The Suns will have enough cap flexibility to be a player in the free agent market this summer, but GM Ryan McDonough said in an interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (hat tip to Matt Petersen of NBA.com), that he prefers to keep the franchise’s focus on the current season, not the offseason. “It’s not something we predetermine,” McDonough said. “We have it set up now where we have a decent amount [of cap space] in the summer of 2015. We have some key free agents this summer in Goran Dragic and Gerald Green that we’d like to re-sign. We’ll see how it goes.”
Here’s more from Phoenix:
- McDonough also relayed that he expects the Suns to be a draw for free agents, Petersen notes. “Jerry Colangelo was able to get Tom Chambers [in 1988],” McDonough said. “[Managing Partner] Robert Sarver and company and Jerry and that group got Steve Nash. There have been some very good players, if you look at the Suns relative to other NBA teams. This is a place where people have been able to recruit in the past. I think with all the things that the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona has going for it, we’ll be in the mix when those top free agents come.“
- The Suns have assigned Archie Goodwin and Reggie Bullock to the Bakersfield Jam, their D-League affiliate, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports (Twitter link). This will be Goodwin’s third D-League jaunt of the season, and the first of Bullock’s career.
- Phoenix’s three point guard lineup has been a key to the Suns’ recent turnaround, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes. The success that Isaiah Thomas has had in replacing Ish Smith has been one of the biggest boons to the team this season, Elhassan notes.