The 2015 NBA trade deadline has encountered its first "wow" moment.
And the epicenter is Phoenix, where -- according to a report first unloaded Tuesday night by USA Today -- the Suns were told guard Goran Dragic wants to be traded.
According to reported leaks, the highly publicized meeting between team and player agent Bill Duffy, whose list of NBA clients includes Steve Nash, resulted in the Suns agreeing to at least attempt to make a trade before Thursday's deadline.
Before digging into the particulars of this bombshell, let's look at where, if the report is accurate, the Suns stand:
With seemingly less leverage now that Dragic's intentions have been made public, Phoenix could end up with a marginal return for its most popular player ... who's not quite 29 years old.
The Suns could refuse to yield Dragic in what they'd consider low-ball transactions, and then the team still would attempt to fight for a berth in the Western Conference playoffs with the Oklahoma City Thunder in hot pursuit and everyone here -- from Goran to his coaches, teammates and fans -- in limbo. Talk about uncomfortable. Although rule changes make sign-and-trade scenarios a bit tougher to finesse, this could be a July option.
Suns general manager Ryan McDonough can, once again, rise to an unexpected occasion, extract a solid return for Dragic and the franchise wouldn't have to cough up $15 million (or more) per season to keep him.
Anyway, an anonymous source quoted in this report indicated the lefty from Slovenia prefers going to a team that would allow him to be its go-to playmaker rather than continue to work in the Suns' rotation of three point guards.
As this week began, it was speculated that if first-year Sun Isaiah Thomas -- whose inclusion in the Phoenix attack has required Dragic to play off the ball more often than he'd obviously prefer -- could be eliminated from the equation via trade, re-signing Goran would be much easier this summer.
Dragic has a player option for one more year on a Suns contract worth $7.5 million, but he has been expected to opt out and see how much his attacking style would be worth on the unrestricted free-agent market.
Team Dragic, however, reportedly informed the Suns that even with Thomas out of the way, "The Dragon" still would sign elsewhere.
The USA Today story indicates Dragic, who was chosen as a third-team All-NBA selection last season, would prefer joining a team that would build around him, such as the Golden State Warriors have done for superstar point guard Steph Curry. The report actually used Curry's situation as the comparison.
With Dragic's desire to leave now in the wind, pulling a suitable return by Thursday could be a chore for McDonough.
To make things even trickier for the Suns, Duffy reportedly delivered a short list of Dragic's preferred destinations. Various news outlets have the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks among those teams that would interest Dragic as a long-term contractual commitment.
The Houston Rockets, Dragic's employer before he returned to Phoenix as a free agent three seasons back, have been anticipated suitors for quite a while. Although Dragic was presumed to have interest in playing for the Rockets again, joining a backcourt that already has James Harden wouldn't exactly put the ball in Goran's hands any more than it is as a Sun.
With a trade now, Dragic's new employer would be imbued with the player's Bird Rights, a tidy-and-collectively-bargained chip that allows his current team to go over the salary-cap limit to re-sign him. Without that nugget, teams would be limited to current cap space in their efforts to afford Dragic.
With this yearning to leave in the open, it will be interesting to see how demanding the Suns will be in trade talks.
The Lakers, for example, reportedly would throw somewhere in the exclusive neighborhood of $20 million at Dragic to keep him there, but they aren't exactly swimming in trade assets that could help the Suns reach elite status. One who would generate interest is injured rookie power forward Julius Randle, but prying him out of L.A. reportedly is close to impossible.
The Lakers also could remove this year's top-five protection from that first-round pick they owe the Suns from the Nash trade, but the addition of Dragic to their lineup might accomplish the same thing.
Beyond that, center-forwards Jordan Hill and/or Ed Davis would provide the Suns with a boost in defense and rebounding, but hardly loom as reasonable talent-for-talent compensation.
If the Suns insist upon boosting their frontcourt in any Dragic trade, the Knicks really can't help. Second-year shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. could be a player of interest, but more salary would have to come back to Phoenix to make this work.
The Knicks and Lakers, by the way, reportedly are interested in Suns backup center Miles Plumlee, another player who's been credited with seeking a ticket out of Phoenix.
The prospective Heat return could be small forward Luol Deng, who's a solid player, but not exactly the kind of addition that would fuel the fan base or a run into the playoffs.
To get Dragic and his Bird Rights, Houston reportedly might pony up young post player Donatas Montiejunas, a skilled lefty 7-footer on a cheap contract. Montiejunas has some skill in the post, can shoot reasonably well up to 16 feet (and about 31 percent from 3-point range), but isn't much of a force as a rebounder or defender.
The Indiana Pacers would like to do better than George Hill at point guard, but aren't close to giving up injured star Paul George. A return of center Roy Hibbert or veteran power forward David West wouldn't turn the Suns into a playoff lock, either.
