Crucially, [Tom] Abercrombie has also been invited to play for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA's summer league in Las Vegas - the premier showcase for fresh talent in the big league's off-season.

Video of Oladipo's defense also "shows him relying on his active hands too much in help rather than playing with his feet, merely waving as guys go by," Vantage says. Vantage's metrics paint Georgetown forward Otto Porter as a superior defender to Oladipo.

Joe Proski, the Suns original head athletic trainer who, on Hornacek’s recommendation, hired Aaron Nelson as his assistant.

Phoenix Suns: "Why is Robert Sarver carrying around that designer handbag? And why is there a glitchy film cut before the ball hopper is started? My God, did Sarver sneak loaded ping pong balls in via his wife's handbag? His wife must have told him to bring her back the No. 1 pick in a designer handbag ... interesting ..."

"My grandson (Josh) is playing on a T-Ball team at age 4 so he's got a little baseball card. I got him to sign it for me so he wrote his name on it. I'll have it in my pocket," Babby said. "I don't know if he's good luck, but I always like having his picture with me, anyway. That will be my good luck charm."

Gillespie pulled out his Samsung Galaxy tablet and called up a video clip from the first quarter. He was able to immediately show his players what their opponents were doing so they could make quicker adjustments during the game. [...]The Suns became the first NBA team this season to outfit both players and coaches with tablet computers for use on and off the court.

"I don’t know Lon [Babby] and I don’t know Robert [Sarver] that well. Robert has always treated me good, but the notion that I will let Lon and Robert tell me about basketball players that’s not going to happen. I can tell you that right now."

The GM search began this week with the Suns considering Milwaukee assistant GM Jeff Weltman (a finalist in 2010 when Blanks was hired), former Indiana Pacers GM and Arizona graduate David Morway and former Lakers assistant GM Ronnie Lester. Assistant GMs Ryan McDonough (Boston), Wes Wilcox (Atlanta) and Troy Weaver (Oklahoma City) are potential candidates too.

"I never expect fans to feel sympathetic about it," O’Neal said. "We should pay taxes like everybody else. We should pay more because we make more. I voted for President Obama, but I knew his focus was to come after people like myself. The majority of our country is struggling. If you have to pay more taxes to bring down the deficit and spread the wealth, I’m all for it. I’m blessed to make a lot of money."

Some Suns brass favored Felton, but Managing Partner Robert Sarver interceded to negotiate with Dragic in the US Airways Center parking garage while Eric Gordon was being wooed inside the building.