The Suns are doing what they can to enter the LeBron James sweepstakes, even if it’s only a theoretical competition at this stage of the proceedings.
Most believe that James isn’t going anywhere, and that he, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are working together to structure their contracts so that they can stay in Miami, while creating some additional cap space to allow the team to add talent in free agency at the same time.
But LeBron hasn’t said a thing since opting out of the final two years of his deal, and while he’s sitting out this initial round of meetings -- again, possibly because he has no intentions of leaving -- his agent will be exploring options with at least a few teams on his behalf.
The Suns are one of them, and the team’s owner reportedly had his shot with James’ agent on Wednesday.
From Chris Broussard of ESPN.com:
The Cavaliers, Mavericks and Rockets also reportedly met with LeBron’s agent this week. The most interesting news of all may not happen until next week, however, when James himself may be present for meetings with three finalists, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The Suns are the most intriguing here, mainly because the players currently in place are talented enough and young enough to keep contending for years to come. And, the team’s GM has demonstrated an above average ability to play this game correctly, by assembling draft picks and creating cap space while also putting a product on the floor that won 48 games last season in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
Teaming James with another star like Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh, while keeping Goran Dragic and re-signing Eric Bledsoe would obviously make the Suns into an instant championship threat. It still feels like an extreme long shot, but if nothing else, Phoenix can take some solace in knowing it was on a very short list of teams James would potentially consider if, for some reason, he seriously would consider leaving Miami to try to contend somewhere else.
One more thing to add here, and that’s the fact that the little wrinkle of LeBron potentially attending free agent pitch meetings would, in theory, seem to complicate things. Miami needs to add talent to upgrade the roster, but the market we’ve seen so far isn’t one where bargains are there to be had -- guys are being overpaid more than anything else, and if that trend continues, the Heat will end up missing out.
It was never perceived as a serious threat that LeBron would leave Miami. But based on the information we have at this stage of things, it at least seems possible -- and that in and of itself is going to make for a frenzied finish to free agency.