Unloading Eisley

[George O'Brien]

The buildup the Suns gave about Yuta Tabuse, Colangelo, D’Antoni Teleconference with Japanese Media makes me think that the Suns are getting ready to do something with Eisley. There is not even lip service to the effect that Eisley has anything to offer.

SUNS HEAD COACH MIKE D'ANTONI: His basketball ability, we see Yuta as a perfect complement to the way we want to play. We want to play fast, smart, and he will have a chance to do that. We are very excited. We have Steve Nash as a point guard and we also have Leandro Barbosa, and with time, he needs to improve on shooting, but he will have a chance to have an opportunity to play in the NBA. We love his character off the floor and his practice habits, and he is going to be a positive influence for us next year for sure.

Eisley gets an "also" in another comment.

D’ANTONI: We have three point guards, four with Yuta. We have Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa and also Howard Eisley. (Yuta) will get a chance to make the opening 12 like Bryan said. If he does not make the 12, he will have a great opportunity to also be on the 15, he will go on the injured list. After five games at any time, he could come off the injured list and be on the active list. So, we hope that he’s with us all year, whether it is on or off the injured list and have an opportunity to play and help our team.

The Suns do not have to cut Eisley unless they want to add more than one more player to their roster. They might save a little money with a buyout, but it doesn't give the team any extra cap space.

It would be nice to trade Eisley for someone who could actually be useful. My guess is that the Suns would have to throw in the rights to Vujanic, which may be too much considering the quality of the players available.

We've talked about Pollard of the Pacers on this board a number of times. It is not clear if he is no longer effective or simply out of favor. In any case, he fell completely out of their rotation last year. The Pacers would need to be really interested in Vujanic to do a deal. However, they are rumored to be trying to dump Pollard onto the Hawks for cap space.

Another possibility would be to trade Eisley and Vujanic to the Rockets for Weatherspoon. Eisley might actually start for the Rockets, they are that weak at PG. On the other hand, I'm not sure Weatherspoon offers the Suns much.

Clarence Weatherspoon
Houston Rockets
Position: F
Height: 6-7 Weight: 270
College: Southern Mississippi '92

2003-04 Statistics
PPG 5.0
RPG 3.9
APG .6
SPG .58
BPG .29
FG% .493
FT% .736
3P% .000
MPG 16.7

The Rockets already have MauriceTaylor and Juwan Howard at PF, so Weatherspoon is unlikely to get very many minutes in Houston. I'm not sure he would do much for the Suns either, but it couldn't be less than Eisley.

I'm not sure either Pollard nor Weatherspoon would be available. Nor am I sure they would be much help. But there really aren't many options beyond IR or cutting Eisley.

 

[The Commish]

Spoon would be a decent backup PF for when Amare needs a breather. We at least need someone on our roster that knows how to play the position, something that I dont think Lampe is yet qualified for. How bad is Spoon's contract anyways? I thought it was at least for another few years, in which case I would pass on.

Its amazing how quick people are to forget what qualifies as a bad contract. This time last year we had Penny and Googs riding the bench withwww max contracts. Eisley's 2yr/12m contract doesnt seem so hard to swallow after having to deal with Penny and Googs for so long.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'm not terribly excited about Clarence Weatherspoon, but I would trade Howard Eisley for him. The Suns would surely have to sweeten the deal though. The Rockets frontcourt is not nearly as deep as you make it seem. I imagine that Howard will see some time at small forward unless the Rockets make another acquisition there.

Even if they did decide they could give up Weatherspoon it makes little sense to acquire another point guard. There is little quality for them at point guard, but they would be in the same situation as the current Phoenix Suns team. They would have for point guards on their roster (Tyrone Lue, Charlie Ward, Bob Sura, and Howard Eisley). I just really doesn't make sense for them. Besides, they are probably still holding out hope that they can make a move for Gary Payton.

I wouldn't hold your breath for Scot Pollard either.

Joe Mama

 

[hafey2]

I think it is important to remember that while he is dead weight this year, Eisley and his 7 million dollar expiring contract will become valuable after this year, as evidenced by this summer.

 

[Joe Mama]

I think it is important to remember that while he is dead weight this year, Eisley and his 7 million dollar expiring contract will become valuable after this year, as evidenced by this summer.

That isn't necessarily true if the luxury tax comes into play. Remember that we all thought Tom Gugliotta's contract would be very valuable last year. Howard Eisley's contract is only valuable next year if the Phoenix Suns are willing to take on longer contracts for within 15% of his salary next year.

Joe Mama

 

[scotsman13]

i know how to get rid of eisley. tell mussafa that he is pregnet with his kid and let him deal with the problem.

 

[JCSunsfan]

The player to add that would be greatly beneficial to this team would be Alonzo Mourning.

I do think he is obtainable. He has been reactivated with NJ, but NJ is probably interested in trading him. His contract is very similar to Eisley's so no one has to eat a long term contract.

Eisley plus Milos or a pick might get it done. I would even consider Eisley plus one of --Zarko, Casey, Vroman, or Little Jake.

The great advantage of having Zo here is his lockerroom presence. He would be a great mentor for Hunter and Lampe. His competetiveness and work ethic are legendary.

We would expect 15 minutes or so a game from him. If it turns out he can play more, its a huge bonus. Zo would add quality depth at worst, and a quality starter in a best case scenario.

 

[elindholm]

Zo would add quality depth at worst, and a quality starter in a best case scenario.

I'm all for going after Mourning, but let's be honest. The worst-case scenario is, in fact, also the most likely scenario, and that is that he discovers that he is unable to play due to his condition.

I am opposed to any trade for a "big" in which the Suns give up Voskuhl. If they swap one center for another, they have done nothing to improve their depth. Giving up Voskuhl for Mourning would be an invitation for disaster.

Even Cabarkapa would be questionable to give up, because the Suns need to hang onto him in the event of a Marion-for-a-real-center trade. I still have a hunch that the Suns may consider LaFrentz, if he shows that he's back at full strength.

 

[elindholm]

(W)e see Yuta as a perfect complement to the way we want to play. We want to play fast, smart, and he will have a chance to do that.

Evidently D'Antoni left out "small" as the way the Suns want to play.

 

[Goldfield]

Zo would add quality depth at worst, and a quality starter in a best case scenario.

I'm all for going after Mourning, but let's be honest. The worst-case scenario is, in fact, also the most likely scenario, and that is that he discovers that he is unable to play due to his condition.

I am opposed to any trade for a "big" in which the Suns give up Voskuhl. If they swap one center for another, they have done nothing to improve their depth. Giving up Voskuhl for Mourning would be an invitation for disaster.

Even Cabarkapa would be questionable to give up, because the Suns need to hang onto him in the event of a Marion-for-a-real-center trade. I still have a hunch that the Suns may consider LaFrentz, if he shows that he's back at full strength.

I agree with you... I truely feel a LaFrentz connection. I would be happy to see it happen "IF" we dont give much up for him. Any combo of Jacobsen, Eisley, Vujanic, and maybe Lampe(although he may become pretty good somday).

 

[binkar]

I agree with you... I truely feel a LaFrentz connection. I would be happy to see it happen "IF" we dont give much up for him. Any combo of Jacobsen, Eisley, Vujanic, and maybe Lampe(although he may become pretty good somday).

Agreed, but if the the C's get really drunk one night and for some reason pull a Marion for Lafrentz package trade, as someone on this board had a feeling about earlier, I will go insane.

 

[elindholm]

a Marion for Lafrentz package trade, as someone on this board had a feeling about earlier

That was me. Because of salaries, the only way a LaFrentz trade is possible is if Marion is included. I'm not trying to cause your insanity; I just have a hunch.

 

[Goldfield]

That was me. Because of salaries, the only way a LaFrentz trade is possible is if Marion is included. I'm not trying to cause your insanity; I just have a hunch.

If we did a trade like that the Suns would need alot of compensation to balance the trade...

 

[elindholm]

If we did a trade like that the Suns would need alot of compensation to balance the trade...

Yes, of course.

 

[George O'Brien]

Raef LaFrentz is an odd player. When you look at his stats prior to his last season with the Mavs, they are pretty impressive. He averaged over 7.5 rpg, over two blocks per game, and over 13 ppg. His career shooting percentage was 46.8% and his outside shooting was quite good.

However, Denver unloaded him in Feb of 2002 and then later Dallas would unload him on Boston in Oct 2003. Inspite of needing rebounding and shot blocking, he only averaged 23.3 minutes a game with Dallas in 2002-03 after playover over 30 minutes a game in previous seasons.

Hoopshype describes him as an "average" defender. This is from a board that descirbes Voskuhl's defense as "active". I haven't seen him play enough, but I have a suspicion that his defense is pretty bad. To give some perspective, Antoine Walker averaged 34.6 minutes a game last season with Dallas and his defense is nothing special.

To justify giving away a lot for LaFrentz, I'd like to know more about why teams keep unloading him. Perhaps the fact that he has five more years on a contract that plays $9.1 million this season is a factor. Dallas gave him a seven year deal for just under $70 million summer of 2002 and unloaded him a year later for Walker with a much shorter contract.

 

[elindholm]

I don't think LaFrentz is a good defender, but that doesn't seem to be a problem on the current Suns.

Just because I have a hunch about a trade doesn't mean I think it would be a good idea.

When Denver traded LaFrentz, I think it was mainly a cost-cutting move. They parted with LaFrentz in order to shred the very bad contracts of Van Exel and Abdul-Wahad.

LaFrentz was never a very good fit in Dallas, because offensively he was somewhat redundant with Nowitzki.

 

[hcsilla]

I don't think LaFrentz is a good defender, but that doesn't seem to be a problem on the current Suns.

Just because I have a hunch about a trade doesn't mean I think it would be a good idea.

When Denver traded LaFrentz, I think it was mainly a cost-cutting move. They parted with LaFrentz in order to shred the very bad contracts of Van Exel and Abdul-Wahad.

And Avery Johnson.