NBA Free Agents 2012: Phoenix Suns Sign Goran Dragic to 4-Year Deal

ESPN's Marc Stein reports that the Phoenix Suns have struck a deal with unrestricted free agent Goran Dragic.

According to Stein, the deal will pay Dragic $34 million over four seasons.

Though drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, Dragic saw his draft rights acquired by the Suns following the 2008 NBA draft. He subsequently played three seasons for Phoenix.

He averaged slightly under five points and two assists per game in his first season for the Suns but improved his averages the next year to eight points and three assists.

Right before the trade deadline last year, Dragic was traded along with a first-round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange for point guard Aaron Brooks, to whom the Suns recently extended a qualifying offer.

This past season—his first full one in Houston—Dragic increased his numbers to a career-high 12 points and five assists per game, and he filled in admirably while starting point guard Kyle Lowry was out with a bacterial infection. Lowry has since been traded to the Toronto Raptors.

ESPN's Marc Stein reported on Wednesday that the Suns dealt starting point guard Steve Nash to the Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal, and Phoenix wasted no time getting another point guard.

With the 13th overall pick in last week's draft, the Suns drafted point guard Kendall Marshall, who won the Bob Cousy Award (given to the nation's best college point guard) this past season. It remains uncertain whether Dragic or Marshall will start.

Though $8.5 million annually is slightly too much for a point guard of Dragic's caliber, he might very well blossom into a terrific point guard in Phoenix and help guide the Suns through this rebuilding project.