Devil Dish

 by Sam Good
 published on Tuesday, February 19, 2008

With all the recent blockbuster trades in the NBA, notably in the Western Conference, perhaps the most concerning thing for Suns fans should be the trade that sent a superstar, or maybe just a semi-superstar, to the East.

Atlanta acquired point guard Mike Bibby from Sacramento over the weekend, solidifying the Hawks' starting five, and killing the Suns' bid for a lottery pick — Phoenix owns Atlanta's first-round selection as a result of the Joe Johnson – Boris Diaw deal in 2005.

Bibby, along with Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford make up a starting lineup that is among the top five in the dreadful East.

Bibby, a local Shadow Mountain High School product (I went there too), will bring his career 16.7 points and 6.2 assists per game, along with the experience of going deep into the playoffs to Atlanta and crush the Suns shot of having a worthwhile pick.

The Suns will get their title this year (yes, I said will), but they're old. Second oldest in the league. And an early pick in the draft would have been nice for a team that will soon be in need of a quality young guy.