Suns Owner: “We Have A Favorable Opportunity” To Land LeBron James

The Phoenix Suns have emerged as a dark-horse candidate in the jockeying for free agent stars Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Aside from the Lakers, they’re the only team with the cap space to take on two maximum-level contracts, which is how they’ll pitch themselves as a possible free agency destination for both. Because of this, it’s no small surprise Managing Partner Robert Sarver thinks they “have a favorable opportunity” to sign LeBron

Sarver spoke with the Arizona Republic‘s Bob Young about his confidence in Phoenix’s pitch when, or if, he ever gets an audience with James — who is dealing with the whole rigamarole of free agency through his agent, Rich Paul:

“We are in a good position,” Sarver said. “We have a lot to offer, too, with the depth of our roster compared to some of the other teams. We think we have a favorable opportunity, but obviously he’ll make his decision when he wants to make it.

He’s a smart player and a smart businessman. He’ll look at the facts and make a decision.”

The Suns have loads of cap space, but so do the Lakers. The difference is the Suns gave Eric Bledsoe a qualifying offer, so now he’s a restricted free agent. They’ve also got ascending point guard Goran “Dragon” Dragic locked up for next season and a player option in 2015-16, plus young center Miles Plumlee through next season. So not only do the Suns have the cap space to get ‘Melo AND LeBron, but they’ll also keep their most significant assets.

This is before we get into their haul of first round picks T.J. Warren, Tyler Ennis, and Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovich, or the fact they have three more first-round picks NEXT summer, too.

The Suns are sitting pretty while teams like Houston expose themselves to other troubles just in case ‘Melo or LeBron give a verbal commitment. That’s why Sarver can be patient with his courtship of LeBron:

“I think this is going to be on [LeBron’s] timeline more than any one else’s,” Sarver said. “We’ve had conversations with his agent and we’ll work within their time frame.”

It’s good to be the Suns right now, even if the two golden tickets in the 2014 free agency season deign to speak with them. ‘Bron and Anthony should, the Suns are a really good fit for the long- and short-run whether the other major players in free agency want to admit it or not.