Rumor: Goran Dragic Available For a First Round Pick

http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/02/nba_trade_rumors_2015_phoenix.html



NBA Trade Rumors 2015: Phoenix Suns' Goran Dragic available for first-round pick?




Phoenix Suns' Goran Dragic could be available for a first-round pick, according to a report. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Print Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com
on February 12, 2015 at 1:39 PM, updated February 12, 2015 at 1:40 PM



When NBA fans try to list the top-five point guards in the league, Phoenix Suns point guard Goran Dragic's name is rarely thrown into the mix, but he's an extremely talented point guard -- an effective scorer, especially around the rim, who can distribute the ball and carve up defenses by getting into the lane and causing problems.

In 2012, Dragic signed an absurdly cap-friendly deal with the Suns, agreeing to a four-year, $30 million contract. After this season, however, he'll become an unrestricted free agent, and plenty of teams will line up to offer him a much more lucrative deal. Phoenix, presumably afraid of losing one of its most productive offensive weapon for nothing, is reportedly willing to make a deal.


If this is true, the Rockets won't be the only team making a push for Dragic. Any team that acquires him not only acquires his help in a playoff push, but they also acquire his Bird Rights. In other words, whichever team employs Dragic at the end of the season can also offer him the most money in unrestricted free agency, which would presumably vastly improve their odds of re-signing him. Contenders will certainly inquire, but borderline playoff teams like Charlotte and Miami might very well want to see if Phoenix would accept a package from them as well.

It's also possible that Phoenix is floating this rumor to see how high they can drive the price on Dragic, just in case any team panics and offers something the Suns can't refuse. Either way, expect Dragic to be one of the biggest names floated around as the Feb. 19 trade deadline approaches.


bob
MY NOTE:  Oh Hell Yes!  You want uptempo?  C'mon Trader Danny, make it rain. You get his Bird Rights AND you can still package him in the off-season for someone else, if a bigger need can be satisfied by moving him. He is a starting NBA point guard. For a first? What do you think you're going to get with a first that's better than one of the top PGs in the league? He'll be 29 in May. Still lots of years left.






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Sounds like a good possibility, although I don't know much about his defense.

Sam

sam wrote:Sounds like a good possibility, although I don't know much about his defense.

Sam

Sam,

I don't either but I'll take the trade-off for a speed demon like him.


bob



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Maybe the Clippers pick and Thornton's expiring deal, but that's all I'd do.

looks like he does have a player option at $7.5M next season that he's expected to opt out of (which is why I assume they want to dump him).

I would rather Ainge keep the cap space for a starting NBA center this off-season, as there will be more than the normal options of big men as UFA's.

Dragic's age is also not in our wheelhouse it seems.

This guy is the type of athlete that the Celtics need in order to improve their team for next year.

BUT, he is not worth any of the first round picks that the Cs have this year unless he can be signed at least for next year for something like what Thornton or maybe Wallace is getting this year.

I would say pursue him if there is a sign and trade opportunity, but I do not think that I have ever heard of a sign and trade happening during the season. Are such trades even possible during the season?

wide clyde wrote:This guy is the type of athlete that the Celtics need in order to improve their team for next year.

BUT, he is not worth any of the first round picks that the Cs have this year unless he can be signed at least for next year for something like what Thornton or maybe Wallace is getting this year.

I would say pursue him if there is a sign and trade opportunity, but I do not think that I have ever heard of a sign and trade happening during the season.  Are such trades even possible during the season?

No, sign and trade's can't be done during the season.
They can only be done for free agents and he is not a free agent until 7/1/15.

Pass

we have ample guards IMHO, I want BIG first

beat

Pass.

Not worth missing a shot at a quality young big in this year's draft.

There are also several excellent guards in this year's draft.  

Good chance we can walk away with a big and a guard.

Dragic is a decent player, but isn't worth missing that kind of long-term potential for.

bob
MY NOTE:  Oh Hell Yes!  You want uptempo?  C'mon Trader Danny, make it rain.  You get his Bird Rights AND you can still package him in the off-season for someone else, if a bigger need can be satisfied by moving him.  He is a starting NBA point guard.  For a first?  What do you think you're going to get with a first that's better than  one of the top PGs in the league?  He'll be 29 in May.  Still lots of years left.






.[/quote]

He can definitely play the point, but he can also play the '2'. Do you see him playing mostly point and moving Marcus to SG (Avery loses out), playing point and leaving avery at SG (marcus loses out), or playing both the 1 and the 2 (all three sacrifice minutes)? If the latter, who starts and what is the breakdown in terms of minutes. What would any of these scenarios do to Young's development?

Not sure if he is on Danny's radar, but you're right, he's damn good player

Just read Lakers plan to offer him a max deal:

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/13/report-lakers-plan-to-offer-goran-dragic-max-contract-in-free-agency-could-trade-for-him-first/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Definitely don't want a 3 month rental, and don't think he is worth the max. Like Dragic, but not at that price.

I read somewhere else a little while ago that some other team (Houston?) is planning on making this guy a near max contract offer this summer.

If this is true, there is no point in bringing him here at this time in trade (especially for a first round pick) as there is no way that he signs in Boston upon landing here next week.  I would not think that trade deadline rentals are not part of a re-build strategy.

I don't see any way he signs in the summer with the Celtics because Ainge is certainly not going to offer a max or near max deal to this guy.  Not sure anyone else will give him a max deal either, but Dragic has to wait until free agency opens up to find out.

Beat,

I want a big too, preferably first and not just a Big but a rim/paint protector, but we need a real point guard (Smart will, at the minimum, need a few more years (if ever) and Pressey isn't playing) too and Dragic is a quality player.  He isn't pure PG but he is a better combo guard than anyone we have and is as good as any in the league. As I said, Danny could always move him later for a big.  He is better bait than anybody else we have currently and Danny is in the bait-and-tackle business.

Shamrock,

I didn't know he was looking for a max contract.  As Sam would say "Max contracts for everybody!".  Personally, I think that max contracts should go to game-changers, players who can take over for a few minutes and win a game (especially playoff games).  Has Dragic shown he can do that?  No, at least not yet, but he isn't far off.  He is a one-man fast break.  If you have even mediocre outlet passers (and we have Sully, Kelly and Turner as above average passers) Dragic will get you easy points.

Would I give up a first for him if he gave assurances he would re-sign with us?  Yes.  We have so many more than we need for ourselves.  Would that mean he should buy a house in Swampscott?  Not with Trader Danny on the prowl.

The morale of those who thought we should have kept Rondo as bait for elite free-agents, and I was one of them, will be lifted with the acquisition of Dragic.  He's all-star material.  Maybe that's what is driving my interest, I see Dragic as replacing that hole in my rebuild strategy that was created with the Rondo and Green trades.

We still have positions that need to be filled (e.g. rim protector) but we also need upgrades at many stsrting positions and point guard is one of them.

I wouldn't be surprised if Danny, once again, acts as a facilitator in the Dragic trade and is paid a second round pick for his contributions.  Nope, not surprised in the least.

Notice, the Suns' asking price for Dragic is a 1st round pick.  Not a comparable quality player, not an all-star back but a pick.  Maybe Danny's obsessive accumulation and hoarding of picks isn't as extreme as we think.  Crazy like a fox, that's our Danny, and the Suns' asking price is evidence of the fair market value for a 1st round pick and they might not get it. They are ASKING for a 1st. If Dragic isn't worth a 1st, because nobody will pay it, that means 1sts are worth more than last year's recipient of the Most Improved Player Award and we have a TON of 1st rounders.


bob


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Bob, just read something suggesting that even though Dragic might require a max contract this summer, it is actually not so unreasonable since AFTER this summer, the max will increase considerably and thus his "max" contract won't actually be a max once the definition changes. In that light, I am not so negative. I actually really like him as a player. Just for fun, IF we were to get him, how do y'all think it would affect the positions and minutes played by Marcus, Avery and James Young???

Shamrock1000 wrote:Bob, just read something suggesting that even though Dragic might require a max contract this summer, it is actually not so unreasonable since AFTER this summer, the max will increase considerably and thus his "max" contract won't actually be a max once the definition changes. In that light, I am not so negative. I actually really like him as a player. Just for fun, IF we were to get him, how do y'all think it would affect the positions and minutes played by Marcus, Avery and James Young???

Shamrock,

Let me start with the easy one.  It won't effect James Young's minutes at all since he is being groomed for SF.  If anything it might effect Turner's.

As far as the other two go, they are all combo guards (including Dragic).  I'd say it would come down to matchups.  If Brad wants, and thinks he can, run he'll have Dragic in.  If he is playing a high powered offensive back court (Teague/Korver, Rose/Butler) maybe he'll go with Bradley/Smart, at least for a while, to take some of the starch out of them and then put Dragic to kill heir legs.

Then again, who says any or all of those players will be in green next year?  According to the trade machine Bradley for Dragic, straight up, works.  They get a defender to play with Bledsoe and we get a speed demon and shooter for PG.  Who knows what Danny's thinking?  I don't think he'd tell his own mother the truth.


bob


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beat wrote:Pass

we have ample guards IMHO, I want BIG first

beat

duh, agreed!!!

Bob

In a lot of ways we need upgrades at every position, BUT where are we the weakest IMHO is at the 5. Fix that with a reasonable upgrade then worry about the point. Heck we are getting a fair amount of assists as it is with no one player seeming to dominate the stat.

beat

now it looks like Phoenix is looking to move Thomas instead.

Ainge had some interest in him in FA'y this past year.