Suns call Gortat trade rumors unfounded
Jun 21, 2011, 6:47 PM | Updated: 7:51 pm
Marcin Gortat shouldn’t hand in his t-shirts and shorts for parkas and show boots just yet. Despite trade rumors that suggest the Phoenix Suns are looking to deal their center and the No. 13 pick to Minnesota for the No. 2 pick and Nikola Pekovic, the team’s front office sounds like they don’t want to part with their big man.
“It’s speculation,” Suns general manager Lance Blanks said. “It’s obviously unfounded speculation. That’s part of the business. We’re going to build the best team we can. We love Marcin Gortat and hope he’s part of our core going forward for a long time.”
The comment could be the Suns way of showing their poker face to the rest of the league and their fans, but we’ll take Blanks at his word. It seems to make sense that if they aren’t satisfied with Robin Lopez’s play, they’d want to keep Gortat in the fold (that or they’d run an all small forward lineup out there if both were dealt).
That doesn’t mean the Suns won’t look to make a move on or before Thursday’s draft. It also doesn’t mean that move couldn’t come with the Timberwolves or anyone else for that matter.
“Lon’s made a lot of calls and had a lot of calls. I’ve had some calls,” Blanks said. “I have no idea [on a trade]. It just depends on what the scenario might be at the time it happens.”
Just don’t expect it to involve Gortat. That is if you believe what any general manager around the NBA says this time of year.
Sports 620 KTAR’s Craig Grialou contributed to this report
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