elindholm
edited for content
I just realized that all of this could have been avoided if Gugliotta would have accepted a buyout instead of his option year. The Suns would have been under the luxury tax line, they still could have made the Marbury trade (had they wanted to), but they could have kept the draft picks. The rebuilding project that most of this board (not me, admittedly) was so enthusiastic about could have gone ahead with full strength.
I know that Gugliotta earned his contract and wasn't responsible for his injury, that it was his money and he was entitled to it. But by insisting on receiving it as player salary, he has set the franchise back several years. I'm sure the Suns would have agreed to pay him the same amount, or slightly more, over several years in a meaningless front-office job. He could have retired with dignity and the affection of the organization. Instead, some fans are calling him the worst thing that has ever happened to the Suns -- and while that's an exaggeration, the impact of his selfishness has been, and will continue to be, extreme.
A few years from now, when the Suns have been hopelessly stuck in the lottery without the talent or the energy to get out, I hope he looks back on the employer that made him rich for life and feels a little remorse and shame. Jason Kidd may have bad-mouthed the organization mercilessly after he left, Antonio McDyess left them high and dry when he bolted for the Nuggets, and Penny Hardaway sure was a pain in the ass while he was here. But it is Tom Gugliotta's assault on this once-proud franchise that will take the longest to overcome, and be the hardest to accept.
I know that Gugliotta earned his contract and wasn't responsible for his injury, that it was his money and he was entitled to it. But by insisting on receiving it as player salary, he has set the franchise back several years. I'm sure the Suns would have agreed to pay him the same amount, or slightly more, over several years in a meaningless front-office job. He could have retired with dignity and the affection of the organization. Instead, some fans are calling him the worst thing that has ever happened to the Suns -- and while that's an exaggeration, the impact of his selfishness has been, and will continue to be, extreme.
A few years from now, when the Suns have been hopelessly stuck in the lottery without the talent or the energy to get out, I hope he looks back on the employer that made him rich for life and feels a little remorse and shame. Jason Kidd may have bad-mouthed the organization mercilessly after he left, Antonio McDyess left them high and dry when he bolted for the Nuggets, and Penny Hardaway sure was a pain in the ass while he was here. But it is Tom Gugliotta's assault on this once-proud franchise that will take the longest to overcome, and be the hardest to accept.
