Good AZ Central Article..
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/0707boivin0707.html
Jul. 7, 2004 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Bill Duffy's cellphone rang at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
"I want you to know this is my first call," Bryan Colangelo told the agent. "And I want you to know how highly I regard Steve Nash."
"He's sitting right next to me," Duffy said. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"
At that moment, the free-agency flirtation between Nash and the Suns became a full-blown courtship, triggering the unfathomable - Dallas fans labeling Mark Cuban a tightwad and a rash of free spending by NBA general managers who suddenly abandoned their luxury-tax paranoia.
Many have argued the Suns' five-year, $65 million offer was too generous.
No one is excusing the Suns for past mistakes. They created the mess that required them to overpay a 30-year-old point guard. But give them this: Their theft was deliciously covert, catching off guard even the free-spending Cuban, who reacted by firing off a 4,400-word defense of the loss on his Web page.
At 10 a.m. Thursday, the first day the NBA allowed free-agent negotiations, Cuban and Mavericks President of Basketball Operations Donnie Nelson met at Nash's Dallas townhouse and extended an offer of $9 million a year for four years, with a fifth year partially guaranteed.
"When Donnie and I left, we both felt very, very good about it," Cuban wrote on his Web site.
What Cuban didn't know is that Colangelo and an entourage had flown into Dallas to talk to Nash that day. A 1 p.m. meeting was scheduled at the Dallas home of one of the Suns' minority owners.
When Nash walked in, he saw not only Bryan Colangelo but a group that included Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo, coach Mike D'Antoni, managing owner Robert Sarver, scout and friend Rex Chapman, part owner Steve Kerr and forward Amaré Stoudemire.
"Amaré was a surprise," Duffy said. "Amaré's presence impressed him. He spoke very eloquently about what he loved about the organization, what he thought they could accomplish together and how together he thought they could really reach the heights."
The Suns also presented Nash with a booklet that outlined the direction of the organization and how they thought he fit into their future.
"The whole thing was very professional," Duffy said. "Not glossy, but just real specific."
Then came the capper: a five-year, $65 million deal that Cuban wouldn't match. Many Mavericks supporters were outraged. As fan Gerry Salinas wrote in a letter to the Dallas Morning News, "Mark Cuban should stick to selling computers and his HDTV business."
Cuban argued that the Suns' contract offer was too long and that Nash's "kamikaze spirit and approach to the game" is his "greatest weakness . . . that it was only a matter of time before his style of play caught up with him."
Maybe, but when the Suns couldn't complete the Tracy McGrady deal, they had to play hardball before the free-agency pool dried up.
You do what you have to do in the NBA these days.
A league that had become fiscally conservative in the free-agent market during the past few years changed its tune this off-season.
Injury-prone Marcus Camby is getting a six-year, $60 million-plus deal from Denver. Role player Adonal Foyle secured a five-year contract from Golden State.
Nash, with his selfless play and ability to consistently hit open jumpers, is the cream of that crop.
Yes, five years and $65 million is a lot of coin for a 30-year-old point guard. But that's where the market is, and that's what the Suns had to pay to get him.
They can't worry about the fifth year of this deal that seems to be stirring so much debate.
They need to worry about today.
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http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/0707boivin0707.html
Jul. 7, 2004 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] Bill Duffy's cellphone rang at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
"I want you to know this is my first call," Bryan Colangelo told the agent. "And I want you to know how highly I regard Steve Nash."
"He's sitting right next to me," Duffy said. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"
At that moment, the free-agency flirtation between Nash and the Suns became a full-blown courtship, triggering the unfathomable - Dallas fans labeling Mark Cuban a tightwad and a rash of free spending by NBA general managers who suddenly abandoned their luxury-tax paranoia.
Many have argued the Suns' five-year, $65 million offer was too generous.
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Here's a better argument: Who signed the best point guard available? The Suns have Nash, and the Mavericks don't.No one is excusing the Suns for past mistakes. They created the mess that required them to overpay a 30-year-old point guard. But give them this: Their theft was deliciously covert, catching off guard even the free-spending Cuban, who reacted by firing off a 4,400-word defense of the loss on his Web page.
At 10 a.m. Thursday, the first day the NBA allowed free-agent negotiations, Cuban and Mavericks President of Basketball Operations Donnie Nelson met at Nash's Dallas townhouse and extended an offer of $9 million a year for four years, with a fifth year partially guaranteed.
"When Donnie and I left, we both felt very, very good about it," Cuban wrote on his Web site.
What Cuban didn't know is that Colangelo and an entourage had flown into Dallas to talk to Nash that day. A 1 p.m. meeting was scheduled at the Dallas home of one of the Suns' minority owners.
When Nash walked in, he saw not only Bryan Colangelo but a group that included Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo, coach Mike D'Antoni, managing owner Robert Sarver, scout and friend Rex Chapman, part owner Steve Kerr and forward Amaré Stoudemire.
"Amaré was a surprise," Duffy said. "Amaré's presence impressed him. He spoke very eloquently about what he loved about the organization, what he thought they could accomplish together and how together he thought they could really reach the heights."
The Suns also presented Nash with a booklet that outlined the direction of the organization and how they thought he fit into their future.
"The whole thing was very professional," Duffy said. "Not glossy, but just real specific."
Then came the capper: a five-year, $65 million deal that Cuban wouldn't match. Many Mavericks supporters were outraged. As fan Gerry Salinas wrote in a letter to the Dallas Morning News, "Mark Cuban should stick to selling computers and his HDTV business."
Cuban argued that the Suns' contract offer was too long and that Nash's "kamikaze spirit and approach to the game" is his "greatest weakness . . . that it was only a matter of time before his style of play caught up with him."
Maybe, but when the Suns couldn't complete the Tracy McGrady deal, they had to play hardball before the free-agency pool dried up.
You do what you have to do in the NBA these days.
A league that had become fiscally conservative in the free-agent market during the past few years changed its tune this off-season.
Injury-prone Marcus Camby is getting a six-year, $60 million-plus deal from Denver. Role player Adonal Foyle secured a five-year contract from Golden State.
Nash, with his selfless play and ability to consistently hit open jumpers, is the cream of that crop.
Yes, five years and $65 million is a lot of coin for a 30-year-old point guard. But that's where the market is, and that's what the Suns had to pay to get him.
They can't worry about the fifth year of this deal that seems to be stirring so much debate.
They need to worry about today.
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