The Phoenix Suns were facing an uncertain future with both Amare Stoudemire and Channing Frye entering the relm of free agency this Summer. Last year’s Western Conference Finalists have apparently given up on resigning Stoudemire to a long term contract since they have agreed in principle to a 5 year, $30 million dollar deal with the emerging 3 point big man Frye, and another 4 year, $18 million deal with enigmatic scoring SF Hakim Warrick.
The signing of both players for more than a total of $48 million all but eliminates the Suns from offering a multi-year max contract to Amare, who reportedly is seeking a deal in the range of $90-$100 million dollars. The fact or rumor that Stoudemire supposedly refused a 5 year, $99 million deal to remain with the Suns on Thursday probably forced Phoenix’s hand by bringing in some sort of offensive replacements for the man known as “STAT.”
Channing Frye had a breakout ’09-’10 season by suddenly finding his long range shooting stroke. After sleepwalking through 4 lackluster seasons in New York and Portland, Frye apparently found his calling as a 3 point shooter, hitting on a career high 43% from behind the arc this year. At 6’11 and 250lbs, Frye isn’t your prototypical long range bomber, but proved to be a mismatch on the wing because of his imposing height and ability to shoot over smaller defenders. Channing started nearly half of Phoenix’s games in the regular season but was used primarily off the bench for instant offense during the playoffs. Channing ranks as the #17 player on our 2010 Top 50 Summer Free Agents List.
Frye was thought to be in high demand this Summer because of his rare combination of size, shooting stroke, and ability to grab 5+ rebounds per game. He was probably smart to resign in Phoenix rather than take more money elsewhere because Frye was one of the prime beneficiaries of Steve Nash’s amazingly spectacular passing abilities. It was unlikely that Channing would have been playing with a point guard as talented as Nash somewhere else.
Tha addition of Warrick, who ended last season with the Chicago Bulls is purely an offensive move. In spite of the fact that Warrick stands at 6’9, weighs 220 lbs, and possesses a 7’2 wingspan, he is a weak defender and below average rebounder. He has proved to be too light to defend bigger PF, yet strugglesto stay in front of smaller, quicker 3 men around the league. What Hakim does provide is instant offense, since he has averaged double figures in points in 5 of 6 seasons out of Syracuse. Although signing Warrick for 4 years seems like a stretch, he along with Frye fit right in with their philosophy of focusing on scoring as many points as possible in spite of their defensive shortcomings.
Be sure to check our feature story, ranking the Top 50 2010 Summer Free Agents List, which will be constantly updated all Summer to keep you up to date on who goes where in free agency.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
