Phoenix Suns Notes: Luis Scola Surprised; Goran Dragic Takes Amare's Number; No S-n-T For Hill?

Just a few odds and ends on a Wednesday morning while we wait for the Phoenix Suns' next moves of the offseason. As Omaha put it so well yesterday, there's a few pending actions (signing Dragic and Beasley) and a few more moves the Suns must make to fill out their roster at the wing positions.

There were no new Suns-related rumors regarding shooting-guard additions yesterday (unless you count MR ORNG and his 4-5 year Shannon Brown contract prediction), so that still leaves Brown and Courtney Lee as the most likely additions to the Suns wing.

One development from yesterday: looks like the Suns will allow Grant Hill to sign a straight two-year deal with the Clippers, rather than participate in a sign-and-trade to get Hill more money than the bi-annual exception (2 yrs, 3.9 mil). Makes sense of course, if the Clippers refused to give up even a draft pick (they had a $2.7 mil trade exception Hill could have fit into). But that also says the Suns had no interest in Ryan Gomes for a one-year expiring deal ($4 million), who was later amnestied by the Clippers.

And it also tells me that the Suns are NOT targeting Randy Foye for their shooting guard position. He is a free agent from the Clips and could have been signed-and-traded in exchange for Grant Hill if the Suns and Foye had expressed mutual interest and agreeable contract terms. But according to an article in the LA Times, the Suns have no interest in sign-and-trade for Hill at all.

Hit the jump for more on Shannon Brown, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic!

Since the signing of Eric Gordon, the price for shooting guards has gone way, way down and the Suns need to take advantage of this. Nick Young signed a fairly-large deal, but only for 1 year. Jason Terry took a short, midlevel deal. O.J. Mayo, Jaryd Bayless and Ray Allen all took less than midlevel for 2-year deals. The only outlier I can think of is 31-year old Jamal Crawford, who somehow got 4 years for $24 million.

According to my personal logic as well as prevailing national logic, both Shannon Brown and Courtney Lee are better options at shooting guard than Randy Foye. So does this mean the Suns still feel they have a strong shot at one or both of them?

The Bucks beat writer tweeted yesterday that Shannon Brown has told the Bucks he is close to signing with another (unnamed) team. And we all know that the Suns have continued interest in Brown.

I'd be happy with Brown on a midlevel one-year deal with a non-guaranteed second year. In fact, I'd pull a Grant Hill (took $6.5 million to take a 1-year deal last December) and give him more money than the market will bear to entice him to sign.

Sames goes for Courtney Lee. Considering the deals their brethren are getting at this point, it would behoove one or both of them to accept such an offer. I just hope the Suns aren't offering more than that.

Luis Scola Suprised, Happy to play with Goran again

Scola, practicing with his national team right now, participated in a conference call with local media types yesterday (including yours truly). He is a well-spoken guy who I'm sure will go over well in the locker room and will end up being a go-to guy for the local press after games.

He is unassuming: "I bring what I have always done on the basketball court. What you have seen in my career is what is it right now."

He is honest and engaging: "When i found out it was Phoenix i was a little surprised. There was a lot of talk of other teams putting in a bid (Cleveland and Dallas). I never heard anything from Phoenix so when they called me I was a little surprised."

And while he said is was "unfair" to ask him what he thought of the Suns team for next year, since it had only been two days, he was clear on one thing:

"I was really happy to find out I was going to play with Goran (Dragic) again. I feel really confident playing with him. I was sad when he left Houston because I was with them at the time, but I was really happy when I found out I was going to play with him again."

Goran Dragic takes #1

Dragic tweeted last night that he is taking #1 as his new jersey number. The same #1 that Amare wore until leaving in 2010. It makes sense, as the point man on the team is generally called the 1.

Previously, Dragic had worn #2 with the Suns and #3 with Houston. And Jared Dudley wears #3, so he couldn't take that number. Ronnie Price wore #2 for the Suns last year, but most certainly won't be back next season. Looks like Goran wants a fresh start with the Suns, moving up the ladder to the #1 position.

Special note: Our own Seth Pollack ran into Goran in Vegas yesterday (Goran's brother is playing for Houston in the summer league there, he of the sharp elbow). They shared a warm hug and a promise to hook up while both were in town a few more days. It's possible BSotS and SB Nation AZ will get an exclusive interview with Goran sometime this week!

Final Note:

Charles Garcia of the Summer Suns gets a training camp invite, per Tariq Lee of www.azcentral.com. Good for Garcia!

The Suns have given the 6-foot-9, 229-pound bruiser another shot at making his dream of playing in the NBA into a reality.

"He's very athletic and can really run," Suns assistant coach and summer league head coach Dan Majerle said. "He's got a lot of skills can step out and shoot the shot. He plays hard he's got to learn how to play a little bit, understand the plays a little bit we threw so much at him. He's young and he's a talent."

That's the notes of the morning, Suns fans! Until something new breaks...