- Suns wing Cameron Johnson has changed representation, hiring agents Ty Sullivan, Steve Heumann, Melvin Booker and Simone Capers of CAA Basketball, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Johnson, who is entering his third season in the league, averaged 8.2 PPG in 21 game during Phoenix’s postseason run to the Finals. Johnson, a 2019 lottery pick, is extension-eligible next offseason. Melvin Booker is Devin Booker‘s father.
- Suns point guard Chris Paul called it an “easy decision” to return to Phoenix as a free agent this offseason, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. “Not only did I love the basketball aspect, I’m close to family (in Los Angeles) and Phoenix is a family, too,” Paul said. “I’m excited to be back there.”
Former Suns guard Ty-Shon Alexander has signed a two-year deal with Italy’s Virtus Bologna, according to a team press release.
The Suns waived Alexander late last month. According to Sportando’s Alessandro Maggi, Alexander’s European contract includes an NBA opt out clause after the first season.
Undrafted out of Creighton last year, Alexander appeared in 15 regular-season games with Phoenix on a two-way contract. He averaged just 3.1 MPG in those appearances. Alexander also saw brief action in one Finals game.
Additionally, he appeared in 15 G League games, averaging 9.3 PPG and 1.9 APG in 23.7 MPG.
In his last college season, he averaged 16.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .431/.399/.860 shooting.
Virtus Bologna’s GM Paolo Ronci said in a statement, “Ty-Shon Alexander is a young player with great prospects who has already gained experience in an important franchise like the Phoenix Suns. His arrival allows us to complete the roster with characteristics useful in the immediate future and at the same time with a perspective of future development of our team.”
The Trail Blazers have 13 players with guaranteed contracts on their roster and have added Dennis Smith Jr. and Marquese Chriss on non-guaranteed deals to vie for one of the team’s open roster spots. However, that competition may end up including more veterans than just Smith and Chriss.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Trail Blazers are eyeing other free agent forwards as possible training camp invitees. Michael Beasley, who played for Portland’ Summer League team, is one possibility. The club is also eyeing veteran stretch four Patrick Patterson, says Scotto.
The Blazers still only have 16 players under contract, which means there are four more spots available on their 20-man offseason roster.
As we wait to see how Portland fills those openings, here are a few more items of interest from Scotto:
- Having previously identified the Bulls as one team interested in free agent wing James Ennis, Scotto adds a few more clubs to that list, suggesting that Ennis has also drawn interest from the Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Magic. Ennis, who has spent most of the last two seasons in Orlando, knocked down 43.3% of his three-point attempts in 2020/21.
- Another player who has received interest from the Trail Blazers is big man Isaiah Hartenstein, according to Scotto, who says the Clippers have kicked the tires on the former Cav as well. As I detailed on Tuesday, Hartenstein is the only player who is still a free agent after declining an option earlier this summer.
- Before he signed with Chicago, Alize Johnson generated interest from a handful of other teams, including the Clippers, Suns, and Knicks, per Scotto. If the Clippers had wanted Johnson badly enough, they could’ve claimed him off waivers using one of their trade exceptions, which wasn’t an option for Phoenix or New York.
SEPTEMBER 8: Hutchison is on a two-way deal, per NBA.com. The Suns are now carrying 14 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way contract.
SEPTEMBER 7: The Suns have officially signed free agent wing Chandler Hutchison, the team announced today in a press release. Hutchison was cut by San Antonio on Saturday and cleared waivers on Monday.
Hutchison, 25, has appeared in a total of 97 NBA games for the Bulls and Wizards since being selected 22nd overall in the 2018 draft. After averaging 20.0 PPG with a .359 3PT% in his final college season at Boise State in 2017/18, he has struggled to score consistently at the NBA level, recording 5.7 PPG on .441/.309/.638 shooting in 18.2 minutes per contest.
Hutchison was traded from Chicago to Washington at this year’s trade deadline, then was flipped to San Antonio in the five-team trade that included Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Spurs also got a 2022 second-round pick in that deal for taking on Hutchison, signaling that he was a salary dump who wasn’t in the team’s plans.
In Phoenix, Hutchison will join a team that had been carrying just 14 players, all on guaranteed standard contracts. The Suns don’t have luxury tax concerns, so they could comfortably carry a 15th man in the regular season. For now, it looks like Hutchison is the frontrunner to fill that spot, though we don’t yet know the terms of his new contract.
There were some “intense” talks in the Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade negotiations between the Cavaliers and Bulls for several days leading up to their agreement last week, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype said in his latest podcast with Yossi Gozlan.
According to Scotto, Cleveland originally wanted to include three second-round picks in their offer for Markkanen, but Chicago insisted on receiving a first-rounder, and the Cavs were able to get one from Portland for Larry Nance Jr. and reroute it to the Bulls.
Even after securing that first-round pick, the Bulls held out for a second-rounder on top of that, according to Scotto, who says some of the parties involved in those negotiations were frustrated by what they perceived to be a moving of the goal posts. Eventually though, the Cavs sent a protected second-round selection to Chicago to get the deal done.
Here’s more from Scotto:
- Second-year big man Jalen Smith has been made available by the Suns, multiple sources tell Scotto. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report stated last month that Phoenix was gauging interest in Smith, and I speculated earlier this week that the former lottery pick could be in play if the Suns make a trade offer for Spurs forward Thaddeus Young.
- Scotto reports that the Nets have offered a first-round pick swap in trade talks involving center DeAndre Jordan, but haven’t found any takers. The two sides are reportedly exploring a buyout.
- Jared Dudley told Scotto that he planned to retire if the Lakers didn’t re-sign him, since he didn’t want to play anywhere else. When L.A. chose to move on, Dudley accepted an assistant coaching job with the Mavericks.
- The Bulls are among the teams that have shown some interest in free agent wing James Ennis, according to Scotto.
- When he re-signed with the Knicks, Nerlens Noel wasn’t assured the starting center job, but he’ll get a chance to compete for that role and will “definitely” play meaningful minutes, says Scotto.
The level of intensive game preparation that Suns head coach Monty Williams prefers appealed to All-Star point guard Chris Paul even prior to the team trading for him, writes Dana Scott of The Arizona Republic. Williams and Paul led the club to its first NBA Finals appearance in 28 years during the 2020/21 season, Paul’s first with the team.
“When I thought about going to Phoenix, see, people didn’t even know that was in my mind, right, to go to Phoenix,” Paul said of his thinking before being traded to the Suns by the Thunder during the 2020 offseason. “I knew Monty already, and regardless of how our relationship has been in the past, or even that year when I played for him, I know his mindset, so I know he prepares, right? It’s a preparation thing, too. You want to know when you in the last minute, two minutes in the game that coach, that coach can give you X’s and O’s.”
There’s more out of the Pacific Division:
- Veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, expected to return to the Lakers on a veteran’s minimum deal this week, will be an obvious locker room boon, but Bill Oram of The Athletic wonders how Rondo will contribute on the court. Oram notes that Rondo, who won his second NBA title as a key role player for Los Angeles in 2020, was not nearly as valued a rotation player in a 2021 postseason spent with the Lakers’ cross-town rivals, the Clippers.
- The Warriors are not believed to be considering adding veteran guard Avery Bradley, tweets Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. An 11-year vet, Bradley began the 2020/21 season with the Heat before being traded to the Rockets. He averaged 6.4 PPG on 37.4% field goal shooting, to go along with 2.1 RPG and 1.7 APG, in 27 games. The Rockets declined their $5.9MM team option on Bradley before the start of free agency this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
- In case you missed it, 34-year-old former NBA point guard Darren Collison is set to work out for the Warriors this week. Collison last suited up for the Pacers during the 2018/19 season, before surprisingly announcing his retirement during free agency in the summer of 2019.
The Suns are among the contending teams that have pursued veteran forward Thaddeus Young, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Young, who will earn $14.19MM in a contract year in 2021/22, was sent from the Bulls from the Spurs in the sign-and-trade deal that landed DeMar DeRozan in Chicago.
Young is coming off a productive season, having averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 4.3 APG with a career-best .559 FG% in 68 games (24.3 MPG) for the Bulls in 2020/21. And his expiring contract at a reasonable rate makes the 33-year-old a relatively safe investment.
However, it’s unclear whether he’s in the Spurs’ plans or if the team simply acquired him as part of the DeRozan return for salary-matching purposes and would happily flip him. Charania suggests that San Antonio is expected to receive “strong interest” in Young from playoff teams.
Phoenix could use some extra depth at the power forward spot since Dario Saric is expected to miss most or all of the 2021/22 campaign while recovering from a torn ACL. Any offer the Suns make for Young would likely start with Saric (who is earning $8.51MM) for salary-matching purposes and would have to include another asset or two.
The Suns would have to add a little more salary to Saric’s $8.51MM to sufficiently match Young’s cap hit, and many of their lesser-paid players aren’t yet trade-eligible since they were recently signed. As such, second-year center Jalen Smith looks like a potential candidate to be included in any offer for Young, though that’s just my speculation.
The Suns have waived Ty-Shon Alexander, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets.
Alexander, 23, played on a two-way contract last season. He went undrafted out of Creighton in 2020.
Alexander appeared in 15 regular-season games but he only averaged 3.1 MPG in those outings and scored a total of nine points. The 6’3” guard made a cameo appearance in Game 3 of the Finals against Milwaukee and also appeared in 15 G League games, averaging 9.3 PPG and 1.9 APG in 23.7 MPG.
In his last college season, he averaged 16.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG on .431/.399/.860 shooting.
Having parted ways with Alexander, the Suns now have both of their two-ways slots open. The team is carrying just 14 total players, all on guaranteed contracts.
Suns head coach Monty Williams recently sat down with Sam Amick of The Athletic to discuss Phoenix’s run to the 2021 NBA Finals, his relationship with All-Star point guard Chris Paul, his visit to the champion Bucks’ locker room after the Suns lost the series 4-2, and more.
“I think you’re always going to have that hole in your heart about it — your sports heart, anyway,” Williams said of his feelings following the Suns’ defeat this year. Phoenix made its first playoff berth in 11 seasons, and its first NBA Finals appearance since 1993.
“You had that chance, and you’re praying and hoping like heck that you’ll have a chance to do it again. That’s always going to be there. I think I had to get away from it, at least away from the building, from the city, for a little bit to just kind of connect with my family.”
Paul, who played through multiple injuries during the postseason, underwent left wrist surgery after Phoenix’s season ended.
“I’m sure he didn’t want to tell people, but I think that part bothered me because he was getting all kinds of flack over it, and I was like, ‘Nobody knows,’” Williams said.
Here are a few more noteworthy quotes from the Suns’ head coach:
On when Paul’s wrist injury began to impact his on-court contributions:
“I think it was when (then-Clippers guard Patrick Beverley) made that play on him and he had to put his hand down, I think that’s when it probably started. I don’t think anybody did it on purpose, but he got to a point where he just couldn’t use it like he normally could. So that part bothered me because he was getting flack and he’s out there battling, playing in that much pain.
“We tried (to get Paul to discuss it), man. And that was another thing, to play with that kind of pain and fight through it, I’m sure, had a huge impact on our young guys. To see a guy who has accomplished everything except, you know, winning a title, is out there fighting his tail off every night and not willing to come out of the game. I’m sure it had a huge impact on all of our young guys.”
On the Suns’ decision to re-sign Paul to a big-money deal in free agency:
“We didn’t want to lose him. That was always at the top of our minds. But we also respected the fact that he had earned the right to be a free agent, and anything could happen — even though, in my mind, I wouldn’t say I knew he was coming back, but I did feel like there was a level of comfort in our program. I think he and I have a level of trust that we both know is not always like that in other places.”
On congratulating Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Bucks teammates on their victory in the Milwaukee locker room after Game 6:
“All I wanted to do was congratulate Giannis, because I came right out of a press conference and I shut the door and I went right into him. I come right out of my press conference, I’m emotional, and then I run right into him and I just wanted to be gracious and say, ‘Congrats. You deserved it. You beat us.’
“What I’ve learned over the course of my career is to try to handle defeat the right way, and maybe you get a chance, maybe you get a chance to handle the other side of it. I remember when we beat Denver (in the second round of the playoffs), (Nuggets president of basketball operations) Tim Connelly came straight down to our locker room. That had a huge impact on me when we beat Denver. When I was in San Antonio (as an assistant coach) and we beat the Pistons in Game 7 (of the Finals) in ’05, Coach (Larry) Brown and (then-Pistons assistant coach) Dave Hanners came right over to our locker room. And so I’ve had these examples, and I was always taught that.”
On the Suns’ outlook for 2021/22:
“I’ve been meeting with the coaches, just talking about how to approach this year because this is an unknown with such a short rest. But the West is tough. But every year the West is tough. And you know, nobody picked us to be (in the Finals). Look where we were picked last year. Some people didn’t even have us making the playoffs, even with Chris.”