Fox Sports: Phoenix Suns’ all-time starting five

In today’s NBA, we are experiencing more and more franchises attempting to go down the ‘super-team’ rabbit hole. But what if you could create the ultimate basketball team from throughout time?

Well, Fox Sports’ Andrew Lynch took his best shot at doing just that.

Lynch outlined some guidelines when constructing his all-time starting five for each NBA team. For starters, players could not appear on more than one list. So that means Charles Barkley was listed on the Philadelphia 76ers, not on the Phoenix Suns. Ludicrous yes, but without rules there would be chaos.

Next, teams are built with the players’ positions in mind. We can’t have Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson all running point for the Suns.

So, without further ado, here is Phoenix’s all-time starting five, ranked No. 17 in the league, (in the eyes of Lynch):

PG: Steve Nash

SG: Dan Majerle

SF: Shawn Marion

PF: Connie Hawkins

C: Amar’e Stoudemire

This is the quintessential Suns team — incredibly entertaining, capable of winning a lot of games and too porous on defense to come anywhere close to a championship. — Andrew Lynch

Lynch might have a point that the Suns don’t boast an overall good defensive team with Nash and Stoudemire, but this team does possess some real fire power.

We can talk about how devastating the Nash-Stoudemire pick-and-roll is and just leave the conversation at that. But for continued hypotheticals sake, imagine Nash also having the option to hit Majerle on the wing for an open three. Majerle led the NBA in three-point field goals and attempts in the 1993 and 1994 seasons, shooting 38 and 36 percent respectively, so having him on the outside would force the defense not to cheat on Stoudemire down low.

Another offensive weapon for the Suns is Hawkins. The former four-time NBA All-Star averaged 24.6 points in his rookie season in Phoenix in the 1969 season. Injuries would cut Hawkins’ career short, but the offensive skill set he had was incredible.

Now, Lynch’s lack of defense point for the Suns should really only be limited to Nash and Stoudemire. Majerle was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team twice (1991, 1993) and while Marion was never named to a defensive team, he did finish top-five in Defensive Player of the Year voting in the 2004 and 2006 seasons. Marion was also typically responsible with guarding the opposing team’s best player.

Regardless of the defensive liabilities this team may have, the offensive potential would have been a spectacle to behold. They certainly would have given the ‘7 Seconds or Less’ Suns team a run for their money.