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What really needs to happen is the Suns need to trade Nash to Golden State for Baron Davis. It's their only hope of winning a championship in the next two years.

Great call by Kiki (how does a dude end up with a name like that anyway?). They're making moves to secure LeBron in '10. Why give him any incentive to stay in Cleveland. VC's on the downside for sure, but his presence would've made the Cavs hot this season and if it had translated into some wins, might have caused LeBron to think twice about leaving. But now, what motivation does he have to stay? Especially if he can just sign with the Nets and play with Vince anyway (if he's still around by then)!

This draft ranks #2 for Kevin McHale's career as a GM behind only when he drafted Kevin Garnett.

Whoever the "other piece" is from Portland better be darn good!!! LB's got his weaknesses but the Suns don't need to get younger with more draft picks, especially not the 13th pick!!! And forget about Martell Webster. He's got a jersey in the D-League reserved with his name on it!

Too bad the Warriors couldn't make a play for Josh Smith. He'd a be a perfect fit -- athletic, can rebound & block shots, run, finish & hit threes. He's like the All-Star version of Harrington.

Bearden Bear-
I agree with you totally about Diaw but the guy I really want to see Phx sign is Devin Harris. No disrespect to Steve Nash, but the Suns really need someone who can break a defense down consistently and score in the paint and unless San Antonio's willing to give up Tony Parker, Harris is the only guy in the L right now who can do that. It'd be like the old days of KJ. Trade Diaw and Barbosa for Harris then maybe send Nash somewhere for a either a starting 3 or some bench help. Or Nash for Harris then move Diaw & LB. Getting Jefferson would be nice, they could move Hill to the bench. Diop & Darell Armstrong of NJ would be great additions too.

Kmahl-
You guys don't want to trade Farmar. He's got the stones to be clutch. He should be starting already in my opinion. Kobe's your facilitator. Wallace might really thrive under a good coach. I like his game but I don't think he's every really been in big situations. He might be one of those diamond-in-the-rough type, like Ron Harper in the second Bulls 'peat, that the Lakers need.

Maybe if the Clips are thinking about playing Brand & Thornton together, the Wiz could steal Chris Kaman from them. He'd be a great addition! That would move Haywood back to the bench where he belongs (I think he's better playing reserve minutes). AJ would finally have some rebounding help! Kaman's contract wouldn't cover Zero's so they'd most likely have to include another player as well. Could be a chance to improve their depth.

My question to Wizard fans is, who do the Clips have that they'd want in a sign & trade?

Responding to C-Smith and Jay L

I can't diss Nash & all he's done for the team. He was a perfect fit for D'Antoni's system but now that D'Antoni's gone & Shaq remains, I think it would be prudent for the Suns to try to acquire a point guard that would give them a three-pronged attack. The one guy I'd love to see them get is Devin Harris. I've even dreamed up a trade scenario that might work for both teams: Nash, Brian Skinner, Strawberry & Tucker to the Nets for Harris, DeSagana Diop & Darrel Armstrong. Not only would the Suns get a point guard who could consistently get to the hoop & is a better defender, but they'd also get some much needed experience on the bench.

Can't claim to know everything about the cap but I don't think there are ANY contending teams out there than can afford him, are there?

This would mean they're gutting their starting 5 which I think is a good idea. Rip has been the one constant this team has had. He's obviously a leader and he's the consistent shooter than Melo has needed. Not sure if Stuckey's the right guy for the job but I was never crazy about Billups. He, like Sheed, seemed to be one to try to "turn it on, turn it off" and we see where that got them. Prince is a great, great defender but he was a liability on offense. He could be great at times but at other times would disappear. Melo obviously has the skills and the want to win. He needs to get away from that situation to salvage his career. If I'm the Pistons, I DEFINITELY pull THAT trigger!!!

This would finally allow them to get rid of Jason Williams! That guy needs to go the NBDL already!

What if the Heat give up Beasly to the Bulls as well? The Bulls have a LOT of good role players with playoff experience & if they're looking to totally rebuild, the Heat could make out like bandits. Unless Beasly's a superstar himself, the Heat don't need to wait for him to learn how to play in the NBA. As injury-prone as Wade is, he needs a veteran team around him with proven scorers who can look to him not to carry them the whole game but just in the critical moments. If the Bulls could get Hinrich AND at least Gordon to come off the bench (allowing them to form any backcourt combo of Hinrich-Gordon-Wade they like), throw in possibly Andres Nocioni and you'd have the makings of a contender again. The Bulls problem last season was they couldn't get anything going to the basket & they needed a go-to guy to score in the clutch; meet Dwayne Wade...problem solved.

the spurs pick and rolled them to death, shaq has never been able to guard that and i dont think it will be changing any time soon. THE SUNS CHANCES OF WINNING A RING WITH THIS TEAM ARE DONE.

You know, the Spurs looked deflated at the end of the 1st quater Game 1. But when the Suns started giving the game away, the Spurs had no choice but to take it. But if you'll recall, nothing they were doing worked offensively or defensively for the first 12 mins of that game. They fought like champs after that, won the game (barely) and got their fire back. But Steve Nash had it right: the Suns are more talented than the Spurs. And it's not a talented like Denver or Golden State where you have to deal with a lot of attitude problems. These guys, for the most part, are vets who want to win it all. Everyone who criticizes Shaq now was in awe of his shut-down defense on Tim Duncan, "the best big man in the game." They also raved about how much his presence helped Amare's game. But they lost and all of a sudden it was a bad trade. You got to remember, they didn't have the services of Grant Hill available either. You can't blow off the loss of a starter. It screws with your whole rotation. But regardless, they made fundamental errors on offense down the stretch of Games 1 and 5 that could've made a HUGE difference. Defensively, they were good enough to have beaten the Spurs (forget about Games 2 & 3 when they were back on their heels still recovering from Game 1). But I WILL agree that were severely outcoached. When you have Amare, Nash & O'Neal, you don't go to Boris Diaw 75% of the time. You've got to let your stars either win the game or lose it. And forget going to the bench for a lift. D'Antoni has never trusted his bench & we saw the fruit of that when Grant went down. It's a mistake not to get your bench involved. All great teams do. The Spurs have always been 10-11 deep. The Lakers are at least 10 deep now. The Celts & Pistons rely heavily on their benches as well. D'Antoni's a bit of a micro-manager on offense & I think he's got to go. I love his philosophy of offense-first but you have to have the personnel to make it work and they have to buy into it and Marion & STAT never did. That's why even if they would've had Marion I still don't think they would've beaten San Antonio or even stayed on top of the West like they were when the trade went down. The Suns need a coach who will trust his players and let them do what they do. Van Gundy seems like the best candidate for that. He's a defensive guy who believes in working the post & using his reserves all things the Suns sorely need.

"If the Nuggets bring in a coach to teach this team defense, they will be fine. They may not become champions, but defense would have brought this team 7 or 8 more wins."

First of all, NO coach can teach this team defense because this team won't listen to anybody. The only requirement to make this squad's regular rotation is to have more ink than the guy beneath you. The closest AI ever got to a title was when he played for Larry Brown and that relationship was tumultuous at best. They've got enough talent to compete at the highest level but they'll never get there especially if AI asks for more money. They couldn't do any deals this season to bring help in because they were too financially strapped and it sounds like they won't be making any moves next season either unless they're willing to lose people. And they don't need to subtract, they need to add. But it won't matter because if you're stars don't buy in to the fundamentals of defense everybody else doing it's not going to be enough. It was a bad idea to bring AI in to begin with and that's being proven now.

Denver is the PERFECT place for Kidd. Don't know what they'd have to give up to get him but that's what that team needs is someone to run their potent open-court attack. I don't think Portland runs well enough to take advantage of Kidd's skills (course, that could change once Oden gets back) and Avery Johnson's too much of a control freak for KIdd to flourish in his system.