Could the Suns be in a squeeze?

[SenorSpur]

This departure marks real start of Sarver era

Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 28, 2006 12:00 AM

Brick by brick, an empire has crumbled.

A bruised Bryan Colangelo is bouncing to Toronto. A jolted Jerry Colangelo may never get his shot at dual championships.

The most powerful surname in local sports history may soon be a tumbleweed on the wind, a part of old Phoenix. advertisement

"I have no comments on that," said Jerry Colangelo, when asked about his immediate future with the Suns. "I really don't. There is a time and a place for everything, but not today."

When the younger Colangelo accepted Toronto's offer on Monday, it did more than please the team of Raptors executives that had camped out in Arizona for the past week. It marked the end of an era, and the official beginning of the Robert Sarver Chronicles.

It is a dangerous time for the entire organization.

In the midst of this latest saga, we learned that negotiations with Joe Johnson and Mike D'Antoni turned sour. The non-negotiations with Bryan Colangelo came during the heat of the trade deadline, when the Suns could've used a vested general manager working the phones. And a recent rash of national stories have been less than kind to the Suns' new owner, besmirching an image the Colangelos had carefully polished for the past 25 years.

Why, even Charles Barkley came to Bryan Colangelo's defense on TNT, and that's saying something.

"I'm going to look at the positive," Colangelo said. "Robert let him explore an opportunity, and if nothing else, I'm glad to finally be burying all those nepotism charges that used to come up with Bryan. He's in a big market, with a team that really wanted him badly.

"As for myself, as long as I feel like I really have a role and a capacity in this organization, then I'm going to continue to serve. That's a conversation that Robert and I will have. But if there's not really a need or a role, then there's no reason to hang around."

Colangelo has five more years to serve as team chairman after he receives final payment from Sarver in July 2007. Anyone really believe he'll be around this time next year?

Even more pressing is the matter of player evaluation, and at some point in the near future, this team will have to be refit, refashioned or completely rebuilt.

If Steve Kerr eventually takes over or directs Sarver to hire someone of pedigree, this may not be an issue. If Sarver is smart enough to rid all remnants of the previous regime and step back himself, the hurdles may be smaller than we think.

But general managers are a big deal in the NBA. And if you think otherwise, just look at two former teammates, the great Joe Dumars who has flashed the magic touch in Detroit, and the bumbling Isiah Thomas, who has actually worsened the shabby Knicks.

So, if Sarver is calling the shots to a company of yes men even further down the road, basketball fans in the Valley are in for a long, hard crash.

Nevertheless, the new owner still has the trump card in all of this. It's the one that comes with winning basketball games and occupying first place in the Pacific Division. And the truth is, the Suns can absorb the loss of a very good general manager if another good one takes his place.

It's the bad general managers who can set a team back five to 10 years. And it's the bad owners who think they can be good general managers who do the most damage.

[JMarkJohns]

Under the Colangelos, the Suns were the fifth most sucessful team (win percentage) in NBA history.

And 0-for-37.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm not disappointed, because I am, but the C's love affair with itty-bitty ball has run it's course. It's failed, for all intents and purposes.

It is a troubled time, but with Amare starting 5-on-5 today, maybe, just maybe, this season isn't lost and with the right GM inplace next year, maybe the Suns will finally go after a good center via the draft instead of the fve best wing players and maybe, just maybe, reverse their championship misfortune.

It's a long shot and sounds like sunshine smoke has been blown up my butt, I know, but 0-for-37 speaks for itself. The Colangelos were great people and great minds, but it's time to move on.