Reports: Rockets & Lakers Persuing Trade For Goran Dragic

[JayMKE]

Can anyone (especially MIL fans) provide any background on Gery? It seems at this point this is pure speculation from some random reporter with nothing to back it up. McD did talk about balancing the roster but never mentioned Dragic and in fact has said the team plans to do whatever it takes to keep him. Unless Goran has told them quietly that he isn't returning, this is probably just click bait. If he has said something like that, I'll take that NOP pick and not look back for a second.

Lance and an unprotected CHA 1st is intriguing as well but I doubt other Suns fans will feel the same way.

Gery Woelfel? The man knows nothing and makes stuff up completely, don't believe anything he says. He's a running joke in the Bucks organization.

[Nolan]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

[gmoney411]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

I doubt it. You'd need to find a contender without a good PG that is willing to give up a first round pick for a player that can bolt in 2-4 months. That list won't be very long.

[pipfan]

I would LOVE to add him to the Bulls, we have an extra pick and some young talent, but I can't see us matching salaries easily.

How about Taj to a 3rd team, along with a pick to Suns
Dragic to Bulls, along with Plumlee
Bulls pick (Sac pick our the Bulls/Cavs pick swap) and Taj asset to Suns

If the Suns wanted Taj, easy to do, but they have Morris

[yosemiteben]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

I doubt it. You'd need to find a contender without a good PG that is willing to give up a first round pick for a player that can bolt in 2-4 months. That list won't be very long.

Disagree, IMO you need a desperate fringe playoff team that is willing to roll the dice on Dragic to see if he can push them into the playoffs (see Miami, Charlotte, Boston, Detroit, Brooklyn) and set them up to resign him in the offseason. That should be more attractive to PHX anyway because the pick is likely to be much more valuable.

[Nolan]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

I doubt it. You'd need to find a contender without a good PG that is willing to give up a first round pick for a player that can bolt in 2-4 months. That list won't be very long.

Houston, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago and Milwaukee are all playoff teams that could use him and i'm sure all of them would be willing to give up a first to get him.

[gmoney411]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

I doubt it. You'd need to find a contender without a good PG that is willing to give up a first round pick for a player that can bolt in 2-4 months. That list won't be very long.

Houston, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago and Milwaukee are all playoff teams that could use him and i'm sure all of them would be willing to give up a first to get him.

I agree with Houston and Charlotte but not the other 3. Miami doesn't have a first round pick this year. I highly doubt Chicago would be willing to pay him this offseason. And I'd be surprised if Milwaukee traded for a pg about to turn 30. I guess Miami still counts as a suitor since they'd try with futures but I think Phoenix ends up with only 3-4 teams that are willing to give up a first round pick for Dragic if the rumor is true.

[Liver_Pooty]

Lance and an unprotected first for Dragic.

[SF_Warriors]

Wow they'll be selling really low on him. Whoever gets Goran is going to get a great player.

It's a 2-3 month rental for a first round pick, it might actually be selling high depending on the range of the pick.

Sure, but you don't want to see your best player leave for what will not be a high 1st rounder.

Dragic can leave end of the season and PHX would get nothing in return. That is why they are asking for a first rounder and not necessarily a high one. They do not have much leverage in this situation.

The team that is trading for dragic is taking on the same risk that he can walk in the offseason, and they lost a first rounder for 2-3 month playoff push. If dragic were willing to sign an extension, the asking price would be much higher and I could see teams throwing out lotto picks for him.

It seems likely that drgaic walks this offseason, especially with their crowded backcourt. But if they trade him before the deadline, I'd say their playoff hopes are pretty much dashed unless durant gets iunjured again.

[Dupp]

Pacers should be all over this if possible. With a healthy George and add dragic they'll be right back in the hunt for the east.

[mg]

Forgot about the Pacers.
Hill, Dragic, George, West, and Hibbert would be a nice little starting 5 for the next few years.

Gery Woelfel is not very reliable though.

[NaturalBuns]

Saw this coming.
Dragic has clocked out on the suns it's been frustrating to watch.

Hopefully suns can get something of value for him

[Train7492]

Birds in the hot seat now. Dragic is a Bird type of player. Since I look for the Pacers to slip into the playoffs I think it's a chance worth taking. With Dragic and a 75% P.George the Pacers could make some noise in the weak East. They could go from the best record in the East last year and didn't show up in playoffs to the worst record to make the playoffs this year and make some noise.

[NashtyNas]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

Well...

Can anyone (especially MIL fans) provide any background on Gery? It seems at this point this is pure speculation from some random reporter with nothing to back it up. McD did talk about balancing the roster but never mentioned Dragic and in fact has said the team plans to do whatever it takes to keep him. Unless Goran has told them quietly that he isn't returning, this is probably just click bait. If he has said something like that, I'll take that NOP pick and not look back for a second.

Lance and an unprotected CHA 1st is intriguing as well but I doubt other Suns fans will feel the same way.

Gery Woelfel? The man knows nothing and makes stuff up completely, don't believe anything he says. He's a running joke in the Bucks organization.

So it's highly likely that this is click bait or the poster trying to get more RT's & follows.
Based on everything the FO has said, we want Dragic. He's our #1 priority.

[andrewww]

Letting go of Dragic would be a mistake imo. One of the most underrated guards in the league. You can still somewhat maintain your style of play for small ball with a Dragic/Bledsoe backcourt but signing Thomas too was overkill. In an ideal world with no salary cap, sure sign as many PGs as you want but Thomas was redundant and did not serve an area of need as much as adding size would have helped.

Len/Wright/Plumlee
Morris/Morris

Is not too shabby. Len has looked really good at points this season too.

If those guys are so good, why does Hornacek (one of the better HC's in the L right now) continually insist on playing small ball with all 3 of those guards on the floor? Why are they giving up ground in the playoff race? Why does their own front office think the team's ceiling is low?

Bottom line is, that front court just isn't good enough as currently constructed to be a legitimate contender. To give up one of your best players would be extremely foolish. Dragic gives you production at great value for his contract, even when he signs a new contract coming up. Or would you rather keep a 5-8 guard who shoots as much as Iverson?

[Risk101]

If it's true there's going to be a long line of suitors.

Well...

Can anyone (especially MIL fans) provide any background on Gery? It seems at this point this is pure speculation from some random reporter with nothing to back it up. McD did talk about balancing the roster but never mentioned Dragic and in fact has said the team plans to do whatever it takes to keep him. Unless Goran has told them quietly that he isn't returning, this is probably just click bait. If he has said something like that, I'll take that NOP pick and not look back for a second.

Lance and an unprotected CHA 1st is intriguing as well but I doubt other Suns fans will feel the same way.

Gery Woelfel? The man knows nothing and makes stuff up completely, don't believe anything he says. He's a running joke in the Bucks organization.

So it's highly likely that this is click bait or the poster trying to get more RT's & follows.
Based on everything the FO has said, we want Dragic. He's our #1 priority.

If the Suns want to contend in the West there going to have to give up one of there gaurds and Dragic makes the most sense. You just signed Bledsoe and Thomas for the next couple of seasons and Dragic could possibly walk this season.

I'm assuming Dragic is looking for a big pay day so why not let him go and get something in return?

[DiscoLives4ever]

Seems like a trade centered around Kanter for Dragic may end up a win for all parties involved

[NaturalBuns]

Letting go of Dragic would be a mistake imo. One of the most underrated guards in the league. You can still somewhat maintain your style of play for small ball with a Dragic/Bledsoe backcourt but signing Thomas too was overkill. In an ideal world with no salary cap, sure sign as many PGs as you want but Thomas was redundant and did not serve an area of need as much as adding size would have helped.

Len/Wright/Plumlee
Morris/Morris

Is not too shabby. Len has looked really good at points this season too.

If those guys are so good, why does Hornacek (one of the better HC's in the L right now) continually insist on playing small ball with all 3 of those guards on the floor? Why are they giving up ground in the playoff race? Why does their own front office think the team's ceiling is low?

Bottom line is, that front court just isn't good enough as currently constructed to be a legitimate contender. To give up one of your best players would be extremely foolish. Dragic gives you production at great value for his contract, even when he signs a new contract coming up. Or would you rather keep a 5-8 guard who shoots as much as Iverson?

Your looking at it wrong though.
Bledsoe makes 13mil/yr
Thomas makes 7mil/yr
Ennis makes 1.5/yr

On that alone your looking at 21-22mil.
We all know dragic is a good player and should make Bledsoe type money. Add another 13-15mil from dragic and your pushing the mid 30s of millions into PGs alone.

Also the suns Front Court is not great but they do have promising players Markieff/Len it just takes time to develop

[HotelVitale]

Bottom line is, that front court just isn't good enough as currently constructed to be a legitimate contender. To give up one of your best players would be extremely foolish. Dragic gives you production at great value for his contract, even when he signs a new contract coming up. Or would you rather keep a 5-8 guard who shoots as much as Iverson?

If the Suns want to contend in the West there going to have to give up one of there gaurds and Dragic makes the most sense. You just signed Bledsoe and Thomas for the next couple of seasons and Dragic could possibly walk this season. I'm assuming Dragic is looking for a big pay day so why not let him go and get something in return?

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but why is it a good idea for a team to give up your best player because you're worried you're not talented enough overall? I understand how that could work in some cases, but here there's no obvious path for how dropping Dragic will allow them to improve the talent level somewhere down the line.

Here's what I'm seeing: if they cut Dragic's salary entirely they'll be at like $52m this offseason, which wouldn't be enough cap space to lure a younger high-level frontcourt player. They could move some pieces around to make an offer for Greg Monroe, for example, but that means they're giving up Dragic and a prospect or two (to clear cap space) in order to get Monroe and a late first (from a Dragic trade). Monroe is a worse overall player than Dragic, and the late first is very unlikely to make a big impact. And with IT/Bledsoe/Tucker/Morri/Len/Monroe, they're likely to be a little worse than currently: in other words, in 9th to 12th pick purgatory instead of borderline playoff team purgatory.

So why isn't it the best move to throw whatever you need to at Dragic? They'd still be under the tax even if they paid him $16m+, and then they have their choice of moving any of the three PGs that seems the least necessary. The only way this doesn't seem optimal is if they're pretty sure that Dragic will leave the team even if they offer him full boat.

[Amish Mafioso]

Utah needs to get on this. Probably throw in Trey Burke.

They will be a much improve team in the West and can possibly compete for a playoff spot next season, if the young players continue improving.

Nope, that would be very short-sighted on Utah's part. He'd help us win more now, devaluing our upcoming pick, and then he'd likely leave in the offseason. Utah just isn't a team that can afford to gamble on UFAs sticking around. Until we're back in the playoffs, we need to assume UFAs will seek greener pastures.

Also, I know this sucks for suns fans, but there's got to be a pretty good chance he bolts in the offseason, so trading him now is the better alternative. Losing him for nothing would be much worse.