More On Getting Ready For Next Year

[George O'Brien]

The Suns have dug themselves a deep enough hole that it doubtful they will make the playoffs. They are playing much better, but it will be hard to do better than 500 until Amare and Zarko are back and healthy.

This gives the Suns the luxury of playing guys that might not get as many minutes in order to determine if they will be part of the team's long range plans.

CENTER

Currently the Suns are rotating White, Voskuhl and Williams.

White gives the team toughness and rebounding, but is foul prone and has poorly developed low post moves.

Voskuhl is very good at the pick and roll as well as doing double teams. However, he is not very strong and gets into foul trouble against bigger centers.

Williams is 35 years old and is not likely to play extensive minutes. His jump shot is quite good and his experience is very valuagle.

Trybanski will have only one more year left on his contract next summer. He is likely to be ballast in a trade.

Conclusion - The Suns could use a tall, strong defensive specialist.
Any of the current centers could be used as backups at PF.

POWER FORWARD

Amare Stoudemire has the ability to become a super star. He is developing a jump shot and is improving his passing. He is not tall enough to defense really tall guys like Duncan, but he is getting better.

Googs will be gone and Harvey will return only if the team does not add another big man. Several other players have put in minutes at PF including Marion, Johnson, and Carbakpa. Jan 23

Conclusion - The Suns need another power player at either center or PF.

SMALL FORWARD

Shawn Marion is a former all star, Zarko Cabarkapa is budding star, and guards Joe Johnson and Casey Jccobsen can also be useful at that position.

This promises to be the team's strongest position.

POINT GUARD

Stephon Marbury is a former all star and Barbosa is great prospect. Barbosa will probably be used along with Stephon or Penny Hardaway as a "combo" guard due to his ball hawking ability. At this point, if Stephon were injured, Penny would probably be the point guard.

SHOOTING GUARD

This is easily the most difficult position to get a handle on. Joe Johnson has started most of the season, but has struggled with his shooting. He is supposed to be pretty good on defense. JJ has been extremely weak on shooting three point shots, but shoots a large number of them.

Hardaway has been more effective than Johnson on offense, but there are questions about his defense.

Casey Jacobsen has emerged as a decent player and a very good three point shooter.

Barbosa has put in minutes at what amounts to the SG position, although the plays are not run through him.

Conclusion - None of the SG'S are at an all star level. The Suns might be shopping for a star player if they decide that JJ and Casey are not getting better.


One other point, the Bobcats will be looking at players during the expansion draft. Hardaway and Jacobsen are likely to be left vulnerable. Jacobsen might be vulnerable because he would be inexpensive.

In the free agent market, the Suns are expected to drop to $55 million next year. This will mean they could sign a mid level exemption player. It is unlikely that a first rate inside man would be available at that price, but the Suns might find a shooter which would open up someone for a trade.

The draft is very hard to read this early. This does not appear to be a great draft for shooting guards. There are some big guys that might help a bit.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I still believe that they will leave White unprotected instead of Jacobson. Casey is just in his 2nd year, and has already made vast improvements. An expansion team will be looking for young players and draft picks to build around. White has nearly 7million coming next season, which is not something the Bobcats will want to pay him.

They leave him unprotected on the pure basis he is unlikely to get picked. Of course this could all change if they offer picks/leave a player unprotected in exchange for the Bobcats taking Hardaway

 

[George O'Brien]

White will be making $5,884,500 next season, which will be about $1 million over the mid cap. Who can the Suns get for that price?

On a side note, Brian Cardinal (Warriors) will be a free agent this summer. It is hard to believe how well he is playing this year after three years of mediocrity.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Oops, was a million off.

It has nothing to do with who the suns could get. It has to do with who the Bobcats would likely pick up. They have made it very clear they are looking for young players and the draft to build their team. They do not wish to take on heavy salaries in order to contend for the playoffs in year one. (For example they could take Eddie Jones and Penny Hardaway, who will both be unprotected)

The likely hood of them picking up a player who is going into his 3rd year, still on a rookie contract, and has improved a lot in one season is much higher than

taking an injury prone center, who hasn't seen consistant minutes, nor had consistant play in his 6 year (guessing on this part) career. Especially when that person makes 6 million.

As much as I like White for this team, and I am definitely not sold on Casey, if I were to build a team from the ground up I would think that Casey would be a no brainer choice. He has the chance to grow with the team, and has some potential, and most definitely the work ethic to find his place in this league.

That is why I think they will leave White unprotected.

 

[George O'Brien]

You may be right, but I doubt there will be many centers who are not total projects available to the Bobcats for under $6 million. With only a year on his contract, he would be a good short term solution for a team that is unlikely to have anyone to play center for them.

Maybe Casey would be attractive to them due to his price, but he is the Suns 3rd string shooting guard. He is not especially tall nor a good jump athlete. He tries hard and shoots pretty well, but is that enough?

The Bobcats will have access to at least 4 players from each of the 29 teams in the NBA. They will not take more than 12, so this looks like a gamesmanship process.

I would rather cover White because his skills are harder for the Suns to replace than those of Jacobsen, even if Jacobsen IS more attractive to the Bobcats.