The Suns have consistently employed some of the league's best point guards over the last 25 years, with Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash among the perennial All-Stars the team has had at the position. They signed Goran Dragic this summer to replace Nash, but the future may lie with Kendall Marshall, whom Phoenix took 12th overall in June. The former North Carolina Tar Heel spoke with Dylan Murphy of Dime magazine and shared his thoughts about the Suns' offseason moves, missing out on the chance to play with Nash, backing up Dragic, and more. Here are a few of the highlights:
On the Suns' pursuit of Eric Gordon this summer and rumors connecting them to James Harden next year:
"Well they want to win, and that’s why I think it’s a great organization to be a part of. They’re going to do what it takes to get to that next level."
Whether he regrets not getting the chance to play with Nash:
"I won’t say regret, but I was looking forward to the opportunity. You know he’s a great player, I feel like I really could have learned a lot from him. But you can also learn a lot from playing against him. We get to see him four times, that’s also exciting."
About Suns coach Alvin Gentry's fast-paced system and how he feels about coming off the bench behind Dragic:
"That’s what I’m most excited about, the up-tempo offense. I feel like getting up and down with the pieces we have on our team, we can really play to our strength. As far as playing time goes, starting or coming off the bench, that’s all up to the coach. He’s going to do what’s best for the team."
On the three other Tar Heels selected in the first round (Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson) and the timing of their decisions to turn pro:
This started last year, when Z, John and H were all contemplating whether they were leaving or not. I was praying that they would stay for one more (year). I think that the lockout helped with their decision to come back, especially knowing that we were going to have a great team. With this year, we felt like, we tried that once. Let’s chase more dreams and goals that we had.