Even Steven Hunter cannot dunk the ball well but would you take him to back up our centers??? http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0702sunsbell0702.html ........ Bell's signing makes it less likely that the Suns will keep center Steven Hunter, who has said he wants more than the exception that would pay $1.6 million to $1.7 million. That probably is the most Phoenix has left to offer after Bell's deal.
Assuming we get Mutumbo back we don't need a back up center. Madsen is less of a center than Howard is. We want to save all our MLE for a PF or SG and to offer more than the Suns for Hunter will we have to break it. The Suns want to keep Hunter, and he would help them versus us or Miami as he is their only big with good size and their best shot blocker, but clearly they don't feel he is worth more than 1.7 mil either.
I agree with Crash. Deke won't play much more than this year, certainly two at the very most. Yao has yet to prove himself as a 35 minutes a game player. And what if we have an injury? In the end it always boils down to price. At $6mil/year, I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. But if Hunter were available in the $3Mil range, I'd jump on it. My guess is somewhere inbetween.
Agreed. Deke will not play so much, and it is great to have a younger player on our roster, Deke will not play forever
I guess Hunter would be all right... But only for the LLE. I'd rather have Jerome James or Potapenko, personally. Both are bigger, stronger, and meaner.
* Some team with cap space will have enough crumbs left over after their big signings to outbid us. * Mikki Moore is probably a better option than Hunter. * We probably don't need a 3rd C this season (and if we land Swift he'd be the 3rd C). * Next season we'll have another full MLE and Kelvin Cato, Lo Wright, Scot Pollard, Joel Pryzbilla, Jarron Collins, Kandi-man, Loren Woods, & Nazr Mohammed are all UFA's. (And Nene is a RFA). Let's handle PF & SG this summer and worry about Deke's backup next summer.
Gater is right. Deke should still be pretty good next season if he stays. Yao will be 35+ guy once his foul troubles go down which is more dependent on the refs. I like Joe Pryszbilla, Cato when he's not too expensive.
To make him even more valuable we should leave him wide open under the basket when we play the Suns and the game is on the line.
