Shaquille Harrison turned up his defense in Las Vegas in a bid for a roster spot, writes Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. The 24-year-old averaged 2.7 steals per game to go with a 12.2/4.4/6.0 line in five summer league contests.
Harrison is hoping to earn a role as the third point guard behind Brandon Knight and rookie Elie Okobo, and Bordow believes his fate depends on what other moves the team makes this summer. New coach Igor Kokoskov said he puts “a lot” of value on Harrison’s defensive abilities.
Harrison joined the Suns on a pair of 10-day contracts before signing for the rest of the season in mid-March. A $50K guarantee kicks in August 1 on his $1,378,242 salary for 2018/19.
There’s more news out of Phoenix:
- Davon Reed, another young guard hoping for a roster spot, also helped his cause in Las Vegas, Bordow adds in the same story. Reed showed no effects of the arthroscopic knee surgery that slowed him last year as he averaged 13.4 PPG and displayed the quickness and athleticism he had before the injury. The Suns have a logjam at shooting guard with Devin Booker established as the starter and Troy Daniels, Mikal Bridges and Josh Jackson all in the mix for backup minutes. Reed has placed himself in a good position to make the roster, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who notes that the Suns extended his guarantee date so they could watch him in summer league.
- Booker was happy that the Suns elected to give him a max extension this year instead of waiting until he was a restricted free agent next summer, Bordow writes in a separate story. “Like I said Phoenix, the entire organization has been behind me since day one, starting with the draft,” Booker said. “For a team to draft you and take a chance on you means they believe in you. [Owner] Robert Sarver and [GM] Ryan McDonough, I think those guys truly believe in me and it showed with the contract.”
- Although he’s surrounded by big-name prospects, Jack Cooley has become a summer league fan favorite, relays Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Sports 98.7. The 27-year-old center was part of the Suns’ entry as he tries to get another shot at the NBA. He played seven games with the Kings last season after being out of the NBA for two years. “There’ve been talks with not just only Phoenix, but there have been a couple other teams that have rediscovered interest that wasn’t previously there,” Cooley said.
Shaq Harrison has to make this roster. His brother is a top prospect with the Marlins, but I think he’s the better player in his sport. Phoenix needs defense at the guard position. That’s a good reason for Reed to make the roster as well. They’ll have good versatility
I still day they should have waited to sign Booker
I hope to see Brock Lesnar(Jack Cooley) get a chance somewhere. He knows how to use his size
Reed is not $30MM behind Booker, except for the money.
Yeah it was Phoenix best move in a long time to sign Booker this year to the max, what else you wanna do take it to RFA & see what other teams offer, so you can try to shave off maybe 1-2 million from the top… SMH. Booker as of right now is the only guy who can win games in this team, pay him as much as you can, I would had paid him more, but they are not aloud, this guy is an absolute beast, at 21 I haven’t seen many guys scoring, shooting & doing all he does the way he does it, he is way ahead of the game, the max contract is way to cheap for him & his value, so why wait? What benefit is there for him or the team?
Jiyou do know he is one of the worst defensive players in the NBA right?