Good article about the future of the Suns from ESPN:
All is Fun in the Valley of the Sun. Right?
May 2, 2007 12:34 PM
Clearly. It's a hoot to be a Sun. The locker room chemistry is good. The style of play is fun. The win totals are impressive. The media is friendly. There is championship talk in the air. Depending what happens in the lottery, the Suns could be about to add a very serious rookie or four (based on end-of-season standings, the Suns would pick 4th, 24th, 29th, and 59th in one of the best drafts ever). The point guard is one of the best leaders in the NBA. The fifth or sixth best player is, according to one source, a genius for the ages.
And tonight you get to vanquish an old foe in front of a noisy home crowd.
So why is it that Mike D'Antoni can't sleep at night, as Doug Haller reports on AZcentral.com:
He can't golf.
Can't read.
Can't think about anything besides basketball.
"I don't have any hobbies," the Suns fourth-year coach says. "This is it. I don't really relax. I just lay in a coma somewhere. I can't focus on a lot of stuff. If I didn't enjoy it or if the team became a pain, it might be different. But this is fun."
He knows what's at stake. For the first time in three seasons, the Suns are healthy entering the postseason. All the pieces appear to be in place, which means after advancing to the Western Conference finals two straight seasons, the Suns are a championship favorite.
Competitive fire. Excitement. Sure, that's all part of it.
But don't leave out: sense of urgency.
This won't last forever.
First and foremost, because Steve Nash is 33, and has a back so bad he can barely sit down for extended periods. At some point, he will presumably break down, and the fun will come to an end. No one knows when. But whatever the doctors told Mark Cuban about that was convincing enough that Dallas opted not to re-sign Nash when Phoenix made him a free agent offer.
Let's assume, however, because who wants to think about Nash breaking down, that he plays on forever.
Still there are compelling reasons to lie awake at night.
Yes, this roster is more settled than almost any in the NBA. All the key players are locked up for quite some time. Kurt Thomas can opt out this summer, sure. James Jones has another year.
But ... Shawn Marion is the worry. A strong candidate for defensive player of the year, and often the Suns' leading scorer, Marion has just one more year season before he can opt out, and the sense is that he's amenable to switching teams if it might mean a chance to show all that he can do.
That's the thing about selfless, ball-sharing teams like the Suns. They don't let players scratch that ego itch, by showing how they can be the man. (Joe Johnson left under similar circumstances.)
That same thing chafes at Amaré Stoudemire. Again, quoting Haller:
The Suns center, fully recovered from microfracture knee surgery, longs to be a superstar, the go-to guy nearly every time down the court.
"If you're a dominant scorer, it's definitely tough because you want the ball in your hand, you want to be a playmaker," Stoudemire says. "It's just something you have to deal with."
How does he do it?
"I always come down before practice and play kind of in my own little zone," Stoudemire says.
"It's just me vs. an imaginary player, and I just attack it because that's what I want to do. I want to end up being a dominant player, and I want to keep that passion for it."
Take another look at those Phoenix salaries. Notice the totals at the bottom in the upcoming years. Even though Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa are bargains, those are some high salary totals for the next couple of years. With the structure as it is, is there any chance owner Robert Sarver will shell out enough to keep Marion happy too?
Now you can see why there are whispers that someone -- Marion or Stoudemire are the most likely candidates -- may be on the move. Which would mean tinkering with a major piece of a successful team. Which could mess with everything.
Which is all a very good reason for the Suns to win the title now, with plan A. Strike while the iron is hot. (Steve Nash gets it, which is why he has been putting himself through self-assigned two-a-day practices. Even D'Antoni calls him a maniac for that.)
Sorry, Coach D'Antoni. Maybe you can sleep next year.
┌┘ Miir
50 yard line.