The2011–12Phoenix Suns season was the 44th season of the franchise in theNational Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the last season the Suns had point guardSteve Nash on the team. The season was shortened to sixty-six games due to the2011 NBA Lockout. Going into theAll-Star break with a 14–20 record, the Suns went 14–6 in their next 20 games to push back intoplayoffs contention. Towards the end of the season, the eighth-seeded Suns were still in the hunt, but a loss after their second-to-last game on the road against theUtah Jazz eliminated them from playoff contention. They went 8–7 in April, finishing the season with a 33–33 record, 10th-best in theWest.

Nash led the team inassists per game (10.7; second-best average in the league, most assists in total), three-point percentage (.390%), and free throw percentage (.894%), while averaging a career-high in field goal percentage (.532%). CenterMarcin Gortat led the team in most statistical categories, including games played (66), games started (66), minutes per game (32.0), field goal percentage (.555%),rebounds per game (10.0), blocks per game (1.5), and points per game (15.4). Nash was the lone member of the Suns selected for the2012 NBA All-Star Game, his eighth appearance. In a game against theDenver Nuggets on April 21, Nash passedOscar Robertson for fifth all-time in total assists.

• June 23, 2011: The2011 NBA draft took place at thePrudential Center inNewark, New Jersey.^[1]
• July 1, 2011: The current NBAcollective bargaining agreement expires, leading owners to impose alockout of its players until a new agreement is reached.^[2]
• November 22, 2011:Aaron Brooks signs with theGuangdong Southern Tigers in theCBA. As a result, he can't reunite with the team until the2011–12 CBA season is officially over.
• December 9, 2011: The new and improved NBAfree agency begun;Grant Hill stays with Phoenix;Shannon Brown andSebastian Telfair join Phoenix;Mickaël Piétrus tried to get traded to theToronto Raptors;Vince Carter andGani Lawal arewaived.
• December 10, 2011: TheMickaël Piétrus trade is permanently suspended; training camp begins.
• December 13, 2011:Zabian Dowdell is waived and replaced withRonnie Price.
• December 18, 2011: Training camp ends.
• December 22, 2011:Mickaël Piétrus is waived.
• December 26, 2011: The NBA season begins for Phoenix.
• December 29, 2011:Michael Redd signs with Phoenix.
• January 2, 2012:Garret Siler is waived.
• February 8, 2012:Markieff Morris gets represented as a rookie for the2012 Rising Stars challenge.
• February 9, 2012:Steve Nash gets his8th All-Star representation; 6th as a reserve and 6th as a representative of the Phoenix Suns (which ties a record previously set byWalter Davis).
• February 24, 2012: The 2012NBA All-Star Weekend begins.
• April 18, 2012: The Suns officially induct former head coachJohn MacLeod in thePhoenix Suns Ring of Honor.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	13	Markieff Morris	Forward	United States	Kansas

The Suns used their only draft pick to select power forwardMarkieff Morris fromKansas. Morris averaged 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in his last year with the Jayhawks.^[3] The Suns traded their other first-round pick, which they acquired from theOrlando Magic, to theHouston Rockets when they dealtGoran Dragić forAaron Brooks.^[4] Their second-round pick was traded to theChicago Bulls forHakim Warrick in asign and trade.^[5] Around a year and a half later, the Suns ended up with the 14th draft pick inMarcus Morris, who would be a part of the team for two or so seasons before being traded himself in 2015.

Veteran forwardGrant Hill became anunrestricted free agent at the end of the2010–11 season. Newly acquiredpoint guardAaron Brooks became arestricted free agent at the end of the season. On June 23, the Suns extended a $3 million qualifying offer to Brooks.^[6] However, due to the lockout, Brooks signed a contract with theGuangdong Southern Tigers of theChinese Basketball Association on November 22. With no opt-out clause, Brooks had to complete theCBA season before returning to the NBA. On February 6, 2011, reserve point guardZabian Dowdell was signed for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, with a team option for a second year.

On July 14, the Suns signedElston Turner as anassistant coach. Turner is considered to be a defensive specialist and has been called the Suns' unofficial "defensive coordinator".^[7]

The final year ofVince Carter's contract was non-guaranteed. Carter's contract stipulated that if he was not waived by the Suns before the start of free agency on July 1, his $18 million would become fully guaranteed. However, with the onset of the lockout, the Suns delayed the deadline until the date on which free agency began at the end of the lockout. Since he was waived by the time the lockout ended and the free agency period officially began that season, he would receive a guaranteed $4 million outside of the team instead.^[8] The second-year contracts ofGani Lawal andGarret Siler were non-guaranteed.^[9]

All games from November 1 throughDecember 24 were canceled due to the2011 NBA Lockout. A new schedule was created with games starting onDecember 25.

• Former head coachJohn MacLeod gets put into thePhoenix Suns Ring of Honor on April 18, 2012, against theOklahoma City Thunder.
• Steve Nash was named the winner of thePBWA'sMagic Johnson Award, which is an award given to the player that best combines excellence on the court with cooperation and dignity in dealing with the media and the public alike.

• Markieff Morris is represented in the2012 Rising Stars Challenge.
• Steve Nash gets his 8th representation as an All-Star player, with this being his 6th and final representation coming from the Phoenix Suns.

• Josh Childress broke the record for the most number of minutes played in one season without making a free throw with 491 minutes played this season.

• Steve Nash surpassedDick Van Arsdale as the third-most played Suns player ever.
• Steve Nash made his 1,000th 3 pointer with the Phoenix Suns on December 31, 2011.
• Steve Nash becomes the #1 assist leader of all Phoenix Suns players on February 1, 2012, surpassing the mark previously set byKevin Johnson.

• Steve Nash gets his 16,000th career point on January 12, 2012.
• Steve Nash passesOscar Robertson as the third-most player with 15+ assist games on March 10, 2012. He's currently behindJohn Stockton andMagic Johnson.
• Grant Hill gets his 17,000th career point on March 20, 2012.
• Steve Nash passes Oscar Robertson as thefifth-most NBA assists leader of all time on April 21, 2012.
• Marcin Gortat averages his first everdouble-double throughout an entire season.

• The Suns committed the franchise's lowest turnover count in a game with 3 turnovers against theLos Angeles Lakers on April 7, 2012.

• 12/20/11:Marcin Gortat: Non-displaced right thumb fracture; out until December 25
• 12/30/11:Michael Redd: Left knee; placed on injured list until January 12
• 01/13/12:Grant Hill: Strained right quadriceps; did not play
• 01/13/12:Steve Nash: Bruised right quadriceps; did not play
• 01/25/12:Robin Lopez: League suspension (making contact with a referee): did not play
• 01/30/12:Steve Nash: Bruised left thigh; did not play
• 02/04/12:Jared Dudley: Bruised thigh; did not play
• 02/14/12:Grant Hill: Rest; did not play
• 02/14/12:Steve Nash: Rest; did not play
• 03/15/12:Grant Hill: Rest; did not play
• 03/15/12:Steve Nash: Rest; did not play
• 03/27/12:Grant Hill: Right knee inflammation; did not play
• 03/28/12:Grant Hill: Right knee inflammation; did not play
• 03/28/12:Markieff Morris: Flu; did not play
• 03/30/12:Grant Hill: Surgery to repair torn meniscus in right knee; out until April 13
• 04/16/12:Grant Hill: Right knee; did not play
• 04/18/12:Grant Hill: Right knee; did not play
• 04/19/12:Grant Hill: Right knee, did not play
• 04/21/12:Grant Hill: Right knee, did not play
• 04/24/12:Channing Frye: Subluxed right shoulder; did not play
• 04/25/12:Channing Frye: Subluxed right shoulder; did not play
• 04/25/12:Grant Hill: Right knee; did not play

^ a: Michael Redd signed onto the team two games after the beginning of the 2011–12 season. However, he didn't start playing until January 12, 2012 due to Redd fully recovering from some knee injuries during his last two seasons in Milwaukee.

Player	Reason left	New team
Aaron Brooks	Lockout Concerns	Guangdong Winnerway (Hongyuan) Southern Tigers
Gani Lawal	Lockout Concerns / Waived[b]	Zastal Zielona Góra /San Antonio Spurs /Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers /Chorale Roanne Basket
Vince Carter	Waived[c]	Dallas Mavericks
Zabian Dowdell	Waived	Anadolu Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü /Club Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D.[d][10]
Mickaël Piétrus	Waived[e]	Boston Celtics
Garret Siler	Waived[f]	Jiangsu Nangang Dragons[g][11]

^ b: Gani Lawal originally left due to the2011 NBA lockout in concerns of playing the season. He signed withZastal Zielona Góra in Poland before returning to Phoenix once the lockout ended. However, Gani was waived by the team alongside Vince Carter once the season began, and he tried a stint with theSan Antonio Spurs for their training camp before being waived again. He later found a new team in theXinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers, but due to personal problems, he returned to playing with Zastal once more before finishing his season withChorale Roanne Basket in France.
^ c: Vince Carter was paid $4 million in order to get out of his contract with the Suns.
^ d: Zabian Dowdell originally signed a deal to play withAnadolu Efes Pilsen Spor Kulübü in Turkey on January 18, 2012. However, due to a failed physical, he would be waived from the team before even having a change to play for them. He would then play withClub Baloncesto Gran Canaria – Claret, S.A.D. on March 17, 2016 after passing their own physical exam.
^ e: Mickaël Piétrus was paid $1.2 million in order to get out of his contract with the Suns.
^ f: Garret Siler was waived after the January 2 game against theGolden State Warriors. He didn't play a single game with the Phoenix Suns in the regular season.
^ g: Garret Siler signed with theJiangsu Nangang Dragons of theChinese Basketball Association quite some time after this season ended.

• 2011–12 NBA season

• Phoenix Suns seasons
• 2011–12 NBA season by team

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