duncan228
03-18-2009, 01:36 PM
SI.com Roundtable (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/03/18/writers.roundtable/index.html)
3. Barring a late-season rally, the Suns will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2004. What should be their priorities in the offseason?
Ian Thomsen: They need to launch a wholesale turnover of the roster. They've tried to enhance Mike D'Antoni's style over the last year but they've only served to weaken the team as a whole. Owner Robert Sarver and GM Steve Kerr want a different style, so they need to make it happen sooner than later. Everyone should be available in exchange for draft picks and younger talent. But here's the problem: Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire will be free agents in 2010, so the Suns need to send them where they want to go (in which case they may agree to contract extensions) or else accept less value in return, given the fact they'll merely be rented by their new teams next season.
Jack McCallum: This is the 50-point bonus question, right? Because it is not an easy one. The general assumption is that the Suns have to do something. Trade Nash! Trade Shaq! Trade Leandro Barbosa, perhaps their most tradable commodity, considering the salaries of the first two stars. So the conservative thing to do -- which is to do nothing -- is, in fact, the radical thing. Put me down for conservative. Re-up steady hand Alvin Gentry as coach. (Which is probably going to happen.) Hope that the star-crossed Stoudemire comes back strong; remember that the Suns, for all their issues, were in decent shape in the playoff race before he had eye surgery. And coax one more good year out of Shaq and Nash, who still perform at close to an all-pro level. That means that the summer of 2010, when Shaq comes off the books and Nash is also a free agent, becomes the franchise's real decision time.
Chris Mannix: How about finding an identity? Are they a running team (as they've been since Gentry took over) or a half-court team (as they tried to be under Terry Porter in the first half of the season)? Do they keep Gentry (and D'Antoni's up-tempo system) or do they again go out and try to find a coach who can create a more balanced attack? The Suns are in a very precarious position right now. Nash is nearing the end of his deal. Stoudemire, who was dangled like a worm on a hook for more than a week last month, has to be thinking about jumping ship as a free agent next year. That is, if the Suns don't trade him first. If the front office doesn't act wisely, the Suns could quickly find themselves buried at the bottom of the Western Conference.
Steve Aschburner: The Suns need to pursue rebuilding, en masse and immediately. O'Neal's resurgence is a nice story, fun to watch (on offense, anyway) and eliciting nice quotes from the big fella. But he'd be gone by now if Phoenix could have gotten what it sought for him at the trading deadline. Nash is long in the tooth and Grant Hill, despite astounding durability for him, is a supporting player only. Gentry should get a full shot at head coach, but there's no sense in trying to tweak what's here. Stoudemire, Barbosa, Robin Lopez, the No. 14 pick in the June draft and free agency are the way out for these guys now.
3. Barring a late-season rally, the Suns will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2004. What should be their priorities in the offseason?
Ian Thomsen: They need to launch a wholesale turnover of the roster. They've tried to enhance Mike D'Antoni's style over the last year but they've only served to weaken the team as a whole. Owner Robert Sarver and GM Steve Kerr want a different style, so they need to make it happen sooner than later. Everyone should be available in exchange for draft picks and younger talent. But here's the problem: Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire will be free agents in 2010, so the Suns need to send them where they want to go (in which case they may agree to contract extensions) or else accept less value in return, given the fact they'll merely be rented by their new teams next season.
Jack McCallum: This is the 50-point bonus question, right? Because it is not an easy one. The general assumption is that the Suns have to do something. Trade Nash! Trade Shaq! Trade Leandro Barbosa, perhaps their most tradable commodity, considering the salaries of the first two stars. So the conservative thing to do -- which is to do nothing -- is, in fact, the radical thing. Put me down for conservative. Re-up steady hand Alvin Gentry as coach. (Which is probably going to happen.) Hope that the star-crossed Stoudemire comes back strong; remember that the Suns, for all their issues, were in decent shape in the playoff race before he had eye surgery. And coax one more good year out of Shaq and Nash, who still perform at close to an all-pro level. That means that the summer of 2010, when Shaq comes off the books and Nash is also a free agent, becomes the franchise's real decision time.
Chris Mannix: How about finding an identity? Are they a running team (as they've been since Gentry took over) or a half-court team (as they tried to be under Terry Porter in the first half of the season)? Do they keep Gentry (and D'Antoni's up-tempo system) or do they again go out and try to find a coach who can create a more balanced attack? The Suns are in a very precarious position right now. Nash is nearing the end of his deal. Stoudemire, who was dangled like a worm on a hook for more than a week last month, has to be thinking about jumping ship as a free agent next year. That is, if the Suns don't trade him first. If the front office doesn't act wisely, the Suns could quickly find themselves buried at the bottom of the Western Conference.
Steve Aschburner: The Suns need to pursue rebuilding, en masse and immediately. O'Neal's resurgence is a nice story, fun to watch (on offense, anyway) and eliciting nice quotes from the big fella. But he'd be gone by now if Phoenix could have gotten what it sought for him at the trading deadline. Nash is long in the tooth and Grant Hill, despite astounding durability for him, is a supporting player only. Gentry should get a full shot at head coach, but there's no sense in trying to tweak what's here. Stoudemire, Barbosa, Robin Lopez, the No. 14 pick in the June draft and free agency are the way out for these guys now.