FanHouse D.J. Strawberry

Notes from a trip to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Unless the Suns plan on running Steve Nash into the ground, they really, really need to find a backup point guard this summer. As things currently stand, second-year man DJ Strawberry looks like the favorite for the job, but as Terry Porter told me after Saturday's game, Strawberry may still face some more competition.

"Our roster's not fully completed yet," said Porter, "so we're going to see exactly who else we're going to bring in before we make that decision. DJ, we wanted to give him a lot of opportunities here to try to play that position. It's not something he did naturally in college -- he kind of was a combo -- but we think he has a lot of positives and upside. We like that he competes extremely hard and that he can do some things."

In five summer league games, Strawberry averaged 18.0 points and 3.0 assists but also turned the ball over 3.4 times a game. Obviously, the guy has some work to do.

As far as his front court, though, Porter did seem pleased with what he saw from rookie Robin Lopez.

The Suns have spent most of the off-season trying to find a backup point guard to spell Steve Nash. But so far, every one of their targets have signed elsewhere. The latest player to fall off the Suns' radar is Tyronn Lue, who agreed to a two-year deal with the Bucks for around $3.9M.

The problem for the Suns has been that all they have to offer somebody is a veteran's minimum contract, which isn't enough to lure anyone of any significant skill. So who's left that might actually take those low dollars for a chance to play in Phoenix? Two names that have come up are Jason Williams of the Heat, and (at the moment, former) Clipper Shaun Livingston.

Williams would be an acceptable pickup I think, and Livingston is still on the road back from that famously horrific knee injury (that I refuse to link to anymore, it was so brutal). The Clippers renounced Livingston's rights, so he's now an unrestricted free agent. He'd be a great signing at the right price, but probably wouldn't be able to contribute until the second half of the season.

Short of the Suns signing one of those guys, they're looking at second year player D.J. Strawberry running the point, or getting a little exotic and using Boris Diaw. But Steve Kerr is all about making things interesting (or tearing the team apart, depending on your perspective) so I wouldn't be surprised to see Phoenix make a trade to fill this need before the start of next season.

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Cup of Coffee
Someone run out front of US Airways Arena and welcome Boris Diaw's exhumed corpse home. Diaw recorded only his third double double of the season last night (two coming in January). He also recorded his fourth double digit scoring night of 2008, after producing only five in November and December combined. His assists are on the rise (4.8 up from 2.7 in December) and so are his minutes (34.4 in January compared to 21.5 in December). Yes, Grant Hill is returning soon, but when Diaw becomes involved in the passing game like this, the Suns are a very, very dangerous team; witness their 6-1 record in January. Buy low now if you can, or wait until Hill's return and see if Diaw's value dips again (my guess is it will not).

Hot Cakes
If you have drafted Raja Bell over the last few years, you have done so tentatively. And why should you have? After all, he did tie for the NBA lead in three pointers made last year at 205. Well, for starters, Leandro Barbosa has emerged, but still continues to come off the bench. Now Hill is out until some time next week, and Bell is heating up. Over his last seven games he is averaging 17 points, three three's a game and over a steal and a block per as well. Some would say sell high with Hill coming back. I say buy (kind of) low, because it's Grant Hill. He gets hurt. It's what he does.