Steve Jones

When Steve Kerr took over as the Suns general manager in June of 2007 he set his mind to strengthening the team, which already was quite strong having made the Western Conference finals in 2005 and 2006 and the conference semifinals in the spring in which he was hired.

His goal is to bring Phoenix its first NBA title and he’s been anything but shy about plotting a course to do so. For Kerr, risks can bring the ultimate reward – the one where championship rings get ordered.

Kerr took his first real risk after just over seven months on the job when on Feb. 6 he brought Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns by trading Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Heat. By getting O’Neal, Kerr believed he had solved the problem of the Suns for so long being undersized at center.

Last season’s short sampling of O’Neal in Phoenix produced a 17-11 regular-season record and a disappointingly quick first-round playoff loss to the Spurs. If Kerr had any doubts over whether Suns coach Mike D’Antoni, whose up-tempo style of play had made his team the most exciting watch in the NBA, could figure out a way to mesh O’Neal into a recipe for a championship, the Suns’ cameo exit from the playoffs could have served to increase those doubts.

We’re just not sure how well O’Neal playing for D’Antoni would have worked out since after last season differences developed between D’Antoni and Suns owner Robert Sarver. Those differences were great enough that despite four great years behind the Phoenix bench, D’Antoni departed and Terry Porter was hired as his replacement.

So now it’s up to Porter to get the most out of O’Neal but remember that in Miami he was playing at a snail’s pace. It was going to take him some time to adjust to D’Antoni’s mantra of playing fast and playing quick. O’Neal knew to be any kind of a force he would have to get quicker. He needed a whole offseason of conditioning to be able to be a guy who could constantly play at pace. So he went to work on that and the results are there as he’s quicker and in better shape this season than he was when dealt to Phoenix 10 months ago.

Porter’s got other issues on his plate as well. Kerr rolled big-time dice for a second time on Dec. 10 when he dealt Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary to the Bobcats for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round pick. That left Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire as the only Suns who played more than one year for D’Antoni.

The deal was somewhat of a stunner. Kerr said he did it to not only add Richardson’s scoring but also his athleticism. While some have questioned Kerr on the trade, if I’m Kerr I make the deal. By getting Richardson, the Suns added an explosive offensive weapon at shooting guard – something they didn’t have in Bell. Richardson will likely give Phoenix double the scoring from the position and he’ll get more rebounds and dish out more assists than Bell.

Also, while Bell is a very intense defender who can make open shots, he’s reached his ceiling after nine years in the league. He’s not going to get any better. In his eighth NBA season, Richardson still has room to improve but he’ll have to realize he must make up for at least some of the defense Bell provided and he can do that because he’s a decent defender. With Diaw the Suns never quite knew what they would get in a given game and after the team gave him a new contract his gut got bigger and his presence in the weight room lessened.

With Richardson entrenched with the first unit, Barbosa, the 2006-07 NBA Sixth Man Award winner, will be the guy who gives the Suns the juice off the bench. The offseason acquisition of Matt Barnes provides versatility as he can produce good defense from the perimeter and also some offense from outside.

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Kerr and Porter believe for the Suns to be successful in the playoffs, they must be able to run a half-court offense. That’s Porter’s main mission but he also has begun to give the green light for his team to more frequently revisit the up-tempo philosophy that was D’Antoni’s mandate. Porter knows he can’t restrict his two best players, Nash and Stoudemire, to playing too much of a walk-up-the-floor game that their talents are restricted. As often as possible those two have to have some room to work and O’Neal has to figure into the overall offensive game plan as well.

Porter has a tough task in front of him but Phoenix will still be among the highest scoring teams in the league. With a starting lineup of Stoudemire, Grant Hill, O’Neal, Richardson and Nash, the Suns have a lot of firepower. Sure the offense won’t be as prolific as it was under D’Antoni but defensively Porter has the Suns improved, even though it’s a marginal improvement at this point.

So at times it will be a go mode and at times a slow mode for Phoenix. Expect more of a go mode though as with how his roster is now set, figure Porter to move to a more open style of play. He’ll still stress half-court execution but he knows that if he has this group playing too much of that style, he reduces its effectiveness.

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