"Here in Phoenix, an exciting, endearing basketball team has imploded before our eyes. If the Suns would've simply done what they promised - match any offer sheet for Johnson and keep the core of the team together - the additions of Kurt Thomas and Raja Bell would've placed them over the top. They would've played the Miami Heat for a championship next season. Instead, Robert Sarver got jittery. The Suns made low-ball offers to Johnson while simultaneously suppressing his market value (telling other teams the Suns would match any offer). After contentious negotiations last summer, the Suns should've ignored any rumblings of his discontent. Instead, Sarver used the bitterness he helped create within Johnson as the reason not to give Johnson $70 million."
"It must be said that Sarver is doing much better with Amaré Stoudemire. He invited the big fella to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange when Sarver's company went public. Sarver also invited Stoudemire to invest money in the company, and in the first month, the stock soared 31 percent. FYI, Sarver's personal value went up about $15 million."
"NBA Commissioner David Stern did not make a ruling Wednesday on eight Atlanta Hawks owners' Tuesday request to remove dissident ninth partner, Steve Belkin, as the team's NBA governor. There are hopes that a ruling may come midday today and an expectation that Stern will render a decision by Friday. The sign-and-trade deal involving Johnson's move to Atlanta, which Belkin is blocking with his power as governor, is freezing related moves across the league. If it drags on too long, it will overlap the Monday deadline for amnesty-rule releases and possibly affect Phoenix's chances of wooing Dallas guard Michael Finley to help replace Johnson."
