ESPN’s John Hollinger thinks that the Suns’ deal to acquire Jason Richardson is a veritable steal:
The deal for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round pick cost him only Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary, and it immediately restores the Suns’ flagging hopes of breaking back into the West’s upper crust. Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr has faced a lot of questions during his short stewardship of the Suns, but the only question to ask after Wednesday’s trade with Charlotte is whether he was wearing a ski mask.
Raja Bell is not the player he was two years ago, so this trade is essentially Jason Richardson for Boris Diaw, so let’s take a look at each player’s numbers:
Richardson: 27 years-old, 18.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 44% FG%, 46% 3PT% (37% career)
Diaw: 26 years-old, 8.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 57% FG%
Since Diaw plays fewer minutes (24.5) than Richardson (35.1), it’s wise to compare their Player Efficiency Ratings as well. Richardson (16.97) is the 14th-ranked shooting guard while Diaw (13.47) is #48 amongst power forwards.
Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal are a little long in the tooth, so this is a “win now” move for the Suns. The trade doesn’t put them in bad shape for the summer of 2010, when they’ll have to re-sign Amare Stoudemire and try to attract another player to replace O’Neal and Nash, whose contracts expire after the 2009-10 season.
Richardson is a tremendous scorer and will fit nicely if the Suns try to push the tempo again. Currently, they are #14 in the league in pace, so with the arrival of O’Neal, and to a lesser extent Terry Porter, these are not the run-and-gun Suns that we saw under Mike D’Antoni. Even if they keep their current pace, Richardson is a good shooter and should thrive alongside willing passers like Nash, O’Neal and Grant Hill.
As for the Bobcats, I’d say that the Larry Brown Era is not off to a very good start.
