Old Gambo Rumor

[Joe Mama]

Not if KT gets traded this summer.

In any case, Average-en is not a suitable replacement for Shawn. If the Suns are willing to pay $10m/yr for a forward and dump Marion in the bargain, there are plenty of better players to choose from--Murphy (of course), Okur, Bobby Simmons, even Chris Wilcox. Hell, for that price, the Suns might be able to get their hands on Darko Milicic.

I'm not sure about Okur because of his outside shooting, but I would rather have Drew Gooden than any of those other players you mentioned. And I'm not a huge Drew Gooden fan.

I don't know that LB is better than any of those guys right now. For all the potential everybody thinks LB seems to have there are a lot of holes in his game.

He doesn't handle the ball well enough to run the team.
He's to small to play the 2.
He drives with blinders.
He can't finish worth a crap.
His shooting mechanics are all screwed up.
He doesn't move his feet well on D.....

There are some major holes in Leandro Barbosa's game, but some team out there with money to burn will spend it on him. I think he will get a contract starting at around $6 million.

Oh yeah, I agree with most of your criticisms of his game, but one thing Barbosa does very well is finish around the basket. He might not be slamming it like Amare Stoudemire. He does have a great touch around the basket though.

First off nobody knows what the salary cap will be. It's far from certain that Marion will ever be traded. Also, I hope for the Suns they are trying to acquire something equal to KT. Because depending on Diaw (who doesn't rebound or play defense) or depending on some combo of players to replace KT.

Everybody knows this team needs more rebounding and defense. Not less. Amare should help out but even when we had Amare he wasn't enough. That's why we added KT. Now we are talking of trading him??

If this off-season is any indication, something tells me this trade is a disaster waiting to happen.

I won't pretend that Boris Diaw is nearly as strong defensively in the post as Kurt Thomas, but he does play defense. Kurt Thomas averaged 7.8 rebounds when he was healthy for the Phoenix Suns. Boris Diaw averaged 6.9 rebounds. I agree that Thomas is a stronger player on the boards, but don't tell me that Boris Diaw doesn't rebound.

Joe

 

[Covert Rain]

I think Kurt Thomas is a disaster waiting to happen.

Trade him before he blows out another wheel trying to keep up with the team for an entire season.

Like i said earlier in the thread...

6 straight years with New York in that slow offense and he never missed more than 5 games in a season.

Comes here at 34 years old, is asked to run & gun and he gets hurt missing more games than he did combined playing with the Knicks for 6 years.(And thats not even including the playoffs)

Anyone have faith in a old Kurt Thomas staying healthy playing our style of ball?

Thats rediculous. There is nothing to indicate KT is injury prone. He proved he could run with the team last year. Not to mention, with Depth, he doesn't need to play 35 minutes a game.

Bottom line is, you can't trade KT for scrubs or potential guys and hope they can fill his role on the court.

 

[dcsunsfan]

Why not? He's never had injury problems throughout his career. It's not like the foot problem is a recurring injury he's had for years.

He has said himself he struggled tremendously with injuries early in his career.

During his first three seasons he missed more games than he played.

Games played:
1995-96 74
1996-97 18
1997-98 5

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?statsId=3012

 

[Muggum]

Succeeding in the NBA is as much about whom you DON'T pay money to as whom you do. Giving Drew Gooden a big contract would be a mistake.

 

[Chaplin]

He has said himself he struggled tremendously with injuries early in his career.

During his first three seasons he missed more games than he played.

Games played:
1995-96 74
1996-97 18
1997-98 5

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?statsId=3012

And? You don't gauge a player's effectiveness solely on 3 years 10 years ago. From 1998 - 2006 is a long period of being relatively injury-free.

Oh, and Kurt Thomas has played this style before. If you are easily willing to bring up injury problems he had in 1996, then you must take into account his play in college, which WAS this style. At least, according to him.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Oh, and Kurt Thomas has played this style before. If you are easily willing to bring up injury problems he had in 1996, then you must take into account his play in college, which WAS this style.

And? You don't gauge a player's effectiveness solely on 4 years 10 years ago.

 

[Chaplin]

And? You don't gauge a player's effectiveness solely on 4 years 10 years ago.

Um, I know. That's the point. I don't gauge it, but apparently dcsunsfan does.

 

[Muggum]

I think enough time has passed that Gambo's rumor can be deemed officially defunct. If there are 10 pages of posts before a rumor becomes a reality, it no longer counts...

 

[dcsunsfan]

Um, I know. That's the point. I don't gauge it, but apparently dcsunsfan does.

Many people, including myself, are clearly worried that Kurt Thomas' foot injury is not an anomaly but a reason for concern about his ability to stay healthy as he enters old age in NBA terms. The possibility he could be giving a Brian Grant-level contribution in the near future is real.

You said he has never had injury problems in his career. I simply pointed out that was not the case. He was consistently healthy for a long stretch which is a reason for optimism, I agree, but that does not mean there is no reason for concern.

 

[Nasser22]

I think enough time has passed that Gambo's rumor can be deemed officially defunct. If there are 10 pages of posts before a rumor becomes a reality, it no longer counts...

Thank god, if KT were traded especially with the low trade value he has all the Suns fans would have been crying half a year from now. It pisses me off how people don't realize how important KT was. The guy also lost some weight and was doing better and better as the season went on. He won't be relied on for a big amount of minutes anymore. He'll get around 25 probably. The Suns can't get rid of their ONLY inside D and the only player that can box out.

 

[Chaplin]

Firstly, you can't point out 95-96 as an injury-depleted year since he only missed 8 regular season games. The other two, most definitely. But the fact that it as so long ago, and it was 2 years in a 12-year career lessens the impact of those two years.

We don't need Kurt Thomas to run the break. We have plenty of guys that can do that. What we do need is his intimidation in the middle and intensity on defense, which he can do at his age, and his nice mid-range jumpshot on offense, which he can also do at his age.

 

[Silverbullet]

Either way we are ok, keep KT and have a solid big that provides toughness and experience whos contract expires in 2 years. Also who cares how his health was 5,10, 15 years ago Im concerned with right now. Can he stay healthy with his new limited role. And if his role is going to be reduced why pay 8m for a part time big.

Why not deal him for a 24yr old with good rebounding and athletisim. If we could bring in a young pf that could fit our system better why even think twice about an older vet with 10 years more mileage.

If the price is right I would move KT 4 DG in a heart beat. If we could get DG to agree to a 5/40m range, starting at 7m im all in. Im assuming Cle at the very least would also want there pick back in return along with maybe Jones. And continue with the TE and or mle to explore back up pg spot.

 

[NastyOne]

Thats rediculous. There is nothing to indicate KT is injury prone. He proved he could run with the team last year. Not to mention, with Depth, he doesn't need to play 35 minutes a game.

Bottom line is, you can't trade KT for scrubs or potential guys and hope they can fill his role on the court.

How did Kurt Thomas prove he could run with us?

Did he finish the season running with us? Cause last i checked he missed most of the second half and the entire playoffs with a busted foot.

All he proved was that at 34years of age, he couldnt stay on the court playing our style of ball.

And i say thats cause he played 6 straight years in a slow pace offense and never missed more than a handful of games in each of those seasons.

And we wouldnt be trading him for scrubs, we would be moving him for a 24 year old(soon to be 25) thats already a better rebounder than Thomas, is way more athletic and can also shoot the ball.The only thing Thomas does better than Gooden is play better post defense.

Gooden is a double-double threat everytime he suits up, so yes i would ship Thomas out of here for that.

 

[Covert Rain]

How did Kurt Thomas prove he could run with us?

Did he finish the season running with us? Cause last i checked he missed most of the second half and the entire playoffs with a busted foot.

All he proved was that at 34years of age, he couldnt stay on the court playing our style of ball.

And i say thats cause he played 6 straight years in a slow pace offense and never missed more than a handful of games in each of those seasons.

And we wouldnt be trading him for scrubs, we would be moving him for a 24 year old(soon to be 25) thats already a better rebounder than Thomas, is way more athletic and can also shoot the ball.The only thing Thomas does better than Gooden is play better post defense.

Gooden is a double-double threat everytime he suits up, so yes i would ship Thomas out of here for that.

Um, he ran with the team just fine. When Raja got injured in the playoffs did that mean he can't run with us?? Finishing a season has nothing to do with could he run while he was healthy with the team. He already proved it by running with this team when he was playing. Did he finish the season? No, but had nothing to do with his ability to run with the team.

There is no medical journal to my knowledge that says that KT would have only injured his foot while running down the court in run and gun style. There is no proof that he wouldn't have injured his foot running up an down the court in half court set.

In terms of who we would get I have seen no confirmation about Gooden in this trade other then rumor and speculation. You know what you get with Thomas anyway and Gooden being a threat? Which night? How often? I will take KT defense and rebounding over Gooden who has a habit of dissappearing.

 

[Chaplin]

How did Kurt Thomas prove he could run with us?

Did he finish the season running with us? Cause last i checked he missed most of the second half and the entire playoffs with a busted foot.

All he proved was that at 34years of age, he couldnt stay on the court playing our style of ball.

And i say thats cause he played 6 straight years in a slow pace offense and never missed more than a handful of games in each of those seasons.

And we wouldnt be trading him for scrubs, we would be moving him for a 24 year old(soon to be 25) thats already a better rebounder than Thomas, is way more athletic and can also shoot the ball.The only thing Thomas does better than Gooden is play better post defense.

Gooden is a double-double threat everytime he suits up, so yes i would ship Thomas out of here for that.

You know, if you had as much passion for players that are actually on our team like you do players that aren't, you'd be a terrific fan.

 

[NastyOne]

You know, if you had as much passion for players that are actually on our team like you do players that aren't, you'd be a terrific fan.

I'm not a good fan because i don't want Kurt Thomas?

I love every player on this team, and i root for all of them. (I don't think Marion is worth max money, but i still root for him)

But i didnt want Kurt Thomas, and now i hope they get rid of him.

I live in New York and watched Knicks games all the time and have many friends thats are Knicks fans.

And everyone of them were glad as hell when they traded Thomas.

Why? Cause hes old and unathletic.

But for some reason guys in here love him.

I guess cause we havent had a decent post defender in ages, so everyone falls in love with Thomas, even though many others in the league could easily fill his role for less money and at a younger age.

 

[Chaplin]

I'm not a good fan because i don't want Kurt Thomas?

I love every player on this team, and i root for all of them. (I don't think Marion is worth max money, but i still root for him)

But i didnt want Kurt Thomas, and now i hope they get rid of him.

I live in New York and watched Knicks games all the time and have many friends thats are Knicks fans.

And everyone of them were glad as hell when they traded Thomas.

Why? Cause hes old and unathletic.

But for some reason guys in here love him.

I guess cause we havent had a decent post defender in ages, so everyone falls in love with Thomas, even though many others in the league could easily fill his role for less money and at a younger age.

One, it was a sarcastic post, which I should have known you wouldn't have identified. And two, you keep coming up with bad things about our players. Your idol wanted him here a year ago. Why do you think that is? We were on a 60-win pace when he was healthy. Why do you think THAT is? It's not because he was old and unathletic.

 

[Cheesebeef]

You know, if you had as much passion for players that are actually on our team like you do players that aren't, you'd be a terrific fan.

wow - seemed like a good basktball debate until someone started throwing around insults. Good work Angel.

 

[NastyOne]

One, it was a sarcastic post, which I should have known you wouldn't have identified. And two, you keep coming up with bad things about our players. Your idol wanted him here a year ago. Why do you think that is? We were on a 60-win pace when he was healthy. Why do you think THAT is? It's not because he was old and unathletic.

Yeah Kurt Thomas put us on pace for 60 wins with those 8ppg/7rpg , Its impossible to find players with those numbers making less than $8mil per year.

And Amare just didnt want to play center, so we could've gotten any warm body to start at center and he probably would've been happy.

Also, Why should i get your sarcasm? We're going back and forth here and it looked like you were trying to make a dig at me.

Maybe use a smiley face icon or something next time.

 

[Chaplin]

wow - seemed like a good basktball debate until someone started throwing around insults. Good work Angel.

And yet again, you a) can't recognize sarcasm, and b) don't read the following posts.

If you are that hard up to pick a fight with me, I can make it easy on you and actually meet you someplace...

(Oh wait, I shouldn't have said that--you won't recognize the cynicism and sarcasm)

 

[Chaplin]

Yeah Kurt Thomas put us on pace for 60 wins with those 8ppg/7rpg , Its impossible to find players with those numbers making less than $8mil per year.

And Amare just didnt want to play center, so we could've gotten any warm body to start at center and he probably would've been happy.

Also, Why should i get your sarcasm? We're going back and forth here and it looked like you were trying to make a dig at me.

Maybe use a smiley face icon or something next time.

So are you going on record that our 60 win pace was NOT attributed to Kurt Thomas? Even though after he went down and even after we picked up TT we played .500 ball?

 

[NastyOne]

So are you going on record that our 60 win pace was NOT attributed to Kurt Thomas? Even though after he went down and even after we picked up TT we played .500 ball?

We were sitting comfortable in the standings, guys were probably starting to feel fatigue since everyone was playing more minutes than usual with both bigmen injured and the smaller injuries to guys like Barbosa and Jones earlier in the season.

All those things piled up together probably put us on a small slide.

Kurt Thomas was not our savior, and replace him with a PJ Brown,Joe Smith,Jeff Foster or any other decent post defender that can rebound, and i don't see this team doing any worse last season.

 

[Cheesebeef]

One, it was a sarcastic post, which I should have known you wouldn't have identified.

oh - so sarcasm is okay, but then you follow it up by questioning the guy's intelligence because you should have known he was too stupid to get the sarcasm, yeah, that doesn't seem personal at all to me.

 

[Chaplin]

oh - so sarcasm is okay, but then you follow it up by questioning the guy's intelligence because you should have known he was too stupid to get the sarcasm, yeah, that doesn't seem personal at all to me.

Lecturing me about the content of my posts does absolutely nothing, so why bother?

 

[Joe Mama]

Yeah Kurt Thomas put us on pace for 60 wins with those 8ppg/7rpg , Its impossible to find players with those numbers making less than $8mil per year.

And Amare just didnt want to play center, so we could've gotten any warm body to start at center and he probably would've been happy.

Also, Why should i get your sarcasm? We're going back and forth here and it looked like you were trying to make a dig at me.

Maybe use a smiley face icon or something next time.

I am a big Kurt Thomas fan, but I have to event that I'm concerned about injuries for him. That said, replacing him isn't as easy as just finding someone with similar numbers at a lower price. So many people are just hung up on the numbers.



Joe