Tribune Phoenix Suns beat writer Jerry Brown lives real-time analysis of the NBA draft.

Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo said he intends to return next season and fulfill the final year of his three-year deal with owner Robert Sarver.

Maybe it was the home run Justin Upton hit for Class AAA Tucson on Tuesday. Maybe it was the last three games for the Diamondbacks, when the offense has again sunk back into a slump, looking particularly anemic against San Diego rookie Chad Reineke Tuesday.

The Suns filled their open roster spot Tuesday morning by signing former Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards guard Dee Brown to a one-year, nonguaranteed contract.

The Spurs have a reputation for playing a plain, base defense against top teams during the regular season and saving their major wrinkles and adjustments for the playoffs.

Quotes from Suns general manager Steve Kerr have been scarce in the mainstream media during his search for a new coach — which is now in its third week. But Kerr answered a long and varied list of questions from Suns fans for his monthly blog on Suns.com this weekend.

I'll never forget that first mile-long walk down the dirt road from Kohl's Ranch to the end of the line in 1983 - and staring, open-mouthed, at my first ASU football practice at Camp Tontozona.

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

After another interesting night of basketball in the West, the Suns still have plenty of scenarios when it comes to a first-round playoff opponent this weekend.

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.

Early Wednesday morning, ESPN.com reported that Shaquille O’Neal has indeed become a

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 on many levels.

It’s a good thing the Suns plan to have Steve Nash play less minutes and take a few nights off during the season — with all the mentoring he has in front of him this season with Goran Dragic and Sean Singletary behind him, he’s going to need the rest.

Last year, Arizona State’s men won eight college basketball games — and one of them was against a Division II school. Herb Sendek’s team won two games in the Pac-10, and was returning a team with one senior, loaded with freshmen and sophomores.

Hubie Brown’s mission is twofold: Turn the Memphis Grizzlies into NBA title contenders and change the way the nation views aging employees.

Minutes after Tim Brown was cut adrift by Oakland this week, writers in the Bay Area and ESPN’s Chris Mortensen had targeted the Arizona Cardinals — with a pair of young receivers like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in need of tutoring — as a likely landing spot for the 38-yearold, Hall-of-Famer to be.

Sign Brent Barry for outside shooting. Then add Ron Artest for scoring, defensive committment and general swagger.

When Tiago Splitter spurned the Spurs to stay overseas, eyebrows were raised. When the likes of Primoz Brezec, Carlos Delfino, Bostjan Nachbar and Juan Carlos Navarro left the NBA and headed back to Europe, the grumbling started around the league.

Two neutral-site games between the Suns and the Nuggets — one outdoors on an Indian Wells, Calif., tennis court (Oct. 11) and the other in the Carrier Dome (Oct. 17) at Syracuse, N.Y. — are the highlights of Phoenix’s eight-game exhibition schedule that was released Tuesday.