"Grant Hill worked out several hours Friday at US Airways Center, the Suns' home.

Hill emerged from the training room in Suns practice gear after spending the day with the Suns athletic trainers and Suns players Steve Nash, Channing Frye, Robin Lopez, Josh Childress and Zabian Dowdell.

But unlike the past four years of this routine, Hill is not a Suns player. He is an unrestricted free agent who has kept his family in the Valley and expressed a desire to stay. Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby called Hill their top free-agent priority when training camp starts in a week. Like two years ago, Hill also has high-caliber, big-market suitors. The list could include Miami, Boston, New York, Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Asked Friday about the chances of a return to the Suns, Hill said, "Good chances," before adding that he did not want to negotiate in the media.

Teams were allowed to begin contacting player agents Wednesday and Hill's agent, Jim Tanner, was on the Suns' speed dial. Tanner is a former colleague of Babby, who represented Hill for the same firm before turning him over to Tanner when he took the Suns job.

"I want to let the process run its course," Hill said. "It's been a very interesting process, to say the least, and unusual in the sense that everything is so accelerated because of the work stoppage and sort of the rush to get things started.

"It's unusual at 39 to get that many looks. It's interesting.""