Surprise! Not everybody is spurning the NBA for Europe. Despite previously indicating he was going to stay in Europe, Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic has reversed course and is finishing up the details on a buyout that will allow him to sign with the Phoenix Suns, who acquired his rights in a draft-day trade with the Spurs.It's been a long process, in part because his agents have had to negotiate two separate buyouts: as Sean Deveney of Sporting News explains, Dragic's rights are technically owned by a team in his hometown of Ljubljana, but he's been on loan to TAU Ceramica of Spain. The NBA allows teams to contribute only $500,000 toward a player's buyout, with the difference coming directly out of the player's pocket.
That said, the Suns are expected to circumvent that rule by putting a little extra something in Dragic's pocket -- he was a second-round pick, so his salary isn't restricted by the league's rookie scale, meaning the Suns are free to use a portion of their mid-level exception to make buying out his European contract worth his while. You don't usually see teams bend over backward to accomodate a second-round pick, but the Suns were so enamored with Dragic that they actually considered drafting him in the first round with the 15th overall pick.
New Suns coach Terry Porter told me a few weeks ago that he'd yet to settle on a backup point guard, but Steve Kerr made it clear yesterday that Dragic is expected to be that guy, telling HOOPSWORLD he hopes "Dragic will back up Nash, play 17 minutes a game and develop in that position to the point where one day he's our starter."
