With the report of Goran Dragic's availability days building up to February 19 trade deadline, all eyes on the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers to continue their push for the service of the Slovenian blur.
On Friday, Gery Woefel of the Racine Journal Times reported that the Phoenix Suns are gauging trade interest for their starting point guard, Goran Dragic. According to the NBA writer, he was told by a reliable league source the Suns are open to sell Dragic in exchange for at least a first-round draft pick.
The Suns originally showed firm stance in keeping Dragic past the trade deadline, despite receiving enormous offers from multiple teams. However, Dragic's ability to opt out from the final year of his contract and sign with another team this summer has reportedly prompted the Suns' brain-trust a second look into the situation.
As mentioned by Woefel, the Houston Rockets emerge as the favorites to land Dragic, who once played for Kevin McHale for one-and-half season before he signed a four-year, $34M contract in 2012.
Despite loading up their roster with talents following a whirlwind of moves on the trading front and free-agency waver, the Rockets still have a glaring loophole at the point guard position.
Patrick Beverley may have become one of the best perimeter defender at the point guard spot, but his inability to orchestrate plays has put more loads on star guard James Harden, who is putting up an MVP-type of a season nonetheless.
On the other hand, the Lakers have been linked to Dragc all season long. General manager Kupchack made several attempts to land the crafty point guard, but the Suns placed a high asking price on Dragic at that time.
The Suns, who already owned the Lakers' first-round pick in 2015 (if it falls out of the bottom five), could add another first-rounder if they pursue a trade with the Lakers. Los Angeles currently possesses a first-round pick acquired from the Rockets in the Jeremy Lin trade last offseason. Aside from the pick, they also have Jordan Hill as an enticing trade target because of his $9M team option for next season.
The 28-year old Dragic is averaging 16.2 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game this season, which is slightly a drop off from his performance (20.3 points and 5.9 assists) that won him the Most Improved Player of the Year last season. Losing Dragic will be a big blow for the Suns in its bid to secure a playoff berth in a brutal Western Conference; however, they have another offensively-talented playmaker in Isaiah Thomas waiting to fill the void.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
