overseascardsfan said:
The season is not over but I always look towards the future. I feel the Sun's plans should be nice and simple.
1. Match any offer for Joe Johnson. Or sign and trade him if the price is to high.
If the price is ridiculous ($65 million over 6 for example), the Suns should use the 15 days to go after Simmons with their MLE. JJ is a lot better, but not $25 million better.
2. Lock up Amare Stoudamire for 7 years before anyone can say the words "free agency".
All will depend on the collective bargaining agreement, but it will be max.
3. Use what draft picks we have to replace guys with expiring contracts or guys we'll release in order to sign Johnson and Stoudamire.
There isn't that much money involved with expiring contracts (Outlaw and Shirley). There are a couple of "player option" situations: Hunter and McCarty that could get a bit dicy. Best guess is that Hunter will re-sign but for more money while McCarty will not exercise his option.
4. Relax and enjoy the rest of a long quite summer.
The Suns have serious weaknesses that need to be addressed:
1. Quality backup point guard. Barbosa may someday be that guy, but he is not good enough if Nash goes down for any length of time.
2. Strong rebounder off the bench. Stoudemire should become a better rebounder and Marion is quite good. Richardson and Johnson are decent rebounders when they are instructed to hit the boards. But no one on the bench is much of a rebounder, with Hunter and Voskuhl below average for thier size.
3. Low post defender. The Suns are frequently forced to double team the low post, thus opening themselves against teams that move the ball quickly.
4. Another low post threat. The Suns half court offense is built around forcing teams to double team Stoudemire, thus opening up their shooters. However, this means the Suns tend to struggle when Stoudemire gets into foul trouble - which reduces his aggressiveness. Having another low post threat would reduce the problems when Amare fouls out.
