Congratulations To LeBron And The HEAT, And How Can The Phoenix Suns Get This Glory?

With regard to the question "How Can The Suns Get This Glory?" -- meaning an NBA Championship -- well ... there's no easy road to get there. The Bulls, HEAT, Celtics, Lakers, Spurs all did it with multiple Hall of Famers either in their primes or with one foot on the precipice of their storied careers. Since the turn of the century, the only exceptions to the multiple-HOFer rule were the 2004 Pistons and the 2011 Mavericks (though the Mavs did have Dirk and Kidd). Those teams did it with an unexpected confluence of inspiration they each wish they could have bottled up to sip again in future years.

So how do the Suns get there? Sigh. I don't see how. None of those teams could see how either, until the opportunities presented themselves and they were ready to pounce. They were all aggressive in their acquisitions. The most recent incarnations (HEAT, Celtics, Lakers) all started with one HOFer and acquired the other(s) like magic. The Suns are starting with Steve Nash, their resident, HOFer.

Is there any way they could acquire one or two more potential HOFers this offseason? Sure. Is it likely? Not with this front office.

Now I'm not a Suns front office basher. But there's no denying that this group is conservative to say the least.

When you look at the records of Babby and Blanks, you don't see a lot of creativity. While the Gortat trade was good from a long-term perspective, Babby had the inside track on that one all the way. He'd represented Hedo for years, and knew how to work over the now-deposed Otis Smith of the Magic. Boom, done.

Since then? Nada.

To be fair, part of that was by design. The Suns wanted maximum cap room to have the option to start over if they wanted to. They wanted as much flexibility as possible. And they got it.

At the same time, they wanted to provide Nash some of the continuity he craves (remember all the complaints of turnover before?) and put a competitive team on the court. Telfair, Brown, Redd all outplayed their contracts. Kudos. Good job.

But where's the creativity? Where's the aggressiveness?

The Suns could have made moves with the back end of the roster to set themselves up for this summer in terms of an extra draft pick or two. Even second rounders are valuable. Babby talks youth and the draft, yet so far the Suns have only 1 pick this year.

And that one pick is #13. With rumors swirling that other teams are willing to move around in the draft via trades, it seems a wonderful opportunity to at least discuss moving up (by including an asset like Gortat) or moving down to turn one pick into 2. But then in Blanks' first postseason press conference, what does he say? (paraphrased:) "We're not moving our pick. We like #13." Four weeks before the draft! Now that's commitment. And we're questioning whether the Suns made a draft promise or two, because it was so early in the process? Ha.

Even in the last draft, I recall Blanks gushing over the Morris pick during the draft, and even mentioning "we might not be done yet," only to find out that they had eyes for one guy only (Shumpert) and once he was off the table not one other prospect was worth their effort to acquire? The Suns could have used another project, even if he didn't play much. Need scoring from the 2-guard spot? Here's MarShon Brooks. Need a rebounder? Here's Kenneth Faried. Or a scrappy small forward? Introducing Chandler Parsons. Or a scoring PG? Hello Isaiah Thomas.

Alternately, if they really wanted to make the playoffs this past season, why not work harder to sign guys or acquire guys on the last year of their contract this past spring to help the push? I can see why Diaw chose the Spurs, but to not even make a whole-hearted effort to get him in Phoenix? Come on.

Sigh.

The Suns have a ton of cap room, for sure. And they have a solid core of role players who can help a team win a lot of games.

They have options. Re-sign Nash, spend money for a better player or two around him, and fight for a second-round appearance in the playoffs with the hope of drinking some of that inspiration the Mavericks used to win a year ago.

Or, they could scrap that and start over. Acquire draft picks for solid role players, and get as young as possible.

Which will the Suns choose? Who knows.

But I worry the Suns will actually end up doing a logical, defensible LEAST creative, easiest option. Hopefully, luck falls in their laps. Even more hopefully, they are just playing possum until the draft and free agency start.