An idea for the point guard issue (Penny Hardaway)

Okay, I got an idea for the point guard issue

Please, don't kill me for adding another "trade" idea. This is my first thread.

Anyway, I found this article in ESPN. Apparantly, Penny Hardaway is very, very unhappy with the Suns and wants out, like really really really really really bad.

I don't want to trade Steve. Steve is valuable, crucial.

But how about this.

Move Steve to the 2 spot.

Trade Cuttino Mobley (and some other small players, perhaps even throw in Griffen if he gets a Get-out-of-jail free card) and get Penny Hardaway in return.

Penny plays at the one, and Steve at the two.

Penny is more a true point guard, and is at the stage in his career, where he just wants to contribute. His injuries are healed, and even though he's not an all-star (probably better that he isn't anymore), he is still one hell of a player and a great, great find.

I love Cat to death, but it's not like we'll be sending him to a bad team. He gets to go Phoenix, a rising team.

Best of all, we get Penny, which would free up Francis to do more with his talent--and Penny can also provide veteran leadership. Oh, and Penny used to play alongside Shaq, so I'll just assume he knows exactly how to pass to a big man.

Is this a bad idea? Just think. Penny hates the Suns. Penny leaves the Suns. Penny goes to the Rockets. Penny and the Rockets kick the crap out of the Suns.


By Sam Smith
Special to ESPN.com


Finally with healthy knees, Penny Hardaway says he's regained the spring in his step.
PHOENIX -- Penny Hardaway got a new tattoo this summer. It reads "The Storm is Over."


But the winds of doubt still haunt the former three-time, All-NBA player, the LeBron James of a decade ago who is tethered to the bench in Phoenix, a forgotten role player who wants people not only to remember who he was but to know he can be someone again.


"It's been like a nightmare to me," Hardaway said. "I'm in the best physical shape since I've been in Phoenix. I feel like I can play point guard for any team in the league and average a double-double. I still have a lot to offer. I have a window of opportunity. I'm 32 and I have three or four great years of basketball left in me. I want a shot at being the Penny Hardaway everyone knew five years ago, but I feel I can't do that here. They've moved on here. They've got Joe Johnson and Casey Jacobsen and I feel like the organization is kind of giving up on me and doesn't think I can come around."


Hardaway isn't exactly demanding a trade or going to make a fuss. He appreciates the generous contract he got from the Suns, who pay him $13.5 million this season and about $30 million additional through the 2005-06 season. He knows no one feels sorry for rich basketball players, so he's not seeking sympathy. Just the ball.


He once had it, and when he did, there were few better. He was All-NBA first-team point guard in 1995 and 1996, a Magic Johnson-like player who filled up the box score. With hops and one of the best advertising campaigns ever, the Lil' Penny alter ego, he was the Next In Line. But Hardaway was struck down by five knee operations, most of which he played through with uneven results. The NBA moved on.


Hardaway doesn't have the explosiveness anymore, but he still can shoot, pass and run a team. He says doctors have told him his healing is complete.


"I don't want to retire early, sit on the bench and get a check," Hardaway said. "I want to finish my career on a high note. I was as popular as you can be -- All-NBA, Olympian. You couldn't get any higher than where I was. Now people think I'm done and washed up. They think if you're coming off the bench it means you can't play anymore. You get 14, 16 minutes, they figure you can't do anything anymore. But it's not the case. I'm competitive, athletic and I feel spry again. I can show that to people. I just don't feel I can do it with the Suns."


Anyone need a point guard?


There's that money thing, $13.5 million this season, $14.6 million in 2004-05 and $15.8 million in 2005-06. In this more economically aware era of the NBA, teams are reluctant to take on big contracts, especially for players averaging 5.6 points and 1.4 assists, as Hardaway was entering this week.


But it's hard to to average double figures with about six shots a game and playing 18 minutes, as Hardaway has this season as a forgotten man for the struggling Suns. Hardaway knows what they say when you don't play and your team doesn't win: There must be something wrong with him. He must be done.


Like they said about Vin Baker.


"I was on one leg trying to survive," said Hardaway, who missed 24 games last season but just two the season before after surgery. "When I was injured, all the negative press was warranted. I deserved it. I was trying to be a team guy, playing hurt. I never took two years off to try to get fully well like Grant Hill. I was getting paid. I could have taken off. I wasn't able to run full speed. I was in terrible pain. I endured all that. Now it's time for me to go back to those glory days again. I can run and jump and score. Not being able to prove it hurts the most.


“ I'm happy for Vin Baker. That's the type of story you want to hear, coming back and showing everyone who was down on you. I worked my butt off to get back that old form, but I'm not able to have the chance. ”
— Penny Hardaway
"I can play the game," Hardaway added. "I want my respect back. I'm happy for Vin Baker. That's the type of story you want to hear, coming back and showing everyone who was down on you. I worked my butt off to get back that old form, but I'm not able to have the chance."


So is it real or is it just a memory?


Hardaway was something to behold when he and Shaquille O'Neal went to the NBA Finals in just his second NBA season. They appeared to be the next great NBA dynasty in the making with Michael Jordan in retirement. The media and advertising world fell for Hardaway, a bright, articulate young man with an even more impressive game. O'Neal had become taken with him when they worked on the movie "Blue Chips" together and recommended the Magic draft him. And Hardaway didn't disappoint, averaging more than 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds by his second season. He was as versatile of a performer as there was in the NBA.


But Jordan returned, the Magic were swept out of the playoffs by the Bulls, O'Neal swept himself out of Orlando as a free agent to the Lakers and Hardaway and the Magic -- poof! -- disappeared. There were a couple of first-round playoff ousters, a .500 season, a coaching change that Hardaway was said to inspire, feuds with the media and a community frustrated over the decline of the then-model franchise.


Hardaway seemed to regain his game in the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, playing all 50 games and leading the Magic to a tie for first place. He averaged 15.8 points and more than five rebounds and five assists per game.


The Suns came calling in the first flood of free agency under the new rules and Hardaway pocketed a maximum deal. He was to pair with Jason Kidd in a millenium backcourt to take the team and the league into the next century. The Suns would have their greatest playoff success since by defeating the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, who were without Tim Duncan, and going to the second round. But Kidd would miss much of that playoff run with an injury.


And then Hardaway went down again for the next season, and there wouldn't be another chance.


"They gave Jason and me one year to prove ourselves," Hardaway said. "After that one year, it was like, 'We're not waiting for you anymore. We're moving on as an organization.' I'm not being negative. It's what it is. No one thought I'd be able to come back after the injuries I had. People think I'm soft and bailed out on basketball. But it was five knee surgeries. ... It's not Frank's (Johnson) fault or Bryan's (Colangelo) fault. I worked my butt off to get where I am. The doctor said I was a medical marvel.


"I'm a team guy," Hardaway added. "I don't want to make any waves. I'm being the professional, but I have dreams and wishes, too. ... I want to have a shot at being Penny again. I feel I can't have it here. ... I still have the skills, and I have the maturity from learning this game. The storm should be over."

 

Please, someone tell me if this is stupid so i can regret posting it.

 

About how expensive Hardaway is.

I think Hardaway wouldn't mind taking a pay cut to play for the Rockets.

By the sound of the article, he gets paid a lot by the Suns--and he's not happy.

It sounds like the money isn't worth not being able to play and contribute to the team.

Guys, this isn't a player who has the superficial notion of being great. Penny Hardaway has already been there. He simply wants to play his best game, and be given the opportunity to do so.

I think he is sooooo not like Rice in that respect. Hardaway doesn't want to get paid tons of money for easy, garbage minutes.

He wants to be a part of it all.

Also, the Suns would LOVE to free up all that salary space by getting rid of Hardaway--especially, since they're not using him all that much.

Mobley is a great defender, but he didn't start playing great defense until Van Gundy came along. I'm sure Hardaway would improve greatly on his defense under Van Gundy.

Even though he doesn't a whole bunch of assists, this is a guy who doesn't care about taking over a game--even though he's proven he can do so. He wants to win.

Lastly, Penny had a really bad falling out with Shaq when he left to the Lakers.

What better way to get back at Shaq AND the Suns.

Penny teams up with Yao, and helps him clobber the Lakers and Shaq.

1. His injuries are healed
2. His veteran input would be invaluable
3. Though he's not the Jordan prodigy and All-star he used to be, enough of that is still there to use, since the Suns aren't using it. And enough of it is gone so that he won't butt heads with the young, up and coming stars in Francis and Yao.
4. Overall, his skills are great. His passing skills would make the Rockets' offense that much more formidable.
5. He doesn't have delusions of grandeur, if he ever did. This is a guy who was once pinned to be one of the next Michael Jordans (along with Grant Hill). He's a former Dream Teamer, helped his team make it to the NBA finals in his second season as an NBA player--and lost it all to realize what's truly important. Simply playing the game, and being part of a team.

Cat is great. Don't get me wrong. But we wouldn't be screwing him over by sending him to Phoenix, and, honestly, I think Hardaway is better than Johnson (the current Hardaway), so it's obvious that Phoenix is being really stupid with what they have.

One thing that makes Hardaway worth it is his Basketball IQ. He has GREAT court vision. An extremely smart player. That's the one glaring flaw in Cat as a player--his lack of court smarts. And what the Rockets need right now is solid basketball smarts to start winning more games with ease. Look at how much Jim Jackson has improved the team because of that one quality alone.

Penny is too good to not be a starter for the Suns, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind playing for the Rockets with a salary comparable to Mobleys.

Oh, and one more thing. Penny Hardaway has a lot of class. He could really help the overall team composure.

 

Also, Penny is really flexible. I'm pretty sure he could play the 1, 2, or 3.

This is a player who can give a little bit of what Cleveland has in LeBron.

 

He also plays way less minutes than Steve. Penny is a guy who was able to jell with Shaq. THat says a lot.