Kurt Thomas versus Tim Thomas - Pick one!

[Yuma]

If you could only pick one guy to fit under the cap between Tim Thomas and Kurt Thomas who would you pick?

Kurt Thomas - Tough, nasty defender. Can play against top tier centers defensivly, and brings much needed rebounding to the Suns. His not always on 15 foot jumper is deadly when on. He brings a toughness the Suns lack. He proved his worth after getting injured and the Suns basically became a .500 ball club.

Tim Thomas - Defensivly OK, to sometimes a liability. Not such a strong rebounder as Kurt Thomas. Can hit the three ball, and when he's on a hot streak can take over games offensivly. Imagine Amare in the low post abusing the opposing team and needing to be double teamed with Nash, Bell, Thomas, and Marion all standing beyond the three point line! A nightmare offensivly for opposing coaches.

So who would you pick?

 

[Gaddabout]

I put in a call to the Phoenix Suns genetics lab to see if the two (and their salaries) could be combined into one player.

 

[jibikao]

KT for me if we really really have to pick one.

I like TT's on-fire ability every now and then but with Amare, Nash, Diaw and even Marion on the team, I think it's safe to say that one of these will catch fire. Oh yeah, and there is Bell too!

Nobody can replace KT on this team. Not Grant and not Skita. KT is just known to be very physical and that usually sends a good message to the opposing team who tries to punish us inside. It's not so much about how well KT can defend. It's all about presence and KT has that. KT can foul out every game but he has to foul when we have to.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Easy choice looking at players Tim Thomas, Kurt Thomas is done he is old and now breaking down, I expect him to be out for 30 weeks next season for carpal tunnel or bunons. I also don't think Mike really prefers both Amare and Kurt on the floor at the same time.

Contract wise it probably would be easier to keep KT over trying to deal him, and then resigning TT since KT has a couple of years left. Maybe, they can package him and a pick for a player who's contract is expiring, this is something the Suns like to do.

 

[boisesuns]

Easy choice looking at players Tim Thomas, Kurt Thomas is done he is old and now breaking down, I expect him to be out for 30 weeks next season for carpal tunnel or bunons. I also don't think Mike really prefers both Amare and Kurt on the floor at the same time.

KT and Amare haven't played together yet, how do you know Coach D doesn't prefer them on the court at the same time? It seems to me Kurt was an Iron man before this season, so how is he going to miss 30 games next year?

 

[scoutmasterdave]

Easy choice looking at players Tim Thomas, Kurt Thomas is done he is old and now breaking down, I expect him to be out for 30 weeks next season for carpal tunnel or bunons.

This is the first time in KT's career (since he became a starter with the Knicks in 1999) that he has not played at least 77 games. Why does everyone assume he's injury prone all of a sudden? Plus, this injury was a fracture, not a soft tissue injury, and as such it's not nearly as likely to recur. I fully expect him to play in 75+ games next season.

 

[F-Dog]

Kurt Thomas is an old man. That's my main issue with him.

Which player is the better fit for the Suns? It depends on Amare--if he's shooting lights-out when he finally comes back, then KT is the better complement, and if he's playing physical low-post D, then TT is better. (And, if Amare looks like he did this year, then it doesn't matter very much.)


If the Suns face the Spurs in the playoffs next year, they'll need KT or somebody like him.


Dunno, do you think P.J. Brown is ready to demand a trade yet?

 

[playstation]

tim + amare works better imo. less clogging in the lane, but Tim can still guard the center on defense and get amare to be the help guy. however, that still makes rebounding a problem. rebounding will remain a problem until amare becomes a hoover back there. kurt is also 4-5 years older than tim and gets paid much more than tim's forecasted price.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

tim + amare works better imo. less clogging in the lane, but Tim can still guard the center on defense and get amare to be the help guy. however, that still makes rebounding a problem. rebounding will remain a problem until amare becomes a hoover back there. kurt is also 4-5 years older than tim and gets paid much more than tim's forecasted price.

I'm with you with Tim. Better spacing Tim is Younger and Tim can take over a game.

 

[Nasser22]

D'Antoni has said that Marion is not going anywhere and I don't expect him to get traded unless there is an amazing offer. So it will be down to these two and TT will be gone. Kurt Thomas' value has been forgotten. He is our ONLY good interior defender. Tim Thomas was pretty bad for the most part. Marion and Diaw are small. Amare was pretty bad two years ago and might not have as much athleticism as before. Amare wanted Kurt here and he will stay. Without Kurt our team defense was horrible. We gave up 8 more points per game. I also hear too much about Kurt not running with us, but he did just fine in the regular season. This year he said he lost like 15 pounds and after a slow start he was doing great. Because he had a broken bone in his foot it doesen't mean he's breaking down. He'll be just fine for our championship run. I hope we can keep everyone but I doubt it. I know we'll have at least 9 good players out there though. We will be okay with Kurt.

 

[SirStefan32]

I would prefer to lose Marion and keep both of these guys. Diaw could replace Marion, and, depending on oponents, KT or TT would start along with Amare and the other one would be coming off the bench for them.

I am having a really hard time picking Tim or Kurt over each other. I guess I have to look at it this way- they are different players. With Marion, Diaw, and Jones all being able to play 3, I'd have to say go with Kurt Thomas. He is the only guy on this team who plays interior defense, and the only guy who knows how to block out.

 

[Nasser22]

We don't need to get rid of Marion. I like Tim Thomas but he's just not as good. We don't need to trade Marion for a few above average players for depth. I'd only trade him for someone good. Marion may be gone next year when we actually need to free up some salary but now he is better than Tim Thomas at everything except 3-point shooting. And it helps that he can play both forward positions too.

 

[jmartinez29]

I think that you guys should keep Tim Thomas. I think that he fits more into the up tempo style of basketball the Suns play.

 

[elindholm]

Marion may be gone next year when we actually need to free up some salary but now he is better than Tim Thomas at everything except 3-point shooting.

Marion is a better player overall, but in fact he lags Thomas is several areas other than three-point shooting. Thomas has a much smoother post game and more confidence in his mid-range jumper as well. Other than fast breaks and garbage points, Thomas's entire offensive game is superior. Thomas was also (somewhat) more effective guarding Nowitzki, although generally speaking he is a much worse defender than Marion.

 

[jbeecham]

I thought KT's foot was a stress fracture from running up and down the court so much (even though I rmember him playing about 25mpg). If that is the case, then I can see him being injured next year as well. I'd like to keep both of them for a year and see where this team can take us, but it already sounds like the Suns are planning to start Amare, Diaw & Marion in the frontcourt. So KT has lost his starting role playing alongside Amare already. That would give us KT, TT, Jones, Barbosa and hopefully a true backup PG off the bench.

 

[Nasser22]

KT being in the back-up role and having to play less minutes will make him more effective. I love that line-up, especially if we can add Speedy Claxton. Then we'd have a good starter and back-up at every position. A good mix of defenders and 3-point shooters and also some guys that can play more than 1 position.

 

[Nasser22]

They just need Thomas to take a lot less money to keep him. They need to convince him that this is a team that will win championships and he will remember it more than getting a few more million dollars. He should also know that if he plays here another year and puts up good numbers in our offense and doesen't show any lazyness he'll get even more money from someone else next year AND have a championship.

 

[nowagimp]

Marion may be gone next year when we actually need to free up some salary but now he is better than Tim Thomas at everything except 3-point shooting.

Marion is a better player overall, but in fact he lags Thomas is several areas other than three-point shooting. Thomas has a much smoother post game and more confidence in his mid-range jumper as well. Other than fast breaks and garbage points, Thomas's entire offensive game is superior. Thomas was also (somewhat) more effective guarding Nowitzki, although generally speaking he is a much worse defender than Marion.

I agree with Eric, that TT's offensive game is smoother and more developed and he finishes at the rim in traffic better and is a better offensive player off the dribble as well. Marion is a MUCH better help defender, and a very useful defender for 2's and 3's, but not 4's or 5's. Shawns steals also fuel the suns uptempo game in a big way. Both Nowitski and Brand were too strong physically for Shawn. TT creates more spacing and could back up Amare better on D, as Amare will be matched up with players that are physically too strong for shawn. TT has not shown that he can play alot of minutes(>30) without a falloff in shooting %, but that shouldnt be a problem with a deeper team next year. TT also might be easier to keep @ 5mil/yr once Diaw and Leos new contracts kick in.

The suns should keep KT next year for his D, and then look to use his expiring contract in a trade to mitigate cap problems. I think KT may have one more good year after playing 12 seasons in the NBA.

My feeling is that TT will be gone as some other team sees him as worth more than the suns can afford. If Radmonivic is worth 7-8 million, TT is comparable in value to some team, hopefully its not the clips as that would be very unfortunate for the suns.

 

[Folster]

I believe Kurt is expendable. Getting KT was not near as important as getting rid of Q and his contract. Thank God for New York.

 

[Gaddabout]

I believe Kurt is expendable. Getting KT was not near as important as getting rid of Q and his contract. Thank God for New York.

If Amare has any say in it, Kurt is most definitely not expendable.

 

[Mainstreet]

If Amare has any say in it, Kurt is most definitely not expendable.

Perhaps this is true, however, neither player was a factor in the Playoffs.

I vote for TT because, IMO, he fits the Suns running style better than KT and can shoot the three point shot to help spread the floor. He is also younger. The Suns might lose some defense without KT but I think TT did a good job for the Suns when their roster was depleted.

I guess I'm just not taking anything for granted. I just hope Amare returns to his old form next year. Needless to say, this alone would make the Suns a much better team. It could be argued the Suns biggest need is at backup PG unless D'Antoni is right and Barbosa develops further as a PG.

 

[cly2tw]

I checked the results before casting my vote and voted so to make it more even.

It can go either way depending on the circumstances. If we could get a low post defender like Prizbila or Mohammed then TT is more valuable. Otherwise, KT is important and TT's shooting could be replaced.

 

[George O'Brien]

Nash or Stoudemire? How on earth do you compare guys with radically different roles?

BTW, I think TT has proven he's worth at least a full MLE contract. That is simply irrelevant. What is relevant is whether after already making upwards of $75 million just how important money is to him.

 

[Errntknght]

Its a moot point because KT is not tradeable until he's shown he's back to his former self after his injury.

If I could have my pick at the MLE, say, for either of them I'd go with KT. Come the playoffs we'll need his toughness and savvy. For the most part I expect Kurt to get fairly light duty because Diaw, Amare and Shawn are going to force opponents to go small more than we've ever seen before. That's good - he'll be rested when we need him and the risk of injury in minimized. We might even extend his useful playing life a year or two.

 

[Joe Mama]

I believe Kurt is expendable. Getting KT was not near as important as getting rid of Q and his contract. Thank God for New York.

you must have been watching a different Phoenix Suns team than the rest of us this year. With Kurt Thomas this was one of the top three teams in the NBA, and when he went down they were a .500 team. I also don't understand people who keep saying that Kurt Thomas doesn't fit D'Antoni's system. That argument might have held some water last summer, but we watched him fit until his foot injury.

The Phoenix Suns were still averaging around 107 points per game when Kurt Thomas was healthy. The difference was that they could actually stop people. Just before his injury they were in the top three in opponents points for possession. After his injury they were at the bottom of the league defensively and couldn't stop anyone.

Besides, as Errntknght said, it would be difficult to trade Kurt Thomas right now anyways. He's an older player with a large contract coming off an injury. The same reasons that many of you would like to trade him make him very difficult to trade.

Joe