I don't know whether or not Phoenix would trade Dragic. I'm 50/50 on it. But if they do trade him, there's no much of a market for a guy who will either opt out next year or have such a bad injury, he'd rather pick up his option. How many teams are willing to roll the dice on Dragic anyway? In the west, Dallas, Lakers, Rockets are the only teams that could use upgrade at PG. Lakers are tanking, Dallas has absolutely no assets nor matching salary. So Rockets would be the only team that makes sense. In the east, you have the Knicks, Pacers, Pistons, Bucks as teams that would want Dragic. Pistons and the Bucks aren't looking to give up assets for Dragic. Knicks would, but they have nothing to offer. Pacers can offer George Hill in a straight up trade and that's it. Not sure why Phoenix would take that deal. So if we're going by the assumption that Phoenix will want to unload Dragic before he leaves in FA next year, Houston would make the most sense. We would also not have to give up much, because there's not much competition among other teams.
I believe Dragic stays and they eventually work a sign and trade with some team for Bledsoe with a serviceable big coming back but no one too highly coveted. Bledsoe ends up settling for around 11 mil cause he has no other choice.
OK, when this whole thing turns out to be bull, I propose a permanent description under the "insiders" usernames saying "Not an insider", so something like this doesn't happen again.
I can't believe this thread is still going. Almost nothing that the "insiders" predicted in this thread came true. if the suns wanted to trade dragic im almost 100% sure another team would be able to offer more than the rockets. face it people, this is our team give or take one or two smaller moves.
I can't believe so many of you don't get this. Can some teams offer more than Houston? Absolutely! But most teams are already set at PG as it's easily the deepest position in the league... So the question is not whether or not Houston has the most to offer. The question is, of the teams that can offer more, do they need a PG? And are they willing to give up rebuilding pieces for Dragic? With that in mind... I believe Houston has the best chance at landing him, if he is in fact availible. Because PG is a position of need, we have some good trade pieces, and most importantly we are willing to give them up because we aren't rebuilding. Teams like Milwaukee, Detroit, and Sacremento won't be any closer to contention if they get Dragic. And teams like LAL, Miami, Dallas, and NY can't beat our offer.
Because finishing 9th in successive years was the height of houston's success, one that every team hopes to emulate
Yeah, but they didn't cap their potential. They were only ninth, because Bledsoe missed 40+ games. Otherwise they'd be firmly in the playoffs. And they still had the cap to sign 2 max guys this off-season, while retaining Dragic and Bledsoe. Of course the whole thing fell through, and they'll only have cap for another max guy next year, I think, but you can't pretend they're in some kind of purgatory.
They won't make the playoffs, and Dragic is 28, that's pretty purgatory to someone who watched us do the same thing.
They can open max capspace for one player next offseason, true. But who will go there? Lakers and the Knicks will both have max space next year. And it looks like most of the free agents are likely to re-sign with their own teams anyway. If you rooted for Phoenix, which method do you think is easier to obtain another star player? Accumulate more assets to trade for a disgruntled star? Or open up cap room hoping a Marc Gasol or a LMA would choose Phoenix over all their other options?
Well that's your unsubstantiated opinion. If they preform like last year and stay healthy, there's no reason for them not to make it. Dragic is in his prime, he's not a 37 year old veteran on his last legs. He doesn't have any major injury history and low mileage for his age, so you can expect him to preform at a high level somewhere into his mid thirties, that's at lest another full contract after he opts out next year. And they'll still have room to sign more elite level talent, or trade for one with the assets they've accumulated.
The majority of free agents get retained, that's not an anomaly, that's a rule. And trading for somebody is always easier then signing him outright, but even if that's true, Dragic is still more valuable than anything rockets have to offer. Free agents usually choose successful teams, who can offer them money and the opportunity to win. Phoenix still has to establish themselves as one of those teams, but if they make some noise in the playoffs this year, they'll start turning some heads.
The most important player for their entire system was Channing Frye, that's why he had by far the highest rpm/war and all those other things, that's why they were writing articles about him not being injured was the biggest change to the team. He was as important to Phoenix as Beverley was when we had Harden and Parsons mailing it in on perimeter defense. And they replaced him with a scrub.
They will be in purgatory soon if they don't get an elite player. They will have to sign Bledsoe and if they choose to resign Dragic it will be for the max because a team like Houston/Lakers will make a max quality offer. That doesn't even count some of their other guys soon to be free agents. Even if they get Bledsoe at $12,000,000 a year (which they already offered), long term they are looking at $16,000,000 for Dragic, Ennis at $2,000,000 and Thomas at $7,000,000. That is $37,000,000 for 2 positions and the Suns won't be going into the tax with current ownership.
