Robert Sarver is a genius

[MaryvalesFinest]

Read on before you flame me...

We can pretty much all agree he made some bad decisions but what owner doesn't? Now the thing where I differ from most people is that I don't think he's a bad owner or worse than alot of people say he is, what he's actually doing makes alot of sense.

From all the rumors and rumblings it's clear he wants to wait after the new CBA is established before
he spends any cash, some people agree, some disagree but here me out though because this all makes sense...

First with Amare, some people want to see him signed, some want to see him walk. Either way some people will be dissapointed but would it be better to have a down season and not have the burden of an over 100M deal for the next half decade for a player who's contract is uninsurable, has knee problems, and plays one side of the court or would signing him to that deal really be a good idea for the future due to the new CBA?

Alot of people want him to spend this summer to get an Amare replacement when he walks or give Frye a long term deal but think about it, any deal that's given out this summer by any team is bound to look bad once the new CBA kicks in and most of these contracts would be overpaying. Would one extra good year be worth giving a bad contract a team is stuck with for the next half decade? I don't think so. Look at these past few years when teams rushed out to spend cash in free agency like the 76ers and Pistons, how'd that exactly work out for them?

Now onto Kerr and Griffin while some people are dissapointed with those losses, it's an arguable issue. Some people are glad they are gone while some people are dissapointed. One of the things Sarver said was important though was the new GM understanding the new CBA which is probably the most important thing right now. The hire will most likely be based off that and he will share the same vision of looking past the new CBA, not before.

In 2012, Nash's contract along with Barbosa, coach Gentry and the assistants all come off the books. So by that time the new GM would have been here for two years and have experience before and after the CBA. the Suns would have a ton of capspace due to not spending money before the old CBA and would either be able to keep or change the coaching staff to accomodate their new personell of players.

So while this might be a tough one or two years, think about after the CBA and how well they will be set up in the future of the NBA instead of being burdend by bad contracts that are unmoveable

[JMac1]

You are not, because it is spelled genius

[hunterxaz]

Waiting for the new CBA is counterproductive to what he wants: to earn money for the organization. I'm sure he's already lost a lot of fans. Losing Amar'e would drop attendance at games.

[lilfishi22]

Waiting for the new CBA is counterproductive to what he wants: to earn money for the organization. I'm sure he's already lost a lot of fans. Losing Amar'e would drop attendance at games.

I had considered the possibility that Sarver wanted to keep Amare even if it costed max but Kerr didn't think he was worth it and would severely hurt our flexibility going into the future.

I thought that Sarver wanted to keep Amare only to keep attendance up and sell merchandise

[Fo-Real]

No, loseing Nash, or hill would lose fans. Loseing a guy and replacing him with someone who hustles, dives for balls, and playes his @$$ off no matter what side of the floor, and genually seems happy to do it, can put butts in the seats. On the court at times Amare was awsome... and at times he looks flat dis-interested!!! Off the court he looked like a friggin spoiled "pay me, im great diva" riding arround in his maybach talkin bout how tough life is. He talkes about respect, what he thinks is respect is max money. We fans talk about players giving respect, what we are talking about is a flat out fighting spirit, hustle, and being willing to do whatever it takes for your team to win, people suggest to amare what to do the win, did he try his damndest to do it, every once in a while. I tell my son that if Amare had Dudleys, or Lou's drive, he could be the best in the game. At the same time i tell him that if either of those 2 guys had Amares god given athletisisim or talent the story would be vise versa. Let him go, find someone who fits the bill.

[MaryvalesFinest]

You are not, because it is spelled genius

[MaryvalesFinest]

Waiting for the new CBA is counterproductive to what he wants: to earn money for the organization. I'm sure he's already lost a lot of fans. Losing Amar'e would drop attendance at games.

Amare no, Nash yes. As long as Nash on this team people are still going to be buying tickets, may not sell out every game but the arena will be almost full every game.

[Calvin Klein]

I kind of agree about not spending any money unless it's really worth it. I don't think giving Lee or someone like him the money he wants would be good. If Amare walks, we might just wait until someone worthy of spending money on is available.

[LukasBMW]

I agree with Maryvale…to some extent:

Signing Amare to a max…or event CLOSE to max deal would be a mistake. The guy does not rebound like he should, makes no effort to box out, and can’t play defense. He’s also a complete idiot with a low Basketball IQ that causes problems/drama. Add in his injury prone knees and I pity the fool that DOES give him a max contract.

While it may hurt, we really should not spend any money until the new CBA is formed. Chances are we are going to look at another UGLY lockout if the NBA really lost $400 million this year.

The correct move will be to maintain flexibility for the future.

I’m neutral on losing Kerr. I’m not sure if we have him or D’Antoni to blame for the Shaq/KT trades and selling draft picks, but those moves were inexcusable. The only negatives to Kerr leaving is it looks bad for our franchise and leaves us completely unprepared for the draft…even if we don’t have a 1st round pick.

I know some of you argue that we are THIS close to winning a title and should keep the team together…but I’d argue that losing Amare won’t be a big deal. ESPECIALLY if we replace him with one or two young 4 or 5’s and give them the opportunity to thrive in our system. If we can replace Amare’s 24/8 with one or two 15/10 guys who actually play defense, box out, and give 100% better, we may be a BETTER team. Look what Nash and our system has done for so many players! Rather then re-sign Amare, let’s take a chance and pick up 2 athletic 4 or 5’s and see what happens.

[thamadkant]

I posted the same concept on the off-season thread and on another forum.

Sarver is one of the GMs that is heavily supporting revision of the CBA, I read somewhere about a month ago.

When you look at the situations... Suns are at a cross roads and its a good time to re-make a new core based on the new CBA.

Stoudemire at 120+ Million for the next 6 seasons will definitely cripple the Suns if the new CBA proposed by GMs goes through.... I dont want the same situation that happened to Timberwolves with Garnett to happen in Phoenix... where a player takes a HUGE percentage of the salary and it just limits who you can surround him with... considering prime KG is probably the league's best and most versatile defender and a good offensive player too..... Stoudemire is just a scoring machine....

[ma_falaa_50]

I think Sarver doesnt really take into account the morale. I dont care if Amare leaves - I care about the type of ppl that are working around this club. I think if Kerr is gone, Griff is gone, whose next? Aaron Nelson??

u want to talk about running an NBa like its similar to running a bank. In the NBa If you do ur job well someone will pay you to work for them which is not really the case outside of the NBa. Sarver doesnt get that. you can say that sarver is a "genius" but his reputation as a cheapskate and a backstabber does not make the franchise a great draw with great players. this is what is the end game. he can save all the money- he can manage it like a bank but fact is No player or good GM is going to come here!!

ppl talk and sarver is doing more harm than good!!

[arizonatribe]

Well argued point. Patience and viewing the big picture is a tough thing to ask of fans and whether we all want to hear it or not the new CBA is a big deal looming on the horizon.

I don't think the Suns get better if Amare walks (at least not immediately) but I don't want to see that guy inked to the max. Maybe this has a little to do with the fact that he closed the playoffs with back-to-back 4 rebound games (throughout the playoffs 581 mins played and 106 boards pulled down) while Frye finished the playoffs with back-to-back double-digit rebound games (throughout the playoffs 435 mins played and 90 boards pulled down).

I also don't think Amare accepts enough of the responsibility for his team's losses and seems so sensitive to any criticism he gets from fans or critics. When Frye had bad games in the playoffs he was quick to accept the responsibility and assure fans he was going to do everything he could to fix the problem while Amare deflected blame and hinted at "how dare you question my dedication". I just don't think this is our franchise player and I'm willing to suffer a few years of waiting for that guy while we retool with inexpensive role players.

Personally I think Amare (and any player in Amare's situation for that matter) is being selfish if he's gonna hold out for the max considering his history of health issues and uninsurable knees. He may think he's just lobbying for the best payday possible for him and his family and only hurting the super-rich not-well-liked owner, but it's us that he's hurting.

If Amare goes down with another knee injury (what is it they say about surgically repaired knees like his, they have about a 5yr timeframe before you have to get them repaired again?), he may be sitting at home all year relieved that he's financially secure (regardless if he's working hard at rehabbing), but it's us fans that are going to be suffering for awhile as our team is financially shackled and unable to make basketball moves. Amare's already taken over $20 million to sit at home and not play basketball if you combine the entire 05-06 year and the latter half of last year he sat out due to injury, so why does he feel inclined to milk the max from his boss?

First and foremost Amare is trying to take care of himself and his family even if that comes at the price of the enjoyment and happiness of the fans that directly/indirectly pay his salary by supporting him and his team. And sometime in the next couple years we the fans are likely going to have to pay the price again if Sarver inks him to the max.

[MaryvalesFinest]

I think Sarver doesnt really take into account the morale. I dont care if Amare leaves - I care about the type of ppl that are working around this club. I think if Kerr is gone, Griff is gone, whose next? Aaron Nelson??

u want to talk about running an NBa like its similar to running a bank. In the NBa If you do ur job well someone will pay you to work for them which is not really the case outside of the NBa. Sarver doesnt get that. you can say that sarver is a "genius" but his reputation as a cheapskate and a backstabber does not make the franchise a great draw with great players. this is what is the end game. he can save all the money- he can manage it like a bank but fact is No player or good GM is going to come here!!

ppl talk and sarver is doing more harm than good!!

Disagree, while it may not be like the Colangelo handshake days players will always want to come here/be drafted here for what the city has to offer. It's not like it's some midwest city that snows all winter, players want to be sitting by a pool sipping a margarita on a 70 degree December day than shoveling 10 inches of snow, no need to worry about that

[grumpysaddle]

I think Sarver doesnt really take into account the morale. I dont care if Amare leaves - I care about the type of ppl that are working around this club. I think if Kerr is gone, Griff is gone, whose next? Aaron Nelson??

u want to talk about running an NBa like its similar to running a bank. In the NBa If you do ur job well someone will pay you to work for them which is not really the case outside of the NBa. Sarver doesnt get that. you can say that sarver is a "genius" but his reputation as a cheapskate and a backstabber does not make the franchise a great draw with great players. this is what is the end game. he can save all the money- he can manage it like a bank but fact is No player or good GM is going to come here!!

ppl talk and sarver is doing more harm than good!!

Disagree, while it may not be like the Colangelo handshake days players will always want to come here/be drafted here for what the city has to offer. It's not like it's some midwest city that snows all winter, players want to be sitting by a pool sipping a margarita on a 70 degree December day than shoveling 10 inches of snow, no need to worry about that

LOL at the thought of a multimillion dollar basketball pro shoveling his own snow.

[MaryvalesFinest]

Dude it was just an example, maybe I should have said it gets so damn cold instead

[DRK]

When Amare leaves, I reckon Ill watch more games next season to see how our others play without our best scorer. Cant wait.

[JasonDaPsycho]

I agree with MVF to a certain extent.
The problem is MVF only noticed the money Sarver will save from not spending, but not the money he won't be making.

As weird as it sounds, when people watch home games of a team, the team tends to win more games. When Sarver refuses to re-sign Amar'e or even dumb enough to not find a decent replacement, fans are going to lose confidence in the team. When people don't attend home games, Sarver makes less money. Although he might have saved a few pennies here and there, I believe the overall revenue over the next decade will be a negative. It's mostly because we'll probably be on a rebuild.

Of course, we have an awesome, well-developed bench full of prospects, but they aren't exactly stars. In contrary to your beliefs (the more hardcore fans), people don't pay to watch Steve Nash and the bench, but Steve Nash running P&Rs with Amar'e Stoudemire, with the bench as the awesome supporting cast. Maybe we can find a solid replacement for Amar'e in the long run, but in the short run, money will be lost via missing fans.

However, my words should never ever be taken seriously.
Maybe fans don't like Amar'e. Who knows? But personally I would like to see him end his career in Phoenix. I won't go on full disappontment once he leaves however.

And no, he's not a genius. He's more of a money-loving banker. His legacy in Phoenix will be highly dependent on how he handles our PF position this year. Either case, we won't see the results until 2 years later.
So, whatever.

[eastsidecrossover]

A good take by MVF. Nice.

I think most fans are knee-jerk fans that dont see the whole picture or dont understand all the little things that have to fall into place. I know I dont fully undrestand it, but Sarver is not the smartest owner, he is not the worst or the cheapest either. Im not going to call him a geniuslknelks or however Mary spells it. But I do think as an owner, you have to think of the new CBA and put your orginization in position to take advantage of it.

with Amare, it is a lose lose situation. Eventhought I think it is better to keep him because no matter what anyone says about his health, his liabilities, this is a game of risk and chances. He still is one of the best PF's in the game. Hes not the perfect PF, but he still is so good that other teams have to respect him. If you lose him, you dont go and spend money to put butts in the seats. You have to be smart about this and commit to rebuilding. Unless you can hit a home run in FA, dont spend the money on crap or an avg player.

[RaisingArizona]

Mary is Sarver. We're all f&^!ed.

[garrick]

Donald Stirling is also a financial genius, just because Sarver makes a lot of money doesn't make him a good owner.