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War Games: 2010 NBA Free Agency

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:50:56 +0000

Filed under: Bulls, Cavaliers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Kings, Knicks, Mavericks, Nets, Rockets, Suns, Timberwolves, Wizards, Thunder, NBA Transactions

Now that the Wizards have struck the first blow in free agency by winning the NBA Draft lottery and thus John Wall, we can start assessing which free agent scenarios can play out this July. Wall-to-D.C. hurts the Nets, obviously, but also makes Washington a player in the summer's proceedings. But beyond Wall, other teams are setting themselves up to win this era's greatest battles: those to be fought over LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Joe Johnson, Yao Ming, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer and Rudy Gay.

Share Bethlehem Shoals and I have considered each team's position heading into battle, and have devised seven potential scenarios fans (and other teams) should prepare for. We did assuming that this summer will unfold as a series of cataclysmic events, with LeBron's decision the first domino to fall. The new paradigm of superstars renting teams also influenced us. Now go and study these well, lest ye be caught off guard come July.

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FanHouse Preview: Suns vs. Blazers

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:37:04 +0000

by Tom Ziller

Filed under: Suns, Trail Blazers, Playoffs

Shoals and Ziller preview each NBA playoff series.

The Blazers will miss Brandon Roy, but the Suns still miss Shawn Marion, so get over it, Oregon! Despite devastating news that Roy must leap into that surgical void (devastating even for a neutral fan), there's plenty of fun to be had between the Suns and Blazers. Just don't ask Andre Miller's face to provide it.

Full Coverage of Suns vs. Blazers: Schedule, News and More

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Stinkface Chronicles: Amar’e-geddon

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:37:52 +0000

by Rob Peterson

Filed under: Suns, Warriors, NBA Videos

"The wheel," wrote William Shakespeare in King Lear, "is come full circle."

That it has, Billy Boy. That is has.

When I started this little writing exercise back in October, the patron saint of the Stinkface Chronicles was clear and he came rocking an apostrophe: Amar'e Stoudemire. Each successive Stinkfaces were verbal apostles to the apostrophe-ed one, for his slam on Michael Olowokandi in his rookie season gave NBA fans one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- reaction shot ever: Stephon Marbury's stinkface. Marbury appears to be so overwhelmed by Amar'e's onions that he's close to tears.

Allow me, then, to weep for the prodigal son has returned to the Stinkface Chronicles. On Monday, Stoudemire, SC's progenitor of the punk, our sultan of stink, unleashed a dunk so foul on the Golden State Warriors' Anthony Tolliver, it caused Suns analyst Scott Williams to leave his seat, Suns play-by-play man Tom Leander lose his train of thought and caused the gentlemanly David Aldridge to tweet: "Holy s---, STAT!"

Stat! -- as in right away -- to the punking after the jump.

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Stoudemire Will Stay in Phoenix

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:50:02 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Suns, NBA Rumors

DALLAS -- Phoenix star forward Amar'e Stoudemire confirmed to FanHouse on Wednesday night he won't be traded by Thursday's deadline.

"I think I'm pretty much safe,'' Stoudemire said after a talk with owner Robert Sarver following the Suns' 107-97 loss at Dallas. "I feel good. But either way I was going to feel all right.''

It became apparent Stoudemire wouldn't be dealt after Cleveland, which had been pursuing the big man before getting tired of waiting, agreed to a trade earlier Wednesday in which it will get forward Antawn Jamison in a three-team deal.

After that, two league sources said Stoudemire would be staying, and Suns coach Alvin Gentry did nothing to dispute that before Wednesday's game. It probably also hasn't hampered matters that Stoudemire reiterated to FanHouse he's still leaning toward not opting out of his contract this summer.

"I don't think that was ever an issue that we were looking to trade (Stoudemire),'' Gentry said. "People always make phone calls. They think somebody's available, and the guy's a great player... Quite naturally, anybody would field phone calls.. I don't think anybody went in saying, 'We're going to trade Amar'e.'''

Stoudemire had said before Wednesday's game it "could be my last in a Suns uniform.'' But Stoudemire, after totaling 30 points and 14 rebounds with Sarver sitting in the third row behind Phoenix's bench, had changed his tune after he met with Sarver following the game. Sarver declined comment.

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Amar’e Stoudemire, Unlikely Savior

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:34:02 +0000

by Bethlehem Shoals

Filed under: Cavaliers, Suns, NBA Rumors

The trade deadline can shock and surprise you. Seasoned observers are trained to expect the unexpected, whether it be a last-second bolt out of nowhere, or a fizzle that means a lot of people wasted a lot of time and energy.

But one of the deadline's most underrated qualities, one it shares with the NBA draft and all trips to McDonald's, is its ability to make us forget -- to, in effect, rewrite history.

Amar'e Stoudemire has emerged as this year's prize. If you believe everything you read, the Cavaliers have been trying to make a deal for weeks. More recently, the Heat have started making offers. Paul Coro, of Stoudemire's hometown Arizona Republic, has the Sixers, Celtics and Bulls all hanging out on the periphery. Granted, Stoudemire has a huge deal that expires this summer, but no one's going after him for cap relief; Amar'e and Phoenix were miles apart on an extension, which is part of why his exit seems so certain.

If you believe everything you hear, no fewer than five basketball teams want Amar'e for what he does on the basketball court, including two championship contenders and (overlap alert!) two trying to make sure their superstar doesn't leave town. Ladies and gentlemen, by some consensus, Amar'e Stoudemire can help your team. Try saying that three times and pinching yourself at the same time.

Public opinion is a nebulous, perilous thing. These days it's wrong to equate what media experts say with what the league's premier executives have up their frilly sleeves. But Stoudemire, while hardly an enfant terrible within the NBA, had been a walking target for all sorts of criticism.

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Stoudemire Sees Days in Phoenix Ending

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:28:57 +0000

by Tim Povtak

Filed under: Heat, Suns, NBA All-Star Game, NBA Rumors

DALLAS -- If he isn't gone before the trade deadline passes next week, forward Amar'e Stoudemire sure sounds ready to leave the Phoenix Suns as a free agent this summer.

Stoudemire said it's "50-50 now,'' that the Suns will trade him, knowing they don't want to lose him this summer without being compensated.

"I want to be in a position to contend for a championship. That's the whole goal at this stage of my career,'' he said Friday. "The Phoenix Suns' goal might be a little different.''

Stoudemire was speaking in Dallas at the All-Star Weekend festivities, thrilled to be playing for the fifth time in his career, but disappointed that the Suns are still struggling to hold their playoff position (a precarious 6th in the West).

"I wish I had a crystal ball. I'm not sure how things will play out,'' he said. "But I want to contend for a title -- wherever that may be.''

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NBA Players in the Halloween Spirit

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:58:37 +0000

by Elie Seckbach

Filed under: Clippers, Lakers, Suns, NBA Videos, FanHouse Exclusive

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Halloween is one of those holiday that everyone loves ... including NBA players.

In this FanHouse exclusive, we catch up with NBA stars Amar'e Stoudemire, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Ron Artest, Kyrylo Fesenko, Channing Frye, Craig Smith, Goran Dragic and Lou Amundson.

Find out who is most likely to be Hugh Hefner, Magic Don Juan, a lumberjack, Frankenstein and an Army vet.

Check out the video after the jump.

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Doing Lines: Kobe and Wade Go for 40

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:58:36 +0000

by Brett Pollakoff

Filed under: Grizzlies, Heat, Hornets, Lakers, Mavericks, Nuggets, Rockets, Suns, NBA Last Night

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

The last time we got together, three different players scored 40 points or more on the same night. Well, maybe it's not as rare of an occurrence as we thought, since we were just a single point away from it happening again on Wednesday.

Chris Paul missed by one with 39, but Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade each delivered, with 41 and 40 respectively.

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2010 NBA All-Star Ballot Announced

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:58:35 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Celtics, Clippers, Grizzlies, Lakers, Pistons, Rockets, Suns, Timberwolves, NBA All-Star Game

I wrote in September that perhaps there would be no worthy center to start for the West in the All-Star Game.

But this isn't the way I want to see that solved. Do it on the court, not with the ballot.

When the All-Star ballot came out Tuesday, Phoenix power forward Amar'e Stoudemire strangely was listed as a center. Yes, Stoudemire has played center before, but he's started all eight games for Suns this season at power forward, with Channing Frye being the starting center.

It is true the ballot, which was selected by six media members from around the country, had to be decided upon before the season began in order to provide time for printing. But it has been apparent since at least September that Frye would Phoenix's starting center, with Stoudemire at power forward.

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Rebounding Focus Pays Off for the Suns

Brett Pollakoff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Filed under: Clippers, Suns

LOS ANGELES -- Rebounding is all that Suns' head coach Alvin Gentry has been talking about during the preseason, and with his team being an undersized bunch who would rather try to run you off the floor than stand toe-to-toe and slug it out, that's completely understandable.

But the emphasis on taking care of the boards had its consequences in the team's season opener on Wednesday, as Phoenix -- yes, the extended remix of the Seven Seconds or Less Suns -- managed just two fast break points in their game against the Clippers.

The ultimate result, however, was a positive one. The Suns' focus on rebounding enabled them to hang with a big and talented Clippers' front line, and pull out a hard-fought, last-second 109-107 road victory in Los Angeles.

"We've got to get out and run more," Gentry said, when discussing his team's lack of points in transition. "We get so conscious right now of trying to guard the boards, you know, the offensive boards -- which I thought we did a good job on -- that sometimes it limits us a little bit as far as getting out on the break.

"We still got 109 points, even though we didn't get any fast break points. And really, some of the things they don't call fast break points .. if we come down and we run a drag, and we get a wide open three-pointer, we consider that a fast break point. So it's really a little bit distorted, but they did do a good job as far as getting back and keeping us from running."

Phoenix held a 22-15 rebounding advantage at the half, thanks to seven from Grant Hill, and five each from Jared Dudley and Earl Clark off the bench. They finished the game with just one more board than L.A., but the fact that they were able to compete at all with guys like Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman down there shows how serious the team is about making the glass work a top priority.

"It's never really easy to rebound against those guys, they're seven-footers," Amar'e Stoudemire said afterwards. "Both guys are great rebounders out there. But I think from a team effort we did a great job, really attacked the boards, really boxed out well. Me and [Channing Frye] were trying to keep the big guys off the boards, and Grant was coming in and getting the rebounds, so from a team standpoint we did a pretty good job."

Stoudemire and Frye combined to grab just nine rebounds, while the aforementioned Clippers' duo came away with a combined 20. But as Amar'e mentioned, as long as someone like Grant Hill can swoop in when he's doing the blocking out, things will turn out okay. Even if the fast break opportunities might not be there because of it.

Hill finished with a team-leading 13 rebounds, which is a huge number for him.

"The year we won 62 games we got out-rebounded on the offensive boards 55 times," Gentry pointed out. "But for this team to be successful, we've got to find a way to rebound the basketball."

The Suns did that on opening night, against a Clippers team that -- at least going in -- appeared to have a significant advantage.

Rebounding Focus Pays Off for the Suns originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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