No D'Antoni decision till next week

[Roca Dolla]

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni's future with the franchise will remain up in the air until next week.
D'Antoni met for more than two hours today with Suns General Manager Steve Kerr and Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver in a private room of Cooper'stown, a downtown restaurant neighboring the US Airways Center.
None of them offered a comment after the midday meeting but a person with knowledge of the talks said the discussion was cordial and that the men agreed to think about what was discussed for a few days before reconvening for another meeting next week.
Kerr has said that he wants D'Antoni to return as coach with some changes to improve the team and D'Antoni has expressed a desire to continue coaching the Suns if he has the front office's full support.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2008/05/02/20080502dantoni.html

 

[DeAnna]

Bleh, it's just prolonging the inevitable. IMO, D'Antoni is too stubborn and proud to go back. He had already decided he was gonna walk away, so they're just working out a deal with Chicago.

I'd be SHOCKED if he stayed.

 

[nashman]

Wouldn't be shocked at all if he stayed, they don't want to pay him and fire him. And I am not sure I see him walking away and quiting either. Bring in some good defensive assistants would do a world of good.

 

[LV-Suns]

I'm getting the feeling he will stay.

 

[BillsCarnage]

Did anyone watch the video??? Kind of interesting to see them walking to cooperstown.. Almost and awkwardness..

Then they all come back and walk away from the cameras looking at the ground.. D'Ant drives out in the sweet porche on the phone...

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I bet Sarver had D'Antoni pay.

 

[Steel Sun]

I bet Sarver had D'Antoni pay.

that's funny stuff

 

[AfroSuns]

Wouldn't be shocked at all if he stayed, they don't want to pay him and fire him. And I am not sure I see him walking away and quiting either. Bring in some good defensive assistants would do a world of good.

I am hoping this is what they will do too.

 

[TheHopToad]

I bet Sarver had D'Antoni pay.

Maybe they should have gone to Stoudemire's and gotten a STAT burger...

 

[LV-Suns]

I bet Sarver had D'Antoni pay.

 

[devilalum]

Wouldn't be shocked at all if he stayed, they don't want to pay him and fire him. And I am not sure I see him walking away and quiting either. Bring in some good defensive assistants would do a world of good.

I would bet my house its all about the money.

 

[devilalum]

Bring in some good defensive assistants would do a world of good.

Only if those assistants can suit up and actually play.

As long as the Suns are starting Nash, Amare and Shaq they will suck at defense. All 3 of these guys have serious limitations to their defensive ability.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

Honestly, I'm hoping D'Antoni stays if Kerr can get him to change his stripes a bit. A good defensive assistant coach or two and a change in philosophy will do the team a lot of good.

 

[Mainstreet]

If this were a marriage does anyone think prolonged negotiation is a good sign? I would like for the Suns (Sarver, Kerr and D'antoni) to work something out but really how long will it take them to work things out? I do not think it is a good sign. I just can't think that D'Antoni would rebel about bringing a defensive coach on board so there must be much more involving coaching philosophy. I can easily see that this talk again strategy is to buy time to find D'Antoni another home (they won't fire him alright because of the money). I think they would want to move him to an Eastern Conference team.

 

[cly2tw]

It's about the severance pay. If DA finds a new job to his liking right away, Sarver wouldn't pay him much for leaving.

 

[Mainstreet]

It's about the severance pay. If DA finds a new job to his liking right away, Sarver wouldn't pay him much for leaving.

I think it's more than severance pay. I think Sarver has a one-up-man-ship thing going with Cuban. I don't think Sarver would want to let Dallas make a fool of him by allowing D'Antoni to sign there. Afterall the Suns literally stole Nash out of Dallas. Sarver hopefully wouldn't want to return the favor by giving him D'Antoni.

 

[cly2tw]

I think it's more than severance pay. I think Sarver has a one-up-man-ship thing going with Cuban. I don't think Sarver would want to let Dallas make a fool of him by allowing D'Antoni to sign there. Afterall the Suns literally stole Nash out of Dallas. Sarver hopefully wouldn't want to return the favor by giving him D'Antoni.

True. So, if Mavs so much want DA, we certainly could try to get compensation from Cuban. That'd be even better.

 

[TJ]

True. So, if Mavs so much want DA, we certainly could try to get compensation from Cuban. That'd be even better.

Best case scenario and I hope it happens. It happened when Pat Riley went from NY to MIA. CHI, NY, and DAL have all expressed interest in him. IF they want to take him off our hands, they have to give us compensation, which would probably be a first round pick and some cash (which $arver would love).

Then, $arver can sell that pick for some more cash. Cheap bastard

 

[Greg Popovich]

Maybe I am missing something here.

What is in it for Coach D to quit? He has a contract with Sarver. If Sarver wants him out, he can buy Coach D out for the remainder of his contract.

I don't see how it benefits Coach D. to simply walk away leaving a ton of money on the table for Sarver.

Unless I am missing something inherent in Coach D's contract, I'd advise him to make Sarver fire him if Sarver wants him out and have Sarver pay the entire duration of his contract.

Am I missing something here?

 

[TJ]

Maybe I am missing something here.

What is in it for Coach D to quit? He has a contract with Sarver. If Sarver wants him out, he can buy Coach D out for the remainder of his contract.

I don't see how it benefits Coach D. to simply walk away leaving a ton of money on the table for Sarver.

Unless I am missing something inherent in Coach D's contract, I'd advise him to make Sarver fire him if Sarver wants him out and have Sarver pay the entire duration of his contract.

Am I missing something here?

Part of the speculation is that D'Antoni flat out doesnt want to be apart of this organization anymore. If its worth it to him, he'll just quit. He is in high demand by other teams, so he wont be on the open market long

 

[nowagimp]

Bleh, it's just prolonging the inevitable. IMO, D'Antoni is too stubborn and proud to go back. He had already decided he was gonna walk away, so they're just working out a deal with Chicago.

I'd be SHOCKED if he stayed.

I seriously doubt its in DA best interest to stay. He will get the blame for failure regardless of whatever changes are made. His star player(stat) doubts his offensive game plan, time to go. IF it was just about defense, maybe, but its not, the arguement early in the year was about posting stat more, running less. The team no longer represents the SSOL strategy, not even close, but the failure is still deemed to be DA's offense as well as his defense. The suns are aging and have not gotten over the hump, the players buy in is probably lower than ever. Most top level coaches dont have to deal with GM's meddling, they have control of personnel and strategy.

If the bulls would give DA more control than what he has with the suns, he'd go in a minute. The bulls have a very nice nucleus of players to work with, plus some picks that wont be sold on the cheap.

Gordon
Deng
Thomas
Gooden
Hinrich
Nocioni
sefolosha
Noah
Duhon
Hughes

Its already a team deep in talent with a bench, a way underachieving team, and its in the leastern conference. Its also a team with great team speed for the SSOL strategy. Sorry suns fans, no self respecting coach with a track record of winning is gonna turn this down when his other choice is to have his "wet behind the ears" GM monitor and control his practice schedule and offensive strategy. Add to that an owner that gives away the 1st round picks for cash on a team with a depleted bench and you have a no brainer. DA to the bulls is only delayed by negotiations of severing the 8.5M contract. With sarvers track record and the sky high expectations for this aging suns team, quality coaches will not be interested in playing roulette in phx.

 

[JS22]

Best case scenario and I hope it happens. It happened when Pat Riley went from NY to MIA. CHI, NY, and DAL have all expressed interest in him. IF they want to take him off our hands, they have to give us compensation, which would probably be a first round pick and some cash (which $arver would love).

Then, $arver can sell that pick for some more cash. Cheap bastard

You guys are ridiculous. Sarver is not cheap. Dumb, maybe. But not cheap. If I recall, he spent more for the Suns than any other new owner in NBA history. Then he had to clean up the mess that was left for him.

Everyone was calling him crazy for signing Nash to such a huge contract. Was he being cheap then? No.

They're 9th out of 30 teams as far as payroll. While I hate giving up the draft picks, imagine if they kept them - AND Kurt Thomas. Thomas would be earning, what, $16,000,000 a year? (Due to being over the LT.) So Sarver / Kerr panicked and made a bad trade. I don't think it's being "cheap" when you don't want to pay Thomas 16 million.

Judge him in 2 years when O'neal and Nash come off the books. Though, no matter what he does with the money, I'm sure he'll be called cheap by the all-knowing fans.

 

[gdiddy]

Jeff Van Gundy said it perfectly yesterday about making the coach the goat: when teams win it's all about the players; when they lose it's only about the coach.

D'Antoni has done tremendous things for this Suns team: back-to-back-to-back-to-back Pacific division titles, two trips to the WCF.

Yeah, we got schooled by the Spurs, but we had the perfect setup to knockout SA last year. Our faults? Nash's bloody nose and Amare and Boris' suspensions. We were so close and yet we dismantled the team yet again because of cheapskate $arver.

Coach D will not be in the market for long. And wherever he goes, I'll be rooting for him. I love his style of basketball.

 

[Covert Rain]

You guys are ridiculous. Sarver is not cheap. Dumb, maybe. But not cheap. If I recall, he spent more for the Suns than any other new owner in NBA history. Then he had to clean up the mess that was left for him.

Actually Sarver didn't spend the most money. The investment group did. Sarver is just the senior partner. So it's not like Sarver has this legendary cost that nobody has spent before from an individual standpoint.

What mess? The team was in negotiations long before the team was sold. The investment group had conditions around costs and salary that had to be met before the sale was complete. Hence selling of picks, salary dumps etc.... The "mess" was cleaned up before the sale was completed.

Everyone was calling him crazy for signing Nash to such a huge contract. Was he being cheap then? No.

They're 9th out of 30 teams as far as payroll. While I hate giving up the draft picks, imagine if they kept them - AND Kurt Thomas. Thomas would be earning, what, $16,000,000 a year? (Due to being over the LT.) So Sarver / Kerr panicked and made a bad trade. I don't think it's being "cheap" when you don't want to pay Thomas 16 million.

Judge him in 2 years when O'neal and Nash come off the books. Though, no matter what he does with the money, I'm sure he'll be called cheap by the all-knowing fans.

He's being considered cheap because we could have kept a player of Joe's caliber by offering 5 million more. That amount would not have bumped us over the luxury tax and made some subsequent moves that happened after avoidable. He has been considered cheap because he sold draft picks that again would not have placed us over the cap at the time.

I don't think anybody is saying that Sarver should spend every penny he has. However, is it unreasonable for fans to want Sarver to do everything he can to put a winning franchise on the floor with him increasing ticket prices and constantly telling the media that he is all about winning?

 

[DeAnna]

Sorry suns fans, no self respecting coach with a track record of winning is gonna turn this down when his other choice is to have his "wet behind the ears" GM monitor and control his practice schedule and offensive strategy.

That, in essence, is the problem. In his mind, he had already decided he didn't want to come back and someone blabbed it to McCallum who was waiting to pounce on the story.