The Suns, as we all know, need to get rid of Penny Hardaway in a VERY BIG WAY. If the future of the team at the SG position really is Joe Johnson and Casey Jacobsen, well, what are you going to do with Penny for the next four years? I mean, the dude is getting paid a TON for the next four years--you can't just sit the dude on the end of the bench for FOUR MORE YEARS, can you? Seriously? And don't forget that these guys actually have to be TEAMMATES--how well do you think he's going to get along with Johnson and Jacobsen? Not to mention with Frank Johnson, his head coach? You know?
So the Suns desperately need to get rid of the guy. But how? Who wants this guy's contract? The answer: NOBODY. The key to getting rid of Penny's contract is simple: FIND SOMEBODY WITH AN EVEN WORSE CONTRACT. Who has the worst contract in the NBA? Okay, this is an easy one; all together now--
SHAWN KEMP!
That's right, Shawn Kemp. The Suns need to trade Penny Hardaway for Shawn Kemp. First of all, the exact trade is this:
Shawn Kemp to the Suns; Penny Hardaway, Bo Outlaw, and Randy Brown to the Blazers
Second of all, the contracts of the four guys involved:
Penny--$12.4 mil next year, then $13.5 mil, then $14.6 mil, then $15.8 mil
Bo Outlaw--$6.5 mil next year, then $7.0 mil, then $7.5 mil
Randy Brown--$2.7 mil next year, and that's all she wrote
Shawn Kemp--$21.5 mil next year, then $25.0 mil
NOW! Why would the Suns do this? SIMPLE--Kemp's contract is up after two years, while Penny's contract goes on for another four years while Outlaw's contract goes on for another three years. NOT TO MENTION how much money the team actually SAVES by TRADING FOR SHAWN KEMP (god, who ever thought such a thing was possible?). Kemp is owed a total of $46.5 mil, which is obviously a TON of money. But that's nothing compared to how much Penny, Outlaw, and Brown are owed combined: $80 MILLION. So NOT ONLY are you getting rid of Penny for the sake of Johnson's and Jacobsen's sanity and development, not only are you getting rid of Penny for the sake of team chemistry, not only are you getting rid of Penny and Outlaw so as to clear as much room off the cap as soon as possible--YOU'RE SAVING AN INCREDIBLE $33.5 MILLION! Once again, think about that for a second--by trading for SHAWN KEMP, the most overpaid player IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA, you are SAVING MONEY! AND you are making yourself A BETTER TEAM!
And, while we're at it, we may as well see what we can get for Tom Gugliotta, right? How about this:
Tom Gugliotta to the Warriors; Erick Dampier and Bobby Sura to the Suns
The Warriors desperately want to unload Dampier's contract ($6.9 mil next season, then $7.5 mil, then $8.1 mil, then $8.3 mil) on SOMEBODY, while Sura still has two years left on HIS contract ($5.5 mil next year, then $6.2 mil). Keep in mind that the Warriors not only want to save themselves some money here (they'd save themselves a grand total of $19.9 mil, a pretty significant amount of money, obviously), they ALSO want to get rid of all these veterans so as to make room for all the kiddies. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to get rid of all the bad memories of the past however many years, either.
HOWEVER, Sura would give the Suns a nice backup combo guard, and Dampier would give the team a nice backup center. Guys like Sura and Dampier are wasted on perennial losers like Golden State--but, in a winning environment, guys like these two tend to excel, because they are given specific ROLES to play. In Golden State, Dampier was expected to be a star center--which, of course, never happened, so he was seen as a major disappointment--but, in Phoenix, Dampier is only being asked to back up Tsakilidis, to play defense, to throw a big body at guys like Shaq and Duncan.
Here, take a look at the Suns after these two trades, peoples:
PG Stephon Marbury--Bobby Sura
SG Joe Johnson--Casey Jacobsen
SF Shawn Marion
PF Scott Williams--Amare Stoudemire--Shawn Kemp
C Jake Tsakilidis--Erick Dampier
The Suns' payroll next season will be pretty big, but reasonable: right around $55 million, which should just avoid getting hit with the luxury tax. The payroll the NEXT season, in 2003-04, will balloon, though, because the team will have to re-sign Shawn Marion to a big extension. The payroll in 2003-04 will probably be--get ready, brace yourselves--close to $70 million (!). But SETTLE DOWN--a year later, Shawn Kemp's $25 million (along with Bobby Sura's $6.2 mil) comes off the books, dropping the payroll down to its normal $50 million territory.
It seems pretty obvious that the team would be better off dealing with a $70 million payroll for one year than dealing with a $65 million payroll for two years, don't you think?
Anyway, let's hear some feedback, peoples! What do you think?
So the Suns desperately need to get rid of the guy. But how? Who wants this guy's contract? The answer: NOBODY. The key to getting rid of Penny's contract is simple: FIND SOMEBODY WITH AN EVEN WORSE CONTRACT. Who has the worst contract in the NBA? Okay, this is an easy one; all together now--
SHAWN KEMP!
That's right, Shawn Kemp. The Suns need to trade Penny Hardaway for Shawn Kemp. First of all, the exact trade is this:
Shawn Kemp to the Suns; Penny Hardaway, Bo Outlaw, and Randy Brown to the Blazers
Second of all, the contracts of the four guys involved:
Penny--$12.4 mil next year, then $13.5 mil, then $14.6 mil, then $15.8 mil
Bo Outlaw--$6.5 mil next year, then $7.0 mil, then $7.5 mil
Randy Brown--$2.7 mil next year, and that's all she wrote
Shawn Kemp--$21.5 mil next year, then $25.0 mil
NOW! Why would the Suns do this? SIMPLE--Kemp's contract is up after two years, while Penny's contract goes on for another four years while Outlaw's contract goes on for another three years. NOT TO MENTION how much money the team actually SAVES by TRADING FOR SHAWN KEMP (god, who ever thought such a thing was possible?). Kemp is owed a total of $46.5 mil, which is obviously a TON of money. But that's nothing compared to how much Penny, Outlaw, and Brown are owed combined: $80 MILLION. So NOT ONLY are you getting rid of Penny for the sake of Johnson's and Jacobsen's sanity and development, not only are you getting rid of Penny for the sake of team chemistry, not only are you getting rid of Penny and Outlaw so as to clear as much room off the cap as soon as possible--YOU'RE SAVING AN INCREDIBLE $33.5 MILLION! Once again, think about that for a second--by trading for SHAWN KEMP, the most overpaid player IN THE HISTORY OF THE NBA, you are SAVING MONEY! AND you are making yourself A BETTER TEAM!
And, while we're at it, we may as well see what we can get for Tom Gugliotta, right? How about this:
Tom Gugliotta to the Warriors; Erick Dampier and Bobby Sura to the Suns
The Warriors desperately want to unload Dampier's contract ($6.9 mil next season, then $7.5 mil, then $8.1 mil, then $8.3 mil) on SOMEBODY, while Sura still has two years left on HIS contract ($5.5 mil next year, then $6.2 mil). Keep in mind that the Warriors not only want to save themselves some money here (they'd save themselves a grand total of $19.9 mil, a pretty significant amount of money, obviously), they ALSO want to get rid of all these veterans so as to make room for all the kiddies. I'm sure it doesn't hurt to get rid of all the bad memories of the past however many years, either.
HOWEVER, Sura would give the Suns a nice backup combo guard, and Dampier would give the team a nice backup center. Guys like Sura and Dampier are wasted on perennial losers like Golden State--but, in a winning environment, guys like these two tend to excel, because they are given specific ROLES to play. In Golden State, Dampier was expected to be a star center--which, of course, never happened, so he was seen as a major disappointment--but, in Phoenix, Dampier is only being asked to back up Tsakilidis, to play defense, to throw a big body at guys like Shaq and Duncan.
Here, take a look at the Suns after these two trades, peoples:
PG Stephon Marbury--Bobby Sura
SG Joe Johnson--Casey Jacobsen
SF Shawn Marion
PF Scott Williams--Amare Stoudemire--Shawn Kemp
C Jake Tsakilidis--Erick Dampier
The Suns' payroll next season will be pretty big, but reasonable: right around $55 million, which should just avoid getting hit with the luxury tax. The payroll the NEXT season, in 2003-04, will balloon, though, because the team will have to re-sign Shawn Marion to a big extension. The payroll in 2003-04 will probably be--get ready, brace yourselves--close to $70 million (!). But SETTLE DOWN--a year later, Shawn Kemp's $25 million (along with Bobby Sura's $6.2 mil) comes off the books, dropping the payroll down to its normal $50 million territory.
It seems pretty obvious that the team would be better off dealing with a $70 million payroll for one year than dealing with a $65 million payroll for two years, don't you think?
Anyway, let's hear some feedback, peoples! What do you think?