Treesquid PhD
Pardon my Engrish
Sarver: Stay with us next year
Although 'disappointed' with early exit, Sarver says Suns still have shot to win NBA title soon
by Paul Coro -
May. 17, 2008 05:31 PM
The Arizona Republic
The message on Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver's bank office desk has a number, name and a description of an average Suns fan who wants to talk to him about the team.
"Want to hear what he has to say?" Sarver asks his visitor.
Sarver has endured quick exits by his team - and by his team's coach - in recent weeks but welcomes a Suns conversation. Nearing his four-year anniversary of his group's franchise purchase, Sarver acknowledges disappointment in the past season but defends where the team is headed as others declare that its championship window has shut like a guillotine.
The caller has ideas of what went wrong. He talks about blame in the Steve Kerr-Mike D'Antoni relationship, Shaquille O'Neal's free-throw shooting, disappointment in trading Shawn Marion and how he wrote NBA executives about how the Suns are routinely wronged by officiating.
Sarver kindly deflects some misguided statements, cites the team's struggles against top teams before the Marion trade and talks about how the preferred scenario was for D'Antoni to return with changes, but that D'Antoni wanted to leave.
"I appreciate your support," Sarver said in closing. "Stay with us next year."
That message goes for all Suns fans. Sarver believes Phoenix is in position to win a title over the next two years, he has promising youth in Amaré Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw for the years beyond and does not see a need for any major roster change.
Nevertheless, Sarver employs the word "disappointed" repeatedly in looking back on the past season: finishing sixth in the West; bowing out in the playoffs' first round; getting knocked out in three of his four postseasons by San Antonio, with a 4-12 mark; having two home games in this year's playoffs (each is worth about $1 million in revenue).
It was all disappointing.
"In my heart, I thought we would beat them," Sarver said of his April gut feeling on facing the Spurs.
Priority 1: a title
Sarver maintains that the O'Neal trade was the right move and that O'Neal delivered. He acknowledges that it is odd for D'Antoni to be the deal's biggest proponent and not be around to coach him.
"I don't see the window shutting," said Sarver, who values the experience of an aging roster. "The San Antonio series showed we're not there, but I think we're close."
His team already is looking for a new coach after D'Antoni left, citing a broken trust with the front office. D'Antoni's status was left somewhat in limbo by Kerr during the playoffs, but D'Antoni didn't know that Sarver, before the playoffs began, had called speculation about D'Antoni's job "ridiculous" and said his job would not be in jeopardy.
"He felt he wasn't the right guy to move on for us with how he was feeling," said Sarver, who said there may have been a "compromise" had D'Antoni not landed a job with $9 million left on his Suns contract.
Sarver said he was leaving the coaching hire to Kerr, with the priority to bring Phoenix a title. He would like someone who communicated with fans, sponsors and partners as well as D'Antoni did.
"In a relatively small market like Phoenix, we rely heavily on our sponsors and partners," he said. "Maintaining that relationship with a coach who interacts with those folks in a positive way is important."
He said an NBA consulting firm put Phoenix in the league's bottom third for expected revenue based on various demographics but that the Suns' revenue actually ranks in the top third. More than 90 percent of the Suns' season-ticket holders already renewed.
Sarver bristles at the frequent accusations that he is a cheap owner, citing that Phoenix has spent more money on contracts in the past four years ($320 million) than any team. Some of that came because the Suns' payroll had been stripped to $45 million (it will be close to $75 million next season) to set up the club's sale and a free agency summer that included Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash.
Fiscal focus
The Suns made moves last season to avoid a steep luxury tax, trading James Jones and Kurt Thomas, but are still one of eight teams that will owe the tax. Without being a recipient of the tax payout, that is a $6.5 million swing.
"It does kind of bother me, because it's not true," Sarver said of the frugal label. "The fact that people will look at the team and say, 'I disagree that they did this or that,' is totally understandable. Some decisions we make are good ones and some aren't. To think it's about money and that we're not competitive and we don't have a strong desire to win is completely inaccurate.
"A lot of the people's frustrations have come from selling the draft picks. In those cases, it's not so much about the money. It's about, 'Are we going to get someone who's in our rotation?' If you draft a player who spends their whole three years on the bench and doesn't play, is that really a good move vs. taking some of that money and signing Grant Hill or having the money to bring in Gordan Giricek?"
He said the NBA trend is to use the midlevel exception less and that it would take a "special situation" for Phoenix to use a slot of up to $5.4 million in salary. Phoenix has nine players under contract.
The Suns are two seasons away from a crossroads with O'Neal's and Nash's deals expiring, as well as Stoudemire's if he is not extended - or if he does not exercise his option for 2010-11. Sarver said he assumes Nash would play out his contract, even with the final year being a partially guaranteed team option for $13,125,000.
Sarver defines his ownership plans as long term, lasting at least five to 10 more years. It remains fun, but he said expectations for himself and the team made the past season his most stressful.
It did not help that it was a hard year for Sarver as president and CEO of Western Alliance Bancorporation, affected by the housing crisis and economic downturn in Arizona, California and Nevada.
"It's been a challenging year," Sarver said.
"The fact that my skin's a little tougher with basketball has actually helped me in the banking business. Being able to deal with adversity and the pressure of the adversity has helped me in terms of being able to deal with a tough economy."
Although 'disappointed' with early exit, Sarver says Suns still have shot to win NBA title soon
by Paul Coro -
May. 17, 2008 05:31 PM
The Arizona Republic
The message on Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver's bank office desk has a number, name and a description of an average Suns fan who wants to talk to him about the team.
"Want to hear what he has to say?" Sarver asks his visitor.
Sarver has endured quick exits by his team - and by his team's coach - in recent weeks but welcomes a Suns conversation. Nearing his four-year anniversary of his group's franchise purchase, Sarver acknowledges disappointment in the past season but defends where the team is headed as others declare that its championship window has shut like a guillotine.
The caller has ideas of what went wrong. He talks about blame in the Steve Kerr-Mike D'Antoni relationship, Shaquille O'Neal's free-throw shooting, disappointment in trading Shawn Marion and how he wrote NBA executives about how the Suns are routinely wronged by officiating.
Sarver kindly deflects some misguided statements, cites the team's struggles against top teams before the Marion trade and talks about how the preferred scenario was for D'Antoni to return with changes, but that D'Antoni wanted to leave.
"I appreciate your support," Sarver said in closing. "Stay with us next year."
That message goes for all Suns fans. Sarver believes Phoenix is in position to win a title over the next two years, he has promising youth in Amaré Stoudemire, Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw for the years beyond and does not see a need for any major roster change.
Nevertheless, Sarver employs the word "disappointed" repeatedly in looking back on the past season: finishing sixth in the West; bowing out in the playoffs' first round; getting knocked out in three of his four postseasons by San Antonio, with a 4-12 mark; having two home games in this year's playoffs (each is worth about $1 million in revenue).
It was all disappointing.
"In my heart, I thought we would beat them," Sarver said of his April gut feeling on facing the Spurs.
Priority 1: a title
Sarver maintains that the O'Neal trade was the right move and that O'Neal delivered. He acknowledges that it is odd for D'Antoni to be the deal's biggest proponent and not be around to coach him.
"I don't see the window shutting," said Sarver, who values the experience of an aging roster. "The San Antonio series showed we're not there, but I think we're close."
His team already is looking for a new coach after D'Antoni left, citing a broken trust with the front office. D'Antoni's status was left somewhat in limbo by Kerr during the playoffs, but D'Antoni didn't know that Sarver, before the playoffs began, had called speculation about D'Antoni's job "ridiculous" and said his job would not be in jeopardy.
"He felt he wasn't the right guy to move on for us with how he was feeling," said Sarver, who said there may have been a "compromise" had D'Antoni not landed a job with $9 million left on his Suns contract.
Sarver said he was leaving the coaching hire to Kerr, with the priority to bring Phoenix a title. He would like someone who communicated with fans, sponsors and partners as well as D'Antoni did.
"In a relatively small market like Phoenix, we rely heavily on our sponsors and partners," he said. "Maintaining that relationship with a coach who interacts with those folks in a positive way is important."
He said an NBA consulting firm put Phoenix in the league's bottom third for expected revenue based on various demographics but that the Suns' revenue actually ranks in the top third. More than 90 percent of the Suns' season-ticket holders already renewed.
Sarver bristles at the frequent accusations that he is a cheap owner, citing that Phoenix has spent more money on contracts in the past four years ($320 million) than any team. Some of that came because the Suns' payroll had been stripped to $45 million (it will be close to $75 million next season) to set up the club's sale and a free agency summer that included Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash.
Fiscal focus
The Suns made moves last season to avoid a steep luxury tax, trading James Jones and Kurt Thomas, but are still one of eight teams that will owe the tax. Without being a recipient of the tax payout, that is a $6.5 million swing.
"It does kind of bother me, because it's not true," Sarver said of the frugal label. "The fact that people will look at the team and say, 'I disagree that they did this or that,' is totally understandable. Some decisions we make are good ones and some aren't. To think it's about money and that we're not competitive and we don't have a strong desire to win is completely inaccurate.
"A lot of the people's frustrations have come from selling the draft picks. In those cases, it's not so much about the money. It's about, 'Are we going to get someone who's in our rotation?' If you draft a player who spends their whole three years on the bench and doesn't play, is that really a good move vs. taking some of that money and signing Grant Hill or having the money to bring in Gordan Giricek?"
He said the NBA trend is to use the midlevel exception less and that it would take a "special situation" for Phoenix to use a slot of up to $5.4 million in salary. Phoenix has nine players under contract.
The Suns are two seasons away from a crossroads with O'Neal's and Nash's deals expiring, as well as Stoudemire's if he is not extended - or if he does not exercise his option for 2010-11. Sarver said he assumes Nash would play out his contract, even with the final year being a partially guaranteed team option for $13,125,000.
Sarver defines his ownership plans as long term, lasting at least five to 10 more years. It remains fun, but he said expectations for himself and the team made the past season his most stressful.
It did not help that it was a hard year for Sarver as president and CEO of Western Alliance Bancorporation, affected by the housing crisis and economic downturn in Arizona, California and Nevada.
"It's been a challenging year," Sarver said.
"The fact that my skin's a little tougher with basketball has actually helped me in the banking business. Being able to deal with adversity and the pressure of the adversity has helped me in terms of being able to deal with a tough economy."
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Nice.
