No more fun in Phoenix

Even in the midst of this tense and unpredictable NBA Finals between the Lakers and Celtics I found myself yearning for the wide-open style and high scores of the Lakers-Suns Western Conference finals. Now I'm simply mourning the Suns.

The fun days are over, the feel-good is finished. The first indication is the departure of easygoing general manager Steve Kerr, and the sure sign will come when Amare Stoudemire leaves as a free agent.

The Suns' high-scoring offense couldn't beat the bigger and better teams in the Western Conference and now it can't beat the accounting books, which remain the most formidable foe in the NBA. Kerr and Suns owner Robert Sarver clashed this month and you can see the result.

"Kerr wanted a little raise, Sarver wanted him to take a pay cut," one source said. "There's no other way to spin it."

Well, a second source indicated it wasn't as simple as a money grab by Kerr. He wanted more money for the coaching staff, video crew, front-office secretaries -- all the people who helped produce this unexpected trip to the conference finals that yielded more than $10 million in extra revenue from eight home playoff games. Except when Kerr went to bat with Sarver, "The guy just bludgeoned Steve," the second source said.

So Kerr's out. Stoudemire's next.

"Amare's done," according to the source. "He's gone."

That will be the final breakdown of the team that won 62 games in 2004-05 while ushering in a new era of scoreboard-straining ball. It started when Shawn Marion was the featured piece in a trade for Shaquille O'Neal in 2008 and continued when Mike D'Antoni left after a first-round loss to the Spurs in the playoffs that season.

"They're trying to lay the Shaq trade on Steve," the source said. "He had about 10 percent to do with that." The source said Sarver and D'Antoni were primarily responsible.

And Kerr did find someone willing to take O'Neal's contract off Phoenix's hands last year when the Suns traded him to Cleveland for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, both of whom were bought out for a net savings of $4.5 million for Phoenix.

Kerr did make the mistake of bringing in coach Terry Porter in an attempt to make the Suns more defensive-minded after D'Antoni was gone. That lasted only half a season before Porter was fired and Alvin Gentry took over as head coach. Gentry did well enough to be kept on full-time -- at one of the lowest annual salaries in the league ($1.7 million). One thing working against Kerr was the fact the Suns were still obligated to pay Porter $2.5 million per year for this season and next. Sarver wasn't happy about that (I can only imagine how it makes Gentry feel to make less than a guy doing nothing for the team).

But Kerr got it right more than he got it wrong. Channing Frye was a free-agent signee who flourished and led the team in 3-point shots. He picked up starter Jason Richardson and do-everything backup Jared Dudley from the Bobcats in a trade for the enigmatic Boris Diaw.

The Shaq trade was the first time I shed tears for the Suns, but that was primarily from a stylistic standpoint. It was still possible for them to win, but where was the fun in doing so with a center-oriented approach the way every other team had tried it since the primordial days of the NBA? If they're on the verge of losing Stoudemire, the team's top scorer and rebounder (23 and 9), then they won't be back in the playoffs.

The Suns enjoyed the best chemistry in the NBA. You didn't read stories about the general manager and the coach getting into fights as they did in Chicago. In fact, Kerr and Gentry were on good enough terms that Gentry joked he'd hit Kerr back if he tried to go John Paxson on him. Not sure if that level of trust can be found with a new general manager, someone who didn't hire the coach. Nor can there be much faith that hard work will be rewarded if Kerr lost out on his efforts to boost his staff's pay.

The way things went down this week "took all the joy out of everything that happened this year," the second source said.

And it gave us one fewer reason to look forward to next year.

Moonangie wrote:Will Nash demand a trade to the NYK or wait until the ext season to sign here for the vet minimum?

He's signed through 2011/12 - the soonest he could come here on his own would be 2012/13, at which point he will be 38, and probably not much use except as a back up/half coach.

Just cause the writer says Sarver and MDA were for it doesn't mean MDA was pushing for it. He might have just been yessing Sarver while thinking at the same time he could make it work. I don't see that as the same as pushing for it but, who know.

Has MDA EVER spoken on it?? I've heard it was Kerr at one point and then MDA at others.

The Suns willed themselves to a come-from-behind victory in Game 4 to tie the series at 2.
However, the celebration would be short-lived. In the closing minute of Game 4, with the Suns leading by 3 points, Nash brought up the ball and was shoved into the press table by Robert Horry, creating a momentary ruckus, wherein Raja Bell received a technical. As this took place, Stoudemire and Boris Diaw left the Suns bench. Although they were not involved in the altercation, they broke an established NBA rule that prohibits players from leaving their bench during an altercation. As a result, the NBA suspended Stoudemire and Diaw for one game, while Horry received a two-game suspension for the flagrant foul and ejection. Severely undermanned, the Suns came into Game 5 with the task of beating the Spurs without their star big man. The suspensions created a national outrage, as well as a frontcourt breach for San Antonio to exploit during Game 5. Several NBA pundits feel the Suns would have likely won the series if the controversial suspensions had not been given to Stoudemire and Diaw[.

Somehow I just can't believe that MDA would want to change his team based on what happened in the Spurs series. I think he'd want to get another crack at it with his team as it was, cuz they had really proven to be a tough team that was really close to getting over the top. My guess is that the Spurs series really left a bitter taste in MDA and the Teams mouth and I can't imagine that they'd now want to totally change the chemistry to that extent with a huge slow guy in the mix. It sounds like Sarver likely wanted this and MDA just went along with it.

DJMUSIC wrote:So martin I assume you are a Suns fan ? cool
Good post and informative

Im a Knicks fan.

I thought he quit

Vmart wrote:Just heard Steven A. say that LeBron is coming to NY with Shaq.

That would be interesting huh?

Douglas
Lebron
Gallo
Bosh
Shaq / Rookie

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Walker

Now trade Curry/Chandler for Tony P and that's quite some team! (Assuming Shaq signs for peanuts, don't see why he wouldn't)

Vmart wrote:Just heard Steven A. say that LeBron is coming to NY with Shaq.

Care to elaborate?