Phoenix talking to Brian Grant

[Joe Mama]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0812suns0812.html

Atlanta's JJ bid helped by Stern

Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

Once again, the finality of the Joe Johnson sign-and-trade deal that was agreed upon 12 days ago may be near.

NBA Commissioner David Stern intervened into the Atlanta Hawks owners' boardroom bickering Thursday, submitting an affidavit that supports eight of the owners' wishes to remove partner Steve Belkin as team governor.

That affidavit was forwarded to Boston Judge Allan van Gestel, who on Tuesday granted Belkin a preliminary injunction preventing eight owners from replacing Belkin. Belkin's ouster would mean he no longer could block the Phoenix-Atlanta trade. advertisement

With the Johnson ordeal possibly near closure today, the Suns have opened a new door in exploring the signing of veteran post player Brian Grant. Grant, waived under the amnesty rule Wednesday by the Lakers, will still receive $29.8 million from Los Angeles over the next two years, but he won't count for purposes of the luxury tax.

The Suns, who have no salary-cap space even with Johnson's departure, could offer Grant as much as the $1.67 million, biannual exception. Grant has several suitors, but Phoenix may be mainly battling Miami, the same team expected to scoop up Michael Finley if he is also an amnesty waiver at Monday's deadline.

"We're talking to the Suns, and Brian (Grant) had a good impression of everyone there," said Mark Bartelstein, Grant's agent. "We had good talks and a good feeling for Phoenix."

Injuries limited Grant, 33, to career lows in starts (eight) and numbers (3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game) last season, but his respected work ethic and character remain as positives. With Steven Hunter signing with Philadelphia, Grant could provide a defensive, rebounding option in the post behind Kurt Thomas and Amaré Stoudemire.

But Phoenix's attention this morning will be on court developments in Boston. The Johnson trade remained on hold because of van Gestel's Tuesday ruling, based in part on the grounds that the Hawks' 2004 partnership agreement stated "any designation or removal (of the governor) shall require the prior approval of the NBA commissioner."

The court could accommodate the defendant owners' request to reconsider the decision as soon as today.

If van Gestel overturns the injunction, the Hawks would replace Belkin as governor with co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. The trade then could be pushed along, sending Johnson and a five-year, $69.6 million deal to Atlanta in exchange for guard Boris Diaw, two first-round picks and a $4.9 million trade exception.

The owners fighting for the trade got Stern involved after van Gestel made a ruling that cited several factors, including his own doubts of whether the trade was good for Atlanta economically and whether the Hawks could find another player to serve Johnson's potential role.

Stern's affidavit seems to counter this portion of van Gestel's ruling: "With the absence of that (commissioner) approval, Belkin's likelihood of success, at least at this time, is unchallengeable. Further, this Court is not so sanguine as the defendants that the NBA Commissioner's approval of Belkin's removal will be readily forthcoming."

 

[JS22]

I'm not exactly thrilled with the proposition of Grant coming here. It seems like he's pretty washed up. But then again, he may be a decent backup big, in limited minutes.

 

[devilalum]

I'm not exactly thrilled with the proposition of Grant coming here. It seems like he's pretty washed up. But then again, he may be a decent backup big, in limited minutes.

I'd rather have Grant than Nash's mystery Canadian friend.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'd rather have Grant than Nash's mystery Canadian friend.

what is with this Canadian guy? Has he seriously been added to the roster?

Joe

 

[tobiazz]

Not content with having one of the biggest winning % turnarounds in history, the Suns are now trying to have the biggest age turnaround ever.

 

[JS22]

I'd rather have Grant than Nash's mystery Canadian friend.

True.

 

[Yuma]

One thing about Grant, even with his disasterous last season, is he can play Shaq straight up defensivly. He doesn't always stop Shaq, but he does make Shaq move his shots a little further out than normal. When healthy Grant is not a shot blocker, but he's more of a banger down low that is hard to move off the block defensivly.

Face it, whoever we add now, maybe with the exception of Finley, is not going to get a lot of minutes the way D'Antoni likes to play his starters big minutes. Now Phoenix is looking for niche players who give them something new to the team.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I actually think this would be a great move as Grant, Padgett, and Burke would be a solid rotation of fouls and size. Grants only going to pay ten minutes a game and i could see him grabbing 4 boards and playing effective (notice the choice of words) post d on duncan and shaq.

I know this was brought up in another thread previously but i was thinking of potential 2 guards who we could get w/ our TE. my thoughts drifted to Sczerbiak and the more i think about it the more i like it. With Raja bell as his primary back up and playing good minutes, i really dont see a drawback and w/ the drafting of McCants the wolves could be shopping him....someone apprise me of what we decided on this issue as a fan base......

 

[SweetD]

I actually think this would be a great move as Grant, Padgett, and Burke would be a solid rotation of fouls and size. Grants only going to pay ten minutes a game and i could see him grabbing 4 boards and playing effective (notice the choice of words) post d on duncan and shaq.

I know this was brought up in another thread previously but i was thinking of potential 2 guards who we could get w/ our TE. my thoughts drifted to Sczerbiak and the more i think about it the more i like it. With Raja bell as his primary back up and playing good minutes, i really dont see a drawback and w/ the drafting of McCants the wolves could be shopping him....someone apprise me of what we decided on this issue as a fan base......

We would have to trade someone along with our exception Wally makes 10 million and our exception is only for around 4.7 Million.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

That might be too much money....whats his contract length? any 5 million dollar spare parts lying around the roster?

 

[elindholm]

Arizona's Finest:

If you visit hoopshype.com, you can get salary information for every team in the league. It isn't always accurate, and it tends to be especially slow getting the terms of free-agent contracts, but it at least provides a big head start toward answering lots of salary questions.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/phoenix.htm

The only Suns salaries in the correct range for a Szczerbiak trade are Thomas and Bell, neither of whom will be traded. Eisley is a phantom, since he has already been bought out and there's nothing left of him to trade.

 

[Chaz]

I wouldn't mind Grant for the LLE.

I think he could be a good addition.

 

[cly2tw]

Yes to Brian, No to Wally!

 

[George O'Brien]

I have no clue how healthy Brian Grant is. If he played hurt last season and can return to what he was doing the last few seasons in Miami, he'd be a very valuable pickup. If he can't do any better than last season, then I wouldn't bother.

If the Suns are actually interested, I'd support it because they would be in a better position to evaulate his health than we are. Also, if the Suns think their trainers can do the same kind of magic on Grant they did on Dice, it might be worth the gamble. Up to last year, he was pretty good.

 

[cly2tw]

If the Suns are actually interested, I'd support it because they would be in a better position to evaulate his health than we are. Also, if the Suns think their trainers can do the same kind of magic on Grant they did on Dice, it might be worth the gamble. Up to last year, he was pretty good.

Exactly my sentiment. Grant couldn't have a worse knee injury than Dice had several times. If he recovered in a similar manner Dice had done with us, he'd be a good gamble for the team.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I am sorry I don't see it with Grant, the guy was great but let's ask is he going to do what we think he is? The guy over the last 5 years sure like to put up shots, everytime I watch him, everytime he touches the ball he heads right for the hoop, do we really need to run the O through Brain Grant?

 

[George O'Brien]

I am sorry I don't see it with Grant, the guy was great but let's ask is he going to do what we think he is? The guy over the last 5 years sure like to put up shots, everytime I watch him, everytime he touches the ball he heads right for the hoop, do we really need to run the O through Brain Grant?

I'm not sure the stats support this perception. Grant has a reputation for having a good mid range jumper, averages 49% for his career (49.3% last season) and around 9-10 ppg his last three seasons in Miami.

 

[elindholm]

The East Valley Tribune this morning says that Grant suffers from "chronic tendinitis in his knees" (from hoopshype). So when I said neck/back/spine, I was close, in the sense that those are all parts of the body.

 

[George O'Brien]

The East Valley Tribune this morning says that Grant suffers from "chronic tendinitis in his knees" (from hoopshype). So when I said neck/back/spine, I was close, in the sense that those are all parts of the body.

I'm glad you're not MY doctor.

Considering what the Suns trainers did with Dice, it might be worth taking a chance. If you are right and it is back issues, then I'd say "no way".

BTW, some of the criticims of getting someone like Grant seems to be based on the idea that this would mean switching to a slow, half court game. I don't see that happneing. However, the Spurs proved they are capable of slowing the game down against the Suns, so it is important the Suns be able to play that kind of game if they have to. Adding another banger is essential if that happens.

 

[playstation]

The East Valley Tribune this morning says that Grant suffers from "chronic tendinitis in his knees" (from hoopshype). So when I said neck/back/spine, I was close, in the sense that those are all parts of the body.

lol. reminds me of the following movie quote:

person x: this snake is DELICIOUS! what part would you say we're eating?

person y: hmmmm. basically...a snake don't have...parts. but if i were to guess, i'd say you were eating his KNEE....

 

[az1965]

How many washed up players are we going to gather on this team???

 

[Chaz]

How many washed up players are we going to gather on this team???

How many do you consider washed up now?

 

[George O'Brien]

How many washed up players are we going to gather on this team???

Compared to what?

Like everyone else, I'm skeptical that Grant is healthy enough to contribute much. But considering what the Suns have to offer, the options are not exciting.

Last summer the Suns decided to use their cap space to sign Q rather than re-sign McDyess. Dice was recovering from three major knee operations and had hardly played in well over two years. The Pistons took a chance on this presumably washed up player and he helped them get to the finals where he averaged 7.3 rpg in just 21.9 minutes.

Considering that the Pistons spent the better part of their MLE on him on a deal guaranteed for four years, it was a huge gamble. It may still turn out to be a bad decision, but so far it looks like the Pistons made the right decision on a supposedly washed up guy.

Grant has not had as serious injuries as Dice but the Suns are not able to offer more than LLE for two years. Maybe he'll be a total flop, but the cost would not be extraordinary. However, if he does a Dice type turnaround, Grant would be an extraordinary addition.

 

[Dustbuster]

How many washed up players are we going to gather on this team???

As many as possible according to the new Suns' doctrine. It seems to me that we are too extreme in everything. For a while it was the extreme youth movement, where no one on the squad was over thirty except a few misfits. We were all about potential. We then went into "win now" mode, but again have gone too extreme, to the point that we have been loathe to stay in drafts or pick up/keep any player 27 or younger.

It seems to me that in the latter half of last year we had a good mix of veterans and young players, and that attributed to a lot of our succcess. The Q for KT was a good move at first, although I hated losing out on the current draft, particularly when it was so deep. But pretty much everything after that has questionable. We offered Bell a big contract, and then went really, really cheap after that. Some statements in today's EVTribune article made it sound like we are pretty much done after the JJ trade, and in my opinion we have left some gaping holes.

Behind Amare and KT we really have nothing but question marks. Burke has never done anything on an NBA level. Tischer has never played in the NBA. Padgett is not a tradition 4 or 5 at all, and has traditionally been a marginal player anyway (never averaged even 20mpg, 4 rebounds, or 7 points). That's not incredibly encouraging.

And backup PG is just as bad. We have Barbosa, who has yet to really grasp some of the finer principles of running a team (some think he never will) and has been terribly erratic. And we have Diaw, another marginal player that seems to have some potential - but we have a coach that seems very put off by inconsistency. I wouldn't call that position covered at all.

If we have to run with Bell or JJax in the starting lineup, we actually have less depth overall than last year right now, and we were hurting for depth last year. We have also inserted two players into the starting lineup that have never in their careers played the number of minutes that our starters typically have. Can KT, for example, stay on the floor for 35+ minutes without for getting too many fouls? The same needs to be asked for Bell. Will KTs body accept that kind of punishment over the long haul and still give him enough juice for the postseason?

I think we still need some more work, even if we hold off using the big TE until later. We need a few more reliable players before training camp.

Some suggestions on the cheap: Grant or some other amnesty casualty big, Dan Dickau, Jay Williams, Steve Blake, Devin Brown, Mikki Moore. I'm sure there are others, not to mention players lost in other teams rotation that the minor TE might land.

 

[myrondizzo]

KT has averaged over 30mpg for the last 4 years.