The State of Affairs

What, another Zei post? "Chances are it will be about something super important!" you all undoubtedly mutter as you get ready to tune out the numbers.

First things first, aside from being rather disgruntled about us not taking Tiago Splitter at the #24, in the end it will prove to be a valuable move if we can utilize it properly. The deal as everyone seems to understand it is the #24 pick (Rudy Fernandez) for $3 million cash and James Jones ($2,904,000 this year.) "Gibberish! What does it all mean!?" you shout, partially incoherently at me? Well.


First off, it means that we have $2.9 million off the cap, straight up. It also means that we don't have to pay $2.9 million in luxury tax, as well as acquiring $3 million from Portland's owner, who makes most rich people look poor and can definitely spare the change.

The direct effects of this is that we are basically getting $9 million out of this, plus what we would be saving on the salary for the #24 pick. ($873,200) A solid $9.5 million dollars in Sarver and the rest of the Suns investors... but what does it mean for the fans?

Well, it means we have a legitimate reason to expect that we will be using at least part of our mid-level exception. (Which is around $5.5 million.) We can offer that to a valuable player and have a legit chance at landing him, except that I'm sure the front office isn't going to be giving out any long term contracts, which is a wise course of action in my opinion. Instead, we will be seeking veterans who want to win, which the Suns have shown by actively pursuing Grant Hill. (Who won't even take up any of that mid-level exception, as he'd be taking the veteran minimum.) I like the Hill signing, though he's rather brittle... he'd be making as much as Jumaine Jones, Jalen Rose and Eric Piatkowski made last year, and they didn't play at all, so any time Grant Hill is in the rotation we are getting rather good value out of him. Grant Hill can bring a lot to this team as a secondary playmaker who can create his own shot, create shots for others, and plays very smart basketball. (He was also relatively healthy last year, playing 65 games.)

So what should we do with this great mid-level exception we have? Well, there are some options out there, but one sticks out in my mind well beyond everyone else. That player would be Brevin Knight, who just got bought out by the Bobcats so they could save about $3 million... this will prove to be a mistake for the Bobcats, one that I hope the Suns can capitalize on. Brevin Knight is one of the best decision makers in the league, as well as being the best pure passer that nobody ever hears about. Last year he put up 6.6 APG (2.1 TOPG) in just 28.3 MPG, the year before that he put up 8.8 APG (2.38 TOPG) in 34.1 MPG. The year before that, he managed 9.0 APG (2.23 TOPG) in 29.5 MPG. The man is an absolutely ridiculous passer, who always seems to make the right decision and always puts the pass where it needs to go. He's got a mildly accurate mid-range shot, and is a very good on-ball and team defender at the point guard spot, and forces a whole lot of turnovers. (06-07: 1.5 SPG in 28.3 MPG, 05-06: 2.3 SPG in 34.1 MPG, 04-05: 2.0 SPG in 29.5 MPG) He is a true, pure point guard. He runs the break, he plays perimeter defense, forces steals, sets up his teammates, and will always rather get his man the easy bucket than try to take it upon himself to make a tough shot.

In the end, Brevin Knight solves all of our back up point guard problems, gives Leandro another playmaker to play beside and learn from, and gives us a true point guard to back up Nash instead of someone who is, for all intensive purposes, a SG, and will never be a tremendous playmaker so much as a scorer who can draw defenders to him and occasionally throw set up a team mate. (I'm the biggest Barbosa fan around, but he's not a point guard.)

All this combined with the fact that Brevin Knight is a veteran, and he wants to win. If he were to come to a team to win, Phoenix would be a hell of an option, assuming D'Antoni hasn't scared off all of the free agents to be from signing with Phoenix with his 7 man rotations and not playing any of our free agent signings, . (You can make a case for not playing a few people, but Jumaine Jones and Marcus Banks really needed to have some time made for them. There's no excuse for not giving these guys consistent minutes in the regular season.) All things told, Brevin Knight provides a perfect solution to a problem we've had since we've had Nash: Being able to take him out of the game without a massive drop in playmaking and overall production out of anyone not named Leandro or Amare, who are coincidentally the only two people on our team that can create their own shot. Oh wait, that's not a coincidence.

So, in conclusion... Phoenix needs to make a hell of a recruiting pitch to Brevin Knight.

Other players to look at with the MLE (Or part of it):
Steve Blake, Morris Peterson, Chuck Hayes, Charlie Bell, James Posey

Players to look at for the minimum:
Travis Diener, Dajuan Wagner, Kareem Rush... PAT BURKE!

Players to look at if they'll take the minimum, but probably want more:
Scot Pollard, Dahntay Jones, Chris Mihm

Oh... and as a bonus... I've got my own website up, not basketball related, but... it's got (supposedly) funny stuff there.
http://www.every-little-thing.com