# If I am Brian Colangelo ...



## MichaelOFAZ (Jul 9, 2002)

Here's what I would do. Please keep in mind that I am not a Phoenix fan and this is just my opinion.

With 16M in cap space available, Brian Colangelo has put the Suns in great position to make a big splash in the free agency market. But with TMac being traded to the Rockets, that leaves really only Kobe, Kenyon, and Nash as restricted free agents of all-star cailber. But let's face it, we can kid ourselves all we want about having a chance to lure Kobe away from the Lakers, but in reality we all know that'll never happen. Presuming that he is acquitted, Dr. Buss has publicly announced that he will do anything to re-sign Kobe, even to the point of stating that he would entertain trade offers for one of the most dominant players in NBA history (i.e. Shaq). So Kobe isn't going anywhere and the Suns cannot compete financially with the Lakers. Next up is Kenyon. The Nets are willing to part with Kidd to retain the services of KMart. Why? I have no clue, but that is the rumor that I am hearing. With Steinbrenner as part owner, I doubt money will be an issue. Besides the Suns already have Amare, so they don't really need a guy like KMart. So he's not a good fit either. That leaves Nash. Nash is headsy veteran point guard who is good for a double-double just about every night. Like Kidd, he makes everyone around him better and is very scrappy. However he's old and he's not a very good defender. A lethal combination in the NBA. Plus he's probably going to want more than he's worth and he has an owner who spends money like it is water. 

So the long and short of it is, marquee free agnets are out of the question.

So here's what I would do ...

1. There is a rumor flying around that Ainge is entertaining offers for Paul Pierce. The claim is that he wants clear out the old blood and rebuild from scratch. That is why I would offer Marion and Jacobson for Pauly. An all-star for an all-star. Marion and Jacobson are both very young and Marion is an exciting player to watch. However, Paul Pierce would be better for the Suns (IMO). To get Pierce, I would even consider sweetening the deal by throwing in the Suns 1st round pick next season. Let's face it, they already have a probable lottery pick from the Bulls.

2. Next I offer Jamal Crawford a 5 year deal beginning a little over 6M for the first year. The Bulls are already guard heavy and haven't shown any commitment to this kid since he's been in Chicago. Crawford is a combo guard who is best suited for the PG slot. He's a scoring PG who has amazing handles, passes very well, and is capable of dropping 30-40 pts on any night. What makes him so attractive is that he is flashy enough to sell tickets, but still fundamental sound. He's a All-star in the making and would flourish in an up tempo pace.

3. Next I offer Marcus Fizer (the Laker killer) a $2.5-$3.5M/yr deal. The Bobcats won't match because Fizer has had some injury problems in the past. If this guys is healthy he is very difficult to stop down low. He's dying to get minutes too. He would definitely make a great back up to Amare at PF. If you strike out with Fizer, up the ante a half mill or so and go for Boozer. Boozer could play the same roll as Fizer, but is a better defender, rebounder, and could lend support at C.

4. Next I would offer QRich a deal similar to Craword. Not quite as rich, perhaps in the neighborhood of 5M+ over 4 years. Sterling is cheap and probably won't match. 

5. That leaves a little over a million to sign a defensive SG/SF in Trenton Hassell. If the veterans min is more, offer him that. Minn may match, but nothing ventured ...nothing gained.

6. Lastly, sign Camby to a 2-yr deal for the $5.6M mid-level exception. Camby and Amare would reak havoc on D and would own the boards. Camby has had his share of injuries over the years, so he is devalued as well.

That leaves the Suns with the following rotation;

PG: Crawford, Barbosa, QRich
SG: QRich, Johnson, Hassell
SF: Pierce, Hassell, Zarko, and the Magic Lampe
PF: Amare, Fizer/Boozer, Clark
C: Camby, Amare, Jake

The Suns would be instantly competitive.


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

1. The Suns can't trade their own pick because they owe San Antonio a future pick.

6. You don't have a MLE when you are under the camp and Camby is asking for 6yrs/60M$ or so.

3. The Bobcats can't match for Fizer. Fizer was RFA after he was selected by the Bobcats he became UFA.

Then you have Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford starting over Joe Johnson? WTF?

The money difference between the Suns and Lakers deal over the first 6 years is only like 5M$ because California taxes are twice as much as AZ taxes.

The 7th year hardly matter anymore because at that time Kobe will have opted out and resigned again or signed an extension.

If we don't get Kobe we will probably keep our cap flexibility and use it next year or we will use it to facilitate trades of other teams to get first round picks and other stuff.

We should have a very competetive team even if we don't make big changes and just retain McDyess for a nice amount.

Last year we were by far the youngest team in the league, Amare missed 28 games, we made major changes during the season as far as coaching, playing system and defining roles for certain players goes.

Next season we should be much better because we should have a lot more experience, maturity and stability.

PS: It is Bryan Colangelo.


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## MichaelOFAZ (Jul 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>BigAmare</b>!
> 1. The Suns can't trade their own pick because they owe San Antonio a future pick.
> 
> 6. You don't have a MLE when you are under the camp and Camby is asking for 6yrs/60M$ or so.
> ...


1. If they can't trade their 1st round pick ... can they trade the rights to the one they received from Chicago? Personally, I think a second rounder, Marion, and Jacobson is enough to get Pierce.

6. You're right, but if they spend all of their remaining cap money on free agents would they not eligible for the MLE exception? If that is true, just because Camby is asking for 6M per year over 6 years, doesn't mean he'll get it. A long term contract for a guy who is injury-prone is not likely in today's NBA.

3. You're right. He was restricted FA as a Bull. Which makes it even better for the Suns chances to sign him.

4. Yes, without a doubt Crawford is better player than Johnson. Johnson had a career year last season and Crawford by all accounts just finished his 2nd full season as a pro (as a 19 yr old rookie he saw minimal action, in his second year he was out for most of the season with a knee injury, and these past two seasons he's been spliting time with JWill and Hinrich as the Bulls try to get their act together. In 5 fewer minutes per game, Crawford out scored, out dished, out stole, and out blocked Joe Jo and had a significantly higher FT% and 3 PT%. 

QRich outscored and out rebounded Joe in 4.6 few minutes per night too. Although statistically they're comparable. 

Contrary to popular belief, state taxes are distributed based on where the games are played. Therefore only the home games would make a difference as far as tax incentives. Now if Kobe were considering playing for teams based in TX, FL, WA, or TN, then tax incentive may be sizable as those states do not have a state income tax.

Saving the cap space for a rainy day isn't a bad idea. Meanwhile you can stockpile lottery picks that the Spurs can benefit from the Suns can benefit from a couple years down the road. There is really only formula for success in the NBA, if you do not already have a bonafid superstar; tank a few seasons, make very good draft selections, and acquire up-and-coming free agents.


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## Amareca (Oct 21, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>MichaelOFAZ</b>!
> 
> 
> 
> 4. Yes, without a doubt Crawford is better player than Johnson. Johnson had a career year last season and Crawford by all accounts just finished his 2nd full season as a pro (as a 19 yr old rookie he saw minimal action, in his second year he was out for most of the season with a knee injury, and these past two seasons he's been spliting time with JWill and Hinrich as the Bulls try to get their act together. In 5 fewer minutes per game, Crawford out scored, out dished, out stole, and out blocked Joe Jo and had a significantly higher FT% and 3 PT%.


That's crazy.

And besides that Crawford played 3 full seasons if you take away his 2nd.

Joe Johnson is younger than Crawford and better.

You will find no Suns fan who is going to agree with you because Joe Johnson plays very good defense as well.

Jamal Crawford 38.6%FG
Quentin Richardson 40%FG
Joe Johnson 43%FG

Q-Rich 2.1apg
Joe Johnson 4.7apg

I don't even want to compare the numbers after Johnson was unleashed when they traded Marbury.
21ppg 5rpg 4.7apg 47.4%FG in January
18.3ppg 5.4rpg 5.6apg 43.6%FG in February
19.4ppg 4.9rpg 4.5apg 45.8%FG in March
...

Joe Johnson > Jamal Crawfrod and Quentin Richardson. That's not even a discussion.


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## Arclite (Nov 2, 2002)

Yeah, no way do either Richardson or Crawford start over Johnson on this team. I could see us signing one of the two (more likely Crawford) though. Crawford and Johnson are two of the better post-feeding non-pg's in the league, which means more Amare, and the more the better. Crawford is also a much better shooter than his percentage would indicate. We don't really need your typical distributing point guard, and I think with a backcourt of Crawford and Johnson we'd be fine. Our length and athleticism already gives some teams absolute fits, and having Barbosa come off the bench instead of Jacobsen or Eisley would only add to that.

I'm not interested in Pierce, either. Marion and Johnson compliment each other far better than Pierce and JJ would. Marion is probably the most effective player in the league in regards to production/touches, and JJ has to have the ball in his hands to be effective, as does Pierce - not a good combination IMO. Marion's contract may be big, but he is such an integral part of this team that I wouldn't really consider trading him for a typical "superstar" guy, especially if JJ comes out of the gates as a 20/6/6 type player this season. There's only one ball.


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## montalban (Jun 27, 2004)

Crawford's an interesting guy, but I understand he's a pretty poor defender, and the Suns don't need any more of those. But he's skilled, and would be worth looking at for the right price. I expect he's going to wind up on a team like Atlanta or the Bobcats, though, somewhere he could put up big numbers.

Richardson's a really good player, but he's not remotely good enough of a ballhander to handle the point, and if we're going to add anybody to the backcourt I think he at least has to be able to share the PG duties, like a Kobe or Crawford could. I like the idea of a big, athletic backcourt with versitile do-it-all types.

What the Suns really need is a defensive-minded, shotblocking center, and there aren't any of those guys out there. I wonder if the Blazers might be willing to move Ratliff. Probably not, but it might be worth exploring. Dalembert would be perfect, but there's no way we could get him.

But I agree that if the Suns don't strike gold and land Kobe, the most likely outcome for this season is hoarding that cap space for the trade deadline or next offseason. Unless we land a superstar, I just don't think it's worth tying up all that cash in a bunch of okay guys who are just going to make it that much more difficult to sign Johnson and Amare in a couple of years.


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## MichaelOFAZ (Jul 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>BigAmare</b>!
> 
> 
> That's crazy.
> ...


You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Plain and simple, you're a Suns fan and you obviously can't look at these sorts of things objectively. If you would do me one favor, write a note to yourself next to Feb 1, 2005 on your calender. Write down, "Compare stats of Jamal Crawford to Joe Johnson". Next, next to Feb 2, 2005 write another note, "Post Message Admitting that you were wrong on 6/29/04."


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## NugzFan (Jul 26, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>MichaelOFAZ</b>!
> 
> 6. Lastly, sign Camby to a 2-yr deal for the $5.6M mid-level exception. Camby and Amare would reak havoc on D and would own the boards. Camby has had his share of injuries over the years, so he is devalued as well.


:laugh: 

oh man thats funny.


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## MichaelOFAZ (Jul 9, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Arclite</b>!
> Yeah, no way do either Richardson or Crawford start over Johnson on this team. I could see us signing one of the two (more likely Crawford) though. Crawford and Johnson are two of the better post-feeding non-pg's in the league, which means more Amare, and the more the better. Crawford is also a much better shooter than his percentage would indicate. We don't really need your typical distributing point guard, and I think with a backcourt of Crawford and Johnson we'd be fine. Our length and athleticism already gives some teams absolute fits, and having Barbosa come off the bench instead of Jacobsen or Eisley would only add to that.


Evidently Phoenix management thinks that Richardson is better than Johnson. One thing that has always cracked me up about the typical Phoenix sports fan is how little they know about sports and how they tend to overvalue every player that plays for a Phoenix team. News flash, Joe Johnson isn't that good. He was a mediocre player when he played for Boston and he's a slightly-better-than-mediocre player for the Suns (but with inflated stats due to no back court scoring presence). The Suns aren't locking Q up for 5+ years at the tune of $50M because they think Joe Johnson is the SG of the future for them. Also, they didn't overpay to get the aging Steve Nash because they felt that Barbosa was there longterm answer at PG. 

I have some more disappointing news for you ...

1. Marbury was overrated and overpaid and so is Marion. Both put up very good numbers, but neither can carry a team and neither make the players around them better. Jason Kidd did just the opposite. He wasn't a prolific scorer but he made the team better as a whole. Nash and Q will do that for the Suns.

2. The following players are/were complete busts for the Suns; Penny, Googs, just to name a couple.

3. Prior to signing Nash to an offer sheet, Amare is the only franchise player that Phoenix has.


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## Arclite (Nov 2, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>MichaelOFAZ</b>!
> 
> Evidently Phoenix management thinks that Richardson is better than Johnson. One thing that has always cracked me up about the typical Phoenix sports fan is how little they know about sports and how they tend to overvalue every player that plays for a Phoenix team. News flash, Joe Johnson isn't that good. He was a mediocre player when he played for Boston and he's a slightly-better-than-mediocre player for the Suns (but with inflated stats due to no back court scoring presence). The Suns aren't locking Q up for 5+ years at the tune of $50M because they think Joe Johnson is the SG of the future for them. Also, they didn't overpay to get the aging Steve Nash because they felt that Barbosa was there longterm answer at PG.
> 
> ...


Hey, thanks for making those insinuations out of the.. err.. facts.. I posted earlier.

Here's a news flash for you - what you just said about Joe Johnson can be applied to Quentin Richardson in the exact same manner. Brand is (not for long) a similar scorer to Amare, and Maggette is a similar scorer to Marion - they even play the same positions. What does that say for Q? Not much. You aren't management, you don't have insight into what future considerations they might have, so how about you step down off that high horse and take a step back before you make an idiotic generalization about an entire city and its fanbase. Most of us realize that Johnson is an above average roleplayer/semi-star, and while he has potential to be a lot more, that's probably what he's going to be for the rest of his career. MOST Phoenix fans are still at least a bit skeptical of Johnson, even after the stretch run last year.

1. Who cares? We don't have Stephon. None of us cried when he left either - even if some of us didn't like it at the time, we could at least acknowledge that it could turn out to be a solution long-term. Marion might be a bit overpaid, and he doesn't tangibly make the players around him better, but he sure as hell makes a team better. He plays team defense, snags boards better than any three in the history of the league, and is one of the most deadly slashers in the game. Everyone has players who are a bit overpaid - I'd rather have Marion making a few million more than he might be worth than have three utterly worthless contracts like the Bulls have in JYD, Antonio Davis, and Eddie Robinson.

2. Thanks for that enlightening info. I can see why you think Phoenix fans have little knowledge about sports when we've missed out on crucial bits of arcane lore like that.

3. Really? Say it isn't so. We only have one franchise player, a ton of young talent and veteran leadership? What a horrible time to be a knowledgeless Suns fan. 

Me saying that Richardson wouldn't start over Johnson had a lot to do with the fact that at the time I was under the impression Leandro Barbosa would be starting at point guard. Johnson feeds the post. Richardson doesn't. Neither does Barbosa. If we didn't have Nash, that would still be the case.


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