# Steve Kerr will not return; VP Griffin gone too



## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Wow, this is pretty shocking. I had thought he'd be a sure thing to return. Only to see his vision further. Things didn't start off too well but as we've seen lately he turned it around with Jrich/Duds trade, drafting of Lopez and Dragic and hiring of Gentry. 




> Steve Kerr will not return as president of basketball operations and general manager of the Phoenix Suns.
> 
> Kerr's contract expires June 30 but he had been expecting and hoping to return until negotiations for his contract and an opportunity to return to television as a NBA commentator prompted him to leave the organization after three years as its GM. Kerr could not be reached for comment.
> 
> ...


http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...-kerr-quits-phoenix-suns-general-manager.html


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Wow. Any idea who would replace him? Is Griffin going to just be promoted?


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

No idea. His contract is up too. I guess it's possible. I heard some rumblings that he was most likely to leave when it was thought that Kerr would return.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Edit seems Sarver didnt offer him a pay cut after all.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

AZ Radio guy Gambo said Kerr was offered 3 yr deal, no pay cut unlike what Woj is reporting, but opted to take TV announcing gig and be with his family more. His son is starting SR yr and plays bball.


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## MeirToTheWise (Nov 9, 2005)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Hmm, I don't think is to blame on Sarver. Either way, I'm still shocked at Kerr leaving. I thought for sure he'd go another 3 years to see how this team continued to develop. I hope it's not a sign of things to come regarding the FA's


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Time for the Barkley 3 for $2 deal! Nice! We're going to be GMed by Barkley! This is gonna be good. He's going to give everyone free food in the arena.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

God no to Barkley.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*



Organized Chaos said:


> God no to Barkley.


Sarver needs to sell tickets. Barkley is an attraction.


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## REEF_DA_CHIEF (Jun 19, 2005)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*



Hyperion said:


> Sarver needs to sell tickets. Barkley is an attraction.


Congrats on your new GM Charles Barkley. Organized chaos indeed.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Barkley's not going to become GM. People aren't gonna buy seats because of him either.

edit: And it's sounding more and more like family thing is total bull****. 



BTW REEF_DA_CHIEF, you need shorten your sig, it's way too big.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Let's hope Griffin stays on. Really strange this was to happen.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*



> Before the fulfillment and fun of the Suns' Western Conference finals season, Steve Kerr endured a more difficult first two years as Suns general manager that had him joking sometimes about how he would be golfing, surfing, hanging out with his kids and winning every week as a TNT analyst if he were not a GM.
> 
> That is the life he has chosen to reclaim in two weeks. In a startling turnabout, Kerr went from expecting and hoping to return as GM after the Suns were eliminated May 29 to announcing Tuesday that he is leaving the club.
> *
> ...



http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...100616phoenix-suns-kerr-ON.html#ixzz0r1vzlaXd


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

At some point you have to start looking at the guy in charge. Maybe Sarver should sell the team.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*



HKF said:


> At some point you have to start looking at the guy in charge. Maybe Sarver should sell the team.


For all this talk of him being cheap, the Suns are run very expensively. I respect Sarver for taking the hits publicly and not giving his side which would possibly embarrass people. 

Clearly Kerr is going to get a top spot on TV and someone who wants to be GM will get his vacancy. It is surprising, but the Suns should be fine. Sarver needs to cut the fat in the organization. If team operations budget has doubled, he needs to reign it in.

I am pretty sure Sarver is going to play conservatively for the next two years. I think he's going to back up Nash for a championship and then go into rebuilding and saving mode.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Sarver has said in the past he doesn't want to rebuild because of potential money loss and their market. He's in for a rude awakening because if he doesn't spend, the team will lose and lose money. 


But he was just on gambo and ash not too long ago. There is no timetable - they'll look everywhere and come up with a list of 20-30 names and important thing is to find the right guy. They asked if Griffin was going to be on the list and he said, "if that's what he would like, yeah." Doesn't sound like he's being considered at all.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*



Organized Chaos said:


> Sarver has said in the past he doesn't want to rebuild because of potential money loss and their market. He's in for a rude awakening because if he doesn't spend, the team will lose and lose money.
> 
> 
> But he was just on gambo and ash not too long ago. There is no timetable - they'll look everywhere and come up with a list of 20-30 names and important thing is to find the right guy. They asked if Griffin was going to be on the list and he said, "if that's what he would like, yeah." Doesn't sound like he's being considered at all.


His job is a little more secure as senior vp of team operations. 

Also, the Suns have 62mil on the books for next year INCLUDING Amare's 17.6mil PO. If he walks, the Suns would be fine IMO if he did, they would have 45mil or 8mil under the cap. That would be a drop of $30 million from this past season in player contracts. If the Suns lost $5million this past year and lost another 10 for not competeing, that's still a profit of 15 million.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Griff's contract is up. And I assume since he's going to get passed over for GM job, he gone. 

Morale of the front office is awful right now I'm hearing. And apparently, Sarver is surprised by it all.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

*Re: Steve Kerr will not return*

Very disappointing. The Suns might not have won a championship yet but they have a history of excellence in the same way that Utah has and it's just a little disconcerting to see Sarver not understand that he might be ruining this franchise (in the short term). Kerr seemed to have a plan.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

We were just starting to see Kerr's vision too. Keep the uptempo style but get players who are natural defenders. Lopez, Dragic, Earl all drafted for this. I wanted to see what he could do with a clean slate.


Griff's officially gone now.



> Suns Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin won't be selected. He told Sarver he would not apply and would not stay with the organization after his contract expires in two weeks. He is not expected to return to the Suns after working for them for 18 years


http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...00616phoenix-suns-general-manager-search.html




Ford weighs in on candidates. I know he's not reliable, but I've heard some of these elsewhere too. 




> chadfordinsider: Here's the names I've been hearing as candidates: Dennis Lindsey of the Spurs, Tom Penn of the Blazers, Tony Ronzone of the Timberwolves and David Morway of the Pacers. Of course if Kevin Pritchard wanted to get into the mix, he'd probably rise to the top. Though from the sound of things Sarver doesn't want to pay alot for his next GM


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

I'm going to submit my resume. I'm sure my expansive experience in the food industry as well as cleaning up **** in hospitals is going to help me.


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## Zei_Zao_LS (Apr 1, 2005)

If Dennis Lindsey is available I'd not mind having him roam our way. Anybody who's been under the wing of R.C. Buford is likely to have at least a good foundation of managerial skills.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

He and Tom Penn are two that I like if Pritchard is just a pipe dream. He's on his way out of Portland soon.


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## Hyperion (Dec 5, 2006)

Organized Chaos said:


> He and Tom Penn are two that I like if Pritchard is just a pipe dream. He's on his way out of Portland soon.


However, it's easy to look good with all those lotto picks and former suns picks


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

While true, he did a nice job in maneuvering too for some of those players. We might be headed down that path though and on a rebuild job we know what he can do. Penn worked closely with Pritchard, so he's next best thing if we couldn't get him.


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