When you think Suns’ point guard…..most think of Steve Nash.  But, before Steve Nash came to the Suns, Kevin Johnson ran the team.  Johnson’s best season for the Suns came way back in 1989-90.  He played in 74 games (all starts) for the Suns in 1989-90 and he averaged 37.6 minutes, 22.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 11.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Johnson played in 683 games (620 starts) in his 12 years with the Suns and he averaged 35.2 minutes, 18.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Johnson is still #2 in Suns’ history in assists with 6,518 of them.  He is also #5 in games played (683), #10 in defensive rebounds (1,855), #4 in steals (1,022) and #3 in points scored (12,747) in Suns’ history.  Johnson is now the mayor of Sacramento and he recently helped keep the Kings in his city.

29-year old center Marcin Gortat had issues in 2012-13, as he looked like he was in a trance on some nights.  He played in 61 games (all starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 30.8 minutes, 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  Gortat has now played in 182 games (139 starts) in his first three years with the Suns and he is averaging 30.9 minutes, 13.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  I’m sure that the Suns are going to get trade offers for Gortat, as good centers don’t grow on trees.  It will be interesting to see if the Suns keep Gortat or deal him this summer.

The Suns have signed 50-year old Jeff Hornacek to a 3-year deal to serve as their new head coach.  Hornacek doesn’t have any head coaching experience so far in his career.  He has been an assistant coach for the last two years with the Utah Jazz.  He was also a special assistant coach in 2007-08 for the Jazz, working with them with their shooting.  Hornacek has a long career as a player to draw experiences from.  He played in 1,077 games (910 starts) in his 14 years in the NBA and he averaged 31.5 minutes, 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He shot 49.6% from the floor, 40.3% from three point range and 87.7% from the free throw line in his NBA career.

42-year old head coach Lindsay Hunter took over when the Suns fired Alvin Gentry.  The Suns were a pathetic 13-28 when Hunter took over.  He led them to a 12-29 (29.3%) finish in 2012-13.  Normally I would say that it’s unfair to fire an interim coach after he finishes out a season, but the Suns looked lost under Hunter.  They might try to hire a tough, old school coach to take over for Hunter before the 2013-14 season starts.

UPDATE:  (5/27/2013) - Lindsay Hunter will not be retained as the head coach of the Suns, as they have hired Jeff Hornacek to replace him.

The Suns didn’t get much production out of their rookies in 2012-13.  21-year old point guard Kendall Marshall played in 48 games (3 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 14.6 minutes, 3.0 points, 0.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  Marshall only shot 37.1% from the floor, 31.5% from three point range and 57.1% from the free throw line so far this year, which isn’t near good enough.  Marshall scored at least 10 points in a game three times and he also dished out 5 or more assists 6 times in the 2012-13 season.  24-year old point guard Diante Garrett played in 19 games (0 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 7.8 minutes, 2.1 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  Garrett only shot 32.7% from the floor for the Suns last year.  26-year old center Luke Zeller didn’t last too long before he was cut loose.  Zeller played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 3.6 minutes, 1.2 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game and he only shot 34.6% from the floor which led to his release.

The Phoenix Suns were an utter disaster in 2012-13.  They finished with a 25-57 record, which had them land in last place in the Pacific Division, 31 games behind the Clippers.  Here are the players who made the biggest impacts for the Suns in 2012-13:

TEAM MVP:  Goran Dragic - 26-year old point guard Goran Dragic played in 77 games (all starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 33.5 minutes, 14.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  Dragic had 19 double-doubles for the Suns last year.  He also had 20 games in which he had 10 or more assists, as he did his best to run the offense in 2012-13.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  Jermaine O’Neal - 34-year old center/power forward Jermaine O’Neal proved in 2012-13, that he has plenty left in the gas tank.  He played in 55 games (4 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 18.7 minutes, 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  O’Neal also had 5 double-doubles and six games with 10 or more rebounds in 2012-13.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Michael Beasley - The Suns signed 24-year old small forward Michael Beasley last summer because of his talent on the court.  But, they didn’t consider his off-court behavior which quickly got him into the Dog House in Phoenix in 2012-13.  Beasley played in 75 games (20 starts) for the Suns last year and he averaged 20.7 minutes, 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  Beasley had 2 double-doubles last year, but he did have 12 games in which he scored at least 20 points.

27-year old SG/SF Shannon Brown has been banished to the far end of the bench lately for the Suns.  He has played in only 5 games (0 starts) since March 1st and he is averaging 10.2 minutes, 2.4 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.2 assists per game.  Brown has now played in 58 games (22 starts) overall this year for the Suns and he is averaging 23.9 minutes, 10.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  I think the Suns dropped the ball with Brown the last couple of months.

32-year old power forward Luis Scola has been playing really strong basketball for the Suns so far in April.  Scola has played in 5 games (all starts) for the Suns so far in April and he is averaging 31.0 minutes, 14.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Scola is shooting 52.6% from the floor and 85.7% from the free throw line so far this month, which is pretty impressive.  Scola has now played in 79 games (64 starts) overall this year for the Suns and he is averaging 26.5 minutes, 12.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  The Suns should have placed Scola a little bit more in 2012-13.

24-year old small forward Michael Beasley might be a handful off the court, but he can play.  He has played in 71 games (20 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 20.8 minutes, 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  But, in the 8 games (5 starts) in which the Suns played Beasley at least 30 minutes, he is averaging 35.8 minutes, 20.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.1 blocked shot per game.  The Suns had to know what they were getting into when they signed Beasley….so why not start him and take the production in return for the hassle?

27-year old SG/SF P.J. Tucker had his butt nailed to the bench as a rookie for the Suns in 2011-12.  But, he has played much better in his sophomore campaign.  Tucker has played in 68 games (34 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 23.1 minutes, 5.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  He has played in 11 games (6 starts) so far in March for the Suns and he is averaging 23.6 minutes, 6.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Tucker appears to have found a niche with the Suns moving forward.