elindholm
edited for content
My final guess is Badiane. (Sorry to copy scotsman13's idea, but I think he's right.) My reasoning is this:
While the Suns probably would be happy with a role player who can give them 10-15 minutes a game, they're hoping to get lucky and find someone who can contribute more. The forward prospects will never see major minutes, unless Stoudemire or Marion gets hurt or traded. (Or if they try to convert Stoudemire to a center, but let's keep our fingers crossed.)
If they draft Cabarkapa and he turns out to be good, what do they do with him? Even if he turned out to be able to back up both forward spots, which would put him at 20-25 minutes per game, then that squeezes Joe Johnson out of the picture.
Barring a trade, the Suns have almost $18 million next season committed to backup power forwards (Gugliotta and Outlaw). Adding another one just doesn't make sense.
The Suns have said that they want a player who can contribute right away. I think that's the smokescreen. I think they want a project. This coming season is a waiting game anyway -- waiting to see whether Tsakalidis can do anything, waiting to see if Joe Johnson can get it together, waiting for Gugliotta to leave so they can think about an above-minimum free agent. The Suns know they can't really do anything until 2004-05, so what's wrong with taking a project now?
Van Arsdale's comments seem a little forced also. Why would he get so defensive when someone compares Badiane to Stoudemire? ("Van Arsdale scoffed at an ESPN.com report...") Van Arsdale's been around long enough to know that, if someone wants to overrate a guy you aren't interested in, for heaven's sake you go ahead and let them. He says Badiane's not ready, so fine, he's not ready. They can still draft him. That's why Scott Williams will be around one more year, to hold the third center spot down while the prospect continues to develop.
Schortsanitis is also possible, but his inability to shoot (40% from the line?) is a serious problem in the Suns' scheme. They need someone who can make a 15-footer, and the word is that Badiane can do that.
Also, even though the league Badiane is in now isn't very good, at least he's playing in it, unlike, say, Tskitishvili last year, who was riding the pine. For that matter, it's hard to figure out how much playing time Schortsanitis has earned this year, either.
So that's my guess. If it turns out to be right, I credit scotsman13.
While the Suns probably would be happy with a role player who can give them 10-15 minutes a game, they're hoping to get lucky and find someone who can contribute more. The forward prospects will never see major minutes, unless Stoudemire or Marion gets hurt or traded. (Or if they try to convert Stoudemire to a center, but let's keep our fingers crossed.)
If they draft Cabarkapa and he turns out to be good, what do they do with him? Even if he turned out to be able to back up both forward spots, which would put him at 20-25 minutes per game, then that squeezes Joe Johnson out of the picture.
Barring a trade, the Suns have almost $18 million next season committed to backup power forwards (Gugliotta and Outlaw). Adding another one just doesn't make sense.
The Suns have said that they want a player who can contribute right away. I think that's the smokescreen. I think they want a project. This coming season is a waiting game anyway -- waiting to see whether Tsakalidis can do anything, waiting to see if Joe Johnson can get it together, waiting for Gugliotta to leave so they can think about an above-minimum free agent. The Suns know they can't really do anything until 2004-05, so what's wrong with taking a project now?
Van Arsdale's comments seem a little forced also. Why would he get so defensive when someone compares Badiane to Stoudemire? ("Van Arsdale scoffed at an ESPN.com report...") Van Arsdale's been around long enough to know that, if someone wants to overrate a guy you aren't interested in, for heaven's sake you go ahead and let them. He says Badiane's not ready, so fine, he's not ready. They can still draft him. That's why Scott Williams will be around one more year, to hold the third center spot down while the prospect continues to develop.
Schortsanitis is also possible, but his inability to shoot (40% from the line?) is a serious problem in the Suns' scheme. They need someone who can make a 15-footer, and the word is that Badiane can do that.
Also, even though the league Badiane is in now isn't very good, at least he's playing in it, unlike, say, Tskitishvili last year, who was riding the pine. For that matter, it's hard to figure out how much playing time Schortsanitis has earned this year, either.
So that's my guess. If it turns out to be right, I credit scotsman13.
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