TEAM HISTORY/NEEDS

The season began with the Suns trying to keep Antonio McDyess. They courted him every way they could, but Denver ended up with the prize. With that having fallen through, the Suns made their first transaction of the season-- signing Joe Kleine-- an omen of less than stellar results to come. Then, looking across the free-agent horizon, they saw Luc Longley as the superstar center they've always needed. They were part of a sign and trade deal with the Bulls for Longley and then added George McCloud and Tom Gugliotta for their forward spots. They also signed up Cliff Robinson and Rex Chapman. So, only Googs and Longley needed name tags-- the rest of the team had played together the previous year and things were looking up for Suns fans.

The old problems though showed their heads (no inside game and total reliance upon small-ball), though Rex Chapman's shooting woes was an unexpected nightmare for Coach Danny Ainge-- he was 4th on the team in scoring, but shot a team (excluding Jimmy Oliver) low 35.9%.

The first round of the draft the passed 5 years has been good for the Suns, though they've never drafted high. In 1994, the 23rd pick got them Wesley Person. In 1995, the first round picks were Michael Finley (21st overall) and Mario Bennett (27th). In 1996, they got Steve Nash (15th), and had no pick in 1997. The 1998 NBA Draft was good for draft day trades for Pat Garrity from Dallas and Toby Bailey from the L.A. Lakers (and of course this year's 9th overall pick).

Players

Point Guard

It's really Jason Kidd for the Suns at this spot-- but when you have Mr. Triple-Double, an All-NBA First-Teamer, an All-NBA Defensive First-Teamer, and a sweet passer even if he wasn't so great at other skills (which he is), who else do you need? Well a backup would be nice. The Suns have signed also-rans all season to try to give Kidd some rest time on the bench, concluding the season with oft-injured Randy Livingston-- a heralded player out of high school who was even drafted by Houston after leaving LSU with a less than productive, injury-riddled college career. Livingston played only one regular season game but averaged 5 ppg in the 3 games in the post-season. The Suns will try to give Kidd some relief before next season, but you know it has to pain Ainge to take his star playmaker out of the game for any amount of time. The team was totally dependent on Kidd and this was made more apparent by many experts saying Kidd was a legit MVP pick. Not since Magic Johnson in 1990-91 has a player had better averages in all three "triple-double" categories, scoring averaging, rebounding averaging and assist average, than Kidd had this season. And since the league began keeping track of steals in 1973-74, no player has matched or beaten Kidd in all four of the statistical categories in one season.

Shooting Guard

Rex Chapman was thought to have become a prime-time player this season after his great performances in seasons passed, but injuries hampered his success. As noted before, his shooting percentage was awful. Toby Bailey has tried to learn from Rex and may be a useful member next season, but tendinitis kept him from playing much.

Small Forward

The Suns had two really good players at this spot. George McCloud and Cliff Robinson have given the Suns all the Suns could expect. In fact it will be tough for the Suns to hold onto Uncle Cliffy in the off-season. Chris Morris was brought in to play and he showed up like he did for Utah. Both McCloud and Robinson came up big for the Suns in the playoffs, sharing Top-3 team scoring honors with Kidd. Robinson was also in the Top-3 team leaders in assists and rebounds.

Power Forward

The Suns brought in Gugliotta with the expectation that he would be the All-Star power forward he was with Minnesota. That wasn't the case. He did give the Suns 17 ppg, but that was 3 ppg less than what he got the passed two season with the Timberwolves-- and this becomes more glaring when you realize he had the best point guard in the NBA to feed him the ball. The rookie Garrity was a very pleasant surprise for the Suns. He started 9 games and averaged 14.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 1.1 apg, and shot .578 from the field in those contests. He also got a career high 25 against the current Western Conference champion Spurs. Danny Manning, the energizer bunny of the NBA who keeps playing surgery after surgery was great in the playoffs for the Suns with nearly 13 ppg, and was close to double figures for the regular season.

Center

Luc Longley was brought in via a sign and trade deal (the Suns also gave up their second draft pick of the first round as part of the deal). He gave the Suns nearly 9ppg, but his only really good game was a 25 and 10 performance against the Knicks. The Suns know they paid way too much for Longley, but they are desperate for size (ask the Sonics how signing a really average-at-best center for big money seems like a smart move). Joe Kleine was there for the Suns to take up space, which he did. He also got beaten up by Karl Malone and averaged 2 ppg.

My Selection:

The Suns have many needs, so you take the highest quality player that fits one of your needs. They need to add quality to their frontline (size and or athleticism-- or in other words filling the McDyess gap). Our dream draft would have a half-way decent center that would be worthy of the 9th pick, but this draft doesn't have that, so we pick a tall athlete in Bender. He would have been a future All-SEC and probable POY had he gone to MSU. The SEC is all about athleticism moreso than actual skills, and he would have been a great fit with MSU. It is an appetizing thought to have Bender be the Suns future starting small forward. He has an outside shot and could get tip-ins, rebounds, and blocked shots for the Suns when he can't get his shot off. He will also pose matchup problems for opposing small forwards. His long arms will challenge all Western Conference small forwards' shots except for KG's. I have a lot of faith in Ainge's ability to sculpt a high school player into an NBA starter. Ainge played with and learned from Bill Walton, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale, and a tall small forward named Bird. Bender doesn't have to be a big body to play Western Conference ball, and if he grows a bit taller, he could turn into a very nice Western Conference center.

Other players considered:

Who the team will probably take:

Other off-season moves

Reportedly, the club has great interest in making a deal for Orlando's Penny Hardaway. So do about 10 other NBA teams, some of which probably can offer the Magic better deals. It may come down to whether Hardaway, who optioned out of his contract with the Magic, can broker a sign-and-trade deal.

The Suns would likely have to part with the No. 9 pick or a player they select there, second-year forward Pat Garrity and at least one other player, maybe more to make the contract numbers work under salary cap rules.

The Key for the Suns may be keeping Clifford Robinson in a Phoenix uniform. Robinson retained his "early Bird" salary cap rights and can get either get 8-percent above the league average or 175-percent of what he earned last season with the Suns, which was over $3 million. Robinson said after the club was eliminated that he would prefer to come back unless a team that has a better chance to win a championship steps forward with comparable money.

Others signed to one-year deals include forward George McCloud, center Joe Kleine, forward Chris Morris, center Horacio Llamas, swingman Toby Bailey and forward-guard Marko Milic. Point guard Gerald Brown has an option – his own – for a second year, which he will likelly exercise. The rest won't all be back. Kleine, Morris and Milic are the most likely to depart.

Cap moves: The Suns are over the cap to stay for a long time after signing Gugliotta, Chapman and Luc Longley to long-term deals. However, the club will have two salary cap exceptions to work with, one, the mid-range exception of about $2 million and the other the $1 million exception available every other year.

And all teams can sign players to minimum deals that are rated based on their experience up to a $1-million contract for one season, such as the one Kleine signed this season. The Suns have been adept at attracting some quality players with cap exceptions and minimum deals, including Chapman and Robinson.

The Suns won't have the money to go after any of the high-profile free agents, but they have a knack for grabbing a player or two who fall through the cracks. It's difficult to pinpoint potential targets because the Suns will have to be patient and wait to determine which players are available after the big contracts have been handed out.

The Suns have too many forwards, and only Robinson is very athletic. They could look for a trade, possibly packaging a pick. There also are sign-and-trade possibilities with some of the free agents.

Danny Ainge is in the third year of a six-year contract, and even when the club was struggling midway through the season club President Jerry Colangelo made it clear that Ainge was not the reason. He kept a team that could have slipped out of the playoffs for the first time in a decade focused for a late season run.