Suns Not Re-Signing Ronnie Price

Free agent point guard Ronnie Price appears headed to a new team, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who reports (via Twitter) that Price has agreed to a two-year deal with an NBA club. The identity of that mystery team isn’t yet known, but Gambadoro clarifies (via Twitter) that Price won’t be returning to the Suns, who previously had interest in the veteran guard on a one-year contract.

Price, 33, hasn’t played for the same team in consecutive seasons since spending four years in Utah from 2007/08 to 2010/11, so his departure from Phoenix doesn’t come as a shock. Still, he had expressed optimism back in April about remaining a Sun, and a report earlier this month indicated that he was still on the team’s radar.

In 2015/16, Price established a new career high for playing time, appearing in 62 games and earning more than 1,200 minutes for the Suns — it was the first time in his 11-year career that he had cracked the 1,000-minute mark. His numbers in those 62 appearances were modest, however. For the season, Price averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.4 APG to go along with a shooting line of .384/.347/.756.

With Price not returning to Phoenix, the Suns may be preparing for second-round pick Tyler Ulis to have a role backing up Eric Bledsoe. As the team’s depth chart shows, Leandro Barbosa and Brandon Knight are among the other guards on the roster capable of handling the ball, though they also figure to see time at the two.