The Suns are locked into an exciting battle for one of the West’s final two playoff spots, something virtually no one anticipated before the season. Bob Young of azcentral.com details all of the moves that have panned out for Phoenix this year, leading to their surprising success. Here’s more from the Western Conference:
- David Lee tells Antonio Gonzalez of The Associated Press that there is no timetable for his return, but he does hope to play for the Warriors in the playoffs. After missing postseason action last year due to a torn hip flexor, the power forward is sidelined late in the year again, this time due to nerve damage that has a less straightforward recovery process. “That’s the only thing that has really worried me,” Lee said. “Just the fact that they say sometimes these heal in two days, sometimes it takes two months. We don’t know. But the good thing is, from what they’ve told me, as long as it continues to progress they think it’s going to be weeks still. So I have a good chance of being there when I need to be there.”
- Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News writes that rookie guard Ricky Ledo has had moderate success in the D-League this year, and needs a productive summer with the Mavs to earn a spot on the NBA roster next season.
- Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune writes that hindsight has proven matching Eric Gordon‘s four-year, $58MM offer sheet from the Suns was the wrong decision. Smith doesn’t believe the Pelicans can get anything close to equal value for the oft-injured Gordon, but says it’s time to move him out regardless of how little they get in return.