In this exclusive and fantastic article by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports we are treated to yet more discussion about the Suns future and if it's the right time to blow it up:
The NBA trade deadline creeps closer on Feb. 19, and maybe basketball is witnessing the last stand of the Suns. If Phoenix does off its roster around the league, NBA sources believe only Nash would be untouchable.
Asked if he could imagine Kerr liquidating the Suns and starting over again, Nash confessed. “I can imagine that,” he said. “I don’t think that’s out of the realm of possibility. I would imagine that we’ll be together, but if you look at it, it’s 50-50. We could make a great run at this year, or they could find an opportunity to start afresh. We’ve got a lot of older guys in here.”
We've explored the idea of trading Amare and discussed who he might be dealt for but we haven't really got into the basic issue:
Should the Suns give up on this team and sell off the parts now or does this group deserve more time to try and figure out how to work together and maximize the available talent?
Over the past few weeks the team has struggled with on-the-court chemistry and are trying to figure out (still) how to work with and around the newly resurgent Shaq.
I find it hard to fault Porter for going to Shaq as often as he does. If you've got a weapon like that you use it. Amare has been given every opportunity to get his game going and as we've seen on occasion when he is able to bring his Gorilla Game on the defensive end and on the glass he can be incredibly effectual. He had plenty of chances to be "the man".
One would hope that assembling this much talent and experience in one place would produce a better result then we've seen so far. At the half way point in the season the Suns are a worse defensive team then they were under D'Antoni primarily because of the ridiculous number of turn overs.
Reading into what Nash is saying, I think that a lot of those are the result of he and the rest of the team being too unselfish and trying too hard to get each other good looks. With so many weapons you can understand the instinct to try and get everyone involved.
I don't know if the answer is more time to let this group figure it out or if it's time to blow it up and start over. I am inclined to believe based soley on the character of the players (Amare included) and their intense desire to win that they will figure this out given more time.
The clock to the trade deadline is ticking however and Sarver and Kerr can not allow this uncertainty to continue. They need to decide immediately if they are standing pat and if that's the case make it abundantly clear. If no moves are to be made then Kerr and Sarver need to personally sit down with the team and say that in such a way as it is believable.
The longer these discussions are allowed to float around unaddressed the more likely it is that their hand will be forced.