Lakers Plan To Explore Dragic Trade Or Offer Him $20m Per Year In Off-season

I am a little torn about the Houston pick-could be a solid rotation player. But it gives us the option to fo after a SF in free agency and even retain Ellington and Davis.

 

I'd say wait, keep all draft picks and cap space. My main reason for thinking that is in the hopeful event of getting a top 5 pick, what if it's not Okafur, Towns or Johnson because they end up 4 or 5? They then pick Russell or Mudaiy. They look great and should get big minutes at PG, but with Dragic that won't happen...he want's that position period. Wouldn't be better then to go after Gasol or Jefferson as FAs?

 

@ninjagorn If you can get away with giving the Suns that pick for Dragic, you take it and worry about the wing spot in FA with the extra money you can use thanks to Dragic's bird right. That way if teams are basing their off-season spending on what the cap will be in a couple years and overpay like mad, we'd still be able to land a guy like Wes Matthews.

 

Nothing new here but again it's based on Woj "intel"......

The Phoenix Suns angered one of their best players with an outside-the-box free-agent signing — and now he wants out

By William Scott Davis1 hour ago
according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:

After informing the Phoenix Suns that Goran Dragic won't re-sign an extension this summer, agent Bill Duffy delivered the Phoenix Suns a list of preferred trade destinations that includes the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

...

Until Tuesday night, the Suns had been given hope that moving guard Isaiah Thomas would make Dragic more comfortable with re-signing, but it became clear in a meeting with management that he no longer wants to share a backcourt with Thomas and Eric Bledsoe, league sources said.

If Dragic doesn't want to re-sign with Phoenix during the summer, the Suns have almost no choice but to trade him before Thursday's deadline. If they don't, they will most likely lose him for nothing in the summer.

Dragic was always only lukewarm to the idea of sharing responsibilities at point guard with two other players. In November he was asked about the Suns' early struggles and the lack of cohesion among all three guards, and he answered bluntly:

Because there's only one ball and we're all point guards. That's an easy answer. It's hard. That's sacrifice. If Isaiah's playing well, he's going to stay in. Me and Eric, it depends who is playing better and who is going to be on the court. The other guy is going to be on the bench. It's the way it is. We need to embrace that.

Dragic's numbers are down almost across the board. Last season he made All-NBA Third Team after averaging 20 points and six assists per game on 50% shooting, 40% from 3-point range. This year his numbers are down to 16 points and four assists per game on 50% shooting, 35% from 3-point range.

The Suns tried a borderline radical experiment, taking the NBA's "pace-and-space" offensive movement and pushing it to the limits with three point guards surrounded by shooters and a big man.

The on-court product has been OK, but it is most likely going to cost the Suns one of their best players and possibly a chance at the playoffs as a result.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/phoenix-suns-angered-one-best-151512218.html

 

If you take Mudiay, I think he could be moved around a little in the backcourt. He has the size, he could be a playmaking two guard. With creative coaching you can mix and match lineups to get them both time at the point while the other is resting.

And we have zero chance of getting one of the star FA bigs. They won't be going anywhere. If we were to get the 5th pick and wanted a big, we could move down a couple spots and take Cauley-Stein.

Really we don't know until the ping pong balls and see who lands where. Out of Towns, Mudiay, and Russell I wouldn't be surprised to see any one of them go at 2 or 4. I think it depends on fit, team, and workouts. But right now if there's a good deal on the table for Dragic, I don't think you ignore it because X player won't be there at 4 and you think X All-Star big will sign here this summer.

 

So apparently the Suns wanted the protection on the Lakers pick removed as part of a Dragic deal, Mitch wisely said no...and personally I hope he used a few expletives as well.

Looking at deals based around Hill or Nash's expiring and the Hou pick, so far Suns have said no to that. Lakers need to be patient, if Dragic deal doesn't happen there will be other options over the summer. Absolutely cannot afford to overpay now.

It's not even a given that Dragic will be worth the 20 mil he will command this summer anyway, so it has to be a great, great deal for the Lakers to pull the trigger. May be better of long term dealing Hill elsewhere for a 2nd and stepping up the tank by waiving Boozer, then look to sign players in free agency once they keep the pick.

 

No need to overpay-they are desperate right now, we have all the time in the world up to the draft...his Bird rights are probably worth the Houston pick, but not much more.

 

I would contend the Boozer has played well enough to put the Lakers in danger of winning a few games, and losing him would free up time for Kelly at the 4.

To each their own though, Boozer has been a model employee and keeping him has its benefits too.

Regardless though, the Lakers are in a good position as far as leverage goes in a Dragic deal, they just have to be very careful that they don't sabotage the tank to get him. Personally I think the pick is more important than Dragic is.

 

I don't get Boston's interest. Is DA just trying to find anyone to take the excess of picks they have? Dragic doesn't like Houston and with Beverly, that tandem doesn't work. Kings are said to like him very much...meaning Karl really likes him. If he can't get Lawson, I think he pushes hard for Dragic.