playstation
Selfless Service
Suns decide to pass on picks
With draft targets gone, Suns save cash for T. Thomas bid
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 29, 2006 12:00 AM
The Suns went into the draft wanting to land a player that could make them better for next season, the one they feel is their best shot at winning a championship before finances become the biggest gorilla in US Airways Center.
Phoenix entered Wednesday's NBA draft with more contingencies than a will to trade up for one on a short list of players who could help it immediately. Instead, the Suns left draft night without a first-round pick for the third straight year. They made two trades they hope give them a better shot at the player they know can help them - Tim Thomas.
Phoenix's draft targets, particularly Swiss swingman Thabo Sefolosha, all escaped their grasp by the middle of the first round. Left only to consider Michigan State's Shannon Brown as a viable pick at No. 21, Phoenix traded it instead to Boston for a top-10 protected pick in 2007 the Celtics got from Cleveland. Boston also took on Brian Grant's $1.8 million player option, but he is expected to retire.
advertisement
The Suns dealt the 27th pick to Portland for $3 million. David Griffin, Suns vice president of basketball operations, said the moves saved Phoenix about $9 million (the $3 million, the $1.8 million in Grant's salary, the $2 million in guaranteed draft-pick salaries and about $3.2 million in luxury tax).
With Eddie House expected to opt out, Nikoloz Tskitishvili unlikely to return and talk that James Jones might be traded to create cap space, Phoenix may be looking at nine returnees. The hope is that Thomas will return for less than the midlevel exception (about $5 million) and some veteran free agents, such as Bobby Jackson, will sign minimum deals.
"We have a problem that we have too many good players," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, also the team's executive vice president and general manager. "That's a heck of a problem to have and we're going to solve that by trying to keep everybody together.
"We might catch the fever, win a couple titles and then nobody goes anywhere."
The Suns made several plays to move into the first half of the draft, including offering three first-round picks or two first-round picks and cash. Phoenix thought it had a chance to snag Boston's No. 7 pick, where the Suns would have been torn between selecting Connecticut wing Rudy Gay or Sefolosha. But that was squelched.
Phoenix again made more attempts to get the ensuing picks but once Utah would not bite on a deal at No. 14, the Suns' trade hopes were done. The surprise of Saer Sene going 10th and Chicago (which took Sefolosha at No. 13 in a trade) catching wind of Phoenix's hopes on Sefolosha hurt Phoenix. Once Memphis swingman Rodney Carney was selected at No. 16, Phoenix was out of the draft.
Phoenix deemed Connecticut's Marcus Williams to be too much of a half-court player to solve the backup point guard issue and thought Kentucky's Rajon Rondo was too small. The Suns considered Brown, an athletic wing, but don't think he is point material.
D'Antoni said they did not want to "get a young player who's going to eat up some room and just sit there and not get any time and not develop."
The Suns could have three picks in next year's draft, a much deeper one. If Cleveland's pick is not in the top 10 and Atlanta's is not in the top three, they get both.
But as D'Antoni put it, the worst-case scenario is the Suns are still really good. With nobody they wanted, economics presided as Phoenix faces a huge luxury tax problem in the 2007-08 season, when expected long-term deals for Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa would start. The Suns can negotiate with them exclusively through October. If no deals are done, they will become restricted free agents next summer.
"If we get them at a great number that they're happy with and we're happy with, I'll walk to France and Brazil to get it done," D'Antoni said. "But if they want something they're happy with and we're not, we're not going to do it. We're not going to bid against ourselves."
------------------------------------------------------------------
interesting plan, we'll see how it pans out starting this weekend.
if you're sarver, at 12 am july 1st are you at Tim Thomas' door, Boris Diaw's door, or Leandro Barbosa's door? or, do you just have your champaign & caviar & hit the sack...
With draft targets gone, Suns save cash for T. Thomas bid
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 29, 2006 12:00 AM
The Suns went into the draft wanting to land a player that could make them better for next season, the one they feel is their best shot at winning a championship before finances become the biggest gorilla in US Airways Center.
Phoenix entered Wednesday's NBA draft with more contingencies than a will to trade up for one on a short list of players who could help it immediately. Instead, the Suns left draft night without a first-round pick for the third straight year. They made two trades they hope give them a better shot at the player they know can help them - Tim Thomas.
Phoenix's draft targets, particularly Swiss swingman Thabo Sefolosha, all escaped their grasp by the middle of the first round. Left only to consider Michigan State's Shannon Brown as a viable pick at No. 21, Phoenix traded it instead to Boston for a top-10 protected pick in 2007 the Celtics got from Cleveland. Boston also took on Brian Grant's $1.8 million player option, but he is expected to retire.
advertisement
The Suns dealt the 27th pick to Portland for $3 million. David Griffin, Suns vice president of basketball operations, said the moves saved Phoenix about $9 million (the $3 million, the $1.8 million in Grant's salary, the $2 million in guaranteed draft-pick salaries and about $3.2 million in luxury tax).
With Eddie House expected to opt out, Nikoloz Tskitishvili unlikely to return and talk that James Jones might be traded to create cap space, Phoenix may be looking at nine returnees. The hope is that Thomas will return for less than the midlevel exception (about $5 million) and some veteran free agents, such as Bobby Jackson, will sign minimum deals.
"We have a problem that we have too many good players," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, also the team's executive vice president and general manager. "That's a heck of a problem to have and we're going to solve that by trying to keep everybody together.
"We might catch the fever, win a couple titles and then nobody goes anywhere."
The Suns made several plays to move into the first half of the draft, including offering three first-round picks or two first-round picks and cash. Phoenix thought it had a chance to snag Boston's No. 7 pick, where the Suns would have been torn between selecting Connecticut wing Rudy Gay or Sefolosha. But that was squelched.
Phoenix again made more attempts to get the ensuing picks but once Utah would not bite on a deal at No. 14, the Suns' trade hopes were done. The surprise of Saer Sene going 10th and Chicago (which took Sefolosha at No. 13 in a trade) catching wind of Phoenix's hopes on Sefolosha hurt Phoenix. Once Memphis swingman Rodney Carney was selected at No. 16, Phoenix was out of the draft.
Phoenix deemed Connecticut's Marcus Williams to be too much of a half-court player to solve the backup point guard issue and thought Kentucky's Rajon Rondo was too small. The Suns considered Brown, an athletic wing, but don't think he is point material.
D'Antoni said they did not want to "get a young player who's going to eat up some room and just sit there and not get any time and not develop."
The Suns could have three picks in next year's draft, a much deeper one. If Cleveland's pick is not in the top 10 and Atlanta's is not in the top three, they get both.
But as D'Antoni put it, the worst-case scenario is the Suns are still really good. With nobody they wanted, economics presided as Phoenix faces a huge luxury tax problem in the 2007-08 season, when expected long-term deals for Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa would start. The Suns can negotiate with them exclusively through October. If no deals are done, they will become restricted free agents next summer.
"If we get them at a great number that they're happy with and we're happy with, I'll walk to France and Brazil to get it done," D'Antoni said. "But if they want something they're happy with and we're not, we're not going to do it. We're not going to bid against ourselves."
------------------------------------------------------------------
interesting plan, we'll see how it pans out starting this weekend.
if you're sarver, at 12 am july 1st are you at Tim Thomas' door, Boris Diaw's door, or Leandro Barbosa's door? or, do you just have your champaign & caviar & hit the sack...
