Goran Dragic questions Suns' loyalty: 'They're not like Miami, San Antonio'
The ongoing implosion of the Phoenix Suns organization is of no surprise to point guard Goran Dragic, who played two separate stints with the franchise before being dealt to the Miami Heat.
Dragic informed management that he had no plans of re-signing as an unrestricted free agent, with Phoenix inevitably dealing the now 29-year-old in a three-team trade that landed the Suns veteran Danny Granger, two future first-round draft picks, and John Salmons from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Much of Dagic's frustration during the tail end of his run came after the Suns acquired Isaiah Thomas - another point guard to run the offense on a team already bolstering Dragic and Eric Bledsoe.
"It feels like they're always changing something," Dragic recently said to Yahoo Sports' Michael Lee. "They're not like Miami, San Antonio, those teams that are really loyal when they find something.
"Me and Bledsoe, we built really great chemistry together, we played well and the whole team did. Everybody expected that we're going to get some big guys that we thought we needed, but they did another move, they bring in a point guard and it was tough. I was a little bit frustrated. It was tough, especially for me, because I was playing off the ball all the time, and I was guarding (small forwards). That was tough for me, but they did what they did."
Things weren't always bad in the Valley of the Sun, though, as Dragic played the best basketball of his career during his final full season in Phoenix, earning NBA Most Improved Player honors and a spot on the All-NBA Third Team for the 48-win Suns in 2013-14.
"It's always tough when you beat your expectation and you win 48, 49 games and you expect the next year to win 50, 55 games," Dragic said. "But I feel like we still had a good team, but I felt, I don't know, the chemistry was not there like the year before."
The Suns own the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 12-25, which includes an ongoing nine-game losing streak featuring defeats at the hands of the lowly Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers (sans Kobe Bryant). Reports have circulated concerning the status of head coach Jeff Hornacek, Markieff Morris is bringing new meaning to the term "terrible towel," and owner Robert Sarver has publicly called out the Suns' "leadership," making for one disorganized, dysfunctional 2015-16 campaign.
If there are brighter days ahead, they're certainly not around the corner.