Kurt Thomas traded to Seattle

Bibby_10

Bench
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 20, 2007 09:01 AM
The Suns traded center Kurt Thomas this morning in a move that relieves some salary-cap pressure.

Thomas goes to the Seattle SuperSonics, along with the Suns' own 2008 and 2010 first-round draft picks in exchange for a 2009 conditional 2nd round pick from Seattle (via Orlando) and a trade exception, worth about $8 million.

The league's new luxury tax threshold -- the number at which teams would begin to be taxed -- came in different from what the Suns expected, at $67.9 million, and would have left Phoenix more than $10 million over that number.

The Suns also re-signed Sean Marks. If draft picks Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry make the team, that would leave Phoenix with one roster position open. They will be looking to fill it with a free-agent front-line player.

“We are doing everything we can to keep our core group together. Sometimes in doing so, you have difficult decisions to make,” Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr said in a statement. “We feel good going forward having our core group of players under contract for several years, including the recent addition of free-agent Grant Hill. The bottom line is there are tough decisions to make, but we have flexibility and our core together. We really like the group of players we’ve assembled and feel we can make a legitimate run for an NBA championship next season.”

Phoenix will send Seattle its own 2008 and 2010 first-round picks. The Suns will receive a conditional 2009 second-round pick from Seattle (via Orlando).

Thomas, 34, played the past two seasons with the Suns after he was acquired from the New York Knicks. The 6-9, 235-pound center averaged 6.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 21.8 minutes in 120 games (63 starts) with Phoenix.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0720kurttraded-CR.html


Umm, so who guards Duncan now?
 
Last edited:
So Thomas + 2 first rounders= conditional 2nd rounder and cap space...Kenny is a King for life if that is what overpaid pf are going for.
 
So that trade exception with Orlando just bought Kurt Thomas and 2 first rounders?
 
Holy crap! An ender and 2 firsts. Just to unload 1 year of Kurt Thomas over the luxury tax? And I thought our Keon dump was bad. Times a ticking on the Suns, their ownership's pennypinching is going to catch up with them one day soon as pick after pick is sold off or given away. I mean, wow.
 
Last edited:
Holy crap! An ender and 2 firsts. Just to unload 1 year of Kurt Thomas over the luxury tax? And I thought our Keon dump was bad. Times a ticking on the Suns, their ownership's pennypinching is going to catch up with them one day soon s pick after pick is old off or given away. I mean, wow.


Yep. Ruining their future. Absolutely rediculous trade, if you ask me.
 
Holy crap! An ender and 2 firsts. Just to unload 1 year of Kurt Thomas over the luxury tax? And I thought our Keon dump was bad. Times a ticking on the Suns, their ownership's pennypinching is going to catch up with them one day soon as pick after pick is sold off or given away. I mean, wow.

They're crazy - how many picks have they sold over the past couple of years? Isn't it 2, or is it 3?

That's 4 or 5 first round picks given up for nothing. This will catch up to them at some point in time. Granted, the 2008 pick will probably be in the low 20's once more, but I could see the Suns 2010 pick being mid-first round (read - Steve Nash is getting old).

They keep dumping on their fans, this is absolutely unbelievable.
 
They're crazy - how many picks have they sold over the past couple of years? Isn't it 2, or is it 3?

That's 4 or 5 first round picks given up for nothing. This will catch up to them at some point in time. Granted, the 2008 pick will probably be in the low 20's once more, but I could see the Suns 2010 pick being mid-first round (read - Steve Nash is getting old).

They keep dumping on their fans, this is absolutely unbelievable.

they don't have colangelo to save their butts when things come apart. i'm shocked they gave away so much for a trade exception.
 
am I the only one who thinks giving away two first rd picks to save money is just outrageous and inexcusable? There should be some kind of rule against this. The Suns just basically sell their picks anyways.
 
they don't have colangelo to save their butts when things come apart. i'm shocked they gave away so much for a trade exception.

I mean - I fully realize that lower first round picks don't tend to do great in the league, but you figure out of the 4 or 5 they've just dumped, you would get 2 or 3 players, maybe one solid starters and couple of good rotation players.

This is going to hurt them in 2010, 2011, 2012. Mark my words. HOpefully I'll be able to come back to this post in 2011 when the Suns finish 30-52 and Steve Nash is running around the court with a cane, and Stoudamire's knees are falling off. :D
 
What a horrible deal for the Suns. Too bad it couldn't have been Petrie the one abusing Kerr.
 
sigh.. where is petrie in all this movement??

Apparently, he's not giving away two future first round picks to dump salary. Where's the problem?

Edit: In case you're wondering why it wasn't Petrie fleecing the Suns, we didn't have a trade exception. The Suns found a way to dump salary for nothing, which we couldn't have helped with.
 
Last edited:
Hey, you gotta love Steve Kerr's ambition. He's already closing in on Danny Ainge in the "dumber than a box of rocks" sweepstakes.

:p
 
This is not a Steve Kerr move. It's been well known that Sarver didn't want to pay the lux tax. But man this is a bad, just horrible deal for the Suns!
 
Apparently, he's not giving away two future first round picks to dump salary. Where's the problem?

Edit: In case you're wondering why it wasn't Petrie fleecing the Suns, we didn't have a trade exception. The Suns found a way to dump salary for nothing, which we couldn't have helped with.

no kidding. i was referring to all the movement in this offseason. we've made a splash w/ the mikki moore signing and pulling the contract off the table for price.
 
I'm tempted to say the Sonics are even more lucky than the Blazers this year. They almost completely rebuilt and got future picks to work with. This is one of those trades you don't even see in realgm lol. I don't think the Suns will be anywhere near contenders come 2010 because they are so dependent on Nash. He's already breaking down. Should've saved the 2010 pick.
 
I'm tempted to say the Sonics are even more lucky than the Blazers this year. They almost completely rebuilt and got future picks to work with. This is one of those trades you don't even see in realgm lol. I don't think the Suns will be anywhere near contenders come 2010 because they are so dependent on Nash. He's already breaking down. Should've saved the 2010 pick.

they won't be under the cap enough to pick up another nash type player replacement either.
 
Maybe the Suns are setting the table for acquiring Kevin Garnett. They do have a big interest in Garnett.
 
Maybe the Suns are setting the table for acquiring Kevin Garnett. They do have a big interest in Garnett.

The trade exeption was around $9 million, no? And that just so happens to be the number needed to make Amare's and KG's salaries match... :cool:
 
trade exceptions can't be packaged with other players in a trade.

Terrible deal for the Suns though. Who's gonna guard Duncan now?? Amare?? Diaw??
 
Back
Top