It's not just Kerr... the Suns started tearing down their team pretty much as soon as they built it. Much of it for money reasons-- and never replaced the talent sufficiently.... I think their best (and purest D'Antoni ball) team was the one with Johnson,QRich, Amare, Marion and Nash. Since then, they traded Johnson, traded Q, and generally made a bunch of money moves and put bandage on their losses. Bell worked out well, Diaw sort of sort of not..Tim Thomas was a rental, and then they finally jumped the Shaq and traded Marion. They also got rid of a lot of draft picks over the last few years so as to not have to guarantee money. I think the picks PHX traded have included (as far as I remember): David Lee, Luol Deng, and Rudy Fernandez.
Wow, that's some serious talent they missed out on. It does seem like you hear something about saving money with them every season.
I think it was a couple of drafts ago that they had not one but TWO mid-first round draft picks (acquired from the Johnson trade) with great talent on the board. They sold both. I couldn't believe it. Sarver is one cheap b*stard, and his GM doesn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed either. You know, Carl Herrera's point makes me wonder if Sarver sent Colangelo away and hired Kerr because he just didn't want to pay Colangelo the money he was commanding at the time. Then there is the entire issue of how they could have instantly become title favorites if they had traded the (by then) disgruntled Marion for Kevin Garnett when they were offered the chance...
I forgot all about that situation. If that deal went though, the Lakers or Suns may very well be the defending champs right now and the Celtics still searching for answers.
Not that Amare is lighting anybody up these days, but it was a mistake for the Suns to make Shaq the focal point of their offense. In fact, the Suns trading for Shaq was the biggest mistake any franchise could make. Who wants to bet that Shaq is gonna be talking smack in the next couple of weeks?
I would never take that bet, Shaq always talks smack about his old teams and usually if he starts to lose he will even start to become a cancer on the current team he's on. He's always been immature and to bring him into a run and gun offense was about the most r****ded thing anyone could have done. I understand that Marion was wanting more from the Suns but trading for Shaq shouldn't have even been a thought by Kerr unless he really did want to destroy that team. Morey get us Nash and Barbossa while the getting is good!
The reason why Amare is not lighting anybody up is because Shaq is clogging up the paint and taking a lot of his touches. I firmly remember when Shaq first came to the Suns he said " I'm going to make Amare better..." This couldn't be further from the truth. He not only made Amare worse but he's hampering his development. I'm not one to complain though. I liked the move of acquiring Jason Richardson but that definitely hurt their depth as well. The quick fix to getting the Suns back and running smoothly is ditching Shaq and moving Amare back to center. Players that would look good at PF for the Suns. Bargnani, Rasheed Wallace, Antawn Jamison, Al Harrington, Rashard Lewis. Bargnani's contract is too small and I don't think the Suns would want the other O'neal either. Jamison, the Wiz would be doing a huge favor to Jamison and he's deserving of it maybe something like Jamison+Stevenson+Etan Thomas for Shaq. Harrington seems happy to be in NY. Shard would look damn good in a Suns uniform but the Magic are rolling and they've got their big man in Dwight. Which brings me to my fascinating trade proposal which I have carefully thought out for both teams. Phoenix Incoming: Rip Hamilton, Sheed Wallace Nash/Rip/Richardson/Wallace/Amare Phoenix goes back to their run and gun style of play. Gives Amare room to operate in the paint and do his thing. Sheed automatically makes them more dynamic as he can play inside and outside as his repertoire includes a post presence as well as 3 pt. threat which they severely lack with the departures Marion, Bell, Joe Johnson, Q rich, Tim Thomas etc. I can see Rip coming off of screens and Nash feeding him for countless jumpers. Jason Richardson is a nice complimentary piece. Never the man/never really wanted to be the man even though his talent/skills prove otherwise. A nice overall fit. Another move that must be made is to fire Terry Porter and hire somebody like Avery Johnson. Detroit Incoming: Shaq, Barbosa Stuckey, AI, Prince, A. Johnson/Mcdyess, Shaq Detroit has no identity. Make them AI's team. This deal gets rid of unhappy RIP and gives Sheed a change of scenery. Shaq should be cool with playing 2nd man to AI. Stuckey, Prince, Mcdyess those guys are all nice role players anyways so they should fit like a glove next to AI/Shaq. Barbosa as the 6th man off the bench would be nice for Detroit and he's actually a guy that doesn't mind that role. He can play the role that Lindsay Hunter only younger and better. I think an AI/Shaq duo has to be intriguing and I think they can still present a threat at this stage of their respective careers. Of course AI wasn't as good as his prime when he took the Sixers to the Finals but I can definitely see Shaq playing a role similar to Mutombo in the Sixers 01 campaign (AI/Mutombo combo meshed really well) with more of a post threat/added scoring. Shaq can still shut down the paint/ Prince can focus on defending the opponents best perimeter player and AI gets the green light for shooting it up. History has shown Shaq benefits most from dynamic guards who can penetrate and draw the defense. He's had that with Penny, Kobe and Wade. How about one last ditch effort with AI? Plus I can totally see Shaq in a Pistons jersey. Outcome: Bold move with big time players/names. Why's it accepted? Both teams are struggling to find their identity and know that the pieces they have currently don't fit. If things continue to progress without a significant change; both teams are/will be in jeopardy of missing the playoffs in their respective conferences. Kerr/Dumars both former players and neither gun shy on pulling trades involving big time players. I think these moves can significantly benefit both teams and make them a serious threat/contender. Worst case scenario they'd be better off than their current situations.
Even the Amare for KG deal would have made the Suns better defensively. That Phoenix team with Nash, Johnson, Richardson, Marion and Stoudemire was run and gun at its finest. Just thinking about Hakeem if he had a pg the calibre of a Nash as a sidekick and if Sampson was not afflicted by injuries, how different would NBA history be?
That's highway robbery for the Suns and the Pistons will be stuck with two ridiculous contracts in AI and Shaq. Plus I have no reason to believe the Pistons want to the turn team into AI's team. From everything I've heard, they want to eventually pass the torch to Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell.
This is pretty much the most important of all factors as to why the Suns are falling apart. That franchise could have won titles with a better owner. They made back-to-back conference finals while simultaneously fire selling players and draft picks. Add Kurt Thomas, Eddie House, and James Jones to your list.
Probably there's a same topic on their board because of the injuries. They'll be fine, it's just one game.
Exactly. People are saying it started with Kerr or the Shaq trade, but this has been snowballing ever since the Colangelos sold their ownership stake. Sarver has been killing them - shoving Colangelo out and with him his brilliant eye for talent. Time for the backwards idea of saving money by selling draft picks to retain higher priced veterans. Sarver's been concerned only with the box office and has no clue about how a good basketball team is put together. No matter what, this team is going to completely collapse in a year or so.
Kerr wants to build the Suns in the image of his favorite team the Spurs. Unfortunately for him, Tim Duncan is not on the roster. And I don't see a Duncan clone in the NCAA if Kerr lasts long enough to drag the Suns to the Lottery. Somewhat disagree with you about Porter. Porter played with Kerr in SA and therein lies the connection. They have the same goal of building a team with an end result (as I view it) of overemphasizing defense. Again, this kind of overemphasis only works when you have a Duncan (or a 5 years younger Shaq) on your roster.
The Suns were on the decline even before Kerr/Porter got there (though Kerr certainly isn't helping matters). They screwed up with Joe Johnson, blew it on the 2004 draft when they wanted Iguodala (at least we knew Brandon Roy was gone), the contracts of Boris Diaw and Marcus Banks, selling of first round draft picks, etc. and that was back when they were considered the elite of the west. Unless they had a very savvy GM to undo those mistakes, it was the beginning of the end for them after losing to the Spurs during the 07 playoffs.
then why did they do it AFTER the Gasol trade? they were having frontcourt problems for months before the Gasol trade so why didn't they do it then?
