What part of that means that the Suns can't contend?
They could do this against Houston now that Yao is out. Only San Antonio has the frontcourt to size up with the Suns. And SA contends every year and wins every other year. Sounds like the Suns can conted to me.
If by contend you mean cause a little trouble for some people to exit before the finals, then yes they can contend. See the Suns have gotten deep in the playoffs, so anything less than a trip to the finals and a win is a failure and not really acceptable by any means to the team and the fans, so I consider anything less NOT contending.
If Gasol comes back from his ankle sprain before or during the playoffs it's all over. It will be The Lakers and either The Celtics or Detroit in the finals. Kobe is Shaq's Kryptonite. Any player that played with a player long enough knows all their tendencies, and how to take everything that they are good at away from them.
That can also happen with a coach that coached a player long enough. There is no better example than this than last year's first round match-up between the Mavericks and Warriors. Don Nelson knew how to kill Nowitzki.