The Suns have third-team All-NBA guard Goran Dragic under contract for at least one more year at a very reasonable $7.5 million (he has a player option for the season after that, he’s likely looking for a healthy raise then). Dragic and restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe were at the heart of a surprisingly resurgent Suns team last season.
So they’re going to trade Dragic?
You’d be right to have been skeptical of a recent report that the Indiana Pacers wanted to trade for Dragic, maybe in a big three-team deal. Not that the Pacers wouldn’t have interest in such a deal, but getting all the other parties on the same page is highly unlikely at best.
Starting with the Suns, who want no part of it, reports Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
The Pacers should be looking at upgrading the point, it’s a way they can add needed shot creation to the roster quickly and easily. Dragic would be a great fit. But to concoct a trade the Suns would like is going to be hard — Roy Hibbert is not going to cut it. You can bring in the Celtics as a third team, but three-team trades are rare because they are very hard to pull off. And by the way, the Suns don’t really want to trade Dragic.
This time of year you should take every rumor with plenty of salt — teams talk to other teams about everything. A lot of trial balloons are floated, few stay up in the air long. This one has landed with a thud.