When free agency dust settles will Suns be left holding the bag?
In recent seasons the Suns have tried to sign John Salmons, Joe Johnson, Chris Duhon, Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue. A grand total of zero of them have wound up on their roster.
Instead they choose to head to basketball meccas such as Sacramento, Atlanta, New York, Orlando, and Milwaukee.
I never thought I’d see a day when NBA free agents turned their backs on Phoenix in order to sign with teams that had significantly less success. Nor did I think that Milwaukee, Atlanta and Sacramento and Orlando would become more desirable places to call home (obviously New York is more desirable for athletes).
There was a time where taking a pay cut to play in Phoenix was not uncommon. Guys like Danny Manning would sign for less than market value in order for a chance to win, be part of a great organization and live in a city that has beautiful weather (at least during the NBA season).
Has the city and organization changed or have athletes and their priorities changed?
Phoenix has done nothing but become more of a major city and the night life certainly hasn’t gotten any worse in the last ten years so the problem must be a combination of the other two.
The Suns organization is definitely different than the days of Colangelo. Money wasn’t always the biggest issue with Jerry. His word and the organizations culture, being player friendly, seemed to be the main focus. Under his leadership Suns players knew they always would have a home in the organization.
This hasn’t proven to be true with Sarver who seems to view decisions for their financial ramifications. There is nothing wrong with his style of business it is just in contrast with that of Colangelo and may have caused issues.
Not only is the change in front office a possible reason but former Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni’s style of play and lack of depth in his rotation played a role in scaring off potential free agents.
From the players stand point the money seems to be the driving force behind where they choose to lace up the sneakers. The difference in the dollars and years have made places like Milwaukee and Sacramento a destination rather than Phoenix. This shouldn’t be a huge surprise but in the past the extra million wouldn’t have easily swayed a top free agent from coming to the Suns.
With all those factors, only a minimum contract available this off season and targets such as Lue, Johnson and Duhon off the market who can the Suns possibly land?
They are currently turning their attention to former Heat point guard Jason Williams, former Clipper Shaun Livingston, and Sam Cassell and Damon Stoudamire both of whom already turned down the Suns in previous pursuits.
It’s hard to believe that the factors that have prevented players from joining the Suns won’t come into play with these free agents. Jason Williams and Sam Cassell have already won rings so that won’t be a selling point to accepting less money (and not necessarily even a realistic posibility in Phoenix anymore). Damon Stoudamire made it clear last season that the Suns weren’t right for him and Shaun Livingston is probably at least 6 months away from contributing on an NBA level due to continuing knee problems.
I don’t even think Charles Barkley would take those odds which means the Suns may very easily be left without an answer to their backup point guard conundrum.
If that doesn’t excite you enough as a Suns fan the other free agents the team is considering are last years bench big man Brian Skinner and Allan Houston, yes the Allan Houston you remember from the mid 90’s.
If those are the most likely free agent signings it certainly looks like the Suns will be left holding the bag…lucky for Robert Sarver it’s one filled with unspent money.
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Posted by Greg Esposito
Co-founder of AzSportsHub.com. Greg provides the sometimes serious, sometimes sarcastic and always interesting takes on Arizona sports (at least we hope). Whether it’s on In The Zona with Matt or in his column Greg reports, rants and raves about whatever is in the news for Arizona Sports.
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Not only is the change in front office a possible reason but former Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni’s style of play and lack of depth in his rotation played a role in scaring off potential free agents.
So you’re saying that the departed coach’s style of play and rotation, and I emphasize departed, is one of the reason’s free agents are scared off? That’s simply asinine. I think these players know that D’Antoni is NO LONGER the coach of the team.
I think the main reason, outside the cap slot, player’s are signing elsewhere is their perception that the Suns can’t win a championship. The main cause of that perception should be pointed squarely at Amare Stoudemire. His self centered style of play and complete lack of effort on defense are the reason this team has failed and will continue to fail. No one can put a team over the top when only 4 guys plays defense, and not very well, while one lazily hangs around the paint in a feeble attempt to block a shot occasionally. It’s time to call a spade a spade. Stoudemire is an albatross.
greg, you forgot to mention skinner, grant hill and giricek–players who last season alone took a pay cut to play for us.
there are 2 big reasons why nobody wants to take a salary cut to play for this team anymore, in this order:
1) most nba players think this team is NOT a contender anymore and is on the decline.
2) mike dantoni is gone. the fun is gone. the idea of playing for porter is just not the same.
so how do we get free agents to sign with us for the cheap this season?
by becoming one of the top 4 teams in the tough west by midseason in terms of wins-loss record–and show other available free agents that we have the potential to win it all. playing for a relevant team is a huge attraction for some of these players who may be seeking their first title.
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Thanks for the comments guys.
First off Steve, I wasn’t trying to claim that Coach D has any bearing on this years batch of free agents. My point was that in the past it was a major issue as to why they missed out on certain free agents. It may not have been clearly stated.
John, to your point about Hill, Skinner, Giricek. Yes Hill is an example of a major player with a lot of interest choosing the Suns. I think Skinner and Giricek probably weren’t fielding many lucrative offers with the guarantee of more playing time than the Suns were willing to offer. By no means were they primary targets of the Suns either. They both were second tier, “if we have to” options. Both worked out pretty well in the end but weren’t the exact piece the Suns were looking for.
Hopefully Kerr has some contingency plans this off season that will work out just as well.
You forgot to mention guys like Brent Barry, re-upping with the Spurs in midseason, and Tyronn Lue spurring the Suns for the Bucks. I think the Joe Johnson mess set this whole thing off, and it s been a small decline ever since. What I can’t seem to understand, is how the Suns trade for Shaq, and then are too cheap to put money around him (meaning going over the luxury tax) even though he is making TWENTY MILLION for the next two years!
As a diehard suns fan, it kills me to see this decline, and there better be a gem out of Phoenix’s young guys, because other wise, it’s going to get bad.
[…] nice post here about how Phoenix is no longer the attractive NBA market that it used to be because of the way […]