After missing the playoffs two years in a row, the landscape has changed, with different staffing and players. Most of the roster will be new next season, with seven incoming players: Michael Beasley, Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Jermaine O’Neal, P.J. Tucker, Wesley Johnson and Kendall Marshall.

“The first goal was to be able to put a team out there that would handle the next era of the organization — the rigors and challenges,” (Lance) Blanks said. “A transition like that is not always seamless. We wanted to make sure we had people to weather the ups and downs of entering the next era and also find guys whose career paths and trajectories fit the future of the organization. Just about every guy is a fresh-start guy.”

Blanks sees that in Dragic’s character — being able to handle replacing a legend, Steve Nash, and in Minnesota transfers Beasley and Johnson, who need to reignite their careers to meet the potential that made them top-five draft picks.

Blanks borrowed the Raiders’ mantra “Commitment to Excellence” to describe what the front office sought in players this summer.

“We know they are NBA guys, but the question was which guys are committed to bring that level … we’re looking for on a daily basis,” Blanks said.

via Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic