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The Mini-Max Contract: Where 2010 All Began

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:29:18 +0000

Filed under: Bulls, Cavaliers, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Magic, Nets, Nuggets, Suns, NBA Rumors

No one likes the Free Agent Super-Summit, even those rumored to be involved. It may or may not be collusion, and on a good day, makes LeBron James and friends look like ardent disciples of Mikhail Prokhorov -- without the funny accent that charms out all into submission.

Certainly, the forced drama and posturing around the event, which may or may not have ever been meant literally, grate on even the most pro-player observers. And admittedly, there's a hill of difference between this summer and Jim Brown -- an avowed supporter of LeBron's hunt for fulfillment -- trying to get some basic dignity for himself and other NFL players. But silliness and bad public relations aside, there's an important middle ground missing here. It's the place where NBA players, all too long held hostage by incompetent organizations and the truism that heaven was six years at max money, risk stability for a chance at some leverage.

It's the mini-max effort of 2006, where James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh coordinated shorter deals exactly so their teams would have to do right by them (and so they could sneak in under the upcoming CBA). Was the goal solidarity down the road? Or just smart business they all suggested to each other? Either way, it was such a good idea that Chris Paul and Deron Williams followed suit two seasons later.

No longer could a superstar be paid off and taken for granted -- or, if you want to be glum about it, invested in heavily and find themselves an albatross down the road. This was a power-grab, but in a much-deserved way.

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FanHouse’s Official NBA Awards Ballots

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

by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: Bobcats, Bucks, Cavaliers, Celtics, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Raptors, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Warriors, NBA Awards, Thunder

The FanHouse votes are in.

FanHouse had two voters for official NBA awards in senior NBA writers Tim Povtak and Chris Tomasson. Here's how their ballots looked:

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Suns’ Zone Defense Shuts Down Nuggets

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:21:23 +0000

by Brett Pollakoff

Filed under: Nuggets, Suns

PHOENIX -- If the Nuggets came into Monday night's game against the Suns without a lot of energy, you could hardly have blamed them. Coming off of what was essentially a playoff game with the Lakers the day before in Los Angeles, and playing its fourth game in five nights, the team easily could have folded early to a Phoenix squad that has been hot lately, and plays extremely well on its home floor.

But that wasn't the case early on. Denver was the aggressor at the start, and with just over a minute and a half gone in the second quarter, had jumped out to a 13-point lead behind 13 points from Chauncey Billups, and 10 from Carmelo Anthony.

And then, the zone happened. And that, as they say, was that.

Anthony was subbed out of the game, the Suns went to the admittedly-gimmicky zone defense, and immediately went on a 16-0 run, part of a 33-7 stretch that ended the second quarter, and effectively put the game in the win column for Phoenix by halftime.

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Fear Not: Nash Will Beat Out McGrady as All-Star Starter

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:04:01 +0000

by Brett Pollakoff

Filed under: Rockets, Suns, NBA All-Star Game

The latest returns of the 2010 NBA All-Star balloting were released on Thursday, the final such update we'll get before the starters are announced by the league two weeks from now. Tracy McGrady continues to lead Steve Nash for the second starting guard spot, and in fact, has slightly increased his lead since the previous results were revealed a week ago.

But the margin, which stands at a mere 2,375 votes, certainly isn't insurmountable. So let me be the first to declare that, by the time the final results are revealed, Nash will have overtaken McGrady in votes, and will be in the starting lineup for the Western Conference at this year's All-Star game.

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Doing Lines: Kobe, ‘Melo, Mayo Drop 40

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

by Brett Pollakoff

Filed under: Grizzlies, Hawks, Lakers, Magic, Nuggets, Raptors, 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.

It's not every day that we get to see a player hit for 40 points or more in an NBA game. So on Sunday, when we had three different players meet or surpass the mark, it's definitely something worth discussing.

Especially when two of them did it in the same game.

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Bynum Expects to be All-Star Starter

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:58:34 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Bulls, Cavaliers, Lakers, Nuggets, Suns, NBA All-Star Game

DENVER -- Andrew Bynum was talking to his brother early this week when he got the news.

Amare Stoudemire, despite being Phoenix's starting power forward, was listed on the All-Star ballot at center for the Western Conference. That happens to be the same position played by the Lakers' Bynum, and many had considered him the favorite to be the starter after Houston's Yao Ming was lost for the season due to injury and Shaquille O'Neal was traded from Phoenix to Cleveland of the East.

"I was definitely surprised,'' Bynum said in an interview with FanHouse about Stoudemire being listed at center even though he's started every game this season at forward, with Channing Frye having opened at center for the Suns.

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