The Phoenix Suns are the first to strike in this summer?s free agent market, agreeing to terms with unrestricted free agent Raja Bell.  The contract is believed to be around $4 million to $6 million a year

"We're still negotiating the terms and everything," Bell told ESPN.com's Marc Stein, "but that's where I intend to sign."

"I felt comfortable with that, so I intended to sign with them. From there, we hadn't heard from the Jazz yet. So it was tough for me at that point. Even though I had faith that it was going to work out (with Utah), I just didn't have any guarantee (as to) what was going to happen. So I did what I thought I needed to do. I called Kevin (Friday) morning, after I got a voicemail from him.

The loss of Bell creates a leadership void in the Jazz organization, one that they will need to fill quickly if they want to turn things around for next season.

"We're disappointed we lost him," Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor said, "but that's free agency."