Western Notes: Dragic, Lawson, Green

Heat point guard Goran Dragic still isn’t over his breakup with the Suns and says he will always try to emphasize that fact whenever the two teams meet, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post writes. “Oh yeah, I’m motivated – always,” Dragic said. “I wish we didn’t break on bad terms like it was, but you always want to show them they made a mistake how they treated you and that you’re a good player. There will be a lot of emotions in that game, and I’m looking forward to it.” Dragic also noted that it was not a good situation for him with the Suns organization, Lieser adds. “I was glad as soon as I got out of there,” Dragic said regarding Phoenix. “I didn’t feel comfortable with them and you never knew what to expect. I want to be in a good situation with a good organization. I know about that situation, but I’m not following it anymore.”

Here’s more from out West:

• Ty Lawson surrendered just $225K of his $12,404,495 salary for 2015/16 to secure his buyout from the Rockets, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter). This means that Houston’s cap hit for the point guard is $12,179,495.
• Jeff Green has impressed the Clippers coaching staff with his play since arriving via trade from Memphis, Robert Morales of The Long Beach Press-Telegram writes.“That was nice, yeah, that was very nice,” coach/executive Doc Rivers said of Green after his 22-point outburst against the Kings. “It was needed. You know, he’s still a ways away from being as good as he can be for us. But I like how quickly he’s kind of integrated himself into the team. And I think our guys have already figured out that he can do a lot of things. It’s unusual to watch him, you know, Blake Griffin did it, but now Jeff’s rebounding and pushing the ball up the floor himself. He’s starting plays for us, so he’s doing a lot of things that we like.”
• John Jenkins is enjoying his newfound playing time since the Suns claimed him off waivers from Dallas, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic writes. “That was definitely meaningful for me, just because I haven’t played a lot of basketball the last two and a half years,” Jenkins said after Tuesday’s contest against Charlotte, one in which he logged 14 minutes. “Anytime I can get minutes, I don’t care if it’s the end of the the game. Hopefully, it’s when we’re winning. I feel like I haven’t played in years, at least consistent minutes. This has been a tough road for me, a lot of bad luck. I feel like a rookie sometimes. The more minutes I get, the more comfortable I get.”