2011–12 Phoenix Suns season

The 2011–12 Phoenix Suns season was the 44th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the last season the Suns had point guard Steve Nash on the team. The season was shortened to sixty-six games due to the 2011 NBA Lockout. Going into the All-Star break with a 14–20 record, the Suns went 14–6 in their next 20 games to push back into playoffs contention. Towards the end of the season, the eighth-seeded Suns were still in the hunt, but a loss after their second-to-last game on the road against the Utah Jazz eliminated them from playoff contention. They went 8–7 in April, finishing the season with a 33–33 record, 10th-best in the West.

Nash led the team in assists per game (10.7; second-best average in the league, most assists in total), three-point percentage (.390%), and free throw percentage (.894%), while averaging a career-high in field goal percentage (.532%). Center Marcin Gortat led the team in most statistical categories, including games played (66), games started (66), minutes per game (32.0), field goal percentage (.555%), rebounds per game (10.0), blocks per game (1.5), and points per game (15.4). Nash was the lone member of the Suns selected for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, his eighth appearance. In a game against the Denver Nuggets on April 21, Nash passed Oscar Robertson for fifth all-time in total assists.

Key dates

• June 23, 2011: The 2011 NBA draft took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.^[1]
• July 1, 2011: The current NBA collective bargaining agreement expires, leading owners to impose a lockout of its players until a new agreement is reached.^[2]
• November 22, 2011: Aaron Brooks signs with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the CBA. As a result, he can't reunite with the team until the 2011–12 CBA season is officially over.
• December 9, 2011: The new and improved NBA free agency begun; Grant Hill stays with Phoenix; Shannon Brown and Sebastian Telfair join Phoenix; Mickaël Piétrus tried to get traded to the Toronto Raptors; Vince Carter and Gani Lawal are waived.
• December 10, 2011: The Mickaël Piétrus trade is permanently suspended; training camp begins.
• December 13, 2011: Zabian Dowdell is waived and replaced with Ronnie Price.
• December 18, 2011: Training camp ends.
• December 22, 2011: Mickaël Piétrus is waived.
• December 26, 2011: The NBA season begins for Phoenix.
• December 29, 2011: Michael Redd signs with Phoenix.
• January 2, 2012: Garret Siler is waived.
• February 8, 2012: Markieff Morris gets represented as a rookie for the 2012 Rising Stars challenge.
• February 9, 2012: Steve Nash gets his 8th All-Star representation; 6th as a reserve and 6th as a representative of the Phoenix Suns (which ties a record previously set by Walter Davis).
• February 24, 2012: The 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend begins.
• April 18, 2012: The Suns officially induct former head coach John MacLeod in the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	13	Markieff Morris	Forward	United States	Kansas

The Suns used their only draft pick to select power forward Markieff Morris from Kansas. Morris averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in his last year with the Jayhawks.^[3] The Suns traded their other first-round pick, which they acquired from the Orlando Magic, to the Houston Rockets when they dealt Goran Dragić for Aaron Brooks.^[4] Their second-round pick was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Hakim Warrick in a sign and trade.^[5] Around a year and a half later, the Suns ended up with the 14th draft pick in Marcus Morris, who would be a part of the team for two or so seasons before being traded himself in 2015.

Free agency

Veteran forward Grant Hill became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2010–11 season. Newly acquired point guard Aaron Brooks became a restricted free agent at the end of the season. On June 23, the Suns extended a $3 million qualifying offer to Brooks.^[6] However, due to the lockout, Brooks signed a contract with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association on November 22. With no opt-out clause, Brooks had to complete the CBA season before returning to the NBA. On February 6, 2011, reserve point guard Zabian Dowdell was signed for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, with a team option for a second year. If the Suns do not opt to pick up the contract, Dowdell will become a free agent.^[7]

Coaching changes

On July 14, the Suns signed Elston Turner as an assistant coach. Turner is considered to be a defensive specialist and has been called the Suns' unofficial "defensive coordinator".^[8]

Roster

Salaries

The final year of Vince Carter's contract was non-guaranteed. Carter's contract stipulated that if he was not waived by the Suns before the start of free agency on July 1, his $18 million would become fully guaranteed. However, with the onset of the lockout, the Suns delayed the deadline until the date on which free agency began at the end of the lockout. If waived, he will receive a guaranteed $4 million.^[9] The second-year contracts of Gani Lawal and Garret Siler were non-guaranteed.^[10]

Preseason

Regular season

Standings

Game log

All games from November 1 through December 24 were canceled due to the 2011 NBA Lockout. A new schedule was created with games starting in December 25.

Player statistics

Season

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

• Former head coach John MacLeod gets put into the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor on April 18, 2012 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

All-Star

• Markieff Morris is represented in the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge.
• Steve Nash gets his 8th representation as an All-Star player, with this being his 6th and final representation coming from the Phoenix Suns.

Records

• Josh Childress broke the record for the most amount of minutes played in one season without making a free throw with 491 minutes played this season.

Team Records

• Steve Nash surpassed Dick Van Arsdale as the third-most played Suns player ever.
• Steve Nash made his 1,000th 3 pointer with the Phoenix Suns on December 31, 2011.
• Steve Nash becomes the #1 assist leader of all Phoenix Suns players on February 1, 2012.

Milestones

• Steve Nash gets his 16,000th career point on January 12, 2012.
• Steve Nash passes Oscar Robertson as the third-most player with 15+ assist games on March 10, 2012. He's currently behind John Stockton and Magic Johnson.
• Grant Hill gets his 17,000th career point on March 20, 2012.
• Steve Nash passes Oscar Robertson as the fifth-most NBA assists leader of all time on April 21, 2012.
• Marcin Gortat averages his first ever double-double throughout an entire season.

Team Milestones

• The Suns committed the franchise's lowest turnover count in a game with 3 turnovers against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 7, 2012.

Injuries/Missed games

• 12/20/11: Marcin Gortat: Non-displaced right thumb fracture; out until December 25
• 12/30/11: Michael Redd: Left knee; placed on injured list until January 12
• 01/13/12: Grant Hill: Strained right quadriceps; did not play
• 01/13/12: Steve Nash: Bruised right quadriceps; did not play
• 01/25/12: Robin Lopez: League suspension (making contact with a referee): did not play
• 01/30/12: Steve Nash: Bruised left thigh; did not play
• 02/04/12: Jared Dudley: Bruised thigh; did not play
• 02/14/12: Grant Hill: Rest; did not play
• 02/14/12: Steve Nash: Rest; did not play
• 03/15/12: Grant Hill: Rest; did not play
• 03/15/12: Steve Nash: Rest; did not play
• 03/27/12: Grant Hill: Right knee inflammation; did not play
• 03/28/12: Grant Hill: Right knee inflammation; did not play
• 03/28/12: Markieff Morris: Flu; did not play
• 03/30/12: Grant Hill: Surgery to repair torn meniscus in right knee; out until April 13
• 04/16/12: Grant Hill: Right knee; did not play
• 04/18/12: Grant Hill: Right knee; did not play
• 04/19/12: Grant Hill: Right knee, did not play
• 04/21/12: Grant Hill: Right knee, did not play
• 04/24/12: Channing Frye: Subluxed right shoulder; did not play
• 04/25/12: Channing Frye: Subluxed right shoulder; did not play
• 04/25/12: Grant Hill: Right knee; did not play

Transactions

Free agents

Additions

^ a: Michael Redd signed onto the team two games after the beginning of the 2011–12 season. However, he didn't start playing until January 12, 2012 due to Redd fully recovering from some knee injuries during his last two seasons in Milwaukee.

Subtractions

Player	Reason Left	New Team
Aaron Brooks	Lockout Concerns	Guangdong Winnerway (Hongyuan) Southern Tigers
Gani Lawal	Lockout Concerns / Waivedb[›]	Zastal Zielona Góra / San Antonio Spurs / Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers / Chorale Roanne Basket
Vince Carter	Waivedc[›]	Dallas Mavericks
Zabian Dowdell	Waived	Anadolu Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü / Club Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D.d[›][11]
Mickaël Piétrus	Waivede[›]	Boston Celtics
Garret Siler	Waivedf[›]	Jiangsu Nangang Dragonsg[›][12]

^ b: Gani Lawal originally left due to the 2011 NBA lockout in concerns of playing the season. He signed with Zastal Zielona Góra in Poland before returning to Phoenix once the lockout ended. However, Gani was waived by the team alongside Vince Carter once the season began, and he tried a stint with the San Antonio Spurs for their training camp before being waived again. He later found a new team in the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers, but due to personal problems, he returned to playing with Zastal once more before finishing his season with Chorale Roanne Basket in France.
^ c: Vince Carter was paid $4 million in order to get out of his contract with the Suns.
^ d: Zabian Dowdell originally signed a deal to play with Anadolu Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü in Turkey on January 18, 2012. However, due to a failed physical, he would be waived from the team before even having a change to play for them. He would then play with Club Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D. on March 17, 2016 after passing their own physical exam.
^ e: Mickaël Piétrus was paid $1.2 million in order to get out of his contract with the Suns.
^ f: Garret Siler was waived after the January 2 game against the Golden State Warriors. He didn't play a single game with the Phoenix Suns in the regular season.
^ g: Garret Siler signed with the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association quite some time after this season ended.

See also

• 2011–12 NBA season

References

1. ↑ "Report: NBA draft moving to Newark". ESPN.com. October 27, 2010. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2010. 
2. ↑ "League locks out players until new collective bargaining agreement is reached – ESPN". ESPN.com. July 1, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
3. ↑ "Markieff Morris NBA & ABA Statistics". basketball-reference.com. July 19, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
4. ↑ "Phoenix Suns trade Goran Dragic, pick for Rockets' Aaron Brooks". wearesuns.com. February 24, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
5. ↑ "Bulls sign-and-trade Hakim Warrick to Suns". insidehoops.com. July 9, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
6. ↑ "Suns extend qualifying offer to Aaron Brooks". nbasports.com. October 27, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
7. ↑ "Phoenix Suns Salaries". July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011. 
8. ↑ "Elston Turner, the new defensive coordinator for the Phoenix Suns". ESPN.com. July 14, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
9. ↑ "Suns delay Vince Carter contract deadline, extend qualifying offer to Aaron Brooks". azcentral.com. June 23, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
10. ↑ "Phoenix Suns Team Salary – NBA News & NBA Rumors". hoopsworld.com. July 19, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
11. ↑ Zabian Dowdell Agrees To Terms With Gran Canaria
12. ↑ http://www2.wjbf.com/sports/2012/oct/17/siler-play-china-again-ar-4777515/