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Nash should bail on this declining Suns team.
It even sucks reading that article.I feel for Nash.
LOS ANGELES – Steve Nash looked around the Staples Center visitors’ locker room late Wednesday, past the empty stalls and missing nameplates. His best friend, Raja Bell, wasn’t walking through the door anymore. Nor was his old coach, Mike D’Antoni. Boris Diaw was gone. Shawn Marion had been in Miami for nearly 10 months.
Together, they had authored one of the greatest chapters in the Phoenix Suns’ history. They won games and filled arenas, and their success even spawned an entire book. Seven seconds or less. Run and fun. No NBA team had been more entertaining to watch in the past five years than those Suns, and they had celebrated some of their greatest moments in this building. A dramatic series-evening OT victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. A Game 5 win over the Clippers which helped push them into the Western Conference finals.
Good times, all of it, but also now little more than a memory. If those go-go-go Suns didn’t already know it, they do now: The party is over. Phoenix GM Steve Kerr tipped over the keg and turned off the stereo Wednesday, trading Bell, Diaw and rookie point guard Sean Singletary to the Charlotte Bobcats for swingman Jason Richardson and forward Jared Dudley.
“It’s tough to see all these changes,” Nash said, slowly searching for his words.
“But that’s the nature of the business these days. Teams change very quickly.”
Few ever have changed as quickly or dramatically as these Suns. Kerr took over as GM prior to the start of last season. In February, the Suns traded Marion to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O’Neal. D’Antoni, who bristled under Kerr’s suggestion that the Suns needed a greater defensive emphasis, left for New York at season’s end. Terry Porter arrived. Now Bell and Diaw depart.
“I guess I’m the longest guy on staff,” Amare Stoudemire joked before Wednesday’s loss to the Lakers.
The Suns’ latest move makes sense for more than one reason. Richardson is a versatile perimeter scorer, and the team needed someone besides Nash who can create offense. The Suns also stop paying Diaw, a 20-minute-a-night backup who never has performed consistently enough to justify the five-year, $45 million extension the team gave him. If Dudley lives up to his potential, Suns officials think he could become a regular contributor.
But perhaps just as importantly, trading Bell and Diaw sends a message that these Suns are moving forward under Kerr and his hand-picked coach. A favorite of D’Antoni, Diaw never found a home in Porter’s system. Bell had been a more vocal critic. He bristled early in the season when Porter chided him for his shot selection and questioned the decision to run more of a halfcourt-oriented offense. His body language on the court spoke even louder.
“Whenever you’re losing where you have a new system where you’re not comfortable, there’s always some dissatisfaction,” Porter said. “No doubt about it.”
Still, even when the Suns won this season, they looked like one of the league’s unhappiest teams, forever searching for their iden y. The perimeter players wanted to run again. O’Neal wanted to keep getting touches. Stoudemire, who wasn’t sad to see D’Antoni go, started pining for his old coach’s offense. Suns owner Robert Sarver even took a page from one of his Corporate America handbooks and reportedly held a bonding session that had the players cutting out pictures and building collages.
“We’re getting two players who are excited to be here, and sometimes that energy can be uplifting to an entire team,” Kerr said by phone Wednesday.
Said another Suns source: “This should help our mental health.”
Nash, however, wasn’t completely ready to buy into that belief just yet. Not after learning of the trade when a friend text-messaged him as he was boarding the bus to the game. “I called Raja,” Nash said, “and he was already at the airport.”
Nash played against the Lakers like he was lost, missing his first eight shots. Afterward, he admitted to feeling “pretty flat emotionally.”paid over 200k to be ready but can not SAD
“He’s my best friend,” Nash said of Bell. “It’s tough. It hurts.
“I have a hard time committing to this as a business,” Nash added. “I take this personally, and I take my career home with me. I care about my teammates. When you lose two of your best friends, it’s hard.”
It’s important to note that Nash played a role in the Suns’ makeover. Marion’s insecurity had begun to grate on many in the locker room, and both Nash and D’Antoni enthusiastically pushed to get O’Neal. And when the Suns lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, Stoudemire wasn’t the only player chafing about some of D’Antoni’s coaching decisions. Even Bell lamented the team’s inability to make adjustments in the series.
“Everyone was upset,” said one Sun.
More than anything, the Suns had tired of losing to the Spurs, and Nash was smart enough to say Wednesday he’ll welcome Richardson and Dudley “with open arms.”
The irony, of course, is that on the surface Richardson appears to be a better fit for D’Antoni’s up-tempo offense than the defense-wins-championships philosophy of Porter. Kerr and Porter both talked up Richardson’s potential as a defender, but that’s more wishful thinking than anecdotal evidence. And while it’s true Bell’s rugged defense has been overstated for a couple of seasons – in a recent TNT interview, he admitted to hoping to recapture some of the edge he’s lost – one West scout said: “I’d rather go against J-Rich than Bell.”
Still, even with Bell, the Suns weren’t guarding much this season. Porter, too, has since loosened his reins on the offense, encouraging the Suns to run when possible. Adding Richardson could further quicken their pace.
“Basically,” Nash said, “we’re doing everything we used to do.”
So it’s fair to question whether the Suns ever needed to remake themselves at all. Maybe Nash wonders himself.
“I hope this isn’t a situation where they’re just trying to blow us up,” he said. “I think we have a chance to still be a really good team.”
Suns officials aren’t ready to consider trading Stoudemire. Having already surrendered their unprotected 2010 draft pick to Oklahoma City, a complete teardown doesn’t make much sense.
But Kerr felt some type of shakeup was in order. Bell was unhappy. Diaw, too. So the Suns rolled the dice once more.
Nash lost his best friend, but doesn’t the party always end sometime?
Nash should bail on this declining Suns team.
It even sucks reading that article.I feel for Nash.
Damn reading that article is depressing.
I feel bad for Nash. But no one else on that team. Amare and Shaq can suck it.
again he is paid over 200k to play 48 minutes
I think I could hire someon eto get me emotinally ready to play 40 minutes
he also ran to suns instead of resigning with the mavs
he got what he wanted
trade makes more sence for suns
I would have traded amare instead of diaw though
diaw proved he could produce when amare was not playing
that would be funny no point guard now
Is the Sun setting in the near future? With all this unhappy players....
does nash know how many people who have no jobs would be happy to play on a team and get paid to instead of having no job in todays economy
If Parker was traded, would Manu say the same....If Manu was traded, would Parker say the same....If JV was traded......will anyone miss him???
As much as I feel bad for Nash he is still getting paid alot of money. And is not like any of them stood up and said we want D'Antoni as our coach after the playoff series was over. If Bell and Diaw were unhappy why keep them there? So they can eat away at what little chemistry was there?
trading bell was smart if he was getting vocal
there is still alot of time for the suns to gel with their new system and players before the playoffs
Exactly after all the NBA is a business. Look at Shaq a sure fire Hall of Famer who has been traded 2 times. Nash admitted basically to being flat when the team needed in a very winnable game despite not having Shaq or JRich.
I guess if you can't beat'em, you try to emulate them (the Spurs).
Look if Sarver had not lowballed Joe Johnson who knows if the Suns don't have a ring or two by now. That 04-05 team was really good. Trading QRich for KT was a good move but losing Johnson hurt.
Kerr should have stuck to shooting 3's and color commentary. They want to play a more deliberate game and focus on defense - so they get rid of two of their best defensive players, and bring in a guy who is best suited to their old run-and-gun offense? Makes perfect sense to me.
It doesn't matter how effective Richardson is in scoring points for them. It's totally contrary to their supposed strategy, and it's a sign of desperation. I think Kerr is in over his head. The article is right about the Suns being tired of losing to the Spurs - he just doesn't know what to do about it.
feel sad for nash.....
I feel bad for Nash. I have a good friend of mine who works for Nike and knows Nash personally, and while I am a Spurs fan who despises the Suns, from what I've learned with talking to him is that Nash is a genuine nice guy. I feel like Nash needs to get the out of dodge before the writing is on the wall for his career.
-Mars
Amare Stoudamire has always had game. Last year, after losing to the Spurs in the playoffs, he actually talked about how the Suns players should learn from the Spurs and not make any excuses. He even mentioned the previous year, and how D'Antoni insisted that he (Stoudamire) and Diaw were headed to the scorer's table when they got suspended. He basically called D'Antoni out as a liar, and said that they won't ever get better as long as they are making excuses like that.
My respect for him went up about 10x after that interview, and I feel sorry for him in this, too. As good as he is, I think he could have been a lot better if he had a coach like Pop that could have actually taught him something about defense. Now he's in a half-assed system that talks defense, but obviously isn't committed to it. Plus he has loud-mouth Shaq there as the "star" big man. Any success the Suns have, Amare won't get credit. But if they get torched on D, he'll get stuck with the blame.
johnson got the max from atlanta...
Why feel sorry for Nash?
Come on...
If Nash doesn't recognize that this trade is a good thing for "team" then him(and i'm a Nash guy).
Personally i think Nash will be the next major piece that gets moved.
It seems that D'Antoni's lack of mental toughness has worn off unto most of his guys over the last few years.
I hope Nash can shake this "losing my best friend crap" off and realize he's still playing basketball for a contender.
He didn't run anywhere, the Mavs tried lowballing him, the Suns just gave him a real contract.
The Suns and Mavs just don't get it. Last year they see Boston getting Allen and KG, they see LA getting Gasol, and they see(eventually) these teams making it to the finals. So they try to emulate this, and no one can blame them for it. But they misunderstood what was important and successful about those situations.
Dallas gets Kidd, emulating Pau to LA, but what they missed was that LA made a deal in which they added a great player w/out giving up anything of importance to the team. Especially not the youngest member of their core.
Phoenix emulated Boston's big summer, but started it before the season ended last year(shaq) and finished it(presumably, hopefully) at the beginning of this season(richardson). Although they also gave up important players, I will admit that I noticed the malcontent/complacent players that Bell, Marion, and Diaw had become even with my limited exposure to the team. They're biggest mistake is this inability to choose a philosophy and stick with it. That's what boston did, they commited to the system, no questions.
If they could commit to a system, they could be dangerous, but that has to happen from the top down. Currently the GM, head coach, and the top 2 players(nash and amare) are not on the same page, and it doesn't appear that they are capable of pulling themselves together.
Sorry stevie, tough luck.
Your rationale seems a bit forced to me. You're implying that if he doesn't think the way you think he should act, then he's being a jerk. I think he's just having a natural reaction to the situation. He could be completely detached about the whole thing but I don't think that makes him a better person either.
The Suns just don't know what they want. They had D'Antoni and a high octane offense, but not so much defense. They trade Marion, who is one of their best defenders, for Shaq, who can't run anymore. They lose in the playoffs again. Then they fire D'Antoni and hire Terry Porter, who emphasizes defense more than D'Antoni. Now they trade their best defender and their most versatile defender for another scorer, even though Amare has already complained that he isn't getting enough shots in the new system... although earlier in the season, Amare took shots at D'Antoni in the press as somehow responsible for the lack of defensive emphasis that has characterized the Suns for the past five years or so. This is a totally disorganized franchise. The whole problem started with the Suns thinking defense was less important than offense, and now they've come full circle back to the original problem... oh, well-- good news for the Spurs.
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