SUNS

The Phoenix Suns have played professional basketball for the last 35 years in a city that has never really been looked at as a serious sports town. The Suns have never won a championship but have made 24 playoff appearances over those 35 years and once again have a promising team full of talent and potential. The Suns had made the playoffs in 13 consecutive seasons but failed to reach that goal again in the 2002 season. The team bounced back to qualify for the postseason in 2003 but missed the playoffs last season after finishing with a 29-53 record. Mike D’Antoni is entering his first full season with the Suns after taking over before the all-star break last year. The Suns realize they’ll have to play much better than last season if they want to reach the playoffs this year but they’ve made some key off-season acquisitions that should ensure they’re a contender for years to come.

Stephon Marbury and Anfernee Hardaway were expected to lead the team last season but each of them was traded last year to open up room in the backcourt for Leandro Barbosa and Joe Johnson. Both players played well in the back and in the frontcourt, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire each finished the season with almost 20 points and 10 rebounds a night. Marion has played in the league for a few seasons but Stoudamire is a true youngster at only 21 years of age and his work and improvement last season was evidenced in his great play all season. In the off-season, the Suns made the first big move in free agency by signing point guard Steve Nash from the Dallas Mavericks. Nash almost averaged a double-double in points and assists last season and will likely give the team a boost of experience and intelligence on the floor. Nash is used to an upbeat style of play from his days in Dallas and the Suns are one of the few teams in the league with the personnel to play a similar way. The team lost free agent Antonio McDyess to Detroit but countered that by luring away Quentin Richardson from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns had the seventh pick in the draft this season but really weren’t interested in it after all of their activity in free agency. The team drafted Luol Deng, a small forward out of Duke University, and promptly shipped him to Chicago for Jackson Vroman, $3 million, and a future first round pick. Vroman is an active forward that will fill in for Stoudamire at times and he should be a good fit for the system the Suns like to run. The future first round pick could also work out in favor of the Suns if the Bulls continue their run of inconsistent play in the next few years. The pick for the Suns will likely be a lottery pick and with the lack of talent in this year’s draft, the team felt the cash and a future pick would work better for them.

The Phoenix Suns will continue to play their games out of the Pacific division but this year, things are slightly different after the NBA’s realignment. The team is no longer in the same division as the Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle SuperSonics but they’ll still have to worry about the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Golden State Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings. The Kings and Lakers are likely to run away with the division but if the Suns can take care of business against teams like the Clippers and Warriors, they’ll contend for a playoff spot once again. The team will likely start Steve Nash at point guard with Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson sharing time at the shooting guard position. Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudamire will once again play small forward and power forward with Jake Voskuhl getting most of the playing time at center. The Suns will be one of the deeper teams in the league and that will help in the case of injury and lessening the fatigue the starters will feel later in the season. The team could also use one of the players as trade bait to made a big pickup late in the season to help with the playoff push.

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