What Are The Suns Thinking?

[George O'Brien]

I was trying to think, but I cannot remember the Suns making an offer to an RFA before. I guess it must have happened sometime, but it is certainly been a while.

I bring this up because I found it odd that they would change their practice in this case. It is fairly common for teams to match when someone tries to get their RFA including the Clippers who matched twice last season. Certainly teams that can, seem inclined to match. This includes the Hawks who matched on Jason Terry, even though Atlanta was in a cap dump mode.

Deciding that the mid range centers were overpriced is not unreasonable. Deciding that Q Richardson was worth $45 million is not unreasonable. But what is the point if they had good reason to believe the Clippers would match.

I can't remember the exact sequence, but if memory serves me, the Suns made the offer BEFORE the Clips unloaded Ely and House to be in a position to make a serious offer to Kobe. Did the Suns seriously think Kobe was going to become a Clipper?

If not, then what WERE they thinking? Why lose two weeks in the free agent market on the remote outside chance that the Clippers would sign Kobe. Do they have some information we don't have?

According to HoopsHype, the Clippers have a salary structure of $27.4 million. This gives them roughly $16.5 million in cap space. This means that they could re-sign Q and still pick up another player without a problem. So except for general stinginess, there is no obvious reason why they would decline to match.

It has been reported that Richardson and Maggette don't get along. That may be true, but it more the basis for setting up a trade than to not match.

The fact that I can't guess what the Suns are thinking doesn't mean they have not figured this all out. I get the feeling there is something going on we don't know about, but I have no idea what.

 

[PAQ77]

Agreed... I don't believe the Clip's recent trades will effect anything either since it only freed a little over $2 mil. I just wish the Clips would make a decision on Q now. I hate this waiting game.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Its to the Clips advantage to wait on the decision for a couple of reasons.

In essence, they have Q locked up, without having to be committed to him themselves. They can shop around and see if there is any better deal they can get with Q's money and they have 14 days to take their time and do it. They do not have to be desperate about it because Q can always be their backup plan.

Another reason to wait in punitive. It take the Suns out of FA competition during the waiting period, and it discourages other teams from signing RFA for that same reason.

The Clips might not make very many good moves, but this one is a no brainer. We won't hear what they are going to do until the very last minute--unless they find a better option than Q.

 

[slinslin]

Why did the Suns never make an offer to a RFA before? Maybe because they never had capspace before to do so?

How many RFA even signed offer sheets? Q, Okur, Boozer, Arenas, Brand, Odom, Magette and Marc Jackson.

 

[F-Dog]

I think the Suns had a list of players they wanted to lock up early, and Q was last on the list:

1. Nash
2. Ginobili
3. Turkoglu (for half of what they had left after the Nash contract)
4. Q Richardson

After that, everybody else on their list was either not worth the money, or would be willing to wait for the Suns to clear cap room. So, the downside to Q getting matched wasn't significant for them.

Also, Richardson is getting $2m/year more than Corey Maggette; he's really only a bargain in the limited context of this offseason's FA market, and the huge signing bonus means that it won't be profitable to trade him a couple of years from now. I think there's at least a slight chance the Clips won't match even though they didn't get Kobe (as opposed to the Maggette contract, where there was never a doubt they would match).


Right now, it seems that the Suns are working along two parallel courses of action--they're sweet-talking veteran-minimum-type centers in case the Clippers don't match their offer to Q, and they're also lining up Vlade Divac and Greg Ostertag in case the Clippers match.

My guess is that Divac and Ostertag won't sign anywhere until after July 29, so the Suns won't lose anything but time if the Clips match their offer.

 

[George O'Brien]

I agree about Ostertag and Divac not doing anything until after July 29th, but not simply because of the Suns. Etan Thomas and Brian Skinner will also be decided on whether their former teams match or not on the same time frame.

BTW, the rumor that the Warriors might make a sign and trade of Dampier to the Knicks that also includes Van Exel would certainly makes some sense out of the Fisher signing. But that would require the movement of Kurt Thomas that is tied into the possible Knicks to Bulls trade for Crawford. However, I think the Clippers are one of the few teams that might take Dampier straight up.