RealGM

AHHHHHHH!!!!! I can eat again, the fasting is over!

Now we can officially start including Dragic in our depth charts!

According to the Arizona Republic, Phoenix is still trying to move Leandro Barbosa, who they do not view as a point guard.

Two league sources said Goran Dragic, the Suns' second-round pick last month, has negotiated a buyout with Spanish club Tau Ceramica to leave this summer.

The buyout, believed to be worth as much as $1.55 million, adds a new dilemma for the Suns. Phoenix can only contribute $500,000 towards the buyout, meaning Dragic would need to pay the remainder.

Until he signs his contract with PHX, he's not officially a Sun, and we've been talking about that article in the Lue thread.

Geez...

I hadn't read the Lue thread. I don't like Lue.

Plus, with as excited as Sarver and Kerr were with this pick... there is no way in hell that he doesn't become a Sun after the buyout. He knows he'll make the max level contract as a rookie at his draft slot.

Haha no need to "geez", didn't mean to come off harsh or anything(sorry if I did), I was just sayin that the thing that I'm worried about is the fact that they're talking about moving Barbo to make room for Dragic, and I think that's really stupid. But this discussion has already been going on in the Lue thread, so maybe a merge?

But hooray for the buyout!

Wow, finally the suns will win a championship with him as backup pg!!!!

With what I have watched, and read, to me, all he is to me is a 2nd rd pick that won't last long. I am not impressed and find it kind of insulting how the suns continue to say he is the future. Until I am proven otherwise, I am not on the Dragic bandwagon.

They can only pay 500,000 K, Dragic and his agent has to pay the rest. So this in no way says he is a sun. Where did you get that in that quote????? I rather wait one more year and use the money we pay him for a need! Yes, hes a pg, but what everyone is saying is that he is a 3rd string pg, and will not back up Nash and get the mins. I understand that he can learn from him, and be under our staff, but I am not high on this kid. We screwed it when we let rondo and Sergio Rodriquez go, and this is suppose to be our replacement????? Geeezzzz

Great news if true, but I am still not convinced.

I COMPLETELY agree with your post on the other thread.

You do not move Barbosa for cap space. Period.

What I think the FO might be doing is trying to shore up the wing with someone who can shoot. This presents some interesting questions.

1. Does this mean that the Suns intend on starting Dargic as Nash's backup? And starting Dragic those 10-12 games they spoke of this next season?

2. If we are trading Barbosa, is it because we have more faith in Strawberry backing up Bell than we do in Tucker backing up Hill? Are we looking to get starting talent back at the SF position so that Hill can be our bench-to-floor general when Nash is out?

3. What does this mean for our cap situation? Barbosa's contract is widely regarded as one of the best in the NBA, especially for the amount of points the kid can score. Are we looking to rent a player or are we looking to add an extra piece for a couple of years? Will that contract bite into the 2010 FA market?

....all these answers and more on next weeks episode!

eastsidecrossover wrote:With what I have watched, and read, to me, all he is to me is a 2nd rd pick that won't last long. I am not impressed and find it kind of insulting how the suns continue to say he is the future. Until I am proven otherwise, I am not on the Dragic bandwagon.

That's exaclty what people said about a player out of Central Michigan if I recall.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/28065

* A reminder on just what Phoenix thought of Goran Dragic . . . The Suns were considering making him a 15th overall pick and had only Derrick Rose ranked higher at point guard. Phoenix flew him in the week of the draft secretly and tried to keep his buyout prospects for this year quiet in league circles. Dragic has a 37 ½-inch vertical leap and tested extremely well in upper- and lower-body agility tests. Point guards are so hard to come by that you would figure Phoenix will want to do everything it can to allow its projected point guard of the future to learn under Steve Nash for at least two years. At one point, someone said, “He’s got some Manu in him.”

the thing is, since the suns are only allowed to pay 500k of the buyout and the rest would be on dragic to pay. they have to pay him back the rest of the buyout money back with his salary, which might be a problem b/c of lux tax. then they had to pay double the amount, which obviously sucks cause sarver is cheap and might get strange ideas like shipping barbs for cap room

the kid seems to have a big heart and a competitor.. something that barbs doesnt have. he definitely have the fundamentals to be a good point guard..but it will take time.. not this year...

eastsidecrossover wrote:Wow, finally the suns will win a championship with him as backup pg!!!!

With what I have watched, and read, to me, all he is to me is a 2nd rd pick that won't last long. I am not impressed and find it kind of insulting how the suns continue to say he is the future. Until I am proven otherwise, I am not on the Dragic bandwagon.

They can only pay 500,000 K, Dragic and his agent has to pay the rest. So this in no way says he is a sun. Where did you get that in that quote????? I rather wait one more year and use the money we pay him for a need! Yes, hes a pg, but what everyone is saying is that he is a 3rd string pg, and will not back up Nash and get the mins. I understand that he can learn from him, and be under our staff, but I am not high on this kid. We screwed it when we let rondo and Sergio Rodriquez go, and this is suppose to be our replacement????? Geeezzzz

I understand that you don't want to jump on his bandwagon just yet, I watched him play for the whole season and even I am not as excited about him as some of the fans here are. But comparing him to Sergio Rodriguez is unfair. He is already better than Rodriguez. The best comparison for him at this moment would probably be Roko Leni Ukic with a worse jumpshot and far better defense.

As far as Barbosa goes, I can see that he has high value among Suns fans. But I've read other boards and no one seems to like him very much because of his size and his contract. If the FO really wants him to go, ideal trade for you would be Barbosa for Varejao.

eastsidecrossover wrote:We screwed it when we let rondo and Sergio Rodriquez go, and this is suppose to be our replacement????? Geeezzzz

---- i know, i know, I know g.dammit
Sergio is apparentlyon his way out of PTL -Nate isn't a fan. He could still be had but ... then we have three point guards, which is not a terrible thing.
Saw Dragic play in the Canada-Slovenia game. He looked good, and he's a nice outside shooter. They've got another kid named Emir Pzzrdlsgowicz or some such confusion of consonants, who looks like he'll be a monster outside threat.

Bizarrely, the Suns really need shooters. How the hell did that happen? I know, I know .....

But comparing him to Sergio Rodriguez is unfair. He is already better than Rodriguez. The best comparison for him at this moment would probably be Roko Leni Ukic with a worse jumpshot and far better defense.

--- C*rist, I hope so.

As far as Barbosa goes, I can see that he has high value among Suns fans. But I've read other boards and no one seems to like him very much because of his size and his contract. If the FO really wants him to go, ideal trade for you would be Barbosa for Varejao.[/quote]

--- ??????????? Barbs has a very attractive contract, a bargain. And we're expecting Lopez to be Varejao, which he shows some prospect of being.

I still have hopes for jared Jordan, who would be cheap enough to bring in as insurance and see how he does.

Actually his name is Emir Preldzich:D:D he is young and he looks like he is gona be prrety good. He reminds me a lot of Boki Nachbar.

Negotiating a buying is like 12 steps from being official.


Fail.

inyourface48 wrote:the thing is, since the suns are only allowed to pay 500k of the buyout and the rest would be on dragic to pay. they have to pay him back the rest of the buyout money back with his salary, which might be a problem b/c of lux tax. then they had to pay double the amount, which obviously sucks cause sarver is cheap and might get strange ideas like shipping barbs for cap room

Umm, you seem to think that they will have to pay him with his salary, which they wont. It would be an under the table deal to pay him that other 1million. The salary, at max, can only equal the max salary at which the position he was drafted at. So he cant get more than $1mill per year (its closer to 800k). But Sarver will give him a "welcome gift" (under the table cash for the buyout) of 1mill. It happens a lot with euro players.

Im so happy. Yesterday, Ukic (also a pg, very similar to dragic. 6'5 athletic can play both positions) got bougthout and signed my hometown team (the raptors) and now dragic comes over to the suns. ECSTATIC

nashill wrote:the kid seems to have a big heart and a competitor.. something that barbs doesnt have. he definitely have the fundamentals to be a good point guard..but it will take time.. not this year...

I don't see how he could have turned into the player he was today if he wasn't a competitor. He grew up with nothing in Brazil. And the big heart comment? From what I've seen/heard, that's totally off IMO.

The buyout most likely spreads the buyout over a period of time instead of lump sum.

rsavaj wrote:

nashill wrote:the kid seems to have a big heart and a competitor.. something that barbs doesnt have. he definitely have the fundamentals to be a good point guard..but it will take time.. not this year...

I don't see how he could have turned into the player he was today if he wasn't a competitor. He grew up with nothing in Brazil. And the big heart comment? From what I've seen/heard, that's totally off IMO.

hes got the skills no doubt but i dont see him as a competitor..it actually shows everytime suns go up against the spurs... you play bad once, twice or 3 times against your teams nemesis is acceptable...but not everytime suns face the spurs..he looked afraid to me.