Bernucca: Suns’ Epilogue on Dragic is Self-Serving Spin

There was a lot of shade in the Valley of the Sun this week.

It all started with Goran Dragic, who is far from blameless in this mess. But because the Phoenix Suns sent Dragic packing in a trade, president Lon Babby and GM Ryan McDonough got to write the epilogue and spin it in intelligence-insulting fashion.

Dragic is an unrestricted free agent this summer. At 28, it’s his first and last chance at a max contract. And while the idea of giving Goran Dragic $100 million over five years may seem laughable – regardless of the pending influx of TV money – he has to go for it.

Sharing point guard duties with Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas didn’t seem like the best path to a max deal. So Dragic asked for a trade with harsh words and veiled ultimatums, saying he didn’t trust the Suns’ organization anymore and wanted to play in New York, Los Angeles or Miami.

“Sometimes, players get a little selfish and are more worried about I, me and my than us, our and we,” McDonough said.

McDonough believes he is building a championship culture in Phoenix, and he may be doing just that. He has had many more hits than misses since taking the job two years ago. But unless his three huge trades Thursday somehow produce two months of magic, the Suns are headed to the lottery for the fifth straight year.

Dragic has been to the playoffs once in six seasons, and his role was reduced this season. As he said, it is no fun standing in the corner waiting for a pass that may or may not come that being the director of the offense. Can you blame him for wanting to move on from that?

Once a prominent agent himself, Babby somewhat fairly categorized Dragic’s comments as “unfair and unwarranted.” I will never understand players who want a trade making their desires public. Go to management and politely inform them that you would like to be elsewhere. If you are asked about it, inform the media that it is none of their business. With that approach, most smart GMs will try to accommodate you.

But at Friday’s news conference, a day after the slumping Suns made three trades that entirely overhauled their roster, Babby and McDonough had some unfair and unwarranted comments of their own.

Dragic was upset that the Suns acquired Bledsoe and Thomas after he had become entrenched as the starting point guard, which Steve Nash had turned into a position of royalty in the Valley of the Sun. Babby responded by saying, “If some of those moves ruffle Goran’s feathers, so be it.”

But those moves didn’t exactly elevate the Suns to the next tier in the unforgiving Western Conference. Yes, there were times when playing all three guards together was effective and presented matchup problems for opponents. But if overloading the lineup with floor generals was such a brilliant idea, why did the Suns trade three of the four point guards on their roster at the deadline? Remember, the Suns drafted Tyler Ennis while they had Dragic and Bledsoe, then signed Thomas in free agency.

From the get go, it never make all that much sense..

McDonough also scoffed at the notion that the Suns had traded their best player, a sentiment expressed by both the media and the fan base.

“Our response to that, I think, is that Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris are still in Phoenix Suns uniforms,” he said.

First of all, that’s somewhat self-serving, given that Bledsoe and Morris were the recipients the last time the franchise decided to give out huge chunks of money. And in Bledsoe’s case, it’s a bit disingenuous as well, because McDonough played chicken with Bledsoe all summer before finally realizing that he was worth a max contract.

Second of all, you can easily make the case that Dragic was Phoenix’s best player. He nearly made the All-Star team last season, when he was the NBA’s Most Improved Player. He has a solid international resume and performed well in his only trip to the playoffs in 2010, lighting up San Antonio for 25 points in a fourth quarter.

It’s certainly easy to expect Bledsoe and Morris – both just 25 – to grow into their contract extensions and become better players, perhaps even All-Stars. But if McDonough has assembled a team where those two are his best players, that is his biggest problem.

How do Bledsoe and Morris stack up against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant? Chris Paul and Blake Griffin? Damian
Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge? Tony Parker and Tim Duncan? As a guard-forward combo right now, they even come up short compared to Rajon Rondo and Dirk Nowitzki or Tyreke Evans and Anthony Davis. And that’s just in the West.

The Suns got back more than a bag of hammers Thursday. Sending Thomas to Boston landed a first-round pick and the expiring deal of Marcus Thornton. Sending Dragic to Miami secured two first-round picks, including one without protection. And they also snared Brandon Knight from Milwaukee, who plays – yup – point guard.

Knight had been an average player until this season, when he came into his own under Jason Kidd and developed into a borderline All-Star. McDonough also had another self-serving statement in assessing his acquisition.

“We feel like we got the best player in the trade, coming or going,” he said.

If you want to debate the merits of Dragic vs. Knight, knock yourself out. Over several seasons, Dragic has been better. This season, Knight has been better. But it is a classic case of trading sideways, in more ways than one.

Dragic could have opted out of his contract and commanded a max deal on the open market. But the same can be said for Knight, who has the caveat of restricted free agency. It is a point guard league, and there are more than a few teams that might go all in on Knight, who is just 23. After maxing out Bledsoe, can McDonough convince owner Robert Sarver to do the same with Knight?

Knight and his Bucks teammates were truly stunned by the trade. They were having fun in Milwaukee, where the Bucks were replicating what the Suns did a season ago. He now has two months in a new city before he has to make the biggest decision of his life.

After his Suns debut in Saturday’s loss to Chicago, he spoke fondly of his situation with the Bucks, saying, “I think the team was in the mud and I think I was a big part of why we got out of the mud. I think I was a big part of that. It’s time for me to move on and not talk about the Bucks anymore.”

Does that sound like someone who’s excited about coming to Phoenix?

And Knight cost the Suns the Lakers’ first-round pick, which was the one asset that could have landed the true star they so desperately need to climb to the next tier. It now belongs to Philadelphia, where Sam Hinkie is either a mad scientist or a mad genius — with Sheridan chiming in rather forcefully on the latter perspective.

Here’s the truth about the Suns. However unexpectedly magical last season was, it didn’t secure a playoff berth. McDonough had three first-round picks in last year’s draft and could not parlay them into a higher pick or an established veteran. And he went after speed in free agency, when what the team really needed was size.

Phoenix started the season with a roster devoid of veteran influence. When things didn’t immediately click, their immaturity showed, with players challenging Jeff Hornacek and the coach responding by benching those who picked up technical fouls. Three point guards was a nice novelty but certainly not a game-changer. And seeing the postseason slip away for a second straight year – the Suns have lost four in a row and seven of eight – management panicked and hit the reset button, hard and often.

Then they wrapped up the whole thing and hung it around Dragic’s neck.

Back to the drawing board, Ryan. See you at the draft lottery.

TRIVIA: Just six teams have not made a trade since the start of the season. Who are they? Answer below.

THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: For Friday’s shootaround at the apparently unheated Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the Pacers were forced to wear hoodies and wool caps to stay warm.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, throwing some shade at now former teammate Reggie Jackson:

“We felt like everybody wanted to be here except for one guy.”

TANKS A LOT!: On Thursday, the Sixers landed the Lakers’ 2015 first-round pick, which has 1-5 protection. In the race for the worst record, the Lakers are fourth and unlikely to dip below fifth because the only downward trending teams that can catch them are Orlando (two games behind in the loss column) and Denver (six games). However, if the Lakers drop one spot to fifth, that would mean the Sixers need just one team to crash the top three picks and give them two of the top six selections.

LINE OF THE WEEK: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City vs. Denver, Feb. 22: 27 minutes, 8-12 FGs, 2-3 3-pointers, 3-5 FTs, eight rebounds, 17 assists, two turnovers, 21 points in a 119-94 win. With Kevin Durant again sidelined, Westbrook posted a career high in assists. In the first half, he had 12 assists and no turnovers. He sat down for good with three minutes left in the third quarter and – according to Elias – joined Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history with 20-15-5 in less than 30 minutes. The only thing he did wrong was miss a free throw, ending his streak at 45.

LINE OF THE WEAK: Derrick Rose, Chicago at Detroit, Feb. 20: 31 minutes, 2-9 FGs, 0-3 3-pointers, 4-4 FTs, two rebounds, two assists, one block, zero steals, six turnovers, eight points in a 100-91 loss. This wasn’t one of Rose’s better games. To make matters worse, he was outplayed at the point by Pistons rookie Spencer Dinwiddie, who was making his first career start and had season highs of 12 points, nine assists and three steals.

TRILLION WATCH: It was a short week of games, which left us very short on trillions. Suns guard Reggie Bullock and Warriors guard Brandon Rush had 2 trillions Friday and Raptors center Greg Steimsma did the same Saturday. But the best non-effort of the week came from Blazers guard Allen Crabbe, who had a 3 trillion Friday at Utah.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Golden State at Cleveland, Feb. 26. A really good one on TNT. When the teams met in Oakland on Jan. 9, the Warriors pulled away late for a 112-94 win. But LeBron James did not play and Timofey Mozgov, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert had just been acquired by the Cavaliers. Since then, however, Cleveland is 16-4, slightly better than Golden State’s 14-5.

GAME OF THE WEAK: LA Lakers at Utah, Feb. 25. Maybe point guards Jeremy Lin and Trey Burke can compare notes on what it’s like to be benched in favor of a rookie.

TWO MINUTES: It’s really remarkable that LeBron James has passed Allen Iverson on the all-time scoring list when you consider that Iverson had a seven-year head start, won three of his four scoring titles in that time and still was averaging better than 26 points per game as late as the 2007-08 season, James’ fifth in the NBA. James is such a complete player that we really don’t think of him as a scorer per se. But he is just 30, shows no signs of slowing down and will be in the top 20 all-time by the end of this season. … The Raptors are 3-1 against the Hawks, who haven’t lost to any other team more than once. … Just when it looked like the Thunder had gained total control of the final playoff spot in the West, Kevin Durant needed another procedure on his surgically repaired right foot, throwing the slumping Suns and the banged-up Pelicans another lifeline. GM Sam Presti had a somewhat cryptic line in a team statement, saying “(Durant) is expected to be re-evaluated within a week to determine when he will return this regular season.” That’s a roundabout way of saying the reigning MVP is out indefinitely. … When Golden State lit up San Antonio for 17 3-pointers in Friday’s win, it was the most threes ever allowed by a team coached by Gregg Popovich. … For a garage sale, the Nuggets didn’t do badly at all Thursday. Their surplus of first-round picks allowed them to get out from under the ridiculous contract of JaVale McGee, who also may have also been poisoning the locker room. They have two extra first-round picks over the next two drafts and can be a player in either of the next two free agent markets. In the meantime, they will be awful and should find out what they have in Gary Harris and Joffrey Lauvergne. … The Hornets have shot above 50 percent from the field a grand total of twice this season, lowest in the NBA. They are the worst 3-point shooting team in the league and only Philadelphia is worse overall. … On Dec. 29, the Wizards beat the Rockets to improve to 22-8, tied with Atlanta for second in the East. They are just 11-15 since and just one game in the loss column ahead of the sixth-place Bucks. We detailed some of Washington’s issues a couple of weeks ago, but here’s what coach Randy Wittman said after Sunday’s loss at Detroit: “We don’t have guys that will put the ball on the floor and attack the rim, get cheap fouls and get to the free-throw line. We continually took contested shots. That hurt us. It’s the little things. It’s that snowball effect. It’s the little things that add up to big things. They continue to get bigger and bigger as we speak.” Added center Marcin Gortat, “We’ve lost our edge.” … If Miami somehow make the playoffs, it will be on the backs of the New York teams. The Heat are a combined 6-0 against the Knicks and Nets and an awful 17-31 against all others. … On Friday, Sixers guard Jason Richardson took the court for the first time since Jan. 18, 2013, a span of more than two years. Despite languishing on the roster of a team that has no intention of moving forward with him, Richardson worked his way back from surgery to repair a hole in his knee cartilage and deserves some credit for his determination. He had seven points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes in his return. “It was extra special,” he said. “Going through what I’ve been through the last two years, not knowing if I was ever going to play basketball again — this is special. It was an amazing experience.”

Trivia Answer: Chicago, Golden State, Indiana, the LA Lakers, Orlando and San Antonio. … Happy 20th Birthday, Andrew Wiggins. … Why doesn’t Sam Hinkie just sign the whole Rio Grande Valley Vipers team?

Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Mondays during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.