The Phoenix Suns announced yesterday the signing of D.J. Strawberry to a 2-year deal (it’s really a one year plus a club option on the second). The contract is not a big surprise but it’s somewhat interesting.

D.J. was - according to many - the Suns Summer League MVP in Vegas (15.6 PPG, 6.4 APG) playing with great hustle, working hard on defense and showing some positives on offense as well. D.J. showed is a better all-around player than we thought, I am sure it helped the fact that he played four years in a good “basketball” college (at Maryland in the ACC) and is a solid overall basketball player.

The Suns back up point guard situation will be one of the most interesting thing to watch when training camp opens in a few weeks as Marcus Banks and the young Straw will probably battle for the great honor of being a back up to Steve Nash. Considering that Coach D’Antoni seems to like D.J. a lot and that a few weeks ago he stated that he plans to have Leandro and Diaw (not to mention Grant Hill) more involved in running the offense…odds don’t look too great for Banks. Of course, Marcus has talent, probably more than Strawberry, so that should be interesting to watch comes October.

The signing of D.J. also means the Suns now have 12 players signed on their roster for the 2007-08 season. That means that basically what you see is what you get ! I mean these will be your 2007-08 Phoenix Suns with the possible exception of P.J. Brown or any Center Good Post Defender to be named later.

Signing Day also brought us Vinny Del Negro as assistant GM. Good luck for the new job Vinny! The signing gives the Suns by far the best shooting front office in the League.

Yours truly, Steve Fan

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