Throughout the 48 years that the Phoenix Suns have been an NBA franchise, they have been a constant tease to their fan base. In the Suns second year of existence, they made the playoffs only to miss out on the postseason in each of the next five years. In 1976, the Suns won the Western Conference Championship to advance to the NBA Finals where the experience of the Boston Celtics was too much for them. From 1978-1985, the Suns would make the playoffs each season, but this was an era in the Western Conference that was dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, and Seattle Supersonics. For the entire decade of the 1990’s, the Suns would make the playoffs, but they were never able to attain that elusive NBA Championship. With Mike D’Antoni as the Suns head coach in the mid-2000’s, Phoenix had a wide open brand of basketball which was highlighted by point guard Steve Nash being named as the NBA’s MVP in two consecutive years. However the Suns struggled on the defensive end of the floor which hurt them against teams such as the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks in the postseason. And little did the Suns know that when they lost the 2010 Western Conference Finals to the Lakers what would be in store for them.
Since 2010, the Suns have only had one winning season while failing to make the postseason. Overall the Suns have not been the same team since longtime owner Jerry Colangelo sold the team in 2004 and his son Bryan resigned as the team’s general manager in 2006. Since then the Suns have gone through four general managers, and six head coaches while this team has been kept together with spit and glue.
Jeff Hornacek
The bottom fell out for the Suns last month when Jeff Hornacek was fired as their head coach after beginning this NBA season with a record of 14-35. Hornacek was in his third season in Phoenix, and he had never been given a talented roster to work with even though he overachieved in his first season when he went 48-34. The Suns have also missed on some of their first round picks in the NBA Draft while they’ve been unable to lure any big-time players in free agency to the desert.
One of the biggest things that has hurt the Suns recently is that they have concentrated on obtaining perimeter players while also failing to land an impact player in the NBA Draft. And the result has been a team that has been completely forgotten about in the Western Conference. As a team, the Suns are near the bottom of most statistical categories in the NBA at both ends of the floor while they don’t have one player that is in the top 20 of any major individual category which is a pretty good indication as to why their record is as bad as it currently is.
Ryan McDonough
It’s obvious that the Suns need a complete overhaul and team owner Robert Sarver should think about starting over. Ryan McDonough is in his third year as the Suns general manager and he is the one that gave Hornacek this subpar team to work which means that he deserves as much blame if not more than the now exiled head coach. The Suns need a general manager that knows how to evaluate talent instead of simply picking a player that is the best player in the NBA Draft. For right now the Suns should also stay away from the temptation of spending big in free agency. Last summer saw McDonough sign free agent center Tyson Chandler to a four-year deal that is worth $52 million. And that is a large amount of money to give to a player such as Chandler who is 33-years of age that has averaged just 8.7 points and 9.3 rebounds during his NBA career. The Suns are also contractually locked in with points guards Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight for the next few years. Bledsoe and Knight are the Suns two leading scorers this season, but it would be prudent for Phoenix to trade one of the players being that they basically do the same thing on the court. The Suns also have a disgruntled power forward on their hands in Markieff Morris who has not been a happy camper ever since his twin brother Marcus was traded by the team to the Detroit Pistons last summer. Morris no longer wants to be with the Suns, but the team won’t trade him, and all that it is doing is becoming a huge distraction and headache to everyone that is involved. At this point the best thing for the Suns to do is simply cut their losses and move on which would a be a win-win for both parties.
Earl Watson
With the dismissal of Hornacek, former NBA player Earl Watson is now the Suns interim head coach. This is Watson’s first go round in the NBA as a head coach and I expect the Suns to give him the rest of the season to show what he can do. But like the general manager’s seat, the Suns appear to need a new direction at the coaching position as well. Former NBA head coaches in Mark Jackson and Tom Thibodeau are expected to be hot commodities this summer and the Suns should at least put out a feeler to gauge the interest of one of these men.
Some NBA teams have become enamored with the “small ball” effect after watching the Golden State Warriors win it all last June. But what has helped the Warriors is the fact that their point guard Steph Curry, along with shooting guard Klay Thompson are two of the best scorers in the NBA, while they also possess one of the best overall teams in the league. Like many other teams, the Suns don’t have that luxury, thus their reliance on Bledsoe and Knight to carry them is not having the same positive effect. The game of basketball is still won on the interior which is something that the Suns have lacked for a very long time. And in Phoenix, it is time go back to the drawing board because what the Suns are currently doing isn’t working.
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