<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">HOUSTON - A Colangelo is no longer running the Suns. The family name did not reside by the title of general manager Monday for the first time since the club's 1968 inception after Bryan Colangelo resigned to become president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors. Colangelo ended February's saga that put him further at odds with second-year Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver. The development also brings doubt to the future of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Jerry Colangelo, a father to Bryan and the Suns. He helped launch the team when Bryan was 2. Sarver acknowledged that the family dynamic was difficult but said he expects Jerry Colangelo to remain with the organization. "We have a contract obligation," Sarver said. Sarver said he has not talked to Jerry Colangelo since Friday. Jerry Colangelo pledged to look out for the franchise's best interests but said: "Everyone has to be comfortable. If somebody wants something else, I want what's best for the franchise." Sarver said Bryan Colangelo told him he was taking the Toronto job late Sunday. Phoenix received no compensation. "We're friends," Sarver said of their relationship. "This was not about how we got along. "I am disappointed that he is going to Toronto. I did make a commitment to him over a year ago that if another opportunity came up, I wasn't going to stand in his way. . . . At the end of the day, a big part of it boiled down to redoing his current contract." Sarver said he was willing to talk about an extension with Colangelo but was "philosophically opposed" to tearing up the current deal, which ran through the 2006-07 season. "That's not how I've done business," Sarver said. Bryan Colangelo was unavailable for comment. There is debate about whether Sarver ever made an extension offer to Colangelo, as semantics overwhelmed negotiations. Colangelo was making $1 million annually (a bump from his 2003-04 salary of $700,000) and also had a share of the team from the sale that he must give up. Those in Sarver's corner said a two-year extension worth $4 million was offered but still could not contend with a five-year deal in Toronto estimated at $20 million. "I reached out to him a number of times," Sarver said. Sarver dismissed allegations that he is frugal and ego-driven. His supporters tout how he saved the Suns from financial trouble with a NBA-record $401 million purchase. "I don't have an ego," Sarver said. "I'm enthusiastic and energetic but it's not about me taking credit."</div> Source
I've been depressed for two days. Griffin is a great basketball mind, but nobody in the Suns FO has the credibility around the league that Colangelo does. Colangelo landed the Suns big FAs, and did an excellent job drafting (Finley, Marion, Nash, Stoudemire, etc.). He also found great value on the trade market (the Marbury deal changed this team). Overall this was a HUGE loss.
