ADAM GREEN

Mistake with Goran Dragic works out well for Suns

Jul 19, 2012, 11:52 PM | Updated: Jul 20, 2012, 4:32 pm

The Phoenix Suns introduced the newest member of their
team Thursday, and it just so happens that the new guy is
an old guy.

So to speak.

“Many of us, I think, that had Goran not left he would
have never had the opportunity to spread his wings and
grow in the way he has,” Suns President of Basketball
Operations Lon Babby said at a press conference Thursday
to re-introduce the point guard to the Phoenix media.

Well, Lon, he technically didn’t leave, you traded
him (and a first round pick for 25 games of Aaron Brooks).
That said, there may be some truth to the idea that
Dragic would not be the player he is today — the player
the Suns
need — had it not been for the original mistake
less than two years ago.

After all, the Dragic the Suns traded away was averaging a
disappointing 7.4 points and 3.1 assists per game, and the
one they brought back was scoring 18 points and sighing
out 8.4 assists per night as a starter in Houston.

However, just as the move to get rid of him was met with
questions, so is the decision to bring him back.

Can Dragic, a 26-year-old who has never led a team to the
postseason, be the team’s answer at the point guard
position? Is Dragic, a lefty who has shown flashes but
never consistency, ready to take over for one of the
greatest point guards the game has ever seen on a team
that could very well struggle on a nightly basis?

The verdict on Dragic’s second stint in the Valley will
not be handed down for at least a couple years; the
important thing is the Suns were willing to admit their
original mistake.

Literally.

“There’s an old expression that you have to be big enough
to admit your mistakes, strong enough to profit from them
and strong enough to correct them,” Babby said. “Bringing
Goran back here, if that’s what we’re doing, I’m proud of
that.”

Indeed, the important thing is the Suns, for all the
negative press they’ve received over the last couple
years, took a big step in the right direction by taking
their mistake head-on and signing the Slovenian to a four-
year,
$34 million contract.

The Suns were not too proud to do what was right, and as
much as they deserved to be panned for the original trade,
they should be praised for this move.

Because sure, Dragic returns with some question marks, but
he also brings potential to be the team’s long-term answer
at a position where they’ve rarely had a question.

And he’ll do that, provided no one expects him to be the
man he’s replacing. That shouldn’t be an issue, as Dragic
himself has no illusions of who he is or what he can do.

“I don’t want to be like Steve Nash; he’s one of the
greatest point guards in the league,” Dragic said. “I’m a
different player; I play different basketball than him.”

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