In 2004, one NBA franchise did something that many other NBA teams had either tried to do in recent memory and failed – or they were just too afraid to even dare try it. Teams in the past had done it successfully, but for the longest team prior to ’04, nobody had found the right recipe for creating one of the most entertaining offensive sets in the NBA: the run and gun.

Working on last week’s power rankings, one team’s analysis really bothered me. At one point, the Phoenix Suns were the most watched and most entertaining team in the league. They seemingly had the most televised games, and were just fun to watch. And now, they are simply put – really hard to watch. Where did this team go, or rather, how did they get there?

Phoenix – who already had a roster of Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson – signed Steve Nash, one of the biggest signings the franchise has had. Dividends paid off immediately, with Nash winning his first MVP, and then winning his second the following year.

Since then, so many teams have followed Mike D’Antoni’s system. Granted, his infamous “Seven Seconds or Less” offense was seamlessly ingrained within all Phoenix Suns players. But slowly, teams have followed the trend. The Golden State Warriors at times, put five guards on the floor. The Oklahoma City Thunder are following the same trend with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green as the nucleus, and since then, adding Russell Westbrook and now James Harden. The Washington Wizards, slowed by injuries, have the same idea with Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Deshawn Stevenson, and now…Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

Does it work though? It did, for the most part. But as many people have pointed out before me, D’Antoni’s SSOL system was easily translated to LOSS. But regardless, people are still jumping on this idea and truly believe it will pay off. So we do have to give credit to the Suns for igniting a trend that will be embedded in a guard-dominated league for years to come.

But for the Phoenix Suns, was it the coach’s system that failed…or was it the evolution of just terrible management? Let’s take a look:

Summer 2004 –

It all started with Robert Sarver, who bought the team for $401 million. Immediately, he went to work and brought in Steve Nash. Sarver, they said, was making real moves, real fast to build a contender.

This same summer, Joe Johnson was a restricted free agent and was asking for five years, $50 million. Sarver however, would not budge and was only offering $45 mil. No deal was made.

Summer 2005 –

In the playoffs, Joe Johnson’s season was cut short due to an eye injury in the Dallas Mavericks playoff series. Whether it was the absence of Johnson for the remainder of the series or lack of defense (Johnson was Phoenix’s second best defender after Marion), the Suns lost. And Johnson was to be a free agent.

But everybody in the league, Phoenix included saw Johnson’s value. His asking price this summer: $72 million. Of course Sarver declined this deal and shipped him to Atlanta in a sign and trade bringing in Boris Diaw, Royal Ivey and two future first-round draft picks (pay attention to those).

Let’s add to that. On the eve of the next season, the Suns had already had a breakout year, and Quentin Richardson broke the franchise record of most threes in a season. The starting line up that season was:

C – Amare Stoudemire
F – Shawn Marion
F – Quentin Richardson
G – Joe Johnson
G – Steve Nash

6th Man – Leandro Barbosa

They already moved Joe Johnson, and got Diaw. They figured they needed more size, so they traded away more shooting in Richardson and their one draft pick (Nate Robinson) to New York for Kurt Thomas.

Summer 2006 –

Another ugly end to a season filled with hope for next season continued. This time around, they had a draft pick given to them by Atlanta, and they drafted Kentucky’s starting point guard, Rajon Rondo. In the two summers previously, we’ve already seen Sarver and the Suns Management team shed off salary cap by getting rid of draft picks and refusing to sign Johnson to a big contract. The Suns also had Brian Grant’s huge contract on the books, so they traded Grant and Rondo to Boston for a future first rounder.

Summer 2007 –

We already know how the seasons end for Phoenix, but now let’s look at the 2007 NBA Draft. With another pick gifted to them, Phoenix drafts Rudy Fernandez, one of the top international players in the draft. Being a rookie, he was guaranteed a $4 million first year.

The Suns sent him to Portland for James Jones and cash, while Fernandez is thriving in Nate McMillan’s uptempo offense. Wait, that sounds familiar.

After these dreadful summers, the Suns went on to completely eradicate any motion to keep the uptempo offense by getting rid of Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks (and ill-advised summed signing) for Shaquille O’Neal.

And well, we know how that story went. Shaquille O’Neal was traded for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic and half a million dollars.

It was a team that still could have had Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire as a nucleus…that turned into a team with a core of Steve Nash, Stoudemire and Marion that should have had Rondo, Nate Robinson or Fernandez as role players. Or even…Nash, Johnson, Shaq and Stoudemire.

The thoughts of what could have been are pretty unbelievable. It was a story of one team so high on trying to save money while winning, got rid of small rookie contracts to stay under the cap… that only grew desperate on the idea of winning to spend all their money on one player to try to make one last chance to win…and failing, miserably.

Or maybe it’s the fact that getting rid of Joe Johnson – a move that happened 4 years ago, is still haunting this team, while Johnson is the centerpiece of an Atlanta Hawks team that plays an offense fast-paced, uptempo…similar to well, the Phoenix Suns we once knew.

The tentative starting line-up for the Suns this year:

C – Amre Stoudemire
F – Channing Fye
F – Grant Hill
G – Jason Richardson
G – Steve Nash

6th Man – Leandro Barbosa

Oh, what could have been.

a/