Phoenix Suns Offseason Central

[Xist2inspire]

Follow this thread to see what's going on in Arizona! There will be at least two press conferences.

Somewhere In The Desert:

"I don't know when it's gonna happen, but it's gonna happen. Just like last season....and last season...and the season before that.....I try, y'know? The people of 'Zona deserve a winner, but it's so muthafuggin' hard......f*** Zo.....bitter @$$ muthafugga.....Joe Johnson told me that Zo told him that he could sign with anyone but the Suns, and if he did, he'd put a bounty out on his @$$.....f*** SJax.....how the hell wuz I supposed to know he'd turn out good......f*** Big Ben.....f*** Jamison too, the hell was I smoking when I traded that sucka?......hell, f*** Curry too........f*** the lottery. How was I supposed to know that pick'd turn out to be Dwight...........f*** Sheed. Flew his @$$ all the way from Toronto to Phoenix, an' he ain't do $#!* come the regular season. Then I manage to get Mash, and he ain't do $#!* either. All points and no wins, that's all dem muthafuggers are about. Least I gots me some assets thanks to Sheed. Yeah, I'm gon' turn dis place into asset city.....@$$ CITY, BEYOTCH! Oh wait............I'm drunk, ain't I........."

The bartender sighed and took his drink from Xist. "Yes. Yes you are."

"Oh........sorry.........."

[Xist2inspire]

Press Conference I

Phoenix Suns Media Room: Vince & David's Introduction

Johnny, the Suns' owner, rushes out to the podium.

Johnny: Sorry for being late, I couldn't find Xist this time, he finally gave me the slip.

Chuckles start to spread throughout the room, as people remember last season's press conference.

Johnny: This is short-notice, but I am proud to say that our main rotation is pretty much set. We'll have a proper press conference with all of the team members later, but today we wanted to introduce our two newest members! Please, give a warm welcome to.......VINCE CARTER!

The crowd goes wild with cheers, as it's been a very long time since the Suns have had a player of his caliber. The owner smiles and presents Carter with his new jersey, number 15.

Johnny:.......and DAVID WEST!

This was big news around Phoenix when the deal was announced, but this is the first time David's been made available to the media since then. His cheers are just as loud as Vince's as he is presented with his number 21 jersey.

Johnny: Not only are these our top two acquisitions, but they are key parts in our plan for the future. We're now ready for any questions, but don't use them all, we still have another press conference to go!

[TrayWithAnA]

Joe Detroit, from DetroitBasketball4Life.com, what is your starting lineup looking like with the new additions? Does Danny Fortson ever say anything about me?

[Xist2inspire]

Johnny: Well thank goodness, I was getting bored up here.

Small laughs from the crowd

Johnny: Well, Vince is our starting SG, no doubt. As for Danny, Detroit fans know that he is a class act all the way. He has asked to take on the task of mentoring David as he takes over the starting PF spot. Danny himself will act as our "2nd 6th man," coming off the bench at both the 4 and the 5. Fortson is extremely grateful to the entire Pistons organization, he still roots for and follows them to this day.

[TrayWithAnA]

Johnny: Well thank goodness, I was getting bored up here.

Small laughs from the crowd

Johnny: Well, Vince is our starting SG, no doubt. As for Danny, Detroit fans know that he is a class act all the way. He has asked to take on the task of mentoring David as he takes over the starting PF spot. Danny himself will act as our "2nd 6th man," coming off the bench at both the 4 and the 5. Fortson is extremely grateful to the entire Pistons organization, he still roots for and follows them to this day.

I still wear my 'I heart Fortson' tshirt and cry myself to sleep.

[Conroy]

SportsGuy Bill Simmons here you all might have replaced the Grizz as the SportsGuy's second favorite team. Are you all still looking to spend the 8 mill in cap space this year and are you already looking at next years targets since you should have a decent amount of money to spend. Also how does Danny feel about being relegated to the bench? He's going to back up the Center position? He's listed at 6'7" 260 how well do you think he'd match up against some of the bigger centers in the league like I dunno say Shaquille O'Neal?

[Xist2inspire]

Johnny: Great to have the SportsGuy here, and thanks for the compliment. It's always great to find another fan of our merry little band of misfits. It's funny you should mention the Grizz, in our upset of them all those seasons ago, 6'9" Ben Wallace, with 6'7" Danny backing him up, helped contain 6'10" Zo so that he couldn't beat us all by himself. There are two things I learned from that: One, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Those three undersized centers had some of the most thrilling big man battles I'd ever seen in a series. Secondly, I learned that sometimes, you don't have to beat a guy. You don't have to stop him, nor do you have to match up well. You just have to contain him. With that being said............in the words of Fortson himself, "Oh, wait, I gotta D up Shaq? Maybe you should go get another center......he'll kill me...." That is NOT a date we have circled on our calendar.

As for the cap space, no, barring an unexpected signing or deal, we have no plans to majorly cut into our remaining space for reasons other than filling out the remainder of our roster. If you look at our team, it's built so that we can keep being competitive while avoiding the lux tax until we're sure we're a contender. In my opinion, if you're paying big-time lux tax and you're not a contender, it's time for a fire sale. Hopefully our cap space, along with the money freed up from Vlade's expiring deal, will cover the added cost of our rookie crop next season. We're actually looking forward to next season's draft more than free agency.