A recent ESPN report said Sarver issued a mandate to take $8 million off the payroll. The Suns are facing about that much in a 2008 luxury tax if the payroll doesn't change.

"We don't have a mandate for anything," Sarver said. "Our payroll is going to end up in the upper group of NBA franchises. Exactly where it ends up partly is going to depend on what opportunities exist for us. We're going to be financially prudent, but we've been fortunate with good support from the fans and had good increases in revenue."

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by TrueBlue:

The Suns want to trade the player that has the highest value around the league while at the same time clearing some money, that player is Marion. Everyone needs to get over the fact the time to trade Marion is now no matter how much of a hard you all have for the guy, he'll be making $16.5mil this coming season and $17.8mil the one after that. Sorry as good as he is he's not worth keeping around when he has high value and he won't get any better than he already is. He's also getting to that stage in his career where an injury is just waiting to happen. It's not like the Suns wouldn't win 50-55gms if the guy sat out every game next yr in street clothes.

Shawn Marion trades I would do if I were the Suns in no particular order

- Marion, Banks 4 Mike Miller, Hakim Warrick, Mighty Mouse
- Marion, Banks, future first 4 Luol Deng, P.J. Brown(S&T 1 yr $6mil), Duhon, Griffin
- Marion, Banks 4 Gerald Wallace(S&T first yr starting salary $9mil), Brevin Knight(ask Bobcats to pick his option up) and Jake Voskuhl
- Marion, Thomas, future first 4 Mickel Pietrus(S&T first yr starting salary $7mil), Foyle, and Biedrins
- Marion, Banks 4 Speedy Claxton, Tyron Lue, Josh Smith or Marvin Williams, Lorenzen Wright
- Marion, 4 Camby, Najera, J.R. Smith

Why turn a 60 win team into a 50 win team just to save money? It's not like they're in a rebuilding situation. They need to maximize wins while Nash has a few years left. I couldn't justify downgrading the roster just to save money in that scenario.

Posted by BlueSeats:

Marion only has two more years on his contract, he's never injured, he does all the little things the scorers need him to do to get steals, rebound, initiate the break, spread the defense, etc. He's been the one constant throughout their success, his game seems to mesh with everyone, and he appears to be a good guy too.

Suns ownership is frugal but smart, they'll pay to keep winning. I think they'd trade Marion to upgrade the roster, but not to arbitrarily shave payroll.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by TrueBlue:

The Suns want to trade the player that has the highest value around the league while at the same time clearing some money, that player is Marion. Everyone needs to get over the fact the time to trade Marion is now no matter how much of a hard you all have for the guy, he'll be making $16.5mil this coming season and $17.8mil the one after that. Sorry as good as he is he's not worth keeping around when he has high value and he won't get any better than he already is. He's also getting to that stage in his career where an injury is just waiting to happen. It's not like the Suns wouldn't win 50-55gms if the guy sat out every game next yr in street clothes.

Shawn Marion trades I would do if I were the Suns in no particular order

- Marion, Banks 4 Mike Miller, Hakim Warrick, Mighty Mouse
- Marion, Banks, future first 4 Luol Deng, P.J. Brown(S&T 1 yr $6mil), Duhon, Griffin
- Marion, Banks 4 Gerald Wallace(S&T first yr starting salary $9mil), Brevin Knight(ask Bobcats to pick his option up) and Jake Voskuhl
- Marion, Thomas, future first 4 Mickel Pietrus(S&T first yr starting salary $7mil), Foyle, and Biedrins
- Marion, Banks 4 Speedy Claxton, Tyron Lue, Josh Smith or Marvin Williams, Lorenzen Wright
- Marion, 4 Camby, Najera, J.R. Smith

Why turn a 60 win team into a 50 win team just to save money? It's not like they're in a rebuilding situation. They need to maximize wins while Nash has a few years left. I couldn't justify downgrading the roster just to save money in that scenario.

Thank you Daddy Warbucks. Not every owner has Cablevision as a financial backer.

Posted by djsunyc:

at the kerr press conference, kerr, sarver, d'antoni, and giffin ALL said they are real close and they are there to take the "final" step. he also said they are planning to use the picks b/c they would like to bring in some youth to play behind the big guys.

they weren't asked nor did they talk about shedding salary or anything like that (something heavily rumored).

if marion goes, it will probably be for another player ready to help them win immediately. it's almost unheard of for a team that close just dumping players for youth and taking some big time steps back.

i would offer up marion for jermaine.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 06-07-2007 7:38 PM]

Posted by tomverve:

Posted by TrueBlue:

LOL weren't people saying they downgraded when they traded Joe Johnson for Diaw?

They probably would have won the championship this year if they had Joe Johnson instead of Diaw. LOL!

Posted by Anji:


THat's why they should trade with the bobcats.
Gerald wallaces could be Marion lite
Bobcats have cap space and a top ten pick
Wallace(S&T 8 million) & 8th pick for Marion & Cavs Pick

THe best deal I see, because you can't sign & trade a player for less then 3 years. So they have to get a player they want.

Posted by TrueBlue:

Keep thinking that.... stats say otherwise. ?The furthest PHX went the past 3 yrs was when they didn't have Joe, Amare, and Kurt playing in the playoffs. Once again regular season record is very overrated. Cleveland is in the Finals winning only 50gms, Det won the Finals 2004 winning only 54gms, New Jersey got to the Finals in 2003 winning only 49gms. So often times fans over evaluate individual talent vs having enogh of what's needed to get the job done.

Posted by Anji:

Screw you, I didn't read your post.