The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: “First-round draft pick Robin Lopez gives the Suns 10 players. If second-round pick Goran Dragic can’t break his contract in Spain this year, the Suns would need to add at least three players. That likely would be done with one-year, minimum-salary deals to two veterans and a free-agent rookie who could come out of a summer team coached by new assistant coaches Dan Majerle and Igor Kokoskov. At minimum, the Suns’ payroll figures to exceed the projected luxury-tax threshold by $3 million to $5 million. Teams must pay a tax based on how much they have surpassed that threshold in February. The Suns have a mid-level exception but are unlikely to use it. Fewer teams are using the exception, which allows teams over the salary cap to spend up to $5.8 million on a free agent. The Suns do not have a biennial exception because they signed forward Grant Hill with it last year.”

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Goran Dragic’s dream was bound to come true after a strong showing at a camp in Italy two weeks ago. It was the Suns’ dream to land him that would have shattered without a trade that let them take him with the 45th overall pick. After No. 1 overall pick Derrick Rose, the Suns said there was not a better point guard in the draft. They wrestled with the idea of taking him 15th if first-round choice Robin Lopez had not been available. The Suns think they have a point guard for years after Steve Nash leaves… Dragic cannot be bought out of his contract with Spanish club Tau Ceramica until July 2009. The buyout is $1,550,000, with the Suns able to pay $500,000.

The Los Angeles Times (Jonathan Abrams) reports: Kobe Bryant’s response to former teammate Shaquille O’Neal’s lambasting him in an obscenity-laced rap freestyle at a New York nightclub? No response. “I didn’t take it any kind of way whatsoever,” Bryant said Saturday, before declining to take any more questions on the topic. Bryant, however, was more than willing to discuss several other subjects as the U.S. men’s basketball team held a one-day mini-camp in preparation for the Beijing Olympics. He has had a bit more time to reflect on the NBA Finals, labeling Boston as “champions until somebody proves otherwise.”

Shaquille O’Neal’s freestyle rap in NYC the other day which mocked Kobe Bryant and included various profanities, resulted in one police badge being taken away the other day, and now it’s happened again.
The AP reports: Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said Wednesday that he has asked the Phoenix Suns center to return a badge he was given for his work with the southwest Virginia county’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force… The decision comes one day after a sheriff in Arizona asked O’Neal to return a special deputy’s badge because of language he used in the rap.

The Phoenix Suns today announced that forward Grant Hill has exercised his player option for the 2008-09 season.
Originally signed by the Suns as a free agent on July 11, 2007, the 14-year NBA veteran proved remarkably durable in his first season in Phoenix.  Hill appeared in 70 games for the Suns, his most in a single season since 1999-00, including starts in 34 consecutive contests to open the season.
The 6-8 forward averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 2007-08 while shooting at least 50 percent from the field (.503) for the third time in the last four seasons and establishing a career-high in free-throw efficiency (.867).  Both his rebound and assist averages were his highest in five seasons.  Hill tallied four double-doubles last season, including the first back-to-back double-doubles of his career since 2002 on Feb. 20-22.
Last season, the Duke product became the first player in league history to win the NBA Sportsmanship Award in multiple seasons (2004-05) and the first Sun to garner the honor.  Hill also won the 2007-08 Dan Majerle Hustle Award.
Hill owns career averages of 19.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 14 seasons with Detroit (1994-2000), Orlando (2000-07) and Phoenix (2007-08).
The Phoenix Suns own the 15th and 48th overall selections in the 2008 NBA Draft, which begins tonight at 4:30 p.m. Phoenix time on ESPN.

The East Valley Tribune reports: Shaquille O’Neal will lose his special deputy’s badge in Maricopa County because of language he used in a rap video that mocks former teammate Kobe Bryant. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the Phoenix Suns center’s use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language left him no choice. Arpaio made Shaq a special deputy in January and promoted him to colonel of his largely ceremonial posse earlier this month. “I want his two badges back,” Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”
InsideHoops.com says: Looks like Shaq, without any help from Kobe, can bring dishonor to police department badges.