Phoenix Suns Sign Zoran Dragic

Phoenix, Ariz., is officially the home of Dragon Ball Z.

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, one day after locking Eric Bledsoe down with a five-year, $70 million deal, the Phoenix Suns have signed Zoran Dragic, the brother of star point guard Goran Dragic. The Suns will be bringing Zoki over to the United States on a two-year, $3.5 million deal, which also covers his buyout with his Spanish club team Unicaja Malaga.

The deal is fully guaranteed and has no options.

Although Suns fans should have realistic expectations for the younger Dragon — who doesn’t have the same star potential as his older brother — there were plenty of reasons to take a chance on Zoran Dragic. For one thing, Zoki played exceptionally well during the 2014 FIBA World Cup for Team Slovenia and by adding him to the Suns, he’ll be playing with at least one player he’s familiar with in his brother.

At the World Cup, Dragic averaged 12.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point range. He’ll need to expand his range, but Zoran is already athletically gifted enough to compete at the NBA level and at age 25, he still has a lot of room for growth.

Having Double Dragons isn’t the worst publicity stunt in the world either, especially since Phoenix now has two set of brothers when you consider twins Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris.

But most importantly of all, the deal makes it all but inevitable that Goran Dragic will re-sign with the Suns as an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Dragon is coming off a season in which he made the All-NBA Third Team and won the league’s Most Improved Player of the Year award. He also joined Kevin Durant and LeBron James as the only three players to average at least 20 points and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the field.

After ponying up the dough for Bledsoe, Dragic can expect to be paid pretty handsomely next summer (either by the Suns or by someone else), but Zoran’s presence in Phoenix, not to mention Goran’s love for the city, will be extremely hard to turn down now. In a matter of 24 hours, the Phoenix Suns may have secured their starting backcourt for the long-term future with a little Dragic magic.

However, Phoenix supporters should reign in their excitement for the time being. Not only is it unlikely that Zoki achieves the same kind of stardom as his brother Gogi, but playing time may be scarce for awhile considering how deep and loaded the Suns’ backcourt is. Between the Dragii, Bledsoe, Isaiah Thomas, Tyler Ennis, Gerald Green and Archie Goodwin, there won’t be enough minutes to go around, though it’s likely Ennis is heading for the D-League now.

All around, this is a great deal for the Suns. Even if Dragic never lives up to his potential, this isn’t a backbreaker deal and Phoenix is still under the salary cap for the 2014-15 season. Furthermore, it will make Goran’s stay in Phoenix that much happier and he’ll be that much more likely to remain with the Suns once he’s eligible for his payday next summer.