Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Ayton, K. Jones, Lakers, Warriors

July 24th, 2021 at 1:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

Deandre Ayton, fresh off of his first NBA Finals appearance with the Suns, is eligible for a five-year, $168MM max contract that would kick in at the start of the 2022/23 season, and Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic takes a look at what could be next for the big man.

Ayton’s career lows in PPG and APG were a result more of the context of adding Chris Paul and reorganizing the offense, rather than any regression on Ayton’s end, Rankin writes. In fact, Ayton’s growth as a team-first player willing to do whatever it takes for the success of the Suns adds even more appeal for the club as it decides if it will offer him a max deal.

“If sacrificing is leading the wins and where we are today, I’ll sacrifice everything, you know what I’m saying,” Ayton said. “Everything (Paul’s) told me has led up to here, so why stop now?”

We have more news from the Pacific Division:

Kai Jones, the big man out of Texas, interviewed with Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka at the NBA Combine, and has since worked out at the team’s facility, tweets Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. The big man out of the Bahamas is a Klutch Sports client who participated in Rich Paul‘s Klutch Pro Day, so the Lakers figure to be very familiar with him. Jones is considered to have one of the widest draft ranges in the first round, as he could go anywhere from the top-10 to the early 20s.
The Lakers worked out six prospects yesterday, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times: Josh Christopher, Joshua Primo, Marcus Zegarowski, Anthony Tarke, Jayvon Graves, and Eugene Omoruyi. Christopher and Primo are potentially candidates for the Lakers’ pick at 22. The Lakers are also working out six prospects today, tweets Goon: Carlik Jones, Feron Hunt, Jeremiah Tilmon, Mitchell Ballock, Greg Brown, and Neemias Queta. The Lakers don’t have a second-round pick but could try to trade into the second round.
The Warriors are bringing back Chris Duarte and Trey Murphy III for second workouts this weekend, tweets Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. While the 14th pick may be seen as a slight reach for the two older prospects, either would fit in right away with the Warriors’ needs and could have untapped upside in the team’s system.

Monty Williams A Key Part Of Suns' Success

July 23rd, 2021 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

The acquisition of Chris Paul and the continued development of Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton, and Mikal Bridges were major factors in the Suns becoming a legitimate title contender, but head coach Monty Williams‘ role in the team’s improvement shouldn’t be overlooked, writes Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer.

Lakers Eyeing Veteran Point Guards

July 21st, 2021 at 11:57am CST by Luke Adams

After failing to sign Dennis Schröder to a contract extension during the 2020/21 season, the Lakers will get another chance to sign the veteran to a new deal in free agency this summer. However, it sounds like the team is considering contingency plans to address the point guard spot.

According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, the Lakers “have been on the hunt” for a veteran point guard. Chris Paul of the Suns and Russell Westbrook of the Wizards are among the players on Los Angeles’ list as possible targets, says Spears.

While those names will raise some eyebrows, they come with several caveats. For one, the capped-out Lakers don’t have a clear path to acquiring an impact player in free agency — if Paul turns down his player option with Phoenix, L.A. wouldn’t be able to sign him outright unless he were willing to take a massive discount.

A sign-and-trade is a possibility for CP3. And if he were to pick up his option, he could be acquired via a standard trade. But the Lakers surrendered multiple future draft picks in the Anthony Davis blockbuster and aren’t in position to put together an especially tantalizing trade package for a star. It seems unlikely that Phoenix would want to send Paul to the division-rival Lakers unless the return was significant.

Westbrook is under contract for two more seasons, so he’d also require a trade and there has been no indication so far that the Wizards are looking to move him.

Spears suggests that “there have been talks” about the Lakers acquiring Westbrook in a deal that includes Schröder, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Kyle Kuzma. However, it’s unclear which parties have been involved in those “talks” — the wording could indicate internal Lakers conversations or even just speculation amongst league sources. Schröder and Horton-Tucker would both have to agree to be signed-and-traded to D.C. in such a move, further complicating matters.

Paul and Westbrook both have strong ties to Los Angeles – Paul and his family live in the L.A. area, while Westbrook was born and raised in Southern California – but a number of obstacles would have to be overcome for either player to end up with the Lakers this offseason . Still, the fact that the Lakers are considering such options suggests that the team is willing to get creative and isn’t resigned to simply meeting Schröder’s asking price in order to address the point guard position.

Suns Notes: Paul, Payne, Ayton, Bridges

July 21st, 2021 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

Over the course of his 16 years in the NBA, point guard Chris Paul has never come closer to winning a championship than he did this season with the Suns. But ultimately, his season ended like most of those other 15 did — with a playoff elimination. As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, Paul now holds the ignominious distinction of being the only player in NBA history to lose four different series in which his team held a 2-0 lead.

Paul has a $44MM player option for the 2021/22 season and it remains unclear what his plan is for that option. Picking it up and trying to work out an extension with the Suns would be one viable path. Opting out in search of a new multiyear deal would be another. After Tuesday’s loss, the 36-year-old wasn’t ready to discuss his intentions, simply confirming that he’s not considering the possibility of retirement.

“It will take a while to process this or whatnot, but it’s same mentality,” Paul said, per McMenamin. “Get back to work. I ain’t retiring, if that’s what you’re asking. That’s out. So, back to work.”

While Paul didn’t specifically address his contract situation, his comments after Game 6 made it sound as if he’s leaning toward remaining in Phoenix, McMenamin notes. The veteran guard spoke about the Suns’ desire to continue improving and to compete for a championship again in 2022.

“Everybody in that locker room knows we had enough, but it wasn’t enough,” Paul said. “So, we got to figure it out. I think for me, I just look at myself and figure out how can I get better, what I could have done more and make sure I come back next season ready to do it again.”

Here’s more on the Suns:

Although the Suns’ loss adds to Paul’s list of playoff disappointments, his legacy as a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and one of the all-time great point guards has already been cemented, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Mark Medina of USA Today makes a similar case, arguing that CP3’s legacy shouldn’t be tarnished by Phoenix’s loss.
In his preview of the Suns’ offseason, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) takes a closer look at Paul’s contract situation and several of the other decisions facing the Suns, including Cameron Payne‘s free agency and possible rookie scale extensions for Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges. Adding backcourt bench depth will also be a priority this summer for Phoenix, Marks adds.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic also explores what’s next for the Suns, suggesting that the team should be open to moving the No. 29 pick in next week’s draft for veteran help if the right deal arises.

Bucks Win 2021 NBA Title, Giannis Named Finals MVP

July 20th, 2021 at 11:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks closed out the Suns on Tuesday night, winning the 2021 NBA Finals by a 4-2 margin and earning the franchise’s first championship in 50 years. Milwaukee last won a title in 1971, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and hadn’t earned a spot in the Finals since 1974 before this year.

Two-time Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for the Bucks, improbably earning NBA Finals MVP honors in a unanimous vote just three weeks after suffering what initially looked like it might be a season-ending knee injury.

Antetokounmpo’s knee hyperextension caused him to miss the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against Atlanta, but Milwaukee advanced to the Finals without him and he was able to get back on the court for Game 1 vs. Phoenix. The 26-year-old subsequently showed no ill effects from the injury, averaging an incredible 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game on 61.8% shooting in the six-game series.

Antetokounmpo’s performance on Tuesday was especially remarkable, as he became the first player in postseason history to register at least 50 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a single game, per Justin Kubatko (Twitter link). Giannis’ 50 points tied the record for most points in an NBA Finals closeout game, according to ESPN Stats and Info (Twitter link).

Antetokounmpo becomes the third player in NBA history to win an MVP award, a Finals MVP award, and a Defensive Player of the Year award over the course of his career, joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The Bucks’ championship victory is especially meaningful not just for Antetokounmpo but also for head coach Mike Budenholzer, whose job would have been in jeopardy if Milwaukee had been eliminated earlier in the playoffs, and for general manager Jon Horst, who took a big swing by giving up several first-round picks and swaps for Jrue Holiday during the 2020 offseason.

Although Holiday’s offensive production was up and down during the series, his defense on Suns guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker was a crucial part of the Bucks’ success and ensured that Horst’s gamble paid off.

While the Bucks will have some roster issues to address in free agency, especially if Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes opt out, the team has its entire starting lineup under contract for next season, with Antetokounmpo, Holiday, and Khris Middleton all locked up for multiple years. The Suns will be in a similar position if Paul returns to Phoenix.

The NBA offseason is now officially underway.

Poll: Which Team Will Win Game 6?

July 20th, 2021 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

With Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s availability up in the air heading into the NBA Finals, the Suns were considered the favorites to win the title. And even though Antetokounmpo was able to suit up for Games 1 and 2, Phoenix won both games, securing a 2-0 lead and further cementing the club’s position as the championship frontrunner.

Since then, however, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks have stormed back. Milwaukee has won three consecutive games, including a pair that went down to the wire. And Giannis has led the way in those victories, averaging an eye-popping 33.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game on 60.0% shooting. The two-time MVP also delivered signature moments in the final minutes of Games 4 and 5, with an incredible blocked shot last Wednesday and an impressive alley-oop finish on Saturday.

While Antetokounmpo has been the driving force behind Milwaukee’s comeback, he’s gotten some help. Khris Middleton poured in 40 points in the Bucks’ Game 4 win and added 29 more in Game 5. Jrue Holiday, after shooting just 4-of-20 in Game 4, made 12-of-20 shots in Game 5, racking up 27 points and 13 assists to go along with a key late-game steal.

The Suns, meanwhile, have gotten up-and-down production from their stars during their three-game losing streak. Devin Booker scored just 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting in Game 3. He bounced back with 42 points in Game 4, but Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton combined for only 16 points on 8-of-22 shooting in that loss.

Booker (40 points), Paul (21 points, 11 assists), and Ayton (20 points, 10 rebounds) were firing on all cylinders in Game 5, but it wasn’t enough — the Suns shot .552/.684/.909, but didn’t play quite enough defense to pull out a win in their home arena.

Now the Suns find themselves in a tough spot tonight. They’ll have to head into Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks are 9-1 so far in the postseason, and find a way to force a Game 7. If a Game 7 is necessary, it’ll take place on Thursday in Phoenix, so the Suns could once again emerge as the favorites to take home the title. But for the time being, they’re significant underdogs, on the road facing a 3-2 deficit. The Bucks are favored by five points on Tuesday.

We want to know what you’re expecting to happen tonight. Will this be the last day of the 2020/21 NBA season, with the Bucks winning a fourth straight game and earning a championship? Or do the Suns have a little more life in them? Can they force a Game 7?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your predictions!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Western Notes: Williams, Suns, Blazers, Gilgeous-Alexander

July 18th, 2021 at 8:56pm CST by JD Shaw

The Suns will look to regroup in Game 6 after losing three straight contests to the Bucks, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes. Phoenix now trails 3-2 in the series entering Tuesday’s pivotal game.

“We got to win one game to put them back on the plane,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “That’s it. And you have to have that determination that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to put them back on the plane.”

Game 6 of the Finals will take place in Milwaukee, meaning a Suns win would allow the team to play Game 7 at home. The club won its first two contests in its own arena before dropping Saturday’s game 123-119.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Chris Paul said. “We didn’t expect it to be. It’s hard. Coach said it all year long: Everything we want is on the other side of hard, and it don’t get no harder than this.

“So, we got to regroup, learn from this game. But it’s over. We got to get ready for Game 6.”

There’s more out of the Western Conference:

The Suns have been hampered by defensive issues and ball protection, according to The Arizona Republic. Phoenix struggled in non-Deandre Ayton minutes during Game 5, playing Torrey Craig, Jae Crowder and Cameron Johnson when Ayton sat on the bench. The team mostly played Dario Saric in those minutes during the regular season, but Saric suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter of Game 1.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated examines the current situation between Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers. To this point, Lillard has publicly denied the notion that he plans to request a trade, but he’s also explained the importance of building a contender around him this summer. The Blazers were eliminated by the short-handed Nuggets during the first round of the playoffs this spring. “Right now, I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” Lillard said on Friday. “My intention, my heart has always been set on being in a Trail Blazers uniform for my entire career. But I think over time, you want to win it all. I want to win it all in a Trail Blazers uniform. We all have to be making strides toward that.”
Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman explores why it wouldn’t make sense for the Thunder to trade Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander appeared in 35 games for the team this year, averaging 23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per outing.

Suns, On The Brink, Dependent On Booker Isolation Play

July 18th, 2021 at 3:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After falling 123-119 to the Bucks, the Suns find themselves on the brink of losing the 2021 NBA Finals. They have their sights squarely set on a must-win Game 6 on Tuesday. Mark Medina of USA Today opines that the club may be relying too much on the production of 24-year-old All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker.

“We know what Book can do with the ball, but the one thing we talked about was getting to the paint, finding guys on the back side,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said of the ball sticking with Booker. “We feel like that’s a formula.”

Medina contends that the Suns suffered due to their dependence on Booker to bail out possessions with isolation scoring.

Suns center Deandre Ayton – who has thrived during a breakout postseason, his first playoff appearance – welcomes the challenge of a must-win Game 6, writes Mark Medina of USA Today. “I like it. It’s fun; the tables are turned now,” Ayton said. “Now we’re the desperate team. We had our chances of being up and trying to finish the job, now we’re in the same position that they were in. They’re up, and now we got to go get it. That’s why it’s a little bit more fun.” The top pick in the 2018 draft, Ayton is eligible for a contract extension during the 2021 offseason. His recent play should earn him a maximum-salary offer or something close to it.

Warriors Notes: Wiseman, Mitchell, Kuminga, Olympics

July 18th, 2021 at 10:29am CST by Arthur Hill

Watching the NBA Finals has given Warriors coach Steve Kerr hope that James Wiseman can develop like Suns center Deandre Ayton has, writes Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area. In a radio interview this week, Kerr compared his rookie big man to Ayton, who is one of the cornerstones on a title contender in his third year in the league.

“I’m just so inspired by what Ayton has been able to do. And I think there’s no reason why James can’t follow that same path,” Kerr said. “(The Suns) really streamlined his game. You think back a couple years ago and he was kind of all over the map. You could tell how gifted he was, but you weren’t exactly sure what he was. They’ve figured it out. I’m watching Ayton quite a bit and I’m thinking a lot about how we can use James and simplify the game and make him really effective for us next year.”

Wiseman was the second player taken in last year’s draft, but his adjustment to the NBA didn’t go smoothly. He averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per night, but only played 39 games because of injuries before undergoing season-ending meniscus surgery in April. Kerr believes patience is the key to Wiseman’s ultimate success.

“I know everybody is impatient (and) wants him to be great now. It just doesn’t work that way,” he said. “But if we continue to develop him and we’re having a great season — that’s the whole plan, that’s the whole idea. Over the long haul, we’re gonna develop James and we feel like he’s gonna be our starting center at some point for a long, long time.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Golden State hosted several top prospects this week, but the team still prefers to trade the Nos. 7 and 14 picks for a veteran who can contribute right away, sources tell Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle. The Warriors brought in Davion Mitchell for a private workout on Thursday, and Letourneau hears that the front office is split on the Baylor guard, with some believing he can provide immediate help and others concerned that he’s too old at nearly 23 to justify a top-10 selection.
There’s speculation that Jonathan Kuminga could fall to No. 7, which James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area calls “a dream come true” for the Warriors in his latest mock draft. Although the 18-year-old is a raw talent, he could be groomed as a replacement for free agent forward Kelly Oubre or he may be an attractive target for teams that want to trade up.
NBA.com tracks the Warriors’ connections to the Olympic tournament, which will start next weekend. Draymond Green of Team USA and Nico Mannion of Italy will both be playing, while Kerr is an assistant for the U.S. and Mike Brown is the head coach of Nigeria.

COVID-19 Concerns Return Amid NBA Finals

July 17th, 2021 at 7:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

An NBA season that began under the threat of COVID-19 appears to be ending the same way. In addition to Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who has been ruled out of tonight’s Game 5 after being placed in health and safety protocols, the Bucks will be without assistant coach Josh Oppenheimer, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

This will be the third straight game that Oppenheimer has been forced to miss, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link), but there’s hope he may be back for Game 6 (Twitter link).

The virus has also impacted the officiating crew for tonight, as the league announced (via Twitter) that referee Sean Wright has been placed in health and safety protocols. James Williams will take his place.

There has been growing concern that the league wouldn’t be able to crown a champion without COVID-19 becoming a factor again, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. Cases are rising across the country, and the sports world is feeling the effects. Bradley Beal had to leave the U.S. Olympic team this week and Jerami Grant‘s status is uncertain as he remains in the health and safety protocols.

Amick points out that the league has taken great precautions since the season started in December to minimize the effects of the virus. Testing has been constant for players, coaches and staff members, and some teams have been shut down for a week or more after recording multiple positive tests.

“There’s a real push to stay safe, to stay healthy, to be vigilant,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said before today’s cases were reported. “Both teams, we’re very, very close to the finish. We’re excited about finishing this strong.”

There have been recent changes throughout the NBA landscape, Amick adds. Masks are once again required for media members after those policies had been relaxed, and staff members are being asked to stay away from public settings as much as possible. Suns guard Devin Booker told Amick that most players are choosing to stay inside and avoid potential risks.

Teammate Chris Paul had to sit out the first two games of the Western Conference Finals after returning a positive test. He’s concerned about his family in the Los Angeles area, which has experienced a recent surge in the virus.

“I pay close attention to it,” he said. “I have family just like everybody else. My parents (are) traveling to Milwaukee (for games), coming to this game (in Phoenix). My kids. L.A. just put a new mandate in where you wear a mask inside. My family is there. I pay attention to it just like everybody else. Try to control what I can control. Stay in the moment with the Finals, but health is a huge concern, not just for my family but for everybody.”