The Suns have plenty of cap space. The front office has made that known.
But after the season, Lon Babby expressed that they will be diligent in their free agent search and not sign players for the sake of singing them. They will only take players that fit the present and the future.
At 9:00 p.m. local Arizona time, NBA free agency officially got underway and the reports started filing out on Twitter with what players are visiting what teams.
First and foremost, Steve Nash has a list and the Suns are on it which isn’t a surprise. Also on that list off the bat along with Phoenix are New York, Indiana, Toronto, Dallas, Miami and Brooklyn.
Before the end of the week, Nash told ESPN.com that the Suns are no longer a “home run” as a destination, stating he feels the team is trying to move on. The drafting of Kendall Marshall could back-up that inclination.
The most prized free agent this off-season is Deron Williams, who already scratched the Suns off his list narrowing his list to New Jersey and Dallas a few weeks back. After Williams, the next best has to be Eric Gordon who is a restricted free agent.
The Suns have made Gordon’s list as there were reports that he will visit Phoenix on Tuesday. Also on his list are Houston, Portland and Indiana. Gordon will be looking for a max offer and would be that elite scoring wing that the Suns so desperately need. However he did only play in nine games last season after having knee surgery.
Another player reported to meet with Phoenix is former Suns point guard Goran Dragic. Dragic was traded to Houston in 2010 in the deal that brought Aaron Brooks to town. There is a pretty important stipulation coming from Dragic’s camp. The team he signs with needs to assure him that he will be the starter. Though Nash and Dragic had a great relationship when they played together, if Nash re-signs in Phoenix, that would most likely mean Dragic won’t.
Other teams on Dragic’s list are Toronto and re-signing in Houston. Both those teams currently set at point guard with Jose Calderon and Kyle Lowry.
Purely speculation here, but if Dragic does not re-sign in Houston, there is a chance he could sign to the team that Nash doesn’t (Toronto or Phoenix).
Other players I believe could be on the Suns radar could be guards Jamal Crawford and O.J. Mayo.
Along with Steve Nash, when the clock hit 9:00 pm Grant Hill, Michael Redd and Ronnie Price became free agents. On Thursday, the Suns extended qualifying offers to Robin Lopez and Aaron Brooks making them restricted free agents.
Free agents cannot officially sign with a team until July 11. It will be a crucial upcoming days for the Suns and we will bring everything to you as free agency unfolds on pros2preps.com.
For more on the Suns, follow Jared Cohen on Twitter at @JaredPros2Preps.
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Jared Cohen
A born and bred Arizonan, Jared has had great passion for the hometown teams all his life. He now channel's that passion into covering the pro, college and high school teams around the state as a Multimedia Reporter for Sports360AZ.