Dragic To Stay In Europe

[Irish]

Pargo's agent has been talking to most GM's. I get the impression they hope to get more than the Suns are offering.

IMHO, the Suns should try to get a free agent PG if at all possible; but they should also be working on a point forward offense so they can use either Barbosa or Strawberry if the guy they sign isn't good enough.

 

[arwillan]

Pargo's agent has been talking to most GM's. I get the impression they hope to get more than the Suns are offering.

IMHO, the Suns should try to get a free agent PG if at all possible; but they should also be working on a point forward offense so they can use either Barbosa or Strawberry if the guy they sign isn't good enough.

i would hope they'd work with strawberry before they did barbosa.

 

[Mainstreet]

Suns need to prepare for the worst, and sign a backup PG NOW! Like stated already, Pargo will make an excellent addition. Use the money they would have used on the guy that can't make up his mind and sign him up. I'm telling you Spurs or another Western conf. team is going to get him and its going bite us in the ass in the playoffs.

I want Dragic in a Suns uniform probably more than most but I think the Suns are making a big mistake passing on Pargo. I can only hope the Suns have assurances that a deal with Dragic is forthcoming very soon. IMO, if the Suns cannot get a legitimate backup PG to rest Nash, the Suns chances of winning a Championship becomes less than miniscule.

 

[Irish]

i would hope they'd work with strawberry before they did barbosa.

This is not an "either/or" situation. The key is to have plays designed to be run from the SF position rather than always trying to get the ball into the hands of the point guard. I'd like to see more motion offense, entry passes from the wing, etc. that leaves the nominal point guard as an off the ball player.

In that configuration, Leandro has some advantages.

1. Leandro can go faster up the court with the ball than anyone else. If all he does is pass the forward, his PG job would be done.

2. Leandro is a very good three point shooter: 40.9% career for three.

3. Leadnro is a good cutter and break away breaks. DJ looks to be almost as good, but Leandro is very very fast.

DJ brings vastly better defense and more hops. There are indications he can run the offense to a degree. Unfortunately, his shooting is just awful.

If we could meld these two together, they'd have a very good player.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

The guy on RealGM that called the shaq trade a week before it happened says:

His sources "disagree" with the recent reports that Dragic is staying in Europe.
He is close to coming over this season.
The proposed contract is around 2yr/4mil.
The official annoucement regarding Dragic will be announced "within the next few days if all goes right."


adding the dislaimer of:
"Obviously things can happen so I won't say it's 100% for sure...but damn close."



Honestly, I think Dragic was too absolute with his denials of coming to phx. He obviously can't say he wishes to play in the NBA this season when he is still under contract overseas. Instead of saying stuff like, "Im under contract with Tau this season and will be giving 100%," he has been translated to be saying, "I am staying here in Vitoria until I finish my three year contract" and that he is happy there.

He is understandably obligated to say things like that.

 

[shazaam6]

There is smoke(denials).........let's hope there is fire, or mirrors.

 

[arwillan]

The guy on RealGM that called the shaq trade a week before it happened says:

His sources "disagree" with the recent reports that Dragic is staying in Europe.
He is close to coming over this season.
The proposed contract is around 2yr/4mil.
The official annoucement regarding Dragic will be announced "within the next few days if all goes right."


adding the dislaimer of:
"Obviously things can happen so I won't say it's 100% for sure...but damn close."



Honestly, I think Dragic was too absolute with his denials of coming to phx. He obviously can't say he wishes to play in the NBA this season when he is still under contract overseas. Instead of saying stuff like, "Im under contract with Tau this season and will be giving 100%," he has been translated to be saying, "I am staying here in Vitoria until I finish my three year contract" and that he is happy there.

He is understandably obligated to say things like that.

EDIT: took a look around at that guy you're talking about, apparently he might know a little something. but with all this drama, i won't believe it until it's official.

 

[SirStefan32]

Dragic or no Dragic, they should sign another point guard.

 

[Irish]

Dragic or no Dragic, they should sign another point guard.

I agree, but I think the type of PG might be different.

Assuming the scouting reports are accurate, Dragic is going to be a good defender and a very good open court player. In that situation, a guy like Cassell might make sense since he's experienced and has a history of hitting key shots.

Without Dragic, I'd be more interested in someone who can run the offense. At one time Damon Stoudamire was an OK assist guy and better suited to the open court than half court. I haven't watched him much lately and his shooting has not been good in recent years.

 

[arwillan]

Dragic or no Dragic, they should sign another point guard.

they should pitch pargo a vet minimum offer at very least. who knows? maybe he isn't seeking money but a good situation for him, which phoenix certainly is.

 

[arwillan]

ronald murray is reportedly listening to offers from a russian team. surely the suns could lure him away from that if worst comes to worst.

 

[AceP]

I agree, but I think the type of PG might be different.

Assuming the scouting reports are accurate, Dragic is going to be a good defender and a very good open court player. In that situation, a guy like Cassell might make sense since he's experienced and has a history of hitting key shots.

Without Dragic, I'd be more interested in someone who can run the offense. At one time Damon Stoudamire was an OK assist guy and better suited to the open court than half court. I haven't watched him much lately and his shooting has not been good in recent years.

I agree with u, but I think the solution is different. If we don't get Dragic, a cheap FA is probably NOT good enough. I hope we can find a real quality PG by trading Barbosa or Diaw. And I suspect it is also in Kerr's mind. That's probably why we haven't heard any trade rumor recently. It is always quiet b4 something really happens.

Rumors strongly suggest Cleveland r looking for a scoring guard like Barbosa, they r linked with Mo Williams just now according to hoopshype. If it's true, they definitely don't plan to keep Delonte West, who is about to take the qualifying offer (2.7M). The Cavs r in a mood of "whatever it takes to keep James", it would be easy to assemble a deal financial wise.

Personally I would prefer to trade Diaw first, but Barbosa has more takers ...

Actually, if we get Dragic, our current roster is pretty much complete. We can probably hold on to both Diaw and Barbosa, to see how they perform in new season.

 

[elindholm]

Pargo opted out of about $2 million for 2008-09, so I don't see him settling for a minimum offer. His situation in New Orleans would be fine if he wanted to crawl back to them for the same money he was going to get anyway. My guess is that he's hoping someone will cough up a contract in the $8M/3y range, which is really pretty reasonable.

 

[Griffin]

From Tribune:

If Dragic stays in Europe, Phoenix might make a play for free agent Jannero Pargo, the backup to Chris Paul last season in New Orleans.

He won't return to the Hornets and is reportedly mulling a $2 million-a-year offer from San Antonio.

But that offer has been on the table for more than a week, and the situation in Phoenix might be one reason why he hasn't closed the deal.

Pargo's agent, Mark Bartelstein, refused to disclose whether the Suns are in the running, but Pargo is known to be a favorite of Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr.

The team might be convinced to spend the $2 million-plus it was going to spend on Dragic this season on Pargo to give the Suns a solid backup to Steve Nash at the point.

This seems more like speculation, but if true, it begs the question: are we really better off with Dragic this year than someone like Pargo who already has NBA experience and playoff experience? The Suns have already passed up on several players who might have taken the money that Dragic would get had they been offered the same deal. Now we might have to add Pargo to that list. If Dragic comes over, the expectations will be enormous for a late second-round pick who almost went undrafted.

 

[Irish]

A number of scouts from other teams spoke highly of Dragic, but apparently were scared off by the Tau contract and weren't sure he would even be willing to come over. The direction of players has been the other way.

In general, I'm optimistic that Dragic will be good. I doubt he's going to quite as good as Kerr seems to think. But this is a team that did not like Rondo as not being good enough, so their history has been to be overly criticals of point guard prospecs.

Where I'm much more concerned is whether he will be really good right away.

 

[mojorizen7]

But this is a team that did not like Rondo as not being good enough, so their history has been to be overly critical of all prospects that can do alot of positive things besides score points.

FTFY

 

[Irish]

I think it is possible that Strawberry will turn out to be Rondo bype PG.

Rondo has not been much of a three point shooter. His regular season three point shooting in 2006-07 has been 6 of 29 for 20.7% and 5 of 19 this past season for 26.3%. In this year's playoffs, he shot 5 of 20 for 25%.

Rondo gets his points close to the basket. This past season he shot 49.2% from the field, but just 40.7% in the playoffs. But he had 5.1 apg this past season compared to 3.8 apg before the addition of Garnett and Allen.

Doc Rivers' solution to Rondo's lack of range is to not let him shoot a lot of jumpers.

 

[Nate]

Rondo is and always has been a better ball handler than Strawberry, making him more of a threat to drive (and dish).

 

[SirStefan32]

From Tribune:

This seems more like speculation, but if true, it begs the question: are we really better off with Dragic this year than someone like Pargo who already has NBA experience and playoff experience? The Suns have already passed up on several players who might have taken the money that Dragic would get had they been offered the same deal. Now we might have to add Pargo to that list. If Dragic comes over, the expectations will be enormous for a late second-round pick who almost went undrafted.

You are exactly right. I think that Suns are better off with a proven vet. Maybe there is something that Kerr knows that we don't.

 

[shazaam6]

You are exactly right. I think that Suns are better off with a proven vet. Maybe there is something that Kerr knows that we don't.

.........................................................................................

 

[AceP]

Dragic is a holdup for everything else because of luxury tax. It has to be settled first, no matter of the result.

We r already above tax threshold, Kerr does have approval from Sarvar to spend more, but it won't be much. As we have heard, a part of our MLE, 2-3M, is what Dragic would get. If he doesn't, we can use that money on a FA like Pargo. But the chance we trade Barbosa/Diaw for one obviously increased a lot.

 

[Joe Mama]

Perhaps I haven't seen Pargo enough, but my take is that he's only very slightly more point guard than Barbosa.

I think it's possible Dragic is seeing the money being thrown around by the European teams at the same time he sees the Phoenix Suns on willing to spend more than the veteran minimum here.

Joe

 

[cepstrum]

The drama continues. Today's quotes from Dragic:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Goran Dragic: "I'm staying with Tau for sure." El Correo
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Goran Dragic: "I have three years left in my contract. I have spoken with my manager and the people at Tau and they all think it's better for me to stay here, and so do I." El Correo[/FONT]


WTF???

 

[Mainstreet]

I guess the hope is the Suns are dealing with Dragic's agent and getting a more clear picture. The Suns need to go after Pargo if Dragic is indeed waffling. I think there has to be more to the situation than we know.

 

[AceP]

Whatever the drama is, we should get a clear result soon. We can't wait him forever.

About Pargo, he did a relatively good job backup Paul in NO. Nearly 20mpg, acceptable stats, a good 3p shooter. He might be good enough for the job. But I would still prefer to trade for a better one ...