Roster

[Chaplin]

Here is the roster as it stands with contracted players (at least we know for sure the rookies WILL be contracted):

Stephon Marbury
Shawn Marion
Penny Hardaway
Amare Stoudemire
Joe Johnson
Jake Tsakalidis
Bo Outlaw
Tom Gugliotta
Zarko Cabarkapa
Leandro Barbosa
Casey Jacobsen

Probable Resign:
Jake Voskuhl

Maybe resign:
Scott Williams

Likely gone:
Randy Brown
Alton Ford
Dan Langhi

If we do end up signing Scotty, that gives us 13 players, so obviously Googs will probably end up on the IL (either him or Scott Williams)... Assuming everyone else is healthy.

 

[elindholm]

If we do end up signing Scotty, that gives us 13 players, so obviously Googs will probably end up on the IL (either him or Scott Williams)...

Or whichever other player is least in a position to contribute -- Tsakalidis or one of the rookies. Or possibly Jacobsen, if Cabarkapa turns out to be the designated long-range shooting specialist.

My guess is that Gugliotta won't be on the IR to start the season, unless of course he's actually hurt. They'll extend him the courtesy of letting him play for a couple of weeks, to prove to themselves that he is still ineffective. Then they'll bench him, and then sometime after that he'll get back spasms, right about when Cabarkapa (for instance) is ready to contribute.

Anyway, it looks like a promising rotation:

Voskuhl/Williams/Tsakalidis/Stoudemire/Outlaw
Stoudemire/Outlaw/Gugliotta/Cabarkapa
Marion/Johnson/Cabarkapa
Hardaway/Johnson/Jacobsen
Marbury/Hardaway/Barbosa

That's all 13, but at least they're all potentially available.

 

[Chaplin]

That is actually one amazing looking roster...

So what happens if we don't sign Scott Williams and the Suns do what Marbury wants and sign Elden Campbell??

 

[fordronken]

That's a good point. I guess we can rule out the idea of a free agent now.

 

[Chaplin]

How ironic that this summer, the entire outlook of our roster depends on the offseason work of one player:

Jake Tsakalidis.

Hopefully he won't disappoint.

 

[elindholm]

So what happens if we don't sign Scott Williams and the Suns do what Marbury wants and sign Elden Campbell??

Oh, I forgot about that! That would be great. I've always liked Elden Campbell, and he'd be much better than Scott Williams next year.

But, I thought I read a statement from the Suns' brass a week or two ago that they were planning to bring Williams back. Does that ring a bell for anyone else?

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by elindholm


But, I thought I read a statement from the Suns' brass a week or two ago that they were planning to bring Williams back. Does that ring a bell for anyone else?

Yes, I saw that too, quite recently. They hadn't said anything about it until about a week ago. I'm not sure if the draft makes any difference, but we'll have to see what happens July 1st.

 

[elindholm]

How ironic that this summer, the entire outlook of our roster depends on the offseason work of one player:

Jake Tsakalidis.

I'm going to respectfully disagree. I think that Tsakalidis will never, not in his entire career, play more than 15 minutes a game for the Suns. It's not that he's incompetent, but that he just doesn't fit into the style of these Suns. Remember that he was drafted before the Kidd/Marbury trade that completely changed the complexion of the roster. It really is a totally different team now, and Tsakalidis doesn't fit in. No matter how hard he works, improving his shooting or footwork or boxing out or whatever, he'll still be clumsy and plodding.

To me the key player is Joe Johnson. He has to make something happen this year. If the Suns are going to be playing "skill ball" (what a hilarious euphemism), he has to be able to put in quality time at both SG and SF. If he can become a player, the Suns can start thinking about the next level.

 

[Joe Mama]

I definitely would not rule out a trade this summer to try to help with the salary cap. I'm not sure what they can really do, but I'll bet they try to do something. Even though he seems to be a great guy and a fan favorite they might try to move Bo Outlaw.

We'll see.

Joe Mama

 

[slinslin]

I think they should try to unload Penny if anything and get some shorter contracts. Preferably some sort of 2nd string G/F involved who adds depth to the SG and Sf positions. JJ would start SG, Marion at SF.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by slinslin
I think they should try to unload Penny if anything and get some shorter contracts. Preferably some sort of 2nd string G/F involved who adds depth to the SG and Sf positions. JJ would start SG, Marion at SF.

The most likely trade fodder now is Penny. The Suns really don't need players, so a Penny for Terrell Brandon type of thing would make sense (at least for us). I'm not sure that is likely, but I just do see much else happening.

Googs is staying. His contract comes off the books next summer. We could just cut him, hoping some team with space picks him up (unlikely, although not that big of a risk), if not, he clears, and then tries to get on with another team while still collecting a check from the Suns.

 

[Chaplin]

Anybody who thinks Penny is realistic trade bait is deluding themselves. He's servicable right now, yeah, but not for the money he's making and for as many years as he has remaining.

He's not going anywhere.

 

[SirStefan32]

First of all, the roster is looking really well.

Cabarkapa and Barbosa will develop into excellent players, but that's going to take a few years. Their development cobined with the development of Amare Stoudemire will make the Suns a serious title contender in a few years.

Right now, however, I would like to see an experienced free agent on the roster. Suns' main problem last year was the lack of scoring off the bench. They need somebody who can score 8-10 points off the bench.

I agree with Eric that Jake Tsakalidis' development is not the most important thing. I think it is the development of Joe Johnson, and the two rookies.


Can't wait for the season to start!

 

[sunsfn]

The suns would take that candy bar for Penny if they could move him. The chances of Penny leaving are probably zero..........!

And I agree, they may try to move Outlaw.

 

[elindholm]

Anybody who thinks Penny is realistic trade bait is deluding themselves.... He's not going anywhere.

Not even to Miami? I thought you said that trade was bad for Phoenix....

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by elindholm
Anybody who thinks Penny is realistic trade bait is deluding themselves.... He's not going anywhere.

Not even to Miami? I thought you said that trade was bad for Phoenix....

It was.

But that Kobe for Penny trade isn't bad...

Oh, we were talking reality, right? Then, yeah, he's not going anywhere...

 

[binkar]

I think a player everyone is forgetting about is Casey Jacobsen. He has only played one year in the league. His shot was inconsistent but it is apparent that he can be a lights out shooter at some point. He also showed some aggresivness going to the hole which is nice. I know he will never be a star in this league or anything but he could be one of those guys that comes off the bench and give us 8-12 points every night and if hes on alot more than that. His defense struggled a little bit but he tries making it up with heart and hustle and he still has alot he could bring to this team as a great role player.

 

[JCSunsfan]

So the depth chart looks like this


PG
Steph
LeBo (sorry, I'm just to lazy to type the whole name every time)
Penny
JJ

Nice depth here. If LeBo is the defensive stud some say, it will add an interesting dimension.

SG
Penny
JJ
CJake
Barby

Solid here too. Deep enough to survive an injury to any one of these players.

SF
Shawn
Zarko
JJ
Bo
Penny

Good options here for matchups. We can go bigger against bigger SF's and smaller against others.

PF
Amare
Zarko
Bo
Googs
Little Jake

I hope Zarko doesn't get alot of minutes at PF. Amare needs to be on the floor. But good depth here.

C
Big Jake
Little Jake
Zarko
William
(Hopefully Bo is out of this)

Zarko will play center, after all, this is the Suns. Suns mgmt has already said they envision a front line of Amare, Shawn, and Zarko as being very effective offensively.


General observations: Looks like the most dispensible players are Googs and Bo. Googs isn't going anywhere, Bo maybe. I'm just not sure what we would want in return. We really don't need players, and we're not likely to get any decent picks for Bo.

My guess is that we wait to see how this team performs before we make any more moves.