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Dragic expected to sign 4-year deal
If the Suns' belief in Goran Dragic as a Steve Nash successor proves as reliable as their hunch that they could sign him this year, then the four-year search for a reliable Nash backup has found its man.
Tau loaned Dragic, 6 feet 4 and 181 pounds, last season to Union Olimpija, where he started for the Slovenian Euroleague team. The Suns think he will adapt quickly with his vision, maturity, a 37 1/2-inch vertical leap and a 6-foot-7 wingspan.
"He's unusual," Suns Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said in late June. "He's left-handed and very athletic. He attacks the rim with a sort of abandon and is polished with a good feel of the game. He can be erratic as a shooter but is mechanically sound and we feel we can work with him on the rest."
Dragic's camp sent a pre-draft memo to NBA teams to take him only in the top 15 or in the second round, given that he would be paid like a top pick. The Suns considered drafting Dragic at No. 15 if their eventual pick, Robin Lopez, was gone. They believe Dragic was the draft's next best point guard after top pick Derrick Rose.
Dragic was flown into Phoenix secretly four days before the draft and returned to Slovenia without seeing another team, although Seattle had worked him out overseas. The Suns gave San Antonio $500,000 and a future second-round pick to move up three spots in the draft and take Dragic.
"When I was a kid, it was my dream to play in the NBA, and it's come true," Dragic told The Republic after the draft. "It was my wish that the Suns pick me."
If the Suns' belief in Goran Dragic as a Steve Nash successor proves as reliable as their hunch that they could sign him this year, then the four-year search for a reliable Nash backup has found its man.
Tau loaned Dragic, 6 feet 4 and 181 pounds, last season to Union Olimpija, where he started for the Slovenian Euroleague team. The Suns think he will adapt quickly with his vision, maturity, a 37 1/2-inch vertical leap and a 6-foot-7 wingspan.
"He's unusual," Suns Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin said in late June. "He's left-handed and very athletic. He attacks the rim with a sort of abandon and is polished with a good feel of the game. He can be erratic as a shooter but is mechanically sound and we feel we can work with him on the rest."
Dragic's camp sent a pre-draft memo to NBA teams to take him only in the top 15 or in the second round, given that he would be paid like a top pick. The Suns considered drafting Dragic at No. 15 if their eventual pick, Robin Lopez, was gone. They believe Dragic was the draft's next best point guard after top pick Derrick Rose.
Dragic was flown into Phoenix secretly four days before the draft and returned to Slovenia without seeing another team, although Seattle had worked him out overseas. The Suns gave San Antonio $500,000 and a future second-round pick to move up three spots in the draft and take Dragic.
"When I was a kid, it was my dream to play in the NBA, and it's come true," Dragic told The Republic after the draft. "It was my wish that the Suns pick me."
