I wanted to avoid playing the 'What if the front office did this instead of this?' game because its so subjective, but Phoenix's bipolar game plan from 2004 to 2008 had to be commemorated in some way. Here's a detailed look.

1. During the same summer they signed Nash, Phoenix traded the seventh pick in the '04 Draft (and the chance to take either Luol Deng or Andre Iguodala) to Chicago for $3 million and a 2006 numer one. One week later they signed Quentin Richardson to a six-year, $42.6 million deal, even though they could have drafter Deng or Iguodala and paid either of them one-third what Richardson was getting. They Kept Richardson for one year before swapping Q and their twenty-first pick (Nate Robinson) in the '05 draft to the KNicks for Kurt Thomas. Two summers later, they dumped Thomas to Seattle along with two number ones just to shed him off their ca for tax purposes. As astounding as this sounds, bryan Colangelo's decision to sign Richardson instead of just drafting Deng or Iguodala- which was dumb at the time by the way- ended up costing them four first-round picks! Would you rather have Richardson, or would you rather have the number seven pick in '04, the number twenty-one pick in '05, and first-rounders in 2008 and 2010? I thought so. **Hold on, this gets better. Your 2005 NBA Executive of the year? Thats right, Mr Bryan Colangelo! I love the NBA**

2. Phoenix lowballed Joe Johnson so insultingly that he asked them not to match Atlanta's $70 million free agent offer, leading to Phoenix accepting Boris Diaw and two future first rounders for him. So the Suns had just come within two wins of the '05 finals and built a run-and-gun identity; suddenly they were dealing a twenty-four-year-old potential all-star, the perfect swingman for their system and a deadly shooter who can even play backup point guard, and they were only getting back a bench player and two future first round picks? Also, how could they botch the Johnson deal so badly that he asked to leave? With Nash, Amare, Marion and Johnson, you're set for the rest of the decade. That's it. That's your core. Thats your guarantee for 57-plus wins a year and a specific style that can work. Surround them with role players and veteran buyout guys and you're contending until Nash breaks down, and even then, you can just shift the offense over to Johnson as the main creator. How can you just give that guy up? So what if he's insulted and doesent want to come back? He'll get over it! You're paying him $14 million a year and he gets to play with Steve Nash! Arrrrrrgh. **I'm not totally absolving Johnson here. So they dicked him around a little. When you're playing with Steve Nash, do you know what what means? You're playing with Steve Nash! Why give that up unless you have to?**

3.Instead of picking Rahon Rondo with the twenty-first pick in '06 (the pick acquired form Chicago), they shipped his rights to Boston for Clevelands number one and 1.9 million. A few weeks later, they gave Marcus Banks $24 million. Would you rather have a potential up-and-comer like Rondo for cheap money or a proven turd like Banks for five times as much? Tough call. If you just had a head injury.

4. They gave Diaw a five-year $45 million dollar extension that summer, which means the Diaw/Banks combo now makes as much money every year as Joe Johnson. Awesome.

5. So the Iguodala/Deng/Rondo pick became number twenty-four in the '07 draft... and naturally the Suns sold it to Portland for $3 million. Why didn't they just take Spanish star Rudy Fernandez (Portland's pick)? You can't play the luxury tax card because Fernandez wasn't planning on joining the NBA for at least a year; it would have eben savvy if Phoenix had stashed him in Europe as an asset down the road. Instead, owner Sarver announced to his fans, 'Screw you, I'd rather have the $3 million, I'm taking the cash." One year later, fernandez would have been a top-ten pick after lighting it up in Spain; he even gave the redeem team everything it oculd handle in the 2008 olympics. Can you quantify the damage there? ** they downgraded from Deng or Iguodala to Rondo to fernandez to nothing... which means they traded a number 7 pick in a loaded draft for $4.9 million, less than they payed Banks to sit on their bench in '07. Well done!**

I hate delving into the Marty McFly Zone when many of the aforementioned screwups were interrelated, but lets figure out how the Suns could have turned out if cheapskate owner Robert Sarver didn't sign off on the aforementioned bipolar game plan in '04. We know for sure that they could have had a six-man nucleus of Nash, Marion, Amare, Johnson, Barbosa and Deng/Iguodala from 2004 to the present that shouldn't have been touched, and we know they dumped first-rounders in '05, '06 and '08 for tax purposes. Even if they surrounded that nucleus with draft-picks, minimum-wage veteran guys and February buyout guys and did nothing else, wouldn't they have been positioned for the short term and long term better than any franchise in the latter half of this decade? the bigger question: why own an NBA team if you're going to cut costs? What's the point? Why would that be fun? So people can stare at you during dinner and whisper 'Hey, thats the cheap-ass who owns the Suns'? This pisses me off. What a wasted chance, and what a waste of Nash's prime. (note to Phoenix fans: you can now light yourself on fire)

Is this worse than:

What if the Knicks had never hired Isiah Thomas?

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This could have been its own bizarro "Where Amazing Happens" commercial called "Where Isiah Happens."

(Cue up the annoying piano music that haunts me every time I try to fall asleep after hearing it for five straight months.)

(Picture of the '05 Suns celebrating after a playoff win.)

Where Phoenix dumps the Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway contracts on someone and remakes its team into a contender happens.

(Picture of the '07 Bulls celebrating after a playoff win.)

Where Chicago dumps Eddy Curry for two lottery picks and copious amounts of cap space happens.

(Picture of the '07 Raptors celebrating after a playoff win.)

Where Toronto finds some dummy to take Jalen Rose's contract and aid its rebuilding process happens.

(Picture of San Antonio's 2005 trophy celebration.)

Where San Antonio dumps Malik Rose's contract for a center who helps them win the title happens.

(Picture of the '08 Blazers celebrating after a last-second win.)

Where the 2008 Blazers become the most likable young team in the league because they found a taker for Zach Randolph happens.

(Picture of a white SUV.)

Where a Truck Party happens.

(Picture of Anucha Browne Sanders celebrating on the courthouse steps.)

Where a humiliating $11 million sexual harassment settlement happens.

(Picture of Curry and Randolph looking overweight.)

Where an NBA frontcourt that includes two C-cups happens.

(Picture of a mostly empty Madison Square Garden.)

Where a 60-year tradition of professional basketball goes down the tubes happens.

(Picture of Isiah sitting on the bench with that frozen, blank look on his face like he's either flatlining or planning to kill everyone on the locker room after the game.)

Where Isiah Happens.

(Follow-up note: Has a GM ever directly altered the fortunes of SIX franchises before? Portland, San Antonio, Phoenix, Toronto, Chicago and New York. That's 20 percent of the league. See if you can top that resume, Chris Wallace!)

But as far as the moves, well, I mean, no one knew Q rich would bum out like he has. And Joe Johnson, we can say what we want, but is he really a max player? I would have still signed him, I think, but is no the worst move in world. I guess they were betrayed a little by management, with all the picks being sold. It's a testament to MDA how well he had them playing.