Phoenix Suns: Lance Blanks Out As GM, Who’s Next?

On Monday, April 22, the Phoenix Suns officially announced the firing of Lance Blanks as general manager. It wasn’t a surprising move, nor was it foolish. The Suns wanted to change the culture when they brought him in back in 2010 and they have. Unfortunately, it’s been for the worst. The Suns went 40-42 in his first season to just 25-57 this season. Is Blanks the last to go and who could replace him?

Lindsey Hunter is in a tough spot right now. Photo Credit: Michael Dunlap, HoopsHabit.com

The Suns have a unique structure, where owner Robert Sarver and president of basketball operations Lon Babby have a lot of say over who is brought in. In fact, the two best moves (bringing in Luis Scola and Goran Dragic), were Sarver’s. Perhaps that’s because Blanks was a first-time general manager and they didn’t completely trust him.

The next domino to fall would likely be interim head coach Lindsey Hunter. Unfortunately for Hunter supporters, it looks like the Suns are going to address the general manager position before dealing with Hunter. A big draw for a GM would be the ability to bring in his own coach.

Let’s not forget, it was Blanks who brought in Hunter as interim head coach in the middle of the 2012-13 season. Assistants Elston Turner and Dan Majerle felt they deserved the job and would have been the best candidates. They may not have quit had Blanks met with them instead of the faux pas of letting them know over the phone.

But, there’s an entire department responsible for public relations. Blanks’ job was to create a winning roster and bring in a coaching staff to bring the Suns back to the NBA Finals.

Instead, Blanks put his faith in Michael Beasley and draft picks Markieff Morris and Kendall Marshall. The Marshall pick doesn’t look that bad as there weren’t any gems behind him, but the Morris pick looks worse and worse as time goes by.

Drafted behind Morris in that 2011 draft were Kawhi Leonard, Kenneth Faried, Jimmy Butler and Chandler Parsons. The Suns would be elated to have any of them on the team.

The Steve Nash trade brought in a lot of assets in the form of draft picks, but with that kind of draft history, is that a good thing? Look at the team’s draft picks over the last nine years:

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/23/2013.

We are talking about the team that drafted Rajon Rondo in 2006 and Luol Deng in 2004, yet felt neither of them had what it takes to succeed in the league.

Back to the original question, who should replace Blanks?

If the Suns want to make a splash, they’d bring in Charles Barkley. The problem is, what credentials does Barkley have? Yes, he’s opinionated, but so am I. Barkley would be a natural fit as a Phoenix resident and former player and he certainly has a lot of credibility on an individual level with players as a former star.

Another less sexy, but excellent, option being thrown around is Grant Hill. For those of you too young to remember, Hill was putting up LeBron James numbers early in his career. From the 1995-96 season through the 1999-00 season, Hill averaged 21.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

Again, you have the issue of experience. Hill would probably beat Barkley in an aptitude test, but we’re not looking for brain surgeons. We’re looking for basketball minds who can create a team to compete in the NBA.

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic mentioned a few other lesser known names like former Suns player and current broadcaster Eddie Johnson and former GM’s David Morway and Mark Warkentien.

Regardless of who comes in, there needs to be a bit of understanding from the players, management and the fans. This ship has many holes in it that need to be shored up before taking another journey into the deep waters. This won’t be a one-year turnaround. Could the Suns return to the playoffs in two or three years? Absolutely. But, don’t expect miracles this year regardless of who takes over.