Suns Notes: Ishbia, Lee, Paul, VanVleet

Brothers Mat and Justin Ishbia reached an agreement last month to purchase a majority stake in the Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury. Ishbia attended Phoenix’s game against Brooklyn on Thursday and is already influencing the team’s approach to the trade deadline, Shams Charania said on The Rally (video link).

“I’m told since Mat Ishbia and his announcement that he’s going to take over the Suns’ ownership has come out, the Suns have actually informed teams that they’re willing to move a first-round pick and potentially take on salary long-term for good players,” Charania said.

We have more on the Suns:

• The team will have to make a decision on Saturday whether to offer Saben Lee another 10-day deal. Coach Monty Williams strongly endorses keeping Lee on the roster, Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com tweets. “I’m hopeful to keep him around, because he brings something that we need,” Williams said. Entering Thursday’s game, Lee had appeared in three games with Phoenix, averaging 10.0 points and 3.0 assists in 19 minutes per game.
• The Suns decided to sit Chris Paul on Thursday even though he practiced on Wednesday, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. “He did everything yesterday. It was just a decision that was made,” Williams said. It was Paul’s sixth consecutive missed game due to a hip issue.
• Phoenix has been mentioned as a potential free agent destination for Raptors guard Fred VanVleet but as Bourguet explains in detail, that doesn’t seem feasible. The Suns don’t have the cap space to sign VanVleet in free agency and would have to blow up the roster to do a sign-and-trade. Trading for him before next month’s deadline in an attempt to re-sign him to max money also seems unwise, given their salary issues, especially if Paul remains on the roster as the starter.