Joe Kleine, rookie Toby Bailey among five players signed
Party of Five
The Phoenix Suns expanded their roster
by five today with four veteran free agents - led by former Suns center
Joe Kleine
- and rookie
Toby Bailey
signing with the club. Rejoining the Suns are Horacio Llamas and
Marko Milic
, with
James Collins
signing with the team after playing for the L.A. Clippers last season.
One of the more popular players in team history, Kleine begins his second term with the Suns, after serving a one-year stint with the NBA champion Chicago Bulls last season.
"Joe is an extra big body that we can use in an emergency and throw at the big people," said Suns coach Danny Ainge , a teammate of Kleine's for two seasons in 1993-95. "We haven't had the big bodies to throw at the other teams when they're big.
"Joe's a great guy in the locker room. Joe's a vocal guy and we have a lot of real quiet type of leaders on our team and nobody that's real vocal. Joe's real vocal - that's one of his best assets, his clubhouse leadership."
Kleine previously signed as a free agent with Phoenix on Aug. 13, 1993 and stayed with the team through 1997. Kleine appeared in 228 games, plus 20 playoff games, with Phoenix . The 13-year veteran is the most experienced player on the Phoenix roster and brings career averages of 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game with a .795 career free-throw percentage.
Prior to playing for three teams in 1996-97, Kleine appeared in the NBA Playoffs eight-straight seasons with Boston and Phoenix from 1988 through 1996. His best career postseason performance was with the Suns in the 1995 playoffs with averages of 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting .574 from the field before Phoenix fell in seven games to the eventual NBA champion Houston Rockets.
Llamas played both of his two NBA seasons with the Suns and averaged 3.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 28 games. In 1997-98, he averaged 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.3 minutes in eight games and missed 64 games due to injury, 35 with a bulging disk in his lower back and 29 due to a bruised heel. Llamas signed a 10-day contract with the Suns on Feb. 20, 1997, and was later signed for the remainder of the season and then again for 1997-98. His professional career began in CBA with the Sioux SkyForce during the 1996-97 season and ranked fifth in the league in blocked shots (1.70 bpg) before joining the Suns.
Milic came to Phoenix on Nov. 21, 1997, in a trade with Philadelphia for Tom Chambers . He did not play for the Sixers due to a lower back strain that kept him on the injured list, but saw time in 33 games with the Suns, averaging 2.8 points and 0.8 rebounds per game. During the NBA lockout, he played in Turkey for Fenerbahce, along with former NBA players Zan Tabak and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf . While there, Milic was named to the EuroLeague Western All-Star team where he scored eight points in 16 minutes. Originally he was a second-round (34th overall) pick of the 76ers in the 1997 NBA Draft as an early-entry candidate.
Bailey was selected with the 45th pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, but was traded to the Suns on draft night (June 24). He is the fourth-leading scorer in UCLA history, trailing only NBA players Don MacLean (Seattle), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Reggie Miller (Indiana) on the Bruins' all-time scoring list with 1,846 points. Bailey was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, only the 33rd player in league history to achieve that distinction. Possibly his most memorable moments came from the 1995 NCAA Tournament as a freshman, as he put up 26 points in the title game victory over Arkansas and also against Connecticut in the West Regional final. He gained Final Four and NCAA West Regional All-Tournament honors for his role in the Bruins' championship run.
Collins signed with the Suns after playing in 23 games for the L.A. Clippers in 1997-98 and averaging 2.6 points and 4.5 minutes per game. Originally, he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round (37th overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft. During his stint with the Clippers he scored a career-high 15 points against Vancouver on Apr. 7 and missed 30 games due to a strained back injury.
Kleine |
"Joe is an extra big body that we can use in an emergency and throw at the big people," said Suns coach Danny Ainge , a teammate of Kleine's for two seasons in 1993-95. "We haven't had the big bodies to throw at the other teams when they're big.
"Joe's a great guy in the locker room. Joe's a vocal guy and we have a lot of real quiet type of leaders on our team and nobody that's real vocal. Joe's real vocal - that's one of his best assets, his clubhouse leadership."
Kleine previously signed as a free agent with Phoenix on Aug. 13, 1993 and stayed with the team through 1997. Kleine appeared in 228 games, plus 20 playoff games, with Phoenix . The 13-year veteran is the most experienced player on the Phoenix roster and brings career averages of 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game with a .795 career free-throw percentage.
Prior to playing for three teams in 1996-97, Kleine appeared in the NBA Playoffs eight-straight seasons with Boston and Phoenix from 1988 through 1996. His best career postseason performance was with the Suns in the 1995 playoffs with averages of 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting .574 from the field before Phoenix fell in seven games to the eventual NBA champion Houston Rockets.
Llamas played both of his two NBA seasons with the Suns and averaged 3.1 points and 1.3 rebounds in 28 games. In 1997-98, he averaged 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.3 minutes in eight games and missed 64 games due to injury, 35 with a bulging disk in his lower back and 29 due to a bruised heel. Llamas signed a 10-day contract with the Suns on Feb. 20, 1997, and was later signed for the remainder of the season and then again for 1997-98. His professional career began in CBA with the Sioux SkyForce during the 1996-97 season and ranked fifth in the league in blocked shots (1.70 bpg) before joining the Suns.
Milic came to Phoenix on Nov. 21, 1997, in a trade with Philadelphia for Tom Chambers . He did not play for the Sixers due to a lower back strain that kept him on the injured list, but saw time in 33 games with the Suns, averaging 2.8 points and 0.8 rebounds per game. During the NBA lockout, he played in Turkey for Fenerbahce, along with former NBA players Zan Tabak and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf . While there, Milic was named to the EuroLeague Western All-Star team where he scored eight points in 16 minutes. Originally he was a second-round (34th overall) pick of the 76ers in the 1997 NBA Draft as an early-entry candidate.
Bailey was selected with the 45th pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, but was traded to the Suns on draft night (June 24). He is the fourth-leading scorer in UCLA history, trailing only NBA players Don MacLean (Seattle), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Reggie Miller (Indiana) on the Bruins' all-time scoring list with 1,846 points. Bailey was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, only the 33rd player in league history to achieve that distinction. Possibly his most memorable moments came from the 1995 NCAA Tournament as a freshman, as he put up 26 points in the title game victory over Arkansas and also against Connecticut in the West Regional final. He gained Final Four and NCAA West Regional All-Tournament honors for his role in the Bruins' championship run.
Collins signed with the Suns after playing in 23 games for the L.A. Clippers in 1997-98 and averaging 2.6 points and 4.5 minutes per game. Originally, he was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round (37th overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft. During his stint with the Clippers he scored a career-high 15 points against Vancouver on Apr. 7 and missed 30 games due to a strained back injury.
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