Sean Deveney catches up.

[Chaz]

Nice Article.

A Bright side!?

Way to catch up with the rest of us.

There is a bright side for the Suns

By Sean Deveney - SportingNews.com


The arrival of hometown star Stephon Marbury in New York last week should be the perfect match of an underappreciated player and a hoops fandom that has been looking for someone to love.

In less than a month on the job, Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas has undone many of the grievous errors committed under Scott Layden. For bringing in Marbury for what appears to be nothing, Thomas has earned high praise, if not quite yet a statue on 8th Avenue. Perhaps someday, the move could prove to be a trade of short-term problems for long-term problems, but for the immediate future, there is much rejoicing in Gotham.

There is, though, another city involved in this trade -- the much tamer hoops haven of Phoenix -- and just as New Yorkers celebrated the return of the Knicks as spectacle, the dwindling number of Suns fans were left to wonder what on earth just happened.

Less than a year ago, Marbury nearly led the Suns to a first-round playoff upset of the eventual champion Spurs. Three month ago, he signed a four-year extension to stay with Phoenix, and team owner Jerry Colangelo declared him a "very significant" part of the team's future. Now he's gone, and Suns fans are rightfully confused.

Let's start with some facts. This is the fourth time Marbury has been traded, but this time it had nothing to do with an attitude adjustment or clashes within the organization.

Much has been made of Marbury's problems with the Nets when he was with New Jersey, but he has matured, and there were no such problems with Phoenix. True, Suns All-Star small forward Shawn Marion has grumbled about not getting enough shots with Marbury, who tends to dominate the ball. But Marion peaked at 18.1 shots per game last year with Marbury and averaged 14.7 during his last season with Jason Kidd in 2000-01.

And there have been folks whispering to second-year power forward Amare Stoudemire that Marbury was not doing enough to make the big man a cog in the offense. But Stoudemire, for all of his physical gifts, is not yet polished enough to be a featured offensive option.

It's also a fact that having Marbury and Penny Hardaway, who also was sent to the Knicks, was not an easy situation for new coach Mike D'Antoni. Not that Hardaway and Marbury were problems for D'Antoni -- he just could not have much of an impact with the two veterans, not with his limited NBA resume.

If Marion is appeased, if Stoudemire is happier, if D'Antoni has a younger, more coachable team, then those merely are happy offshoots of the deal. This trade was strictly financial, and the team is not trying to kid its fans into thinking otherwise.

The only proven players the Suns got were injury-riddled power forward Antonio McDyess and reserve point guards Howard Eisley and Charlie Ward. Phoenix waived Ward and likely will let McDyess walk when he becomes a free agent this summer. That will knock about $19 million off the payroll and, with the expiration of power forward Tom Gugliotta's contract, the team should be well below the salary cap.

Even with Marbury, the Suns were last in the West standings and doing poorly at the gate. Now, the team must pitch "economic viability" to its fans, a difficult task. Chants of "De-fense!" at America West Arena will have to be replaced by "Cap space!"

The deal seems like a tank job on the part of the Suns. Yet, ask a few general managers what they think, and they discuss the Suns' move with wistfulness and admiration. As one says, "That took big-time (guts). I really envy where they are now."

That's because it's not difficult to imagine a much different, more exciting Suns team in a few years. The Suns got Maciej Lampe, an 18-year-old Pole who excelled in the Utah summer league. Phoenix also got the rights to Milos Vujanic, a highly touted point guard from Serbia-Montenegro.

The team already had talented Brazilian point guard Leandro Barbosa and Serbia-Montenegro forward Zarko Cabarkapa, who was beginning to play very well before breaking his wrist in November. The Suns will get New York's first-round pick this year, and they expect their own pick to be in the top six or seven.

All of that should provide an excellent core of international players for D'Antoni, who is very familiar with the international scene. He is renowned in Italy, having coached eight years for Philips Milan and Benetton Treviso, winning two coach of the year awards. The trade should end speculation over whether he will be back next season.

The real success of the Marbury deal, though, will be measured this summer. The deal freed up money; now, what do the Suns do with that money? They could offer as much as $10 million a year to a free agent (depending on where the salary cap is set), and Kobe Bryant's name has surfaced.

But management probably will be more realistic. Expect one of the Suns' top targets to be Mavericks point guard Steve Nash. His speed and playmaking skill would be a perfect fit for athletic big men Stoudemire and Marion -- provided Colangelo can outbid gazillionaire Mavs owner Mark Cuban.

It will take a signing like that to quickly make Suns fans see the logic in this deal and to remind the league that the Marbury trade was not a something-for-nothing giveaway. Until then, chant it loud and proud, Phoenix: "Cap space! Cap space!"

Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. Email him at [email protected].

 

[Joe Mama]

I thought it was a good article until the nonsense at the end about trying to sign Steve Nash. I honestly don't understand the logic and some of the sportswriters are using. I think they just look at the Phoenix Suns salary-cap situation, and say, "well, and looks like they will have $7-8 million. Who is going to be a free-agent available for that amount?"

Joe Mama

 

[Yuma]

Especially since he praised Barbosa and Vujanic (SP) as future point guards!! This is silly. Even with JJ starting to shoot well, we would be better off with a marksman two guard, or a better center than we have, etc. In fact, I would not be mad if the Suns skipped picking up a huge veteran free agent next year, if someone worth really having to us is available the following year. I would be happy with two draft picks and stay pat for a year!!

 

[scotsman13]

personally i think that the best player for the suns to go after maybe damper from golden state. this would bring a very nice rebounding center into the valley who would give lampe time to grow into a center and allow us to move white if we need to. i personally dont see kobe a real choose for this team and its long term growth.

 

[Yuma]

I thought I would be lambasted for posting that thought, but look at what we "need" as a team! 1. Rebounding, and 2. defense. Dampier brings both of those things. I think for $7-10 million he would be a good pick-up for us. Of course, Kobe may put more butts in the seats... However, if we just adress team needs, the logical choice is a Dampier. That upgrades our weakest position, too.

 

[hcsilla]

I guess Dampier (who has a career-year) is a bit overrated.
He has a poor rebounding frontcourt-partner in Robinson.
Last season paired with Murphy Dampier's rebounding numers were much less impressive.

Anyway Dampier is not worth the discussion since he will NOT become a FA this offseason.

 

[Chaplin]

Is everyone forgetting the age issue as well??

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

how about the fact he has underperformed in every year prior to this one?

 

[Errntknght]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Dampier is a high post center, which makes him a poor fit with the current Suns - Amare in particular. I imagine we'll continue heavy use of the pick and roll even without Marbs, which again works best with a high post center.