Now that it is clear that Kevin Garnett will not be in Arizona, the Phoenix Suns are shifting their attention to trying to lure Grant Hill to the desert, the Arizona Republic is reporting.

The Suns will try to sell Hill on the lovely weather, team chemistry, relaxed practices and friendly atmosphere, but will have only a veteran’s minimum contract to put on the table ($1.2 million, $770,610 which would count against the cap). Other teams can offer a lot more money (Toronto, Orlando) while others can offer more than the Suns and offer a similar or better chance at success (Detroit, San Antonio).

Hill has let Phoenix know for years he was interested in playing here. Sources confirm he was in the Valley last weekend, although both sides swear there was no contact between player and team. When asked if he felt the Suns or the Spurs were a better fit, Hill told ESPN radio he’d choose the Suns.

The Suns' pursuit of Charlotte's No. 8 pick, where Phoenix would have grabbed Florida power forward Joakim Noah, crashed before the draft started when the Bobcats told the Suns they had a better offer. Phoenix threw options at Charlotte, one with its No. 24 pick and the 2008 Atlanta pick that it owns, and another more convoluted one involving Kurt Thomas.

"We made a great offer," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "It definitely surprised us (to be turned down)."

Charlotte acquired Jason Richardson and draftee Jermareo Davidson from Golden State for the eighth pick, North Carolina's Brandan Wright.

The Oregonian reported late Thursday that the Suns will ship forward James Jones to the Blazers ? a deal that will net Phoenix future considerations.

Jones has one guaranteed year left on a contract that pays him $2.9 million and a player option of $3.15 million for the 2008-09 season. With the Suns over the threshold, that $3 million would have been subject to the NBA?s dollar-for-dollar luxury tax penalty.

Jones averaged 6.7 points in 76 games last season (seven starts), shooting a disappointing 36.8 percent from the field. He started six of Phoenix?s 11 playoff games, playing 15.5 minutes per game and averaging 5.0 points and 1.4 rebounds.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' attempts to trade Kevin Garnett continued Thursday afternoon.

The Wolves have contacted the Charlotte Bobcats to try to help facilitate a deal for Garnett, one day after a potential three-way deal with the Phoenix Suns and the Atlanta Hawks hit a roadblock.

According to sources, the Wolves are asking the Bobcats to give up the No. 8 pick along with an undisclosed player. In the proposed deal, Garnett would go to Phoenix, and the Suns would send Amare Stoudemire to Charlotte. The Bobcats would also be required to take Suns guard Marcus Banks.

The Bobcats have been offering the No. 8 pick to various teams for weeks and have several offers. If they can't get something worked out with Minnesota and Phoenix before the draft, the Bobcats will likely move the pick in another deal, a source said.

However, a source in Phoenix continues to maintain that the team has not had any conversations about trading Stoudemire.

While teams like the Lakers and Suns will continue to pursue Kevin Garnett, and the Wolves seem intent on trading him, sources say that it's unlikely, but not impossible, that a deal goes down by the time of the draft.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' attempts to get a great deal for Kevin Garnett hit a major roadblock on Wednesday afternoon, sources told ESPN.com.

According to multiple sources, the Timberwolves have been talking to multiple teams about finding a third team to help facilitate a Garnett trade.

As ESPN.com reported on Tuesday evening, Minnesota was looking to acquire Atlanta's No. 3 and No. 11 picks in Thursday's draft along with several cap-friendly contracts from the Hawks and Phoenix Suns. To participate, Atlanta wanted Amare Stoudemire from Phoenix.

On Wednesday, sources say one of the Hawks owners vetoed a hypothetical deal for Stoudemire for financial reasons.

The three-team blockbuster among the Timberwolves, Suns and Hawks hit what is being termed "a major roadblock" Wednesday according to sources.

The Wolves have been making multiple calls to find a third team that can facilitate a deal for Garnett.

The Wolves would receive the Hawks' numbers 3 and 11 picks in the draft as well as several cap-friendly contracts. The Hawks would receive Amare Stoudemire.  The Suns would get back Kevin Garnett.

But one of the Hawks owners vetoed the deal and it now seems unlikely that a deal will be consummated by draft time.

The ongoing litigation that has engulfed Atlanta's ownership group has apparently crippled the organization's decision-making ability.  

Steve Belkin won a previous lawsuit against the other Hawks owners and has the right to veto any move that puts the team over the salary cap.  Several sources indicate that it was Belkin who vetoed this proposed trade.

Meanwhile, the Suns are claiming to have never had direct contact with the Hawks and say the deal never reached the stage where they were asked to give up Stoudemire.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett is close to going to the Phoenix Suns in a monumental three-way trade that would send Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire to the Atlanta Hawks, league sources said Wednesday.

Atlanta would move the Nos. 3 and 11 picks in Thursday's draft, as well as Zaza Pachulia and Anthony Johnson, to Minnesota.

Minnesota owner Glen Taylor has delivered a mandate to his basketball executives to get a deal done, one league executive said.

Yahoo! Sports has learned that the trade would also save the Hawks from an emerging showdown between the front office and coaching staff over whom to draft with the third pick. The front office and coaching staff had settled on Florida power forward Al Horford, but a faction of the Atlanta Spirit ownership group, with business interests in China, is pushing them to take Yi Jianlian.

The deal hinges on Atlanta general manager Billy Knight saying yes, as well as Hawks ownership, which is mired in lawsuits, being willing to increase payroll. It is believed that star Hawks guard Joe Johnson talked to his former Suns teammate on Wednesday and that the 24-year-old Stoudemire, a first-team All-NBA choice, told him that he'd welcome the trade.

A source close to Kevin Garnett has said that he has Phoenix higher than the Lakers on a short list of preferred destinations.

"He definitely wouldn't mind getting alley-oops from Steve Nash," the source said.

With the Los Angeles Lakers' attempts to construct a multi-team deal or a direct trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves collapsing, ESPN's Jim Gray reports that talk of a potential three-team trade that would involve Minnesota, Boston and Phoenix has been rekindled, in which the primary cost to the Suns would be All-Star forward Shawn Marion moving to the Celtics.

Yet an even bigger trade concept, ESPN.com has learned, was hatched Tuesday by the Wolves, in which Phoenix would likely be asked to trade away the player it has been trying not to trade, All-NBA center Amare Stoudemire, who would go to the Atlanta Hawks.

Minnesota, sources say, has been adamant that any trade with Boston would include Al Jefferson. The Celtics, in turn, are willing to part with Jefferson only if they're the team that gets Garnett. It remains to be seen if either side softens its stance in the final hours before the draft.

In the newer trade scenario, sources say, Minnesota is looking to acquire Atlanta's No. 3 and No. 11 picks in the draft along with several cap-friendly contracts from the Hawks and Suns. To participate, Atlanta wants Stoudemire from Phoenix.

Such a trade would hold significantly greater appeal to Minnesota than any Celtics' offer that didn't include Al Jefferson. The Hawks, meanwhile, would be able to reunite Stoudemire with ex-Suns teammate Joe Johnson and immediately field a promising big-and-small core to build around and make Atlanta competitive, given the current state of the Eastern Conference.

The Suns, though, are understandably reluctant to part with Stoudemire after he made the All-NBA first team in what appears to be the most successful comeback from microfracture knee surgery that the NBA has ever witnessed.