A trade involving Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic appears imminent. Dragic reportedly told Phoenix he wanted to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks or the Miami Heat, but the latest reports suggest it's more likely he lands with the Houston Rockets, the Boston Celtics or the Sacramento Kings.
Because Dragic can exercise his player option and become a free agent after the season, he has some say in where Phoenix trades him. He reportedly wants to go to Los Angeles, New York or Miami, but at least two of those destinations - perhaps even all three - don't appear to be in the cards for him this season.
"The Knicks and the Lakers don't have the packages of players, draft picks available, or the motivation to make a competitive offer for Dragic, knowing that they have the salary cap space to sign him to a four-year, $80 million deal this summer," Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports wrote Wednesday.
The chance of Dragic landing in Miami doesn't look much better. Although the Heat may have more motivation - getting his Bird rights, namely - than Los Angeles or Miami to trade for him now, they don't have much in the way assets to offer.
Seemingly taking all of that into account, Phoenix is reportedly already looking for other potential suitors not included in Dragic's list of preferred destinations.
"The Phoenix Suns are operating under the belief that guard Goran Dragic could be persuaded to accept a five-year contract elsewhere, thus are pursuing trades with asset-rich teams outside of his preferred list of destinations, league sources told Yahoo Sports," Wojnarowski wrote. "The Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings have been initially aggressive in talks to obtain Dragic, who will be a free agent in July."
The Rockets were considered to be the frontrunners to land Dragic, but that may no longer be the case as a report from ESPN's Marc Stein indicated Dragic wouldn't re-sign with Houston if he landed there in a trade. Houston reportedly hasn't bowed out of the Dragic sweepstakes, and it could come down to whether Rockets general manager is OK trading for a potential half-season rental.
One thing yet to be seen is how the leaking of Dragic's intent to leave Phoenix will impact his price tag. While Phoenix won't trade him for pennies on the dollar, teams will be less inclined to give up a lot for a player who they can wait for and sign in the summer as an unrestricted free agent.
