Suns GM Says Team’s Vibe Is Better Since Trading Goran Dragic And Isaiah Thomas
The Phoenix Suns traded away two of their three dynamic point guards on last Thursday’s trade deadline – Goran Dragic was traded to the Miami Heat and Isaiah Thomas, who put 21 points on Phoenix on Monday night, was sent to the Boston Celtics.
Dragic in particular was adamant about departing from the Suns towards the trade deadline, implying he would definitely be signing elsewhere as a free agent this summer. The Suns were reportedly willing to trade Isaiah Thomas and/or Gerald Green in order to appease Dragic, but he was set to move on.
Suns GM Ryan McDonough says life is better for his team after trading both Dragic and Thomas, via Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe:
If a player makes a mistake because he’s being too aggressive on the court and playing hard, that’s fine, we can live with that,” he said. “If players don’t play as well or make mistakes because they’re being a little more selfish and not as concerned about the team success, then that’s something we have a hard time with. I think the message was pretty simple. Anybody that buys into our culture, does what it takes to win and sacrifices for the team, will be here, hopefully for a long time.
“The guys that are more worried about other things and their top priority is not winning basketball games, then we’ll get rid of them. We have no problem doing that.” …
“Despite all the changes and the turmoil, we’re two games out of the eighth spot right now. We’re going to see what we can do. Since we made the moves, the vibe around our team is better. The players have more energy. I feel good about our direction.
McDonough reacted to the trade initially by saying the Suns still have Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris on the roster, who are now the team’s best players along with newbie Brandon Knight.
The Suns went with an extremely dynamic guard core that teams had to work to defend, but the fact remains that there is only one basketball. There was a lot of playmaking between Dragic, Thomas, and Bledsoe, but if they simply didn’t enjoy playing with and for one another, gutting out that negativity can only be helpful for your team.
At the same time, while the Suns acquired Brandon Knight and Danny Granger, this team just isn’t as threatening as it was. Phoenix was in the playoff hunt, doing their best to hold off the surging Thunder. Now there’s a re-inventing process in the works with a less talented team. The Suns have been able to re-invent and reboot very well over the years, but now it seems at the cost of missing a second consecutive postseason.
