Thunder vs. Suns Pre-Game Chat With East Bay Ray of Bright Side of the Sun

Tonight, the Thunder will be playing the Suns in a bid to hopefully regain the Western Conference lead, if the Kings can somehow defeat the Spurs. The Suns have had a second half resurgence this season, moving into a battle for the 8th seed in the Western Conference.

I know J.A. Sherman is normally the guy who does Q&As relating to our opponents. But I was approached by East Bay Ray of Bright Side of the Sun, so I obliged his request and did a live Q&A via Google Chat. It was a good time, and we both had some solid analysis going.

Head on over to Bright Side of the Sun for the full Q&A, but here's a few of his best responses to my questions:

Zorgon: A lot has been made recently of Steve Nash's rumored departure to Miami after his contract with the Suns is up this season. With the future of the team in mind, would you like to see him go so the team can start a rebuild/retool, or would you like to see him stay because you believe the team still has a shot of going deep with him one or two years from now?

Ray: First of all, the Nash to Heat rumor is a fairly flimsy one. He was asked if he'd consider going there and simply didn't rule it out. The question of whether Nash should be allowed to walk has been haunting our blog for most of the past year, and I've been a proponent of keeping him, and seeing what the team can do with its cap space this coming offseason.

Zorgon: Ideally, who would you be eying with that potential cap space for a run with Nash?

Ray: Eric Gordon is a name that has been mentioned, but "ideally" is the key term because he's a restricted free agent and you'd have to guess the Hornets want to keep him. A premier power forward is what the team really needs, perhaps Josh Smith? But I don't like to speculate too much on specific players on other teams.

Zorgon: Can the Suns be the next coming of Z-Bo's Grizzlies or the We Believe Warriors? In what scenario (if any) could you see the Suns pushing the Spurs, Thunder, Lakers, or even Clippers to 7 games or a victory?

Ray: It will take a total team contribution for the Suns to do that: Nash and Hill at full health, Channing Frye hitting his 3s, Shannon Brown continuing his recent scoring, Telfair, Redd and the bench providing not just relief but extending the leads. Frankly, it's not likely but the Suns have gone 20-10 since starting 12-19. If they make the playoffs, it won't be like they're backing in.

Did I scare you with that? You shaking in your boots over the thought of playing the Suns?

Zorgon: Hahahaha, I'm sorry to say that I'm not afraid of the Suns. I do have many memories of Steve Nash spoiling parties in the Ford Center's past though, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Suns steal two from us in the first round. If the Suns take it to seven, then my eyes start opening.

Read the Full Q&A Here.