New Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye began his NBA career in 2005-06 with the New York Knicks.

His rookie year was solid. Playing 24.2 minutes per game, Frye averaged 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds on good shooting, looking versatiel and talented.

Frye stayed with the Knicks for his second season, then spent two years with the Portland Trail Blazers. But of his first four seasons, his rookie year stood out the most.

Now with the Suns, something crazy has happened. The 6-11, 245-pound big-man has become a huge threat from three-point range.

In his first four seasons, Frye’s three-point shooting totals were: 3-of-9, 3-of-18, 3-of-10, and 11-of-33.

This season, in the six games Phoenix has played, Frye has fired 33 three-pointers and hit 16 of them; a 48.5% clip.

The team, meanwhile, is off to a great 6-1 start.

Playing a faster style of basketball now that Shaquille O’Neal is gone, the Suns are playing fun, winning basketball and are worth watching. Steve Nash is playing great. The fans are entertained. And Frye has been a great surprise.

Have an opinion? Share it in this forum topic.

The AP reports:

Chris Dudley’s free throw shots were always iffy propositions. Now the former Phoenix Sun and Portland Trail Blazer is in a new arena taking aim at a governor’s chair - and Oregon’s Republicans think he can score.

Dudley hasn’t formally announced a bid for the post, but he filed paperwork last week to create a campaign committee.

“I’ll make a decision soon and report back. One way or another, I intend to help change Oregon for the better,” he said in a statement.

Dudley, 44, wouldn’t be the first professional athlete to make the transition into politics. The late Congressman Jack Kemp of New York was an NFL quarterback, and former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey was an NBA standout for years.

The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has exercised the team options on the contracts of third-year forward Jared Dudley and second-year center Robin Lopez for the 2010-11 season.   The Suns have declined the 2010-11 team option on the contract of third-year swingman Alando Tucker.

Dudley, 24, enters his first full season with the Suns and third career campaign after being acquired along with Jason Richardson and a 2010 second-round pick for Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary on Dec. 10, 2008.  The Boston College product appeared in 48 games for Phoenix in 2008-09, including 30 of 31 games following the All-Star break when he became one of the Suns’ most consistent reserves.  Dudley, who averaged 7.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.03 steals after the break, shot a career-high 39.4 percent from three-point range after joining the Suns.  The 6-7 forward made 26 three-pointers in 48 games with Phoenix after making a total of 12 in his first 93 career games with Charlotte.

The 7-0, 255-pound Lopez was the Suns’ first-round selection in the 2008 NBA Draft (15th overall).  A two-year collegiate standout at Stanford, Lopez averaged 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.68 blocks and 10.2 minutes in 60 appearances (seven starts) for the Suns last season.  His 51.8-percent field goal accuracy as a rookie would have been third-best among rookies and 17th-highest in the league overall if he’d tallied enough attempts to qualify (min. 300 field goals made).  Lopez, who averaged 11.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for the Suns’ 2009 Las Vegas Summer League entry, is currently recovering from a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot, suffered during this season’s training camp.

Originally selected by the Suns with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft, Tucker is a two-year pro who has appeared in 36 career games with Phoenix.  The 6-6, 205-pound forward, who saw action in 30 games last season, owns career averages of 4.4 points and 1.1 rebounds.

Mark Puente of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via blog):

Predators lurking for local children on the Internet could soon be talking to a 7-foot-1 undercover deputy.

The Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy is reviewing paperwork to determine whether Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal is eligible to carry a gun and a sheriff’s five-point badge.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid last week notified the state agency, which determines officers’ eligibility, that he intends to deputize O’Neal if approved by the state, according to records obtained by The Plain Dealer. O’Neal held law-enforcement commissions in Arizona, Virginia and Florida. Reid declined to comment until the process is complete.

If O’Neal is approved, he would need to complete 36 hours of police training within six months and take the Ohio police examination to maintain the appointment, said Holly Hollingsworth, spokeswoman for the Attorney General. He would also have to pass a test on a shooting range.

This is one of the few things Shaq appears to take pretty seriously. He’s pursued it for a long time. But I still doubt he does it full-time after his NBA basketball career wraps up in a few years. Helping the law will probably be a side-hobby for the big fella.

The Phoenix Suns today announced that the club has been awarded the rights to center Jarron Collins.  Collins, who spent the preseason with the Portland Trail Blazers, became available after being waived October 22, 2009.

The 6-11, 249-pound Collins is an eight-year NBA veteran who has spent every career regular season with the Utah Jazz.  The 30-year-old owns career averages of 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16.9 minutes in 480 games (206 starts).  Collins, who has averaged 8.8 rebounds per 48 minutes over the course of his NBA career, is a durable post player who has appeared in 70 or more games in five of his eight NBA seasons.

Collins was a four-year performer at Stanford where he helped lead the Cardinal to the 1998 Final Four.  He is one of 10 players in Stanford history with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.

Jarron is the younger twin brother of Hawks center Jason Collins.  He joins teammates Robin Lopez (New Jersey’s Brook) and Taylor Griffin (L.A. Clippers’ Blake) as Suns players with brothers in the NBA.  Phoenix now has a member of three of the NBA’s five active brother pairings.

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez will undergo surgery to repair a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot, the club announced today.  Lopez suffered the injury in the second half of the team’s intrasquad scrimmage Saturday in San Diego.

The procedure to insert a screw will be performed tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 6, by Dr. Gus Armendariz at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix.  Lopez is expected to miss between six and eight weeks.

As a rookie in 2008-09, the Stanford product averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds while appearing in 60 games.

The Suns open exhibition play tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 6, hosting Euroleague club Partizan Belgrade at US Airways Center at 7 p.m.

The Phoenix Suns were a fun, super-fast, run-and-gun team back in the not-so-distant past. Then they made a bunch of trades, added Shaquille O’Neal, and became a regular squad that fast-breaked about as much as anyone else.

Now, Shaq is gone and Steve Nash has guys like Jason Richardson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa to toss the rock to. Guys with quickness and athletic ability.

What this means is, the fun Suns may reappear.

The AP reports:

The Suns begin training camp with “a clear vision of how we’re going to play,” Steve Nash said at the team’s media day on Monday.

That would be fast and furious, just like in the days when Mike D’Antoni was coach.

“This year I think it’s going to be much clearer as to who we are and how we’re going to play,” Nash said, “and that’s going to allow us to build a chemistry and believe in one another.”

It’ll be interesting to see how aging Steve Nash performs in 2009-10.

Shaquille O’Neal is old but still good (and big) enough to contribute positively to a team. I worry that he’ll throw Cleveland Cavaliers chemistry off a bit this season, though.  Even if he’s more effective than Zydrunas Ilgauskas for stretches, Big Z can hit open mid-range jumpers that Shaq can’t make.

Anyway, Cleveland welcomed Shaq to town in style. The AP reports:

Shaq got in one last party before training camp.

Shaquille O’Neal, the big man Cleveland is counting on to deliver this championship-starved city a title, was welcomed to town Sunday with a star-studded party that included sports celebrities and Average Joes looking to rub elbows with them.

Fashionably late, O’Neal arrived in an SUV at 11:15 p.m. as fans, one of them holding a life-size cardboard cutout of O’Neal in an Orlando Magic uniform, cheered on the sidewalks and took pictures of the town’s newest superstar, who will be teammates with reigning league MVP LeBron James.

O’Neal has had a good first impression of Cleveland.

”It’s a nice town,” he said. ”The entertainment is already here. Everything is here. The Browns are here, LeBron is here and now I’m here.”

NBA preseason begins this Thursday.

On the heels of the NBA’s approval to allow sponsorship of team practice jerseys for the first time, the Phoenix Suns and The Annexus Group, a Phoenix-based annuity design firm, announced today a new multi-year marketing partnership agreement. Suns President and CEO Rick Welts, Suns General Manager Steve Kerr, Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry, and Ron Shurts and Don Dady, Partners in The Annexus Group made the announcement at US Airways Center.

The multi-year, mid-six figure deal (annually) includes exclusive logo placement on the team’s official practice jerseys for a two-year period, the length currently authorized by the NBA. The logo will be affixed on the upper right side of the jersey. The jerseys will be worn during official team practice and shootaround as well as during press interviews immediately following. The team’s coaching staff will also wear The Annexus Group branded gear during these times.  The Suns are the second NBA team to announce a practice jersey sponsor.

“We’re proud to partner with The Annexus Group, an innovative locally-based company that continues to build a growing national business,” said Welts.

As part of the partnership, the Suns practice court will be named the Annexus Practice Court. The facility will feature The Annexus Group logos on each end of the practice court and various other spaces. The Annexus Group will utilize the facility for seminars, meetings and business building opportunities.

“On a daily basis, we have the privilege of working with the ‘best of the best’ in our business. One of the keys to our growing this powerful network has been our opportunity to work with the top advisors and distributors in the industry. This practice facility sponsorship represents one more link in that value chain,” said Dady.

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed free-agent guard/forward Sasha Pavlovic. Per team policy, terms of the contract offer were not disclosed. It was reported by multiple outlets to be a one-year deal for around $1.3 million.

“We are excited to add Sasha to our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “His size and athleticism will help round out our wing position and provide us added experience.”

Pavlovic, a 6-8 wing from Serbia, has appeared in 381 games (127 starts) over his six-year career, averaging 5.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. His best statistical season came in 2006-07, when he averaged 9.0 points per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from behind the arc. Pavlovic has helped the Cavaliers reach the postseason in each of the last four years, including a playoff run to the NBA Finals in 2007 in which he averaged 9.2 points per game during the postseason.

Originally selected by the Utah Jazz with the 19th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Pavlovic appeared in 79 games as a rookie before being selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 Expansion Draft. Pavlovic was subsequently traded to Cleveland, where he’s played each of the past five seasons.

The Phoenix Suns didn’t feel they had a need or use for Sasha Pavlovic, so the team and player have parted ways. Stefan Swiat of Suns.com reports:

As expected, Sasha Pavlovic’s basketball career in Phoenix was finished before it ever even began. The Suns have agreed to buy out Pavlovic’s contract in a move that will allow the team greater salary cap flexibility moving forward.

Marc Cornstein, Pavlovic’s agent, approached the Suns recently to talk to the team about a prospective buyout. If Pavlovic would have remained with the Suns, there was a reasonable chance that he would have been waived in December, allowing the organization to pay much less of a luxury tax to the league.

The 6-7 guard/forward averaged just 4.6 points and 1.9 rebounds in 16.0 minutes per game last season.

Phoenix Suns rookie Earl Clark is confident. And ready for the league.

Like many kids, he knew he was going to make the NBA. Only unlike those other kids, he really did it.

Now he’s looking to prove doubters wrong.

Read this exclusive InsideHoops.com Earl Clark interview.

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports: Amaré Stoudemire’s competitive basketball play was back Tuesday and so was his eyewear. Going against a defender for the first time since a 42-point game on Feb. 18, Stoudemire played four-on-four, half-court games at US Airways Center with teammates also participating in voluntary workouts. “Sometimes, I felt like it was going faster than I expected, as far as competition,” Stoudemire said. “Other than that, I felt great. To finally be back out there with the guys and running sprints with them, I got my family back. It’s almost like you ran away from home for a while. Now, you’re back home and you feel how great it is to be around your family.”

Discuss Suns basketball in the InsideHoops Phoenix Suns forum.

Jason Richardson of the Phoenix Suns has been suspended without pay for two games for pleading guilty to driving under the influence, in violation of the law of the State of Arizona, the NBA announced today.

Richardson will be suspended for the first two games of the 2009-10 NBA regular season for which he is eligible and physically able to play.

The Phoenix Suns today named John Shumate an assistant coach.  Shumate, a one-time Suns draft pick and 30-year veteran of basketball on the professional and collegiate levels, joins Bill Cartwright, Dan Majerle and Igor Kokoskov on head coach Alvin Gentry’s staff.

Having just completed his 12th season as a member of the Suns’ front office, Shumate makes the move to Gentry’s staff after serving in the club’s scouting department for all but one of the last eight seasons.  Shumate served as the head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury in 2003.

Shumate’s wealth of basketball experience was formed over the last 30 years as a player, coach and college scout.  Originally the fourth overall pick of the 1974 NBA Draft by the Suns, Shumate was named All-NBA Rookie First Team in 1975-76 after sitting out his rookie campaign with a blood clot injury.  The Notre Dame product played seven NBA seasons and averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in 318 games with the Suns, Buffalo, Detroit, Houston, San Antonio and Seattle.

Following his playing career, Shumate coached 17 consecutive years at the college and pro level at Notre Dame (assistant coach, 1981-83, 1986-88), Grand Canyon College (now Grand Canyon State, head coach, 1983-86), Southern Methodist University (head coach, 1988-94) and the NBA’s Toronto Raptors (assistant coach, 1995-98).  The 57-year-old rejoined the Suns organization as a community relations representative in 1998 before moving to the scouting department in 2000.

The team also announced today the addition of Bruce Fraser to the scouting staff.  Elvis Valcarcel has been promoted to video coordinator after one season as assistant video coordinator.

Talk Suns basketball in the InsideHoops Phoenix Suns forum.

The Phoenix Suns today announced the signing of forward Taylor Griffin, the club’s second-round selection (48th overall) in the 2009 NBA Draft. We will try to post contract info tonight.

“Taylor is an excellent athlete, a hard worker and very much team-oriented,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.  “He fits right in with the kind of people we want in our organization, and he has a chance to develop into a very good player.”

The 6-7, 238-pound Griffin most recently appeared as a member of the Suns’ entry in the 2009 Las Vegas Summer League, where he averaged 6.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal in five games (all starts).

A four-year performer at the University of Oklahoma, Griffin enjoyed his best statistical season as a senior in 2008-09, averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds while starting all 36 games.  Known for his hustle, the 23-year-old led the team in steals during his senior campaign and ranked second in blocks.

Griffin is a two-time Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 selection (2007, 2008) who became the fifth Oklahoma product drafted by Phoenix in franchise history, joining Ted Evans (1974), Tom Holland (1974), Ring of Honor member Alvan Adams (1975) and Bo Overton (1983).

The son of a high school basketball coach, Griffin was named the 2005 Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year as a senior in high school after leading his school to state titles in both his junior and senior seasons.  He is the older brother of former Oklahoma teammate Blake Griffin, who was taken by the L.A. Clippers with the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft.

NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is a guest host tonight on the famous WWE wrestling show “Monday Night Raw,” which is nationally televised. This week’s edition takes place in Washington D.C.

It began with wrestling legend Jerry Lawler introducing Shaq to fans, mistakenly calling him “a 15-time NBA MVP.”

Then, current wrestling star Chris Jericho came out, insulting Shaq, saying that he heard a top NBA superstar was coming out and naturally assumed it was Kobe Bryant, not Shaq.

Jericho’s friend (and tag team partner) “The Big Show” was introduced and stood face to face with Shaq. Big Show is about 7 feet tall and listed at 485 pounds. In all my years I’ve never seen Shaq as the smaller dude. (Yao Ming is taller than Shaq, but Shaq’s still the bigger dude.)

Big Show called Shaq a toothpick. Shaq called him “Fat Boy” in return.

Naturally, Shaq didn’t exchange blows with anyone. He’s just there to guest-host and stay healthy for the 2009-10 NBA season as a new member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

About 40 minutes into the show, Hornswoggle, a “little person” Irish wrestling character dressed like a tiny leprechaun came into a room Shaq was in backstage. Shaq joked that they went to high school together, then invited Hornswoggle to dunk on a lowered basket. “Come on, Nate Robinson” said Shaq, encouraging the little fellow.

The show began at 9 p.m. ET on USA network.

The Phoenix Suns today signed two-time NBA MVP point guard Steve Nash to a two-year contract extension through 2011-12, the club announced.

“Steve is still one of the best point guards in the NBA, and his dedication to conditioning will keep him among the league’s elite for several more seasons,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.  “In many ways he embodies what our franchise is all about, and we’re thrilled that he will be the leader of our team for the next three years.”

A 13-year NBA veteran, including seven overall in Phoenix, Nash has spent the last five seasons in the desert and has led the Suns to two Western Conference Finals appearances and two of the club’s three seasons of 60 or more wins in franchise history (2004-05, 2006-07).  Since signing to return to Phoenix on July 14, 2004, Nash has led the Suns to an average of 56 wins each season and Phoenix has compiled an impressive 270-115 (.701) mark with him in the lineup.

One of only nine players in NBA history to collect back-to-back NBA MVP awards (2005, 2006), Nash is a six-time NBA All-Star (four appearances as a Sun, 2005-08) and a three-time All-NBA First Team Selection (2005, 2006, 2007).  Since 2004-05, Nash has averaged 17.1 points and 10.9 assists in 385 games in a Suns uniform while shooting an unparalleled 51.1 percent from the field (2,401-4,697), 44.9 percent from three-point range (687-1,530) and 91.6 percent from the free-throw line (1,108-1,209).

Among the most prolific passers in NBA history, the 6-3, 178-pound Nash currently ranks ninth on the NBA’s all-time assist list (7,505) and second on the Suns’ franchise list (4,586) behind Suns legend Kevin Johnson. Nash is the only player in Suns history to average 11 or more assists in three different seasons (2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08) and owns four of the 10 double-digit assist seasons in franchise history.

Widely regarded as one of the NBA’s best shooters, in 2008-09, Nash became the first player in NBA history to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line in three different seasons (2005-06, 2007-08).  The 35-year-old Nash concluded the season tied for 16th on the league’s all-time list of three-pointers made (1,360) and just 10 threes shy of surpassing the Suns’ franchise record currently held by assistant coach and Ring of Honor member Dan Majerle (800).

Nash will begin his eighth season in Phoenix in 2009-10 ranked as the second-most accurate free-throw shooter in NBA history behind only Mark Price, and tops among active players.  A career 89.7-percent shooter from the line, Nash is one of only six players in league history to shoot 90 percent or better from the free-throw line in at least five career seasons. In 2008-09, Nash shot a career-high 93.3 percent from the charity stripe, breaking his own Phoenix franchise record (.921, 2005-06).

Originally selected by the Suns with the 15th overall pick of the 1996 NBA Draft, Nash played his first two seasons in Phoenix before being traded to Dallas on July 25, 1998 for Pat Garrity, Bubba Wells, Martin Muursepp and a future first-round pick that the Suns would use on Shawn Marion in 1999.  After six seasons with the Mavericks, Nash returned to Phoenix as a restricted free agent prior to the 2004-05 season and keyed the then third-largest turnaround in NBA history and a franchise-record tying 62 victories a season after the club won 29 games.

Among the numerous and wide-ranging awards his professional and personal endeavors have garnered, Nash was named to the Order of Canada in Dec. 2007, his home nation’s highest civilian honor, for his success on the court and his humanitarian efforts.  Nash was also the recipient of the 2007 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, is a two-time winner of the Lionel Conacher Award as Canada’s top male athlete (2002, 2005), and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2006.

His well-known Steve Nash Foundation is dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life with efforts focused in British Columbia, Arizona and Paraguay, home nation of Nash’s wife, Alejandra.  Winner of the 2008 Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy, foundation events have raised over $1 million.

One of the NBA’s “greenest” players, in 2007 Nash opened the Steve Nash Sports Club in Vancouver, the first sports gym to aspire to meet standards for energy conservation and environmentally friendly practices.  His Nike “Trash Talk” shoe is made from the wasted manufacturing scraps of other shoes, packaged in a box made entirely of recycled fiber and went on sale to the public on Earth Day 2009.  Nash now partners with Arizona Public Service (APS), the state’s largest and longest-serving electric utility, and appears in popular television advertisements to promote the company’s solar and renewable energy initiatives.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa on Feb. 7, 1974, Nash moved to Canada at the age of 18 months.

The Orlando Magic have signed free agent forward Matt Barnes, General Manager Otis Smith announced today.  Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed. We’ll add contract info tonight.

“Matt (Barnes) is a versatile player that fits very well with our style of play,” said Smith.  “He is a good defender, can knock down the open shot and is coming off his best season as a pro. We’re happy to welcome Matt to the Magic family.”

Barnes (6’7”, 226, 3/9/80) played in 77 games last season with Phoenix, averaging career-highs of 10.2 ppg., 5.5 rpg. and 2.8 apg. in 27.0 minpg.  He made 40 starts for the Suns, averaging 12.6 ppg., 6.1 rpg. and 3.2 apg. during that span.  Barnes led (or tied) the team in scoring twice, in rebounding 11 times and in assists four times.  He scored in double figures 36 times and had eight games with 20+ points, including a season-best 26 points on Mar. 1 vs. L.A. Lakers.  Barnes also recorded five double-doubles and dished out a career-high 11 assists on Mar. 15 @ Golden State.

Originally selected by Memphis during the second round (46th overall) of the 2002 NBA Draft, Barnes has played in 363 career NBA regular season games with the L.A. Clippers, Sacramento, New York, Philadelphia, Golden State and Phoenix, averaging 7.0 ppg., 4.1 rpg. and 1.8 rpg. in 20.3 minpg.  He has also appeared in 11 career playoff games, averaging 11.1 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 2.4 apg. and 1.45 stlpg. in 30.0 minpg.

Read NBA fan discussion and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.