2014 Official FA Thread

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

I've always felt it is better to not use your cap space (unless you are signing a big name or a guy at an extremely reasonable price) and put yourself into a position to take back contracts in a trade to allow other teams to clear cap space. That's how we got Bledsoe by allowing the Clips to dump Butler's contract on us.

I get that, but our flexibility vanishes as soon as we re-sign Bledsoe and (probably) Tucker and Frye. We'll be competing with teams for each of those players. That would give us a very small window - basically the month of July and the first week of August - to make something happen. But you have a point.

I like Terrence Jones and think he'd be a nice fit.

Hell naw. That guy stomped on a homeless man's face out of petulance. We don't need saints on the roster, but I don't want to root for **** either.

[Barkley6]

I've always felt it is better to not use your cap space (unless you are signing a big name or a guy at an extremely reasonable price) and put yourself into a position to take back contracts in a trade to allow other teams to clear cap space. That's how we got Bledsoe by allowing the Clips to dump Butler's contract on us.

I get that, but our flexibility vanishes as soon as we re-sign Bledsoe and (probably) Tucker and Frye. We'll be competing with teams for each of those players. That would give us a very small window - basically the month of July and the first week of August - to make something happen. But you have a point.

I like Terrence Jones and think he'd be a nice fit.

Hell naw. That guy stomped on a homeless man's face out of petulance. We don't need saints on the roster, but I don't want to root for **** either.

We actually have a reasonable amount of flexibility come July 1st. Ideally, Frye opts out, giving the Suns roughly 31M under the cap (Not including cap holds). Suns immediately make a pitch to their primary FA target and sign him within the first days of FA. Then, from there you can wait on Tucker and Bledsoe's offer sheets to come in. Frye is the wildcard, but I get the impression he stays in PHX for a deal in the neighborhood of 3/$14m.

[jredsaz]

Does Pheonix match a full max offer for Bledsoe?

Absolutely. Bledsoe will be a wearing a Suns jersey next season.

[bwgood77]

I've always felt it is better to not use your cap space (unless you are signing a big name or a guy at an extremely reasonable price) and put yourself into a position to take back contracts in a trade to allow other teams to clear cap space. That's how we got Bledsoe by allowing the Clips to dump Butler's contract on us.

I get that, but our flexibility vanishes as soon as we re-sign Bledsoe and (probably) Tucker and Frye. We'll be competing with teams for each of those players. That would give us a very small window - basically the month of July and the first week of August - to make something happen. But you have a point.

Yeah but we can hold off with him...agree to a deal but not sign it to see if teams out there are trying to dump salaries to get one of the big name free agents. They are going to try to dump them somewhere unless Melo and LeBron just sign with NY and Miami, respectively.

Teams may even try to dump assets to sign Pau or Deng.

We can wait a little while to survey the landscape if there isn't anyone we REALLY want. No rush in using the cap space. Bledsoe would understand that.

There is also the possibility that if we sign Deng, and there is no Love trade before the season, that we could offer up Deng and the twins for Love after December 15th (or maybe it's January 15th). That's a pretty good package for Minny, especially if a pick was thrown in.

Rubio
Martin
Deng
Kieff
Pek (or Dieng if he gets better than Pek this year)

Since Minny doesn't want to completely tear it down, they might not get a much better deal than that.

[Saberestar]

AZCentral Sports Suns beat reporter Paul Coro told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM not to read into Bledsoe not publicly expressing his desire to remain in Phoenix.

"I don't think he wants to leave Phoenix," Coro said. "It's probably frustrating for everybody to hear him not just say a simple thing like ‘man I would really love to stay here, it was great here, I love my team, I could really see myself being here a long time.' It would have been great if somebody had coached him to say that or had him say that, but I think we maybe read a little too much into Eric Bledsoe not saying things like that."

Bledsoe had a breakout season in his first as a full-time starter, averaging 17.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds. He missed 33 games with a torn meniscus and six because of a shin injury, raising concerns about his durability.

"I know just from being around the team, and watching his interaction, he loves that team, and he loved (them) playing the way they did and I think he really showed a great appreciation too for the process he went through after the knee surgery and how the training staff handled that with him and how he wasn't pushed through that whole process, and came out feeling really healthy and with full confidence once he was able to play again," Coro said.

Coro said the Suns want to pair him up with guard Goran Dragic, the 2013-2014 NBA Most Improved Player. Dragic averaged 20.3 points and 5.9 assists last season. He is only under team control for one more season, after which he can opt out of his contract.

When asked whether he thinks Bledsoe and Dragic will comprise the Suns' backcourt next season, Coro said, "Yes, I really do."

"That was the plan. That's why they went and got Bledsoe last year and didn't trade Dragic; to play those guys together and nothing that happened this season would dissuade you from continuing with that. When those guys played together, the Suns won two-thirds of their games. If you do that over the course of a whole season, you're a pretty elite team. So I think they at least continue to see how that plays out and then deal with the repercussions of that down the line with Goran's contract."

http://arizonasports.com/41/1744260/Sun ... oenix-Suns

[BobbieL]

This does not help the Suns at all. Unless, he resigns with the Suns (or another team) quickly in the upcoming free agent derby, his cap hit goes from $6.8 to almost $!0M as a cap hold. So for everyone dreaming about signing free agents, it is not a help. Of course the Suns could waive his Bird Rights, but then sign and trades go out the window.

BTW Coro's article this morning hints that a long term deal with the Suns might be ready to go and that his and the team's preference is he remains a Sun.

Cap hold is fine if you can do a sign and trade. Unless the guy signs a 5 year deal for 20m and not 30m, I personally do not want him back.

Why in the world would you sign Frye to a 5 year deal?

Good point. My point about the 5 for 20 was the per year salary - $4m or less

But you are right, let him walk - maybe S&T with the Warriors if they want too.

[SunsFanSSOL]

Carmelo Anthony has yet to publicly reveal the process by which he plans to entertain other teams in free agency now that he has opted out of his contract with the New York Knicks, but the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams that expect to have the opportunity to make their pitch to him starting July 1, according to sources close to the situation.

Teams can't formally contact free agents until 12:01 a.m. ET July 1, but sources told ESPN.com that the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat are two more teams that could join the race for Anthony, depending on how things play out before, during and after Thursday's NBA draft.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11126 ... on-rockets

No Suns.

[PassWarden]

Carmelo Anthony has yet to publicly reveal the process by which he plans to entertain other teams in free agency now that he has opted out of his contract with the New York Knicks, but the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams that expect to have the opportunity to make their pitch to him starting July 1, according to sources close to the situation.

Teams can't formally contact free agents until 12:01 a.m. ET July 1, but sources told ESPN.com that the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat are two more teams that could join the race for Anthony, depending on how things play out before, during and after Thursday's NBA draft.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11126 ... on-rockets

No Suns.

Not all that surprising really. I imagine Jeff Hornacek's love for team basketball combined with McDonough's affinity for sports analytics, would make us a pretty unappealing option.

[SunsFanSSOL]

Carmelo Anthony has yet to publicly reveal the process by which he plans to entertain other teams in free agency now that he has opted out of his contract with the New York Knicks, but the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers are among the teams that expect to have the opportunity to make their pitch to him starting July 1, according to sources close to the situation.

Teams can't formally contact free agents until 12:01 a.m. ET July 1, but sources told ESPN.com that the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat are two more teams that could join the race for Anthony, depending on how things play out before, during and after Thursday's NBA draft.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11126 ... on-rockets

No Suns.

Not all that surprising really. I imagine Jeff Hornacek's love for team basketball combined with McDonough's affinity for sports analytics, would make us a pretty unappealing option.

McDonough did say we would go after the best players available.

[PassWarden]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11126 ... on-rockets

No Suns.

Not all that surprising really. I imagine Jeff Hornacek's love for team basketball combined with McDonough's affinity for sports analytics, would make us a pretty unappealing option.

McDonough did say we would go after the best players available.

That's true. I just have a hard time believing that McDonough views Melo as someone who would mesh well with what we already have. If the goal is to keep Dragic and Bledsoe (I believe it is), then I really don't think Melo is the type of SF we should be looking at.

[lilfishi22]

McDonough did say we would go after the best players available.

I'm sure he'll do his due diligence but I highly doubt there would be serious consideration unless Melo decides to play team ball and agrees to sign for cheap.

[McStunna]

Melo does not have to sign here for cheap and I laugh at the notion that McDonough would not take Melo because of sport analystics when statistically Melo is unquestionably a great player.

Also that Jeff Hornacek would not want him is hilarious..

The reason we are not mentioned is because it seems nobody has any real clue what McD is planning. We are almost never mentioned as a destination for Love either but everyone assumes we have interest.

Our recruiting pitch is questionable though, who will recruit these guys? Bledsoe is a FA himself and Dragic has no pull in that regard. There is no Amare right now who flies with Sarver to meet Nash and convince him to join.

[letsgosuns]

The ESPN story mentions that the max the Knicks can offer Carmelo Anthony is 5 years, 129 million dollars, while the max a new team can offer him is 4 years, 96 million dollars. 33 million dollars is a lot of money to be leaving on the table. In addition, after reading his quotes about how his family enjoys being in New York, I think he is probably going to stay. He is a New York guy and would be the toast of the town if that team turns it around. All of these teams that are going to pitch to him offer more competitive rosters than the current Knicks squad, but none of them offer a guaranteed championship team.

Analyzing all of the teams supposedly interested, I do not see how they are going to be so amazing with him.
Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose has not played in two years and no one knows if he is ever going to be the same so how can you rely on him?
Houston Rockets: They have to basically give away players just to make a legitimate money offer. Harden, Anthony, and Howard looks great on paper but who else is going to be on the team? Parsons? What happens if some team out there offers him a huge contract maybe even close to a max deal. Are the Rockets prepared to pay four players max money? I highly doubt that.
Dallas Mavericks: The Mavs can give him the max and have their backcourt set with Ellis and Calderon. Dirk is expected to re-sign. It depends on who else they would sign around him. I imagine Marion would leave if they signed Carmelo because his minutes would most likely go way down. Vince Carter may stay though.
Los Angeles Lakers: Virtually have no one on the team's roster except Kobe and Nash who make over 33 million dollars combined, which is insane. Kobe missed almost all of last year and Nash did too. Nash looks like he can barely play anymore sadly. Kobe is someone I would not bet against but he is going to be 36 years old in August and coming off of major injuries. The team does not even have a head coach right now and the owners do not get along. Plus, if they gave Carmelo a max contract, they would have about 55 million dollars committed to Kobe, Nash, and Carmelo. That leaves around 10 million dollars to get at least 9 more players. That does not seem like an attractive situation.
Atlanta Hawks: No idea why he would leave a 37-45 Knicks team for a 38-44 Hawks team so I do not understand where that is even coming from.
Miami Heat: On paper it would be great but also requires major pay cuts from all players involved and no one knows if any of them are willing to do that.

I think out of all of these teams, the Mavericks offer the best fit if he leaves New York. I also think the Suns situation is more attractive than the majority of the interested teams. Although, it does not appear the Suns even want him. I personally see him staying in New York as I said earlier. I think the city combined with an extra 33 million dollars in guaranteed money and all the changes the Knicks have made in their organization will convince him to stay.

[thamadkant]

60% chance Anthony stays at Knicks.
Money, life style, family, it's friggin the big apple!! Etc.
It's hard to give up 23+ million dollars a year living in New York... Most rich young people who loves a specific lifestyle have a place on New York.

Championship or no... Earning 23+ million to play on New York, be the town's main star athlete or one of... Is an accomplishment itself.

[BurningHeart]

60% chance Anthony stays at Knicks.
Money, life style, family, it's friggin the big apple!! Etc.
It's hard to give up 23+ million dollars a year living in New York... Most rich young people who loves a specific lifestyle have a place on New York.

Championship or no... Earning 23+ million to play on New York, be the town's main star athlete or one of... Is an accomplishment itself.

The town's main star athlete? Guess you don't watch much baseball, football, or hockey.

"One of," okay.

[thamadkant]

60% chance Anthony stays at Knicks.
Money, life style, family, it's friggin the big apple!! Etc.
It's hard to give up 23+ million dollars a year living in New York... Most rich young people who loves a specific lifestyle have a place on New York.

Championship or no... Earning 23+ million to play on New York, be the town's main star athlete or one of... Is an accomplishment itself.

The town's main star athlete? Guess you don't watch much baseball, football, or hockey.

"One of," okay.

Yes I don't watch much of hockey, football (NY), baseball... But as you pointed out I did mention "one of", because baseball guys would argue Yankee stars are as big if not bigger... And football/hockey guys would have their own arguments also.
But globally basketball is slightly bigger than those other sports... But I get your point.

[gaspar]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/481427970582929410[/tweet]
Broussard actually broke a story?

[phx#7]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/481427970582929410[/tweet]
Broussard actually broke a story?

Broussard is a LeBron's media mouth piece, so it's not surprising he broke the story.

[Kerrsed]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SamAmicoFSO/status/481427849031581696[/tweet]

[JJ13]

If Suns can get Love without giving up Bled or Dragic, how does Lebron not seriously consider PHX?

Dragic
Bledsoe
Lebron
Love
Channing/Len (Assuming Channing takes less)

...Send Morri+Archie+Green+picks to Minny (hate losing Archie and Green, but don't see us getting Love w/o them)