Phoenix Suns History Lesson (Robert Sarver 04-Present)

[SweetD]

Phoenix Suns History Lesson (Robert Sarver 04-Present)
2004-05 Season(Transition Year)Salaries $44Million *NBA Cap $43.7

D'Antoni takes over for a fired Frank Johnson team that went 29-53. Nash wins MVP, D’Antoni coach of the year and Bryan Colangelo names GM of the year. Nash, Amare and Marion all named All-Stars

Steve Kerr signed has basketball advisor 2004

DRAFTColangelo - The Suns drafted Luol Deng with the 7th pick, who was immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls for second-round pick Jackson Vroman and a 2005 first-round pick. The Suns received the 16th pick (Kirk Snyder) in a trade with the New York Knicks, but traded the pick to the Utah Jazz. The Suns second-round pick was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2003.

*Colangelo - After trading Stephon Marbury (owed $76 million through 2008–09) and Penny Hardaway (owed $30.4 million through 2005–06), the Suns freed enough cap space to sign free agent point guard Steve Nash to a 6-year, $65.6 million deal, with a sixth-year team option, and swingman Quentin Richardson to a 6-year, $43.5 million deal, with a sixth-year player option. The Suns also signed Steven Hunter, Yuta Tabuse and Derrick Dial as free agents. Hunter played the season as a back-up center, Tabuse played 4 games before being waived in December, and Dial was waived before the start of the season. Sun’s spent all available cap space.]

*Colangelo/Sarver did not extend JJ’s contract due to $5million more that JJ wanted.

This was the first year the Suns had cap space and the Old/New CBA was put in place.

Depth chart:
C – Amare, Hunter, Voskuhl
PF- Marion, McCarty, Outlaw, Shirley
SF- Q,Richardson
SG- JJ, Jim Jackson
PG- Nash, Barbosa


*notable players – Zarko Carbakaba, Maciej Lampe

 

[SweetD]

2005-06 Season(OOPS) – Salaries $53Million *NBA Cap $49.5

D'Antoni is head coach

Brian Colangelo is GM..on his way out to Toronto in Feb 2006

DRAFT* Colangelo – 1st Round Nate Robinson (21st) Traded to New York Knicks with QRichardson, Tim Thomas and Dijon Thomas,2nd Round Marcin Gortot (57th) Traded to Orlando
Phoenix gets draft rights to Leandro Barbosa from Spurs

C – Diaw, Burke, Thomas (Amare out most of year)
PF- Marion, Grant, Tskitishvilli
SF- Tim Thomas, James Jones
SG- Raja Bell, Barboas
PG- Nash, House

Colangelo/Sarver sign and traded Joe Johnson, Atlanta gave JJ a Max deal after a strong season from JJ. JJ was not happy and wanted to be the star of team and Atlanta had a large amount of cap space and no other Star player was willing to go. It was the perfect storm for Phoenix, from last years failed contract negotiations. This one was mainly on Sarver as he as admitted to trying to squeeze out $5 more million from the deal last year.

*Being over the cap and Amare coming off his rookie deal you can see why the Suns could not match JJ’s deal and also needed to shed salary. Rookies and Vets where the ones gutted from the team.

 

[SweetD]

2006-07 Season(Mike's Gone Crazy* Year, )Salaries $65Million *NBA Cap $53.1

D'Antoni takes over GM duties for Colangelo
DRAFT* D’Antoni 1st (21) Rajon Rondo sold to Boston, 1st (27) Sergio Rodriguez sold to Portland

C – Stoudemire, Burke, Marks
PF- Marion, Kurt Thomas
SF- Diaw, James Jones, Piatkowski
SG- Raja Bell, Barboas, Jalen Rose
PG- Nash, Banks

We all know D’Antoni’s distaste for rookies, he was the one that spent the cash on Marcus Banks instead of trying to coach Rondo. Lost to the Spurs in 2nd Round

 

[SweetD]

2007-08 Season(Let’s Beat them Spurs with a Spur )Salaries $71Million *NBA Cap $55.6

D’Antoni Head Coach

Steve Kerr Officially takes GM Role and goes big!

DRAFT – Kerr 1st Rudy Fernandez (24) traded for cash to Trailblazers, 1st Alando Tucker (29), 2nd DJ Strawberry (59)

*Kerr Trades – Trades for Shaquille O’Neal (Marion, Jones, Banks), Sign Grant Hill **Best vet min signing ever!

C – O’Neal, Skinner, Marks
PF- Stoudemire, Diaw
SF- Hill, Giricek, Tucker, Linton Johnson
SG- Raja Bell, Barboas, Piatkowski
PG- Nash, DJ Strawberry

D’Antoni’s system was not meshing well with Shaq and he didn’t get his extension at the beginning of the year, the writing was on the wall. The Suns were going to focus on Defense to get past the Spurs. Lost in the first round for the first time in Nash 2.0 era

 

[SweetD]

2008-09 Season(It’s all about Defense..Ok Maybe not)Salaries $76Million *NBA Cap $58.7

Terry Porter (Ex-Spur) Takes control, then loses it

Alvin Gentry takes over and Amare almost loses an eye

DRAFT – Kerr 1st Robin Lopez (15), 2nd Malik Hairston (48)

Suns get draft rights for Goran Dragic from Spurs..Thank you again

Kerr Moves - Suns trade for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, 2nd Round Pick (Raja Bell, Diaw, Singletary)

C – O’Neal, Lopez
PF- Amundson, Swift, Amare*
SF- Hill, Dudley, Tucker
SG- Jason Richardson, Barbosa
PG- Steve Nash, Goran Dragic

Missed Playoffs for the FIRST TIME in Steve Nash Era!

 

[SweetD]

2009-10 Season (Shaq Who?) Salaries $65Million *NBA CAP $57.7

Alvin Gentry – Head Coach

DRAFT – Kerr 1st Earl Clark (14), 2nd Taylor Griffin (48) 2nd Emir Preldzic (57) sold for cash

Kerr – Moves O’Neal (Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, 2nd Round pic, $500k Cash), Resign Hill and Amundson, 2yr Deal with Channing Frye

C –Lopez, Frye, Collins, Dwayne Jones
PF- Stoudemire, Amundson, Clark
SF- Hill, Dudley, Griffin
SG- Jason Richardson, Barbosa
PG- Steve Nash, Goran Dragic

They would return to the playoffs, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in six games and sweeping the San Antonio Spurs in four. Returning to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in four seasons, the Suns met the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers but lost the series in six games to the eventual league champions.

 

[SweetD]

2009-10 Season (WTF!) Salaries $65.9Million *NBA CAP $58.044

Alvin Gentry – Head Coach

DRAFT – Babby 2nd Gani Lawal (46), 2nd Dwayne Collins (60)
Babby – Moves Resigned Frye 5yrs $30Million, Signed Warrick 4yrs $16Million (S&T w/Bulls 2nd 2011 Round Pick), S&T Amare (Protected Future 2nd), S&T Childress (2nd Round Pick 2012), Barbosa & Jones for Turkoglu.

Blanks – Moves Traded Richardson, Turkoglu, Earl Clark (Vince Carter, Gortat, Pietrus, 2011 First Round Pick & Cash), Traded Goran Dragic, 2011 Draft Pick, (Aaron Brooks)

C –Gortat, Lopez, Siler
PF- Frye, Warrick, Lawal
SF- Hill, Childress
SG- Carter, Dudley, Pietrus
PG- Steve Nash, Brooks, Dowdell

Did not make the playoffs

 

[SweetD]

2010-11Season (Time to Regroup) Salaries $63Million *NBA CAP $58.044

Alvin Gentry – Head Coach

DRAFT – Blanks 1st Markieff Morris (13)

Blanks – Moves resigned Hill, waived Carter and Pietrus. Signed Telfair, Brown, Price and Redd

C –Gortat, Lopez
PF- Frye, Morris, Warrick
SF- Hill, Childress
SG-Dudley, Brown
PG- Steve Nash, Telfair, Price

Did not make the playoffs

 

[SweetD]

All fixed

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Thanks for the info! In retrospect, it really just shows the incompetence of the FO these past few years. No youth, and tons of washed up vets; not a good recipe for success.

 

[Mathew81]

Think the years on the last couple of posts is still off.

You only need to look at the draft picks to see why the Suns are where they are. Is Lopez really the best player the Suns picked (for themselves) since Amare? Wow. 10 years of wasted drafts.

 

[Superbone]

All fixed

Cool! Good stuff.

 

[devilalum]

More than anything IMO Sarver should be faulted for having a total lack of vision.

Many of the moves he made could be defended to a certain extent when they were made but collectively those same moves have brought the Suns to a sad state.

 

[Joe Mama]

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't have nearly as much trouble with the draft picks as I do free agent signings (many of which I rationalized at the time). By far the worst move does the Kurt Thomas trade. Many people hated losing the draft picks, but I felt the worst part was that he was still a very good player. Keep him and we are much, much better team. I'm not a big fan of the Lopez pick, but I have no problem with Morris.

Was talking to somebody in the know the other day and he said we were very close to getting KG... very close.

Joe

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't have nearly as much trouble with the draft picks as I do free agent signings (many of which I rationalized at the time). By far the worst move does the Kurt Thomas trade. Many people hated losing the draft picks, but I felt the worst part was that he was still a very good player. Keep him and we are much, much better team. I'm not a big fan of the Lopez pick, but I have no problem with Morris.

Was talking to somebody in the know the other day and he said we were very close to getting KG... very close.

Joe

was it going to be at the expense of Amare? If so, it wouldn't have mattered. Nash/Marion/KG wouldn't have won squat. But Nash/KG/Amare would have destroyed worlds.

 

[SweetD]

I hope everyone does notice though the Suns have never been below the cap and calling Sarver cheep doesn't make sense. Sure he did not want to pay an huge tax fee but we are not LA or NY.

I don't think the front office is batting 1000 but for the most part we have been lucky to at least had a good team to watch. Unlike the years of destitute in Sacramento and others.

 

[SweetD]

Also as of right now I am going to say Blanks has done ok and at least we are moving in a good direction with his moves.

 

[dodie53]

sad.

 

[Chaplin]

Also as of right now I am going to say Blanks has done ok and at least we are moving in a good direction with his moves.

Really? We are treading water and the only direction we are moving is backwards, ESPECIALLY if Nash leaves. This could be the most important draft since Amare--heck, maybe even MORE important--and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who believes Blanks and Babby will be successful with it. Crossing fingers...

 

[Joe Mama]

was it going to be at the expense of Amare? If so, it wouldn't have mattered. Nash/Marion/KG wouldn't have won squat. But Nash/KG/Amare would have destroyed worlds.

think originally it was going to be Shawn Marion, #7 (from Atlanta), and Kurt Thomas (was expiring after that season). Then after Atlanta broke our hearts by moving into the lottery it was Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas.

I'm not sure what would have happened, but I have no doubt we would have been a significantly better team replacing Amare Stoudemire with KG. The drop-off offensively would have been negligible and the defense would have been so much better. I'm not saying they would have a championship for sure, but they would have been better.

That Atlanta lottery pick really killed us. This team just has horrible luck.

Joe

2007-08 Season(Let’s Beat them Spurs with a Spur )Salaries $71Million *NBA Cap $55.6

D’Antoni Head Coach

Steve Kerr Officially takes GM Role and goes big!

DRAFT – Kerr 1st Rudy Fernandez (24) traded for cash to Trailblazers, 1st Alando Tucker (29), 2nd DJ Strawberry (59)

*Kerr Trades – Trades for Shaquille O’Neal (Marion, Jones, Banks), Sign Grant Hill **Best vet min signing ever!

C – KG, Diaw, Skinner, Marks
PF- Diaw, Marion
SF- Marion, Grant Hill, James Jones, Giricek, Tucker, Linton Johnson
SG- Raja Bell, Barboas, Piatkowski
PG- Nash, DJ Strawberry

D’Antoni’s system was not meshing well with Shaq and he didn’t get his extension at the beginning of the year, the writing was on the wall. The Suns were going to focus on Defense to get past the Spurs. Lost in the first round for the first time in Nash 2.0 era

I thought this team also had Kurt Thomas.

 

[Russ Smith]

I was watching a draft show on I think CBS college sports Sunday. Kerr was one of the people on the panel and it came to mistakes or things on draft day that you most remember and when it was his turn he said the following.

They had a deal done in principle with the Warriors, GSW would draft Steph Curry and then trade him to Phoenix, I don't recall him saying exactly for what. The deal wasn't "signed off" but Phoenix thought it was done when GSW in fact picked Curry.

Phoenix really liked Jrue Holiday, but because Kerr thought they had a deal for Curry lined up, he picked the 2nd choice on their board, Earl Clark instead. Then the Curry deal fell through and they got Clark and no Curry or Holiday and as he said obviously both those guys have turned out to be pretty good.

They had actually offered Holiday a promise prior to the draft but his agent declined because he thought Jrue was going higher than Phoenix.

 

[elindholm]

They had a deal done in principle with the Warriors, GSW would draft Steph Curry and then trade him to Phoenix, I don't recall him saying exactly for what.

I remember that. It was Stoudemire for Biedrins and Curry, with some other players thrown in. The Suns' front office clearly felt that GS had reneged on a done deal.

 

[HooverDam]

They had a deal done in principle with the Warriors, GSW would draft Steph Curry and then trade him to Phoenix, I don't recall him saying exactly for what. The deal wasn't "signed off" but Phoenix thought it was done when GSW in fact picked Curry.

If I recall it was something like Amare to GS for the right to have Curry and the Suns would also get Biedrins. Which isn't a great trade, but its not horrible, it sure would've been a zillion times better than getting 0 for Amare, 0 for Nash, close to 0 for Marion, having terrible luck w/ the ATL pick you got for JJ, etc.

 

[devilalum]

I remember that. It was Stoudemire for Biedrins and Curry, with some other players thrown in. The Suns' front office clearly felt that GS had reneged on a done deal.

It would be great to have Curry but this blown deal seems less and less significant now. Curry isn't the player the Suns envisioned.

 

[AsUdUdE]

Also as of right now I am going to say Blanks has done ok and at least we are moving in a good direction with his moves.

Really?? You can not type that with a straight face.. I have been as big of a diehard Suns fan my entire life as anyone.. These days it is a point of sadness and contention in all circles..

Think about this for a second... Blanks signing Childress to one of the most laughable contracts in NBA history alone makes his tenure poor.. The Warrick signing was a head scratcher, especially considering at the time he was declining in almost every statistical category since his peak year in 2006, yet we still gave him 4 million a year, and lets not even talk about the Dragic deal which was ridiculous to hear we traded him for Brooks and then I heard WE were the ones giving up the 1st round pick, outstanding job Blanks!!

The Dudley contract is a very good deal, and the Frye deal is about market value...

And then we come to the draft, last year with Kawii Lenard/Kenneth Faried/Iman Shumpart/Marcus Morris available we took the second best player in one family instead..

Sarver/Blanks/Kerr/ have completely ran this team into the ground, and if we are seriously considering signing nash to a two year deal again I am going to throw up.. This team has ZERO stars, 2 decent role players, and the rest traveling castoffs that would not crack the rotation of ANY legitimate team competing for a championship...

The Suns are THE joke of the NBA these days, when Hollinger/Ford do their ESPN future rankings Phoenix is consistently one of the 2-3 teams witht he worst outlook, citing a lack of young talent, lack of direction, lack of current stars/ and lack lack of ownership that knows what it is doing..

Saying Blanks/Sarver have done a decent job is LAUGHABLE, and the worst part is they see no problem with how they are running this organization, and they expect to be competing for a championship soon which is the very definition of insanity... We need to blow this up, and start from scratch.. This draft would be a nice time to do it..