It was all smiles in Los Angeles when news broke out that the Lakers traded for future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash. The Lakers finally got an elite point guard to go alongside Steve Nash and everyone expected great things from the purple-and-gold.
However, on the other side of the deal, there wasn’t too much sunshine. The Phoenix Suns did agree to the trade with the Lakers, but they were still not thrilled to lose their long-time superstar. The Suns were once a championship quality team with Nash, but that era came to an end this summer. if not sooner.
Phoenix got several draft picks in the Nash deal and also added nice pieces in separate transactions. Although no one expects the Suns to make the post-season in 2013, Yahoo! Sports writes that coach Alvin Gentry is taking small steps in order to get the Suns back to relativity.
”We’re not trying to chase the Lakers right now,” Gentry acknowledged at the team’s media day on Monday. ”We’re trying to re-establish what we’re going to be and the culture of our team for years to come, and it will start on Tuesday.”
”I believe that we’re going to compete every night and play hard, and I believe we’re going to play unselfishly,” Gentry said. ”Whatever that brings, that’s what we’ll accept.”
The Suns’ two biggest acquisitions this summer were Goran Dragic and Michael Beasley. Even though neither player is on Nash’s level, they can certainly help the Suns win games. They may not be All-Star caliber players, but the front-office will have something to look forward to in the future.
