GOLD Coast is still weighing up whether to accept a compensation pick for Ben King or match an offer for the free agent and force a trade.
While King has expressed a desire to leave the Suns as a free agent, the club's recruiting boss Kall Burns says there has been no official communication from King about Hawthorn being his preferred destination.
And Burns says while accepting a free agency compensation pick (pick No.7) for King is an option, the Suns could instead match the offer and force a trade, which they can do given King is a restricted free agent.
"We're working through those scenarios. You reserve the right to match if required so we're currently looking at both scenarios and working through the best way forward," Burns told Gettable on Continental Tyres AFL Trade Radio.
"He hasn't, at this stage, communicated a preferred club for that and in terms of how we decide to pursue it, we'll do what's in the best interests of the Gold Coast Suns Football Club at the end of the day.
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"I think it's important in this to remember that there's 17 clubs that we look at in terms of players to bring into our football club. I know it's probably easy to draw a line between Hawthorn and us looking at a potential deal and us looking at Hawthorn players, but we're looking at all players across all other 17 clubs.
"We'll continue to do our work on that and one of those clubs is Hawthorn, but no one specifically just yet. I know we've been linked to a few players, but we'll continue to look at players across all lists to try and improve our club."
The free agency window opens on Friday, October 2 and closes a week later on Friday October 9, while the trade period closes the following Wednesday, October 14.
Burns said the fact the free agency window closes before the trade period does is front of mind as the Suns weigh up whether to match the offer or not.
"It's a consideration. The timing is everything, so the two periods do overlap and it's something we're conscious of,” he said.
"It is part of the decision making in respect to either matching the free agency lodgement, whichever club that comes from, or not."
The Suns had been linked to young Hawks pair Aidan Schubert and Noah Mraz, who are set to struggle for senior opportunities at Hawthorn given their depth of talent at either end of the ground.
Burns did not reference those players directly, but said the Suns are always on the hunt for players who may be lacking opportunities at their current clubs.
"We'll constantly assess clubs that are bringing players in through either free agency or trade because you do get that squeeze for positions," he said.
"So typically I don't think we're different to any other club. You'll tend to look more closely at clubs bringing players in because there can be that squeeze, and that spill out, and that creates opportunity to maybe target players."
