When it seemed that the Suns were unable to resign Amar’e Stoudemire, they went ahead and signed Hakim Warrick.  Obviously Warrick isn’t Amar’e Stoudemire (for one Warrick signed a four-year contract worth up to $18 million while Amar’e will be getting a deal in the vicinity of 6 years $100 million), but it does seem that the Suns plan on using Warrick as Stoudemire’s replacement next year.  Now, there is no way that Warrick is going to duplicate Stoudemire’s production, but if he can at least get close while playing similar to Amar’e then this is a good signing.

Mike Schmitz of Valley Of The Suns did a fantastic job of getting the ball rolling on this topic, looking at Warrick’s strengths and weaknesses and looking to see if he can fit with the Suns.  I am basically just working off of that here, and I will be looking to see if Warrick’s game is similar enough to Stoudemire’s to effectively replace him.

When you think Phoenix Suns basketball you think of Steve Nash working off an Amar’e Stoudemire screen, running the pick and roll to perfection.  So the first thing that we need to look at is to see if Hakim Warrick can run the pick and roll effectively as the screener.  To do this, we need to breakdown every aspect of the pick and roll.

The Screen

With a one inch and a thirty pound edge (Amar’e is 6’10″ 249 lbs while Warrick is 6’9″ 219 lbs), you would think that Amar’e Stoudemire would have an advantage when it comes to setting screens, however this is not the case.  When Stoudemire sets screens he never really makes contact with the defender, opting to use speed to his advantage when rolling.  This also allows for Steve Nash to work his magic:

Hakim Warrick sets screens the same way, not really looking to create contact but just to get in the defender’s way enough to free up a roll:

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