Wojnarowski: Suns' surprising season began with change in philosophy

[Superbone]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/suns--surprising-season-began-with-change-in-philosophy-025610267.html

Suns' surprising season began with change in philosophy

By Adrian Wojnarowski
December 23, 2013 9:56 PM
Yahoo Sports

Once the Western Conference finals runs were over, the hardest part for Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver had been eliminating the emotion and letting go. His franchise had prudently refused to invest long-term into Amar'e Stoudemire's defective knees, but Sarver stayed committed to rearming Steve Nash into his late 30s and resisted the reshaping of a long-term vision.

For all the miscalculations compounding that choice, there been a steep price to pay for the Suns: bad contracts and bad actors, discombobulated parts and no clear path to restoring prominence.

"For all successful people in business, I think that the notion of taking a step back to take a step forward is a foreign concept," Sarver told Yahoo Sports. "You simply don't say, 'We're going to go backward for a couple years,' in business. But pro sports – especially the NBA – is different, and it's set up to do just that.

"I had a hard time stomaching the idea of rebuilding, and spent a couple of years trying to patch together a way that we could still capitalize on Steve's ability. I was a couple of years too late in really facing the music."

Here it was early May, and Sarver sat inside his banking office across the street from U.S. Airways Center and let a 33-year-old Boston Celtics executive deliver him the path for chance in relentless detail. Ryan McDonough had a championship pedigree, a well-regarded draft record and the stomach to ask a prospective owner some tough, probing questions to make sure he even wanted this job.

Read more...

 

[Superbone]

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....aught-suns-gm-not-to-tank-for-picks/#comments

Lessons of Celtics 2007 draft taught Suns GM not to tank for picks
Kurt Helin Dec 24, 2013, 2:02 PM EST

While from the outside it looked like the Suns were going bad to get good this season, they never saw it that way.

Young new GM Ryan McDonough traded for Eric Bledsoe and believed in the Goran Dragic/Bledsoe backcourt when few did. He was right.

More than that he stockpiled picks and also went and got Miles Plumlee. Most of all he found a quality coach ready for the big stage in Jeff Hornack.

McDonough came from Boston and it was his experience there that taught him the perils of tanking for a pick, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. There was always a bigger plan — one that has worked out with a 17-10 record and has the Suns as the NBA’s biggest surprise this season.

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[AzStevenCal]

Good articles, thanks for the links.

Steve

 

[82CardsGrad]

The McDonough-Hornacek combo has the potential to be one if the great GM-Head Coach combos in the game... And since they both are so young, they have a shot at putting up historically great seasons together.... Would love nothing more!
In the grand scheme of things, when you consider just how low this franchise has fallen, to be able to type these words about the amazing potential this team now possesses is simply stunning...


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[Phrazbit]

Every time I read one of these articles I get a tingling in my loins. Love love love the direction this franchise is heading.

 

[Superbone]

The McDonough-Hornacek combo has the potential to be one if the great GM-Head Coach combos in the game... And since they both are so young, they have a shot at putting up historically great seasons together.... Would love nothing more!
In the grand scheme of things, when you consider just how low this franchise has fallen, to be able to type these words about the amazing potential this team now possesses is simply stunning...

Every time I read one of these articles I get a tingling in my loins. Love love love the direction this franchise is heading.

Yep! It gives me hope once again that I can watch the Suns win a championship at least once in my lifetime.

 

[sunsfan88]

It's really good that Sarver is admitting his mistakes. That's not easy for a billionaire to do especially in public.

Him coming to his senses and just letting McD do his thing while being willing to eat the contracts of guys like Childress, Beasley etc is the main reason the future is bright right now.

 

[JCSunsfan]

It's really good that Sarver is admitting his mistakes. That's not easy for a billionaire to do especially in public.

Him coming to his senses and just letting McD do his thing while being willing to eat the contracts of guys like Childress, Beasley etc is the main reason the future is bright right now.

Its good Sarver is not a billionaire then.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Its good Sarver is not a billionaire then.

I have 12 bucks in my wallet, he looks like a billionaire to me.

Steve

 

[sunsfan88]

Its good Sarver is not a billionaire then.

My bad, millionaire then. My point remains the same.

 

[overseascardfan]

You have to believe Sarver is sitting on Cloud 9 as this season is the best thing that could have happened to him. He sheds millions in payroll (PHX has got to be one of the smallest payrolls in the NBA) and his team is currently sitting 6th in the WC playoff race compare that to the payroll & .500 club from last year.

I don't think PHX will lure superstars like Lebron but young, up & coming guys like Evan Turner or Greg Monroe are possibilities with the amount of cap space they will have. The key will be how they use their draft picks, can they find some long term pieces in the up coming drafts. I would rule out trading draft picks for star players as you won't see many put on the block unless they are disgruntled & their current teams are going nowhere and trying to do what PHX is (shedding payroll and accumulating multiple draft picks).