SUNS: Dragic Not Likely to Join Suns This Year

Dragic Not Likely to Join Suns This Year

Dragic and Nash share the same agent.

Daniel Banks/Suns.com

Posted: Jun 28 2008 2:40PM

By Jerry Brown
East Valley Tribune
June 28 2008

How bad does Goran Dragic want to play for the Phoenix Suns? Last Saturday, he got on a plane in his native Slovenia and flew 17 hours to Los Angeles. After a two-hour layover, he arrived in Phoenix just before 10 p.m.

The next morning he was up before 7 and on the practice court at US Airways Center at 9, where he spent an hour and a half playing two-on-two with three other draft hopefuls.

A few hours later, he was back on another plane, headed home.

The Suns were the only team on his agenda.

“All of that because he wants to play here with Steve (Nash),” Suns vice president of operations David Griffin said.

Even that — plus Oregon swingman Malik Hairston, a second-round pick next year and the $500,000 cash it cost for the Suns to coax the Spurs to take Dragic with the 45th pick in Thursday’s draft — may not be enough to get the Suns point guard heir apparent to America this year.

The buyout clause with his team in Spain comes next year. If he and his agent, Bill Duffy (who is also Nash’s agent), try to work a buyout this year, it could cost the player about 1 million euros (more than $1.5 million) even after the Suns kick in the $500,000 allowable to help.

“We’re going to try. We’ll do what we can,” Griffin said. “This year, we can only do what we can do. It’s a lot of money, and the exchange rate doesn’t help. Maybe it takes a year.”

General manager Steve Kerr, who had never seen Dragic before the workout, would rather not wait.

“We’re going to roll up our sleeves and see what we can get done,” he said. “After what I saw, the sooner he gets here, the better.”

Even if Dragic comes this year, the Suns will still target a veteran to back up Steve Nash as the first priority of their summer shopping. That’s especially true now that Robin Lopez is set to play behind Shaquille O’Neal in the middle, leaving Boris Diaw as a candidate to join Grant Hill at the small forward spot.

There are several avenues the Suns can travel to get their man.

In free agency, veterans like Tyronn Lue, Chris Duhon and Anthony Johnson figure to be available and may have to settle for at or near the veteran’s minimum salary that Phoenix can offer.

Lue, 31, who played with Shaquille O’Neal and nearly came to Phoenix at the deadline last year, chose Dallas but played only two minutes in the postseason. The Suns like his defense and 3-point shooting but at 6-foot and 175 pounds, he’s another small guard.

Duhon, 26, played 66 games for the Bulls last season and is no longer in their plans with Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich and Thabo Sefolosha all on the roster. He is a capable scorer and assist man and played for a winning program at Duke.

Johnson, 33, would be a fallback choice. He was traded by the Hawks to Sacramento last year in the Mike Bibby deal and has averaged 5.7 points and 3.0 assists during his 11-year career.

The Suns can also look at teams who now have a glut at the point guard spot and explore a trade.

Indiana now has T.J. Ford as a starter at point and could be stuck with Jamaal Tinsley and his bloated contract for a backup. But Travis Diener, who makes $1.62 million next year with a player option for 2009-10, is a player the Suns have gone after in the past. He now sits third on the Pacers’ depth chart.

The Suns sold Sergio Rodriguez to Portland during the 2006 draft to save money. But the Blazers have a glut of players at every position — especially guard — and his salary ($1.05 million next year) is attractive to Phoenix.

Memphis traded for O.J. Mayo and has Mike Conley, Jr. and Kyle Lowry ($1.16 million) behind him — although the Suns haven’t shown any interest in Lowry in the past.

Even with Lopez on board, there is a good chance that the Suns will keep one of their backup centers from last season — Sean Marks or Brian Skinner. The advantage would figure to side with Marks, a favorite of Kerr’s, a more economical choice and a player with more offensive game to balance the defense-first mentality of Lopez behind O’Neal.