The Mike D'Antoni era in Phoenix is now over, with the coach going to New York and even though the Suns played some amazing basketball in the last seasons, the truth is that they couldn't even reach a NBA final. Since Steve Nash joined the team in 2004, the Suns had a record with more than 70% of wins in the regular season and always they had to face the Spurs in the postseason, the result was the same: a loss.

Maybe because of this, GM Steve Kerr thought that a coach that was just thinking about the offense wasn't the right person to lead the Suns to a championship. A proof of that was the Celtics easily beating the Lakers in the NBA final last season and with Steve Nash with 34 years old, he thought it was the right time to make a change.

Terry Porter is now the coach of the Suns and we will witness a new mentality in Phoenix. I don't believe the offense of the Suns will suffer a major change, as with Steve Nash running the offense, the unbelievable passes will continue, but the defense will be changed and improved. Porter was a very competitive guard as a player and a very good defender. On his 17 seasons as a player, he had a winning record of 815-547 (almost 60%) and he missed the Playoffs just once, so we are talking about someone with a winning mentality. His experience as a head coach on the league is short, with just two seasons in Milwaukee, with a 71-93 record and a Playoff appearance, but this roster of the Suns has nothing to do with the roster of the Bucks back then.

One of the main problems of this team has to go with the age of some of their key players. Steve Nash is 34 years old, Shaq is 36, Grant Hill will also turn 36 and Raja Bell is 32 years old. Mike D'Antoni was heavily criticized for not resting Nash on the regular season, so he could be at 100% in the Playoffs and one of the challenges of Porter will be to keep these players healthy and rested for the Playoffs, without decreasing the level of the team during the regular season.

Steve Nash is coming from another fabulous seasons, where he had once again more than 10 apg and 50% FG, just like in every other season in Phoenix. Offensively, we can't ask more from him than he did last season: 16.9 ppg, 11.1 apg, 50.4% FG, 47% 3pts and 90.6% FT. His problem will be on defense, where players like Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Deron Williams are younger than him and have caused a lot of problems to the Suns last season, while exposing Nash's problems in defending.

Maybe thinking about that, the Suns selected in the draft the Slovenian Dragic (yes, it's true!), who is a talent and who may be the future of the Suns in the PG position, after Nash's retirement. Dragic is a very quick player, with a natural ability to drive into the basket and he will have an amazing coach (Nash) to help him on the adaptation to the NBA. Dragic would receive way more money in Europe, but he decided to join the Suns, as it was a dream for him to play with Nash.

With the addition of Dragic, Leandro Barbosa will get more minutes in the SG position, which is his natural position. As we all know, Barbosa is a natural scorer and not a pure guard. As a 6th man, he is one of the best players in the league in coming off the bench and have an immediate impact on the game and that's why he was won the 6th player of the year award before.

The frontcourt of the Suns is one of the most powerful on the league and they don't fear anyone. Amare Stoudemire may not be the "beast" he was before his injury, but he keeps dominating his opponents. He averaged 25.2 ppg and 59% FG last season, but it's on the defense where Amare will need to improve to make the Suns be a dominant force on the defensive area. He averaged 9.1 rpg last season and for the first time on his career, he averaged more than 2 blocks per game. The Suns will play on a slower pace this season, but the productivity of Amare should remain the same, as playing with Nash, he will always have a lot of opportunities to score and he will also benefit from the presence of Shaq on his side.

Shaq will continue to be very useful to the team, especially as the opponents won't forget to guard him and that will create open shots to Amare and to the players in the perimeter. His move to Phoenix in the mid season didn't have the expected results for the team and maybe the way the team was playing wasn't the best for him, so Terry Porter will have the task to figure it out the best way to take advantage of what Shaq can give to the team, but also to manage his physical condition. We all know that Shaq is still capable to make the different in the Playoffs, but for that he needs to be physically at 100%.

For the first time in a lot of seasons, the Suns have a good number of quality solution for all positions and the rotation won't include just 8 players, like D'Antoni was doing it. Matt Barnes (ex-Warriors) will be a good backup for Grant Hill, who was badly used last season, reaching the Playoffs dead tired. With Barnes on the roster, Porter has someone to put on the field, in order to rest Hill.

Boris Diaw is a player, who can play on several positions in the frontcourt and he has already showed he can be extremely useful in the different tasks he can do on the field. Also the Suns have drafted Robin Lopez, who even though he won't have a lot of minutes this season will learn a lot with Shaq and Amare.

The Suns this season aren't included on the top contenders to win the Western conference and the time line for Nash to win a title is getting shorter. However, the Suns have a really equilibrated roster this season, unlike the previous seasons and if Terry Porter is able to implement a defensive mentality on the team, then the Suns may be a serious contender to go very far on the Playoffs this season.

Get Andre Gomes' 1st Half NBA Season Package at Pregame Pros!