Suns are a hot mess.

The Phoenix Suns don't have any championships banners in their rafters, but they have always been a reputed, classy franchise. A lot of that credit goes to their long-time, now ex-owner Jerry Colangelo, who tried his best to field a winner most of the years. They have had some impressive, albeit futile, playoff runs including a 13-year playoff streak between 1989 and 2001. And who can forget the 7-seconds or less teams with Nash and Mike D'Antoni that kept us wildly entertained until a couple of years back. Of course, the committed fan base and the weather in Phoenix were also definitely instrumental in establishing the Suns as one of the top franchises because the free agents always wanted to play for the Suns.  But their current owner Robert Sarver is single-handedly making the Suns a laughing stock of the NBA. After decades of chasing the Lakers and their championships, Sarver has decided that the Suns are better off chasing the ghost of the other LA team, the Clippers. Now that the Clippers seem to be headed to sustained excellence with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, Sarver is working on making the Suns the new Clippers and is making tremendous progress. 

To be fair to the Clippers, I don't think even they have had a week quite like last week for the Suns. Sarver and the front office decided to part ways with coach Alvin Gentry - like it was his fault this roster is not competing with the LeBrons and Durants of the world. After removing the only thing (in their minds) between Michael Beasley and the MVP honors, namely Alvin Gentry's coaching, they decided to  achieve the impossible and make this Sun's season even worse that it already was. They hired Lindsey Hunter out of nowhere and made him the head coach passing on a couple of viable and practical options on their bench - fan favorite Dan Majerle and old timer Elston Turner. I was surprised Lindsey Hunter was even available to coach. I thought he was still a backup point guard at Cleveland or Toronto or somewhere. But all kidding aside, Hunter might become the next great coach in the NBA, but the way the Suns GM Lance Blanks handled this was horrible. It was so unexpected and offensive that both Majerle and Turner walked away from their jobs. The Turner situation got even worse as he wanted to come back later and now the team is paying him to stay away from the team the rest of the year. 

Forget drafting top talent and attracting great free agents, the Suns can't even hire interim head coaches without messing things up. As if this drama was not enough, there are also reports of Blanks and Jermaine O'Neal getting into a profanity laden argument in the locker room. To borrow from ex-Suns great Charles Barkley, "Cotton Fitzsimmons is rolling in his grave." The good news is, the Suns are just 4.5 games behind the Lakers. But the bad news is, both teams are horrible and the Suns have the worst record in the west. I don't even remember the last time I saw the Suns this far down the NBA standings.  They are 15-30 and Sarver didn't open the wallets even when Nash was winning him 55 games a year. What can we expect him to do in free agency with this team? Their rookie Kendall Marshall doesn't look anything like a high lottery pick and their new head coach doesn't have any coaching credentials, at least not yet.  This situation looks like it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. There are no quick fixes in sight. The Suns will be hosting Steve Nash and the Los Angeles Lakers tomorrow. Nash has not added much to the Lakers or their record, but the Suns definitely miss him badly. The most interesting part of the remainder of this Suns season might be seeing the Suns fans respond to Nash when he visits them. This is how far the once proud franchise has fallen.

Sarver, please sell the team and save the franchise. Take your millions and give back our team.

500 and beyond

The new-look Suns are on a roll a little bit. They have now won 7 out of 10 and are just 2 games behind the 8-Th and final playoff spot in the west. They finally got past 500 and are now 27-26. They can still lose a winnable game anytime - like they did the other day against the Sacramento Kings at home, but they are playing much better overall. The new pieces are finally fitting in well, though the Suns are not getting a whole lot from Vince Carter, the biggest name in that trade. But Marcin Gortat has been great and Mickael Pietrus has fit in seamlessly. Both of these guys have significantly upgraded the shaky Suns defense. Nash is making the best use of Gortat’s size and abilities and Pietrus is never shy to take and often make those open 3’s. It’s a shame Vinsanity is not producing even close to what his talent-level demands, but what’s new? That has been his M.O forever and it seems to have only gotten worse as he has aged and moved through multiple stops.

The Suns have had some impressive wins off-late including 2 games against the Utah Jazz. The brutal schedule that we were talking about at the start of the season has eased a little and the results reflect that. The team’s chemistry and performance have also clearly gone up over the last couple of weeks. As always, Steve Nash has been a big reason for this. Nash is just amazing. He is still pouring in the assists and it has gotten better lately as Gortat and the gang has gotten comfortable around him. His numbers are as impressive as ever and he would be in the running for the MVP if the team was in the top 3 spots in the conference. He is averaging 11.3 assists per game without Amare and is averaging over 12 assists a game since Jan 1-St. He is just a freak and a treat to watch. He can score a lot more if he really wants to. I felt the same way when I watched John Stockton late in his career. Nash could easily average 5 more points per game if he was a little more selfish and took a few more shots. Rando’s assist numbers are falling while Nash’s numbers are increasing. It will be interesting to see where they both end up.

It does look more and more like the Suns are going to end up in the playoffs. They are only 2 games behind Utah and Memphis and just 3.5 games behind the 5-Th seeded Portland. There are a whole bunch of good teams in the mix, but no great team. So Suns should like their chances as much as anybody else in that mix and the Warriors are not too far behind either at 26-29 and playing well. I am not sure what making the playoffs really means if it’s just going to be about finishing 7-Th or 8-Th in the west and getting eliminated in the first round. But it’s still a prestige thing and I will take it and so will most people in the valley of the sun. The long-term plan for this team is still not clear because we need something big in the short-term here. Nash and Hill are two of the best players for the Suns and they are not getting any younger. Vince’s salary comes off the books next year, but I am not sure what’s the plan for that money. Hope it’s not just going straight to Robert Sarver’s bank account so he can buy another foam finger to wave at Suns games. He should never be allowed to wave the number 1 sign ever again because it’s his leadership that has basically taken a number 1 team and made it number 10 in the west (at the time of writing this article). But finishing 7-Th or 8-Th instead of 10-Th is a good first step in this road to redemption.