Phoenix Suns Blog – Page 87 – NBA Blog

Suns sign Matt Barnes

The Phoenix Suns have signed free-agent forward Matt Barnes to a one-year contract, the club announced yesterday.

“We’re excited to add a player of Matt’s caliber to our roster,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr. “He has a chance to have a big impact on our team. His athleticism and versatility at both ends of the court will be important for us along with his playoff experience.”

The 6-7, 226-pound forward joins the Suns after a two-season stint with the Golden State Warriors in which he averaged 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 149 games in 2006-07 and 2007-08. Barnes enjoyed a career year with the Warriors in 2006-07, averaging a personal-best 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists during the regular season. The 28-year-old Barnes played a key role in Golden State’s historic upset of the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, tallying 11.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 11 games.

The UCLA product is a career 43.8-percent shooter from the field, including 32.4 percent from three-point range. Barnes shot 33.8 percent from long range the last two seasons with the Warriors, where he made 159 of his 169 career three-pointers.

Barnes joins his sixth NBA team after spending time with the L.A. Clippers (2003-04), Sacramento Kings (2004-05), Philadelphia 76ers (2004-05, 2005-06), New York Knicks (2005-06) and Warriors. He owns career averages of 6.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 286 NBA games.

Originally selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round (46th overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft but traded that day to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Barnes is one of many NBA success stories that began their professional careers in the NBA Development League. The five-year veteran spent the 2002-03 season with the Fayetteville Patriots of the D-League, where he averaged 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 50 games.

The Santa Clara, California-native attended Del Campo High School in Sacramento.

The Suns’ roster currently stands at 11 players.

Darius Miles comeback attempt

SI (Ian Thompson) reports: Darius Miles is trying to become the first player to return from an injury that was deemed to be “career-ending” by the NBA. If he were to sign a new contract and play in 10 or more games this season, his $9 million salary would go back on Portland’s books — though his return would not affect the Trail Blazers as badly as has been advertised. Miles underwent microfracture surgery to repair his right knee in November 2006. He hasn’t played since, and he was released by the Blazers in April after the “career-ending” judgment was made by an independent medical examiner appointed by the NBA and the players’ union. In recent weeks, Miles has had workouts — ranging from two hours to less than 30 minutes — with the Nets, Celtics, Suns and Mavericks, all of whom controlled the terms while asking Miles to compete against other players.

2008-09 Salary Cap set to $58.680 million

The National Basketball Association today announced that the Salary Cap for the 2008-09 season will be $58.680 million. The new Cap goes into effect immediately as the league’s “moratorium period” has ended and teams can begin signing free agents and making trades.

The tax level for the 2008-09 season has been set at $71.150 million. Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million.

The mid-level exception is $5.585 million for the 2008-09 season and the minimum team salary, which is set at 75% of the Salary Cap, is $44.010 million.

For the 2007-08 season, the Salary Cap was set at $55.630 million, the tax level was $67.865 million and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million.

Glance at Suns roster space

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: “First-round draft pick Robin Lopez gives the Suns 10 players. If second-round pick Goran Dragic can’t break his contract in Spain this year, the Suns would need to add at least three players. That likely would be done with one-year, minimum-salary deals to two veterans and a free-agent rookie who could come out of a summer team coached by new assistant coaches Dan Majerle and Igor Kokoskov. At minimum, the Suns’ payroll figures to exceed the projected luxury-tax threshold by $3 million to $5 million. Teams must pay a tax based on how much they have surpassed that threshold in February. The Suns have a mid-level exception but are unlikely to use it. Fewer teams are using the exception, which allows teams over the salary cap to spend up to $5.8 million on a free agent. The Suns do not have a biennial exception because they signed forward Grant Hill with it last year.”

Kobe not responding to foul Shaq rap

The Los Angeles Times (Jonathan Abrams) reports: Kobe Bryant’s response to former teammate Shaquille O’Neal’s lambasting him in an obscenity-laced rap freestyle at a New York nightclub? No response. “I didn’t take it any kind of way whatsoever,” Bryant said Saturday, before declining to take any more questions on the topic. Bryant, however, was more than willing to discuss several other subjects as the U.S. men’s basketball team held a one-day mini-camp in preparation for the Beijing Olympics. He has had a bit more time to reflect on the NBA Finals, labeling Boston as “champions until somebody proves otherwise.”

Suns hope Goran Dragic is PG of future

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Goran Dragic’s dream was bound to come true after a strong showing at a camp in Italy two weeks ago. It was the Suns’ dream to land him that would have shattered without a trade that let them take him with the 45th overall pick. After No. 1 overall pick Derrick Rose, the Suns said there was not a better point guard in the draft. They wrestled with the idea of taking him 15th if first-round choice Robin Lopez had not been available. The Suns think they have a point guard for years after Steve Nash leaves… Dragic cannot be bought out of his contract with Spanish club Tau Ceramica until July 2009. The buyout is $1,550,000, with the Suns able to pay $500,000.

Grant Hill exercises player option

The Phoenix Suns today announced that forward Grant Hill has exercised his player option for the 2008-09 season.

Originally signed by the Suns as a free agent on July 11, 2007, the 14-year NBA veteran proved remarkably durable in his first season in Phoenix. Hill appeared in 70 games for the Suns, his most in a single season since 1999-00, including starts in 34 consecutive contests to open the season.

The 6-8 forward averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 2007-08 while shooting at least 50 percent from the field (.503) for the third time in the last four seasons and establishing a career-high in free-throw efficiency (.867). Both his rebound and assist averages were his highest in five seasons. Hill tallied four double-doubles last season, including the first back-to-back double-doubles of his career since 2002 on Feb. 20-22.

Last season, the Duke product became the first player in league history to win the NBA Sportsmanship Award in multiple seasons (2004-05) and the first Sun to garner the honor. Hill also won the 2007-08 Dan Majerle Hustle Award.

Hill owns career averages of 19.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 14 seasons with Detroit (1994-2000), Orlando (2000-07) and Phoenix (2007-08).

The Phoenix Suns own the 15th and 48th overall selections in the 2008 NBA Draft, which begins tonight at 4:30 p.m. Phoenix time on ESPN.

Shaq rap costs him another police badge

Shaquille O’Neal’s freestyle rap in NYC the other day which mocked Kobe Bryant and included various profanities, resulted in one police badge being taken away the other day, and now it’s happened again.

The AP reports: Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said Wednesday that he has asked the Phoenix Suns center to return a badge he was given for his work with the southwest Virginia county’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force… The decision comes one day after a sheriff in Arizona asked O’Neal to return a special deputy’s badge because of language he used in the rap.

Foul Shaq language in rap costs him badge

The East Valley Tribune reports: Shaquille O’Neal will lose his special deputy’s badge in Maricopa County because of language he used in a rap video that mocks former teammate Kobe Bryant. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns center’s use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language left him no choice. Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in January and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse earlier this month. “I want his two badges back,” Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”

InsideHoops.com says: Looks like Shaq, without any help from Kobe, can bring dishonor to police department badges.

Discuss this with other fans here.

Dan Majerle happy to begin first coaching job

The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: “Thunder Dan” Majerle said officially joining Terry Porter’s staff as an assistant coach Friday will finally put him back in the game, chasing his goal of a championship while putting him back in the world where he feels most comfortable. “I can’t wait to start,” said Majerle, who joins Bill Cartwright, Alvin Gentry and Igor Kokoskov as Porter’s coaching staff. “I’ve never coached, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and this is the right time and the right team. The chance to stay with this organization, work for a guy I like and respect in Terry and with a team that I think is close to getting over the hump … it’s a perfect situation.” … Porter’s staff includes two former NBA head coaches in Gentry and Cartwright, who will head up the offensive and defensive ends, respectively. But no one on the staff embodies the change in philosophy more than Majerle, whose hustle, desire and preparation mirrored Porter’s career — two guys from small colleges with big dreams and the will to succeed.