Suns Basketball » chris paul

A stupid Chris Paul offer

Michael Schwartz — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:21:19 +0000

Ryan Schwan over at Hornets 247 asked members of the TrueHoop Network to come up with our best offer for New Orleans star point guard Chris Paul. Robert Sarver did say at the Lon Babby press...

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Nine Trade Demands the NBA Survived

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:45:34 +0000

by Bethlehem Shoals

Filed under: 76ers, Bucks, Celtics, Grizzlies, Hornets, Knicks, Lakers, Rockets, Suns, NBA Rumors, NBA Transactions

Indignity! Slaughter! Fall of Rome! Faces of Death! If you thought LeBron James destroyed the NBA by over-dramatizing his free agency, get ready for the real glimpse into Hades: Chris Paul, franchise point guard, possibly wanting a trade two years before his deal is up.

Yes, we know. Paul met with the Hornets brass and came out saying that he was staying put. Maybe that's because he didn't feel like paying the hefty fine that comes with publicly announcing your intention to force the trade. Or maybe dude just had a mighty change of heart. Regardless, the fact remains that Chris Paul gets to decide what happens in this situation.

Wait, how is this possible? Isn't he under contract? Doesn't he make millions, and thus would be an unforgivable ingrate if he walks out now? He wouldn't dare sit out, would he? No, because there's all types of precedent for this.

Chris Paul is not the first player to consider forcing a trade. It's like he's being punished for being one of the best to do it -- and one from a small market who has bonded so much with his adopted city. Again, though, what little memory we have. Paul's situation will not destroy the NBA. It's the way business has always been done. And last I checked, the NBA was only mildly demolished by each of these brazen, and illegal, transactions.

If this is a question of sabotaging the public trust by using phantom leverage and turning heel, well, they should outlaw the mini-max deal that Paul (like James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Deron Williams) signed. Otherwise, there's always the possibility that a player can leave after three seasons of the deal like James, and the implication that -- gasp -- he might decide sooner that things just aren't working out.

There's a contract there, sure, but trading disgruntled stars is part of the rhythm of the league. Major upheavals, no doubt, but all were eventually absorbed and assimilated by the larger organic organism. Like dumping tons of oil into the ocean. It's not supposed to happen but eventually, we'll all get over it.

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Rajon Rondo, Robin Lopez Added to Team USA Roster

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:48:32 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Celtics, Suns, FIBA, USA Basketball

Team USA officially lost two star point guards this weekend but they also gained one.

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in an interview Sunday with FanHouse that Boston star Rajon Rondo has committed to Team USA, hoping to be part of the team that will play later this summer in the World Championships.

Colangelo said he spoke to Rondo on Saturday, and he confirmed his desire to participate. Rondo previously had begged off this summer due a family commitment.

During the weekend, Colangelo learned officially that Utah point guard Deron Williams and New Orleans point guard Chris Paul, both holdovers from the 2008 Olympic team, won't be playing. In telling FanHouse last Monday that all the other 2008 Olympians were off the team, Colangelo said also Paul (knee injury) and Williams (wrist injury) might not be able to play due to injury. So he knew then there was a good chance there would be no holdovers.

Colangelo also said Sunday that Phoenix center Robin Lopez has been added to the roster, making it 22 players who will be in Las Vegas for the July 20-24 training camp. His twin brother, New Jersey center Brook Lopez, already is on the roster.

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The Mini-Max Contract: Where 2010 All Began

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

by Bethlehem Shoals

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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Playoff Talking Points: Rondo’s Show Now

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:17:10 +0000

by Bethlehem Shoals

Filed under: Cavaliers, Celtics, Hawks, Jazz, Lakers, Spurs, Suns, NBA Playoffs

No one with a wife and kids, or the need to eat leafy greens, has time to watch all this basketball. But we do. So, as a service to the public, here are the Playoff Talking Points you need to fake it at the water cooler:

o. Over, Under, Sideways, Down: Amar'e Stoudemire is really, really good. However, he has also played almost his entire career with Steve Nash -- the kind of partnership that makes a player that much better while calling into question how good he actually is.

OK, that's not entirely accurate. Amar'e spent a season and a half showing he could work with Stephon Marbury, winning the Rookie of the Year in 2003. It was only when Nash came along, though, that Stoudemire came into his own. Post-microfracture, the changes in Amar'e's game both allowed him to take better advantage of playing with Nash and made Nash's life easier. At this point, their relationship is more symbiotic than most would assume.

Rajon Rondo is playing absolutely out of his mind. Mere days after everyone decided Deron Williams had eclipsed Chris Paul as the NBA's best point guard, Rondo is hitting statistical benchmarks only Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain have attained -- and most importantly, leading his Celtics to a much-needed win after LeBron James cut their hearts out in Game 3.

Yet in an interesting reversal of convention, Rondo's contributions are taken less seriously because, supposedly, he plays on a stacked Celtics team.

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Where Did All These Point Guards Come From?

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:25:50 +0000

by Bethlehem Shoals

Filed under: Bucks, Hornets, Jazz, Kings, Suns, Warriors, NBA Draft

Around the time Shaquille O'Neal roamed this earth with absolute impunity, we would ask, wistfully, "where have all the big men gone?" This was not a really bad, basketball-related Kinks parody, but a real question: At least in the collective imagination, once the population of competent seven-footers (or slightly below) in the NBA was stable, even flourishing.

Then abruptly -- and this is not in any way intended to detract from Shaq's achievements -- being Michael Olowokandi was enough to get you selected number one overall. The Hack-a-Shaq strategy may have been desperate and sad, but offering up these raw meat sacrifices wouldn't have been necessary if real centers had been on the roster in their place.

Of course, the gleaming coda to it all was that Shaq, and the Lakers, were brought down by Ben and Rasheed Wallace. These two Pistons proved that the best way to defend O'Neal was not with an equal or lesser traditional big man, but with new thinking.

Theories abounded as to why seven-footers had gone the way of Andesaurus Delgadoi. Kids all wanted to be Michael Jordan, meaning they grew up working on their handle, refused to bulk up (um, okay), and all turned out shorter. The more accurate answer would be "all turned into Kevin Garnett", which didn't happen much, or "all turned into Dirk Nowitzki", which took place overseas independent of these market forces. Oddly, the supreme seven-footer of the pre-Shaq period, Hakeem Olajuwan, was acclaimed for the wing-like agility he picked up playing soccer as a youth in Nigeria -- where, it should be added, he had little interest in a future in basketball.

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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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Byron Scott Fired by Hornets

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

by Brett Pollakoff

Filed under: Hornets, Suns, NBA Last Night, NBA Coaches

How good are the Phoenix Suns this season? It may be too early to tell, but they're at least good enough to get their latest opponent's head coach fired just nine games into the season.

Byron Scott has been relieved of his coaching duties and the team will make the formal announcement at a press conference later this afternoon. This comes in the wake of a disappointing 3-6 start to the season, and, most recently, a completely lackluster and discouraging performance against the Suns in a nationally televised blowout on Wednesday night.

Ziller: Where Will Scott Land? | Jeff Bower, Tim Floyd Take Over
Moore: Did CP3 Make a Mistake Re-Signing?

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Play Like A ButterFly, Get Stung By A Hornet

Adam Brennan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:56:01 +0000

With the revitalized way the Phoenix Suns have been playing this season, a match-up with a Hornets team without Chris Paul seemed like a sure victory. However, the Suns decided to leave their intensity at home and were defeated 110-103. This is relatively disheartening considering the fact the Phoenix Suns blew out the New Orleans Hornets just over a week ago by 20 points with a healthy Chris Paul.

What was the difference in this game? The thing most Suns fans were skeptical about coming into this season; the ability and willingness to rebound the basketball. The Suns were pounded on the glass, giving up 25 offensive rebounds amounting to 38 second chance points for the Hornets. Overall, the disparity of total rebounds was 56-38 in the favor of the Hornets. Amar’e Stoudemire following two consecutive solid games offensively and defensively, completely regressed only mustering 5 rebounds in 43 minutes. For a player who is expecting to receive a maximum contract this upcoming off-season, this is completely and utterly atrocious. I am thoroughly convinced that it is a mental and not a physical issue when Amar’e has these “off-games” rebounding. It is almost as if that he decides before games that he doesn’t feel like banging with the big men in the interior on that night and the result is typically a loss for the Suns. The Suns have actually out-rebounded opponents this season by a narrow margin this season (42.9-42.5) and this will continue to be a primary factor in their success as the season progresses. Plain and simple, if the Suns don’t play tough and rebound they lose.

Cursed On TNT?

A friend of mine pointed out last night that including last night’s game the Phoenix Suns are 0-12 on TNT televised games. Can this be called the curse of Charles Barkley? This is actually somewhat a cause for concern as the playoffs are televised on TNT. The Suns will have 2 more opportunities to break this trend this season, the first on Dec 17th: Phoenix Suns @ Portland Trail Blazers (10:30pm) and the second on January 18th: Phoenix Suns @ Memphis Grizzlies (5:30pm)

The Suns look to get back on track on Sunday versus a beleaguered Detroit Pistons team. The Pistons are only averaging 92.23 ppg despite off-season addition of Ben Gordon a (18.5 ppg career average) and Charlie Villanueva (13.5 ppg career average). The Suns have been giving up 106.6 ppg this season which is 5th worst in the NBA, however they still lead the league in scoring by a slight margin over the Golden State Warriors with 109.8 ppg.