If there is any doubt where Shawn Marion would like to be headed, check out this short interview with The Matrix at the Video Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sept. 9. Does it seem like he wants to say more?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kVc53l0cBI&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ethebasketballjones%2Enet%2F2007%2F09%2F28%2Fmarion%2Dwhen%2Dyou%2Dwant%2Dme%2Dto%2Dbe%2Da%2Dlaker%2F

The Suns are expecting to have Shawn Marion around for awhile, it appears. The press release announcing the sale of tickets for the Oct. 6 intra-squad scrimmage at McKale Center invited fans to come watch the Suns, "which will feature All-Stars Steve Nash, Amar

Conventional thinking is the Suns would get the better of the deal if they were able to obtain Lamar Odom and Brian Cook from the Lakers in a deal that would send Shawn Marion to Hollywood. But as with any deal, there are two sides to the coin. On the positive side: *Odom would give the Suns a big man who could replace both the scoring and rebounding numbers of Marion — with Steve Nash puffing up another newcomers stats, as usual

Ex-Buck Brian Skinner and veteran Maurice Taylor will join two other NBA veterans at US Airways Center Thursday as the Suns continue their auditions for free agent big men. P.J. Brown is still the preferred answer and Vitaly Potapenko — who like Taylor, languished on the Sacramento bench last season — emerged as a leading candidate after his impressive workout here last week. But Skinner has a lot of the attributes the Suns are looking for (he averaged four points and six rebounds playing 22 minutes a game for Milwaukee last season). Taylor is a guy who is known more as a scorer but has a good body at 6-foot-9 and 260 pounds. As far as the Shawn Marion-Anderi Kirilenko rumors go, here what I can tell you right now: (1) The Suns do like Kirilenko, he only 26 and there are those in the organization that he would return to his All-Star form once released from that shackles of Jerry Sloan’s system. (2) The Suns know they can’t (OK, won’t) extend Marion after the 2008-09 season. (3) This would never get done as a straight-up, player-for-player deal. The Suns need to dump a salary (guess who?) and get back another serviceable player, preferably a shooter (Gordan Giricek makes sense) for things to even get serious. Having said all that, the chances of anything getting done, even after Kirilenko’s poorly-timed trade demand, are very remote.

Is it just a conincidence, or does it make perfect sense that we now find out that Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko told Jazz officials several weeks ago what he wrote (in Russian) in a blog for a Russian web site Tuesday — that he wants to be traded before the season begins?Here’s the link to the Salt Lake Tribune story, just in case you’ve misplaced your Russian-English dictionary: http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_6934890 That would appear to dovetail perfectly with the timing of the Suns-Jazz trade talks involving Shawn Marion, which were confirmed but said to be short and sweet from the Phoenix side. And it also makes sense that the initial phone call came from outside the 602 area code. Of course, Marion hasn’t done any blogging this season, so we’ll have to wait for media day to find out whether he’s upset enough about not getting a contract extension offer enough to ask for a change of address himself. Kirilenko had a lousy season with the Jazz last season, but had a good summer — leading Russia to the EuroBasket championship and earning MVP honors in the process — which might make the $61 million left on his contract a little more palatable for someone. But unless the Jazz sweeten the pot on both ends by taking another Phoenix contract (Marcus Banks) and adding a big man the Suns can bring off the bench, any deal is a non-starter.

The NBA made the right move Monday by reinstating referee Joey Crawford for the 2007-08 season. Crawford is not only one of the best referees in the game — and the league can use all the "above reproach" refs they can find in the wake of the Tim Donaghy disgrace — but one of its recognizable characters amid a sea of nameless whistle-blowers.Crawford definitely crossed the line during his tirade and ejection of Tim Duncan last April. His arrogance had gone beyond his bounds. But his body of work over 31 years more than tips the scales in his favor.

After two days of looking at modestly-priced big men to fill in the end of the bench, the Suns are apparently most interested in Ukrainian center Vitaly Potapenko, who showed well in Friday’s workout. Potapneko, 32, won’t be filling the lanes on Phoenix’s fast break, but he’s a big body (280 pounds) who can rebound, defend and knock down a 15-foot jumper — many of the calling cards of the departed Kurt Thomas, but at a more affordable price. Potapenko made $3.6 million to collect dust in Sacramento last season, but would make the veteran’s minimum if he caught on in Phoenix. He told Suns officials that playing for a winner is a priority (spending a year with the Kings will do that to a guy) and there are other teams interested. The Suns wanted to take a look at Michael Sweetney, but there were concerns about fitness and the ability to play in the Phoenix system. That description fit Potapenko last year, but the Suns were impressed enough with what they saw Friday to keep his name in the mix.

Training camp is still a few weeks away, but the normally wild, wild NBA Western Conference has become milder thanks to off-season trades, shake-ups and injuries: *Minnesota wasn’t even a playoff team when Kevin Garnett was around, but now foes who come up against the T-Wolves won’t have to deal with The Big Ticket either. That makes it more like a night in Memphis, which is always nice. *The Lakers remain a mess. Kobe Bryant not only didn’t get any marquee help (unless you’re a huge Derek Fisher fan) but now he has to come back and play with teammates he tossed under the bus and intimated weren’t good enough to win. *The Clippers chances of rebounding from last year’s disappointing season were lost when Elton Brand was lost, perhaps for the entire season, due to injury. Add that to the loss of Shaun Livingston, and the Clip Joint won’t be the same. Tim Thomas and Chris Kaman — both with rich contracts in their back pockets — will be leaned on heavily. Good luck with that. *Anybody know what the plan is in Sacramento? Get back to me, please. *Seattle loves Kevin Durant, but with no Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis, the growing pains will be there, along with all the off-court distractions about the team possibly leaving town. *And now Portland’s plan to rise from the ashes is on hold with the news that Greg Oden will miss his rookie season due to microfracture surgery. Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Utah, Golden State and Denver made minor upgrades. Houston could be much improved. So while the rich get richer, and the road to the playoffs might even be easier.

The Suns worked out several big men Wednesday including Elton Brown, last year’s NBDL rebounding champ in Colorado, former Washington Wizard Michael Ruffin and ex-Sun Zarko Cabarkapa. All of them will return today and be joined by veteran Vitaly Potapenko, who missed his flight Wednesday. The Suns like Potapenko

Steven Hunter is back in the Western Conference, but not close enough for many Suns fans who see him as the perfect answer to Phoenix’s backup center crater. Philadelphia, who signed Hunter to a five-year, $17 million free agent deal in the summer of 2005, dealt him along with forward Bobby Jones to Denver for forward Reggie Evans and the draft rights to Puerto Rican forward Ricky Sanchez. Now Denver has what the Suns need: an athletic, rebounding, shot-blocking center off the bench to back up Marcus Camby. And they did it while saving about $8 million in salary by shedding Evans — who likely wouldn’t have played with Nene, Kenyon Martin and Eduardo Najera all manning the power forward spot. Two years ago, $3.5 million a year was too rich for Phoenix’s blood for a backup center. Now, they are willing to go that far to coax P.J. Brown out of retirement. Hunter has a suspect knee that kept the Suns from signing him long-term at the time and there were questions whether he was focused on winning. But if he had been a free agent this summer, it’s hard to imagine the Suns not making a strong run at him.