The Aftermath

Like always, we’ll start with the local team. And, as you’ve heard by now, All-Star power forward, Amare Stoudemire has signed with the New York Knicks to be the King of New York. Ironic, I know. Amare left because owner Robert Sarver just couldn’t talk himself into giving out $100 million to a player with a history of bad knees and bad eyes. That’s understandable, but I just hope that’s how we hear it from him. I don’t want to hear any spin about how Amare didn’t want to be here, and how he was itching to leave from the moment the Suns drafted him. If Sarver would have been willing to spend the money, Amare would have stayed.

I don’t blame him for leaving, and I don’t blame Robert Sarver for not paying him either. Maybe that’s just because I’ve had five months to ponder what the Suns would be like without Stoudemire on the team. I cushioned the blow for myself and didn’t go into this process with high expectations. With that said, I still expect good offseason moves by the front office. Let’s discuss.

Channing Frye: overpaid. Really, as a fan, I don’t really care if my team is paying luxury tax or not. I just want to see good players play good basketball, but the front office can’t think like that. They have a budget and they need to find players that will fit into those parameters and into the basketball system.

Unfortunately, the Suns were doomed from the beginning. They don’t have a General Manager anymore. They have a coach making these decisions, and coaches tend to think along the same lines as fans. “We had this guy. He played well for us. We need to keep this guy.” See Alvin Gentry doesn’t really care how much Robert Sarver is paying Channing Frye. As a matter of fact, the odds are high that once Steve Nash retires/leaves/ascends to the basketball heavens, Alvin Gentry won’t be the coach of the team anymore. The future is not in his mindset, hence the need for a real GM. As long as Sarver is willing to pay (which he’s not) this wouldn’t be a terrible move, especially if there was a real GM and talent evaluator in the front office to re-bolster the roster through the draft, because big-time free agents aren’t going to be able to sign if Suns are over luxury tax.

As bad as a contract that will turn out to be, 5 years $32 million for Frye, I really like the Hakim Warrick signing. Warrick is a good value pickup. His career numbers aren’t outstanding, but he hasn’t ever really had a chance to play big minutes. Most likely, he’ll be the starting power forward, and he WILL get better by playing with Steve Nash. Nash tends to have that effect on super athletic forwards who cannot create their own shot. Just ask Shawn Marion. All in all, I think the Suns did pretty well for the situation that they were in. Or in other words, I think the 2010-11 team can still be entertaining and competitive for the financial restraints that were put on the organization.

Now of course, this post would not be complete without a few words on the man of the month, LeBron James. I think my sister just threw up in her mouth a little. I think the general public has had enough of this guy. After all the speculation and the hours of ESPN airtime devoted to this announcement, LeBron decided to play for the Miami Heat, referencing his desire to win now and in the future, oh and to play with his Olympic buddies.

This was a terrible decision on multiple levels. First let’s dissect his reasons for choosing Miami. He wants to win. They are going to have an extremely talented team no matter who else they can find to put around these three, but there is no guarantee this team will win. It is a fatally flawed team. They don’t have a go-to-guy. Who’s going to take the last shot? Who is going to take the blame when or if things go wrong? I guarantee this team will not last the five year duration of their contracts. This will combust. LeBron basically left Cleveland and the chance to be the biggest star in sports history (winning multiple titles in New York) to hang out with his buddies on South Beach. That’s what it boils down to. Dude! You’re LeBron James! You can BUY some buddies to hang with! Not only that, but he turned himself into an instant villain WWF style by spurning Cleveland on a primetime TV special. We haven’t seen a fall from sports grace this quickly since…well, last November (See Woods, Tiger).

That’s what I’m saying. His legacy will never live up to the potential that it once had. This is Dwayne Wade’s team. He’s already The Man in Miami. He’s already won a championship in Miami. Even if they do win titles, LeBron will never have as many as Wade does. LeBron gave up chance of sports immortality to be a second fiddle to Dwayne Wade! This blows me away! I thought he had a whole slew of people advising him on just this type of stuff. I guess they all couldn’t get the thought of spending the winters on South Beach every year. LeBron’s only hope is to become Magic Johnson-type playmaker. And even that might not be enough. I’m sure he won’t have Magic’s blessing after what he did to his hometown fans. Only time will tell if this king turns out more like Henry VIII, cutting off heads whenever and wherever to get what he wants, or the King of Pop whose legacy only grew after a midlife transformation. Time will tell.