My dreams of Blake Griffin in a Suns Uniform dashed

                From last week, Blake Griffin signed a five year, $173,000,000 free agent contract to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers.  My dream of buying a Blake Griffin Suns jersey and seeing my team get instantly better both get dashed.  I learned of the late breaking news I got on my iPhone on Friday. 

                I’ve been a life-long Phoenix Suns fan.  I’ve been a long-suffering Suns fan for the past seven years.  That is the same number that equals the longest playoff drought my team has ever seen.  And if the lack of free agent signings is any indication of how the team is going to be built, year eight is right around the corner.

                Blake Griffin was a free agent after playing his entire NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers.  He opted out of his last contract to see what life would be like as a free agent.  He could play for whomever, wherever, as long as it suited him and made him happy (and rich).  I read that he was going to meet with the Phoenix Suns last week.

                I don’t think he ever met with my favorite NBA team. 

                Griffin chose ‘legacy’ (or money) to stay on board the Steve Ballmer cash machine.  The Clippers were that one NBA team to give Griffin the most money and a fifth year in his contract.  The most money the Suns could have given was maybe $130,000,000 over four years.  The collective bargaining agreement makes it easier for teams to keep and re-sign their own players.

How cool would it have been to have Blake Griffin spend his winters in the Valley of the Sun and play for a team that could have been a playoff contender in 2017-2018.  I would have let my fanboy out on social media and to my friends for years to come.  Alas, I’ll have to be a fan living in the shadows of other NBA teams (and their fans).

                Since my Suns didn’t get Griffin, they could have gone after former Atlanta Hawk Paul Millsap for maybe three years at $30 Million a season.  Thanks, but no thanks.  He was a good player in Atlanta for the Hawks, but I didn’t see him as a guy who could put the Suns over the top.  I say let the Denver Nuggets overpay for him and have him.

As for my team, the Suns are doing better by building through the draft year by year.  My new favorite Sun, Devin Booker, is that franchise player a rebuilding team builds around.  I’m convinced the Suns need two more pieces to be more than just an 8-seed in the Golden State Warriors Western Conference.  I want my Suns to challenge the Warriors for championships.

                The big thing that hurts my Suns in trying to attract free agents is its recent history of losing.   The Suns need to up their salesmanship to free agents by selling them on the awesome winters where you’re not shoveling snow to get to your practice sessions.

                I’m sure I’m going to have dreams/nightmares on what might have been with Booker in the Backcourt and Griffin up front.  Oh well.

                In the immediate future, my Phoenix Suns are going to do great things, in my dreams.