Moore: Have faith in Suns' Robert Sarver, Ryan McDonough as NBA trade deadline looms

Almost exactly 10 years ago, Feb. 6, 2008, Suns General Manager Steve Kerr tried to get Phoenix to a championship by dismantling the “Seven Seconds or Less” era with a trade that sent Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami for Shaquille O’Neal.

Despite the retool, the Suns fell to the Spurs in the playoffs for the third time in four years. The next season, 2008-09, the Big Cactus was an All-Star, but Phoenix didn’t make the playoffs.

The Suns have only been to the postseason one time since.

Let that be a lesson that big, splashy trades don’t always have the intended results and that sometimes the best move is no move.

The NBA trade deadline is here, and by Thursday afternoon, the latest round of rumors and speculation, misinformation and counterintelligence will be over.

It could be that the Suns are quiet. It could be that General Manager Ryan McDonough has a major surprise planned. But regardless of what happens, it’s time to show a little faith in the team’s leadership.

It’s easy to point out the Eric Bledsoe-Goran Dragic-Isaiah Thomas mess, or the seven seasons and counting without a playoff appearance, or the six consecutive seasons without an All-Star.

It’s all right there, and everybody knows it.

And there’s plenty more manure where that came from, for those who want to pile on the stink.

But rather than repeat all the problems or lament the current situation, let’s look at the reasons for optimism, starting with owner Robert Sarver.

Acknowledging mistake

Say what you want about the guy — and plenty of people have said plenty of things — he stepped up last summer and admitted he was wrong when he was under no obligation to do so.

He said he’s “a better owner today” and that he had gotten “a little spoiled early on” with the team’s success with Steve Nash.

Sarver said in July that he hasn’t always been patient, and the results under his watch help explain it.

He took control of the team in 2004. In the 2004-05 season, the Suns won 62 games and went to the Western Conference finals. The next season, they won 54 and got to the conference finals again. In 2006-07, Phoenix won 61 games but lost in the second round.

And through all that, Nash became a two-time MVP and Marion and Amar'e Stoudemire developed into stars.

It’s possible this was a classic case of too much too soon and that it led to the sort of bold-but-risky decision-making that resulted in the trade for Shaq, a lumbering 35-year-old who fit the Suns' up-tempo offense about as well as a nun fits in at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Sarver also said that he should have trusted McDonough’s plan to focus on developing young players sooner.

“Following through on the plan we put in place a few years ago is how best to compete for a championship,” Sarver said.

We should be optimistic that Sarver is going to stick to his word, since we have no reason to believe otherwise. That means no rash moves to try to grab an eight seed.

#TheTimeline deadline

The next reason to trust in #TheTimeline is McDonough.

He’s got a knack for evaluating young talent.

Among the gems McDonough helped uncover: Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Tyler Ulis, Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo. (As special assistant to basketball operations, he helped convince Celtics President Danny Ainge to make the draft-day swap for the guard who would become a four-time All-Star and help bring a title to Boston.)

McDonough is showing that he’s more than a scout by putting the Suns in a good salary-cap situation, allowing Phoenix to be one of the few aggressive teams this offseason. (Hey, Clint Capela! Yo, Aaron Gordon! … Jabari Parker, how are those knees?)

And his first season in town, McDonough pulled off trades that added Bledsoe, Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and Ish Smith (creating the opportunity for one of the great Al McCoy calls, “Ish! With the swish!”)

That group won 48 games, a 23-win improvement over the previous season, and narrowly missed a playoff spot.

Nobody is saying McDonough is perfect. He had a lot to do with the problems mentioned earlier, and it still makes no sense why Earl Watson was fired as coach so early in a season of lowered expectations.

This simply is making the case that McDonough’s youth plan could work, and we should see evidence of that by this time next season in the form of wins.

If not, that’s when it’s time to start calling for change.

But maybe McDonough’s next move is big?

Almost exactly 30 years ago, Feb. 25, 1988, when Jerry Colangelo was still in charge, the Suns traded a star in Larry Nance and a solid role player in Mike Sanders for Tyrone Corbin, Mark West, a rookie point guard and a draft pick.

The point guard, Kevin Johnson, developed into a five-time All-NBA player. The pick became three-time All-Star Dan Majerle. Corbin is a Suns assistant coach, and West is a Suns executive.

Let that be a lesson that sometimes big, splashy trades work out better than anyone predicts, and sometimes the best move is the bold move.

At this point, we can’t know, but we have to trust the people in charge to stick to the plan they’ve laid out and give it a chance to work.

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Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him at www.Twitter.com/WritingMoore.