Suns waive a player

[Skkorpion]

SUNS WAIVE DerMARR JOHNSON



Phoenix – The Phoenix Suns waived guard DerMarr Johnson today. The 6-9, 201-pound Johnson appeared in three preseason games for Phoenix where he averaged 6.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in 10.7 minutes.



The Suns roster now stands at 17 players.



2003-04 PHOENIX SUNS ROSTER

(As of October 16, 2003)



No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate College Yrs Played
21 Robert Archibald F 6-11 250 3/29/80 Illinois ’02 1
10 Leandro Barbosa G 6-3 176 11/28/82 Baura Tilibra (Brazil) R
11 Zarko Cabarkapa F 6-11 235 5/21/81 Buducnost (Serbia) R
24 Tom Gugliotta F 6-10 250 12/19/69 North Carolina State ’92 11
1 Anfernee Hardaway G 6-7 215 7/18/71 Memphis ’93 10
23 Casey Jacobsen G/F 6-6 215 3/19/81 Stanford ’03 1

2 Joe Johnson G 6-7 235 6/29/81 Arkansas ‘03 2

22 Brevin Knight G 5-10 170 11/8/75 Stanford ’97 6

36 Dejan Koturovic C 7-0 260 3/31/72 Virtus Bologna (Italy) R

3 Stephon Marbury G 6-2 205 2/20/77 Georgia Tech ’99 7

31 Shawn Marion F 6-7 228 5/7/78 UNLV ’00 4

35 Nick Sheppard F/C 6-11 270 8/22/76 Pepperdine ‘00 R

32 Amaré Stoudemire F 6-10 245 11/16/82 Cypress Creek H.S. ‘02 1

15 Cezary Trybanski C 7-2 240 9/22/79 Pruszkow (Poland) 1
43 Jake Voskuhl C 6-11 245 11/1/77 Connecticut ’00 3
8 Ray Weathers G 6-4 205 4/7/75 Michigan State ’97 R

47 Scott Williams C 6-10 260 3/21/68 North Carolina ’90 13





HEAD COACH: Frank Johnson (Wake Forest ‘81)

ASSISTANT COACHES: Mike D’Antoni (Marshall ’73), Marc Iavaroni (Virginia ‘78),

Tim Grgurich (Pittsburgh ’66), Phil Weber (North Carolina State ’84), Todd Quinter (Lebanon Valley ’80)

HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINER: Aaron Nelson (Iowa State ‘92)

 

[SweetD]

I was realy hopping he would make the team.

 

[Griffin]

Well, if you're gonna cut someone, might as well cut the guy almost everyone seemed to be excited about.

 

[elindholm]

I honestly wonder whether they cut him because they knew that, down the road, they wouldn't be able to afford him. What would be the point in keeping him now and working him into the system, if he would just need a larger contract in another year or two?

The Suns really don't have any money to spend on role players, particularly if they plan to keep Joe Johnson, Cabarkapa, probably Voskuhl, and possibly Barbosa. Everyone else is going to have to be making bottom-of-the-barrel money. If DerMarr Johnson ends up getting anywhere near the level that made him a middle lottery pick, he'll certainly be getting more money from someone by the time the Suns are contenders.

 

[F-Dog]

Yeah, that's what I figure--DerMarr probably had to beat out Joe Johnson to make the team.

It's too bad they couldn't find an excuse to hold on to him, though.


On the other side, DerMarr needs a new agent. Surely there must be a team in the NBA with more opportunity for a FA swingman than Phoenix or Memphis.

I hope he catches on somewhere this year, anyway.

 

[elindholm]

Well, speaking of Joe Johnson, he's lighting it up right now. 16/4/4 at halftime.

I believe the Suns have finally found their center!

 

[Starbury]

That's really disappointing that the Suns released Dermarr. There is NO way that Archibald, Sheppard, or Weathers (if any of them make the final 15) would be a better contributer than DerMarr could have been.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Starbury
That's really disappointing that the Suns released Dermarr. There is NO way that Archibald, Sheppard, or Weathers (if any of them make the final 15) would be a better contributer than DerMarr could have been.

Weathers is going to be cut at some point. There is simply no doubt about it. It's likely Sheppard will also be cut, but they can't do it now because they would be really short on big men... even for the Suns. Archibald has a guaranteed contract. It's unlikely he's going anywhere unless he's traded.

I'm sure they cut D. Johnson first, said he might have the chance to latch on to another NBA team. None of the other guys in the Phoenix Suns camp that are likely to be cut are going to get picked up by another team.

Joe Mama

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Starbury
That's really disappointing that the Suns released Dermarr. There is NO way that Archibald, Sheppard, or Weathers (if any of them make the final 15) would be a better contributer than DerMarr could have been.

Cutting DerMarr cost them nothing--cutting Archibald would cost them something.

 

[Starbury]

How big is Archibald's guaranteed contract? It isn't over $1 million, is it? It is not that big of a financial hit to take.

Look at it this way...
Release Archibald costing $1 million. Keep DerMarr at NBA minimum (365,000?) Essentially you have a solid backup SG/SF coming off the bench signed for 1 year at $1.365 million. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by Starbury
How big is Archibald's guaranteed contract? It isn't over $1 million, is it? It is not that big of a financial hit to take.

Apparently, as of now, the Suns don't agree.

Look at it this way...
Release Archibald costing $1 million. Keep DerMarr at NBA minimum (365,000?) Essentially you have a solid backup SG/SF coming off the bench signed for 1 year at $1.365 million. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Let's see:

SG
Joe Johnson
Penny Hardaway
Casey Jacobsen
Leandro Barbosa?

SF
Shawn Marion
Zarko Cabarkapa
Joe Johnson

Not a lot of room for DerMarr.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Cutting DerMarr cost them nothing--cutting Archibald would cost them something.

I don't get it either, maybe the Suns are looking to keepmore big men, this is puzzling, but there could be amove in the works.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by Chaplin
--cutting Archibald would cost them something.

It would not.
If Archibald's contract is a quaranteed one then Suns will pay his salary anyway.
Since he is the 15th-16th man of the Suns it doesn't matter at all if he is cutting or not.

 

[cardsunsfan]

this sucks!

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by hcsilla
It would not.
If Archibald's contract is a quaranteed one then Suns will pay his salary anyway.
Since he is the 15th-16th man of the Suns it doesn't matter at all if he is cutting or not.

That's the point. Release Archibald, they pay. Release DerMarr, they don't pay. They obviously like Archibald, why, I'm not so sure. Yes, he'll be the 15th man--but it's nice to have some insurance at the 4 and 5, I guess. There's always the chance that Googs will be useless (or injured) yet again--we might actually need Archibald then.

DerMarr is far down the depth chart. So is Archibald, but we're paying him, might as well use him.

 

[Errntknght]

DerMarr's problem was that he admitted he was a SF... if he'd have insisted to FJ he was a center, he'd have made the team with ease!

The one team I hope he doesn't wind up with is Houston... JVG suspended Griffen indefinitely yesterday for missing a practice on top of missing a team flight earlier in the week so they might be looking. Heck, the way he's played they ought to be looking anyway. DJ could haunt us for years.

I certainly don't buy the argument that the team couldn't afford him if he did play up to his pre-accident potential since we could always trade someone that good. If his contract were very small he could rid us of a bad contract, if nothing else.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Apparently, as of now, the Suns don't agree.



Let's see:

SG
Joe Johnson
Penny Hardaway
Casey Jacobsen
Leandro Barbosa?

SF
Shawn Marion
Zarko Cabarkapa
Joe Johnson

Not a lot of room for DerMarr.

And didn't they know that when they signed Dermarr Johnson?

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by Chaplin
That's the point. Release Archibald, they pay. Release DerMarr, they don't pay. They obviously like Archibald, why, I'm not so sure. Yes, he'll be the 15th man--but it's nice to have some insurance at the 4 and 5, I guess. There's always the chance that Googs will be useless (or injured) yet again--we might actually need Archibald then.

DerMarr is far down the depth chart. So is Archibald, but we're paying him, might as well use him.

OK, now I see the difference.
You seems to be thinking that Archibald can get PT and will contribute while I do not.

I do think that Johnson has definitely more upside than Archibald. Since neither would have made the active roster (although Johnson very easily could have been a more productive player than Jacobsen) it wasn't a smart move, IMO to cut Johnson and keep Archibald.

I have the feeling that DerMarr Johnson can become the next Stephen Jackson.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by hcsilla
OK, now I see the difference.
You seems to be thinking that Archibald can get PT and will contribute while I do not.

Are you actually reading?? The point is, BOTH would get little time--and if you had to release one of them, DerMarr would be the logical choice. Why? Look at the scenarios:

#1
DerMarr stays - pay his contract, very small, but paid
Archibald cut - pay his contract

#2
Archibald stays - pay his contract, very small
DerMarr cut - pay nothing

In the above, scenario 2 saves them money, whether it's 5 bucks or 500,000 bucks.

I NEVER SAID IT WAS A SMART MOVE. Why is it, when I try to understand the reasons the Suns did something, it automatically means I support their moves? That's just isn't true.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by hcsilla
And didn't they know that when they signed Dermarr Johnson?

Again (and again and again), they may not have been signing him as a definite addition to the roster. You can say the same thing about Weathers, Sheppard, Pippen and Huffman.

 

[Yuma]

I agree Chap, why is everyone tearing their hair out over two guys who won't even play?? I am more concerned with things like, will Joe Johnson finally catch on and be consistent as a starter for us for years to come. Will Voshkul be able to be a full time center for us and the Suns still be competitive? Will we be stupid and move one of our draft picks in a trade with Brevin Knight? I could care less which stiff is going to make it at the 15th spot and NOT play all year!!

 

[elindholm]

I don't think it's true that DerMarr Johnson wouldn't have played. Some people seem to think that he'd have to wait his turn behind Joe Johnson, Hardaway, and Jacobsen.

That just isn't true. We all know the Suns are going to play a lot of small ball this year. When Marion moves to PF -- and he will -- then JJohnson is a good candidate for SF. Now you have three SGs left: Hardaway, Jacobsen, and DJohnson. Hardaway isn't suited for an up-tempo game, and Jacobsen sucks. So DJohnson would have been the best choice.

I think it is very, very likely that we would have seen a lineup like Stoudemire/Marion/JJohnson/DJohnson/Marbury if he had been on the team. I think we would have seen that lineup often, in fact. (Or switch the positions of JJohnson and DJohnson, whatever.)

In my opinion, he was cut not because of a few hundred thousand dollars this year, but because the Suns know they can't afford him down the road. Note that they signed DJohnson to this contract before giving Marbury his max extension. Had they succeeded in getting Marbury to take a few million dollars per year less, I think they would have given DJohnson much more consideration.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by Chaplin
Are you actually reading?? The point is, BOTH would get little time--and if you had to release one of them, DerMarr would be the logical choice. Why? Look at the scenarios:

#1
DerMarr stays - pay his contract, very small, but paid
Archibald cut - pay his contract

#2
Archibald stays - pay his contract, very small
DerMarr cut - pay nothing

In the above, scenario 2 saves them money, whether it's 5 bucks or 500,000 bucks.

I guess that I finally got it.

Suns signed DerMarr Johnson for saving money with cutting of him.

 

[scotsman13]

ok lets look at what the suns have left and areas that we need the back up in.

point guard
stephon marbury
barbosa
knight

also you can use jj and penny here

shooting guard
joe johnson
hardaway
casey jacobson
Ray Weathers (ng)

also you can use barbosa and marbury as shooting guards. there is also some talk that zarko may see some time here.

small forward
marion
zarko

also you will see joe johnson and penny here.
power forward
amare
googs
archibald

also you will see zarko here.

center
jake voskuhl
dejan koturovic
cezary trybanski
scott williams
Nick Sheppard (ng)

(ng)=doesnt have a quaranteed contract.

to me it looks as if weathers and sheppard will be released shortly. both of them have not shown to much in the preseason and they are at spots that are heavy with other people who has close skills. i think that maybe what happened to demarr at 6'9" and 204 lbs. he doesnt have the body mass to play at small forward for a long. and at shoot guard he is behind jj, penny and barbosa for time. by cutting him now they hope that he may get on another team. houston would take him because he is a shooting guard not a power forward which is griffens spot.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by elindholm
I don't think it's true that DerMarr Johnson wouldn't have played. Some people seem to think that he'd have to wait his turn behind Joe Johnson, Hardaway, and Jacobsen.

That just isn't true. We all know the Suns are going to play a lot of small ball this year. When Marion moves to PF -- and he will -- then JJohnson is a good candidate for SF. Now you have three SGs left: Hardaway, Jacobsen, and DJohnson. Hardaway isn't suited for an up-tempo game, and Jacobsen sucks. So DJohnson would have been the best choice.

And how do you know? Obviously, somebody thought he wouldn't get that much time. You do some good figuring with your lineups, but you are forgetting Zarko, who will play the DJohnson role you so adamantly support.

I agree with you about the ultimate reason for releasing him, but the money issue is just gravy.