There won't be any books written about the 2008-09 Suns, but there were enough plot twists to make for a darn good read. Unfortunately, it was more mystery than adventure.
From the moment Terry Porter took over for Mike D'Antoni last May, the Suns groped in the dark for cohesion and identity. And by the time he was fired at the All-Star break, the only light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train that sent a team that talked championship before the season home after just 82 games. It's a good bet that Alvin Gentry -- who pulled the Suns together and reinstated their high-scoring ways after the All-Star break -- will shed his interim label and return as Phoenix's coach. That's because he deserves the opportunity after being passed over for Porter last summer and he'll come much cheaper than the other possibilities.
The chance that the "Big Three" of Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire will return next year is remote -- due to both finance and chemistry issues. And while management has made it clear that Nash will return, getting fair value for either O'Neal ($20 million against the cap) or Stoudemire (coming off a disappointing and injury-plagued season) might be difficult.
The bench stepped forward under Gentry, and it's a good bet that Louis Amundson, Leandro Barbosa, Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley and Robin Lopez will all return to their roles next season. The future is less clear for Matt Barnes, who was disappointing and is a free-agent-to-be, and Jason Richardson,- who came from Charlotte in the Raja Bell/Boris Diaw trade and struggled both on and off (two brushes with the law) the court.
SEASON HIGHLIGHT: Personally, Shaquille O'Neal moved into the top five in all-time NBA scoring and Steve Nash reached the top 10 in assists. After failing to win more than three games in a row all season, the Suns ripped off six straight wins in March to make things interesting. But the hole they dug was too deep to crawl out of.
TURNING POINT: Two stints did in the Suns: the 1-5 swoon in January that wound up costing Porter his job and a six-game losing streak in early March that pushed the Suns to ninth in an eight-team race. The Suns had avoided losing streaks consistently during the Steve Nash era, but they couldn't sidestep them this time.
