This year's draft is critical for Suns

The Suns didn't get old by accident. That was the plan.

Once the team went from 29 wins to 62 (in 2004-05) and established itself as a championship contender, every move made by the three people in charge of personnel decisions was geared toward giving the core what it needed to get over the top.

Brownie Points: Suns need to think carefully on draft day

Suns zero in on draft-pick options

The Suns passed on a chance to add Andre Iguodala or Luol Deng in 2004.

They gave the Knicks a first-round pick (Nate Robinson) for Kurt Thomas in 2005, only to give Seattle two first-round picks to take Thomas' $8 million salary off the books just two years later.

They shipped Rajon Rondo to Boston in 2006 - one of two first-round picks sold to the highest bidders to scale back the payroll.

Raja Bell joined Thomas as a 2005-06 acquisition.

Marcus Banks, Jumaine Jones and Jalen Rose were the new faces the next year, followed by Grant Hill and Shaquille O'Neal the next.

They didn't come cheaply. And when the moves produced lots of regular season wins but no titles, there was another quandary:

How to infuse an old team with young talent while keeping a short window of title opportunity open.

With a starting lineup that averages 32 years old (only 25-year-old Amaré Stoudemire keeps it from spiking) and a short bench of serviceable reserves, the Suns will take that two-pronged approach into Thursday's draft.

Not only is there a "No Sale" sign hung on Phoenix's No. 15 pick, the Suns also are looking to (1) add another pick in what they see as a deep and gifted talent pool, (2) move up into a lottery pick and (3) perhaps add some young but proven talent that can step into the rotation right away.

"At some point, sustaining our performance on the floor has to be combined with building for the future," Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. "We need a better mix."

Accomplishing that to any serious degree will almost certainly cost Phoenix either Leandro Barbosa or Boris Diaw. In any such deal, the Suns would likely be looking for a "two-for-one" scenario - netting something that would help now and help later.

Teams such as Portland and New Jersey reportedly have an interest in Barbosa, while Toronto and Charlotte might be tempted to pick up the final three years and $36 million on Diaw's deal.

Toronto would like to part with point guard T.J. Ford, who led Terry Porter's Milwaukee team to the playoffs four years ago. But Ford, who isn't the bigger, defensive-minded backup to Steve Nash that Phoenix is seeking, has three years and $25 million left on his deal.

The Suns might be more interested in center Rasho Nesterovic, who has only one year left on his $8.4 million deal, as a backup to O'Neal. That would mean looking for Nash's backup elsewhere.

Both Diaw and Barbosa were favorites of former Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, so there was natural chatter about either or both winding up with him in New York. But while the Suns would covet the Knicks' No. 6 overall pick, the other components for a deal don't match up.

The Suns also have an $8.1 million trade exception from the Thomas deal, which can be used until July 22. But teams under the cap that could absorb the exception are few and far between.

"We still feel comfortable," Kerr said. "It's not like we're backed into a corner. We think we're going to be a very good team, a playoff team, next year if we didn't do anything but stand pat and take a player at 15 that could help us.

"But we like this draft. We think there are a lot of players who are attractive to us. And if we can make a deal that keeps us strong today and helps us be stronger tomorrow, we're going to look at it."

The Suns are hoping their two draft picks from last year, forward Alando Tucker and guard D.J. Strawberry, will make strides this season and become part of a rotation that will likely grow to nine players and perhaps involve as many as a dozen at certain points.

The winners in each conference this year - Boston and Los Angeles - had deep benches and received production from those players during their runs to the NBA Finals.

"Terry has talked about playing eight or nine guys, but you need to be able to count on 10, 11 and 12 to produce when injuries and other issues pop up during the season," Kerr said. "If we're going to cut back on Grant Hill's minutes and Steve's (Nash) minutes, we have to give the coach a player that you can build faith and trust in."

If the Suns trade one of their core players and get a second pick, as many as three of their top nine players could be rookies or second-year players - quite a departure from past years, considering only three players have been drafted into the organization since 2004.

But it's not just a change in philosophy. This draft is not only deep, it's deep at the positions - post men and point guards - that have been notoriously thin in recent years.

Suns vice president of basketball operations David Griffin is itching for the chance to come away with two or more players to give the team a needed injection of youth.

"A lot of the guys who were taken in the lottery in recent seasons wouldn't be lottery picks this year," Griffin said. "At least not in our eyes."

NBA draft

When: 4 p.m. Thursday

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York

TV: ESPN

Suns' picks: No. 15 and No. 48 overall

Suns' last four drafts

2004

First-round pick (via Cleveland) sent to Charlotte after the Bobcats agreed to take Jahidi White in the expansion draft.

First-round pick, No. 7 overall (Luol Deng), sent to Chicago for Jackson Vroman, a future first-round pick and cash.

2005

First-round pick, No. 21 overall (Nate Robinson), and Quentin Richardson sent to the New York Knicks for Kurt Thomas and a second-round pick (Dijon Thompson).

Second-round pick, No. 57 overall (Marcin Gorat), sent to Orlando for future considerations.

2006

First-round pick, No. 21 overall (Rajon Rondo), sent to Boston along with Brian Grant for a lottery-protected first-round pick from Cleveland.

First-round pick, No. 27 overall (Sergio Rodriguez), traded to Portland for cash considerations.

2007

First-round pick, No. 24 overall (Rudy Fernandez), traded to Portland along with James Jones for cash considerations.