The Suns have had to endure a "tumultuous first week of the season" after firing coach Earl Watson following an 0-3 start, including the "worst loss in franchise history," according to Scott Bordow of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Additionally, G Eric Bledsoe yesterday "showed up for work only to be told" by GM Ryan McDonough that his services were "no longer needed or wanted." This comes after Bledsoe on Sunday tweeted, "I Dont wanna be here." McDonough said that he made the recommendation to fire Watson to Suns Owner Robert Sarver and he "quickly agreed." He said that no players "came forward to either him or Sarver saying Watson needed to be fired." McDonough added that he and Bledsoe "talked Sunday night and that Bledsoe told him his tweet wasn’t about his desire to leave the Suns but his wanting to leave a hair salon where he was waiting on his wife." McDonough: "I didn’t believe that to be true." He added that Sarver "was not available for comment" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/24). In Phoenix, Greg Moore writes Sarver is the owner of the "hottest dumpster fire in professional sports." The Suns just fired their coach, even though the team's "best player" in G Devin Booker "didn’t want" Watson fired. Meanwhile, rookie F Josh Jackson "doesn’t regret pulling what looked like an imaginary trigger in the direction of a heckler." Moore writes he does not "understand why" Sarver "didn't speak to the media" yesterday. Moore: "I don’t mean on your team’s flagship radio network, I mean by calling a news conference or conference call or issuing a statement. Something. Anything. ... I would have loved to hear from you, if only to hear you say you trust and support McDonough. Instead we got nothing. Doesn't this city deserve more than that?" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/24).
MAN IN THE MIRROR: SI.com's Ben Golliver wrote under the header, "Here's A Better Plan, Robert Sarver: Sell The Suns." Sarver last week "painted his vision for arguably the league’s most hopeless franchise, a plan grounded in patience." His plan is to "hope that two of his young prospects develop into All-Stars over the next three seasons," and then "hope that his front office could sign two max-level free agents" in '20. Sarver: "That’s really kind of the strategy." Golliver wrote it is "rich that a three-year, take-it-slow developmental plan self-combusted after three games, but Sarver’s need for a scapegoat was real." Sarver "made this bed and now he’s stuck laying in it." The same "holds true for McDonough," as the first-time GM’s inexperience has "shown through over and over." But it was Sarver who "decided to let a rookie executive learn on the job." Golliver: "So it is Sarver who ultimately shoulders the blame for the damage to his franchise’s assembled talent and reputation" (SI.com, 10/23). SB NATION's Tom Ziller wrote what has "become apparent is that Sarver is simultaneously meddlesome in his team’s basketball affairs and rather unsophisticated about what it takes to build a winning basketball team." Sarver needs to "take a deep look in the mirror if he really wants to figure out what’s wrong with the Suns" (SBNATION.com, 10/23).
