Did the Suns make the right move naming Mike D'Antoni GM, as well as Coach?

[Espo]

You want to prance around waving that 31 and 8 flag....go right ahead. But due to D'Ant's decisions to sign old washed uppers, we aren't but one twisted ankle from seeing Burke play 15 - 20 minutes a game.

Give me a break. They would either play small ball and give guys like Jujones, Banks and Rose PT or make a deal long before Pat Burke would play 15-20 minutes. Plus name any team with any GM who has more than a solid core of 8 guys and that wouldn't be in trouble if they had injuries happen? Plus look at the Heat last year they signed, as you said of the suns, "Old washed up players" over young prospects. This team has enough to get it done and damn straight Suns fans will waive the 31-8 flag seeing as its second best in the nba.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I am concerned to be honest. I think D'Antoni is a hell of a coach but I think it's fair to say we haven't seen him work anyone over yet like BC used to.

But D'Anotni for the record is nothing more than a coach with final say on moves. I am sure he depends a ton on the Scouts and Griff. Unfortunately they missed hard on Banks.

 

[BC867]

... if they reach the Finals.

With a history of reaching the Finals twice, and zero championships, in over 35 years, this is the time for the Suns to hope for more than "reaching the Finals".

My concern is how having confidence in only seven players on the roster will bring them a Championship while this core of seven is together.

I am concerned to be honest. I think D'Antoni is a hell of a coach but I think it's fair to say we haven't seen him work anyone over yet like BC used to.

But D'Antoni for the record is nothing more than a coach with final say on moves. I am sure he depends a ton on the Scouts and Griff.

For years, Bryan was Jerry's go-fer (just as Joe Garagiola, Jr., was with the D'backs).

Jerry had the ideas and made the decisions. The inexperienced Juniors carried them out. We don't have time for Mike to blossom as GM. (Bryan did under Jerry; Joe, Jr., never did.) And blossoming is not the same as bringing home a Championship.

Two questions:

Does Mike have anyone as knowledgable as Jerry above him to be a Championship caliber GM?

Is Mike D'Antoni knowledgable enough at this time to be GM of a Championship team?

 

[Folster]

I'll make my mind up after I see how he handles our 3 potential picks and how he dances around the luxury cap next offseason. However, if we win a ring this year then none of the aforementioned matters to me.

 

[panfolk]

If we win the championship I imagine other teams will be even less likely to do trades helping us so I'd like to see what he can do with the picks given.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

My recollection (which is shaky), is that D'antonni was fully on board in regard to the need to sign Salmons. However, when the Suns couldn't sign Salmons, Griffen (later on) came up with the option of signing Banks as a backup PG for Nash (which was admittedly a need). However, I got the impresssion that D'Antonni more or less rubber stamped it and was not fully involved in the search for another player. If this is basically correct, it could point to the need for a separate GM or perhaps Griffen just made a mistake in evaluating Banks. Of course, everyone makes mistakes in the NBA in evaluating talent.

What trouble me more, perhaps, is that I did not get the impression that D'Antonni was heavily involved in scouting preparations for the past draft except for a few key players like Thabo and perhaps Carney. Also I worry that D'Antonni may not have the time devote to evaluating players in this upcoming draft and also are the Suns' scouts doing a good job in finding sleeper talent?

here herein lies my concern. coach d has to be completely focused on preparing his team to win. in so doing he necessarily becomes myopic. the "we can win with what we've got b/c i don't know of any other options" attitude. a separate GM scours the league looking for opportunities. tim thomas was just such an opp. two years ago jim jackson was that opp. now we come to a time when we're short-handed once again (kt's injury) and i just don't see coach with the time to survey the league and know who might be available and have the time to put into negotiations, etc. it's a too many hats at one time conundrum. in the offseason? sure, he's got the time (though how weary is he?). i'm not convinced of his talent evaluating prospects yet (we haven't really seen him go hard after a young untested talent), but it's more his in-season management as GM that concerns me.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

The two that did help, (Thomas+House) we let go.

Since you keep bringing this up, it's worth noting that Bell was a FA signing who has been pretty good. Everyone else on your list, except for Banks, was for a minimum contract. Minimum-wage 12th men almost never contribute anything, so that's not really a strike against Suns management.

e, i don't entirely agree with your assessment. if we currently have marks, piatkowski, banks, jumaine jones, rose, and burke on our roster not all of them are 12th men. with kt's injury they all move up a level also. so that means that right now these guys represent the 8th - 13th guys. and regardless of what they get paid, and regardless of d'antoni's truncated rotation, at least one, maybe two, of these are guys that we should (i am a proponent of not burning out your starters during the season) and might have to (if another injury occurs) rely on. they don't look that good in that light, do they?

i'll be the first to admit, i liked the banks, rose, and jujones signings at their respective times. but i'm not paid to wear the GM hat. coach d is. and those decisions look just flat out bad in retrospect.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Give me a break. They would either play small ball and give guys like Jujones, Banks and Rose PT or make a deal long before Pat Burke would play 15-20 minutes. Plus name any team with any GM who has more than a solid core of 8 guys and that wouldn't be in trouble if they had injuries happen? Plus look at the Heat last year they signed, as you said of the suns, "Old washed up players" over young prospects. This team has enough to get it done and damn straight Suns fans will waive the 31-8 flag seeing as its second best in the nba.

but those teams also play more than a core 8 generally. there is a reason for that. they don't burn out their starters, and the 9, 10, and sometimes 11th guy bring something to the table for their 6 - 10 mins a game. it seems that our 8+ (now that kt's gone - yes i will continue to caveat and recognize that) don't. that's on coach d.

 

[Hugh D'Man]

The two that did help, (Thomas+House) we let go.

...... Minimum-wage 12th men almost never contribute anything, so that's not really a strike against Suns management.

so.... apparently we have 5 minimum wage 12th men on our bench, who are not expected to contribute.

Not only that, but we have had FAs who clearly should not be in the league ... Burke...Grant...and now Pike.... and we signed them to freekin 2 yr deals.

Say all you want, but D'Ant and co have not been impressive in their dealings so far. Hell of a coach...but as a GM, he blows way too much smoke.

 

[elindholm]

e, i don't entirely agree with your assessment. if we currently have marks, piatkowski, banks, jumaine jones, rose, and burke on our roster not all of them are 12th men. with kt's injury they all move up a level also. so that means that right now these guys represent the 8th - 13th guys.

That's valid to some degree. I guess it depends on what our expectations were for those players coming in. I never expected them to contribute anything. True, some on this board were ecstatic about how the Suns were "12 deep," or whatever the magic number was, going on about the hidden strengths of guys like Marks and Jumaine Jones. So, from that perspective, they have been disappointing.

To me it's all fallout from two poor decisions: (a) dumping the draft picks for chump change and (b) signing Banks. Once the Suns did that, they didn't have any options left besides minimum players. Are there other minimum players out there who could have helped more? Not that I see. So I think those two decisions were mistakes, but the rest is just a chain reaction, not more mistakes.

Not only that, but we have had FAs who clearly should not be in the league ... Burke...Grant...and now Pike.... and we signed them to freekin 2 yr deals.

I could be wrong, but I think Burke's second year was a team option. Grant was a calculated gamble that didn't pay off. I have no explanation for Piatkowski's second year, which I agree is completely bizarre and indefensible.

 

[Mainstreet]

I'm not totally sure about Burke either, but in my mind I believe he had a Player Option for this year.

 

[jbeecham]

I don't really blame D'Antoni for the Banks signing. He was going after John Salmons, who screwed us over and chose Toronto and then screwed them over and chose Sacramento and he's been a hell of a player for the Kings. Banks was an impulse buy because they didn't think he'd be available so they didn't really scout him that well. They probably looked at his stats, looked at some tape and signed him to the contract before somebody else snagged him. It reminds me of when McDyess bolted and they gave Googs that big contract. At least Banks only got a 5yr $21 mil deal.

 

[Mainstreet]

It reminds me of when McDyess bolted and they gave Googs that big contract. At least Banks only got a 5yr $21 mil deal.

A good comparison in some regards except Googs was a very good player when the Suns signed him. Too bad about the injury.

 

[fordronken]

To me it's all fallout from two poor decisions: (a) dumping the draft picks for chump change

Hang on. For one of them, that's true. But for the other, the Suns get a draft pick in what could be a really deep draft next year which will probably be around the same range-- and they dumped Brian Grant's salary. In my opinion, that particular trade was a steal.

 

[Mainstreet]

Hang on. For one of them, that's true. But for the other, the Suns get a draft pick in what could be a really deep draft next year which will probably be around the same range-- and they dumped Brian Grant's salary. In my opinion, that particular trade was a steal.

The Suns moving their first pick in last year's draft was a great move in retrospect depending on how they use the pick in this year's draft. As you said, they moved Brian Grant and received a first round pick in a conceiveably deeper draft.

However, selling their second first round last year just implied to me the Suns had not done their homework or they did not have good contingency plans. First they were going to use the money to sign TT, then Salmons and were finally left with the Banks signing. I know hindsight is 20/20 but the Suns would have been better off with Sergio and be money ahead.

Now the key to what I consider was a mistake, is can the Suns turn a lemon (Banks) into lemonade. The C's were very good at this although they made their share of mistakes. I don't really think Banks is a lemon per se, however, he is just not a good fit for the Suns.

 

[Gaddabout]

True, some on this board were ecstatic about how the Suns were "12 deep," or whatever the magic number was, going on about the hidden strengths of guys like Marks and Jumaine Jones. So, from that perspective, they have been disappointing.

Since we've seen very little of Marks and Jumaine, I think it's hard to label them as disappointing. When Jumaine has received some time, he's done OK at times. Mostly, he looks like a player still trying to find his role with spare minutes. It's hard to make a solid contribution each night if you're not sure if you're going to play. I also think it's kind of silly that it's an either/or situation with Jumaine and JR. Why not give both of them minutes for short stretches? I think both of them play very hard on both ends of the court, so you can't fault their effort.

As for Marks, he's very capable of playing a role on this team. He has a very good mid-range jumpshot. Why he hasn't played probably has something to do with D'Antoni rather watching his gazelle-like forwards run for an additional 5 minutes than tinkering with a straight-up shooter like Marks ... but he remains an option when nothing else is working.

 

[Errntknght]

As for Marks, he's very capable of playing a role on this team. He has a very good mid-range jumpshot. Why he hasn't played probably has something to do with D'Antoni rather watching his gazelle-like forwards run for an additional 5 minutes than tinkering with a straight-up shooter like Marks ... but he remains an option when nothing else is working.

I don't like to dismiss a guy with as little opportunity to show his wares as Marks has had but I sure saw little that looked useful during his stint against the Twolves. He was pushed around by anyone who wanted the space he was occupying and he wasn't even minimallly effective guarding anyone. Yeah, he does have a decent shooting stroke but the Suns don't really have a need for a weakling who can't defend a chair. Compared to him, Skita was a roughhouser!

I'd much have have that wide bodied rookie, Craig Smith, who the announcers said the Wolves picked in the second round of the draft.