Back to work
February 18th, 2008, 10:55 pm · Post a Comment · posted by jerrybrown
While Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire were at the All-Star Game and Shaquille O’Neal was working out back in Phoenix Sunday , the rest of the Suns were spread out in search of some rare in-season R-and-R.
Leandro Barbosa was in Cabo San Lucas. Boris Diaw was in Hawaii, while Sean Marks headed to Las Vegas. But it’s back to work Tuesday as the Suns prepare for the roughest possible three-game homestand imaginable — beginning Wednesday against the Lakers and continuing Friday against Boston and Sunday against Detroit.
MONEY TALKS — Here’s another reason to make the O’Neal trade. His deal expires after the 2009-10 season, as does Raja Bell’s. The Suns have a team option on Steve Nash while Amare Stoudemire has an opt-out window on his seven-year max deal. That could leave the Suns with up to $45 million in free agent spending money, or more than $25 million even if Nash and Stoudemire stick around.
Will all that happen? Who knows in the wild world of the NBA. If someone told me two weeks ago that Shaq would be wearing purple and orange I would’ve laughed out loud. But if you don’ t think Phoenix’s capologists didn’t have all those numbers in mind before pulling the trigger, you haven’t been paying attention.
