Bob Young

The Republic | azcentral.com

Back in February when I suggested that the Suns are in a position to become a destination of choice once again for the best NBA free agents on the market, club President Lon Babby took exception to the premise.

"I don't think we ever lost our status as a destination," he said.

There may never come a better time to prove that assertion.

Carmelo Anthony already has informed the New York Knicks that he will exercise his option to become an unrestricted free agent.

LeBron James has also informed the Miami Heat that he will exercise his option, while Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have options in their contracts that they are mulling.

Add to that the likely trade of Minnesota forward Kevin Love, and this quickly is becoming a summer of opportunity.

And the Suns are positioned to take advantage of it — if Babby is right.

The Suns have three picks in the first round of Thursday's draft, plus additional picks going forward.

They have a young, talented nucleus and a fast-paced, exciting style of play under coach Jeff Hornacek, who has two more years on his original contract, reportedly with a team option for another year, which the Suns would be wise to exercise in the near future.

So far, Love's camp has been quiet about possible destinations. But it is safe to assume that a team is not going to surrender the assets it will take to get him out of Minnesota without the assurance that he will agree to a contract extension with his new team.

Golden State, Denver and Boston reportedly are the leading contenders in a Love swap, but there is no doubt the Suns will be trying to find a deal as the draft approaches.

The suitors for Anthony reportedly will include the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and — yes — even the Miami Heat.

Which brings us to the Big Three in Miami.

For the Heat to go after Anthony, James, Wade and Bosh likely would all have to opt out and then agree to re-up for less money. They might be willing to do that had the Heat not shown during the last year that reducing luxury-tax payments is a priority.

Those efforts left Miami with a thin bench that San Antonio exposed in the Finals. It also meant that James had to carry the team through much of the regular season while Wade missed a bunch of games — again — because of his troublesome knees.

Even if the three accepted less money, adding Anthony would mean the Heat would be luxury-tax payers for a fourth year in a row, triggering the so-called "repeater penalty." Owner Micky Arison isn't likely to go along with that.

However, if James isn't convinced the Heat are willing pay what it costs to add necessary pieces, he might decide it's time to look around.

If that happens, the Suns would have the cap room to pay him. They have an added chip in the game, restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, who is close with James.

Can you imagine the Suns' attack-dog offense with James as part of it? Maybe the better question is, has James imagined it?

He should.

We aren't the only ones intrigued by the possibility. Grantland's Zach Lowe recently included Phoenix as one of five potential landing spots James and that James "wants to earn his actual max on an up-and-coming team with a smart new head coach who favors an exciting style of play."

"The Suns have so much cap flexibility they might be able to sign LeBron to the max, re-sign Eric Bledsoe ... and still have max-level cap room in the summer of 2015," Lowe wrote. "They're flush with extra first-round picks, meaning they'd have weapons to land another star player over the next couple of years."

And at some level, Heat President Pat Riley must view his superstar's departure as a real possibility. He seemed to speak directly to James at his season-ending news conference, practically daring him.

"You've got to stay together, if you've got the guts," Riley said. "You don't find the first door and run out of it if you have an opportunity."

He added later, "What really cements a forever bond is going through what we went through this year and staying the course."

Hey, never mind that Riley was more than happy to open the door to Miami four years ago when James was looking to run out of Cleveland and Bosh had decided to exit Toronto.

Bosh, in the wake of the Heat's loss in the Finals to San Antonio, provided a brief glimpse behind the curtain when he said the joy of past seasons was missing in Miami this year.

"I don't think anybody really enjoyed this season like in years past," Bosh said. "There was no, like, genuine joy all the time. It seemed like work. It was a job the whole year. Winning was just a relief. Losing was a cloud over us sometimes, and then we'd break out of it and then go right back."

That sure has the sound of a team that has made its run. Whether it's with a trade for Love or a major free-agent acquisition, this is the summer the Suns need to begin one of their own.

Reach Young at 602-444-8271 or bob.young@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobYoungTHI.