The Suns waived a pair of players on Monday to reach the regular season roster limit, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Shaquille Harrison and Darrell Arthur have been cut by the team.
Arthur’s release comes as no surprise, since he was never part of the Suns’ plans for this season. Still, by waiving him now, before receiving resolution on their disabled player exception request, the Suns are no longer eligible for that DPE, as Keith Smith of RealGM confirms (via Twitter). Given that there was little evidence that Arthur had recently sustained a season-ending injury, that DPE was unlikely to be approved anyway.
[RELATED: Suns apply for disabled player exception for Arthur]
Harrison’s release is a little more surprising, given the Suns’ lack of depth at point guard. However, he was one of three players – along with Richaun Holmes and Isaiah Canaan – who was on a non-guaranteed contract, making him somewhat expendable. The Suns will now retain Canaan, Elie Okobo, and De’Anthony Melton at the point, with combo guard Jamal Crawford set to enter the mix as well.
Speaking of Crawford, the Suns will need to make one additional roster move when he officially signs his contract, which hasn’t happened yet. Davon Reed is expected to be traded or waived to accommodate Crawford.
With today’s moves, the Suns will create $7.5MM+ in additional dead money on their cap for 2018/19 — Harrison had a modest $50K guarantee, which Phoenix will eat, along with Arthur’s $7,464,912 salary.
I bet Darrell Arthur had “Fultz Elbow”
Ironically, Harrison would be a better fit on a better team. His energy and ability to get steals would play better on a team that doesn’t need him to make threes or be the primary point guard.
I dont get why theyd get rid of Harrison. He should be their starting PG…Melton has some similarities to him, but I think that’s a terrible decision
Crawford is gonna be fun to watch on the suns. That rookie Okobo is talented I think he will be good if he gets playing time and some experience. Problem is fans and media give up on young guys so quick and just want black and white either they suck or are good, so much media coverage it seems like guys have been around longer than they actually have