On Doe, the Straw and Cash Considerations

So, after all the talk, the discussions and the rumors, the Suns got Alando Tucker, D.J. Strawberry and Cash Considerations.

Steve Kerr had tried to move up in the draft, making an offer to the Bobcats, that according to the Suns (as Paul Coro reported today in the Republic) was close to being accepted.
"We made a great offer," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "It definitely surprised us (to be turned down)." That could have meant a chance to pick Noah. Now of course, Tucker was exactly the kind of player D'Antoni was looking for (Yeah, right...).
Based on what I am reading this morning Alando "Doe" Tucker has great athletic ability, he's fast, strong and can jump; unfortunately he can't shoot (and sometimes it becomes important in this game). He should help off the bench next season, possibly as a back up to Shawn Marion.

It seems like at 24th, the best Steve Kerr could do was get some money, or I should say Cash Considerations, speaking of which I'll never understand what does the term "considerations" add to the word "cash". Must be some kind of politically correct term just to avoid stating that you pay money to buy someone.
Three million is a lot of money, you save some "money considerations" not having to sign a first round pick you were not going to play much anyway. I think one of these days some college prospect should change his name officially in Mr. Cash Considerations.
In the second round the Suns got D.J. Strawberry, the son of RF Darryl. He's a solid defensive player and a good athlete. His minutes will depends on future moves by the Suns.

Overall I think the Suns had a poor draft (in the losers category according to SI, Yahoo!, ). Sometimes it's just bad luck. The Suns' offseason won't be judged by this draft, but it's better not to forget this Suns team is great as it is and just keeping the core of the team together means they'll be one of the best.

Go Suns !

24 hours or Do you think Steve Kerr will get some sleep tonight?

Imagine. It's 24 hours to go, it's your first Draft in charge, you're 15 days on the job, it's your chance, it's up to you, you're the one with the last word, you could change the Suns forever. What would you be thinking right now?

Would you play it conservative? Just pick whoever is available at 24th or 29th just thinking about saving team chemistry, I mean in the end it was so close, game 5 could have gone either way, you know, if not for that foul in game 4 and the Commish and the suspensions and everything, who knows...we could be still talking about how great it was to watch the Finals.

Would you dare, maybe just a bit? Try to get a better pick, pack 2-3 picks to move into the top 10 see if you can get some immediate help without risking too much. Remember, in the end this is the No Balls Association, as Page 2 Bill Simmons perfectly defined.

Would you try to take the next step? Would you trade one of your All-Star players, possibly your best young player, and give up any chance of drafting a good player for a couple of years just to see if KG in Suns uniform (he would look good, wouldn't him?) could eventually land the Suns to the promise land?

Steve Kerr has the greatest job in the world, the one we all would love to have...maybe if next Friday was our first day in office.

So, in the end, Dear Steve, just try to do your best. Get some sleep and have fun !

Suns looking to move in the top 10

It was quite interesting to hear the Suns have sent Steve Kerr, David Griffin and Vinny Del Negro to LA o n Monday to watch Yi practice; since the Chinese forward is supposed to be picked in the top 6-8.
The Suns will also be having a look today at Noah, Brewer and J. Green which I believe means their are seriously looking to trade for a top 10 pick. Noah or Brewer would be great for the Suns as they would provide immediate help from the bench; both are solid, aggressive and fast players, just what the Suns need. It seems both were really impressive in pre-darft workouts.
I think the Suns are really trying to pack the 24th (and possibly the 29th) plus next year Hawks' pick for a top 10 in this year draft. We'll see what Steve Kerr can come up with in his first draft in charge.

There was a nice article in the Suns official blog by Adam Beechen, the superfan, going through all the Suns draft history. There is a nice recall of the 1988 draft "The Best Suns Draft Ever", when the Suns picked Dan Majerle, who caused quite some boos t first but went on to become one of the great players in franchise's history.

According to ESPN.com this morning the Lakers are in talks with Minnesota about trading for Kevin Garnett. The deal would send Odom, Bynum and the 15th pick to Minnesota for KG, a deal that Kevin McHale doesn't like too much, according to the report. I am sure Kobe would love the deal and any team with Garnett and Bryant would imeediattly become a serious contender. The best scenario, ok the second best, for the Suns would be to have Garnett traded to the Eastern Conference.
By the way, Minneapolis newspaper are writing the Amare for KG trade has stalled but it's still in the talks...which basically means it's over and the Wolves are just using it as a leverage to get the best deal from someone else.

Draft Day is just 2 days away. We might have a chance to hear what's going on from the GM himself. Steve Kerr will have a live chat on NBA.com Today (Tuesday) at noon ET (9AM local Phoenix time). It could be interesting.

Mock Draft everyone?

Spent the last few hours checking the web for Mock Drafts. Here's what I found out, just 4 days before the Draft:

Sports Illustrated is predicting Marco Belinelli, the Italian SG from Bologna (more on that later...since he's from my hometown) at 24 and the Finnish PG Koponen at 29 who, according from what we hear around the web, has really been impressive in the pre-draft workouts. I am, not sure he has the size nor the "experience" to play succesfully in the NBA. He seems to have a great upside.

InsideHoops.com has the Suns picking 24. Nick Fazekas (Nevada) 6-11, 230, PF, and 29. Sean Williams (Boston College) 6-10, 235, PF/C, Junior

CBS Sportsline has a few different options ranging from Kyrylo Fesenko, F/C, SK Cherkasy, Ukraine; Daequan Cook, SG, Ohio State and Josh McRoberts, F, Duke with the 24th pick and Marco Belinelli, G, Bologna, Italy or Rudy Fernandez, SG, Spain with the 29th.

HoopsHype predict the Suns will get Daequan Cook at 24 and Petteri Koponen with the 29th pick.

NBADraft.net has Belinelli at 24 (once again) and Aron Brooks, the PG from Oregon St. with the later pick.

I checked a few other sites but generally they don't add much to that as both CollegeHoops.net and Hoopsvibe.com predicts Beli will be the first player the Suns will pick on June 28th.

So, what do we get from here...

• that probably the Suns will not be able to get immediate help from the draft and at best might be able to get some good players to work with for the 2008/09 season;


• that the Suns will eventually pick 2 outside players, one will have to be a backup to Steve Nash.

We'll wait and see, since after Oden and Durant almost anything could happen as I believe a few teams could try to trade down (or up should say) to get a to 12 pick. The Hawks probably hold the key to this draft, any move by Atlanta could create a little domino effect.

Have a great day everyone. The Sun is high and shining , at least over here

It's all about rumors

It's that time of the year...once again. It's draft speculations ond trade rumors...and this year seems it's actually interesting with KG, Kobe, Carter possibly on the move. Of course as it's been in recent past we might end up with Much Ado about Nothing.

There have been some talk about the Suns trading this year's picks plus Atlanta's 2008. I can't see much of a chance for an improvement from the draft, nor I think trading down could mean that much; especially, since the Hawks will be awful next year as well it, and 2008 could end up being a lottery pick.
It could be interesting if the Suns could find a team willing to take the 24th and 29th pick for, say, a top 12 pick.

Of course next year's draft is a mistery so far and from what we know now it's not gonna be a very deep draft. The Suns could use help - right now - at point guard (probably considering closed the Markus Banks experience), at shooting guard and at center (a big man off the bench could help). As usual you could probably steal a decent PG or SG in the late first round.

Speaking of Markus Banks, I have just read a very nice article on The Rising Suns Blog: Being Markus Banks. Nice read!

KG or not KG ?

Garnett or not Garnett, that is the question; or in other words whether to trade one of the best young center in the game for possibly one of the top 5 player in the League.

It could come down to deciding if 2007/08 should be the year the Suns risk everything (or at least the next 4-5 years since Garnett could leave after next season) to have a shot at the championship.

From what we hear this morning in the local press, it looks like Kerr & Co. will hang on to Amare. Of course if only the Celtics or the Wolves would take Marion that would be a no brainer.