Suns get Aaron Brooks

[jagu]

Dragic's game summed up this year.

1) Drive madly into the paint and getting blocked off and go back out.
2) Come up to the front court and pass the ball off and hide in a corner till the offensive play is over.

I hope Aaron Brooks can break down defenses, I've seen him in many games on NBA.tv and I always felt he could be good in this offense. Let's see.

 

[Folster]

So according to this Traxxe character, we're going to trade Nash who is unhappy with the direction of the team to a lottery team so we can draft a point guard. Which lottery bound team is Nash dying to play for? And if Babby thinks we are getting Freddette before Utah, he's crazy.

 

[desertdawg]

So according to this Traxxe character, we're going to trade Nash who is unhappy with the direction of the team to a lottery team so we can draft a point guard. Which lottery bound team is Nash dying to play for? And if Babby thinks we are getting Freddette before Utah, he's crazy.

Yup, he appears to be quite the digger.

 

[AfroSuns]

Wow, got out of work to learn we traded for Brooks. This is one trade i really dont know what to think.
I mostly disliked Brooks, i have always considered him an annoying tiny Gnat. I guess i have to like him now after he dons a suns uni.
As much as i like Dragic and sorry to see him go, he has been mostly terrible this season but i believe Brooks will be better offensively, but is it worth the drop in defense??
Ugh, the most annoying part is that this is the best the Suns can do.

 

[TBaslim]

Top-tier players like CP3 are looking to join other top-tier players in what seems to be a league where only 4-6 teams are relevant and the other squads are just fodder. It started with Boston when Garnett and Allen joined Boston. Then LeBron and Bosh go to Miami. Melo gets traded to NY who has Stoudemire. So on and so forth.

So what you're really saying is that Danny Ainge is responsible for destroying modern professional basketball in America?

I knew it!!!

Danny-Waaaa and his epic hat collection strike again!

 

[TBaslim]

I can understand your feeling about the Suns neglecting scouting. It seems the Suns scouting has never been the same after the death of Dan Percudani. I don't suppose it will ever change so long as Sarver owns the team.

Bingo. My thoughts exactly. He was a core part of JC's operation for years, and the reputation was he had a great eye for talent.

Folks like that make or break professional sports organizations over time.

That's what pissed me off so much about Sarver's rumored purge of the Suns FO. It's one thing to change the execs, but weed whacking the long time core folks is not the way to treat a beloved franchise.

 

[ReddBird]

Yahoo Sports (here) says that Brooks contract is expiring this year...and that he's a "locker room cancer".

We traded for CANCER?

 

[Mainstreet]

Yahoo Sports (here) says that Brooks contract is expiring this year...and that he's a "locker room cancer".

We traded for CANCER?

Under current CBA rules Brooks will be a restricted free agent this summer so the Suns should be able to match offers if the they want to keep him. However, who knows how the new CBA will work. There is no doubt Brooks was unhappy losing his job as a starter in Houston last season. His stats last season were quite good. If Nash is traded in the summer, he will probably move back to being a starter unless the Suns find a better starting PG.

 

[TBaslim]

One final thought (for now) on Dragic this year vs last...

Was watching some clips of his best play last year and one thing stands out: he had lots of room to operate and setup his ginobli-esque slashing moves and 3 ball shooting. He was able to bring the ball past half court and start to setup with very little on the ball pressure. The great chemistry and balance of last year's bench mob helped a bunch in this regard too.

This season, opposing PG always crowded him and hounded him and this clearly impacted his confidence and ball handling. Now, a PG needs to be able to handle this kind of defense. I assume (and hope) the Suns coaches worked with him on this. If they did and he couldn't get it, why not try to make him an off-guard ala a smaller Ginobli? Run Zabian, Goran, Duds, Hak and Gortat?

I really hope for his sake (cause I like the guy and his style of play when doing well) he grows like a Nash on another team into a really nice starter. Maybe his own team and some extended, reliable burn is all he needs. Nash wouldn't be Nash without those first few rough growing years in Dallas with Dirk and Finley. It only worked cause Dallas was so awful at the time, and the Nelsons had patience.

 

[Chaplin]

Yahoo Sports (here) says that Brooks contract is expiring this year...and that he's a "locker room cancer".

We traded for CANCER?

They're basing it on the incident where he left the floor in the 4th quarter a few weeks back. Other than that, I haven't heard a lot of grumbling that he's a cancer. Grant Hill has endorsed him and that's not exactly chump change.

 

[AzStevenCal]

They're basing it on the incident where he left the floor in the 4th quarter a few weeks back. Other than that, I haven't heard a lot of grumbling that he's a cancer. Grant Hill has endorsed him and that's not exactly chump change.

I hope that means something. Grant Hill is a great teammate and I could see him saying something like this simply hoping that it would have a positive impact on the newcomer. He probably wouldn't say it if he hated the guy but who knows?

Steve

 

[Griffin]

The thing about this trade is that we likely won't know whether it was good or bad until the off-season (unless Brooks plays bad and falls out of rotation, in which case we'll know a lot sooner). But if he leaves in the off-season, either because some team overpays him and Suns don't match or because the Suns choose not to try to re-sign him altogether, then essentially we would have given up Dragic and a pick for a 27 game rental (and a possible playoff run).

 

[Sunburn]

Has Nash welcomed him yet?

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I agree. With all the young talent on this team, I can't see why we would care about draft picks. The core of Nash, Hill, and Vince Carter will carry us for years so they would never play anyway.

::90s flashback

Sarcasm aside, you're freak out about this trade is puzzling. Clearly this team needs an infusion of young talent, but it's hard to expect much from a non-lottery pick in a weak draft from a poor drafting team.

As one wise poster stated, in bi-polar fashion...

"I miss the days when the Suns were guaranteed to steal a great player in the teens of a draft. Finley, Nash, Wesley Person, Marjele.

The last great Suns pick was Barbosa and that is debatable."

If you plan for rebuilding involves wishing and praying a non lottery pick in a bad draft is acquired by a questionable drafting team, you're in some big trouble. To freak out about it and talk about how horrible it is, is ridiculous.

Goran was crap this year, Brooks has been ineffective, but did win the most improved player as recently as last year and should be an upgrade the rest of the year. I'd put Brooks value as marginally better than Goran at this point. Regardless, I don't plan on losing any sleep over it.

 

[devilalum]

Has Nash welcomed him yet?

twitter

 

[Mainstreet]

So what you're really saying is that Danny Ainge is responsible for destroying modern professional basketball in America?

I knew it!!!

Danny-Waaaa and his epic hat collection strike again!

Just think if the Suns could have traded Marion for Garnett then we could have destroyed modern basketball.

Actually the Suns had a version of an all-star team with Nash, JJ, Marion and Amare in the 2004-05 season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2005.html

 

[Ninjafish]

paulcoro: Dragic said he was “shocked.” After the Suns plane landed in TOR, Nash saw the news on the Web & told Dragic before he turned on his phone.

Groans.

I thought this was a terrible trade even before I learned that we were giving up a first round pick. That's mind boggling. Even if it was just Dragic swapped for Brooks straight up, and even if for argument's sake let's say Brooks was clearly better than Dragic, if Brooks doesn't resign here this summer we basically just threw away our first round pick for nothing. Think about how bad that would look.

I wasn't ready to give up on Dragic. He was our #1 weapon against the Spurs, he was one of the few things we could really look forward to if we met the Spurs this year in a Round 1 vs 8 match up. The drop off in quality between our bench this year and last year has way more to do with the lack of a capable PF than it does anything to do with Dragic.

 

[desertdawg]

Dragic wasn't progressing, much the opposite. Goran is gone because he wasn't producing, he gets man handled at times, and we are going to the playoffs. Might be a good PG someday, but we have 27 games and then it's playoff time. I still like the trade, Brooks has a big chance coming here. I just hope he leaves the drama in Houston.

 

[Mainstreet]

paulcoro: Dragic said he was “shocked.” After the Suns plane landed in TOR, Nash saw the news on the Web & told Dragic before he turned on his phone.

Groans.

I thought this was a terrible trade even before I learned that we were giving up a first round pick. That's mind boggling. Even if it was just Dragic swapped for Brooks straight up, and even if for argument's sake let's say Brooks was clearly better than Dragic, if Brooks doesn't resign here this summer we basically just threw away our first round pick for nothing. Think about how bad that would look.

I wasn't ready to give up on Dragic. He was our #1 weapon against the Spurs, he was one of the few things we could really look forward to if we met the Spurs this year in a Round 1 vs 8 match up. The drop off in quality between our bench this year and last year has way more to do with the lack of a capable PF than it does anything to do with Dragic.

As I recall the Suns lost McDyess during a lock-out. Let's hope it doesn't happen again, not that they are comparable players. Sometimes you have to roll the dice. I'm thinking the Suns would have not made the playoffs with Dragic as the backup PG, but that would have not been all bad in regards to the Suns keeping their draft pick. As I understand the rumors surrounding the trade, Houston was looking to trade Brooks to Minnesota for Flynn. This may be why the Suns had to give up the pick if they wanted him. I guess we will have to wait to see how it all plays out. I'd have been willing to give up both picks for Millsap if the Suns could have made it work without giving up someone important.

 

[cly2tw]

Feels like the craziest deadline ever. When was the last time with so many trades at the deadline?

 

[Mainstreet]

Dragic wasn't progressing, much the opposite. Goran is gone because he wasn't producing, he gets man handled at times, and we are going to the playoffs. Might be a good PG someday, but we have 27 games and then it's playoff time. I still like the trade, Brooks has a big chance coming here. I just hope he leaves the drama in Houston.

Dragic needs to go to a team that will make him the starter and not look back. If he gets that opportunity somewhere, he might just might blossom into a good PG. IMO, he looks more like a Barbosa type player.

 

[JCSunsfan]

So, according to 'Traxxe" the Suns are planning to trade for two more picks in the draft? Well, if that is true, I certainly see why they would do this. 4 rookies is a bit much.

Well, if "Traxxe" is telling the truth and I do lurk on the RealGM boards, and his stuff usually rings true, the Suns are making one last run with Nash and then going into full blown rebuild mode this summer. If they can move a bit of Nash's salary, they will be sitting pretty for the 2012 FA period. We will then find out what kind of salesman Babby is.

Next year is going to be ugly, but the 2012 draft is where they will be looking for the high lottery pick.

 

[Ninjafish]

Rockets, Suns swap point guards
Houston trades Aaron Brooks to Phoenix for Goran Dragic and a first-round pick.

• View this deal in the ESPN Trade Machine


Houston Rockets: A-

After a very promising 2009-10 campaign, Dragic has regressed mightily. He is using a ton of possessions and using them very badly, making 27.7 percent of his 3s and shooting an abysmal 60.8 percent at the free throw line. Amazingly, he has still been better than Brooks, and I think we can safely say he'll bring a sunnier attitude as well.

Somehow, the Rockets also wrangled a mid-to-late first-round pick -- which is Phoenix's if the it make the playoffs, and Orlando's otherwise -- out of this. While the change of scenery can only help both Dragic and Brooks, Dragic, 24, is younger by two years, makes less money, and I would argue has the greater upside. It wasn't the homerun Rockets GM Daryl Morey was seeking, but it was a solid shot down the line.

As an added bonus, today's trades also position Houston to get under the luxury tax if it can work a favorable buyout with Jared Jeffries or if some of its players miss the incentives in their contracts. More likely, the Rockets will end up slightly over, but they at least cut their exposure with the trades.


Phoenix Suns: C-

Brooks may be the succession strategy if the Suns trade Steve Nash this summer. But if Phoenix sees him as its point guard of the future, the future just got worse. While an early-season injury may be party to blame, Brooks' numbers this season have been even worse than Dragic's, to the point that it looks like Brooks' Most Improved campaign in 2009-10 campaign may have been a fluke season.

He's not a 34.6 percent shooter, which is his mark so far this season, but even when he's playing well he's a major defensive liability. Brooks is also in the top 10 if I ever made a list of "guys I'd hate playing with" -- he pounds the ball for 20 seconds every trip.

As a tempo-changing scorer off the bench, Brooks has value, and if the Suns just use him that way he'll be fine. But I wouldn't have surrendered a first-round pick to get him, especially when Dragic can do the same thing more cheaply; Dragic is owed just $2.1 million next year, while Brooks is a restricted free agent who is hoping to cash in.

I mean, yeah, what were they thinking? A straight up Dragic for Brooks trade with no picks involved would at least have been debatable.

 

[mojorizen7]

Don't like the trade(shocker right?)
Aaron Brooks....nice little player. Never avg'd over 5 assists per gm,cant play a lick of defense....but he can score and shoot the 3 soooooo......nice trade for what the SUNS were looking for.

Is Aaron Brooks better than anything we'd have gotten from the Orlando pick?....probably yeah. Still,its a FIRST rd pick AND a player for Aaron Brooks? Yuck.

I know many here had given up on Dragic,thats fine. Not me,IMO he'll be a solid guard playing outside of the SUNS system. Good luck to him,its too bad he wasn't Steve Nash huh?

SUNS have no concern for what lies ahead it seems. Draft picks continue to be thrown around like chewing gum.
(Sigh)

Can someone(who's not a homer) give me good reason to believe that this organization is headed in the right direction?...and that the SUNS "stock" is rising?

EDIT: Wait,Houston got OUR pick?
Seriously?

All i can do is LMFAO at this franchise. C_L_U_E_L_E_S_S

 

[JCSunsfan]

All the Suns coaches and FO was absolutely for this trade. There were no dissenters according to Gentry. The team has been watching Brooks closely since before the 2007 draft and have been trying to get him.

Not agreein, just sayin.

BTW, twitter on Hoopshype says that Houston was really pushing for Gortat for Brooks. Once the Suns said absolutely no, they turned to Thabeet.