we NEED amare to be healthy if we don't want history to repeat itself...

Well, they'd be just as likely to draft a Darko as a Duncan. Way more likely, as a matter of fact.

 

There is no next Duncan, or any franchise player, as far as I can tell in next year's draft.

So let them suck.

 

Remember the draft lottery. Tanking the season and finishing with the worst record only gives you a 1 in 4 chance (250/1000) of getting the first overall pick. This is the last thing we need to worry about. Your moral question is irrelevent.

 

what about camby and the nuggs? camby has always been a solid contributor.. I actually have him on one of my fantasy teams.. so if theres something i should know about his health or whatever please let me know..

 

Man, let the Suns tank all the games they want. We'll be busy marching our way through the playoffs during our title run.

 

First of all, Phoenix is not bad enough without Amare to miss the playoffs. Even if they do, it's likely to be close enough that they can't get a top 3 pick.

Next year's draft is going to be a horrible one, without any depth due to the 19-yr-old rule by the NBA. If there's any year where a lottery pick can be worthless, it's this one.

 

Steve Nash is the backbone of that team and he sure isn't getting any younger or more durable anytime soon.

They won't tank the season even if the opportunity presents itself.

 

Now that's something I'd disagree with. Without Amare, the Suns are just a bad team. Outside of Nash their best ballhandler is either Barbosa, Diaw, or House. Ouch. The only guy that can get his own shot is Nash and House. Double Ouch. That frontline would be absolutely pitiful with Brian Grant playing major minutes. They'd be desparately devoid of scorers, and I have yet to see any evidence that they have committed to improving their defense as a whole. They brought in some guys that have reputations of being good defenders, and expect that to change everything.

If Amare misses the whole season they would be well within top 3 range. But there's no reason to think he'll miss that much time, at least not yet.

 

Given that a lot of experts are putting the Suns in the top 5, you are saying that without Amare they will be in the bottom 3? Are you kidding me? Even if he has another breakout year and goes 30-15 he's not worth that much to the team. I might even go for them not making the playoffs if he's out for the season but no way to bottom 3.

 

Well I'm not that impressed with the Suns as presently constructed even WITH Amare. I certainly wouldn't put them in the top 5 in the league. Maybe top 5 in the west. I think they'll battle with Sacto and maybe even Golden State for the Pacific Division Title.

But you take Amare off that team, then where are the points going to come from. They would go from the best offensive team to a mediocre offensive team at best. And it would be interesting to see how effective Nash would be when he isn't surrounded by a bunch of talented scorers, which hasn't happened in years.

 

Doesn't Phoenix already have a high pick coming their way via the Johnson trade with Atlanta?

Amare hasn't even committed to surgery. If surgery is questionable, there's no way that his injury could be a threat to the entire season, or even most of the season probably. Add on to that the fact that even without Amare they will have better records than the Jazz, Hornets, Bobcats, Hawks, Magic, Bulls, Bucks,Twolves, Blazers, Sonics, Clippers, and Grizzlies, I don't think that we need to worry about them landing a top 3 pick next year. Besides, I don't think Rudy Gay is gonna be a player equal to T-Mac, Yao, or any all star anyway.

 

I have another reason Amare needs to be healthy. We need the Suns to win the the first seed. That way we won't have to face San An until the the WCF. Knowing how the spurs really don't care about the regular season, we have a good shot at winning the the division, but we don't want to be the 1st seed and play the spurs who under the new playoff plan will be the the 4th seed. I'm not saying we can't beat the spurs I like our chances but it would be a better series if it happened in the WCF

 

Well, if Amare really misses the whole year, then I might be inclined the to think that Phoenix has a shot at the top 3. But all indications are that he won't be. If it takes him two months to recover, and another month to get into game shape, that still leaves him with 30-40 games at top playing level. I think given that scenario, Phoenix is a 40 ballclub at worst. If Amare's gone for the season, that could mean a 30-win team. Which is a long shot, but still a decent shot at the top of the lottery.

 

Amare out for at least 4 months, OUCH for the Suns!

 

If the Rockets focus on what they are doing, none of this matters. The only questions that interest me are did Amare know about the knee when he signed the contract and why didn't he address this issue in the offseason? Didn't Shaq do something like this two or three years ago?

 

Will this slow Amare down somewhat?

 

A lot of guys are accusing Amare of pulling a fast one but most ballplayers have aches and pains, what probably happened was what most of us go through when we have an illness or injury, you get a sore knee and then you get some treatment and then you get some more treatment and the pain doesn't go away and now you think something is really wrong and you go to a specialist. Unfortunately for the Suns, Amare went to the specialist after he signed his max deal.

 

the suns will still make the playoffs so they won't have a chance at a top lotto pick. amare is only out till allstar break (around then anyway). i'm sure they can manage to play .500 ball until then. when he gets back they can make a second half push for the playoffs and probably end up 6-8th seed.


what we need to focus on is getting yao and tmac to dominate the league. when that happens all things like this won't matter.

 

Great, he's out for 4 months, we might as well not even bother to play the games.

Oh wait, he doesn't play for us, so we don't need him to be anything.