The Suns are interested in the Zach Randolph, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.com notes. With the Suns looking to be buyers at the deadline, and having Emeka Okafor‘s expiring contract, along with as many as four first-round picks in this year’s draft, they have some ammunition to acquire a significant piece to help them advance in the playoffs this year. The team had been pursing the Pau Gasol of the Lakers, but his recent injury as well as the Lakers’ insistence on receiving a high draft pick have cooled those talks. David Aldridge of NBA.com also weighed in on the possibility of the Suns trying to obtain Randolph. The Grizzlies aren’t shopping him, but that doesn’t mean the right offer couldn’t pry him loose. Randolph is averaging 17.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 2.6 APG.
More from the west:
- In the same article, Kennedy also notes that the Timberwolves would most likely be quiet on the trade front. He referenced this interview from the team’s president of basketball operations Flip Saunders, via the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. According to the article, Saunders and his staff did a study of 189 trades made over the last 10 years. Saunders stated, “Of the 189 trades, teams that were at or below .500, only 14 percent made the playoffs. With teams above .500 making a trade, only 55 percent stayed at the same position or improved.” The math on the study indicated that 45 percent of the teams making trades came out worse in the standings after making a move. The Timberwolves are currently 24-27, and according to the team’s numbers, the odds are against them making a trade.
- The Rockets announced via Twitter that they’ve recalled Robert Covington from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. Covington, who has been assigned to the D-League twice this season, will be in action for tonight’s game against the T’Wolves.
- Guard Archie Goodwin has been recalled from the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League, the Suns announced. During his second and most recent assignment with Bakersfield, Goodwin appeared in three games, averaging 24.3 PPG on 55.1 percent field goal shooting and 4.7 RPG in 29.7 minutes. The 19-year-old has played in 37 games for Phoenix this season and is averaging 3.1 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 10.5 minutes per contest.
- This time next year, we’ll know how serious the Warriors ownership group is about winning, writes Daniel Leroux of RealGM. By then we’ll have a sense of whether the club is actually willing to pay the luxury tax and what they’ll do with coach Mark Jackson.
Zach Links contributed to this post.