Joe Johnson won this battle of Nash era shooting guards over Jason Richardson. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

The Phoenix Suns managed to dump Hedo Turkoglu’s contract and steal away Marcin Gortat because the Orlando Magic figured they had to shake up their core for a shot to win now.

If we’re going to judge the Aaron Brooks trade as a failure because it did not lead to a Phoenix playoff berth, not only does the big December trade look like a Suns win but it looks like an Orlando loss as well after the Magic failed to reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Richardson may have been an upgrade over Vince Carter because, well, he’s still breathing, but J-Rich in no way resembled the Suns’ star playoff performer from a year ago.

J-Rich averaged 10.0 points on 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 32.0 percent shooting from distance this series and he got suspended for a crucial Game 4 that Orlando lost for fighting. In 55 regular season games with the Magic his numbers were also down: 13.9 points on 43.3 percent shooting after going for 19.3 on 47.0 percent shooting to begin the season with the Suns.

The Magic made the trade because they felt Richardson was a missing complementary scorer whose output would surpass Carter’s and while they may have been right in that regard by no means was he a difference maker for Orlando like he was last year as the Suns’ barometer of success.

Long term losing J-Rich really doesn’t cost the Suns since they were unlikely to re-sign him to any kind of big money deal considering the youth movement that the franchise eventually will face. Although the Suns clearly missed him as a go-to guy, losing four months of him was certainly worth what they got back.

The Magic were also theoretically the only team willing to take on Hedo Turkoglu and the three years and $35 million remaining on his deal after this one (part of the money in the final season is non-guaranteed). The thought process for Orlando was that he was successful there before, and they felt they needed him initiating their offense out of the pick-and-roll to give them that added edge they possessed during their run to the Finals two years ago.

I didn’t think anybody would even take a sniff at Hedo unless he was the tax for a Nash trade or something like that, so merely eliminating him from Phoenix’s future seemed like a huge plus when he had to be one of the more untradeable players in the league.

However, on the day Orlando made this fateful move he was merely the third most untradeable player to be dealt that day with the Magic also consummating a Gilbert Arenas-Rashard Lewis deal.

Those trades meant the Magic were going all in. The deals for Arenas and Hedo combined with Dwight Howard’s superstar contract severely limit Orlando’s future flexibility to make moves to satisfy Howard before he can leave in 2012, and a lackluster regular season combined with the six-game loss to the Hawks prove the Magic lost this gamble, at least for the time being.

As Nate Drexler writes at MagicBasketball.net, Turkoglu just wasn’t the same player he was two years ago. During the regular season he averaged 11.4-4.5-5.1 on 44.8 percent shooting, better numbers than he put up in Phoenix but not exactly the guy who averaged 19.5 and 16.8 his previous two years in Orlando.

He’s been horrendous in the playoffs, averaging 9.4 points on 29.4 percent shooting from the field and 23.3 percent shooting from distance. His playoff PER of 7.19 and true shooting percentage of 37.1 aren’t why the Magic swung this deal.

Drexler describes Hedo as “indecisive,” “passive,” and “useless” during his current tenure in Orlando, words that could easily describe the beginning of his season as well in Phoenix.

Hedo’s sharp decline truly is a mystery now that he has not only struggled in Toronto and Phoenix but also back in his comfort zone in Orlando. Even playing for Turkey in the FIBA World Championship he took more threes than twos and settled for long jump shots time after time after time, hardly resembling the 2009 playoff stalwart.

Perhaps he got fat from the big contract the Raptors gave him and has never been able to work his way back or perhaps a clutch playoffs following a career year the season before just exaggerated his worth in everybody’s eyes.

In any case, the Suns’ future looks much brighter with Gortat’s long-term deal in place of Turkoglu’s albatross of a contract on their books the next few years, and the Suns should be thankful the Magic were willing to take a major risk that thus far has been a failure.

With that the entirety of the special 2009-10 Suns roster has now been eliminated from postseason contention as we see all those parts that worked so well together have not been the same apart.

Amare Stoudemire won as many playoff games and just two more regular season games than Steve Nash this season. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

So as it turns out Amare Stoudemire ended up winning as many playoffs games as Steve Nash this year.

That was the case after the Boston Celtics finished off Amare’s New York Knicks this afternoon in a series that was very competitive in Boston but not so much in Madison Square Garden.

Stoudemire’s advanced stats were beyond atrocious this series. The Knicks lost 46.90 points per 100 possessions with Amare on the floor, according to Basketball Value, thanks in large part to his horrendous Game 3 effort. In that contest he shot 2-for-8 for seven points to go with three boards in 33 minutes while recording a stunningly awful minus 34.

In today’s Game 4 he went for 19 and 12, but he shot just 5-for-20 and posted a -11 in his 44 minutes. I will say the rebounding is impressive, but that’s not the kind of shooting performance the Knicks could afford out of their usually efficient big man.

Even in STAT’s superb Game 1 effort in which he went for 28 points on 12-for-18 shooting and corralled 11 boards the Knicks lost nine points in his 39 minutes on the floor of a two-point loss.

For the series he posted a below average PER of 11.93, 21st among power forwards, to go with a very un-Amare-like true shooting percentage of 44.2 percent.

Of course, Amare has struggled with a back injury the past three games that has most definitely limited his effectiveness, but then again injury issues are one of the biggest reason he’s not a Phoenix Sun these days.

For the season Amare averaged 25.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game on 50.2 percent shooting. As for his advanced numbers, he ranked 12th with a 22.78 PER but was very average in terms of Wins Produced (4.4 and a 0.073 WP48) and adjusted plus/minus (-0.90), and his 56.5 true shooting percentage was well below the elite true shooting percentages in the 60s he put up year after year in Phoenix.

Stoudemire’s season more or less corroborates with his advanced stats history. He has always been a PER beast, yet for some reason that makes no sense Amare consistently has performed poorly in terms of adjusted plus/minus as he did this season and his career Wins Produced numbers have never justified his max contract status.

This leads me to conclude that both the Suns and Amare were harmed by his departure, as opposed to the conventional viewpoint earlier in the season that Stoudemire was doing just fine on his own. The Suns, of course, never found a go-to guy and consistent low scoring option without him, and their pick-and-roll offense suffered greatly before Marcin Gortat established himself.

Although Stoudemire got to be “The Man” in Manhattan for a few months before Carmelo showed up, he led the Knicks to just two more regular season wins and no more playoff wins than the Suns while playing in the easier Eastern Conference.

Watching STAT struggle in the playoffs against a tough, physical team like Boston also should remind Suns fans why many were against a Stoudemire max contract at the conclusion of last season’s playoffs when Amare could not handle the Lakers.

Of course there’s the school of thought that the Suns should have re-signed Amare to maximize the end of Nash’s career and forget about what happens thereafter, and certainly the Suns would have been a playoff team with a shot to make some noise with STAT in a Suns jersey this season.

Overall the jury on this deal will still be out until the final years of Amare’s deal when we see if his knees really do crumble as the Suns predicted they might, but even now despite all the glitz and glamour of Stoudemire “reviving New York basketball” at the beginning of the season his poor playoff performance reminds us why Suns fans weren’t convinced Amare was the max-contract player to take Phoenix to the promised land.

Former Suns not shining in Orlando

Meanwhile in Orlando, the Suns should be thanking their lucky stars that Hedo Turkoglu isn’t on their books for about $35 million over the next three years after watching his epic fail in the Magic’s series against the Hawks.

Turkoglu has attempted 36 shots in the series and knocked down just nine on the way to compiling a 3.25 PER. He has shot atrociously bad in every game this series: 2-for-9, 4-for-16, 3-for-11, 2-for-12. Yet as he did in Phoenix he just keeps shooting, and tonight in a crucial Game 4 he missed a contested game-tying three at the buzzer as the Magic fell behind three games to one.

Jason Richardson, meanwhile, wasn’t even in the arena Sunday night after being suspended for the game for slapping Zaza Pachulia in the face during Game 3.

Even when he has played J-Rich isn’t making near the impact he did during his stellar playoff run last season in Phoenix as he has knocked down just 30 percent of his shots while attempting 10 per game. His three-point stroke isn’t there either, having hit 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) while averaging 8.7 points per game overall, and the Magic have lost 10.57 points per 100 with J-Rich in the game.

Considering the Suns got back Marcin Gortat, the most positive part about their future going forward, I don’t think J-Rich or Hedo are exactly missed in the desert these days.

PHOENIX — If Sunday’s matinee against the Orlando Magic was a glimpse into the future of a Steve Nash-less future, Suns fans better enjoy every healthy minute they have left with Two Time.

With an ailing Nash missing the game due to pelvic instability, the Suns’ offense fell apart in the second half of this 111-88 rout.

Phoenix scored 13 points in the third quarter and 36 in the second half as the Suns finished the third quarter by missing 12 straight shots during a second-half stretch in which they went 8:44 without a field goal.

“I thought we played well but they’re just a totally different team without Steve Nash,” said Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, who has now missed Nash twice. “I thought Aaron Brooks was great today. He scored a lot but Steve Nash just sets everybody else up and gets everybody else playing. We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve played them twice and both times without Steve Nash and it’s just a whole different ball game.

“He may be more important to them than anybody else is to any team in the league. You look over the years how they’ve played when he’s out and, you know they’re a playoff team with him and they really struggle just to compete in games without him. You can’t overstate his value.”

The Suns have lost all three games Nash has missed, getting outscored by 19 points per game and shooting 43.2 percent (compared to 48.8 percent shooting while Nash is on the floor).  Since returning to Phoenix the Suns are 9-20 without Nash (.310) and 356-171 with him (.676).

Aaron Brooks played a superb first half with 19 points and seven assists on 8-for-10 shooting but he did not score and dished just three more assists in the second half. Similarly Marcin Gortat scored 10 on 5-for-6 shooting in the first half but added just one more bucket in the second and besides them the rest of the Suns shot 17-for-57 (29.8 percent) as a team for the game. Both players kept the Suns in this one with their strong first halves and both said they need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to bring that same production in both halves.

“I just got out of my rhythm,” Brooks said. “I just wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been in the second half.”

Added Gortat: “In the second half again I kind of disappeared. I don’t know the reason. I’ve got to figure out to find a way in the second half to be more aggressive because that’s not the first time I score 10-12 points in the first half and maybe one bucket in the second half.”

With Orlando decimating the Suns on the glass by a 57-40 margin thanks to Dwight Howard’s 26 and 15, the Suns had no chance without Nash, who said he’s 50-50 to doubtful for Monday in Houston but should be back Wednesday in New Orleans.

Nash felt it was important to take a day off, a day in which he improved, after playing hurt the last two weeks. Nash’s assist numbers have stayed steady in that time but he’s only taken 6.6 shots per game his last five (hitting 45.5 percent) while averaging just 8.6 points per game.

“I think I could have played today, but at the expense of jeopardizing my health for the rest of the season and giving us a chance hopefully to have everybody as healthy as possible to get in the playoffs, I think it’s the best thing not to play,” Nash said.

Without him, Jared Dudley compared the Suns’ offense to the Lakers trying to run the triangle without Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol since nobody in the NBA can run Phoenix’s offense as well as Nash.

“Steve is the backbone of our team. I mean, obviously, he gets guys good looks and he creates situations where we have pace and rhythm and things like that,” Gentry said. “But we don’t have Steve, so we have to create that some other way. It has to come collectively. You know, everybody — we have to have someone step up.”

Brooks did record his 10th career double-double and he came a point shy of his fourth career 20-10 game but the offense lacked the same rhythm it has with Nash. Brooks canned many open mid-range jumpers off the pick-and-roll but he did not do much in the way of passing out of the pick-and-roll and when he went cold so did the Suns.

Gortat seemed to be jumping out of his skin in anticipation of his matchup against his former position mate, and it was all business between the two, with Gortat saying he and Howard didn’t so much as shake hands or say one word to each other during the game whereas many other players such as Dudley and Jason Richardson were particularly friendly.

The Polish center at least held his ground defensively although Howard still enjoyed a big game, but Superman rendered Gortat ineffective on the boards. Marcin’s four rebounds marked his lowest total aside from his 10-minute stint Jan. 24 in Philadelphia since he started playing consistent minutes on Jan. 19.

“It’s definitely different than in practice,” Gortat said of playing against Howard. “I’ve seen it in practice he will hit me twice harder and he will play more dirty. I think he knew I was going to wait for the offensive foul, and he knew I would try to take a charge. It’s really, really hard to guard this guy. I would say I had a pretty solid day.”

As ugly as the rebounding discrepancy was Gentry’s mantra after the game involved the fact that the Suns wouldn’t even beat a team in the NCAA Tournament if they score 36 points in the second half, especially not a team as offensively explosive as Orlando.

The Suns now have failed to lead in consecutive ugly blowouts, dropping their first games in a row since Jan. 24-26 when their 11-3 run started, and with Nash and Frye ailing suddenly all the progress made the last two months is starting to wash away.

“I think we play without life,” Gortat said. “We are not a really pumped up team. We need a vocal leader who’s going to step in and build us up a little bit. We play through the motions, we’re not really enjoying playing in certain moments.

“We’re really missing first of all Steve and Channing is a big difference. We need a bit more life. We need to have more fun from playing basketball, enjoy. After good possessions we have to be more pumped up, the bench has to be more pumped up to play the game. We’re just kind of missing that in the last few games.

“We’ve got to change that as fast as possible.”

Perhaps all that is a function of playing without a healthy Steve Nash who can share the ball and create the kind of fun atmosphere that has made the Suns so good these past few years.

If the Suns learned anything Sunday afternoon it’s that playing without Nash is about as fun as dealing with pelvic instability.

And 1

Hedo Turkoglu on why things didn’t work out in Phoenix: “It was just hard for a couple months to try to change things, to try to get the ball into my hands like [it is with Nash]. That’s why I was used more like a spot-up guy and try to play off the ball. Here I’m playing more with the ball and trying to do things that mostly point guards do, creating my own shots and for my teammates, too.” Hedo looked like a different player in this one than the pure spot-up guy he was in Phoenix. … The Suns made just one of their first 11 threes. … The Magic won their first game in Phoenix since Nov. 14, 2001, after dropping their last eight. That helped Orlando sweep the season series for the first time since 2001-02.

Nash is day by day, as the Suns made the decision that Nash couldn’t go this morning and will go through the same process before tomorrow’s game at Houston although Gentry said he “wouldn’t count on” Nash playing in that one either.

“He’s played in so much pain now,” Gentry said. “The shots that he’s missed and the shots that he’s passed up, anybody that’s seen Steve play over the past seven years knows that he’s hurt. Even some of the passes that he’s made he’s not able to do it because of the pain that he’s still in. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Gentry does not see the logic in having Nash try to “toughen out” another game after dealing with this ailment since the middle of the team’s recent road trip.

Nash went for just seven points and seven assists in Thursday’s blowout loss at the hands of Denver in 27 minutes. The injury can be seen most in Nash’s lack of shot attempts, as Two Time has attempted between four and seven shots in four of his last five games despite averaging 11 for the season.

With Nash out, Aaron Brooks will get the start and receive his first opportunity to shine in major minutes for Phoenix.

Brooks has averaged 7.6 points and 3.7 assists in 15.9 minutes per game in seven games for the Suns. He’s seemed passive at times so perhaps being freed from the shackles of looking over his shoulder for Nash’s return could free him to play like the Most Improved Player who averaged 20 points per game last season. Zabian Dowdell figures to get a few minutes as well.

“The bottom line is that we have to be able to get out on the floor and execute and do what we’re supposed to do,” Gentry said.

Hedo, J-Rich return to Phoenix

Today’s game will be a reunion of sorts with six players facing their former team for the first time since December’s blockbuster trade.

Marcin Gortat gets to face his old sparring partner for the first time and Earl Clark gets to give Phoenix fans another glimpse of his potential, and it also marks the return of Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu to the Valley.

As expected, J-Rich received a handful of cheers while Turkoglu got a few boos but not much of an overall reaction during starting lineup introductions.

“Obviously when you’re playing against a team that traded you it’s a whole different situation where you want to really do well,” Gentry said. “You’ve just got to calm yourself and play. I’m sure J-Rich and Hedo want to play well against us, too. It’s a natural thing.”

Dudley posterizing J-Rich?

Jared Dudley and Jason Richardson engaged in friendly trash talk together from the time they were both traded from Charlotte to Phoenix, and that continued this week with Dudley tweeting his followers to Photoshop a picture of him dunking on Richardson in a video game.

Dudley also jokingly said, “There will be friction at the rim,” when reporters asked what would happen if he has an opportunity to dunk on Richardson.

J-Rich would have none of that, though, tweeting back: “@JaredDudley619 havin people tweet pics of him dunking on me in 2k11. A bruh that’s the only chance u have, cause I will get a flagrant 6.”

Perhaps it is, but Dudley surely enjoyed this and this and this and this.

Magic

Suns

PHOENIX – There’s no shortage of hype and story lines surrounding the Phoenix Suns’ afternoon matchup with the Orlando Magic.

Marcin Gortat will finally go toe-to-toe with the man who kept him on the bench in Orlando, Dwight Howard.

Jason Richardson returns to the place where he helped lead the Suns to the Western Conference Finals.

Hedo Turkoglu is likely to be greeted by a host of boos in from of the US Airways Center crowd he continuously disappointed. Earl Clark has a chance to show the Phoenix front office that it gave up on him too soon. Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus will face off against their former squad as well.

But despite the never-ending story lines tied to today’s ABC matchup, the player who will most likely determine the game’s outcome had zero ties to Orlando — Steve Nash.

Nash, who didn’t practice on Saturday and has struggled through a groin injury for weeks, is a “game-time decision” according to head coach Alvin Gentry.

“If he’s healthy enough to play, he’ll play,” Gentry said. “I don’t worry about Steve because if there’s any way that he can go he’ll go and if he doesn’t go it’s because there’s no way that he can. Really if he’s not going (to play) he’s got to be really, really hurt.”

Nash is clearly less than 100 percent and it’s showed on the court. Gentry sent Nash to the locker room in the third quarter of Phoenix’s loss to the Nuggets after he struggled to stay in front of Ty Lawson while turning the ball over six times in 27 minutes.

The 37-year-old isn’t right and while he’s remained consistent in the assist department, his scoring has declined considerably. Over his last five games Nash is averaging only 8.6 points on 45.5 percent shooting while making only three triples.

Aaron Brooks, who will start if Nash can’t go, said he could tell how Nash’s injury has impacted his offensive game.

“I know when I played against him he seemed to be more aggressive, shooting more,” Brooks recalled of his time facing Nash when he was with the Rockets.

If Nash can’t play, Brooks will hold the keys to the offense. After he shined on the Suns’ road trip, he’s taken a step back in his first two games at US Airways Center, shooting 3-for-15 and averaging 2.5 turnovers per game.

“As far as shooting I made some bad decisions (Thursday),” Brooks said. “I can always get better. I’m not playing well but I feel good.”

“It’s an opportunity,” Brooks added of filling in for Nash. “We definitely want (Nash) in. I’m ready to play whenever so if he’s not playing I’ll be there, if he is, we’re lucky.”

Jared Dudley explained Nash’s importance by saying he “means more to our team than Kobe does to the Lakers.” Dudley went on to praise Brooks but without their Kobe, the Suns are a different team. When Nash is on the floor this season, the Suns shoot 48.4 percent from the field but when he sits, they only make 43.7 percent of their shots.

Phoenix is battling injury and focus problems, as an angry Gentry described Saturday’s practice as “awful.”

“I didn’t get anything done today. I could have stayed over at Talking Stick for what we got done today,” he said. “It was awful. It was not good, no. We didn’t get one thing accomplished today.”

The Suns need to recapture that focus amid all of the hoopla, especially if Nash is out, as Phoenix still remains 1.5 games behind eighth-place Memphis.

“We’ve got to bring our focus to the game,” Brooks said. “We got embarrassed last game so we don’t want that to happen twice.”

Channing Frye update

Frye, who dislocated his right shoulder one week against against the Thunder, is about 10 days from returning, according to Gentry.

“He’s making progress right now but we’ll have to see where he gets to,” Gentry said.

The Suns’ sharp-shooting big man was sporting a brace around his chest and shoulder that Hakim Warrick called a “training bra.” Frye participated in warmups on Saturday and put up 100 shots for the first time since the injury. Although he was drilling shots with ease, Frye said he still has discomfort and the team wants him to take his time returning.

“I may feel good, but I don’t want to come back too early,” Frye said. “I don’t have to worry about anything else for the rest of the year.”

Although he’s taking his time coming back, that doesn’t mean Frye isn’t itching to play.

“Oh it sucks. I hate this,” Frye said. “But you know what, everything happens for a reason and I’m just trying to stay positive and continue to try and help our team any way I can.”

PHOENIX — When the Phoenix Suns drafted Earl Clark with the 14th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, they knew exactly what they were getting.

Then-GM Steve Kerr was well-aware that Clark would be a long-term project, but his massive potential and defensive versatility seemed to be worth the wait.

But after 61 underwhelming games played in Phoenix, Lon Babby and Lance Blanks shipped the 6-foot-10 forward to Orlando along with Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu.

Since then, Clark’s averaged 12.6 minutes per game and impressed Stan Van Gundy so greatly that the Magic coach said Clark has the potential to “become one of the best defenders in this league,” and is “going to be a very good player in this league.”

Superman himself agreed with Van Gundy as Dwight Howard said, “Oh he does. I totally agree. He can play anybody from two down to the five.”

So why is Clark all of the sudden a bigger factor for a championship contender with a defensive prowess than he was for a middle-of-the-road team with defensive deficiencies?

“Basically just because I’ve had the opportunity,” said Clark. “Here I didn’t really play too much and when I did it was maybe for five minutes or so or maybe blowout minutes. (In Orlando) I’m getting a fresh start and I’m just playing.”

Clark’s added 10 pounds of muscle since the trade and is starting to show flashes of why Kerr took a flyer on the 23-year-old Louisville product. He did an admirable job filling in for an injured Brandon Bass and played 20-plus minutes four times in January — more 20-plus minute games than he played over the course of his year and a half in Phoenix.

“Earl, when he has played for us, has given us good minutes. I’ll be honest it takes time with a young player for a coach to really develop a trust factor,” Van Gundy said. “But Earl’s really moving in a positive direction with that because when we played him he’s been good. He’s just got to continue to keep himself ready and I think he could really help us.”

Clark’s provided a lift defensively and given the Magic a versatile big man that they can plug in at several positions, which is exactly what the Suns hoped he would do in Phoenix. He’s filled in for Bass, while most recently playing 32 minutes on Monday against Portland as Howard served a one-game suspension.

Clark is relishing his role with Orlando, after he felt unwanted near the end of last season. The Suns didn’t pick up his option, basically giving up on the long-term project Kerr invested in on draft day in 2009.

“Once they didn’t pick up my option I knew something was wrong, they didn’t want me there. I just took it for what it was,” Clark said. “It’s tough to be somewhere you know that they don’t want you but I just stayed in the gym and kept working.

Clark’s never been thought of for his work ethic, but Alvin Gentry applauded his determination and wasn’t at all surprised with his production in Orlando.

“I know that Earl worked extremely hard when he was here. I thought that he was making a lot of progress, getting bigger, getting stronger which is going to be important for him,” Gentry said. “He’s still a really young player so I think they see him as a guy who’s making progress that in the future could be a good player for them.”

But Clark’s only scratched the surface of his potential. Opportunity was the only difference in Clark’s play in Phoenix compared to his production in Orlando, now he has to learn the ins and outs of the game. Van Gundy talked about Clark’s massive room for improvement on the offensive end, and Howard touched on what it’s going to take for him to take that leap of faith defensively.

“I know for me the biggest thing that helped me defensively is really after games remembering what guys did and studying tape and learning guys’ moves so that the next time I saw them I knew what to do. And I think that’s the next step for Earl,” Howard said. “Once he gets it down pat he’s going to be one of those guys that we’re going to count on to guard the other team’s best player.”

Clark still has a ways to go before he can become one of the league’s greatest defensive players like Van Gundy says he will, but at least he has a chance to show that growth — an opportunity that wasn’t there in Phoenix.

“They just said they couldn’t fit me in,” Clark said of the Suns. “Phoenix it wasn’t really there and I just had to sit through it and continue to work hard.”

Clark now wears No. 3 because of his love for Allen Iverson along with his yearning for a change. He may not be doing anything the Suns didn’t think he could, but he’s finally getting a chance, which is all he could ask for.

PHOENIX — For three and a half years, Marcin Gortat took blow after vicious blow from a beast of a sparring partner every day in practice. He would go hard for three hours only to have to venture back into The Octagon to battle that same guy in individual workouts after practice, brutal work that he accepted only because he knew how much it was helping him improve.

After finally stepping out from Dwight Howard’s immense shadow while establishing himself in Phoenix following his trade to the Suns in December, Gortat will get his chance to exact a little revenge on Superman when the Suns and Magic lock horns Sunday afternoon.

“Dwight is a earthquake, tsunami and thunderstorm in one thing,” Gortat said. “He’s a load. I was taking a lot of hits for three and a half years and I always thought one day there’s going to be a game where I’m going to face him in a game with real referees, and it’s going to be a different story. We’ll see tomorrow.”

After those three-plus years plying his craft behind Howard, Gortat has thrived with the increased opportunities in Phoenix, where he must battle Robin Lopez for playing time rather than the league’s best center.

After averaging a mere 3.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game over 175 games (five starts) during his three-plus seasons in Orlando, Gortat has exploded  for 11.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game with the Suns. His numbers have steadily improved every month, with Gortat going for 10.7 and 8.1 in January, 13.3 and 9.3 in February and 14.6 and 12.2 thus far in March.

He’s a bench player in name only, averaging 30.1 minutes in February and 33.8 in March as he’s gotten the bulk of the playing time at the center position.

But as Gortat said, “It all started with Dwight.”

“Every day he would say something, I would say back, every day was a hit, every day was a fight, every day I bleed most of the time,” Gortat said. “It’s fun, I’m telling you, it’s fun. You’re getting really tougher playing against this guy for three and a half years. Later you’re stepping out on the court and trust me, there’s nobody else in the NBA that can hurt you. When you play against this guy every day there’s nobody else, nobody else.”

As much as Gortat made his upcoming duel with Howard sound like a battle for the world’s heavyweight belt, Howard downplayed it, saying he just wants to get a win after the Magic suffered a bad loss to the Warriors Friday night.

But he must understand what this game means to Gortat as he always used to tell the Polish big man, “The same way you battle in practice is the same way you’ve got to battle in the game.”

Gortat said he knows Howard so well he could write a book on him and The Polish Hammer is confident such familiarity will breed success.  Or at least relative success since he knows nobody can shut down Superman, a player who averages 22.8 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

“I know what frustrates this guy, I know what moves he likes to do, what kind of moves [Magic assistant] Patrick [Ewing] is teaching him, so I would say I have a little advantage over the rest of the guys in the league,” Gortat said, “but at the end of the day it’s still about having big balls and holding the ground with a guy who’s trying to kick your ass.

“It’s not easy when you have a 280-pound guy with a smile on his face trying to crush your face. You’ve got to be tough, his elbows are hard. Rocks.”

From the minute he arrived in Phoenix, Gortat boasted that he was 100 percent confident that he would make a big impact upon stepping out of Superman’s shadow, strong words from a man who had never averaged more than four points and four rebounds per game in a season.

Gortat has delivered everything he promised and more, which has not surprised his former head coach Stan Van Gundy one bit.

Van Gundy saw Gortat pining for this opportunity since Orlando matched a five-year, $34 million offer sheet from Dallas before the start of the 2009-10 season. Gortat was coming off a solid playoff stint during Orlando’s 2009 run to the NBA Finals, and Van Gundy saw how tough it was for him to return to a bit role when Orlando matched the offer sheet.

But instead of just waiting for his opportunity Gortat continued working and preparing for it, as according to Van Gundy his development “has been off the charts” due to his elite work ethic. That was on display once again Saturday afternoon with Gortat staying long after any of his teammates to work on post moves in advance of this meeting with Howard.

“We knew how good he was,” Van Gundy said. “He was a hard guy to give up. We obviously had matched Dallas’ offer the year before when people didn’t think we would and the whole thing. And he’s perfectly suited, this is a perfect system for him because his real strength offensively is as a pick-and-roll player.

“He’s got great hands, he can finish at the basket, and he’s playing with one of the best pick-and-roll guards in the history of the game. I’m not surprised that he’s been able to do what he could do, and he’s always been able to defend and rebound. He’s an outstanding player, not surprised at all.”

Gortat has established himself as a bonafide center in this league, going for 14-18, 13-16 and 13-13 just this month.

But on Sunday afternoon he will get his first opportunity to show Howard just how much he’s learned from the master on a national setting.

“I’ve got my new chapter opened up in the new book,” Gortat said.

Today’s trade of Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark for Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-rounder and cash marks admission that the Turkoglu deal — and really the Clark lottery pick while we’re at it — was a giant mistake.

Credit Turkoglu’s former agent and current Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby for not only being willing to admit the mistake but also being able to find probably the only team in the basketball world that would have taken on Hedo’s hideous contract.

“The Hedo Turkoglu acquisition was a noble experiment,” Babby said. “Hedo really tried to make it work, but I think it became obvious that we were not going to be able to succeed with him as our four. And so you have to adjust.”

When the Suns first acquired Hedo I tried to convince myself that he was a good fit but always questioned whether he could play the four. We soon found out that Turkoglu would not become a second facilitator with Nash, that instead he would be a glorified spot-up shooter. Defensively, things were worse as Hedo could not defend any decent four one-on-one and got killed on the boards.

The Suns finally moved him to a small forward bench role, and at times he looked like the old Hedo in that role. But occasional flashes of solid basketball off the bench can be had for much less than the $10-12 million a year he will be paid through 2013-14 (when it’s not fully guaranteed).

Those assets would be much better spent on a legitimate big, and if Marcin Gortat has one thing, it’s legitimate size. Gortat has long been known as one of the best backup centers in the league who just couldn’t get out of Dwight Howard’s shadow.

He’s a rebounding force who grabs between 18-20 percent of the available rebounds for his career, much better than any current Phoenix big. He has averaged a double-double per 40 minutes throughout his career, but having never played more than 15 minutes per game he averages just 3.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest for his career.

Gortat has been waiting for a perfect opportunity like this his entire basketball life. He’s coming to a team that craves his skill set of interior defense and rebounding, and I expect him to make a big impact.

Pietrus continues that Golden State to Phoenix wing pipeline, and he should fit this style as well as Jason Richardson and Matt Barnes did.

As for the salary implications of this deal, this is no cost-cutting trade for Phoenix. It actually adds about $2.6 million to this season’s cap number (less in actual dollars because the contracts are prorated), which is no big deal at all since Orlando is throwing in $3 million and the Suns are still below luxury levels.

Instead of having J-Rich’s $14.4 million expiring deal come off their books this offseason, the Suns will have Vince Carter’s $18.3 million contract that’s only guaranteed for $4 million. The Suns will be about $5 million worse off next season assuming they cut Carter for just the guaranteed $4 mil as there’s no way they bring him back at full price.

The savings really start during the 2012-13 season, as the Suns will save $4.5 million by paying Gortat instead of Turkoglu. The Suns could save over $4 million the next season as well, but it’s hard to speculate on that at this point without knowing if Gortat will exercise his early termination option (in which case there could be real nice savings) and how much guaranteed money Turkoglu has in the final year of his deal (assuming he even gets cut with $12 million in potential salary).

So this year doesn’t matter since the Suns are still under the luxury cap, and the slight increase next year doesn’t affect things much since the Suns weren’t going to be players either way next summer.

Obviously it’s hard to project offseasons a couple years in advance since the Suns could make a bevy of moves by then, but along with some guaranteed flexibility they will be paying a needed piece rather than a square peg in a round hole even if Gortat is probably a little overpaid (although that might not even be true if he plays to his per minute averages).

I also am not sure this is the Suns’ last move. This deal does nothing to eliminate their glut at the wings with Carter likely to receive J-Rich’s time and Pietrus needing a spot. The Suns have five legitimate wings in Carter, Hill, Dudley, Pietrus and Childress, and the other three positions all have bonafide backups as well.

Perhaps the Suns can upgrade a position with a two for one trade or even just turn one of those wings into another first-rounder.

It’s also difficult to wave goodbye to J-Rich, who was such a barometer of success for this team, for an enigma like Vince Carter, whose effort can be questioned on a nightly basis. The optimistic view says the Suns’ warlock training staff and playing next to Steve Nash will turn Carter into a 20 ppg guy again, but at 33 you just don’t know.

J-Rich was the Suns’ leading scorer and he finally learned to play perfectly in sync with Nash. It will take Carter time to discover that chemistry, but J-Rich has been averaging 3.5 more shots per game than Carter this season. When Carter has gotten that many shot attempts, which he will in Phoenix, he’s been a 20-point scorer throughout his career, and we saw what he did with an elite point guard in New Jersey.

So while it’s a bit disconcerting that the Suns will rely on Vince Carter to stay relevant this season, this was a move they had to make. Gortat will provide more value than Turkoglu throughout his contract while filling Phoenix’s biggest need, and sans Hedo the pieces finally all seem to fit.

Give Babby credit for reversing the Turkoglu mistake because today’s blockbuster makes the Suns better both in the present and the future.

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns’ front office knew it was time to make a splash.

The suits gave their patchwork assembled team a quarter of a season to prove they were a unit that could compete.

Saturday’s trade was an indication of a step in a new direction.

“We came here with the idea that we were going to take our time evaluating what we had,” said Suns’ President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby. “We took about 20 games, looked closely at what we had and felt like we needed to really improve our defensive presence.”

And that’s exactly what Phoenix sees in their newly acquired trio of Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus.

“We all recognized that we had a need here for an interior presence in size and rebounding and Gortat is really someone we have had our eye on since we got here,” Babby said. “Carter and Pietrus give us a great defensive presence on the perimeter as well as being extremely dynamic offensively.”

Although the Suns were forced to give up their leading scorer in Jason Richardson, the team doesn’t see itself losing much scoring productivity.

“The other 29 teams [in the NBA] are trying to get better, too; you can’t do something like this without giving up something,” Babby said. “We think that Carter, Pietrus and the other wings that we have can compensate for the loss of Richardson. And if we can improve ourselves defensively, that should offset [any offensive loss] as well.”

Suns’ General Manager Lance Blanks isn’t worried about points either.

“Offensively, we think we’ll be able to get easier baskets because Steve Nash will have a big in there that he can dump the ball off to,” Blanks said. “Nash still does a good job of penetrating and creating opportunities and we feel like Gortat will be able to catch and finish around the rim.”

The two executives raved about the impact adding another big rebounder in Gortat will have on the team.

“The first indication that maybe this was a good move was that our phones haven’t stopped ringing from people trying to get Gortat from us,” Babby said. “He hasn’t even arrived yet and teams are calling; so that’s always a good sign.”

Blanks pointed to Gortat’s former Magic teammate as another cause for optimism.

“He’s been with the premier big man in the NBA for several years now in Dwight Howard,” Blanks said. “There’s got to be some rub off from that and he’s openly spoken about embracing and wanting a bigger role.”

The trade itself is still pending physicals from all six players but barring any setbacks, Babby said the new trio should first see action next Thursday against the Miami Heat.

As for Saturday’s move possibly leading to a Steve Nash trade, Babby shot down the question, but did leave himself wiggle room.

“That’s an impossible question to answer because no matter what I say it’s going to be interpreted in a fashion that is going to be misunderstood,” Babby said. “Steve Nash is the sun, moon and the stars of this franchise and we appreciate that and we understand that. If that doesn’t convey the message than I’ve failed to convey the message of his importance to this franchise.”

Vince Carter is aging, but the Suns don't miss a step as he replaces Jason Richardson as Phoenix's two-guard.

At first glance, I thought the Phoenix Suns were the clear loser of the blockbuster trade they swung with the Orlando Magic Saturday afternoon.

(In cased you’re late to the party, the Suns swapped Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark for Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round draft pick and cash considerations).

Carter is an aging chemistry killer and prototypical chucker, Marcin Gortat is an overpaid backup center, while Jason Richardson is Phoenix’s top scorer (19.3 points per game) and a perfect fit in the Suns’ system.

This Suns team is also searching to find itself, and shuffling the roster doesn’t seem like the best way to build chemistry and solidify rotations.

But after some more deliberation, it dawned on me that this indeed is an above-average deal that Lon Babby and Lance Blanks won’t regret pulling the trigger on.

The Suns can rid themselves of the nightmare that was The Turkoglu Experiment, while finding a home for Clark, who never found his way out of head coach Alvin Gentry’s doghouse.

They lose Turkoglu’s painful contract, (J-Rich expires after this season), and only owe Carter about $4 million guaranteed next season.

Gortat is owed around $25 million over the next four seasons, including this season, which is a bit steep. But overall it frees up cap space for a future that looks quite grim for the Suns.

The 2011 draft pick, along with that freed up cap space, will help them find and develop talent to enhance their bleak future. I don’t think this deal makes the Suns all that much better, but it doesn’t make them worse, which isn’t bad for a sub-.500 team thirsting for change.

Overall grade: B

So what are the Suns getting with each new player and how will they fit with the Suns? Here’s a closer look:

Vince Carter

Suns fans know this isn’t the same Vinsanity that stuck his elbow in the rim during dunk contests or jumped over seven-footers in international competition. Carter can still get up there, but he’s slowed down considerably. He’s 33 years old, playing just over 30 minutes a game and doing most of his damage on the perimeter, as he’s averaging a career-low 3.4 free-throw attempts.

Although he’s known as a chucker who settles for bad shots, Carter is having his most efficient year as a pro. He’s shooting a career-best 47 percent from the field and a respectable 34.6 percent from three.

But how does he fit as a Sun? Carter should be a good fit in the wide-open Suns offense, although he’s equally as worthless defensively as Richardson. He can use his athleticism to get up and down, but still spots up for open threes he likes to settle for.

Health issues are always there, but that’s not a concern in Phoenix judging by what the Suns’ training staff did for Grant Hill and Steve Nash.

Carter brings a transition threat, and a playmaker the Suns thought they had in Turkoglu. History says he needs a lot of touches to be effective, but Nash can change that and Carter figures to be a perfect fit who can mimic J-Rich’s stats in purple and orange.

Carter as a Sun: B

Marcin Gortat

Although he isn’t flashy, the 6-foot-11, 240-pound Polishman helps the Suns more than anyone in this deal. The NBA’s worst rebounding team that can’t defend the interior to save its life just found the answer to its problems.

Gortat isn’t a savior by any means, but he’s an active big man that’s been waiting for his shot for quite some time. He’s known as one of the league’s best backup big men, and banging against Dwight Howard every day in practice has to make you a better pro.

His numbers aren’t staggerring (4 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, 0.8 blocks) but he’s still only 26 years old and gives the Suns four near seven-footers in Gortat, Channing Frye, Robin Lopez and Earl Barron. Gortat is the only true banger and should help the Suns fill their weaknesses.

My only question is: Where does he fit in the rotation? He’s not going to start over Lopez and he certainly can’t start next to him because the Suns need more spacing for Nash to operate. He’ll most likely back Lopez up and serve as injury insurance, which isn’t the worst thing because Lopez doesn’t seem poised to make that giant step the Suns had hoped for this season.

But what about down the road? When Lopez does develop, are you going to pay $7 million a year to a backup center? Gortat fills a need now and will do some great things for the Suns, but down the road I’m not sure how he fits in. The Suns could have used a a prototypical power forward, not a prototypical center.

Gortat as a Sun: B-

Mickael Pietrus

Pietrus is the forgotten player in this deal, but he shouldn’t be. He’s fairly cheap at $5.3 million this season and the same amount next season with a player option. He’s the perimeter defender the Suns thought they had in Earl Clark and Josh Childress.

He won’t create off the dribble, which is fine as Nash, Hill and Carter will dominate the ball. He figures to fill the role Childress hasn’t been able to yet, except he can actually shoot the ball. Eighty-seven of his 115 shots are threes this season, which is a perfect fit for the Suns’ offense.

Pietrus can defend, knock down the triple (39.1 percent) and has a swagger and toughness Suns fans will fall in love with quickly. It remains to be seen how many minutes he’ll play (my guess is 18-20), but although Carter and Gortat are the big names, Pietrus is the dark horse in the deal.

Pietrus as a Sun: B+