Kerr Prepares to Break Up D'Antoni's Suns

Let the Steve Kerr purges begin. D'Antoni's gone, and so, his signature players must also go. That's why the Arizona Republic has the following rumors in today's pages:

A Portland deal would have sent 21-year-old swingman Martell Webster, next week's No. 13 pick and another piece for Barbosa ... A Diaw trade possibility involved Toronto, where talk centered on Diaw leaving for point guard T.J. Ford and the Raptors' No. 17 pick in Thursday's draft.

Both of these are running hot and cool at the moment, but the seed has been planted. What's really funny is Diaw might head to Toronto, run by Bryan Colangelo, who last I checked was on the Suns' enemies list. I guess at this point, trashing D'Antoni's legacy—making it seem like Diaw (and Barbosa) are flawed weirdos—is the highest priority. With Shaq looming large over that team, this kind of pettiness seems like the order of the day.

About the deals: Webster could replace Grant Hill, there's talent to be had at #13 and, all my Suns-jocking aside, Barbosa is basically a superhuman, super-lovable, Jamal Crawford. Which, come to think of it, might be why Crawford was key to Mike D's Knicks plans.

As for Diaw, I don't see why he's not worth more. When he starts, he's like Garnett-lite. Okay, Garnett extra-lite. Still, on the right team, he's a central cog. Ford? Good, would provide back-up for the aging Nash, can run an up-tempo offense (which the Suns are slowly abandoning). But he's got injury issues and would have trouble penetrating with Shaq in the way. Watch Nash in this year's playoffs if you don't believe me.

Really though, I just think they want to devalue D'Antoni's pet players. Which would be great for other teams around the league.

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