Rookie Trade and Dallas Preview and More

No more D.J. Strawberry (for now). The Suns sent him to the Development League. They recalled Alando Tucker from there, as well. Tucker was the Performer of the Week in his short stay there, putting up an average of 28.2 points and 7 rebounds per game. Phenomenal. If he does even half as well in the NBA, it'll be great. Tucker has a blog posting here about his experiences:

http://blogs.suns.com/blog/suns01_12190703.aspx

Preview Suns at Dallas Mavericks:

2 Big games in a row means to coverages in a row (I won't do smaller games).

Since 1998, the Suns haven't beaten the two best Texas teams at Texas in a row. They will do it this time, though. Last year's match-up featured overtime, a 32 point-16 assist night from Nash, and 41 points from STAT.

Note: Nowitzki has had a bunch of 30-point games in the last week, but his stats (except assists) are all down from last year's MVP season.

Prediction: Another Suns win, this time 121-113, higher scoring because Dallas isn't the defensive team the Spurs are.

Big night from Diaw as he steps up to squash to the trade rumors floating around. All of the Phoenix starters will score in the double digits, and Barbosa and Alando Tucker, as well. Point-Rebound double-doubles from Marion and Stoudemire (Tucker will fall 2 rebounds short); point-assists double-double for Nash.

Nowitzki will put up 36 points, but it won't be enough. Barbosa will outperform Jason Terry by 10 points, showing the The Brazilian Blur is still the better 6th Man.



As for the baseball, Yahoo! is reporting that a deal for Santana will be done soon (most likely Yankees or Red Sox). I don't think so. Twins want too much. Yankees and Red Sox won't give up that much.

Chad Jennings has some solid reporting here on Yankee prospects (Juan Miranda, Humberto Sanchez, Mark Melancon, and more):

http://emedia.thetimes-tribune.com/Blogs/SWBYankees/tabid/552/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2393/Default.aspx

Now here's a question: With six starters, should the Yankees start one of in the bullpen, AAA, or something else (I would prefer that they cycle 2 out of the Big 3 every rotation - for example Chamberlain and Kennedy one time, Chamberlain and Hughes the next, and then Kennedy and Hughes before repeating the pattern)? Let's hear your opinion in the comments.