Suns find another reason to dislike the Spurs
The Associated Press
BOB BAUM (AP Sports Writer) 2 hours 1 minute ago
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns vaulted from long shots to finalists in the bid to land coveted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge.
But finishing as runner-up to the team the Suns' fans love to hate, the San Antonio Spurs, left a hollow ring to the team's concerted efforts to climb from mediocrity to relevance in the tough Western Conference.
Facebook® Account Sign Up. Join for Free Today!
Facebook Sponsored
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the Suns and Spurs were the finalists for the services of the All-Star forward. The person said the presence of Aldridge's family in Texas ''pushed it over the top for San Antonio.''
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of free-agent negotiations can't be made public until Thursday.
A huge banner was to have been put up outside at US Airways Center Saturday as a further effort to persuade Aldridge to come to the desert.
As for that, Phoenix Mayor said in tweet ''For those inquiring about the future of the LMA banner...Our city has one of the best recycling programs in the country.''
With no obvious big target left on the market, the Suns now must figure out what to do with the salary cap space cleared to help make space for an Aldridge signing.
Phoenix moved into contention for Aldridge when they agreed to contract terms with center Tyson Chandler and reached agreement on a deal to keep restricted free agent guard Brandon Knight.
Aldridge reportedly has admired Chandler and liked the idea of playing alongside him.
When the Suns met with Aldridge, the team used a four-prong approach. First he met with owner Robert Sarver, then with president for basketball operations Lon Babby and general manager Ryan McDonough. After that, there was a session with coach Jeff Hornacek and Suns assistant coach Earl Watson, who played with Aldridge in Portland. Finally, Aldridge met with a player contingent that included Chandler, Knight and Eric Bledsoe.
The pitch was that Aldridge would be ''the man'' for the Suns, with a young talented perimeter around him and the veteran presence of Chandler in the middle.
To show how serious they were, the Suns traded Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger to Detroit in a salary dump.
In the end, it wasn't enough.
''I'm happy to say I'm going home to Texas and will be a Spur!!,'' Aldridge tweeted on Saturday. ''I'm excited to join the team and be close to my family and friends.''
The Suns' fans hard feelings toward the Spurs go back to the days when the teams contended for the Western Conference le. There are memories of Robert Horry slamming the Suns' Steve Nash into the scorers' table at courtside. Now there's a new one.
Phoenix has not made the playoffs the last five years.
At least they have 2010, tbh..
tyson chandler though
you, you ing s!!!
I love the Horry Slamming Nash into the scorers table!
As if it wasn't a blatant Nash flop.I love the Horry Slamming Nash into the scorers table!
That Horry hip check on Nash. Poor Suns fans.I love the Horry Slamming Nash into the scorers table!
Theyre the ones who mailed off their players without any assurance. They can't blame the Spurs FO if their pitch didn't resonate well with Aldridge. A bit asinine to ship out quality players with a thinning free agent market.
There has been nary a tear shed by coaches, execs or fans about the players they traded. They effectively traded one solid NBA player who is also a knucklehead, and aged name, and a young nobody, and they got a 2nd-rounder for the trouble.
The message resonated. Unfortunately they were playing against a sucked deck, as they weren't competing with Texas for a free agent. They were competing with Texas for a Texan.
What the ever, man... Grow a pair and stop suckling the .
Enjoy mamas boy.
Phoenix broke up the twins for nothing
They still cry about it and it wasn't even Horry. Clearly that table did a lot more damage. In addition, as a white that knows black people, I find their mascot offensive.
the Suns
They never actually had a chance.
Oh I know, he flew like he was shot out of a cannon into that table and admitted later he sold it. That was one of the biggest flops I have seen. Suns fans still to this day bring that one up all the time and the suspensions like it was not only 2-2 at the time but they would have won it! Spurs blew that game 4 at home, still can't believe it as they should have been up 3-1 but did their annual choke job on a game they had won and laxed up to lose (They did that routinely in the 00's playoffs even in le years).As if it wasn't a blatant Nash flop.
Suns fans be like
Funniest thing is we got Diaw a ring and Amare is willing to suck anyone off to join us
Funny that Steve Kerr a man who won lots, no matter his role, with...
the Bulls,
the Spurs,
and now the Warriors,
couldn't even get the Suns to the Finals....
If Nash wasn't a walking corpse he could have tried to coattail this year's Spurs. That would have been the final nail in the coffin for Suns fans.Funniest thing is we got Diaw a ring and Amare is willing to suck anyone off to join us
It was bad enough for Suns fans that Nash ended his career as a Laker....That would be like Timmy ending his career as a Laker. An absolute sin!
Nash came out a few years later and even admitted that it was a flop. He's always been one of the most candid players in the league. Love him or hate him, you've got to respect his honesty.As if it wasn't a blatant Nash flop.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
