In The Spotlight - Phoenix Suns
Grooming Rajon Rondo to be Steve Nash's heir apparent should be one of the top priorities for the Suns as they start preparing for the start of next season. Rondo made great strides in his 2nd year in the league and once he masters a mid-range jumper he's very likely to enter the top tier of point guards. Oh, wait a second now I remember. The Suns dealt Rondo's draft rights and the salary of injured power forward Brian Grant to the Celtics. This is just one of many unfortunate things that happened during the past few years that have caused Phoenix to be in its current predicament. No need to cite every single unfortunate decision/action/situation...there are simply too many.
However, two What If's do stand out in my mind: 1) What if Robert Horry hadn't hip checked Steve Nash into the scorers table resulting in Stoudemire & Diaw tiptoeing onto the court and earning one game suspensions? and 2) What if a friend of the San Diego Sports Guy had passed on a trade recommendation to Suns upper management approximately 17 weeks ago?
The first What If has been well chronicled, but only a chosen few know about #2. Back in mid-January, my friend Dr. Claw forever altered the landscape of the season by opting not to pass on a letter that may have propelled the Suns to a championship. Among other things, in this missive was a recommendation to trade supremely talented yet disgruntled forward Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks, and other considerations to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro (streaky but solid long range shooter and an ideal backup and/or complement to Nash) and Stromile Swift (admittedly an injury prone dog with fleas most of the time, but also an athletic big body capable of putting together an impressive game every so often...particularly on defense).
Dr. Claw, who went to college with several members of the Suns ownership group, determined that it wasn't his place to butt in. Although somewhat disappointed, the San Diego Sports Guy accepted the decision and watched from afar as soon after Pau Gasol was gift wrapped to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Suns responded by gambling on Shaq. The Big Cactus ultimately crapped out and the Suns were eliminated in the first round. Who knows what would have happened, but I maintain Phoenix would still be playing right now if Gasol and Navarro had joined the team instead of Shaq and Giricek down the stretch. It's water under the Coronado Bridge now though.
What can the Suns do at this point to give Nash a chance at the title? Step #1 would be hiring the right coach and the names I'm hearing don't sound too promising. A lot of ex-players are being mentioned, and only Terry Porter has head coaching experience. Step #2 is to find a point guard who can spell Nash for 16-18 minutes a game. The class of unrestricted free agent point guards is pretty lean, but I'd make a push for either Roger Mason or Chris Duhon. If neither can be signed I'd throw Jannero Pargo, Carlos Arroyo or Keyon Dooling a bone and hope for the best. Step #3 is to find an athletic small forward to share minutes with Grant Hill. Word is that Hill will be brought back for another year and it's essential to have a starter quality forward who can shoot from long range. Antawn Jamison is obviously the cream of the crop, but he's a long shot. The other ideal (and much less expensive) candidate is Mickael Pietrus and the Suns should roll out the red carpet for him. Pietrus would provide solid defense, rebounding, and some long range shooting.
Or the Suns could avoid free agency altogether, bring back the same squad, win 53 games, and make it to the second round of the playoffs before being bounced. We'll see what happens...
However, two What If's do stand out in my mind: 1) What if Robert Horry hadn't hip checked Steve Nash into the scorers table resulting in Stoudemire & Diaw tiptoeing onto the court and earning one game suspensions? and 2) What if a friend of the San Diego Sports Guy had passed on a trade recommendation to Suns upper management approximately 17 weeks ago?
The first What If has been well chronicled, but only a chosen few know about #2. Back in mid-January, my friend Dr. Claw forever altered the landscape of the season by opting not to pass on a letter that may have propelled the Suns to a championship. Among other things, in this missive was a recommendation to trade supremely talented yet disgruntled forward Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks, and other considerations to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro (streaky but solid long range shooter and an ideal backup and/or complement to Nash) and Stromile Swift (admittedly an injury prone dog with fleas most of the time, but also an athletic big body capable of putting together an impressive game every so often...particularly on defense).
Dr. Claw, who went to college with several members of the Suns ownership group, determined that it wasn't his place to butt in. Although somewhat disappointed, the San Diego Sports Guy accepted the decision and watched from afar as soon after Pau Gasol was gift wrapped to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Suns responded by gambling on Shaq. The Big Cactus ultimately crapped out and the Suns were eliminated in the first round. Who knows what would have happened, but I maintain Phoenix would still be playing right now if Gasol and Navarro had joined the team instead of Shaq and Giricek down the stretch. It's water under the Coronado Bridge now though.
What can the Suns do at this point to give Nash a chance at the title? Step #1 would be hiring the right coach and the names I'm hearing don't sound too promising. A lot of ex-players are being mentioned, and only Terry Porter has head coaching experience. Step #2 is to find a point guard who can spell Nash for 16-18 minutes a game. The class of unrestricted free agent point guards is pretty lean, but I'd make a push for either Roger Mason or Chris Duhon. If neither can be signed I'd throw Jannero Pargo, Carlos Arroyo or Keyon Dooling a bone and hope for the best. Step #3 is to find an athletic small forward to share minutes with Grant Hill. Word is that Hill will be brought back for another year and it's essential to have a starter quality forward who can shoot from long range. Antawn Jamison is obviously the cream of the crop, but he's a long shot. The other ideal (and much less expensive) candidate is Mickael Pietrus and the Suns should roll out the red carpet for him. Pietrus would provide solid defense, rebounding, and some long range shooting.
Or the Suns could avoid free agency altogether, bring back the same squad, win 53 games, and make it to the second round of the playoffs before being bounced. We'll see what happens...
Comments