In keeping Boris Diaw for $45 million over five years, the Suns salaries will be piling high above the luxury-tax threshold for the 2007-08 season, according to the Arizona Republic.

The Suns' 2007-08 payroll projects to be nearly $78 million with the 10 current players whose deals are guaranteed for that season and three 2007 first-round picks to potentially add. That would be $9 million to $11 million above the luxury-tax threshold, depending on who is projecting.

The Suns would have to pay that excess as a tax and lose the money that every team - with the likely exceptions of the Suns and Dallas - would receive as a luxury-tax payout.

"As long as we're creating success and we're winning and we keep improving and the fans keep supporting us, there's no hard and fast line that says how much you have to spend or what you can't spend or will you spend the tax or will you not spend the tax?" Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver said. "To me, it's more about the success we're creating and about doing it the right way with good contracts. I don't have any preconceived notion now that says we have to do this or we have to do that. We'll see how the season goes."