AZLouis
07-01-2006, 09:01 PM
Thomas not returning to Phoenix
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 1, 2006 02:18 PM
Suns playoff hero Tim Thomas will not return to Phoenix for next season because of a more lucrative offer with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to league sources.
The Suns traded away both first-round draft picks Wednesday in part to make a better pitch for Thomas, who is expected to accept a four-year deal starting at the mid-level exception ($5.4 million) from the Clippers.
Phoenix was offering most but not all of its mid-level exception, a move that likely would have put the Suns above the luxury tax threshold.
Thomas, 29, spent most of last season at home after Chicago asked him to leave the team. He was an early March pickup for Phoenix after a foot stress fracture sidelined Kurt Thomas. Tim Thomas averaged 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 26 regular-season games for Phoenix and 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds in 14 postseason games. He will be best remembered for extending the Suns-Lakers first-round series with a late three-pointer that put Game 6 into overtime. He hit 44.4 percent of his three-point shots in the postseason.
After Eddie House declined to pick up his playoff option Friday and Nikoloz Tskitishvili was waived, Phoenix is left with nine players under contract for next season.
This will be the fourth franchise change for Thomas, a former No. 7 overall pick in 1997, since February of 2004.
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 1, 2006 02:18 PM
Suns playoff hero Tim Thomas will not return to Phoenix for next season because of a more lucrative offer with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to league sources.
The Suns traded away both first-round draft picks Wednesday in part to make a better pitch for Thomas, who is expected to accept a four-year deal starting at the mid-level exception ($5.4 million) from the Clippers.
Phoenix was offering most but not all of its mid-level exception, a move that likely would have put the Suns above the luxury tax threshold.
Thomas, 29, spent most of last season at home after Chicago asked him to leave the team. He was an early March pickup for Phoenix after a foot stress fracture sidelined Kurt Thomas. Tim Thomas averaged 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 26 regular-season games for Phoenix and 15.1 points and 5.5 rebounds in 14 postseason games. He will be best remembered for extending the Suns-Lakers first-round series with a late three-pointer that put Game 6 into overtime. He hit 44.4 percent of his three-point shots in the postseason.
After Eddie House declined to pick up his playoff option Friday and Nikoloz Tskitishvili was waived, Phoenix is left with nine players under contract for next season.
This will be the fourth franchise change for Thomas, a former No. 7 overall pick in 1997, since February of 2004.