Sarver’s a banker.. What do you think??

Anyway, Donald Sterling pursued this model for years.. get a team that wins a few games, and even comes close to the playoffs, in order to generate some excitement, but be parsimonious when it comes to contracts.

I get Sterling’s point of view, which is that this is a business, and that he shouldn’t have to pay big salaries if his team isn’t winning, but it’s a chicken & egg type situation, in the sense that a single player can’t turn a team of scrubs into a contender. But I’d also say that the Clippers org. is almost completely disfunctional, and not capable.

Nash ignited a big turnaround, but the worst you could say about the Suns before he arrived was that they were talented underachievers. Likewise, LeBron only started to have success when they surrounded him with decent talent. Kobe needed Phil J to start winning post-Shaq.

So my point is that while Bobby S can do whatever he likes with his team, I personally will only continue to support this team if it is either contending or rebuilding, or while Steve Nash is still playing.

My support for rebuilding was predicated, btw, on the team being forced to shed salaries to end up under or close to the luxury tax threshold. Having done some superficial analysis, though, it appears that the current squad’s salary burden is comfortably affordable for the organization, and under those circumstances that call to rebuild may have been premature.

That’s not to say the organization should waste money, but it does mean, given the various trade rules and such, that if the right talent comes along (and that’s a big if), we should continue to be bold.

because they have a lot of expiring contracts and team options, and can build up cap space fairly rapidly. And aside from Amare, their core of young players isn’t that expensive (they’re not good yet, either, but I think Kerr actually drafted well).

So if they let Nash go this year, and Shaq next year, that’s not a bad position to be in ($30M+ off the books, plus the other expiring contracts.. Right now, for 2010-11, the Suns are only on the hook for $42M, including Amares’ player option, and for $10.5M for ‘11-’12). Of course, the point about who you actually sign with that free money is still valid. As is the point about not showing your hand.

The one favor the Pistons did for the league, was to show that a 7-deep bunch of good mid-salaried players is enough to win a title, if they’re well coached and mesh together on the floor. I wouldn’t be opposed to Steve Kerr constructing that kind of team.

Up until about 3 weeks ago, I was convinced that to move forward, the team had to rebuild around Amare, mainly because the organization has considered him the franchise player, and because he’s untradeable due to his tendency for serious injury.

Now, after he did that interview throwing Terry P. under the bus, and the fact the team played well without him (we’d have probably made the playoffs if Barbosa has stayed healthy, imho), I’m not so sure he hasn’t outstayed his welcome.

The Memphis trade attempt, and the NBA trade rules which force you to get value, at least financially, mean that we could trade down a little at the 4, and still be better. Make that trade, and the J-Rich trade close together, and possibilities arise.

And wrt J-Rich.. if he played more consistently, and better defensively, I wouldn’t be opposed to keeping him.

With Barnes, I’d make just one rule: you’re only allowed to shoot the ball if Nash passed it to you, and you’re open or the clock is running down. But he was a gamer to cover for Amare. Trix-lite, even.

I think the Tim Floyd era in Chicago proved that. The Bulls continued to sell out for 3 or 4 years after the Championship team was dismantled, exactly on the basis that they needed to rebuild. Otherwise, why would they Scottie Pippen go, when he had 3 or 4 years of good ball left?

The Bulls only started to lose fans, after that time, once it was clear that the two Jerrys actually had no plan, and was just milking the franchise to recover the $63M he paid Jordan for his final two seasons. Moreover, it was clear that Tim Floyd had no business coaching an NBA team.

I don’t think Suns fans are necessarily more fickle than Bulls fans. I think they would accept an sincere and honest attempt to rebuild. People love to cheer for kids and underdogs.