Suns trade Kurt Thomas

The Suns made another trade in the name of off-court finances rather than on-court improvement Friday, shipping center Kurt Thomas and a pair of first-round draft picks to Seattle in return for a 2009 conditional second-round pick and a trade exception valued at $8 million.

The Suns will part with their own first-round picks in 2008 and 2010 for the opportunity to dump Thomas’ $8.1 million salary for next season. There are no restrictions or protections on either pick.

Phoenix still owns Atlanta’s first-round pick in 2008, but now has no first-round pick in 2010.

Before the deal, Phoenix’s payroll sat at $78.5 million, more than $10 million above the league’s new $67.9 million, dollar-for-dollar luxury tax threshold for 2007-08. That figure was a bit lower than anticipated and may have played a role in the Suns making a deal now rather than taking a chance on being able to make one at the trade deadline, when payrolls are officially taxed.

After the deal, the Suns payroll sits just above the $70 million mark — still about $2.5 million over the luxury tax. And Phoenix still needs to acquire another big man to replace Thomas, 34, who started 13 regular season games (4.6 points, 5.7 rebounds) and the last five games of the Western Conference semifinals against San Antonio.

Because of that, the Suns are unlikely to use the trade exception obtained in the deal, which they have one year to do, leaving the transaction as a purely financial move.

“This was a tough decision to make, but one we had to make to keep our core players together and add Grant Hill to the mix,” Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. “This move allows us to keep a championship-caliber team on the floor and remain flexible moving forward.”

The Suns may be flexible, but without Thomas they are also very small up front. They intend to start Amaré Stoudemire and Shawn Marion at the center and power forward spots, respectively, with Boris Diaw currently the only proven backup up front. The Suns officially brought back Sean Marks with a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract Friday — Kerr said he can and will play a bigger role — and will look to add a replacement for Thomas through what is a lean free agent class when it comes to big men.

The head of the list is Chicago veteran P.J. Brown, although there are indications that the 38-year-old is leaning heavily toward retirement. Brown’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, is also Kerr’s agent and there is a feeling that if Brown plays, Phoenix affords the ideal situation.

Chris Mihm, a player the Suns worked out recently, resigned with the Lakers on Thursday, while players such as ex-Milwaukee forward Brian Skinner (6-foot-9, 265 pounds), Michael Ruffin (Washington) and Melvin Ely, who Phoenix pursued last season before he was traded from Charlotte to San Antonio, are also a possibility.

Kerr said the Suns worked hard to avoid any deal that involved Atlanta’s 2008 first-round pick, which they retain for next season. “Keeping that pick moving forward was important for us,” he said, adding the likelihood of Phoenix keeping two first-round picks in 2008 was remote.

This move continues a recent trend of the Suns trading first-round picks to save money. Each of the last two draft days, the Suns shipped late first-round picks to Portland for financial relief. They are banking that success on the court will also make sure their picks in 2008 and 2010 are late-round, less-valuable selections.

Thomas was Phoenix’s option at center against the Spurs when Stoudemire was saddled with early foul trouble in Games 1 and 3 and was suspended for Game 5 after leaving the bench area late in Game 4 to aid teammate Steve Nash.

Reached at his home in Dallas, Thomas said he had a good idea he might not be back when he exercised his lucrative player option on July 1.

“When I picked up the option, my agent and I sat down and went over the possible reactions and we knew (a trade) was a possibility,” Thomas said. “I’ve been in the league 12 years. I know how the business works. Once the talk started around the draft that I was being offered around, I figured it was a matter of time.”

Thomas, who arrived in the 2005 trade with the New York Knicks involving Quentin Richardson, felt he was underused in his two seasons with the Suns but enjoyed his stay.

“It’s disappointing,” he said. “Phoenix is a good team and a good organization. They have a chance to do something special. I will miss the guys. But I felt that way when I left New York.”

BONUS SHOTS: As expected, the Suns announced that all their games will be available in high definition (HD) next season, becoming the first NBA team and first professional sports team in Arizona to do so.

Both KUTP (Ch. 45) and FSN Arizona will broadcast their Suns games in HD, with the remainder of the games available on TNT, ESPN and ABC.

Suns-Sonics trade

Seattle gets:

Center Kurt Thomas

2008 first-round draft pick (unprotected)

2010 first-round draft pick

Phoenix gets:

2009 second-round pick (conditional)

Trade exception (worth $8 million)

Suns on TV

Suns HD games on FSN Arizona will be offered on these systems and channels:

• Cox (Phoenix and Tucson) Channel 721

• Qwest (Phoenix) Channel 329

• Qwest (Tucson) Channel 226

• DISH Network – Channel 365

• DirecTV – Channels 94-97

• Western Broadband (Sun Lakes, Robson Ranch, Saddlebrooke) Channel 726

Suns HD games on KUTP My45 will be offered on these systems and channels:

• Cox (Phoenix) – Channel 709

• Qwest (Phoenix) – Channel 309

• DirecTV, DISH Network and over the air HD games -- Channel 45.1

Suns HD games on KTTU MyTucson will be offered on this system and channel:

• Cox (Tucson) – Channel 702