Re-sign McDyess...

[sly fly]

Originally posted by RichDawg
Racoon,

McDyess was outrebounded by both of our starting forwards tonight. I do not have a vendeda against McDyess, and he did have a nice game tonight, but any rational (and knowledgeable) fan can see this was a showcase game for him. He won't be a Sun next year.

Qualify that statement with facts.

Any "rational" fan can see that McDyess can help this team.

Wasted Fate is right. Screw some of these young guys.

Zarko is about the weakest NBA player I've ever seen. That's a huge concern.

If PHX can land Kobe... you do it. Ask all questions later.

If PHX can put veteran bangers alongside Amare... you do it.

PHX can't waste years trying to nurture this team along. The NBA doesn't work like that. Ask Chicago. The NBA will fly right by you if you don't take the opportunity to make yourself better in a hurry.

PHX has that chance, and yet I hear some of you crying about Jerry or Bryan Colangelo.

 

[Chaplin]

I have a feeling that we won't be able to keep him. I'd like to--I'd be all for Kobe and McDyess, but I don't think that will happen. If we don't get Kobe, then we might have a chance, but I'm afraid we'd probably overpay for Dice.

It's a good test for how much Dice REALLY likes Phoenix.

 

[RichDawg]

elindholm,

I humbly retract my "showcasing" statement. Perhaps "writing off the season" would be more appropriate. Jahidi White starting at center tonight would have had little change on the final score.

sly fly,

Assuming Mcdyess could stay healthy for the rest of his Suns career (highly unlikely), where would he play? His natural position is the 4 spot. I don't see how paying mop-up for Amare can help this team. Start him at center? One soft elbow from Shaq will put Antonio's fragile body on the IL.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'm sorry, but one nice game against a soft Milwaukee frontline does not make Antonio McDyess a keeper. How much are all of you willing to pay him and over what period of time?

Joe Mama

 

[Gee!]

You want to rebuild with Zarko Cabarkapa?

Yup, whats wrong with Zarko? He will be a star in the future.

 

[sly fly]

Yup, whats wrong with Zarko? He will be a star in the future.

He's 23 years old and has the body of a 15 year old.

What gives you the idea he'll be a star?

If he goes Barry Bonds on himself, then he'll probably have a pretty good career.

But, a star??

 

[boondockdrunk]

He's 23 years old and has the body of a 15 year old.

What gives you the idea he'll be a star?

If he goes Barry Bonds on himself, then he'll probably have a pretty good career.

But, a star??

I dont think that he will be a star, but it isnt like he wont be a solid player. What do you have against him anyway?

 

[Billythekid]

It's absolutely essential that we get some vets to complement the youth of this team and Mcdyess would be ideal, but i just don't see him sticking around. I would think a player like him, if he's going to accept the min or close to it, he'd opt for a contending team. Quotes like ..."I looked at the scoreboard and I couldn't believe it," McDyess said. "It shows what they've got coming here." - I might be reading too much into it, but seems like he's referring to a situation he's not really part of.

I hope i'm wrong and he's back. I hope he gels and starts playing consistently well so he feels he's part of this team and it's future.

 

[sly fly]

I dont think that he will be a star, but it isnt like he wont be a solid player. What do you have against him anyway?

I've got nothing against Zarko. It just amazes me how people have fallen in love with him. What has he done to prove this?

What exactly has he shown to make people believe he'll be an All-Star?

- I've seen 2 of the most gawd-awful air ball free throws I've ever seen.
- I've seen a scared player who pulls the string on most of his jumpers.
- I've seen him lose the ball in traffic due to being grossly weak.
- I've seen weak passes due to being (you guessed it)... weak.
- Too slow of a first step to get by most.

I'll give him this off-season to prove me wrong. He had better come to next camp with a much better physique. And, he better get rid of those game jitters. NBA players smell blood when they see a guy scared as Zarko.

I HOPE he turns out. Seems like a great kid. He has huge hands and a long wing span. Can pass in traffic. Sees the court pretty well. You do see the tools. But, he'll be eaten alive if he doesn't improve his strength. And, you'll get used to seeing this guy on in the IL every year.

 

[Gee!]

I find it ironic, that people call Zarko weak, yet want McDyess back. McDyess is a self admitted emotional person. Even before he jumped ship back to Denver (for emotional reasons), people would say he has all the talent but very soft. Now after 2 serious knee injuries, he's the second comming of Danny Manning. If I could have McDyess back for the bare mininium, I would. But as far as me thinking he has potential like Zarko, or will be a leader, I seriously doubt it. McDyess is a very quiet person. I'm just not gonna lead the bring back McDyess campaign, cuz I could care less.

 

[sly fly]

I find it ironic, that people call Zarko weak, yet want McDyess back. McDyess is a self admitted emotional person. Even before he jumped ship back to Denver (for emotional reasons), people would say he has all the talent but very soft. Now after 2 serious knee injuries, he's the second comming of Danny Manning. If I could have McDyess back for the bare mininium, I would. But as far as me thinking he has potential like Zarko, or will be a leader, I seriously doubt it. McDyess is a very quiet person. I'm just not gonna lead the bring back McDyess campaign, cuz I could care less.

Gee,

Zarko being weak has nothing to do with Dice.

You throw around the "potential" word with Zarko. When I think "potential", I think of LeBron or Carmelo.

IF Zarko gets stronger (mentally/physically), he has the "potential" to be pretty good. I already listed the reasons why.

Yes, I would like to have Dice back. However, like many, I don't think it's looking too good. He'll probably command sick dollars from NJ. It would be refreshing if he took less to stay here. Not crossing my fingers.

 

[Gee!]

You throw around the "potential" word with Zarko. When I think "potential", I think of LeBron or Carmelo.

You think LeBron has potential averaging 20+ points in the last month? His averages have gone up every month this season. Im curious to know your defintion of potential. To me LeBron is already a proven player.

 

[Chaplin]

Sly, most of us that really like Z base it on pre-injury. And we think that he's young enough that we might be able to see a return of that player. Unfortunately, that has yet to happen, but he was looking VERY promising before Fortson's cheap shot.

 

[sly fly]

Sly, most of us that really like Z base it on pre-injury. And we think that he's young enough that we might be able to see a return of that player. Unfortunately, that has yet to happen, but he was looking VERY promising before Fortson's cheap shot.

He was having a pretty good game when Danny Fatson took him down.

If Zarko doesn't get stronger (he's already 23), those types of injuries will keep happening. And, players will continue to push him around.

I'm probably not saying anything different than Suns management has already told Zarko. He knows he has to get stronger. We'll see what happens over the summer.

 

[sly fly]

You think LeBron has potential averaging 20+ points in the last month? His averages have gone up every month this season. Im curious to know your defintion of potential. To me LeBron is already a proven player.

Lebron has the potential to redefine the game. He hasn't even scratched the surface of his greatness.

I still want to see his birth certificate. :twisted:

 

[George O'Brien]

He was having a pretty good game when Danny Fatson took him down.

If Zarko doesn't get stronger (he's already 23), those types of injuries will keep happening. And, players will continue to push him around.

I'm probably not saying anything different than Suns management has already told Zarko. He knows he has to get stronger. We'll see what happens over the summer.

Actually, Zarko had a fantastic summer series in Utah and supposedly played well during the European Championships before suffering his hernia. That eliminated his training camps and really hurt his conditioning at the start of the season. He was finally getting into shape when he had his wrist injury. His wrist injury prevented him from doing weight lifting and he is weaker than he was at the start of the season.

Gaining strength and better conditioning should help him regain some of his confidence. Working on his defensive footwork would help him actually become a useful player.
-----------------------
Until the last couple of games, Dice has not looked all that effective. Everyone kept saying how well he was moving around, but it was not translating into on floor productivity (shades of Googs). Dice looked a lot more active in the last couple games.

Right now I'm not convinced that anyone is going to offer Dice a big contract. His injury is too recent and too serious. After the Zo Mourning fiasco, I suspect that most owners are going to be reluctant to give big bucks to guys with recent health problems.

At this point it is hard to figure out how much Dice is going to be worth. From the Suns perspective, the issue of whether they are going to make an offer will depend on:

1. How well he performs in games and in tests.

2. What their draft pick is. (Okafor would make Dice redundant).

3. Whether they sign Kobe. (If they did, chances are the Suns would not be able to offer much more than the veteran minimum).

4. How much other big men go for. If a guy like Mark Blount signs for $3 million, then Dice would not be able to command more than about $1 to $1.5. But if Blount got $6 million, Dice might be able to justify a bigger salary.

 

[Errntknght]

Right now, I'd say McDyess would rather play for the Suns than most other teams. The Knicks were putting pressure on him to play heavy minutes while the Suns backed off and, it appears, let him work up slowly. If he gets some prime time minutes the rest of the year and feels like he is part of the team I think he'll be even more inclined to return next year.
I think his primary role on the team would be as a backup to Amare and secondarily he'd play some center and perhaps even a little as SF. Maybe that won't appeal to him but he may well think he's better off doing that than playing heavy minutes day in and day out. His best chance of both playing more basketball and leaving the game with knees no worse than they are now is to avoid situations where there's pressure to play through 'minor' knee problems. Most likely he'd like to compete for the title and if he sees lots of promise for the Suns that would be another plus factor.
I like him in that role on the Suns - Amare can keep his minutes down in the 33-35 range and not worry overly about foul trouble because he has a solid backup. His chances of staying healthy improve and so do Antonio's.
Of course, he won't return for 1 year at $2 mil if some other team offers $15 mil over 3 years. We'll have to come up with something that is close to what the market will give him. At this point, I'm sure he's viewed as a high risk but you never know if that will stop teams from 'overpaying'. All the Suns can do is continue to evaluate his contribution and the state of his knees then offer him what they think he's worth to them. Then let the chips fall where they may.

 

[slinslin]

Not sure about that.
McDyess always says "they" instead of "we".
For example "You can see they have a bright future" or something like that.

With the lack of playing time I think McDyess feels not wanted.

He can't possibly be worse than Zarko even one-legged but rarely gets a chance to play more than a couple of minutes.

I hope they start McDyess or Lampe for the rest of the season and give the other the backup minutes at PF and C.

 

[Joe Mama]

I guess I really don't think Cabarkapa should be part of this discussion. Unless he gets a lot stronger he should be getting very limited minutes at power forward. He is clearly better at small forward. Antonio McDyess' minutes would be backing up and occasionally starting 4 (only if Amare is injured) and 5. Unless Cabarkapa gets A LOT stronger over the summer there minutes shouldn't interfere much.

I think it just depends on the other moves the Phoenix Suns make the summer. Obviously if they need all of them money to sign Kobe Bryant I could care less about Antonio McDyess. If they spend some of their money on a free-agent center I could care less about Antonio McDyess. Like many of us have sent already, if he wants to sign for the veteran minimum that's great. Otherwise I wouldn't give him anything more than a short term contract for next to nothing. The last thing the Suns want to do is mass of the ability to sign someone this summer or down the road because they made a competitive offer to Antonio McDyess, and he reinjured his knee.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

I can envision the Suns doing $2 million if the money is there. A lot will depend on exactly where the salary cap is, how much Vujanic will cost, if the Suns get the Cleveland pick, and what Kobe decides.

Here is what I envision:

$47 Cap
(33.8 ) Starting salaries
-----
$13.2 Inital Available
(2.2) #5 pick in the draft
-----
$11 Before transactions
5.8 White contract
-----
$16.8 Available
(13) First year of a $100 million deal
------
$3.8 Available for Vujanic and Dice