HoopsHype.com Rumors

Suns.com: How many times have you been to Africa with Basketball without Borders? Suns GM Lance Blanks: I’m not sure how many times, actually. I have to take a look back because there have been so many. I’ve been to Africa about a dozen times. I’ve been to Senegal, Egypt and some other countries. Suns.com: Have you been looking forward to this upcoming trip for some time? Blanks: Yes. Love it. I enjoy going over there. It’s always a very exciting time of the year for me to just go over there and experience it. There’s a lot of goodwill that the NBA offers. And also there’s a basketball piece to it because of the kids you get to observe. You also get to work with other teams’ scouts and personnel, as well as people from the league. So it’s a good trip. NBA.com

Phoenix Suns, Lance Blanks, Africa 

Let's start with trade rumors. Marcin Gortat was not being shopped to Minnesota. In fact, the Suns reached out to Gortat to let him know he wasn't being offered to the Timberwolves. "I would say it's speculation," Suns General Manager Lance Blanks said today. "That's part of the business. You get in this business and everybody is going to get traded. It was Steve at one point. Gortat now. It's hard to keep up with. We love Marcin Gortat and hope that he's a part of our core going forward for a long time." Gortat is 27 and a proven quality player at one of the hardest positions to fill and with a very reasonable contract ($21.8 million over next three seasons). It is hard to see him being moved, particularly considering he was part of the new regime's best move yet. Arizona Republic

Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Trade, Marcin Gortat, Lance Blanks 

To that end, though, Babby will recuse himself from contract negotiations with Hill this summer, leaving the Suns' discussions with Hill -- and with Babby's former partner at Williams and Connolly, Jim Tanner -- in the hands of Phoenix's assistant general manager, Lance Blanks. "I'm going to let Lance do it, because I just can't do it," Babby said. NBA.com

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks, Grant Hill 

After Friday's Suns loss to Oklahoma City, Suns executives Lon Babby and Lance Blanks called Zabian Dowdell into the film room to talk. Dowdell had been eager for this moment, because Saturday was going to be the final day of his second 10-day contract, the point that a team has to sign the player for the rest of the season or let him go. Dowdell said it felt like "deja vu," having been called in to talk to them after a preseason game Oct. 19 and getting waived. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks, Zabian Dowdell 

The Phoenix Suns named 30-year basketball veteran John Treloar the club’s director of player personnel. In his new role, Treloar will assist President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby and General Manager Lance Blanks in all personnel decisions and will lead the club’s draft scouting process. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for John and his knowledge of the game,” said Blanks. “His longstanding track record of consistency and success are admirable. He is a perfect fit for what we are trying to do.” NBA.com

Phoenix Suns, Draft, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks 

Everyone missed the part when Cleveland was to be awarded an executive to be named later after Lance Blanks left there last month to become the Suns' general manager. In a league full of possibilities, it is almost as if the Suns and Cavaliers swapped their No. 2 people in basketball operations now that David Griffin has become the Cavaliers' vice president of basketball operations. Griffin will be the right-hand man of new General Manager Chris Grant, just as Blanks was going to be when he moved up a notch in June after Danny Ferry was fired there as GM. Arizona Republic

Cleveland Cavaliers, David Griffin, Lance Blanks 

No terms of new Suns General Manager Lance Blanks' contract were released by the team but industry sources say they have been told it is a four-year deal. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Lance Blanks 

Despite spending the past decade in Cleveland and San Antonio, Blanks endorsed the Suns' more open style of play. After missing all the off- season action that brought in five new Suns, Blanks hailed the moves that leave him little roster work to do but for adding a big man. "There's a great infrastructure in place to have success," Blanks said. "So part of my job will be staying out of the way and not messing things up." New Suns President Lon Babby hired Blanks three weeks ago to be his "basketball genius." Babby cited Blanks' acumen for the game, locker- room presence as an ex-player and his front-office work with successful teams, including the past five years as Cleveland's assistant GM. "He will have the most influential voice on personnel matters," Babby said, diffusing opinions that the GM role would be watered-down under Managing Partner Robert Sarver and Babby. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Robert Sarver, Lance Blanks 

Kerr endorsed the Suns' selection of Lance Blanks, Cleveland's assistant GM for five years, to replace him as Suns GM. Kerr said he was not doing so as a Suns part-owner but as an analyst for TNT and NBATV. Kerr played two of his final NBA seasons in San Antonio when Blanks started as a scout there in 2000 and became director of scouting in 2002. "He's a great choice," Kerr said. "He's just a really good person. He's a good man. He's a hard worker, really smart and good with people. He loves the game. He's had good mentors in Joe Dumars, Pop (Gregg Popovich) and R.C. Buford and Danny Ferry. Danny is a good friend of mine, and he raves about him and thinks he's fantastic. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Steve Kerr, Lance Blanks 

Lance Blanks was named the new general manager of the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Phoenix brought in agent Lon Babby last month to serve as president of basketball operations and his first priority was to hire a GM who could evaluate talent for the franchise. Blanks and Babby will team to replace Steve Kerr, who stepped down at the end of June to return to his former job as a basketball analyst for TNT. ESPN.com

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks 

Here are Suns President Lon Babby's full comments on his hiring of Cleveland Assistant General Manager Lance Blanks to be the Suns' new GM. Blanks will speak to reporters Friday afternoon by phone from Senegal, where he is serving as a NBA ambassador for Basketball Without Borders (as is Suns assistant coach Bill Cartwright). Babby: "We engaged in a pretty exhaustive, deliberate process and talked to a lot of people. I established the criteria early on. I really wanted first and foremost a basketball guru, a great mind and talent evaluator, a vanguard of the analytics that are at the forefront of talent evaluation and someone with solid scouting processes. Secondly, a cultural fit with the highest personal standards. I think that's precious (what is in place in the organization) and we'll preserve it. And No. 3, I wanted somebody who's been associated with winning and who could take those processes here. Lance Blanks was the perfect choice. "I found someone who is a compliment to my skill set. he has an impeccable resume since he was a scout with the Spurs (starting in 2000). He was a personnel guru with Cleveland, where the team won 67 percent of its games. Arizona Republic

Phoenix Suns, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks 

To that end, Babby responded to a Yahoo.com report that said Cleveland Assistant General Manager Lance Blanks is a front-runner to land the job that others have declined, saying there is no leading candidate and there have been no job offers. "It's not a horse race," Babby said. "There are no frontrunners. We're going to have a thorough and systematic process, and it'll be at the end of that process that we'll move to evaluations. "I've committed to myself and the candidates that I wouldn't move forward to a decision until I've completed the interviews. Therefore, there can't be a frontrunner." Arizona Republic

Cleveland Cavaliers executive Lance Blanks has emerged as a frontrunner for the Phoenix Suns’ general manager’s job and will interview with franchise officials on Friday, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. After Dell Demps and Jeff Weltman passed on the Suns job, owner Robert Sarver and new president Lon Babby have turned toward Blanks, a well- regarded assistant GM. Yahoo! Sports