With teams being able to talk to free agents on Saturday, expect the Phoenix Suns to make two calls, the Arizona Republic is reporting.  

The first call will go out to Tim Thomas, who was a pivotal piece of the team who made a playoff push this post season, and the other to go to what the Republic calls a mystery guard, possibly either Bobby Jackson or Detroit guard Lindsey Hunter.

"We'd like to reach out to Tim and make sure he knows that we're definitely interested," said Mike D'Antoni, Suns coach and general manager. "I don't think there's a pressing need to go crazy. Tim is definitely a July 1 call. The rest of it, we'll have to see how the market looks when it plays out."

Thomas said he would give Phoenix the first chance and that money was a factor but not the dominant one.

Many experts believed the Knicks reached badly by selecting Renaldo Balkman, but the Suns were reportedly set to pick the forward from South Carolina. The Suns ended up trading out of the first round altogether.

"I thought, 'If we take Balkman at No. 20, somebody will drop to us [at No. 29],' " Thomas said last night. "If we didn't get Collins, we had a backup. But Balkman wouldn't have been there at No. 29."

"Balkman is a unique player," Thomas said. "He reminds me of Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest. Mardy Collins is a big guard who can defend. Defensively, we feel you can put those two guys on the floor at and cover [small forward and shooting guard]."

The Phoenix Suns announced today that they have traded the draft rights to Kentucky?s Rajon Rondo, the 21st pick overall in the 2006 NBA Draft, and the contract of forward/center Brian Grant to the Boston Celtics. In return, Phoenix will receive a future first round pick. In a separate deal, the Suns traded the draft rights to Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez, the 27th pick overall, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for cash considerations.

The Suns will receive a conditional first-round pick from Boston via Cleveland from an earlier trade between Cleveland and Boston. The Cavaliers pick is subject to protection through No. 10 until 2011, at which time it is unprotected.

?It?s pretty simple. There were four or five guys we were interested in, but they were off the board,? said Suns Head Coach and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Mike D?Antoni. ?We love the group of players we have and want to keep them together."

The Suns traded the rights to Sergio Rodriguez to the Blazers for cash considerations.

Trade talks between Seattle and Phoenix are apparently ongoing, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

It was previously reported that the clubs were discussing a deal that would send Shawn Marion and possibly Leandro Barbosa to Seattle in exchange for Rashard Lewis and Danny Fortson.  Draft picks would also be involved.

According to sources, Fortson's negative history with the Suns is the primary reason why the deal has hit a snag.

Despite rumors that indicate the Suns have had serious discussions regarding a deal where Shawn Marion would be traded out of Phoenix, Mike D'Antoni said on Tuesday that he would not be traded.

"We've taken some calls about him. We've taken them about every night," D'Antoni said, "but nothing is going to happen."

The Phoenix Suns, who own picks 21 and 27 in Wednesday's draft, are likely to only keep one of their picks, according to a report in the Arizona Republic, with pick 27 likely to be the one the team moves.

Phoenix has indicated that it would prefer to package the two first-round choices to move up. If the Suns could get into the range of the 10th through 15th picks, that might give them a shot at a long, athletic wing player in either Arkansas' Ronnie Brewer or Memphis' Rodney Carney.

Otherwise, the Suns may deal only the 27th pick and hope that Swiss shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha, Michigan State combo guard Shannon Brown or Senegalese raw center Saer Sene is on the board for the 21st pick.

Billy King denied a report from late last week in which the Sixers would look to trade down in the draft with Phoenix in the hopes of acquiring Leandro Barbosa.

''DraftExpress.com or whatever it is said that we were trading with Phoenix but we wanted [guard] Leandro Barbosa, and we never even mentioned Barbosa's name in the picture,'' King said. ''And the next day we were trading with New Jersey, and I hadn't even talked to Rod [Thorn, the Nets' general manager]. So like I said, there's just a lot of things out there.''

Amare Stoudemire is finished with his rehab, so he'll start playing real games again -- first for the Phoenix entry in the Vegas Summer League (July 6-14), then at the Team USA training camp.

Because his second child is due in August, he is not likely to play in the World Championships.

As for the knee: "I feel pretty explosive," he said. "I feel very confident I can get back to where I was last year."

Multiple sources told DraftExpress on Saturday that the Phoenix Suns and Seattle Supersonics are working on a potential blockbuster trade.

The Sonics have implied to numerous people over the past 48 hours that ?something is going to go down,? while another source in Seattle told us that the Supersonics are ?getting very close? to finalizing a trade.

While the exact details of the trade are still unknown, numerous names have been mentioned as key components. The main ones are Shawn Marion and Rashard Lewis, who would be exchanged along with the team?s first round draft choices (#10 for #27). Other pieces that are being discussed include Leandro Barbosa and Danny Fortson.

Seattle is interested in moving Rashard Lewis due to the fact that they believe he will opt out of his contract next summer and end up losing him for nothing. With so many concerns about the future of the franchise in Seattle, the best way to put fans in the seats is certainly to start winning more games, which is the primary motive of this trade.

Phoenix?s motive is to avoid the luxury tax for next season, which they are dangerously close to, and still keep the team as competitive as they are now. The Suns still have to extend Boris Diaw for 5 years and anywhere from 45-55 million dollars, which would put them well above the luxury tax threshold.

With Leandro Barbosa looking for a contract starting in the 7-8 million dollar range, and Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire and Shawn Marion making max or near max dollars, keeping their core together past next season does not appear to be very likely.

Instead, the Suns can save quite a bit of money in the long term by taking on Rashard Lewis? more affordable deal and securing an immediate contributor (such as Rodney Carney or Ronnie Brewer) on a cheap 4 year rookie contract. Lewis makes over 5 million dollars less than Marion.

Danny Fortson would be used as filler to make the trade work under the cap. He is an ending contract next year and could either give the Suns more toughness, rebounding and depth, be used as trade bait, or bought out of his contract. That depends on whether or not he can resolve his differences with Jerry Colangelo, whom he sued for defamation in 2004 for calling him a ?thug? in the media after breaking Zarko Cabarkapa?s wrist in a game between Dallas and Phoenix.