NBA Free Agents 2012: Rockets Must Be Patient in Re-Signing Goran Dragic

Goran Dragic is not likely to find the money he is looking for in the open market, and the Houston Rockets will then be in an excellent position to re-sign to him to a deal that is more in line with their value of the point guard after a little time has passed. 

So the following report, made by ESPN's Marc Stein, of the current contractual divide between player and team after a recent meeting is not necessarily a bad sign for Houston.

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But Dragic left town without a deal, sources said, leading one source close to the process to say that the lefty's expected return to the Rockets is "not going to happen." Dragic is scheduled Tuesday to visit the Phoenix Suns, who dealt him to the Rockets at the 2011 trade deadline. 

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It is easy to see how these teams could be so far apart. Stein reports that Dragic is looking for something in the neighborhood of $10 million a season. That is a neighborhood that Dragic may drive by from time to time, but he certainly doesn't live in it. 

SI's Sam Amick reports that Dragic is going to draw plenty of interest this offseason, but that interest is not going to last long if he maintains his dollar delusions. 

Dragic is a solid player. He looked good running the point for the Rockets at the end of the season—as Stein points out "he averaged 16.3 points and 7.3 assists in 32 games after the All-Star break," but no team is going to pay him that kind of money. 

He will have to lower his demands, and at that point, the Rockets can come back into play. They already have an option at point guard with Kyle Lowry, and they can still pursue any free agents they like, as they can go over the cap to re-sign their own player. 

This is a no-lose proposition. Much better than being on the wrong end of a lose-win situation, which is what would happen if they inked Dragic to $10 million a year.