Suns owner says Dragic apologized for comments about team's front office

While he was trying to force his way out of Phoenix ahead of the NBA's trade deadline earlier this month, erstwhile Suns point guard Goran Dragic had some choice words for the team's front office.

"I don't feel comfortable with the situation," Dragic said, just a day before being dealt to the Miami Heat. "I don't trust them anymore."

He clarified that the comments were in reference to the fact that, due largely to the team's point guard-heavy roster, he was being asked to play off the ball, bumping him from his natural position. 

"For two years in a row I've been in the same spot, and I've played hard, but every year is the same," he said. "I see that we are not going in the right direction, and that's why I tried to take action."

Suns general manager Ryan McDonough let himself get roped into the war of words. After the deadline he called Dragic selfish and hinted that newly-acquired point guard Brandon Knight was the better player. 

Dragic, at least, seemed keen to patch things up afterwards. Suns owner Robert Sarver said Dragic's agent was likely behind the comments, and claims Dragic apologized for them almost immediately.

"He called me the day after he said those comments and made a point to come see me and apologize for what he said," Sarver said, according to Shane Dale of ArizonaSports.com. "I just think sometimes young guys get in the heat of the moment, and agents tell them certain things to say and that's what they say.

"I guess I was a little disappointed, but not really hurt. I mean, that's agent language. There's a lot that goes on when players are trying to get moved somewhere, get a contract or negotiating, and some of that stuff gets played out in the media and guys say things sometimes I'm not sure they really mean."

Sarver also noted that despite the rather bitter breakup, the Suns benefited from the foreknowledge that Dragic - who can opt out of his deal and become an unrestricted free agent this summer - would not re-sign. 

"In one way, I was pretty happy that he let us know that he wasn't interested in re-signing, so we ended up getting two picks," he said.

"He wanted to be in Miami. He picked that as the place he wanted go to. So, we didn't have much negotiating leverage because that was about the only team that would give us something, and (team president) Lon (Babby) and Ryan did a great job getting two first-round picks out of them. I'm not quite sure how they did that, but they did."

Lest he let Dragic off the hook completely, Sarver also implied that Dragic would have continued to succeed in Phoenix if he'd been a little more open-minded. 

"He's got his strengths and weaknesses like anybody," Sarver said. "But we just viewed him as a really good guard, and I think he had success playing at both positions with us. Actually, I think he had a little more success playing off the ball as a two."