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The Phoenix Suns are bracing for a future without point guard Goran Dragic.
Dragic, who can opt out of his contract at the end of the season, told the Suns on Tuesday that he has no intention of re-signing with them in the offseason, according to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports.
The Suns' three-point guard experiment, while intriguing and sporadically successful, hasn't worked out the way the front office hoped when they inked free agent Isaiah Thomas to a 4-year, $27-million deal this past offseason.
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Part of the reason for that signing (which preceded a lucrative extension for Eric Bledsoe) was likely as a bit of insurance against losing Dragic, but the addition may have ultimately helped usher him out the door. The Suns were already resigned to the reality that they'd have to trade one of their point guards, but they'd expressed their preference for trading Thomas.
Dragic declaring his intent to bolt in the offseason forces the Suns' hand. They now plan to act quickly to move Dragic before Thursday's trade deadline, according to RealGM's Shams Charania.
The Houston Rockets have long been rumored to be interested in re-acquiring Dragic, who played for them in 2011-12, but Houston isn't one of Dragic's preferred destinations, and would be unlikely to re-sign there after the season, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
Instead, Dragic has listed the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks as desired landing spots, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Amick reports that Dragic has given the Suns a list that runs seven teams long.
This is where things will get interesting. All of the teams presently listed have glaring needs at point guard, but they'll obviously be hesitant to give up anything of value without being at least semi-confident in their ability to re-sign Dragic in the offseason.
That would seem to knock the Rockets out of the running. But since they're the only team of the bunch that's sniffing championship contention, they may decide to meet the asking price for Dragic, even knowing that it could amount to a rental, if they believe he can push them over the top.
For the Heat, Lakers, Knicks and four other teams reportedly on Dragic's list, there may also be reticence to part with valuable assets knowing that there's a chance they can woo him in the summer. Though, attaining Dragic's Bird Rights would give any team a big leg up in free agency.
According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, the Suns countered a Lakers trade proposal late last week by offering Thomas instead. Another counter-offer from the Suns in Dragic trade talks with the Lakers would be for L.A. to remove the top-five protection on the 2015 pick it owes Phoenix stemming from the 2012 Steve Nash trade.
The NBA's Most Improved Player and an All-NBA third teamer last season, Dragic is averaging 16.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Suns this season, while shooting 50.1 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers are down from a season ago thanks in part to the three-guard system, but it doesn't sound as if the dip has hurt Dragic's market value much.
