Goran My Way? It's Officially Kerr's Club Now.

by Mike Lisboa on Aug 17, 2008 7:06 PM MDT in Commentary Comment 21 comments

Say this for Steve Kerr: he's knows how to make an impact. Just 14 months after assuming the mantle of Phoenix Suns' general manager and president of basketball operations, with the signing of Goran Dragic, he has remade the Suns in his own image.

Franchise-altering mega-trade? Check.

Hand-picked head coach? Check.

Sacrificing athleticism and offense for role players and defense? Check.

Betting the future on an unknown hand-picked foreigner? Check.

It all seems to have happened so quickly, as if Kerr just pressed one of those "Easy" buttons from Staples. Trade a franchise player here, draft and sign a couple role players there, hire a head coach here and presto-change-o, it's a whole new Suns team taking the floor next season. If all this leads to a championship this season, who could blame Kerr for approaching the dais for his turn with the Larry O'Brien carrying his giant phantom huevos Sam Cassell-style? He will have turned a Western Conference semi-finalist into a first round washout and back to contender in a little over 2 years. 7SOL will be become SSOL (Shawn's shit out of luck) and everyone will wonder whatever happened to that nice guy with the apostrophe in his name who always had his hand in his pocket on the sidelines.

And if it doesn't? Well, though the Suns are signing Dragic to a 3 year deal with team option for a 4th, I'd imagine that deal to come in around $2-3 million a year. Pretty cheap even if Dragic stinks like a Euro armpit. Furthermore, after riding out a couple of mediocre seasons, everyone except for Diaw and Barbosa come off the books after the 2009-2010 season. In other words, barring complete disaster over the next 24 months, Sarver and Kerr get to push the "Reset" button. I bet the Knicks wish they could have said that 14 months into Isiah's Reign of Terror. If Kerr has chosen to fly too close to the sun as a first time GM, he's certainly set himself up for a soft landing. The luxury of knowing that if he doesn't land with the Suns, his fall will be broken by giant pile of TNT's cash can't hurt either.

Fortunately for the franchise, with the notable exception of the D'Antoni departure (which I could never quite tell whether it was acrimonious or amicable), he's done all this with the same amount of fanfare as a man backing out of his driveway. It's all been just another day at the office for the former Wildcat. All of which is fitting for a guy who's spent his career under level heads from Lute Olson (old, ring-winning Lute, not new, nutty, tabloid-divorce Lute) to Phil Jackson to Greg Popovich. Right or wrong, he knows the results will speak for themselves.

As Phoenix Stan noted in the comments to the fanshot below, we've already played the "Genius or Moron?" game once with Kerr and it didn't end so well. But last year, it was possible to lay some of the blame at the feet of a stubborn if successful head coach. With a full season, a full roster and full coaching staff of his choosing this season it might be less "genius or moron" and more "my way or the highway" for Steve Kerr.

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Goran Drago

“I must break you.”

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 17, 2008 8:11 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 17, 2008 8:58 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

<img src=“<a href=”http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll12/Turambar13/?action=view&current=break.gif" target="_blank"> Drago "/>

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Aug 17, 2008 8:59 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hes got balls alright

Lets see if it pays out. I’m optimistic!

"Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it"

by PanamaSun on Aug 18, 2008 12:10 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I am optimistic

if only b/c the expectations are so low…make sense?

Blogging Suns Basketball

by Phoenix Stan on Aug 18, 2008 9:20 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Yes, a lot of Sense

We are all fans of this team, through thick and thin. We HAVE to HOPE this works, even though it seems almost reckless. Then again, I can’t see that any of our other possible options would have been that great.

This is going to be a weird season.

"I think people should be allowed to do anything they want. We haven't tried that for a while. Maybe this time it'll work." -George Carlin

by RD74 on Aug 18, 2008 9:22 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Tempered

I wouldn’t say the expectations are low as much as they are tempered. The consensus seems to be that the window hasn’t closed per se, but as of the end of last season it seemed to be open just wide enough to let the flies in.

Given the budgetary constraints the Suns had to work with this off-season, I think Kerr did as well as anyone could without trading any key personnel (whether he should have or not is an entirely different questions). Going into the season with a rotation of Nash, Bell, Hill, Stoudemire, O’Neal, Barbosa, Diaw, Lopez, Barnes, and Dragic, this team is definitely a playoff team, if not a title contender. What remains to be seen is: 1) How healthy they can remain, 2) how well the gel under Porter, and 3) how well they gel as a unit.

But other than that, we’re looking good, right?

by Mike Lisboa on Aug 18, 2008 9:45 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Big Changes

My first reaction was, “Do you really think the rotation will be 10 deep?” And then I remembered who was coaching (Kerr, that is).

The other big change that I started to hope for was Bell coming off the bench. He really needed to come off the bench last season. Was it, however, because of the D’Antoni system? On this new squad, will Bell become more like Bowen?

Mmmmm ... Guinness

by JSun on Aug 18, 2008 10:42 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Questions

A little bit of hyperbole, Mike.

Two questions:

1) Who was the franchise player we traded? Matrix is NOT a franchise player by any stretch. Maybe you mean Marcus Banks?

2) In order to label the Matrix trade a washout, you have to know with relative certainty that Kerr had a better option than Shaq. Absent that information, and knowing how much Shawn had become a distraction and wanted to leave, I have no problem with the trade except I thought we could have swapped first round picks.

April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?

by Hawk42 on Aug 18, 2008 10:54 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Franchise-y?

I think it’s arguable that for as long as he was here, the on-court impact he had and the amount of dough he was getting, Shawn Marion is a franchise player. He was THE franchise player prior to the acquisition and subsequent impact of Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash, hence the max deal.

Similarly, it’s hard to argue that the results of the trade thus far haven’t been disappointing. It certainly didn’t work the way it was supposed to against the Spurs. Well, it did until Shaq’s crippling free throw percentage made him a non-factor. You can’t tell me that would have happened with the Matrix on the court. I’m not saying we would have advanced without Shaq/with Marion, but a first round exit was definitely not what anyone had in mind when the trade went through.

by Mike Lisboa on Aug 18, 2008 12:28 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know we've talked about this many times but...

There is still no doubt in my mind that the Spurs series would have been MUCH, MUCH more competitive than it was, if we would have had Marion instead of Shaq.

by brian13 on Aug 18, 2008 7:21 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

My mind is different than yours. I have doubt.

Skill-wise, maybe. But he didn’t want to be here. He checked out on the team in the second half of game 5 the year before. That’s your franchise player/ The only concievable way he was a franchise player was how he was paid. He wasn’t the go-to guy. He showed his poor leadership by griping to the media all the time. we couldn’t even run plays for him, his offense was so uneven.

Now the Shaq acquisition was completely derailed by the Hack-a Shaq. He is not my favorite, but it was working. Why do you think Popovich used the strategy? He knew he would lose without it.

One more thing. That series was very competitive. I don’t see the Matrix making it any more competitive. He has a history of inconsistency against the Spurs.

April 29, 2008 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Is the sky falling?

by Hawk42 on Aug 19, 2008 12:14 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure how this got in a Goran story but...

I don’t think Marion has been the franchise player since Amare Stoudemire was drafted, but Shaq… he added practically nothing to our team. He was a real (slow) center, he improved team chemistry (except for on the court), and he made us tougher (which didn’t seem to matter when we needed it to).

I don’t think it was just the hack-a-shaq that cost us the series. We were done after the first game. We fell down 3-0, won 1 game, and then were closed out.

Now with a new coach and a full season.. Could we turn out to be contenders who can get past the Spurs? Maybe, but they aren’t our only competition anymore.

I’m still on board cause I’ll be a Suns fan till I die, but I don’t have the same amount of hope for our new slower wannabe Spurs ball than I had for our fun run-and-gun offense.

by brian13 on Aug 19, 2008 12:38 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe 2015 when Kerr is gone.

Goran was/would be the backup point guard for the Spanish Club Tau Ceramica. Does that make him the second best point guard in the draft? Sounds like the BS Kerr tried to sell about Sean Marks when he said he was a good player and would see a lot of action last year. We may get a point guard in 2010 when we are a lottery team. Oh, I forgot, Kerr gave that first round pick away, didn’t he? Maybe in 2011 if he hasn’t given that one away too.

by TheTruthSquad on Aug 18, 2008 11:12 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Once again

Let’s clarify the “backup point guard” meme that people keep using to question, Goran.

1. Without digging any further, being the backup PG for the Spanish champs at age 22 is impressive by itself. Outside of the NBA, there is no better domestic league in the world.

2. The player he is backing up, Pablo Prigioni, is one of the better point guards in Europe and the starting point guard for Argentina, which last time I check is a pretty good team as well. He is also a veteran, which is important because…

3. Elite European teams are notorious for not giving younger players minutes. It does happen, of course, but most teams would rather loan out their young players to lesser clubs, and let them develop there.

4. Also, when we say “backup PG” that’s really a misnomer. Dragic would have been taking the place of Zoran Planinic, who was splitting time with Prigioni at the point for Tau. Goran would have played the same role i.e. he would have played the same amount of minutes as Prigioni. This is why Tau wanted ample compensation to lose him. Goran was going to be a key rotation player, not just a backup.

So, yes, Kerr has probably overhyped Dragic. But to label Dragic as just “a backup point guard” without really understanding what that achievement really means does not add much to the conversation.

Purchasing my Dragic jersey

by rosewood on Aug 18, 2008 12:50 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for that rundown

When framed in that light I think that gives us hope that Dragic has some talent. Likely it will take a year or two for him to get acclimated to the NBA game though. It seems to be how it goes with most of the international players. Regardless, I’m looking forward to watching him develop!

by KJ7 on Aug 18, 2008 3:48 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great Goran! I had no idea

Thanks for the write-up on the Sun’s new back-up PG. It is tough to get a read on a player from a couple of YouTube videos. This gives me hope that we have someone in Goran who can put up some meaningful minutes now that Mike (I’m not here to develop players) D is gone.

by Dunk it Boris on Aug 18, 2008 7:13 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

And by the way

Kerr can’t trade the 2011 pick unless he acquires another 2010 1st round pick or gets a 2011 first rounder in exchange, because you can’t trade away all your first rounders in consecutive years.

Purchasing my Dragic jersey

by rosewood on Aug 18, 2008 12:54 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

YAY! err, yay?

Ok, so tempered expectations for sure, but I’ll take it as the better of 2 possible outcomes, i.e., the Suns wanted this guy and got him, as opposed to they wanted him and had to wait a year, and end up signing an end-of the-bench scrub that won’t play after the back-ups they wanted all bailed out and signed elsewhere.

Really nicely-written commentary Mike, and an excellent point that Knicks fan could only dream of Isaih’s roster moves in New York having a such a good ratio of combined upside/quick reset.

As an aside, I’m still of the opinion that the Shaq/Marion trade was not a failure. Yes, the Suns flamed out in 5, and we can what if all day about what record they might have had without the trade, or if Duncan had missed that 3, or any number of other unknowable variables. Still, I liked what I saw from the team in the 2nd half of the season better than what I saw in the first. In any case, as you say, the die is cast, Stevie Wonder is firmly behind the wheel, and soon we’ll know if the Suns missed their shot, or if they’ve got enough left to get it done on the little Canadian’s watch.

by SoCalSun on Aug 18, 2008 1:24 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can’t wait to see him play.

Hooray for the management for making it work when no one thought it would.

Even if he bomb like Sarunas, I credit Sarver, Kerr and Griffin for giving us a chance.

I’m excited. Ordering popcorn and a big HD LCD right now.

Wondering what the skip-2-my-loo to do next with my empty summer

by ZonaFlash on Aug 18, 2008 7:51 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

New to Blog

Not new to being a Suns fan. Was a fan the day Connie Hawkins took the floor with VanArsdale anyways…
Good move by Kerr, had to do it. He adds youth, hustle and looks like a player who will go to the cup.
Should be an interesting camp.

"Have You heard of the Boom on Mizar 5?"

by Grockcubs on Aug 20, 2008 7:04 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs