Stay or go? Dragic's future seems lost in translation
The latest installment of How the FIBA World Cup Turns Around the Suns is a bit disturbing.
And instead of casting Goran Dragic in a heavenly glow accompanied by an angelic chorus, it suggests the popular point guard will be signing with another team next summer.
Our unofficial recommendation is to exhale and avoid any ledges above five feet.
According to the translation provided by a contributor to Brightsideofthsun.com, the manager of the Slovenian national team -- to which Dragic provides superstar participation -- reports that Goran is about to embark upon his last season as a Sun.
Here's the Bright Side link to its story that comes via a report on Per Sport TV. The translated quotes were attributed to Matej Avanzo, who (we presume) is to Team Slovenia as Jerry Colangelo is to Team USA . . . but probably without Colangelo's impressive track record. In summary, Avanzo intimates that Dragic's participation for Slovenia in the 2015 European Championships would be contingent on the wishes of his new NBA employer.
It was Bright Side's Dave King, who -- one day earlier -- alerted us to translated comments from a Dragic interviewing that certainly seemed to indicate The Dragon intended to renew his contractual allegiance to the Suns next summer.
Those comments -- like those unloaded by Avanzo -- occurred during Slovenia's participation in the FIBA tournament in Spain.
So, with the clock ticking on Eric Bledsoe's move toward signing a qualifying offer with the Suns and becoming an unrestricted free agent, we now have inspiration for minor hand-wringing regarding Dragic.
While it's highly likely Avanzo might have lost something in the translation of what it meant when Goran said he intends to "opt out,"" a lot can happen between now and next July.
There are other Dragon-related reports on this topic being translated into English and disseminated in the interest of Suns fans, but Dragic will be in town later this month and should offer considerable clarity.
By the way, it really doesn't seem likely his brother Zoran will be signing with the Suns between now and then. As reported earlier, the younger Dragic might have legitimate interest from the two NBA teams in Florida and two of the three in Texas.
We also should remember that Bogdan Bogdanovic -- the Suns' last of three first-round picks in the 2014 NBA Draft -- has looked good while playing for Serbia in the FIBA event. Due to contractual issues in Europe, Bogdanovic isn't expected to be in Phoenix (in uniform) this season, either.
Bogdanovic and Zoran might be considered as candidates for positional duplication in Phoenix . . . not that the Suns concern themselves with categorization or duplication.