JS22
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Suns finalizing a deal with Sean Marks.
Pat Burke version 2.0?
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=69986
Pat Burke version 2.0?
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=69986
Suns’ roster to grow by 2
By Jerry Brown, Tribune
July 20, 2006
As the Suns make the fiveyear, $21 million signing of guard Marcus Banks official today at an afternoon news conference, league sources say the team will add another big man to the mix through free agency.
New Zealander Sean Marks, a 6-foot-10 center who has played parts of six NBA seasons, including the past two with San Antonio, will sign a contract for the veteran minimum salary of $932,000 and give the team a 12th player under contract for the 2006-07 season.
Marks, who played in the Pac-10 at California and became the first man from New Zealand to play in the NBA with Toronto in 1999, has never played more than 25 games in a season. He played in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics for his country and helped New Zealand to a fourthplace finish in the 2002 Wo r l d Championships.
While 6-foot-7 Eric Piatkowski, also signed by the Suns during the offseason, is known as a 3-point specialist, Marks is more athletic and an inside scorer who has never made a 3-pointer in the NBA. He shot 52 percent (37-for-71) last year, averaging just seven minutes a game.
Meanwhile, Banks arrived in the Valley Wednesday night and will sign his deal before being introduced to the media as Steve Nash’s backup.
Banks expected to be the starter in Minnesota after starting the final 28 games of last season but found himself looking for work after the TWolves signed free agent Mike James last week.
“If I’m going to sit behind anybody, I don’t mind sitting behind Steve,” Banks told the Las Vegas Review-Journal before heading to Arizona. “I’m super excited. We’re going to have some fun in the sun.
“I’m going to a great group of guys who know how to win. I always believe that things happen for a reason, and it was tough waiting to see what would happen. But this is a great situation I’m going to. The coaches there want me to be myself, and with the way they play, wide open, I think I can be very successful.”
Suns general manager and coach Mike D’Antoni was very excited to have Banks aboard.
“He’s a guy who’s on the cusp of being a very good player in this league,” D’Antoni said. “He fills our need for a perimeter defender and a backup for Steve, but he also plays the way we like to play and will fit in great with this team.”