by Dan Bickley, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic

Lon Babby has heard the criticism: Would Robert Sarver hire a teller to run one of his banks?

Now, he’d like a little credit. Maybe he deserves it.

The 2012-13 Suns could be a ticket out of mediocrity. They will either hit the lottery or end up in the lottery. They will be a pleasant surprise or smell like a tire fire. There will be no middle ground, where the NBA is made of quicksand.

That’s progress.

Babby is right when he says a bygone era had gone stale, run its course. By the end of last season, all remnants of a special relationship had evaporated.

The passion, the anger, the bitterness and the regrets were all gone. There was nothing left but apathy, a point driven home when Commissioner David Stern showed up at Suns game and no one cared enough to boo.

It was time for everyone to turn the page. And aside from the mishandling of Grant Hill, who would’ve been an ideal mentor, Babby couldn’t have done much better over the course of this past off-season. If nothing else, there is great interest in the unknown, in what might happen.

The Suns have 10 draft picks in the next three years. They replaced the irreplaceable (Steve Nash) with an excellent short-term successor, an affable, sincere player who already has great credibility on Planet Orange (Goran Dragic).

They surprised everyone by acquiring a popular, hard-working low-post presence in Luis Scola, who might prefer to be elsewhere. Yet if the Suns show unexpected promise, he will help them grow. If they loiter in the basement, Scola can always be traded in the middle of the season for more future assets.

They refused to extend Alvin Gentry’s contract. This seems callous and unfair, as Gentry has made the most out of many bad hands. But it also assures they’ll get the best out of their head coach in 2012-13.

And then there’s Michael Beasley and Wes Johnson, players who raise the ceiling of curiosity.

Beasley was the second overall pick in 2008. He is the wild card. He is blessed with transcendent talent. He is the kind of player that … [For more on Michael Beasley, Suns could boom or bust, but it's better than mediocrity, click here.]