Suns offer Amare maximum contract extension worth an estimated $110 million

[Gaddabout]

I'd love to see how you argue that the Magic are crippled. They were IN THE FINALS LAST YEAR, and went to the ECF this year. It was a stupid signing, but explain to me how they are crippled.

They pissed away all their flexibility afforded to them because they got Dwight Howard on the cheap (5/$80 mil) the same year. Howard's contract expires one year earlier (and I think he may actually have a player option in 2011), so good luck to the Magic trying to manage their salary when they have to pony up for Howard for real.

 

[Covert Rain]

If your talking about negotiating a sign and trade now and then waiting til July 1st then that is major tampering. You can't have any discussions right now with any other team but your own. Also a player will only come with a sign and trade when he finds the team who is willing to pay him the money, i.e. Joe Johnson and the Hawks.

That is not what I mean. You negotiate the deal with Amare now, decide on a contract, then tell him you will seek a sign and trade. Correct me if I am wrong but when we knew Joe wasn't coming back, he gave us a list of teams he wanted to play for. We didn't negotiate with those teams until we were allowed but we already knew a sign and trade was going to happen by the start of FA.

Again, not that I am saying this story is even true. Just one of the possibilities if it is.

 

[Cheesebeef]

That is not what I mean. You negotiate the deal with Amare now, decide on a contract, then tell him you will seek a sign and trade. Correct me if I am wrong but when we knew Joe wasn't coming back, he gave us a list of teams he wanted to play for. We didn't negotiate with those teams until we were allowed but we already knew a sign and trade was going to happen by the start of FA.

I don't think the above is what happened at all. We intended to sign JJ, gave him another low-ball offer, he went and got the Max from Atlanta and then we said we wanted to match and he told us not to. We then negotiated the deal for Diaw and two picks.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

They pissed away all their flexibility afforded to them because they got Dwight Howard on the cheap (5/$80 mil) the same year. Howard's contract expires one year earlier (and I think he may actually have a player option in 2011), so good luck to the Magic trying to manage their salary when they have to pony up for Howard for real.

I'm not saying Shard's contract isn't a bad one, I'm just arguing that it isn't crippling. Is it significantly more crippling than paying Small Game Vince 16-18 over the next 3 years? Sure, it's a couple years longer, but it's comparing levels of crap. Again, they paid both horrible salaries this year, and still were expected to make the Finals for the 2nd straight year. In addition, ironically his #'s over the last two playoffs were very Amare-like. Is he worth 20 mil per? Probably not. Has his contract crippled the Magic? Probably not.

 

[Cheesebeef]

and I gotta disagree about Lewis "crippling" the Magic. They got to two straight ECFs, one Finals and next year, will still be the favorite to come out of the East.

As to his contract is what made the Magic trade Hedo... that doesn't make much sense to me as they added a player who makes significantly MORE than Hedo AND then they signed Gortat AND Bass to big FA contracts. That team wasn't restricted by anything. They spend money and money and money and so far, it's made them more successful than anything we've done since 1993.

Bottom line, if you have the money to spend, you can spend whatever you want. That's apparently where the Magic are at.

 

[Cheesebeef]

that being said, I think the Magic could get away with that contract because Howard is such a defensive presence and because he's not on a super-max deal yet. The problem with giving Amare that contract is you wouldn't be making him Rashard. You'd be making him the team's Howard, the centerpieces of the team and that is in all likelihood a disaster of mediocre proportions.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I don't think the above is what happened at all. We intended to sign JJ, gave him another low-ball offer, he went and got the Max from Atlanta and then we said we wanted to match and he told us not to. We then negotiated the deal for Diaw and two picks.

If I remember correctly, both sides were something like 800k per season apart...

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I honestly cant believe someone is using rashard lewis's contract as as an arguing point about not crippling a franchise.

Until you prove to me that Orlando is crippled, (which no one has been able to do) then I stand by my point.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

They pissed away all their flexibility afforded to them because they got Dwight Howard on the cheap (5/$80 mil) the same year. Howard's contract expires one year earlier (and I think he may actually have a player option in 2011), so good luck to the Magic trying to manage their salary when they have to pony up for Howard for real.

Again, what flexibility did they lose? They were able to trade for another max player. Signed Gortat to an extension in the 7-8M range, etc.

 

[Gaddabout]

Bottom line, if you have the money to spend, you can spend whatever you want. That's apparently where the Magic are at.

Money they do have. Richard DeVos could buy Mark Cuban twice over. At least.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If I remember correctly, both sides were something like 800k per season apart...

that was actually the difference when we offered him the extension the previous year. When he hit FA, we offered him what he wanted for the extension, which was ridiculous.

ugh... JJ, Amare and Steve would have been impossible to defend.

 

[mojorizen7]

that being said, I think the Magic could get away with that contract because Howard is such a defensive presence and because he's not on a super-max deal yet. The problem with giving Amare that contract is you wouldn't be making him Rashard. You'd be making him the team's Howard, the centerpieces of the team and that is in all likelihood a disaster of mediocre proportions.

This is key. I'll try not to ramble here.
We've already witnessed the results of putting several pieces around Amare(and Nash) for the last 6 years. The results are debatable in terms of success but i'm not at all comfortable deciding that Amare is the "centerpiece" to build around going forward.

We don't have that centerpiece anymore.....and while building around Nash/Amare was a nice thing for awhile,i hope we can begin to realize that the strengths of this roster lie with the complimentary players we've got. IMO the centerpiece will have to be aquired thru shrewed roster mgmt and eventually the draft.

 

[Cheesebeef]

We don't have that centerpiece anymore.....and while building around Nash/Amare was a nice thing for awhile,i hope we can begin to realize that the strengths of this roster lie with the complimentary players we've got. IMO the centerpiece will have to be aquired thru shrewed roster mgmt and eventually the draft.

agreed.

 

[jibikao]

Players these days are getting paid way too much. But what do you do? You don't pay Amare max, other desperate teams will so you have to match or you get nothing in return.

Amare is NOT 110 millions good and neither is Rashard.As for Nash, Suns is not paying him that much to begin with and he can still be an effective back-up point guard behind Dragic when Dragin is ready to take over. Honestly, Nash's is so in shape that I think he can play until age 39-40 easily but what about Amare? Amare's game relies mostly on his athleticism and he is bound to suffer when he gets older. Amare is not like Duncan who actually has good "simple skills" and can still contribute without dunking over people.

 

[mjb21aztd]

I really like amare but I would not want to spend 110 million on him.. I would rather get a few players that could actually rebound and play a little defense on a nightly base. But if we do resign amare hope it works out...

 

[Gaddabout]

I really like amare but I would not want to spend 110 million on him.. I would rather get a few players that could actually rebound and play a little defense on a nightly base. But if we do resign amare hope it works out...

When you take a premium (not a super premium) player and try to replace him with a couple of lesser paid guys, you refer to your team as the LA Clippers.

 

[hsandhu]

Does anyone find it hilarious amare invited himself to the free agent summit.

I don't think he realizes he would be wade/lebron's second option of who to team up with, that's why they didnt want him in the first place.

 

[mjb21aztd]

Yea true self I just don't see us winning a title with Amare getting the max from us, since we wouldn't really be able to go out and sign other decent players. We would be a playoff team though hopefully. But if we resign Amare than so be it atleast we wouldn't be hearing about it anymore.

 

[Sunburn]

Does anyone find it hilarious amare invited himself to the free agent summit.

I don't think he realizes he would be wade/lebron's second option of who to team up with, that's why they didnt want him in the first place.

Haha ya that is pretty funny

 

[jandaman]

Lol at justifying Lewis's contract...

Hedo is more important to that Magic team, and either way Magic's all round is good enough to be top 2 in the east with or without Rashard...

A Mike Miller at SF would be the same effect... but better since he wont command 110,000,000

 

[jandaman]

I wish the majority would understand that the alternative to this is getting nothing for Amare or signing someone like Tyrus Thomas as a replacement for 6-8M$ per year and not having the MLE.

It is better to sign Amare then lose him for nothing and offer the full MLE to someone like Morrow who is a perfect fit and would make Barbosa irrelevant.

In 2011, Suns can be a major player in recruiting "new" center pieces to the team.

Stoudemire is a fine center piece, but not at 20+ Million a year (26 million his last year). Because the team needs a couple of 10+ Million a year players next to him either to play the perimeter offense role and the other to grab rebounds and play defense inside that Stoudemire doesnt provide.



For example:
Suns can offer 5 year 70 Million to Greg Oden in 2011 (he is restricted), Blazers wont be able to match that since they cant justify having max in Aldridge, Roy and still having Camby there.

Suns can do wonders with Oden I think....

 

[SirStefan32]

For example:
Suns can offer 5 year 70 Million to Greg Oden in 2011 (he is restricted), Blazers wont be able to match that since they cant justify having max in Aldridge, Roy and still having Camby there.

Suns can do wonders with Oden I think....

Are you serious? Greg Oden, the guy who has missed more games than he's played?

 

[jandaman]

^Its an example.

Thats 1 reason Blazers will not match an offer that high for him also.... Suns trainers might be able to do a lot with him... the guy is in his early 20s.... LOW mileage.... conditioning and suns training staff might be able to find diamond in the rough with him.

 

[jandaman]

I also still like the Anthony Randolph and Thabeet...

in 2 years time, Suns can offer max and hopefully, GSW and Memphis are terrible so those 2 can accept Suns offer and request their teams not to match.



Basically.. having BIG money available in 2 years can re-establish the Suns in the long term.

Randolph has KG-esque potential.

Thabeet is untouched in Memphis and has huge potential to be a defensive anchor.... him and Lopez would be incredible inside the paint.

 

[Sunburn]

I love A Randolph. I don't understand why nellie doesn't give him more burn. Any way we could pry him from GS?