Draft Night: Behind the Scenes

Purple Palace · Post #1 » by **Purple Palace** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:29 pm

Behind the Scenes look at the Suns management making their decisions.
Pretty good video. You can hear some trades that were offered. Sounds like they got a ton of phone calls. They were really ecstatic about the Goran Dragic trade. Hopefully we can get him over here when we're able to.

mms://phxsuns.wmod.llnwd.net/a205/o2/draft08_080626.wmv

Post #2 » by **rsavaj** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:24 pm

Great video...I'd love to be in the War Room just once.

Post #3 » by **rsavaj** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:32 pm

Wow...the reaction after they got Dragic was awesome.

I wish they had a video of the discussions during the Marion Exile

.

NashtyNas · Post #4 » by **NashtyNas** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:28 pm

^ I agree, that reaction makes me think they believe in this guy, and they have reason to. I think he would be a great replacement for loosing Rudy Fernandez, because he's got size, athleticism and he can actually defend point gaurds unlike this other guy we have running our team.
JUST HOPE HE CAN COME THIS YEAR SO WE CAN WIN A DAMN RING!

-SDU- · Post #5 » by **-SDU-** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:15 am

when i heard we wanted dragic all along, i was skeptical that this was another suns smokescreen to make the fans happy, like when they said they wanted tucker all along but traded an earlier pick they could have used on him

their reaction in the link above seals it for me that they were legit, and im now genuinely excited about this guy

-SDU- · Post #6 » by **-SDU-** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:56 am

one concerning thing is after making the trade, and including 500k, they said "we didnt even have to go to $750k, wow"

if he really was the player they truly wanted, doesnt it suck that the most sarver would have paid is $750k of a possible 3 mil?

he would have rather risked a player we thought was vital to our future, than spend too much?

(that said he spent something so im happy :-)

)

Phoenix1977 · Post #7 » by **Phoenix1977** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:27 am

rsavaj wrote:Great video...I'd love to be in the War Room just once.

Supposedly it's pretty cool in there...says my contact. Apparently the video guys were told that they were only supposed to be in there for a few minutes and they stayed the entire draft. Seems like it's not a very good idea to directly disobey the GM, but hey...apparently Kerr forgot about em.

I got an email a couple days prior to the draft stating...Robin Lopez @ Goran Dragic...lol...I guess they got who they targeted.

Go7enKs · Post #8 » by **Go7enKs** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:48 pm

Wow, I was surprised to see the reaction of the guys when they made the Dragic pick. I didn't imagine they were so high on him...

Post #9 » by **rsavaj** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:36 pm

-SDU- wrote:one concerning thing is after making the trade, and including 500k, they said "we didnt even have to go to $750k, wow"

if he really was the player they truly wanted, doesnt it suck that the most sarver would have paid is $750k of a possible 3 mil?

he would have rather risked a player we thought was vital to our future, than spend too much?

(that said he spent something so im happy )

Yeah, that part made me cringe. "OMG 750K NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!1111"

Cash · Post #10 » by **Cash** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:42 pm

-SDU- wrote:one concerning thing is after making the trade, and including 500k, they said "we didnt even have to go to $750k, wow"

if he really was the player they truly wanted, doesnt it suck that the most sarver would have paid is $750k of a possible 3 mil?

he would have rather risked a player we thought was vital to our future, than spend too much?

(that said he spent something so im happy )

You know where I stand on this issue, but in fairness to Sarver, we gave up a 2nd next year and $500,000 to move up 3 spots in the 2nd round. The going rate for our #48 (based on the offers we heard in the vid) seemed to be just an early 2nd-rounder next year -- nothing this year and no cash. It's not like Sarver was trying to buy the pick outright, and only offering up to $750k. Giving up 2 2nds (1 this year, 1 next) plus $3mil would really be getting bent over. I guess if they like this guy THAT much, maybe he's worth getting bent over for, but I doubt it.

-SDU- · Post #11 » by **-SDU-** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:14 pm

yeah i agree we gave up alot showing how much we wanted it and i applaud sarvers committment to spending any money and giving up picks

it just suprised me to hear there was a limit on how much we would spend

Never Fear 33 Is Here · Post #12 » by **Never Fear 33 Is Here** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:55 am

Haha, can you imagine had we have spent 3 mill plus the picks everyone would be thinking WTF???

WTFsunsFTW · Post #13 » by **WTFsunsFTW** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:32 pm

I thought second round picks had a lower cap than the 3mil first rounders...

mkot · Post #14 » by **mkot** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:45 am

-SDU- wrote:yeah i agree we gave up alot showing how much we wanted it and i applaud sarvers committment to spending any money and giving up picks

it just suprised me to hear there was a limit on how much we would spend

And we were talking about them buying a 1st rounder...I love how moving up in the 2nd round is as hard as buying a 1st rounder for them. I kinda like the Dragic kid, but cash and a future 2nd to move up just a few spot to get him? Not sure about that and there's that contract issue he has with his club in Spain. Maybe they see something in him that I don't.

WTFsunsFTW · Post #15 » by **WTFsunsFTW** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:08 am

Im confused as to whether they knew Dragic was going to be taken within those 3 spots or if they panicked purchased. There is no indication that the spurs wanted dragic (especially considering their luck with splitter/scola) and since he was held to an exclusive, private workout with JUST the suns... I dont see why we unloaded 2 picks and cash for 3 spots for someone tied up in a european contract that didnt work out for anybody else.

Anyone have any insight?

Cash · Post #16 » by **Cash** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:45 pm

mkot wrote:
-SDU- wrote:yeah i agree we gave up alot showing how much we wanted it and i applaud sarvers committment to spending any money and giving up picks

it just suprised me to hear there was a limit on how much we would spend

And we were talking about them buying a 1st rounder...I love how moving up in the 2nd round is as hard as buying a 1st rounder for them. I kinda like the Dragic kid, but cash and a future 2nd to move up just a few spot to get him? Not sure about that and there's that contract issue he has with his club in Spain. Maybe they see something in him that I don't.

Our front office is not very good at negotiating. KT had value to Seattle as a mentor for their young bigs and (more importantly) as an expiring that they used at the trade deadline. But we had to give them TWO UNPROTECTED first-rounders to take him off our hands. James Jones was a player Portland wanted, who filled a needed role for them on a cheap, short contract. But we threw in a first-round pick and got $3mil back.

In this case, the Suns felt as though Dragic was essentially first-round talent (especially if they really would've considered him at 15 if Lopez was off the board), so they were willing to overpay to ensure they got him. If they're right, they made a great move, because 2 2nd-rounders + $500k is a very low price to get a starting-caliber point guard. I tend to think they're wrong, but what do I know? Time will tell.

Cash · Post #17 » by **Cash** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:46 pm

WTFsunsFTW wrote:Im confused as to whether they knew Dragic was going to be taken within those 3 spots or if they panicked purchased. There is no indication that the spurs wanted dragic (especially considering their luck with splitter/scola) and since he was held to an exclusive, private workout with JUST the suns... I dont see why we unloaded 2 picks and cash for 3 spots for someone tied up in a european contract that didnt work out for anybody else.

Anyone have any insight?

According to Kerr, Detroit was going to take Dragic at #46. I have no idea how accurate that statement is, but that was the claim. Kerr also claimed that he got several calls after making the pick, saying basically, "Good thing you got him when you did, because we were about to snap him up."

walkingart · Post #18 » by **walkingart** » Tue Jul 1, 2008 2:00 am

Cash wrote:According to Kerr, Detroit was going to take Dragic at #46. I have no idea how accurate that statement is, but that was the claim. Kerr also claimed that he got several calls after making the pick, saying basically, "Good thing you got him when you did, because we were about to snap him up."

Could be true, Detroit drafted guys who told Dumars they would go play in Europe for atleast a year.

Never Fear 33 Is Here · Post #19 » by **Never Fear 33 Is Here** » Tue Jul 1, 2008 10:41 am

Cash wrote:
WTFsunsFTW wrote:Im confused as to whether they knew Dragic was going to be taken within those 3 spots or if they panicked purchased. There is no indication that the spurs wanted dragic (especially considering their luck with splitter/scola) and since he was held to an exclusive, private workout with JUST the suns... I dont see why we unloaded 2 picks and cash for 3 spots for someone tied up in a european contract that didnt work out for anybody else.

Anyone have any insight?

According to Kerr, Detroit was going to take Dragic at #46. I have no idea how accurate that statement is, but that was the claim. Kerr also claimed that he got several calls after making the pick, saying basically, "Good thing you got him when you did, because we were about to snap him up."

That is the impression I got from the behind the scenes Draft video.