Is that Luke in the starting lineup????

One thing I will say as well in favor of the Bobcats is that they are an improved team this season. While I think they made mistakes in the draft (Augustin over Lopez and Anjic over every player that could actually play on the board at that time), I still think that Larry Brown is getting through to those guys and that they look like they’ll continue to improve as the season progresses. Do I think they can get to 35 wins? No, I don’t. But they ARE an expansion team that could have had some much better fortunes as a franchise had they only lucked out a little bit more in the lottery when their were true franchise players in the draft (remember they fell to #2 and took Okafor when Dwight Howard went #1 and fell to #5 when CP3 and Deron #3 and #4 when they really needed a PG and they took Felton…those were some bad breaks).

Up here in the Bay Area, the Warriors seemed to be super high on J-Rich. They only traded him to be able to sign Monta and Baron (don’t forget they didn’t have enough cap space to resign 2nd round pick Gilbert Arenas). He wasn’t exceptional defensively, but wasn’t nearly as bad as Nash.

Phoenix got a huge upgrade. Shaq is healthy, motivated and feeling disrespected. You have to admit the new lineup looks pretty good on paper.

Image Ray Allen with Nash, a scary thought. Richardson’s something of a black hole.

J-Rich may not be a star, but he was a useful asset who could surely have netted more than the ghost of Raja Bell and the contract of Boris Diaw. And then you throw in a solid young forward in Dudley and a pick? Yikes. The Suns make out like bandits here.

Robin Lopez was a PF in college.The Suns must feel he’s ready to play regular minutes as the third big.(And they’ll prob use Barnes at the 4 in a small lineup.)

Interesting that the rookie Singletary was included,as the Euro PG the Suns traded for has been benched for a few games. Wonder if they’re going to make a run at one of the Grizz points? Looks like Felton is really on the hot seat in Charlotte.

Agree w/most everybody,see no reason at all for the trade on Charlotte’s side. The Cats gave up the #5 pick in 07,cap room for Richardson and now they’re trading him for Diaw? Ouch!

Phoenix got the best player and some salary relief from Diaw being gone. Diaw is/was a system player as an initiator PF who excels at the highpost. His game would never really mesh with Amare’s, so in the long run it’s better that he’s gone. Also, living in the Bay, I can say that while Richardson is not a franchise level player, he can and will excell as a good teams 3rd best player. His game from the wing and rebounding ability from the backcourt will surely help the Suns as he can space the floor and score in bunches. If his minutes overlap into the 2nd unit, he will make the Suns a much better team overall bringing some scoring punch to the team that can use it with Barbosa having a down year.

As for the Bobcats, I’ll put up a tepid defense of the deal from their side. Diaw is a player that is another initiator. Both Felton and Augustin are good scorers at PG and Wallace is not a creator for others. So, Diaw can help spread the ball around on that team and be another post player for them besides Okafor. While Diaw has his limitations, he can serve a needed role for the ‘Cats (if Larry Brown plays him). As for Bell, he is exactly the type of player Larry Brown likes. He’s a hard working, defensive minded player that “plays the right way” and will provide more veteran leadership for a youngish team. Bell will space the floor and guard the other teams primary wing scorer, and do it at a higher level than Richardson. This deal may not seem like a real upgrade for the ‘Cats, but it does put everyone into better roles onto the team as Wallace will now be their primary wing scorer, Okafor (who’s been playing much better lately) will continue to man the block, and Felton can now try to score more when Diaw takes more of a distributor role on the team. The ‘Cats may not have won on talent in this deal, but they did make their team more well rounded and bring in one Larry Brown type of player and another guy who *can* help them. Is it perfect? No. But they are trying to build team (however loosely you want to use the word is up to you).