J-Rich's new home.
After starting the season with a measly 13-9 record, Phoenix Suns’ President Steve Kerr pulled the trigger on a five-player deal that would send swingman Jason Richardson to the Phoenix Suns.
As a result, former 6th man of the year, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and Sean Singletary will be headed east to the Charlotte Bobcats. The Suns will also acquire a 2010 second-round draft pick and forward Jared Dudley. The trade will leave their team with 12 players and they will have two weeks to add another player to reach the league’s minimum limit of 13.
“We felt like we needed to shake things up a little bit,” Kerr told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “We wanted to add a great scorer in the backcourt to give us better balance to take some of the pressure off of Steve [Nash].”
Apparently, prior to the trade, there was also some animosity in the locker room from Raja Bell towards new coach Terry Porter.
“Raja was a great player for us and he helped us win a lot of games while he was here,” Kerr told the East Valley (Az.) Tribune. “But there is no question he was unhappy about the changes [under Porter] and how he was fitting into the plans. It wasn’t a good marriage from that standpoint. It was time to make changes.”