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July 19, 2012: Suns a team in transition, part I

Suns managing partner Robert Sarver has kept a low profile since the lockout ended last season. He's granted only a handful of interviews either locally or nationally.

Last night, however, he made an appearance on NBA TV at the start of the second half of the Suns summer league game against the New Orleans Hornets.

Here are his thoughts on some of the topic that were addressed:

on trading Steve Nash

"I was spoiled to be affiliated with Steve for the last eight years. When I bought the team it was the first signing we did. Obviously, we had a lot of success. It started to kind of plateau a little bit and we felt we needed to get a little younger and speed up our transition as a team; and it was in our best interest to get some younger players. We met with Steve quite a bit but at the end of the day I think the Suns weren't the best fit for him and he wasn't the best fit for us given where we were and given where he was.
"Fortunately, we were able to I think make a deal that got us some picks and also got him to locate close to where his kids are and play for a team that can compete for a championship. At the end of the day I think it kind of turned out to a win-win for both of us.
"It's difficult in this sport, in this business, you have to make a lot of tough decisions and sometimes it's hard but you have to try take the emotion out of it. That's kind of what, at the end of the day, I had to do in trading him to the Lakers."

on moving forward without Nash, Grant Hill

"There's parts of our business that are a little bit unique in that sometimes in order to get good you got to get bad, which doesn't make a lot of sense but in basketball sometimes that's the way the CBA is written and that's how the business works with the draft picks.
"I'm not sure we really want to go down that path so we've tried to attempt to transition by having some good veterans and at the same time bringing in some younger players.
"I think we have a good basketball operations staff. I think they've drafted very well, watching Markieff (Morris) play last year and last night into today, he stands out amongst these guys here. He's going to be very good."

on addition of Goran Dragic, expectations for team

"I was very excited to get Goran. Obviously, we drafted him and then he ended up in Houston; and he got an opportunity to take over the team and I think when he got the reins there he showed really what he could do. He's excited to be back in Phoenix and I think he's going to do good.
"But at the same time, we've got a lot of new bodies and it's going to take time to put it all together and we'll see how it goes. But I think we added some nice young players to the team and hopefully we can get to grow with them."

on possible more moves ahead

"I think we're pretty close to done. However, we do have some cap space; and we will have some cap space next year. I also think one of the things we saw that was nice this year in free agency a lot of the top players wanted to come to Phoenix. The top four, five or six guys out there in free agency---with the exception of Deron Williams, they pretty much all wanted to come here.
"I think we'll be able to be active next year in free agency too. And that's the tough thing, trying to balance spending all of your cap space to get as good as you can get as this year or kind of being patient---obviously we lost out on Eric Gordon and so where do you go next? Trying to balance being good but having a little patience too to try to get great is very difficult."

on addition of Michael Beasley

"I think he has some good upside for us. I met with him a little bit. He's a nice young man. Listen, he's had to grow up and mature like all of us. I sometimes wonder back, if someone gave me four million dollars when I was 19 what would I have been doing all of the time.
"I think he's got great talent. One of the things our players said when we played against him is that they thought he was one of the toughest covers. I'm real excited to see how he's going to do. I think he's pretty committed. He's been working out with Norm Nixon alot. I think he's got an opportunity to take a big step forward this year. Whether he will or not is going to be up to him. It's also going to be up to us as an organization to embrace him and work with him and help development him too."

on the future of Sebasitan Telfair

"Sebastian did a really good job or us and he's coming back. I'm excited for that. He's a tough competitor. He played good defense. He pushed the ball. He scored a lot when we needed him to. And he was a constant kind of motor even on the bench when he wasn't playing. I really had a lot of respect for him last year. I think he did a great job."

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  • Abuse
    RemyG wrote...
    You're Supposed to Sell Suns Potential
    I didn't expect Sarver to say "We're not going to be very good this year" or "We can compete for a championship", but realize what the future of this team is with him in charge. He spent a lot of money early on for a team that ended up not winning anything but regular season games. Now it is about spending significantly less and hope you sell the fans to buy tickets.
  • Abuse
    azgbayfan wrote...
    Done?
    Sarver said he thought they were done. Why in the world wouldn't you try sign Shannon Brown to a 1 year deal. They have the room. The are certainly not crowded at the 2 Dudley struggles to get his own shot. Outside of Markief everybody in the summer league looks kind of lame. If they envision Marshall at the 1 and Goran at the 2, then Alvin is not as good a coach as I think he is. It won't work. Are you being cheap Robert? A one year deal for Brown doesn't affect next year.
  • Abuse
    hometeam wrote...
    going where?
    with colangelo you had idea of what the suns wher trying do and go. sarver seems to be just trying throw things together hope it works. feels like smoke and mirrors not effort to win
  • Abuse
    mesa mad man wrote...
    brown
    i am tired of posting the same thing about Brown in every topic. Not a good fit in my eyes. Also, he said they are "pretty close to done". They still need to fill out the roster. I am sure they will sign some SG to a 1 year deal.
  • Abuse
    azgbayfan wrote...
    Mesa Mad Man
    I would not argue that Brown isn't the best fit, but he is a guy with some talent who you can possibly get for 1 year. He also knows the Sun's system. He also doesn't need the ball in his hands like Redd to be effective. When Redd gets the ball everything seems to stop. Not many others left. Lee signed with Celtics today
  • Abuse
    mesa mad man wrote...
    brown
    I disagree, I think the ball does stop with Brown and that would be a detriment to a team trying to gel together in their first season. As far as whats left, Barbosa, Belinelli, CJ Miles, Rudy Fernandez, Jodie Meeks, Brandon Rush, Carlos Delfino, even Bill Walker or if you want to go for a veteran, Tracy McGrady is still out there. Sure, none of those scream future star of the team, but the majority can knock down a high percentage of shots, and, if a stud SG is aqquired next year, could slide into a backup role and excel.
  • Abuse
    brokedamouf wrote...
    Sarver
    Don't believe in the man. Don't believe in the plan.
  • Abuse
    azgbayfan wrote...
    Mesa Mad Man
    Brown can catch and shoot. He has shown that. He has ability to take the ball to the hole and finish. His issue is consistency as it is to every player you listed. Barbosa is the only you listed who could be a starting 2 and I don't think you could get him for 1 year. I wouldn't sign any of those for more than 1 year, and with the exception of Barbosa I wouldn't sign any of those guys. I believe Fernandez signed overseas
  • Abuse
    sundevil7901 wrote...
    @azgbayfan
    I think Sarver said "close to done". Meaning, at this point all that's left is to fill out the roster. And that's pretty much all that's left out there - roster filler. Brown could still come back, but I guess we can assume that there will be no big trades coming up in the near future, and don't expect much at the shooting gaurd positon this year.
  • Abuse
    daamage wrote...
    SB
    I believe Brown is looking for a multiyear deal but will realistically get 2-3 years in 12-14 mil range. Up to suns if they wanna pay him that. I can see the two sides agreeing on a 2 year deal in that price range. Would be a nice finish to the offseason. Couldnt imagine 4 starters from 4 different countries all trying to communicate in english, would be funny (if they went after a SG mentioned above).
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