The Weekside: Phoenix Suns continue to lose by treating players like assets

Words With Friends

This week’s five must-read articles about the NBA. Excerpts here — click through to read the full piece.

1. Stephon Marbury Finds Stardom, and Peace, in China
by Jared Zwerling, Bleacher Report

"Stephon Marbury was born and raised in Brooklyn, played 13 years in the NBA, but something feels foreign to the 38-year-old during a late July dinner in Santa Monica, where he’s living this summer to train. Marbury starts chowing down on his ahi tuna entree with regular utensils at Hillstone restaurant, but the process has now become strange to the former two-time NBA All-Star. “I got so used to using chopsticks that using a fork and knife is weird,” Marbury tells Bleacher Report during an exclusive wide-ranging interview that spanned two days in Los Angeles. “In China, [the restaurants] cut the steak up into pieces.”"

2. An Open Letter To Markieff Morris
by Michael Dunlap, Hoops Habit

"The Suns should have known you better. This is a job where you’re with teammates, coaches and team officials more than you’re with family (at least in season). Did they not realize that #FOE is more than a clever catchphrase to you? Did they not see that EVERY SINGLE DAMN NIGHT it was you and your brother, side by side? It was a dream scenario and they took it away expecting you to just roll over and be cool with it? You have every right to be upset with the organization. You’re a person and deserve to be treated like more than just “No. 11.”"

3. Cauley-Stein’s true potential unlocking every day, and it’s scary
by James Herbert, CBS Sports

"Imagine the most violent dunk you can. Picture a 7-footer with a guard’s grace catching a pass near the elbow, stepping hard toward the rim and obliterating a guy. The crowd roars, the poor defender falls to the floor. Put yourself in the dunker’s shoes for a second. If you’re Willie Trill Cauley-Stein and you’re playing in the NCAA Tournament for Kentucky, the proper reaction here is a total stoneface. You essentially posterized the rest of college basketball. No need for histrionics."

4. Is Tristan Thompson’s Threat To Take The Qualifying Offer A Bluff?
by Kevin Draper, Deadspin

"For the last month, as the moratorium period ended and everybody signed and loose ends got tied up and rosters were settled and Summer League came and went and guys decided to move on to Europe, there was no news about Thompson … The threat to accept the one-year qualifying offer usually isn’t taken very seriously. Sure, maybe the Cavaliers offered five-years, $80 million and Thompson wanted something closer to the five-year, $94 million max. Is he really going to give up the security of $80 million and risk a career-threatening injury, or just a terrible season, to take the $6.8 million offer and hope to get a mega contract as an unrestricted free agent next season? But according to Windhorst’s story, Thompson sees the situation differently."

5. The Desire For Offensive Balance
by Shane Young, Hoops Habit

"While the NBA’s analytic movement has implied that the mid-range shot is wildly inefficient for a great offense, it’s important to remember one thing: No part of fundamental basketball should be completely erased from a game. Each part of the court holds a certain value, especially if you have players on your roster that excel from that specific area. Finding a balance between what’s widely considered “efficient” and what some are labeling as “a detriment” to an offense is the main struggle. It’s hard to get a healthy dosage of one thing that you love, while also spreading your offense wealth among the other areas of the court."

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