Suns Door Closed on Dragic

[gilmor]

If I were a Spurs fan, I would not laugh for the Dragic situation: I think that they could solve this situation in a couple of years: if they pay the right price, and Dragic wants to come, in 2009 or 2010 Dragic will be a Sun. Spurs instead already losed Scola in the fight against TAU. Now they are losing Splitter, another really good player in a role that Spurs need to fill. And, beware of this: Splitter, with the current rookie scale, WILL NEVER come to San Antonio: they did a really BIG mistake selecting him in the low first round (already last year, they knew that, at that numbers, Splitter would have to leave a lot of money to come to San Antonio: now it's an IMPOSSIBLE business stoling him from Vitoria, now and forever). If instead SA would have traded his pick with the first second round pick (knowing the situation, NOBODY was selecting Splitter, like as in this draft, nobody selected Pekovic in the first round, even if he deserved), now Splitter could be a Spur....I think that Spurs are the ONLY NBA team who knows how TAU ass tastes (Chicago had no trouble to take Nocioni from them, so Houston, who took Scola at the first try: it's the SECOND time that Spurs lose a money fight against TAU...). Suns did not take Dragic, but NOT because TAU denied them the player (Dragic is a backup there, the starting player in that role is Igor Rakocevic...to you remember him in Timberwolves?), but because THE PLAYER preferred to stay in Spain and have more playing time...

In 2 years, nash will be gone.. so will Shaq..

Suns will be looking to rebuild once Dragic arrives..

Let's face it man.. this season the Western Conf will be about Hornets and the Lakers.. Suns won't make the big 3..

[Obstructed_View]

It's not the door the Suns should be worried about, it's the window.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

El Baskonia, cerca de traspasar al base esloveno Goran Dragic a Phoenix Suns
La entidad azulgrana espera resolverla operación en los próximos días

07.08.08 - EL CORREO| VITORIA

Dragic aún no sabe en qué equipo jugará la próxima temporada. / I. ONANDIAAunque los movimientos en el mercado ACB siguen siendo escasos, el TAU Cerámica no cesa en su empeño por conformar una plantilla compe iva para la próxima temporada. El tema principal que centra la atención estos días de la secretaría técnica del conjunto azulgrana es el 'affaire' Goran Dragic.
A pesar del silencio imperante en las últimas fechas, los máximos responsables de la escuadra vitoriana esperan resolver en los próximos días la continuidad del joven jugador esloveno y su incorporación al conjunto que dirigirá Dusko Ivanovic. Hasta la fecha la entidad baskonista no había reconocido una oferta en firme por parte de los Phoenix Suns, conjunto del baloncesto profesional norteamericano que posee los derechos NBA del prometedor director de juego. A recordar que el esloveno fue elegido este mismo año por los Spurs de San Antonio en el puesto 45 de la segunda ronda del 'draft' para, posteriormente, ser traspasado a los Suns.
Fuentes de toda solvencia del TAU reconocieron ayer la existencia de una negociación sobre la mesa con el equipo de Arizona, interesado en incorporar a Dragic esta misma temporada. La situación supone un avance, ya que hasta ahora el club no había reconocido que tuviera ninguna oferta en firme por el jugador. La salida de Dragic de Vitoria está en estos momentos más cerca que nunca, aunque todo pasa porque las dos escuadras lleguen a un acuerdo económico por el jugador, cuyos derechos esenciales están en poder del club alavés.
Goran Dragic posee en su contrato una cláusula de salida a la NBA la temporada 2009-2010, pero no así esta campaña, por lo que el entendimiento entre clubes es una condición 'sine qua non' para una posible marcha. Durante el pasado mes de julio los Suns habían rebajado el impetuoso interés inicial por el base azulgrana ante la inexistencia de una cláusula que cuantificase la compensación económica por su salida del TAU, con el que le resta una temporada de contrato con opción a otras dos más. El propio protagonista, así como su representante, el ex jugador Quique Villalobos, habían descartado «jugar» este año en la liga americana para intentar «triunfar» primero en el TAU.
Aparte del acuerdo económico para su marcha, el principal impedimento para que la entidad americana opte en estos momentos al fichaje del base, que aún no ha debutado con la camiseta azulgrana, pasa por la cantidad máxima que las franquicias NBA pueden pagar por un traspaso, cifrada en 500.000 dólares. Por ello, uno de los asuntos primordiales en la negociación radica en cómo repartir la cantidad de salida entre las partes implicadas -jugador y equipo de destino-, parte de las cuáles tendrían que ser asumidas por el esloveno con la seguridad de poder recuperarlas en sus próximos años de contrato en el baloncesto profesional.
La llegada de un sus uto
La llegada de un nuevo jugador a a las filas azulgranas está a la expensa de lo que ocurra finalmente con Goran Dragic. A los baskonistas les han llegado ofrecimientos de numerosos jugadores en los últimos diez días, entre ellos Earl Boykins -que firmó ayer un contrato de 3,5 millones de dólares por una temporada con la Virtus- así como el ex baskonista Carlos Arroyo -adquirido por el Maccabi por una ficha de 2,5 millones anuales-. No obstante, el TAU ha tirado por Andre Barrett, base norteamericano al que le ha tentado con una oferta de 800.000 dólares. No es su única opción, sin embargo.

http://www.elcorreodigital.com/vizca...-20080807.html

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

They're super close on the buyout.

[wildbill2u]

I just don't understand why teams would draft international players unless they know FOR SURE that they will come to the NBA.

The NBA used to have a great chance of getting any player they drafted because the Euro league salaries and benefits weren't as lucrative as the NBA. Plus there was a certain cachet to playing with the "big boys" in the NBA.

Now the salaries + benefits in Europe can easily surpass the amounts that NBA teams can pay because of rules like the salary cap and for 1st round drafted rookie maximums.

For example, Splitter got a lot more money for playing with TAU than he could have received from the Spurs. These athletes have a limited playing career and it's not surprising if they take the bird in hand rather than chasing after the one in the NBA thicket.

This change of money power in favor of the Euro league teams has only happened in the last couple of years--and the US teams and the NBA league office have been caught napping, thinking the old situation hadn't changed. So the NBA loses a few Euros they thought they'd get and a few US players they thought they'd keep.

[BOHOLANO#21]

so what?

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn...c.php?t=445321

Suns Sign Dragic

[urunobili]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn...c.php?t=445321

Suns Sign Dragic

wtf???

a new Barbosa for them? i thought Spurs FO was pretty sure this guy wasn't obtainable since they liked him a lot...

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

wtf???

My thoughts exactly.

[angel_luv]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn...c.php?t=445321

Suns Sign Dragic

I look forward to getting to see him play. Will just have to disregard the uniform he does so in.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Part of me wants him to do good because I like his style and effort, and the other wants him to do bad since he's on the Suns and Tau didn't them over.

[angel_luv]

I hope Dragic gets traded to team I could enjoy rooting for. Until then, I wish him all the best personal stats success ( sorry no championship wishes) with the Suns.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

If Dragic can become a great player while the Suns drastically decline, I'll be very happy.

[angel_luv]

Could the Spurs really not afford Dragic or did they just decide he wasn't worth the price?

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

They never intended on keeping him. They drafted him with the Suns trade already in mind.

[angel_luv]

They never intended on keeping him. They drafted him with the Suns trade already in mind.

It is as if Pop and company are out to get me personally- playing with my emotions like that.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

[T Park]

you Tau.

[Duncan2177]

Or could it be we have a cheap ass owner?

[kobyz]

the spurs are pathetic

[Man of Steel]

Props to the Suns for having the patience to deal with this issue.

Hopefully we'll get Splitter back someday as well in the future.

[Bruno]

Good for them but why should we care about that ?

[benefactor]

Good for them but why should we care about that ?

Takes them off of Pargo's destination list....

[kobyz]

the suns made some good moves to improve there roster.
they have now more depth:

Nash/Dragic/Strawberry
Bell/Barbosa/Tucker
Hill/Barnes
Stoudemire/Diaw
O'Neal/Lopez

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Dragic clears hurdle in quest to join Suns
Jerry Brown, Tribune

The Suns moved a step closer to bringing second-round pick Goran Dragic to Phoenix this year when a Slovenian court settled a dispute between two European teams over how much of Dragic’s potential buyout agreement they would receive.

But the Suns also flatly denied a report by SportingNews.com that they will sign the 22-year-old point guard to a contract of at least three years and that a buyout agreement between Dragic and his Spanish team, Tau Cerimaca, has been reached. Such a deal must occur before Dragic can leave for the NBA.

Suns vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said the team continues to monitor the situation closely and the team remains hopeful that Dragic will be in a Suns uniform this season.

The agreement between Tau and Dragic’s hometown team Geoplin Flovan, which technically owned his rights, could move the process along, provided that Tau can reach an agreement large enough to attract a quality player to replace Dragic on their roster.

Dragic has been quoted on several occasions this summer saying he expects to stay with Tau this season, where he would be a backup point guard. But the Suns appear ready to use a fair portion of their mid-level expectation to sign Dragic to a multi-year contract that will allow him to secure a buyout a year early and become the full-time backup to Steve Nash this season.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/123007