Suns News: The Offseason

[In2ition]

we need one more big man.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... owing.html

He wears the same size shoe that Shaquille O'Neal?

Ok, that's all I needed to know!!!

Boy, this featuring articles can be so foolish sometimes.

Thank you. It seems that these writers don't know anything about basketball.

[Ring_Wanted]

Ross huge steal against Pierce. Youth.

[Ring_Wanted]

Lowry was too stubborn. Too bad for the Raps. KG defended flawlessly and Pierce blocked it. Smarts (and height).

[Aztec Sunsfan]

The future and winning now have one thing in common. Both can be just a mirage if you don't have the right pieces to pursue either.

THIS.

Great post R_W, I suscribe everything you said, but this first paragraph is Pure Gold. Lets put it in marble at the main door of the library.

[Superbone]

Did you know?

Jeff Hornacek is now the longest tenured coach in the Pacific division.

[SwingMan]

Did you know?

Jeff Hornacek is now the longest tenured coach in the Pacific division.

Doc Rivers?

[Superbone]

Did you know?

Jeff Hornacek is now the longest tenured coach in the Pacific division.

Doc Rivers?

Nope. Hornacek hired in May. Rivers in June.

[JeffreyLee]

Doc came to mind for me as well.

[Superbone]

Doc came to mind for me as well.

Actually, Doc is third. Kings' coach Mike Malone was hired before Doc (and after Hornacek).

[INFORMER]

This is a few weeks old, but I don't remember seeing this posted or discussed. Interesting comments from Sarver:

While Eric Bledsoe has not gone out of his way to profess a desire to return, it's important to note there have been no rumblings of him wanting to play anywhere else. But even if he did, Sarver and the Suns would have no problem matching any offer sheet he signs and keeping him in purple and orange.

"It wouldn't make any difference," Sarver said of what he'd think if Bledsoe did make it known he'd rather play somewhere else. "A lot of that's agent speak and a lot of that is when you have a good person like an Eric Bledsoe or a Joe Johnson, he's going to be a good teammate no matter who he is with, so that doesn't really mean anything."

Sarver said it's even easier to match any contract nowadays because a maximum deal is for fewer years and less money in 2014 than it was in 2005.

Back then, the Suns would have been committing roughly $70 million to Johnson for five years. Now, though, a deal with a team other than Phoenix would be for four years and roughly $56 million. The Suns could offer more years and money -- just as they could have with Johnson in 2005 -- though as has been proven, that doesn't always make a difference.

But rest assured, the Suns are not going to let another young talented guard leave town.

"The only real unknown for fans is how much money are we going to pay Eric Bledsoe," Sarver said. "It's not whether he's going to be here or not."

The way Sarver sees it, Bledsoe will have a contract that pays him between $7 million and $14 million per year, and on a four-year deal, the investment isn't one he'd be leery of.

Bledsoe is coming off a season in which he averaged career highs with 17.7 points, 5.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. In his first year as a full-time starter, he missed 39 games due to injury -- including one that forced him to undergo knee surgery in January.

When he was on the floor, though, Bledsoe made the Suns a different team. They went 48-34 on the season, but were a healthy 28-15 with the guard in the lineup.

So the Suns have plenty of reasons to want him back, and Sarver said chances are "extremely remote" that he wouldn't return.

"I could probably name two players right now that if they wanted to do a sign-and-trade for we'd probably do it," he mused. "I can't name their names, but if you look at the MVP list people think, you'll probably see them."

It's a much different approach than the one the owner took nine years ago, when he was willing to let a similarly talented player leave when it didn't have to come to that. Back then, Sarver was very green as an NBA owner and possibly made a rookie mistake.

"I did learn from the Joe Johnson deal that it's just part of the business," he said. "There's an ugly part of this business in terms of how things are negotiated. But that's separate and apart from who the individual is, the basketball part.

"We know Eric works well in our system, we know he and Goran play well together, we know Eric's a competitor, we know Eric's got big cajones and will take that shot at the end when he needs to. And we know he's a really good person and a good teammate, so we don't need to know anything else."

- See more at: http://arizonasports.com/41/1724650/Pho ... Txw8b.dpuf

[JeffreyLee]

Wow, good job giving up all leverage for a fair deal Sarver.

[ShelC]

"We anticipate Eric being a member of the Suns for a very long time. He proved to be one of the league's up and coming stars this season and we're very excited about his future."

That's all it takes Bob.

[Shabazz]

It's a tricky balance with RFAs. You may be hurting your leverage internally, but the idea behind saying those things is to dissuade other teams from extending offer sheets.

[carey]

All those quotes were taken from the KTAR segment I linked to a while back.

[JeffreyLee]

It's a tricky balance with RFAs. You may be hurting your leverage internally, but the idea behind saying those things is to dissuade other teams from extending offer sheets.

Good point, i will still be upset to see him make more then 10 mil a year.

[TOO]

It's a tricky balance with RFAs. You may be hurting your leverage internally, but the idea behind saying those things is to dissuade other teams from extending offer sheets.

Good point, i will still be upset to see him make more then 10 mil a year.

Well you better get ready because thats happening, whether we like it or not. I think he gets max or near max money and all but puts Dragic on the trade block. No way they pay 2 max or near max deals for an undersized backcourt.

[Mori Chu]

I think he'll get $12m/year, but we'll privately tell Goran that he'll get the same on his next deal.

[SwingMan]

I think he'll get $12m/year, but we'll privately tell Goran that he'll get the same on his next deal.

Only there needs to be one clause in Dragic's deal: No non-olympic national team participation.

[Superbone]

I know you're against it, INF. I'm not sure how I feel about it but it sure sounds like he's going to get his payday from the Suns. I don't worry about Bledsoe not showing his hand as far as returning to Phoenix. I'm sure his agent prepped him for those responses for negotiating power.

I'm more worried about how this will all affect Dragic. He'll need an equally high payday and I just don't know how we can afford to pay for that backcourt as well as bring in an expensive frontcourt player to solidify the team.

[Ring_Wanted]

I think size is not a problem with a Bledsoe-Dragic backcourt. That was a concern at the start of the season but the thing is that Dragic wasn't exploited at all at SG due to lack of size. It was screens what actually made him suffer. A lot, and above all due to the quickness of the opposite player, not his size. I fully buy Dragic as primary SG, and I think Hornacek does too.