Scott Skiles, the coach, is gone. Stephon Marbury, the best player, sounds mentally drained. Joe Johnson, the rookie, still looks lost at times. And Penny Hardaway, the highest paid, is unhappy about being benched.

Rebuilding in the tough Western Conference can be painful. The once-steady-but-still-dangerous Phoenix Suns are teetering.

"This is a different team, a different situation, than the one I came to Phoenix to play for," Hardaway said Tuesday before the Suns lost to the Miami Heat 90-78. "I never expected all the changes. If they want to give me a lesser role [long term], then maybe we need to look at some things [trade possibilities]. If it doesn't work for me here, it can work someplace else."

The Suns (30-34) play in Orlando tonight, marking the first return for former Magic player Bo Outlaw, the first time in his career Hardaway has been in a backup role, and the first time the Suns have come to Orlando not bound for the playoffs.

It's not the first time Hardaway has found himself at odds with his team. The Magic traded him to Phoenix in 1999 after he and the Orlando staff clashed repeatedly over his leadership role.

"I'm not a bum. I could start for any team in this league if I wanted to," Hardaway said. "I can still play this game. I went from playing the most minutes on this team to not even starting. This is not going to be my role for the rest of my career. I'm not 38 years old and on my way out. I'm 30 with a lot of basketball left in me."

Suns Coach Frank Johnson, who replaced Skiles last month after he was forced out of his job, shrugged at Hardaway's comments Tuesday. He already has decided that Hardaway will finish this season as a reserve.

The Suns traded last month for Johnson, the No. 10 pick in the 2001 draft, and he has taken Hardaway's spot in the lineup. They want to build this team around Marbury, 25, Shawn Marion, 23, and Johnson, 20.

"I understand he's not comfortable with this role. He told me that right away. It's something he's never done before," Johnson said of Hardaway before the game. "But I'm not going to debate what he said. We're trying to develop Joe Johnson, and at the same time we're trying to win games. We've won games with Penny off the bench. He's been effective at times. Sometimes he's not."

Although Hardaway suggested he would ask for a trade this summer if his role didn't change, the Suns will find that a difficult task. He has four years and $56 million remaining on the contract he signed as part of the trade to Phoenix.

He also has struggled with knee problems the past several years. He played only four games last season after a pair of surgeries, and he never has regained all the spring in his legs that once made him an all-star.

Hardaway is averaging 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.66 steals in 34.3 minutes. He started the first 54 games. He missed two with tendinitis in his left knee. And he has been used in reserve the past eight games.

"You can't expect me to be the Penny Hardaway of old if I'm not getting the chance," he said.

The Suns are expected to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1988, which has been particularly unsettling for Marbury. He came to Phoenix this summer from New Jersey in a trade for Jason Kidd. But while Kidd has energized the Nets, pushed them to the best record in the East and become a serious candidate for league MVP, Marbury has watched the Suns falter.

He has averaged 20.3 points and 7.9 assists, and displayed flashes of his all-star form, but he's still playing for a losing team, something he thought he escaped when he left New Jersey after 21/2 seasons.

"Sometimes, it's hard to be patient," Marbury said. "This has been the most mentally challenging year in my career. It's been a roller coaster."

The Suns have lost four consecutive road games, and they set a season low for fewest points in a first half (33) Tuesday. Their team has been overhauled since it was first put together this summer. Of the 15 players on the Suns' original roster, only seven remain. Skiles, too, was a casualty at midseason.

"It's not something this franchise is used to, but every single team goes through it eventually," Johnson said. "You could say we're retooling with youth. We were expected to make the playoffs. And I'm sure everyone in New York expected the Knick to be in the playoffs. We'll see where this takes us."