Phoenix Suns: 5 Offseason Moves Suns Must Avoid

Lon Babby, Robert Sarver and the rest of Phoenix Suns management have a lot of decisions to make this offseason regarding the team’s future.

Whether the Suns finally embrace the rebuilding phase will depend on the decision made by Steve Nash. If the two-time MVP decides to remain with the team, management will have to try and put enough pieces around him to make this team a threat to make a run in the playoffs (assuming they actually make it there next season).

If Nash decides to pack his bags and leave for a new team with plans of winning a championship, Phoenix needs to look toward the future of the franchise by rebuilding.

Regardless of what happens with the face of the franchise, there are some offseason moves Suns management need to avoid at all costs in order to make the inevitable rebuilding phase as quick and painless as possible.

Here are five offseason moves the Phoenix Suns must avoid.

Trading Draft Picks

For years, the Phoenix Suns have displayed a plethora of boneheaded decisions on draft day.

It’s not as if the Suns have been poor at drafting quality players; it’s just that more often than not, the Suns choose to trade the players they draft.

The madness started back in 2004 when the Suns selected Luol Deng with the seventh overall pick in the draft. Instead of keeping Deng, the Suns traded him to the Chicago Bulls for a future first-round pick and the rights to Jackson Vroman. Yes, you read that correctly, Jackson Vroman.

While Phoenix did add a future first-rounder, that first-round pick in 2005 ended up being the 21st pick. So basically the Suns gave up Deng (the seventh overall pick) for the 21st overall pick the following year. That trade only makes sense in Bizarro World. (By the way, the Suns traded the No. 21 pick in 2005, Nate Robinson).

In addition to the Deng debacle, the Suns also drafted Rajon Rondo in 2006, but traded him to the Boston Celtics on draft day. As if that weren't bad enough, Phoenix threw in forward Brian Grant and cash considerations to the deal. So basically the Suns paid the Celtics to take Rondo off their hands.

If the Suns want to have any hope of returning to a respected NBA franchise, they can’t keep making these types of deals. Hindsight is 20/20 when discussing these terrible trades, but the Suns never gave these players the opportunity to prove their worth in a Suns uniform before trading them.

Markieff Morris turned out to be a step in the right direction, but hanging onto their draft picks has to be a priority for the Suns moving forward.

Re-Signing Robin Lopez

Although Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby has said that the team will match any offer extended to backup center Robin Lopez, I can’t for the life of me understand why.

Last season, Lopez averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. In his four-year career with the Suns, Lopez has never notched more than 4.8 rebounds per game in a season. As a seven-foot center, that leaves a lot to be desired.

Additionally, Lopez shot a career low 46.1 percent from the field a season ago. I understand the importance of frontcourt depth and size, but Lopez has not shown any year-to-year improvement for the Suns since his sophomore season.

When you factor in the unsettling facts that Lopez has had recurring back problems and issues controlling his anger, those are two more things working against him.

Suns management seems to think that Lopez is an important piece moving forward, but honestly, it wouldn’t be difficult to find 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks elsewhere (probably at a cheaper price). One option that comes to mind is NBA journeyman Shelden Williams.

Overpaying Role Players

After Amar’e Stoudemire left the Valley of the Sun in favor of a better contract offered in New York, Suns management decided to replace the superstar power forward with Josh Childress (five years, $33.5 million) and Hakim Warrick (four years, $18 million).

Neither of those two players have had success in Phoenix and often times don’t crack the rotation of players who actually see court time. When you’re paying your 11th and 12th men on the roster $51.5 million combined between them, you know you’re doing something wrong.

As tempting as it’s likely to be for Robert Sarver and Lon Babby to sign a bunch of role players to replace Nash if he decides to leave, they have to avoid that urge. Replacing Stoudemire with Childress and Warrick proved to be a disaster that cost the Suns a lot of money. If the Suns choose to go the same route in order to replace Nash, there’s a good chance they’ll end up regretting that decision.

The Suns have a lot of cap space at their disposal this offseason, but that doesn’t mean they should spend it just because it’s there. Outside of Nash, Deron Williams and Eric Gordon, there aren’t a lot of franchise-changing talents available in free agency this offseason.

The Suns would be smart to sit on the cap space they have now as they look toward the future and free agents who will actually make a difference in the win column.

Staying Absent in Trade Talks

Instead of looking into trading Steve Nash before the trade deadline a season ago, the Suns decided to hang onto the face of franchise and risk losing him in free agency for nothing in return (see: Amar’e Stoudemire).

Despite keeping Nash with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs, the Suns simply didn’t have enough firepower to make it back to the postseason.

Admittedly, Suns fans giving Nash a standing ovation at U.S. Airways Center to end the season would prove to be a better farewell than a newspaper headline breaking the news of a Nash trade. However, you have to wonder what the Suns could have got in return for Nash had they decided to pull the trigger on a deal.

Moving forward, the Suns can’t continue being absent when the trade deadline rolls around. If they can make a trade to improve the team, whether it’s by adding meaningful talent or opening up more cap space, management can’t be squeamish (although I can understand why they would be after trading Goran Dragic and a first-rounder for Aaron Brooks).

Blaming the Wrong People

Although this factor goes beyond this summer's offseason, it's a prevalent concern nevertheless.

There’s no question that if Steve Nash decides to leave Phoenix this offseason, the Suns are going to be a very bad team. Considering they missed the playoffs with Nash leading the charge, their win/loss record without him could be downright scary.

With that said, Suns management can’t blame the wrong people for the inevitable struggles to come. After a rough start to last season, Alvin Gentry found a way to right the ship and nearly had a very mediocre Suns team playoff-bound.

You could have made the case for Gentry winning Coach of the Year had the Suns managed to make the playoffs. Especially when you consider that the team consisted of Nash and a bunch of role players.

The bottom line is that Gentry is a great coach in the NBA. If management decides to make him the scapegoat for the team’s struggles in the future, they’ll only have another set of shoes to fill.

The Suns have had some bad coaches in the past (Frank Johnson and Terry Porter to name two), so they shouldn’t take the one that they have now for granted.