The Phoenix Suns last week traded away two key players in Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas, and the team’s GM says the deals helped get rid of selfish players.
Suns GM Ryan McDonough spoke with fan blog “Bright Side of the Sun” Friday and talked about some of the team’s moves. McDonough was asked about the Suns playing “position-less” basketball, which is a reference to the team having multiple point guards on the floor.
Here’s how the exchange went:
BG: You guys have very much bought into position-less basketball, but it seems like it’s something that the players aren’t accepting of. How do you get them to buy into that?
RM: I think I disagree with the notion that not all players are not accepting of it. I think the guys accepted it very well last year and we had a lot of team success. I think this year certain players are more concerned about their contractual status or what was best for them, rather than what was best for the team. To be honest with you, that led to a lot of the moves we made yesterday.
We tried to clear out the guys who were more concerned with what they did individually, or we felt were more concerned with what they did individually than with team success. I feel like we accomplished this.
It’s hard not to read this as a direct shot at Dragic, and perhaps also to Thomas. Dragic’s representatives met with the team and told them the guard would not sign an extension with them and therefore wanted to be traded. Dragic was unhappy with the crowd of guards and having to play off the ball so much. Thomas, whom the team gave a four-year deal in the offseason, was traded to the Celtics. It’s unlikely he was unhappy with his contract since he just got a nice deal, but maybe he didn’t like his role on the team, which led the Suns to trade him.
The Suns have lost five in a row — three of which came after the deadline — including one to Thomas’ new team. They may have gotten rid of the selfish players, but they’re worse in the short term.
H/T Nate Jones
