elindholm
edited for content
It has all happened so fast.
Compare the state of the organization to where it was a year ago. At the trading deadline last year, the Suns were an up-and-coming team, led by a re-energized star point guard and a high-school rookie sensation, on their way to grabbing a playoff spot and giving the eventual champion Spurs a run for their money.
And now? That team is but a distant memory. Three of the core players from last year's roster (Marbury, Hardaway, and Outlaw) are gone, replaced by a handful of prospects who have revealed little or nothing on the court. Furthermore, the Suns are taking the novel approach of trying to rebuild by reducing the number of draft picks they hold. The Suns have replaced some terrible contracts with ones that are merely bad. But how the financial savings will translate into upgrading the team is anything but clear.
Across the major sports, a dismantling of this severity is rare. It usually points to an organization in severe financial distress, suffering from lofty aspirations which are undermined by fan apathy. Occasionally a team manages to rise from its own ashes, as did the baseball Marlins in the wake of their post-championship fire sale. But those cases are exceptional. Most franchises who pull the plug on a living patient aren't around to experience the rewards of the afterlife.
Throughout their history, the Suns have been one of the NBA's most successful franchises, when measured by any yardstick other than titles won. Sadly, however, it appears that those days are over. Years from now, I think we will look back on this season as the end of what has been a pretty good era.
It's been fun, everyone! What do we do now?
Compare the state of the organization to where it was a year ago. At the trading deadline last year, the Suns were an up-and-coming team, led by a re-energized star point guard and a high-school rookie sensation, on their way to grabbing a playoff spot and giving the eventual champion Spurs a run for their money.
And now? That team is but a distant memory. Three of the core players from last year's roster (Marbury, Hardaway, and Outlaw) are gone, replaced by a handful of prospects who have revealed little or nothing on the court. Furthermore, the Suns are taking the novel approach of trying to rebuild by reducing the number of draft picks they hold. The Suns have replaced some terrible contracts with ones that are merely bad. But how the financial savings will translate into upgrading the team is anything but clear.
Across the major sports, a dismantling of this severity is rare. It usually points to an organization in severe financial distress, suffering from lofty aspirations which are undermined by fan apathy. Occasionally a team manages to rise from its own ashes, as did the baseball Marlins in the wake of their post-championship fire sale. But those cases are exceptional. Most franchises who pull the plug on a living patient aren't around to experience the rewards of the afterlife.
Throughout their history, the Suns have been one of the NBA's most successful franchises, when measured by any yardstick other than titles won. Sadly, however, it appears that those days are over. Years from now, I think we will look back on this season as the end of what has been a pretty good era.
It's been fun, everyone! What do we do now?
