Boris Diaw a 10 million dollar player?

[slap]

I think I can look at the situation without too much bias, because the Suns are my favorite team, but am an STH with the Hawks, and am enjoying seeing the growth of these guys into a highly competitive team.

Diaw was an awesome player for Phoenix last year. And, the real reason he played so well wasn't because he was out of Atlanta, or because he took thousands of jumpers. It was because PHX moved him inside, and allowed him to play to his strengths of playmaking and rebounding, and away from his weakness of jumpshooting. I don't know if the Hawks would've considered that, if they would've been willing to go with such an unorthodox approach. But, kudos to the Suns, and their creative minds. He was great, and if his numbers come close to last year in the upcoming season, I'd be comfortable with them paying him $8M+, except for one thing which the Suns fans haven't mentioned for the future. The strong rumor is that Marion is gone after this year, because Sarver is unwilling to go into dollar for dollar luxury tax territory. I hope they win it all this year, and think they'll have the best team if Amare is healthy, but there will be some challenges due to salary going forward.

As good as Boris was, no doubt JJ was absolutely more valuable to Atlanta. I think the guy drove the team bus to Philips Arena. He is a clutch shooter who can score, defend, and create offense for others, while being a good rebounder and a mismatch for his position. Plus, he wants to be here. Thet is the kind of guy you might need to overpay to get, and I think the Hawks did. Not because of the max contract, because he is deserving of it (keep in mind, the Suns had a 6yr, 60M deal on the table, and viewed it as a starting point). Just because they could've gotten him for Diaw aand 1 first rounder. Belkin, in fact, was willing to do that deal, he just balked when the 2nd 1st rounder was included. All in all, it is water under the bridge. Like people have said, the Hawks are a team on the rise, and will need cap space to sign the Joshes and Marvin to extensions. You can imagine if Marv and Smoove play like they have in the 2nd half of the year and summer league, they're going to command money similar to Diaw's demands. Once that starts happening, they're going to need that cap space that it looks like they're hoarding right now. I'm really excited about both teams this year!

[AHF]

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Diaw was an awesome player for Phoenix last year. And, the real reason he played so well wasn't because he was out of Atlanta, or because he took thousands of jumpers. It was because PHX moved him inside, and allowed him to play to his strengths of playmaking and rebounding, and away from his weakness of jumpshooting. I don't know if the Hawks would've considered that, if they would've been willing to go with such an unorthodox approach. But, kudos to the Suns, and their creative minds.

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Just for clarification, I also don't think it was just because he was out of Atlanta and totally agree it was Phoenix's unorthodox approach that really allowed him to prospor. However, I do think it is worth noting that most team's would not be able to operate with an inside player like Diaw and that his success in Phoenix was largely due to the more European/unorthodox approach that team had. Within that system he really blossomed and that is great for him and the Suns but I do question whether his value to other teams would be nearly as high as it is for the Suns and whether his value will be nearly as high for the Suns next year with the return of Amare taking on the primary role inside. I still think he will be a very valuable member of the Suns next year but don't think he will be nearly as critical or statistically successful as last year if Amare is back and healthy.

[joannes3000]

Let's just leave it at this - Diaw is as valuable to PHX in both contract figures and on-the-court figures as JJ is to ATL. The reason I think it's utterly stupid to put Diaw at the same level as JJ is the fact that JJ went from the offensive friendly Suns to the rebuilding Hawks and still put up the numbers he did. How many people have come through PHX and put up "career" numbers? With that line of thinking guys like Raja Bell should all have 6 mil contracts.

[AHF]

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Let's just leave it at this - Diaw is as valuable to PHX in both contract figures and on-the-court figures as JJ is to ATL.

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I can't agree on this. Diaw is fourth in line for $$ on the Suns while JJ is first in line on the Hawks. Diaw also will see his numbers drop with Amare back in the lineup this year. I don't think he is as valuable to PHX as JJ is to Atlanta in any sense of the word.

[CBAreject]

I agree. Without Diaw, the Suns would still win most of their games. Without JJ, we would win about 10 games.

[Lascar78]

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I can't agree on this. Diaw is fourth in line for $$ on the Suns while JJ is first in line on the Hawks. Diaw also will see his numbers drop with Amare back in the lineup this year. I don't think he is as valuable to PHX as JJ is to Atlanta in any sense of the word.

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Agreed. That's an insane statement. We can agree that Diaw is pretty valuable to Phoenix and was worthless to us, but he is nowhere near as valuable to them as JJ is to us.

[Packfill]

I don't understand why people think the only reason for Diaw's success was playing in Phoenix. Sure he benefits from playing with Nash, but so did JJ when he put up numbers that, when viewed as a whole, were comparable to what Diaw did last year. JJ has come to the Hawks and put up very good numbers - but it was for a bad team and he has more NBA experience then Diaw.

Diaw always had the talent he just needed the drive and confidence.

I still would do the JJ trade but anyone who thinks Diaw is not a real good player is kidding themselves. Both teams got what they wanted in that deal.

[joannes3000]

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I still would do the JJ trade but anyone who thinks Diaw is not a real good player is kidding themselves. Both teams got what they wanted in that deal.

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That's all I meant to suggest when I compared Diaw to JJ. I totally agree that JJ is a far more valuable piece to ATL than Diaw is to PHX. Again, if Diaw is 4th in terms of money, that's about where he falls in term of value behind Nash, Amare, and Matrix. And we can all agree that JJ is rightfully the highest paid and most important Hawk.

[Packfill]

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I still would do the JJ trade but anyone who thinks Diaw is not a real good player is kidding themselves. Both teams got what they wanted in that deal.

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That's all I meant to suggest when I compared Diaw to JJ. I totally agree that JJ is a far more valuable piece to ATL than Diaw is to PHX. Again, if Diaw is 4th in terms of money, that's about where he falls in term of value behind Nash, Amare, and Matrix. And we can all agree that JJ is rightfully the highest paid and most important Hawk.

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The thing to remember is that the Suns valued JJ as their 4th option as well - that is why they did not want to give him a max deal and choose instead to build around amare, Nash and Matrix. Obviously, Diaw has been better then even they expected.

Again though, JJ is a better fit for the Hawks even if you considered JJ and Diaw of equal value (I don't, but it is not as far as most people claim) because the Hawks needed a number 1 scoring option and JJ will always be the better scorer of the two.

It was definitely a deal in which both sides were winners.