Isaiah Thomas called the Suns backcourt timeshare “a tough situation” that’s “not what I expected” when he spoke this week to James Herbert of CBSSports.com, but Goran Dragic isn’t upset about the logjam and told Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic that he accepts his minutes reduction. Eric Bledsoe said the team is growing more comfortable with the situation, Coro adds. Bledsoe and Thomas signed long-term deals with Phoenix this past summer, but Dragic can opt out of his deal at season’s end and is reportedly planning to entertain pitches from other teams.
Here’s the latest from the Western Conference:
- The Lakers have a few players still young enough to hold promise for the future, like Jeremy Lin and Ed Davis, but with Julius Randle and Xavier Henry shelved for the season, there’s little in the way of developing talent on the club, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding examines.
- Caron Butler signed a two-year, $9MM deal this summer with the Pistons, his third team since the Clippers traded him in 2013, but he still has a soft spot for his former teammates in L.A., writes Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com. “Chris Paul, that’s my brother,” Butler said. “DeAndre [Jordan], Blake [Griffin], all those guys. I pull for those guys secretly. I hope that they all do well. They’re my brothers.”
- In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Jessica Camerato of Basketball Insiders looks at seven recent trades that some NBA franchises should be thankful for, including the Kings landing Rudy Gay, the Rockets snagging James Harden, and the Grizzlies acquiring Courtney Lee.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.