PJ Update
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The Commish
youknowhatimsayin?
If the Suns are serious about winning a title they'll do whatever it takes to sign him - even if it means the full MLE for one year. Sarver would still end up saving $7mil with the KT deal.
The situation is simple enough.
PJ (and his agent) knows the Suns really need him and have plenty of cap space. The only limitation is luxury tax, which limits how much they are willing to spend.
The Suns know that the other "contenders" are not likely to make a big offer. The Magic used up all their cap space, the Celtics are also facing LT issues, and the Mavs have other needs than another low scoring defense oriented center.
The fact that he has limited himself to "contenders" is very encouraging because he'd get more money from a lottery team with a full MLE. This means there is far less chance of some huge offer coming out of the blue.
Assuming the Suns are prepared to go higher than vet minimum, their real competition appears to be the threat of retirement.
PJ (and his agent) knows the Suns really need him and have plenty of cap space. The only limitation is luxury tax, which limits how much they are willing to spend.
The Suns know that the other "contenders" are not likely to make a big offer. The Magic used up all their cap space, the Celtics are also facing LT issues, and the Mavs have other needs than another low scoring defense oriented center.
The fact that he has limited himself to "contenders" is very encouraging because he'd get more money from a lottery team with a full MLE. This means there is far less chance of some huge offer coming out of the blue.
Assuming the Suns are prepared to go higher than vet minimum, their real competition appears to be the threat of retirement.
YouJustGotSUNSD
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If he wanted to play here, he would have been signed already. I believe thats the cold hard truth.
Definitely not signing PJ to the MLE...
Definitely not signing PJ to the MLE...
Geez, watchomg PJ Brown play for the Bulls last year, I never once thought to myself that he was a player the Suns needed to get. Strange how things turn out.
That's because the Suns need PJ for the Spurs series, not the regular season. He has a reputation for being one of the most effective defenders of Duncan in the entire NBA.
Call me skeptical. But I guess the Suns have little choice at this point.
Rab
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The longer this drags out, the slimmer the chances are of getting him in a Suns jersey.
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uh, so the Mavs don't need PJ for the Spurs series? I mean, if they have money to spend and an owner willing to spend it (which they do) and they know that likely they'll have to go through Duncan, why wouldn't they want this guy to not only be a defensive weapon against Duncan (and has more offensive skill than Diop), but also hurt the Suns at the same time?
You may be right, but IMHO the fact that Kerr is talking to PJ directly and not just his agent is a promising sign. A lot of this discussion is about selling PJ on the excitement of being on a championship contender and that cannot be done through an agent.
What we don't know is how much the subject of money is the issue. If he's still asking for a full MLE and the Suns are only offering vet minimum, then I can't see how they'd have anything to talk about. But if he's willing to the $2 to $2.5 million range, I think there could be a deal.
It is possible that both sides are waiting to see what the Mavs will do.
JCSunsfan
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It looks like they are all waiting for someone to fold.
PJ wants a title contender AND the MLE, but has only a minimum offer from the Suns. His negotiating power is to threaten retirement and float a rumor about the Mavs offering the full MLE.
The Mavs don't want PJ on the Suns but I doubt they really would pay him the full MLE just to keep him from signing here. PJ would make very little difference in a Suns/Mavs series (he might not get any pt at all), and would likely see little floor time during the reg season. If the rumors are coming from Mavs camp, its just Cuban trying to mess with Kerr's head.
The Suns want PJ for the minimum. He will not likely play much but will add significant insurance along the front line. I doubt Sarver will buckle. He's not ususually very keen on giving up money.
Can you imagine? Giving up 2 first rounders to get rid of Kurt's 8 million in salary (only one year left) and then signing PJ for the MLE? That would be giving up 2 first rounders to get 2.5 million in salary off the payroll and a total of 5 million off the books.
PJ wants a title contender AND the MLE, but has only a minimum offer from the Suns. His negotiating power is to threaten retirement and float a rumor about the Mavs offering the full MLE.
The Mavs don't want PJ on the Suns but I doubt they really would pay him the full MLE just to keep him from signing here. PJ would make very little difference in a Suns/Mavs series (he might not get any pt at all), and would likely see little floor time during the reg season. If the rumors are coming from Mavs camp, its just Cuban trying to mess with Kerr's head.
The Suns want PJ for the minimum. He will not likely play much but will add significant insurance along the front line. I doubt Sarver will buckle. He's not ususually very keen on giving up money.
Can you imagine? Giving up 2 first rounders to get rid of Kurt's 8 million in salary (only one year left) and then signing PJ for the MLE? That would be giving up 2 first rounders to get 2.5 million in salary off the payroll and a total of 5 million off the books.
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while PJ might not make a difference against us, he would make a difference against SA, especially considering he's a better offensive player than Diop and Dampier has had injury issues throughout his entire career, including coming down the stretch last year. I really don't see why some people are writing off the Mavs. He accomplishes two things for them - gives them someone with better offensive skills to bang with Duncan off the bench and by getting him, it keeps us rail thin. Kills two birds with one stone if the Mavs get him.
JCSunsfan
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I am sorry, I meant that PJ would not make that much difference FOR the Suns AGAINST Dallas. Not enough for Cuban to worry about anyway.
So this means the Suns are willing to add another player to the roster and pay more luxury tax if it's the minimum correct range. That appears to be the bottom line and why we have not gone after any other big men.
If we can pickup a big man for minimum great. If not, I guess our team is set for small ball. That's how I am interpreting the flury of moves on getting big man.
If we can pickup a big man for minimum great. If not, I guess our team is set for small ball. That's how I am interpreting the flury of moves on getting big man.
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i understand that JC and I'm not debating that point, but I think Cuban DOES worry about beating the Spurs still and PJ helps them there.
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i'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop with one of those trade exceptions. I just won't let myself believe we're really going into this season without a nother serviceable big body. I may criticize Sarver as being not willing to do everything he can to win a title and I have reservations about Kerr as a GM, but I don't think they're stupid enough to really go into the season PJ for nothing or bust attitude.
Man o man I hope your right. The other thing that worries me though is the longer you wait on PJ the more we will lose out on opportunities for other guys out there who will sign.
Then again, if they are looking only spend the minimum then that narrows the list of opportunities quite a bit and none of those guys will probably make an impact anyway.
You have more faith in the them than I do at this point. I still can't get over Kerr trying to sell the fans on Marks.
elindholm
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I wonder whether the Bulls would be willing to do a sign-and-trade of Brown and a few hundred thousand dollars for a second-round pick within the Jones exception. The Suns could sign Brown to whatever amount they wanted with the MLE, but this way, they'd save the full MLE for someone else (har har). Did the Bulls renounce Brown's rights? If not, and the pick is worth even a little bit of money to them, they might be cooperative.
I don't know the answer to this, but they wouldn't have anything to gain from renouncing him since they did not have significant(if any) capspace.
elindholm
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Hoopshype has them at $48.9 million before the Joe Smith signing, so they had decent space, but you're right, it wouldn't have made any sense to renounce Brown before a deal was actually in place.
Sunsman44
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That's what they said about KURT. And what happened to KURT?
Suns don't need another stiff old big. They need athletic, super-fast wanna-be bigs like Balkman, Nocioni, and perhaps Swift or Lee. Unless they make the effort (trade) to pickup two KEY athletic big men they are doomed.
But when I say big man I mean the likes of what I listed above. Heck, even James Singleton would work. Anything and anyone younger than 32.
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This certainly questions the credibility of the Suns FO. If Kerr really wanted to keep Marks he should have said he is a good character player and he brings a lot to the team (no need to specify further). There was no need to imply this image of him being a key reserve or a rotation player.
If one were to believe Kerr, then one has to believe D'Antoni totally ignored a quality player on the bench last season, which I do not believe is true. Marks is more like a minimum type veteran like Pike, although at least Pike had a decent career. I think Pike thought he was retiring prior to coming to the Suns.
