Pacific Notes: Suns, Clippers, Kings, Warriors

Although the Suns reportedly met with free agent combo guard Jamal Crawford on Friday, interim GM James Jones said earlier in the day that the team doesn’t mind entering the season with its current group of point guards, as Gina Mizell of The Athletic relays (via Twitter).

“They’ve had their ups and downs, but [Suns] coach Igor [Kokoskov] is adamant that we have enough playmakers to figure it out,” Jones said. “We’ll continue to look to improve and strengthen our team, but right now, we like our young guys.”

After trading Brandon Knight during the offseason, the Suns now have Shaquille Harrison, Isaiah Canaan, De’Anthony Melton, and Elie Okobo at the point. Melton and Okobo have yet to appear in a regular season NBA game, and it’s not clear whether the team will keep both Harrison and Canaan through Monday. Phoenix currently has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, with Harrison, Canaan, and Richaun Holmes on non-guaranteed deals.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

• Clippers head coach Doc Rivers believes roster cutdown decisions are “always hard,” but this year’s cuts will be especially challenging for his team, as Mirjam Swanson of The Los Angeles Times details. Patrick Beverley and Tyrone Wallace, whose salaries aren’t fully guaranteed, are likely to make the roster, which means L.A. will likely have to trade or waive two players with guaranteed contracts. Jawun Evans, Sindarius Thornwell, and Wesley Johnson are among the candidates.
• The Kings will be bringing back most of the same players that were on the roster in 2017/18, but with Garrett Temple no longer in Sacramento, the team is without a leader, writes James Ham of NBC Sports California. Head coach Dave Joerger acknowledged this week that Temple is “greatly” missed in the locker room, adding that his club is dealing with a “vacuum of leadership.”
• Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will be an assistant coach for Team USA during the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics, and several of his players are hoping to join him on those teams, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. Klay Thompson tells Friedell that it would be “awesome” if five current Golden State players – Thompson, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins – made the Team USA roster.