April 24, 2012; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez (15) walks off the court after the game against the Utah Jazz at Energy Solutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

The Phoenix Suns’ have made many moves this off-season, but as I’ve written in my previous article, they’re still a couple of moves away from wrapping up their off-season. They still have yet to deal with the Robin Lopez situation however they did complete the signing of Shannon Brown to a 2 year 7M dollar deal. Ironically the team that’s trying to execute a trade for Lopez is the team that ultimately matched the Suns’ offer for Eric Gordon, that’s right it’s the New Orleans Hornets.

According to a tweet by Adrian Wojarnarowski of Yahoo! Sports “Hornets have worked hard on executing a sign-and-trade for Suns RFA center Robin Lopez, but deal hasn’t come together, sources tell Y!,” Question at this point, do the Suns’ attempt to keep Lopez for the price around 4-6M annually or do they trade him for future assets?

It’s not exactly news that NBA centers have been expensive in recent years as Omer Asik who played less than 15 minutes a night during the 2011-2012 season, received a 3 year 24M dollar contract from the Houston Rockets. Lopez had a good stretch at the end of year becoming a solid rim protector and became a little more effective offensively. The Suns at this point have every reason to not to keep Lopez based on logjam issues with their front court alone so I’d imagine if the Hornets make a decent offer the Suns would let him walk.

The Suns already have 4 players at the power forward position next year and Marcin Gortat at the center position, so even if Lopez does return he probably won’t play more than 18 or so minutes per night. On top of that Channing Frye or Markieff Morris can fill Lopez’s role on the team as they will be fighting for playing time after the Suns’ signing of Luis Scola.

It’d make sense right now for the Suns to trade their back-up center for some much needed future assets whether it’d be from the Hornets or another team. The Suns are in a rebuilding mode, that’s been established. They already have 10 draft picks in the next 3 seasons, but it wouldn’t hurt to add more. If the Hornets offer a future a first round pick and maybe a second round pick as a throw-in I’d take that deal in a heartbeat.

Feb. 4, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11), guard Shannon Brown (26) and center Robin Lopez (15) react on the court while playing against the Charlotte Bobcats during the second half at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Bobcats 95 – 89. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-US PRESSWIRE.

The Phoenix Suns have made a lot of moves this off-season and have officially entered the rebuilding mode after they traded away franchise cornerstone Steve Nash to the Los Angeles Lakers in the return for 4 draft picks, the Suns’ also signed former Suns’ point guard Goran Dragic to a four-year deal, they also signed underachieving former 2^nd overall pick in 2008 Michael Beasley to a 3 year deal and they also went all out to sign rising star Eric Gordon, however New Orleans Hornets ultimately decided to match the offer sheet to retain Gordon.

 The Suns recently won Luis Scola from the amnesty auction after he was cut by Houston. The question now is; are the Suns done making moves? The Suns also pursued combo guard O.J Mayo but ultimately passed on him. So this leaves the Suns’ with a choice between Courtney Lee and Shannon Brown at the shooting guard spot.

Brown was signed by the Suns last season to a one-year contract and had a good season but he had his stretch when he got a chance to be a starter. In 19 starts Shannon Brown averaged 16 points almost 4 rebounds, 2 assists a game on 44% shooting from the field 40% shooting from three point line and 81% shooting from the free-throw line in about 31 minutes of action. Brown also did a great job on the defensive end bothering opposing offensive players with his energy, his strength and his athleticism. Courtney Lee on the other hand, struggled last season as he only averaged 14 points and 3 rebounds playing about 36 minutes a game as a starter; he started 26 games.

It’d be a better idea for the Suns to bring back Shannon Brown as he’s already familiar with the Suns’ offense and both players are the same age but Shannon Brown is a little more versatile as he could handle the ball and play 3 positions on the floor.

The Suns also have to deal with a couple of other issues, the first being Robin Lopez. The Suns’ restricted free-agent center still has yet to be signed and the Suns claimed they would match any offer for Lopez though they have yet to workout a deal with Lopez. Although it’s not entirely insane to imagine Lopez on the move, Lopez hasn’t lived up to his potential since his days back in 2010 when he seemed like a player on the rise next to him Amar’e Stoudemire and Steve Nash but those days are long gone.

Lopez finished strong at the end of the season last year when he became a great rim protector, he did a better job rebounding and he did a better job finishing around the rim. So where does that leave the Suns?

With the addition of Scola the Suns have a log-jam at the power forward position. So it seems that someone will be the odd man out next year whether it’d be Morris or Channing Frye; it’s tough to imagine it would be Morris at this point since that Morris is already a better player than Channing Frye but Frye is also capable of play the center position which means that the Suns could potentially work out a sign and trade for Lopez to get back a couple of draft picks or some young talent. I don’t believe the Suns are done making moves yet but don’t expect any blockbuster moves anytime soon.