Jerry Colangelo owes Phoenix and it’s fans an apology

[JCSunsfan]

For selling this team to Robert Sarver. He is the most hated owner in professional sports today.

If he wants to do anything about his image, he needs to diasappear. No more interviews, no more to do with the team other than letting his Gm run it. He needs to hire a real team president and get out of town. Maybe people will forget henis the owner and we can actually be a free agent destination again.

I have been a fan since 1976 and have not been this discouraged about this team since the drug scandal of the 1980s.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

Agreed. Read up on him a bit, he didnt even make his money, some banking tycoon from his dad. He knows nothing about bball and building a franchise.

Not that i love McDonough but i get the impression a lot of the bad decisions by the front office i think are due to Sarver pushing for decisions that he has no business in.

 

[pokerface]

Sarver and McD are building a team through the draft. That takes time. It's coming along nicely. We don't need some rash move to improve the team to a playoff first round exit.

 

[hcsilla]

Sarver and McD are building a team through the draft.

And that's why they traded the Lakers pick (#5-8 pick this year) for the great Brandon Knight.

 

[pokerface]

And that's why they traded the Lakers pick (#5-8 pick this year) for the great Brandon Knight.

Brandon Knight showed potential and was the exception. He was a rebound knee jerk reaction to trading Dragic.

Bottomline, it's a lesson to those that think we are going to trade out of our misery. Better off sticking with the draft. Yeah we drafted some duds (Len) but it's less expensive than doing a bad trade.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

Sarver and McD are building a team through the draft. That takes time. It's coming along nicely. We don't need some rash move to improve the team to a playoff first round exit.

Totally agree. Sarver is no longer the problem...need to just let that go. It's taken more time than anyone expected, to get on the same page, but I think the accidental competing year under Horny, actually set the team back. Next year this team will be battling for a playoff spot...in 2 years, it can be battling for a top 4 playoff spot...and Booker will be the main catalyst...he's not going anywhere.


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[Mainstreet]

Although Warren is coming along, Booker has been the Suns only major hit in the draft under McDonough. The Suns need to hit on their first round draft picks. Len, Goodwin, Ennis, Bogdanovic, Bender and Chriss may be misses or underachieving. The jury is still out on Jackson.

It's interesting to note the Suns two best players at the moment, Booker was drafted #13 and Warren was drafted #14.

Personally I'm growing a little pessimistic about the Suns scouting.

 

[SirStefan32]

First off, Jerry doesn't owe anything to anybody. It was his team, he sold it. It is NOT the fans' team.
That said, this Sarver bashing is getting really old. Rebuilding takes time. He has acknowledged many mistakes, and he has largely stepped away from being a decision-maker. To some degree, the owner is always going to be involved since they sign paychecks, but he doesn't seem to be involved in basketball operations. Rebuilding sucks, it's time-consuming, it is unpleasant, but it is necessary.

Free agents are not avoiding Phoenix because of Sarver. They are avoiding Phoenix because the team sucks. Nobody wants to join a rebuilding team. This is why it is so important to get into playoffs, get a winning record, do something that will show free agents that the team doesn't suck.

 

[JS22]

And that's why they traded the Lakers pick (#5-8 pick this year) for the great Brandon Knight.

At the time Knight was actually a pretty promising young player. Very high risk / high reward trade. And, well, it backfired immensely. But I'll be the first to admit that I didn't completely hate the move when it was made.

 

[Hypothesis]

I could be wrong but years ago when Jerry sold the team, wasn't there a lot of backlash surrounding the circumstances of the situation? Like underhanded dealings that forced jerry to sell?

 

[pokerface]

At the time Knight was actually a pretty promising young player. Very high risk / high reward trade. And, well, it backfired immensely. But I'll be the first to admit that I didn't completely hate the move when it was made.

I didn't either. No one figured he'd be that bad. He was figured to be a young player that was on the rise 'potentially'.

Besides, we didn't have better options at the time.

 

[SweetD]

I could be wrong but years ago when Jerry sold the team, wasn't there a lot of backlash surrounding the circumstances of the situation? Like underhanded dealings that forced jerry to sell?

I think that was the Dbacks and the all the differed salaries JC did to get the title.

 

[Mainstreet]

I could be wrong but years ago when Jerry sold the team, wasn't there a lot of backlash surrounding the circumstances of the situation? Like underhanded dealings that forced jerry to sell?

This was not the Suns.

 

[leclerc]

Most hated? Are you sure you're not exaggerating even a little?

 

[JCSunsfan]

Listen. I would love to be a Sarver fan. But he has a rep around the league. He earned it all by himself. It didn’t come from nowhere.

And Jerry does owe something to the fans. They are the ones that bought tickets and paid the taxes that built the buildings that made him rich.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Most hated? Are you sure you're not exaggerating even a little?

Ok. Name a more hated owner right now.

 

[Ronin]

Ok. Name a more hated owner right now.

The York’s.

 

[Ronin]

NBA
James Dolan

NFL
The York’s

MLB
Jeffery Loria

Those are the most hated owners in professional sports.imo

 

[Covert Rain]

The hell he does.

JC isn't a psychic and would have no way of knowing how any owner would handle ownership of the team. As an owner, you make sure that the potential buyers have the assets and you take the best offer.

Ridiculous notion.

Having said that Sarver is the constant since he bought the team. The buck stops with him. His tenure has been a disaster. Sure it takes time but how much time? How many years is enough before you can judge?

Give me a break. He has owned the team long enough to make an evaluation. He bought the team in what 2004?

The notion that 13 years is not long enough to evaluate him is hilarious.

Sarver is an awful owner.

 

[Phrazbit]

Colangelo brought a franchise to this city when it's population had no business getting a pro team. His effort to build the arena and baseball stadium (yes, with taxpayer money) totally transformed downtown.

He also opperated both his franchises at a financial loss for years because his main priority was to win. He also treated his players with dignity and kept his promises (giving Manning that fat contract after he blew out his knee) but he also held them accountable (shipping off Jason Kidd when he beat the hell out of his wife and tearing down the mid-80s coke scandal Suns).

He was one of the best owners in all of sports, IMO he owes the city and the fans nothing and there is no way he could have known the kind of owner Sarver was going to be. JC's main priority when selling the team was that they'd stay in the city, and thank god for it.

It sucks that Sarver is what we got stuck with but that sale occurred at a time when the NBA has a whole was not doing well and the market was not exactly teeming with buyers. And even then, it took years for Sarver's incompetence to be exposed because Colangelo left the franchise in phenomenal shape.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Colangelo brought a franchise to this city when it's population had no business getting a pro team. His effort to build the arena and baseball stadium (yes, with taxpayer money) totally transformed downtown.

He also opperated both his franchises at a financial loss for years because his main priority was to win. He also treated his players with dignity and kept his promises (giving Manning that fat contract after he blew out his knee) but he also held them accountable (shipping off Jason Kidd when he beat the hell out of his wife and tearing down the mid-80s coke scandal Suns).

He was one of the best owners in all of sports, IMO he owes the city and the fans nothing and there is no way he could have known the kind of owner Sarver was going to be. JC's main priority when selling the team was that they'd stay in the city, and thank god for it.

It sucks that Sarver is what we got stuck with but that sale occurred at a time when the NBA has a whole was not doing well and the market was not exactly teeming with buyers. And even then, it took years for Sarver's incompetence to be exposed because Colangelo left the franchise in phenomenal shape.

Agreed. Bashing JC is ludicrous.

 

[Phrazbit]

And as bad as Sarver is, he isn't even the worst in his sport. As Ronin mentioned, Dolan is an unmitigated disaster in New York and I'd argue that Vivek in Sacramento is easily the worst owner in the NBA.

 

[hcsilla]

Brandon Knight showed potential

I don't know. He was an athletic, undersized SG.

I still can't shake off the thought that Knight dunking on the Suns twice in one game played a significant role in trading for him which I can't tell how stupid is.

He was a rebound knee jerk reaction to trading Dragic.

Why did they need to react to trading Dragic with Bledsoe and Thomas on the roster?

They should have just simply called it a day and moved on.

 

[pokerface]

Colangelo brought a franchise to this city when it's population had no business getting a pro team. His effort to build the arena and baseball stadium (yes, with taxpayer money) totally transformed downtown.

He also opperated both his franchises at a financial loss for years because his main priority was to win. He also treated his players with dignity and kept his promises (giving Manning that fat contract after he blew out his knee) but he also held them accountable (shipping off Jason Kidd when he beat the hell out of his wife and tearing down the mid-80s coke scandal Suns).

He was one of the best owners in all of sports, IMO he owes the city and the fans nothing and there is no way he could have known the kind of owner Sarver was going to be. JC's main priority when selling the team was that they'd stay in the city, and thank god for it.

It sucks that Sarver is what we got stuck with but that sale occurred at a time when the NBA has a whole was not doing well and the market was not exactly teeming with buyers. And even then, it took years for Sarver's incompetence to be exposed because Colangelo left the franchise in phenomenal shape.

The beginning of the end is when Joe Johnson wanted out. Then Amare had to go because his knees weren't worth max money. Then Nash finally left primarily due to age. That wasn't on Sarver.

 

[hcsilla]

I didn't either. No one figured he'd be that bad.

Even if noone did, the Lakers pick was still too valuable to sacrify for Knight especially from a young rebuilding team who still had not core players (except maybe Bledsoe who that time could be considered as one).

Besides, we didn't have better options at the time.

We did: stand pat.