception?

 

[Chaplin]

I hear what you're saying. Interior defense is more than one player's responsibility though.

Maybe it is a knock on D'Antoni's defensive philosophies?

Hell, that's a very valid point, but the fact of the matter is that right now we don't have other players to provide that. So you've got to get it from somewhere.

 

[Rab]

Even if the Suns are looking at bringing someone else in (which I feel they have to do), who's to say that player will have anymore of an impact than Kurt?

The market for big men is not good AT ALL right now, and it seems pretty bleak to me that anyone, including PJ Brown, will be any better. I think people will appreciate Kurt a little more now that he's gone, especially in the playoffs when Amare averages 20-25 minutes a game because he can't stay out of foul trouble.

Add on top of that, we gave away 2 freakin first round picks. I don't care where they are in the draft, you can't just keep giving these things away. The Suns are going to eventually pay for this, and that worries me a bit.

 

[F-Dog]

Yeah, one thing that annoys me about this trade is that they were supposedly looking at Mihm and Joe Smith, but they waited until both players were gone to dump KT's salary.

Do you think they got out-bid on both players, or were they not willing to make a firm commitment with KT still on the books? Hmm...

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Hell, that's a very valid point, but the fact of the matter is that right now we don't have other players to provide that. So you've got to get it from somewhere.

true and if anyone thinks amare is going to drop all offense to be some kind of ben wallace should be slapped.

amare alone is not enough vs. the spurs.

 

[elindholm]

The Suns have thrown in the towel

Last year was their best chance and they knew it. I think the attitude was, blow the bankroll for one good shot, win or lose. Well, they lost, and that was that.

This team isn't winning a title. You can write that in your diary, lock it up, and throw away the key. The front office already knows it, now the players know it, and soon the fans will know it. They'll be fun and exciting and they'll make enough noise in the playoffs to say they were "close," but they aren't getting there. I wouldn't take this team at 30 to 1 for next year's title.

When is the last time that a team that was at worst third in the league decided to "reload" by dumping several draft picks and half of their competent big men? Never, that's when.

Next year's rotation is a joke. The three bigs are Stoudemire, Marion, and Diaw -- in other words, a PF with bad knees, a SF who is afraid of contact, and the league's softest Euro, who doesn't even have a position. The SF rotation is a guy coming off of 57 major surgeries and either (a) a rookie who can't shoot or (b) a 6' 4" shooting guard. There is no backup PG. There is absolutely no significant problem of last year's team that has been addressed this summer. Every move has been either lateral or backwards.

Enjoy the regular season, guys. That's all we'll have next year.