Ah. My favorite topic: Western Conference NBA basketball.
I'll admit, I haven't given the Suns much thought this season. They were so brutal last season, I've been writing them off. I'm still going to stick with my
original conference rankings, but I think the Suns will be in the mix with the Grizzlies to try and grab that eighth position.
I'm not sure how the Sun's backcourt rotation is going to work out though. It seems like they have a lot of duplication in the 2 Guard position: Joe Johnson, Quentin Richardson, and Casey Jacobsen. Q is definitely the best player of the three, but I read somewhere on ESPN that they plan on starting Johnson, and bringing Q off the bench. (Whaaa?) I think I would probably use Johnson as tradebait for a player that can swing between the 3 and 4, they can use a little more depth behind Matrix and Stoudemire.
I'm constantly reading rumors that Matrix is on the trading block. I don't understand why you would max out a player, then trade him two seasons later. Sure, he may be a little overpaid, but he turns in a very respectable box score nearly every night. Last season he averaged 19 pts on on 44% shooting, with 9.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.11 SPG, and 1.3 BPG. If I were an owner or coach, I would gladly take that kind of production on my team.
Getting Steve Nash was a coup, but I think they'll regret that long contract in about four years when he hits 34-35 years old. I've read that Leandro Barbosa may be the real deal. I'm interested to see him come off the bench this season. Eisley may surprise you, too. His best years were definitely backing up Stockton - maybe resuming that role with less media pressure will be good for him. (Of course, a lot of mediocre players excel under Sloan and then have subpar careers elsewhere. See Shandon Anderson, Greg Foster, Jacque Vaughn and Blue Edwards as examples).