The mailman delivers in the desert
Dec 31, 2016 15:38:56 GMT
Post by mgtr81 on Dec 31, 2016 15:38:56 GMT
Five days into the Free Agency period and we have seen only five players signing new deals. Three of them were free agents returning to their teams and two were free agents changing teams. The last signing has seen Karl Malone leave Miami in order to join the Phoenix Suns for the next five seasons and $84,479,052.
Malone, a 30-year-old veteran, will be joining his fifth team in his eighth season in the GAH. After stints with the Warriors, Condors, 76ers and Heat, the former first overall pick in the 1986 draft will finally be the go-to guy on a team. Last season Malone averaged 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks in 29.0 minutes per game while playing for the Miami Heat and sharing the court with scorers like Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin an Steve Smith. This will change now, as he will assume a more prominent role in the team's offense with the Suns, as head coach Paul Silas guaranteed.
The Suns, who finished last season with 43 wins and 39 losses and a first round playoff exit against the Denver Nuggets in five games, had only one player scoring more than 15 points per game. That was Erick Murdock, who averaged 17.1 points per contest to go alongside 7.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds and a league-high 2.4 steals. Coach Silas is already excited at the idea of pairing Murdock and Malone together. As of now, the Suns have still a bit more than $3M to spend in free agents, although some sources close to the organization report that the team could renounce the rights to some of his free agents and make a run at another elite free agent.
Malone, a 30-year-old veteran, will be joining his fifth team in his eighth season in the GAH. After stints with the Warriors, Condors, 76ers and Heat, the former first overall pick in the 1986 draft will finally be the go-to guy on a team. Last season Malone averaged 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks in 29.0 minutes per game while playing for the Miami Heat and sharing the court with scorers like Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin an Steve Smith. This will change now, as he will assume a more prominent role in the team's offense with the Suns, as head coach Paul Silas guaranteed.
The Suns, who finished last season with 43 wins and 39 losses and a first round playoff exit against the Denver Nuggets in five games, had only one player scoring more than 15 points per game. That was Erick Murdock, who averaged 17.1 points per contest to go alongside 7.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds and a league-high 2.4 steals. Coach Silas is already excited at the idea of pairing Murdock and Malone together. As of now, the Suns have still a bit more than $3M to spend in free agents, although some sources close to the organization report that the team could renounce the rights to some of his free agents and make a run at another elite free agent.