Steve Nash is cordial and accommodating when it comes to dealing with the press, but he makes no bones about the fact that it’s one of his least favorite, time-consuming chores in a full and very busy life.

 But at Monday’s media day, Nash was ready to talk. He was ready to challenge some of the trial balloons that have been floated over the long summer — from the idea that he was now on the downside of his career to the idea that he might even sit out some games in order to keep him fresh for the stretch run and postseason. Here are some of the highlights:

 *On the idea that he was “broken down” at the end of the season: “Well, ‘broken down’ makes it sound like I barely made it to the arena. I was fine. I was a little tired. I’ve played a lot of games and ran a lot of pick-and-rolls and I think Game 1 (the double-overtime playoff loss to the Spurs) took a lot out of us emotionally. But I”m prepared to go the distance again. I feel like I’m in great shape and hopefully we’re deeper and I’m excited for the challenge.

 *Responding the idea of sitting out 10 or so games in back-to-back type situations to keep him fresh: “If I could miss 10 or 12 games and go to the Bahamas, that sounds good. But if I have to stay here, I might as well play, so we’ll see how that goes. I think it’s a great idea, I just think it’s really difficult in the Western Conference with 10 or 12 team that will track us down in a heartbeat if we aren’t focused and aren’t playing well. I’m not sure I’ll have the luxury to skip a lot of games. To be able to shift the minutes around a little more to change our style just a little bit to maybe preserve guys’ legs, I think that’s possible.”

 Reacting when Shaquille O’Neal dropped his shorts across the court and mooned him to distract him during and answer. “Please, do not look. And please do not smell.”

 *On having new teammate Goran Dragic as the ”heir apparent” at his point guard position: “It’s nice to have an heir apparent finally, I can tell you that. It’s good. We have heir apparent going on around here.”

 *His thoughts on buddy and You Tube “Step Brother” Baron Davis signing on with Jenny Craig in the off-season: “He’s not the guy I want to be in great shape this season, because he’s so talented. Jenny Craig is a (minority) owner of the Suns, so we should doctor the shakes, and up the caloric intake a little.”

 *The preseason expectations: “Everyone thinks Shaquille (O’Neal) is an old man. I’m an old man, Grant’s old, we’re all getting old. With so many young, talented players coming into the league, they don’t think we can keep doing it forever. That’s OK. I still feel great, I still feel great about my teammates. I don’t see why we have to slow down or why our experience can’t overcome the age factors.”

We finally got our first look at new Suns guard Goran Dragic in the flesh during an open workout on Tuesday. And he showed about what we expected, both good and bad.

He is at home with the ball in his hands. He has very good court vision and keeps his teammates happy with distribution. He penetrates to the basket often and has a variety of Steve Nash-like improvisational shots off either leg and with either hand.

He was also huffing and puffing pretty hard, but some of that can be attributed to spending a month playing one-on-one instead of five-on-five while waiting for his contract situation to finally clear. His defense wasn’t overly impressive, especially when matched up with shooting guard Raja Bell (Steve Nash didn’t practice Tuesday, and neither did Shaquille O’Neal or Amare Stoudemire.) His shot was off target, but fatigue likely played a role in that as well.

After the practice, Dragic was headed back to Slovenia – beginning the 13-hour journey that will take him through L.A. and Paris and eat up and entire day with time changes. He hopes to have his work visa in a few days and begin the journey back to Phoenix in time for media day on Monday.

“I want to improve my game and help my teammates as soon as possible,” Dragic said. “I have to work hard, listen to the coaches and be patient. I know this team has a lot of great players and I am new player and I want to learn.

“I like to penetration. I think I can be a little version of Tony Parker if I can learn to work as hard as he did to be great.”

The coaching staff and front office people have been happy with what they have seen, but are trying to temper expectations a little after calling him the second-best point guard in the draft this summer.

“He’s showing everything I’ve seen on the tape,” Suns coach Terry Porter said. “He has a very good sense on how to play that point guard position and he does a good job of passing the ball in traffic. He has quick hands and good defensive concepts and he’s stronger than he looks.

“He’s still young he’s going to have his bumps in the road, but I like his qualities. He competes very hard and he knows how to play and how to read situations in the open court.”

Just how he will fit in remains to be seen, but he will get every chance to join the rotation.

“I don’t know how soon or how much he’s going to play. Training camp and preseason is going to tell a lot,” Porter said. “He’s definitely in our plans. I think he has the potential to play some consistent minutes. We’ll have to see how it plays out.”

Whether the decision has been made already - and the beans were spilled by team president Rick Welts at a recent function - or is yet to be determined until training camp, starting Matt Barnes over Grant Hill at small forward makes sense for the Suns on many levels.

In fact, the only reasons to keep Hill in the starting five are (1) seniority/respect and (2) the fear that you can only heat up Hill so many times a night and it doesn’t make sense to create another scenario each night. But if Hill is going to play far fewer minutes this season (as is the plan), not starting him goes along with that mindset.

Why start Barnes? Let us count the ways:

* It gives the Suns two (count ‘em, two) starters in their 20s, and a more athletic team out of the gate.

* The Suns need one more 3-point shooter, and Barnes is the closest thing to that among the new players. It makes sense to have him on the floor with Steve Nash, so the Suns can spread the floor with Barnes and Raja Bell on the wings and give Shaquille O’Neal and, specifically, Amare Stoudemire plenty of room to work in the paint. Hill proved last season that his 3-pointer is uncomfortable and inconsistent.

* Barnes is a better rebounder and runs the floor well, the closest thing on the roster (albeit a far cry) to providing the attributes lost with Shawn Marion’s departure.

* Hill coming off the bench gives the Suns another good ball-handler to help Goran Dragic during his minutes on the floor. With Dragic, Hill and/or Boris Diaw on the floor the adjustment curve is easier for Dragic. And he will be playing more against bench players, giving him an advantage in the basketball IQ category.

* Barnes is a solid defender, especially guarding small forwards, and would get a chance to keep good shooters from getting an early rhythm. His defense might earn him some time late in games, but Hill’s smarts (ability to draw fouls and keep away from committing them) and free throw shooting will get him the nod more often than not.

* And if Hill does miss time due to injury, replacing a bench player doesn’t affect as many people, rotation-wise.

All in all, as long as Hill is on board with the program, starting Barnes seems a good fit.

In what might be the last straw to finalize Goran Dragic’s release to the Suns, Tau Ceramica filled his spot on the roster by signing former University of Arizona point guard Mustafa Shakur to a one-year contract.

The Spanish team announced the deal on their Web site Thursday night. Shakur played in seven games for Prokom of the Polish League title last season and is a far cry from NBA caliber after a disappointing career with the Wildcats.

As of Friday afternoon, Dragic was still waiting for word for the completion of his agreement. After that he will return to Slovenia to obtain his work visa before training camp.

Each night, Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr goes to bed thinking tomorrow will be the day Goran Dragic officially becomes a Sun.

So far, he’s been wrong every time.

Everything is done but the paperwork. The twisted buyout deal with Tau Cerimaca has been agreed upon, and the Suns have their fingers crossed that it is now a matter of hours, not days, until the final stamp is applied.

Dragic has been in Phoenix most of the month but hasn’t taken part in any of the five-on-five scrimmages. He’s been restricted to running and working out on the sidelines and watching. And as soon as the deal is finalized, he will have to return to his native Slovenia to complete the work visa process - which could also involve the typical red tape.

Everyone still expects the deal to be completed before training camp begins Sept. 30 in Tucson. It’s disappointing that an opportunity for Dragic to mesh with his teammates and begin the adaptation process on the court has slipped away, but it’s not likely to have much impact provided the deal is resolved quickly.

In Beijing, a basketball team of 12 African-Americans made their country swell with pride with a respectful gold-medal performance both on and off the floor.

A month later, in the latest in a series of stupid moves on his part, we now know what America means to Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard.

As the national anthem was being played before Allen Iverson’s recent charity football game, Howard had time to mug for a hand-held camera and, in his best gangsta prose, tell us “The Star-Spangled Banner” is going on. I don’t celebrate this [expletive]. I’m black.”

This happened in July, about the same time Howard was arrested for late-night street racing in North Carolina. About three months before he held a birthday party blowout after the Mavs lost Game 4 of their playoff series to New Orleans, against the expressed request of coach Avery Johnson. About four months after he went on talk radio and pronounced himself a proud and frequent consumer of marijuana.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban was a busy guy long before apologizing for Howard became his full-time job. Howard is a talented, albeit fragile, basketball player, but you have to wonder how much longer he’s worth Cuban’s time and the good outweighs the bad for the Mavs. Perhaps Dallas fans should think twice before they “celebrate” Josh again.

Of course, now that he’s trashed America on video, moving Howard for fair value in this country might be a little bit harder. Lucky for Josh, NBA players now defecting to Europe for greener paychecks. Perhaps he should look into taking the same path.

Who knows? Perhaps he’ll stumble across a country he likes better. One he can celebrate as a black man.

Jay Humphries, the only member of last year’s coaching staff who wasn’t retained by the Suns (Alvin Gentry) or offered a job by Mike D’Antoni in New York (Dan D’Antoni, Phil Weber), has landed in the NBA Development League as the coach of the Reno Bighorns.

Humphries said in statement on the league Web site, “I am very excited for the opportunity to establish a winning tradition here in Reno and put a quality brand of basketball on the court.”

Humphries was in a difficult situation in Phoenix. The former Suns/Milwaukee Bucks guard was hired to replace Marc Iavaroni, who coached the Suns’ defense and big men. He wasn’t the first choice of D’Antoni, and Suns management wanted a defensive specialist (Tom Thibodeaux), but he made the best of a no-win situation in his first NBA gig.

If he proves himself in the D-League, the calls will come his way.

ESPN’s ”True Hoop” blogger Henry Abbott polled the boys in Bristol, asking, “Which NBA team is most likely to descend into turmoil this season?” There were some interesting responses.

The Denver Nuggets, who have had two first-round exits and had to part with Marcus Camby in the offseason, led the voting with five of the 25 expert votes. The Clippers, back in familiar surroundings after losing Elton Brand and failing to team him with Baron Davis, placed second with four. And tying for third place? The New York Knicks (any team with Stephon Marbury is bound to garner some attention in this genre) and the Suns.

You have to understand quite a few of these guys (hello Stein, Simmons, etc.) have been burned by the Suns over the last few years, trumpeting their praise and sizing them for rings only to find themselves as disappointed as Phoenix fans in the end.

So when the Suns dump Shawn Marion, dump Mike D’Antoni and go from the most unconventional team in the league to an old, predictable one, it’s not going to play well among those pining for glitz. Get ready for a lot more of this over the next month, especially with Shaq talking more about his next job than his next championship and the Suns sure to score fewer points and attempt to grind out wins the old fashioned way.

Here’s what the panel had to say about the Suns and the rest of the perceived underachievers:

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-63/Turmoil-to-Follow.html

Apparently, it was news in some circles that Shaquille O’Neal is retiring after the 2009-10 season?

Shaq has been counting down the days to retirement - he told a Florida television station that it was 735 days this week - since his days with the Miami Heat and made the countdown part of almost every interview since slipping on a Suns uniform.

Now retirement might not be something you want him to be focused on, but in this case it’s pretty much a matter of fact. (And let’s be honest, if O’Neal weren’t ready to retire in two years, a 38-year-old Shaq might have trouble finding someone to agree with him.)

The important news to Suns fans is that O’Neal has been, according to a Suns insider, “fairly diligent” with his offseason conditioning, and as of late August was only 8 to 10 pounds heavier than where the team would like to see him by the Oct. 30 season opener in San Antonio.

That might go a long way toward cutting down the number of games he would miss during the regular season, although Phoenix is heading into training camp figuring he could miss up to a third of the games if his recent track record is any indication.

O’Neal missed 20 games last season, 42 in 2006-07 and 23 in 2005-06, when the Heat won the NBA title. He has played more than 67 games only once in the last seven seasons and has missed more than 20 games in six of his 16 NBA seasons. The Suns are hoping that with O’Neal staying in decent shape and the Phoenix medical staff keeping his hip in good shape, he will play 60-plus games again this season.

The Suns will bring 16 players to Tucson for training camp.

In addition to the 13 players under contract (Louis Amundson, Matt Barnes, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Goran Dragic, Grant Hill, Robin Lopez, Shaquille O’Neal. Steve Nash, Sean Singletary, Amare Stoudemire and Alando Tucker), Phoenix will invite three nonroster players, all extreme long shots to make the club. They are:

* Robert Hite, a 6-foot-2 combo guard from the University of Miami who played 12 games with the Miami Heat in 2006-07. He started last season for New Jersey but didn’t see any time and wound up playing in Europe.

* Jiri Hubalek, a 6-11 forward/center from Iowa State who averaged six points and two rebounds while playing four games with the Suns in the Vegas Summer League. Hubalek, a 25-year-old native of the Czech Republic, averaged 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds at Iowa State last season but went undrafted.

* Trey Johnson, a 6-5 shooting guard from Jackson State who played five preseason games for New Orleans last season before being released. Johnson was a big-time scorer in college, averaging 27.1 points in his final season with the Tigers but hasn’t shown 3-point range from the NBA distance.