Rumors of Trading Stoudemire Signals A Wave Of The White Flag

In recent years one of the NBA's more exciting teams has been the Phoenix Suns. Their style of basketball is fast paced and fun to watch. Every year for nearly 4 years they were close to being crowned champions but something always stood in the way. One year, no make that two years, it was Tim Duncan and the Spurs. Another year it was an injury to Amare Stoudemire then it was a questionable 5th game suspension of Stoudemire. During that time, players had come and gone. The players that were brought aboard seemd to fit right in with the Suns including players that hadn't been effective in other systems, Quenton Richardson and Tim Thomas immediately come to mind. You always felf that the Suns were just one player away from reaching the top then things changed. The Suns started to subtract too many good players from the team and started changing their approach to success. Bad move #1, trading away Shawn Marion. Although his offense is limited, Marion was the best defender the Suns had. He was also one of the more elite rebounders the league had to offer. Bad move #2, letting Quentin Richardson, Kurt Thomas and Tim Thomas get out of Phoenix. Quentin Richardson and Tim Thomas aren't the best defenders in the world, but they provide offensive fire power off the bench. Kurt Thomas was the best low post presence this team has seen in a while and he was willing to do the dirty work which would have freed up Stoudemire. To make matters worse, the Suns started to make moves for the sake of making a move that really disrupted team chemistry when they brought in Grant Hill and Shaquille O'Neal, two players that are clearly past their prime. The Suns felt that they needed to be more defensive minded and have an answer for Tim Duncan an anlolgy that has blown up in their face. In today's NBA a dominant center is not a necessity, it helps, but it's not a must have. All you really need is a player with the willingness to rebound and defend in the low post (which they had in Kurt Thomas). Phoenix also decided to try and become a team with a half-court offense, again, bad move. The players they have flourish more in an uptempo setting. The back breaker however was letting Mike D'Antoni go, a move I still have a hard time comprehending to this day. He had Phoenix on the right track and understood his players. Terry Porter's philosophy is at odds with his personel. When teams make a championship run they normally have a 4 year window to make that a reality before they dismantle the team and start from stratch. The Suns have had their 4 years and if they fulfill the rumors of trading away Stoudemire it will be a signal of surrendering hopes of a championship. Can someone say: "I'm Going To Miami?"