- Despite cruising to the best regular season record in the NBA, this will be another bold and busy summer for Bryan Colangelo.

Amare Stoudemire will be asking for a max contract and he will get it.

Joe Johnson is a restricted free-agent and the Suns will correctly match any contract that he is offered on the open market.

These two contracts, combined with the Quentin Richardson and Steve Nash contracts of last season and the Shawn Marion contract signed before that, there will be little to no flexability for the Suns to improve their club.

They have a top-heavy roster, which is fine in March, but an extreme liability come early June, when it really matters.

Marion will be the odd-man out and as he comes off a career season, where he averaged 19.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.  His stock will never be higher, as the latter years of his contract, when he is set to $16.44 million in 07-08 and $17.87 million in 08-09.

The Stoudemire/Marion slide to center and power forward is not a longterm solution and since Colangelo is not a preserve the status quo type of general manager, it is nearly a certain bet that the UNLV product will be dealt.

A sign and trade involving Samuel Dalembert would have been the most logical move had Billy King not fired Jim O'Brien. The Sixers will be more apt to keep Dalembert with Maurice Cheeks at the helm, but bringing in Marion, a legitimate All-Star, would give Philadelphia a starting five of Iverson, Iguodala, Marion, Webber and Jackson.

Dalembert gives Phoenix a legitimate interior defender and his improvement will be exponential playing alongside Stoudemire.

The other option that the Suns have would be to leave Stoudemire at center, but bring in a traditional power forward. Stoudemire is less exposed as a center under this scenario than he is playing with a 6-7 rail thin Marion.  

The Carlos Boozer experience in Utah wants to conclude and his game would suit Phoenix ideally.

A lockout situation will buy Colangelo additional time to weigh his options on whether or not he wants to change the course of a team that's a lock to win 50+ games each of the next three seasons.

There was no fear when he traded Stephon Marbury to the Knicks and regardless of what he decides to do during this offseason, that same unbridled committment will be applied to whatever decision is made.

- Phil Jackson is back, which means more major change in Los Angeles this offseason.

During his press conference, Jackson stressed to no end that the current roster is in dire disarray.

The Lakers are poised to make a major trade this summer involving one of the pieces that came over last July from Miami, either Lamar Odom or Caron Butler.

Most likely it will be Odom, who is a tweener and has value to multiple teams across the league. Jackson might be reluctant to trade Odom, as he can foresee the Rhode Island product developing into the Scottie Pippen to Kobe Bryant's Michael Jordan.

And finally with Jackson and presumably Kobe now moving on past what happened during the final days of the Lakers' run, Shaquille O'Neal remains an island.  His 'advice' that Jackson should have taken the Kings' job and that he does not know a man named 'Kobe' isolates him further and further from the franchise.  

There will be no Shaquille O'Neal Night at Staples Center for as long as a Buss owns the franchise, unless there are major concessions from O'Neal at the conclusion of his career.

- The uniforms of American baseball, basketball and football teams have remained a sacred space while soccer clubs across the globe have had advertisers prominently displayed for years now.

Siemens Mobile, Vodafone and O2 have become as famous for being associated with Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal as they are with the products they sell.

While Nike, adidas and Reebok are on uniforms of teams, even on the high school level, they aren?t ubiquitous and are at least apparel.  For this placement, these brands pay millions of dollars each season.

If the NBA elects to permit advertisers to be on their team?s jerseys, you might see Guinness across the green of the Celtics and the latest film across the gold of the Lakers and the newest Jay-Z project on the white of the Nets.

The uniforms of American teams have become sacred entities of our culture and should not be infiltrated by advertisers, not because of some leftist idealism, but because of mere aesthetics.

- Without question, this season?s playoffs has been from beginning to conclusion a showcase for Manu Ginobili.  

After San Antonio was shocked in the first game of the first round by the Nuggets, when the Spurs couldn?t hit a shot to save their collective lives during the 4th quarter, Ginobili has become the Spurs steady scoring source.

His ability to create his own shot puts him in that unique category with the Kobe Bryant?s, Dwyane Wade?s and Allen Iverson?s.

When evaluating how great of a player Ginobili truly is, you have to play the what-if scenario if all of a sudden the Argentinean played without Tim Duncan, how good would he be?

He would be as good as Wade would be without Shaquille O?Neal, so whatever level that is, that?s where Ginobili would be as well.  

- As pundits begin to scare and prepare the city of Milwaukee for the bust formally known as Andrew Bogut, whether it is because of his eye sight, or because is a mediocre athlete, etc., etc., the perception of the number one pick has to be reconsidered.

These are the names that have been called first by David Stern since 1980?

2004 - Dwight Howard
2003 - Lebron James
2002 - Yao Ming
2001 - Kwame Brown
2000 ? Kenyon Martin
1999 ? Elton Brand
1998 ? Michael Olowokandi
1997 ? Tim Duncan
1996 - Allen Iverson
1995 ? Joe Smith
1994 ? Glenn Robinson
1993 - Chris Webber
1992 - Shaquille O?Neal
1991 ? Larry Johnson
1990 ? Derrick Coleman
1989 ? Pervis Ellison
1988 - Danny Manning
1987 ? David Robinson
1986 - Brad Daugherty
1985 ? Patrick Ewing
1984 ? Hakeem Olajuwon
1983 ? Ralph Sampson
1982 ? James Worthy
1981 ? Mark Aguirre
1980 ? Joe Barry Carroll

With this list in tow, it is rather clear that several of these picks amounted to nothing more than serviceable NBA players, while Brown, Olowokandi, Ellison, Sampson and Carroll can aptly be described as certified busts.

Only O?Neal, Iverson, Olajuwon, Robinson Worthy, Ewing and Duncan are in or may be considered locks for the Hall of Fame, though it will be utterly shocking if twenty years from now Lebron isn?t also destined for Springfield.

While some of these players never became franchise saviors, you can be fairly certain that a solid 10-15 year player will be had with the first pick.

Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM and may be reached at chris@realgm.com.