The Phoenix Suns have begun pursuing Josh Smith, according to multiple sources.

The Suns have held preliminary trade talks with the Atlanta Hawks and will continue their pursuit into the offseason should they be unable to execute a trade before the deadline.

The Suns would likely build their offer for Smith around Marcin Gortat.

Phoenix could sign Smith to a new contract in the offseason while retaining enough cap space for a second big contract free agent.

The Phoenix Suns have recalled guard Diante Garrett from the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League.

Originally assigned on Jan. 10, the 6-4, 175-pound guard averaged 15.1 points, 7.4 assists and 1.7 steals while appearing in seven games for the Jam (five starts). During his seven-game assignment, the Jam compiled a 6-1 (.857) record, including a season-best six-game win streak.

Garrett shot 46.1 percent from the field (49-of-93), including a 62.5-percent clip from three-point range (10-of-16).

Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver gave support to the team’s general manager, Lance Blanks.

Blanks recently received criticism for promoting Lindsey Hunter to interim head coach.

“Lance is terrible at public relations. Terrible,” Sarver said. “But if you actually sat with him for an hour, he’s pretty smart. He’s a deep thinker. He’s got a lot of insight. He just has a different type of personality.

“His track record will stand for itself. He’ll have a record that he’ll be judged on. But I give him credit. He didn’t select the most popular choice. If he wanted the easy way out or to do what’s popular, he would’ve chosen Elston (Turner) or Dan (Majerle). He picked the guy he thought would be best for this team going forward.

“If Lance was the kind of guy who wanted to test the wind of the community, then I wouldn’t want him working for me. Sometimes, the right decision isn’t the easy decision. And at the end of the day, this isn’t like the Lakers choosing whether Mike D’Antoni or Phil Jackson is the best guy to lead them to a championship.”

Sarver is committed to the first full-on rebuilding plan of his tenure.

“It’s the same plan we’ve had for the last 12 months,” Sarver said. “We’re rebuilding our team. And unless you have a Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, that can be pretty tough to do.

“No one is more impatient than me. I want to win. We’re going to do it through the draft and hopefully free agency, from having cap space and assets. We’re in a position where we don’t have any bad contracts. Players want to come to Phoenix. We don’t have any stars, so we have a lot of work to do. But I think we’re in a decent position.

“We’re not going to do it in three days just to make the media happy. If there was a quicker way to do it, we would. But we’re going to do it.”

The NBA has announced the reserves for the 2013 All-Star Game in Houston.

Western Conference Reserves
Tony Parker
James Harden
LaMarcus Aldridge 
David Lee
Zach Randolph
Tim Duncan 
Russell Westbrook 

Eastern Conference Reserves
Paul George
Jrue Holiday 
Tyson Chandler 
Chris Bosh 
Joakim Noah 
Luol Deng
Kyrie Irving 

Fifteen teams have at least one All-Star (Knicks, Heat, Celtics, Bulls, Pacers, 76ers, Blazers, Spurs, Rockets, Warriors and Grizzlies), while 15 teams do not have a representative (Hawks, Nets, Bobcats, Mavericks, Nuggets, Pistons, Bucks, Wolves, Hornets, Magic, Suns, Kings, Raptors, Jazz and Wizards).

The 76ers and Cavaliers each sent a Coaches Vote All-Star despite a losing record, while the Lakers and Celtics have two starters despite a sub-.500 record.

The Nets, Hawks, Bucks, Nuggets and Jazz all have a record over .500 and no All-Stars. 

The All-Star starters are LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul.

In the minds of Phoenix Suns players, Dan Majerle was the popular choice to replace Alvin Gentry last week -- not Lindsey Hunter, who ultimately got the job as interim head coach.

Majerle believes the interview process for the interim position was a charade because GM Lance Blanks already had settled on Hunter over the assistant coaches, including longtime assistant Elston Turner.

Jermaine O'Neal and Phoenix Suns general manager Lance Blanks had a heated, expletive-filled confrontation in the coach's office on Monday, according to league sources.

"It was really bad," one Suns source said Tuesday afternoon.

The confrontation took place after Lindsey Hunter's first practice as interim coach of the Suns.

There has been unrest within the Suns' organization.

O'Neal won't accompany the Suns on their trip to Sacramento.

Lindsey Hunter has been named interim head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

Hunter replaces Alvin Gentry who parted ways with the Suns last week.

Marcin Gortat is openly lobbying for the Phoenix Suns to hire Stan Van Gundy as their next head coach on Twitter.

The Suns fired Alvin Gentry on Friday.

Gortat played for Van Gundy as a member of the Orlando Magic.

Alvin Gentry has been fired as head coach of the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns have a 13-28 record as they rebuild following the departure of Steve Nash.

Gentry became interim head coach of the Suns during the 08-09 season, replacing Terry Porter.

Gentry led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals in 2010.

Elston Turner and Lindsey Hunter are candidates to become interim head coach, according to Yahoo! Sports sources.

Sebastian Telfair became a New York legend during his time at Lincoln High School. Telfair won three New York City PSAL titles, and one state title, as the floor general of the Railsplitters.

Telfair averaged 33.2 points and 9.2 assists per game in his senior season before becoming the first point guard, along with Shaun Livingston, to declare for the NBA Draft directly from high school in 2004.

RealGM interviewed Telfair to discuss his return to Brooklyn at the Barclays Center, his NBA journey, and what his future holds in the final year of his current contract in this video.