Steve Kerr has long been one of the best minds in basketball, even if he did sign ancient center Shaquille O'Neal to a run-and-gun team last year. We thought that was a bad move from the start, but we realize that the Suns were never going to win a championship with the small-ball Shawn Marion squad. And, frankly, Marion was an overrated pain in the ass. Good riddance!

Kerr knows that one thing the charismatic Shaq will do is put fannies in the seats at U.S. Airways Center. But we digress . . . Kerr's putting together what may be the best Suns team in a long time. He's added crucial elements, like a big man, in Robin Lopez, who can come off the bench to spell both O'Neal and Amaré Stoudemire. Did we mention that Lopez, out of Stanford, is a defensive specialist? And Kerr's added a point guard of the future, Goran Dragic. The 6-foot-4 Slovenian, the second-best point guard in the '08 NBA draft, will actually be able to replace Nash some day. Kerr also grabbed swingman Matt Barnes from the Golden State Warriors.

These are major moves, along with the hiring of coach Terry Porter, who will stress D — unlike his predecessor, whose system was a flashy failure. We want a championship, dammit, before a couple of Suns become AARP members! Last year, with the aforementioned stubborn Mike D'Antoni around, Kerr couldn't shine. But his off-season moves will make the Suns, with aging stars like Nash and Shaq, shine again. We smell a championship trophy — or is that Amaré's jock strap?