Suns notebook: Shipping Thomas a sound move

With Brian Skinner making a healthy contribution as an effective — and reasonably priced — replacement, the Suns feel confident that their decision to ship Kurt Thomas and his luxury tax-busting contract to Seattle in the offseason isn’t costing them on the court.

Phoenix regroups, digs out of 20-point hole to beat Sonics

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Skinner makes $1.1 million this year, while Thomas would have cost Phoenix $16 million in salary and taxes. But Thomas isn’t helping to make that argument stronger as he is posting a strong performance in his first — and perhaps only — season as a Sonic.

After missing nine of the first 12 games with nagging injuries and watching most of Seattle’s 2-14 start, Thomas has given the Sonics all they could ask for by grabbing 9.7 rebounds in just more than 24 minutes a game, helping the team play close to .500 ball over the past 15 games (7-8). In the past four games coming into Thursday, he had 52 rebounds — more than one out of every four the Sonics had.

That would translate to 19 boards per 48 minutes for Thomas — who has had 10 double-figure rebound games and set a career high with 16 defensive rebounds against Indiana on Nov. 30.

“I’m getting a chance to play some more and I feel good on the court,” said Thomas, who will be a free agent next season and likely on the move again. “I keep my eye on (the Suns) because there are so many good guys on the team and I had a great two years (with them). But you move on in this business and I’m trying to help my team.”

Thomas said he was surprised to hear that the Suns weren’t having as much fun this season “because I know the core guys and how well they get along. When you have a good team, the pressure does build but I thought we handled that well when I was here.”

NASH, MARION SLIPPING

It appears the Suns won’t have a starter on the West All-Star team. With just more than a week left in the paper balloting portion of the voting (online voting continues until Jan. 20 on NBA.com), Steve Nash (684,813) has slipped further behind starting guards Kobe Bryant (1,234,111) and Tracy McGrady (809,395) and into fourth place, almost 10,000 votes behind Denver’s Allen Iverson (694,611).

Amaré Stoudemire remains second among West centers (583,249), but has little hope of overtaking Yao Ming (1,077,244) and his legion of online voters from China.

Shawn Marion (296,917) is lagging in the forward voting, sitting in sixth place just behind Houston’s Shane Battier (297,672), an annual beneficiary of Yao-crazed Rocket fans. Grant Hill (209,057) is 10th among the forwards.

BONUS SHOTS

When the Suns trailed 33-13 at the end of the first quarter, it marked only the second time they’ve trailed by 20 points in a game this season. Phoenix trailed by 33 in a 119-98 loss to the Lakers in the home opener (Nov. 2)…

The Suns announced their 12-player, 40th anniversary team, as voted by fans on Suns.com. The team included Ring of Honor members Alvan Adams, Charles Barkley, Tom Chambers, Walter Davis, Connie Hawkins, Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Dick Van Arsdale and Paul Westphal and current Suns Shawn Marion, Steve Nash and Amaré Stoudemire.

Sun spots

Did you see that? Phoenix continues to struggle at the free-throw line. The Suns missed 11 more on Thursday (24-for-35) and are shooting a horrendous 57 percent from the line in the fourth quarter this season. It hasn’t caught up to them much so far, but it’s hard to imagine it won’t eventually.

Player of the game: Another big night from Amaré Stoudemire (34 points, 11 rebounds) is always good news for the Suns, who are 12-0 when he gets at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Unsung hero: Maybe it wasn’t heroic, but after an invisible first quarter Shawn Marion was a catalyst in the second quarter (four points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal) when the Suns rose from the dead and restored order.

Thumbs up: The Suns kept their cool after a nasty first quarter and outscored Seattle by 29 points (59-30) in the second and third quarters, turning a 20-point deficit into a 72-63 lead.

Thumbs down: What else? The Suns missed 16 of 20 shots in the first quarter, were outrebounded 22-10 (8-1 on the offensive glass) and didn’t record a single assist. Steve Nash hit three of his five shots, but his teammates were 1-for-15. They were lucky to only be down by 20.