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Suns notebook: Suns, French team clash over Diaw
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An insurance issue could keep Suns forward Boris Diaw from playing for France in the upcoming European Championships.
The French newspaper L’Equipe reported Monday that the Suns will not allow Diaw, who signed a $45 million extension with Phoenix last summer, to practice or play for France unless the national team obtains a specific insurance policy that would absolve the Suns of paying the contract in the event of injury. That information was confirmed by an NBA source.
Such a policy, which would likely cost in excess of $100,000, would specifically cover Diaw’s troublesome back problems, which cost him nine games last season and bothered him over much of the second half of the season.
The French apparently believed the Suns wouldn’t stand in the way of their national team captain playing for his country even without the insurance, but Phoenix made its intentions clear during a recent conversation. And Diaw was absent from the initial team workout.
If insurance is secured before the tournament begins in early September, it would clear the way for Diaw to play.
Waiting for P.J.
With an open roster spot and a need to replace the departed Kurt Thomas with another big man, the Suns are willing to let a sparse free agent crop at the position dwindle, waiting to see whether veteran P.J. Brown decides to play and if he is interested in Phoenix.
Melvin Ely, Trevor Ruffin, Brian Skinner, Michael Sweetney and even Chris Webber — like Brown, a player leaning toward retirement and who would require more than the veteran minimum salary to attract — are also possibilities.
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