Goran Dragic is on the books for two more years in Phoenix and has a player option for a third, making him the one who the team is most committed to for the foreseeable future.
Dragic is generally one of the more positive guys you’ll talk to around the league, but even he was becoming disillusioned with the way things were unfolding in Phoenix, especially during the latter part of last season.
The franchise has managed to turn things around extremely quickly this offseason, with the hiring of Ryan McDonough as GM and Jeff Hornacek as head coach. The vibe is largely positive around the team now, and after the way things ended last year, that was no small feat to accomplish.
Dragic is likely to be around for a few years, so his view of the way things are shaping up is important. And he likes what he’s seen from the new regime so far.
From Matt Petersen of Suns.com:“I’m really excited with what they’re doing,” Dragic said. “I talked with [Suns General Manager] Ryan [McDonough]and [Head Coach] Jeff [Hornacek] a couple of times. They told me what they’re doing and how they want to do things. I think it’s awesome.” ...
As for Dragic himself, he’s intent on both improving his game while taking care of himself as Eurobasket 2013 unfolds. With self-improvement and an improved supporting cast, last year’s most consistent player is looking for the Suns to take a collective next step in the right direction.
“Right now, my goal is to be healthy, to not have injuries in the European championship,” Dragic said. “When I’m done with that, [I’ll] try to play as hard as possible and improve a lot of things. Personally, I’d like to upgrade from how we did last season to this season. I think we have a better team this year. I’m hoping we’re going to fight for the playoffs.”
In the Western Conference -- and barring injury to key players, of course -- there are six teams that would appear to have playoff spots virtually locked up before the season begins. Then there are the others, most of which would appear to be in a better position to gain a shot at the postseason before this Suns team as currently constructed.
But depending on how quickly things come together under Hornacek, Phoenix could be one of the season’s pleasant surprises, at least offensively. And the team fighting for the playoffs, as Dragic said, doesn’t mean that they’ll actually get there. It would just be a welcome change to the way things went down in Phoenix over the second half of last season.
