Suns dont want Barnes...

[indeedproceed]

When did Barnes start playing "decent defense".  He's been a defensive tweener his whole career.  Not big enough to defend a 4 and not quick enough to defend a 3.   He's usable as a backup SF, but this is not exactly Trevor Ariza we are talking about. 

He drew the primary defensive responsibility on Dirk when GS pulled the infamous 8 over 1 upset.  That was when Dirk was in his absolute prime.  Individually he is an above average defender, despite playing for teams with poor defensive systems (PHX, GS).

Barnes actually matches up better against the likes of Rashard Lewis and even Lebron James better than pretty much every other SF on the FA market right now. 

Who'd you rather have that is in our price range?

Good point. Ime Udoka but thats just me.

[action781]

When did Barnes start playing "decent defense".  He's been a defensive tweener his whole career.  Not big enough to defend a 4 and not quick enough to defend a 3.   He's usable as a backup SF, but this is not exactly Trevor Ariza we are talking about. 

He drew the primary defensive responsibility on Dirk when GS pulled the infamous 8 over 1 upset.  That was when Dirk was in his absolute prime.  Individually he is an above average defender, despite playing for teams with poor defensive systems (PHX, GS).

Barnes actually matches up better against the likes of Rashard Lewis and even Lebron James than pretty much every other SF on the FA market right now. 

Who'd you rather have that is in our price range?

I actually very much recall Stephen Jackson guarding him a lot... Is my memory incorrect?


But to what recent posters have said, yes, he is just OK.  Why he's getting respect and such is because we have absolutely NO shot at signing a player who commands $4M or more, so why waste our time?  We are looking at a pool of limited talent and Barnes sticks out there more than others.

[PosImpos]

I'd rather get Keith Bogans.

[wdleehi]

I'd rather get Keith Bogans.

Not a bad third choice after Hill and Parker.

[celticinorlando]

i could live with bogans...good defender...decent shooter

[RAcker]

I don't get this Matt Barnes talk. He is an okay player, but not much more.

couldnt agree more.  he gets far too much love/respect on these boards. 

He's the flavor of the day. 

[timepiece33]

Barnes actually matches up better against the likes of Rashard Lewis and even Lebron James than pretty much every other SF on the FA market right now. 

Someone else pointed it out, but that series was the redemption of Stephen Jackson as a player and how he did against Nowitzki was a big reason why.

That said, Barnes has had a negative Roland Rating for his whole career.

Did you watch the games against the Suns this year when they faced them?  Just curious.  Dirk pretty much destroyed him.  

He is better suited to guard Rashard Lewis than Glenn Davis.  

Who'd you rather have that is in our price range?

Desmond Mason ... he plays defense.  I'd be OK with Barnes, but I'm not going to pretend that he plays good defense.

[Prof. Clutch]

I don't get this Matt Barnes talk. He is an okay player, but not much more.

couldnt agree more.  he gets far too much love/respect on these boards. 

I dunno, I think that's all we really need.  I think he's good at all the things we'd need our backup 3 to do.  Come in, spell Pierce and play some D, hit some open shots.  We don't need him to be anything more than okay in my opinion which is why he seems to be a realistic goal for us.

I like his style and would definitely get behind his signing.  That being said, it's not gonna happen so I'd be interested to see what the C's are actually gonna do.  There's definitely a lot of guys worse than Barnes out there, and I hope we don't end up with one of them.

[Who]

I'd rather get Keith Bogans.

Not a bad third choice after Hill and Parker.

I'd be tempted to put Bogans ahead of Parker at this stage. Parker has declined quite a lot over the last two years, and Bogans is the better defender of the two.

[snively]

I'd rather get Keith Bogans.

Not a bad third choice after Hill and Parker.

I'd be tempted to put Bogans ahead of Parker at this stage. Parker has declined quite a lot over the last two years, and Bogans is the better defender of the two.

Are you concerned about Bogans lack of size?  As mediocre as Barnes is, he offers versatility.  Just as Baby earned minutes due to his ability to pass, not thrive, at positions of need, I think Barnes could beat out Bogans because you could get away with him against more line-ups.  I guess my reasoning is a poor 3/4 is more useful to this team than a pure 2.

[Who]

I'd rather get Keith Bogans.

Not a bad third choice after Hill and Parker.

I'd be tempted to put Bogans ahead of Parker at this stage. Parker has declined quite a lot over the last two years, and Bogans is the better defender of the two.

Are you concerned about Bogans lack of size?  As mediocre as Barnes is, he offers versatility.  Just as Baby earned minutes due to his ability to pass, not thrive, at positions of need, I think Barnes could beat out Bogans because you could get away with him against more line-ups.  I guess my reasoning is a poor 3/4 is more useful to this team than a pure 2.

I'm not interested in Barnes. His defense is too bad.

[PosImpos]

I'd rather get Keith Bogans.

Not a bad third choice after Hill and Parker.

I'd be tempted to put Bogans ahead of Parker at this stage. Parker has declined quite a lot over the last two years, and Bogans is the better defender of the two.

Are you concerned about Bogans lack of size?  As mediocre as Barnes is, he offers versatility.  Just as Baby earned minutes due to his ability to pass, not thrive, at positions of need, I think Barnes could beat out Bogans because you could get away with him against more line-ups.  I guess my reasoning is a poor 3/4 is more useful to this team than a pure 2.

Well, I wouldn't want Bogans as our only solution to backup Pierce, but he's better than Barnes, and might cost less.  If we signed Bogans for the Vet. Minimum we could still trade for somebody else to play SF.

Bogans is a solid role player.  He's like a shorter not-quite-as-good Bruce Bowen.  He's not exactly what we need, but we could definitely use him.

Barnes is just a slow SF who doesn't really play defense and hits some 3's.  Not really what we need.

Honestly I'd prefer a combo of Bogans and Wally to solve our wing reserve dilemma rather than getting Barnes.  If we can't get Hill, or even Marquis Daniels, something along those lines is probably the next best thing.