Robert Sarver to FINALLY sell the Suns!

Contrary to earlier reports, Robert Sarver is finally on the verge of selling the Phoenix Suns, and you won’t find that information anywhere else but here.

The words that many Phoenix Suns fans have been clamoring to see over the past few years are finally for real: Robert Sarver will sell the Phoenix Suns!

I speculated MONTHS ago that this could be on the horizon, but today it is finally on the verge of coming to fruition!

Said Sarver in a private interview:

"“I am a banker and I have a natural inclination to look at things from a financial and analytical perspective. As proud as I have been as owner of the Phoenix Suns over these past 14 years, I cannot ignore the tremendous return on my initial investment if I sold the team now and therefore have taken steps to make such a move happen.”"

Thanking former owner Jerry Colangelo, the city of Phoenix, the state of Arizona, and every fan of the Phoenix Suns, Robert Sarver has announced his intention to sell the Phoenix Suns by this summer, ending his 14-year ownership of the franchise, one that has seen tremendous highs, but as of recently, has been marred by dysfunction, poor management, and more losing than the franchise had ever experienced in a three-season stretch over it’s prior 47-seasons in existence.

Almost since the moment in April 2004 when Colangelo released the reins of the franchise he had managed since it’s inception, and owned since 1988, Phoenix Suns fans have begged and pleaded for the newest owner, Robert Sarver, to sell it again.

The arguments heard most and certainly loudest over time began with his early intervention in roster affairs even after he atmitted in his introductory press conference that he did “not know much about basketball,” his mis-handling of contracts and players, hiring of staff apparently entirely un-qualified to hold their positions, and throughout it all, oversee a team who in the past eight years has lost much  more than they have won.

As of the start of April 2017, the Phoenix Suns are 583-544 since Sarver took control of the franchise for a then record of approx. $400M. The first four seasons under his leadership were some of the franchise’s best, with a combined 232-96 record, four playoff appearances, and two ultimately unsuccessful trips to the Western Conference Finals. Many refused to give him credit for this success as the core of the roster had been pieced together by Jerry and his son, then General Manager Bryan Colangelo. However, Sarver was in on the acquisition of Steve Nash, the catalyst and beating heart of those successful teams, maintaining some level of credit for those fun years.

Phoenix Suns

Since those teams broke up though, most notably by the trading of Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat and firing of Head Coach Mike D’Antoni, the Phoenix Suns have floundered in relative obscurity in the league, severely tarnishing the once shining sun that was the franchise Colangelo built.

Over the past ten seasons, aside from an additional Western Conference Finals trip in 2010, the Suns have fallen on the hardest times in the franchise’s now 50-year history, holding a 351-448 (43.9%) record since the 2008-09 season, and now a 66-175 (27.3% – through the end of March 2018), by far the lowest three year stretch in franchise history.

Sarver’s willingness now to sell the team comes from two different angles according to one anonymous source. First is the growing pressure he has felt from fans due to the prolonged losing since 2010, and second is the expected financial windfall he will receive through the sale based on recent Forbes projections of NBA franchises.

“[Robert] has become both cognizant of and distressed by the negativity surrounding his ownership of the team over these past few seasons. Those (#SARVEROUT) billboards really upset him. It is because of this pressure that has caused him to force (General Manager) Ryan (McDonough) to take the front stage on all issues and matters regarding the day-to-day affairs of the organization, and why he has not been publicly heard from since before the beginning of the season.”

But while many men and women either thrive from pressure or succumb to it, Sarver could not help but see the immediate potential to triple if not more  his original $400M investment.

According to Forbes’ 2018 NBA franchise valuation projections, the Phoenix Suns are listed at approx. $1.280B. If they sold for that alone Sarver would triple his original investment.

However, in 2017 the Houston Rockets were valued at $1.65B, according to Forbes, only to sell later that year for $2.2B, a 133% increase in the originally projected value. It is believed in Sarver’s inner circle that he could not only find a buyer willing to pay a minimum of 133% greater than the $1.20B that the Suns are currently appraised, which would garner Sarver approx. $1.7B, but that he could actually sell for about $2B, five times his original purchase price.

“He is a family man. He loves his children and grandchildren and wants to do what is best for them. Should he sell now, he could not only spend more time with them, but their lives would be set up. He is looking long-term with this sale, and it is about time.”

At this moment there has been no mention of a prospective buyer for the Phoenix Suns but there is certain to be a tremendous amount of interest from all over the world considering the franchise’s young nucleus, it’s prime location at the heart of a metropolitan city, and the prospect of a new arena within a decade.

Next: Ranking every Phoenix Suns uniform in their history

That all being said, if you are or you know a wealthy how-to-do who might have interest purchasing the Phoenix Suns, at this moment you are out of luck. Early this season Robert Sarver stated that he had received offers in the past and rejected them all and that he currently has no “zero interest” in selling the Suns.

And who can blame him? He bought the franchise for $400M, he can absolutely sell it for much,  much greater than his original purchase value now, but with a core of Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, and potentially another superstar in this upcoming draft, why sell when his entire legacy might finally be vindicated with a potential core like that who might finally bring the franchise it’s first championship, only further raising the value in the future?

Have a happy Sunday, a Happy Easter, and a pleasant APRIL FOOLS!!

(Sorry Suns fans, this entire post was an April Fools joke. Although I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted!)