Report: Kerr's Future Uncertain?

[The Diesel]

Hey guys,

There is an article out today that stated that Steve Kerr has been hurt by all of the criticism he has received over the moves he has made and might not want to remain as the GM anymore.

What do you guys think about this?

I feel kind of bad for Kerr because he's a VERY likable guy and he's taken A LOT of criticism over the Shaq trade even though D'Antoni was the one who pushed for it.

What do you guys think about this report?

Here is part of it followed by the link:

Suns owner Robert Sarver told TNT Thursday night that general manager Steve Kerr’s job is “pretty safe.”

Left unsaid was whether Kerr wants to return.

Two sources close to the Suns said Kerr has been beaten down by the events of the past year, particularly the hiring and firing of close friend Terry Porter. Also, Kerr, who led a charmed life as an NBA player, has been hurt by the constant criticism of his moves, both locally and nationally.

Kerr doesn’t need the job. He can go back to TNT and Yahoo sports, where he wrote about the NBA. I wonder, too, how much the constant traveling from his home in San Diego to the Valley has worn on him. It’s hard to be a fulltime GM when you’re a part-time resident.

http://valleysports.freedomblogging.com/2009/03/13/will-kerr-stay-with-suns/

He's also taken a lot of criticism over drafting Lopez and Dragic, but both of them looked really good yesterday.

[MaryvalesFinest]

If that happens I'm guessing David Griffin will take over as GM.

[albasuna]

It's unfortunate that it went down this way, but he signed up for it and that's what he gets for some boneheaded decisions.

[BurningHeart]

Good. Screw him, let him go back to broadcasting and writing Yahoo Sports. Never deserved the job to begin with, and I knew from the day one this guy was signed that he would ruin our franchise.

Waste of time, and now we're paying for it.

[eastsidecrossover]

Thats what happens when a UofA grad runs your orgnization.

[-SDU-]

personally i dont think kerr is doing a bad job...

i completely understand the reasons behind the shaq and Jrich trades....... - now they might not have worked out but bryan colangelo stuffed up too

that said, dave griffin is a great option should kerr not be around - i would rather see kerr given a chance to continue though

[toucansma]

I have had high regard for David Griffin, but I don't know if I do as much at the moment. I wonder if most of these moves are actually him and not really Kerr. He has been around this a lot and wonder if he has been the real trigger man. I think Kerr gets too much blame, but I do disagree with many of his decisions. David probably should have as much blame as Kerr, since he has been doing this longer.

[lilfishi22]

I liked him in broadcasting better anyway.

But other than the shoddy draft picks, I think the direction he's taking is the correct one but he tried to do things too quickly. He should've let things play out in Phoenix with The Platinum Trio (D'Antoni, Nash and Amare) playing together for one more season (ie this season) and then if we don't get passed say the first round, dismantle the whole thing, trade for young talent + picks. Preferably keep Amare and build a strong defensive team around him so his defensive shortcomings are covered.

Was it Griff who made the decisions to draft Amare and Marion? Or were they made with BC?

[BurningHeart]

The guy tried bringing in a defensive philosophy by bringing in Terry Porter and kept busting nuts about defense and this and that, but all the moves he made (some forced, some not so forced) were the COMPLETE anti-thesis of what his stated desires were. How could we be a defensive team or put more emphasis on defense when you get rid of your top four defenders in the course of two years? Of course, I mean Kurt Thomas, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, and Boris Diaw.

What's the point of making those moves when you aren't getting defense back, when you're in fact bringing MORE offense (i.e. Jason Richardson)?

He had a vision but was not doing anything to fulfill his vision. THEN, he fires Porter and goes back to running and gunning, but by then, all the pieces that made run n' gun work (Diaw's mismatches, Marion's athleticism, Bell's D and spot-up shooting, Kurt Thomas' PnR ability) were gone. You're admitting failure and defeat by firing your guy (shouldn't have been hired in the first place) but you're not giving the previous style the tools to be successful.

He royally **** everything up, whether it was on his or Sarver's accord. You simply do NOT get rid of Mike D'Antoni when last year was the FIRST year we actually lost on our own merits and not because of some bull like JJ getting injured in 2005, Amare/KT/Bell being gone and playing with six guys in the WCF in 2006 and STILL taking them to six games by the way, and of course in 2007 with the bloody nose that our superstar medical staff couldn't repair, Tim Donaghy's mob game 3, and of course, the suspensions.

The bottom line is, the team has no future as of now. No vision, no draft picks, no reason for any free agent worth a damn to sign here, no reason for Amare to re-sign here, NOTHING. Sarver's losing money because of the economic crunch, and fans are going to have a hard time finding reasons to be in the seats with apparently no Nash, probably no Shaq, etc. And the problem is, it's not like it's 2002 and we have the Colangelos in power where we can say "Oh, these guys'll be fine, they've only missed the playoffs twice since 1988, they'll rebuild just fine." What the hell reason has Steve Kerr given for you to trust him to rebuild this team right?

All water under the bridge of course, but Kerr should be swimming in that water too.

[WTFsunsFTW]

I can help him pack his bags if needed.

[Go7enKs]

I volunteer to take him to the airport.

[mkot]

Kerr does have a vision for this team. He wants his team to play like the Spurs, so he made moves to build his Phoenix Spurs. I like his vision, I like how he wants this team play better defense with the high octane offense, but his great vision has yet to tranlsate into one sound basketball move. We need defense, he said he wants defense, so he moved KT for crap! Awesome, we cut $8M and had saved more cash for 2 f**king 1st round picks. We aren't build for the half court, so he pay a guy who has past his prime $22M to play 60 games. Brilliant, the team wasn't any better defensively and couldn't even make it to the 2nd round. So his next move is to cut MikeD, bring in his buddy to coach his f**kup. Great move trading two of our best defenders for JRich to fit Porter's 'system'. And what a great idea to give a second round pick who has proved nothing a 4 year guaranteed contract!

Kerr sucks. Last time I heard the dude is chilling in San Diego.

People talk about rebuilding this team, I think it starts with the ownership and management. If Kerr is gone, I hope it's not just Griffin taking over. I think Griffin played a significant role while MikeD was GM. He also helped Kerr scout players too. They should at least share some blame for all the mistakes they've made. I think he has been in the middle of everything but somehow come out unscathed.

[BurningHeart]

The problem is, with Kurt Thomas, we were a top 10 defensive team and that was good enough. We don't have to play defense all the time. And you know what? Defense was never really the problem anyway, it was closing out defensive stands by GETTING REBOUNDS. We weren't a bad defensive team per say, but we were an AWFUL rebounding team.

Now, with Shaq, we're a better rebounding team but we're a BAD defensive team because we got rid of all those players I mentioned in my previous post.

We don't need to turn into the Spurs or Rockets or Pistons. With our style, we just need to close out the stops we get. If we focus more on playing defense, our offense WILL suffer, and obviously, the offense is our strength so we shouldn't do anything to sacrifice the strength of the team. Although I guess none of this point is necessarily relevant anymore.

[Frank Lee]

The bottom line is, the team has no future as of now. No vision, no draft picks, no reason for any free agent worth a damn to sign here, no reason for Amare to re-sign here, NOTHING. Sarver's losing money because of the economic crunch, and fans are going to have a hard time finding reasons to be in the seats with apparently no Nash, probably no Shaq, etc. And the problem is, it's not like it's 2002 and we have the Colangelos in power where we can say "Oh, these guys'll be fine, they've only missed the playoffs twice since 1988, they'll rebuild just fine." What the hell reason has Steve Kerr given for you to trust him to rebuild this team right?
All water under the bridge of course, but Kerr should be swimming in that water too.

and the Award for the most realistic take on the current situation goes to.......



I think this is Kerr's job to step down from. It would be a tail tucking move. I doubt RSarver will can him, considering the Front Orfice seems to be a 3 headed monster if you include Griffin. It seems like our owner likes the 'hands on' game of owning a franchise, and truely, once again, they can look to a bad luck injury (STAT) to soften their failures.

I really don't know what to expect this off season.... and frankly speaking, I just hope these braying jackasses in the FO can keep their mouths shut on any and all moves they are thinking about. Mumm's the F-n word.

[JohnVancouver]

Hell, I'll piggy back him to the airport.

I like Kerr, he seems like a nice guy and I give him credit for not dodging blame. I liked his columns and he was a good colour announcer. He's just a lousy GM

Any chance we can kill Sarver and hide the body in Kerr's luggage?