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Originally posted by <b>son of oakley</b>!
Dre, you point to the good talent and good situation for him in Phoenix. Fine, but would you like to speculate then on why they chose to move him and gamble in free agency? And sure they look really smart for nabbing Nash (I think we can agree?) but there was a good chance Cuban would have re-signed him and they'd be stuck with a far lesser PG than Nash or Marbury, but they were willing to take that risk. Why?
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Because I think the Suns realized they had come as far they could with the roster they had. The suns had a great year two years ago, everyone exept JJ and Amare were playing their optimum level, and they still slipped into the 8th seed and were dismissed quickly by the Spurs. Heading into the offseason, colangelo had to wonder how much better his team could get. Marbury was going to make 20M in a few years, Marion was in the midst of a big contract, and he would still have to ultimately pay Amare. That had to be in the back of the minds of Suns brass, and then, when they came out of the gate so horribly last year, it only solidified the belief that the year before was well, a fluke, and that they had probably run their course with the roster. Look what the Suns got for Marbury. 20M or so in cap space, draft picks, and two youngsters with potential in Lampe and Vujanic. I would consider doing a deal like that even if I was a top 4 seed, thats a very good deal to jumpstart a re-building movement, and thats what the Suns thought they had to do, at least thats my opinion.
And I would hardly consider what the Suns did a risk. The 2004 offseason was going to be pretty big, with Kobe on the Market, Nash also, and T-mac trade rumors since the beginning of the season. Colangelo had to be thinking: Who wouldn't want to play with a budding beast in Amare, one of the most dynamic players in the League in Marion, and another budding player in Johnson, who wouldn't want to live in sunny Phoenix, and most importantly, who doesn't wanna get paid? You saw how much of a risk Nash thought it was to go to Phoenix. He was on the Phone, finalizing a deal with the Suns a few minutes into the FAgency period. After him, Richardson signed on, and it all happened so fast. The Suns had went from being a mediocre team with no cap room to a team entertaining 70 win discussions. I hardly think it was a risk for the Suns to do what they did. They weren't gonna really go anywhere with the roster they had, they got 20M or so in cap space by dealing him, and its never a risk to have money during the NBA summer. If Nash hadnt signed, they wouldn't have rushed it. They would've transformed themselves into contenders, they would've been idiots not to with all that money they had.
In conclusion, my theory is that the suns realized they had come as far as they could with the roster they had, they needed to rebuild, and the most marketable asset (at least to NY) they had was Marbury. They traded him, got a lot of cap space, used it wisely, and now they have the best record in the league. I think thats a pretty convincing argument, and I didn't mention his character once. I think the cancer reputation stays with him unfairly.