Dragic secretly flew to Phoenix and back for his only NBA workout. Phoenix pegged him as the draft's second-best point guard to Derrick Rose, the top overall pick, and might have taken him 15th overall had Robin Lopez not been available. With Detroit prepared to take him ahead of their 48th pick, the Suns paid the Spurs $500,000 and gave them a future second-round pick (which was used to draft DeJuan Blair) to swap second-round picks (Malik Hairston went to the Spurs).
Phoenix paid another $500,000 to buy out Dragic's Spanish club contract and gave him a first-round type contract that was one of the richer second-round deals ever -- $7.6 million over four years.
Dragic played uneasily under coach Terry Porter as a rookie, but he clicked with assistants Dan Majerle, Igor Kokoskov and Gentry. Kokoskov invested daily after-practice and pregame work with Dragic and sits by him each game.
"We know he's got potential and talent, but he just never had played a playoff before," Kokoskov said. "He's fortunate that he's always been around an organization and coach that believes in him. It's just part of the maturation.
"To me, it's natural. He's fortunate that he learned from the best with Steve Nash and Grant Hill."
source : azdailysun.com
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