Suns Rumors

Pacific Notes: CP3, Suns, Clippers, Ibaka, Morris, Warriors

At age 35, Chris Paul is more than a decade older than Suns cornerstone players Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. However, the star point guard doesn’t plan to simply be the veteran mentor on a young Phoenix roster — he made it clear during his first media session this week that he also wants to help the team get back to the postseason, as Royce Young of ESPN writes.

“Everyone always talks about what I can teach (Booker) or teach some of these other guys, but they’re teaching me at the same time too,” Paul said. “I’m not James Naismith by no means. First things first, I’m not just coming in here trying to teach everybody. I’m his teammate. We’re here to hoop, we’re here to compete and that’s how I approach this.”

Meanwhile, Booker and Ayton are excited by the opportunity to team up with a 10-time All-Star like Paul, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, who says both players were shocked when they first heard about the trade bringing CP3 to Phoenix.

“I wanted to do a backflip,” Ayton said. “You ever seen a seven-footer do a backflip? OK. That’s how excited I was.”

Besides getting an opportunity to play with up-and-coming stars like Booker and Ayton, Paul is looking forward to reuniting with head coach Monty Williams, whom he played for in New Orleans for a single season 10 years ago. Williams said this week that he thinks both he and Paul have “grown a lot” in the last decade.

“I think we both were really headstrong, too, back then,” Williams said, according to Young. “I was walking around like a dictator ready to cut somebody’s head off, trying to implement my way and my program. I don’t think I was really good at allowing him to do what the great ones do. There were times I felt like I took the paintbrush out of (Paul’s) hand.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • After chemistry issues helped sink the Clippers last season, head coach Tyronn Lue is confident he’ll be able to hold players accountable in his new role by always being blunt and honest, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. “What I learned from Brian Shaw a long time ago was always tell the truth, whether they like it or not,” Lue said. “Even (back in his playing days) with Kobe and Shaq, just telling those guys the truth. They might not like it, but they respect it.”
  • Serge Ibaka‘s friendship with Kawhi Leonard was a factor in his decision to join the Clippers in free agency, he said on Thursday, as Swanson relays in a separate O.C. Register story. “One thing about me and Kawhi is like, there is no ego in our friendship,” Ibaka said. “… I know who he is and he knows as a teammate what I can do for him, for the team and it is make things smoother and easier.”
  • Lakers forward Markieff Morris said this week that rumors last month about him potentially teaming up with twin brother Marcus Morris for the Clippers were “just talk,” per Swanson. “They were just trying to scare Lakers fans,” Markieff said.
  • Warriors big man Marquese Chriss is confident that there will be plenty of minutes at center to go around around for him, Kevon Looney, and No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, as Marcus White of NBC Sports Bay Area details.

NBA Opening Night To Feature Lakers/Clippers, Nets/Warriors

2:20pm: The NBA has confirmed the opening night games detailed below, as well as the previously-reported Christmas Day schedule. The league also said that the Bucks will play the Celtics in Boston on December 23 (TNT), followed by the Mavericks playing the Suns in Phoenix (ESPN).

The full first-half schedule will be announced on Friday, December 4, according to the NBA.


10:47am: The tentative schedule for the NBA’s opening night TNT doubleheader on December 22 will see the Nets host the Warriors, followed by the Lakers and Clippers facing off in Los Angeles, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).

All four teams are scheduled to be in action on Christmas Day as well, with the Warriors visiting Milwaukee, the Nets playing in Boston, the Lakers hosting the Mavericks, and the Clippers playing in Denver.

However, the two opening night matchups are arguably more intriguing than those December 25 games. The first game of the night will see Kevin Durant make his Nets debut against his old team, while the late game will be the battle of Los Angeles that we didn’t get to see in last season’s Western Conference Finals.

With opening night less than three weeks away, the NBA is expected to officially announce its schedule any day now. The league will reportedly just reveal the first half of the 2020/21 schedule for the time being, with the second-half schedule to be announced at some point in the new year. The NBA wants to maintain scheduling flexibility due to possible COVID-19 complications.

Mavs Notes: Richardson, Brunson, Powell, Crowder, Barea

We heard prior to the offseason that the Mavericks would be prioritizing adding toughness to their roster this fall, and head coach Rick Carlisle confirmed as much this week, telling reporters that the club sought players with an “edge” (Twitter link via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News). The Mavs view Josh Richardson as one player who fits that bill.

I don’t really take well to my brothers being messed with,” the former Sixer said on Tuesday when asked about the toughness he brings to the club (Twitter link via Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News).

Beyond his willingness to play with an “edge,” Richardson also appealed to the Mavs for a handful of other reasons, as Carlisle explained.

He’s a high-level defensive player, which is something that we needed,” said the Mavs’ head coach (Twitter link via Townsend). “We’ve been looking for a guy who can guard point guards and add scoring off the ball. … He’s a guy from afar who I’ve always thought would be a great fit with Luka Doncic.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

  • After missing the end of last season due to a shoulder injury, reserve point guard Jalen Brunson said on Wednesday that he’s “100%” and ready to go, tweets Caplan.
  • Dwight Powell (Achilles) said on Wednesday that he’s also a “full go” for the 2020/21 season. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Powell will likely open the year as the Mavericks’ starting center with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined.
  • During an appearance on Burns & Gambo in on Arizona Sports 98.7 (audio link via Nick Angstadt of Locked on Mavs), Jae Crowder said that he turned down more money from the Mavericks to sign with the Suns, since he envisions a bigger role for himself in Phoenix. It’s not clear if Dallas was offering Crowder – who signed a three-year, $29MM deal – more money in 2020/21 or more money overall. The latter seems unlikely, since the Mavs appear to be preserving their 2021 cap room, but they would’ve needed to sign-and-trade for Crowder to top the Suns’ mid-level offer.
  • Carlisle said on Tuesday that the Mavericks wanted to bring back J.J. Barea due to his experience, leadership, and ability to command respect in the locker room (Twitter link via Caplan).
  • In case you missed it, Doncic became the first player to have a rookie scale team option for the 2021/22 season exercised.

James Jones Talks Offseason Moves

Suns Sign Johnathan Motley To Camp Deal

The Suns have signed free agent big man Johnathan Motley to a one-year contract, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. It’ll be a non-guaranteed camp contract, tweets Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports.

Motley, 25, has been on two-way contracts for the last three seasons, first with Dallas and then with the Clippers. Over the course of those three NBA seasons, he has averaged 4.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 46 appearances (8.1 MPG).

Motley has made a greater impact at the G League level, where he has been named to the All-NBAGL Second Team for three consecutive years. In 2019/20, he averaged 24.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .518/.356/.753 shooting in 26 games (33.0 MPG) for the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.

The Suns still project to have three open roster spots after the signing of Motley, so they could extend more camp invites if they so choose.

Jae Crowder Signs Three-Year Deal With Suns

NOVEMBER 28, 3:37pm: Crowder has officially signed, per team press release.


NOVEMBER 21, 1:03pm: The Suns have reached an agreement to sign Jae Crowder to a three-year contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The deal will be worth just shy of $30MM, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Phoenix will use its full mid-level exception to complete the signing.

Crowder, who finished the season in Miami, reportedly explored a new deal with the Heat, but was seeking a guaranteed multiyear commitment that the Heat weren’t comfortable with, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).

League sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) that Crowder also drew interest from the Mavericks, Timberwolves, Clippers, and Hornets, but that Phoenix’s offer was ultimately too good to pass up.

Crowder, 30, provides value as a three-and-D player who has the size to guard bigger wings. He also played some of his best basketball at exactly the right time in his contract year.

After being traded from the Grizzlies to the Heat at last season’s deadline, the veteran forward made 44.5% of his threes for Miami in 20 games to finish the season, then started all 21 postseason contests as the Heat came within two wins of a title.

Having secured a commitment from Crowder and having traded for All-Star point guard Chris Paul earlier in the week, the Suns are looking like an intriguing playoff contender in the Western Conference this season. The team finished five games below .500 in 2019/20, but had an impressive 8-0 run in the Walt Disney World bubble, increasing expectations for ’20/21.

Paul and Crowder will join a promising group that includes star guard Devin Booker, former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, and young wings Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, among others. The Suns also still hope to re-sign restricted free agent forward Dario Saric, per John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2020/21

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $109,140,000 threshold once their room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit of $132,627,000 as well — the Warriors project to have a nine-figure tax bill this season as a result of their spending.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows a club like Golden State to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped, as we explain in a glossary entry.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5,718,000) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron was set $6MM above the luxury tax line in 2017/18 (the first year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and creeps up a little higher each time the cap increases. For the 2020/21 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $138,928,000.

More than half the teams in the NBA have been willing to hard-cap themselves this offseason, and in some cases, it will significantly impact a team’s ability to add further reinforcements later in the league year. The Bucks and Lakers are among the teams right up against the hard cap, which may prevent them from being players in free agency during the season unless they can shed salary.

For other clubs, the hard cap is just a technicality that won’t affect their plans. The Hawks and Thunder are among the hard-capped clubs that will have zero practical concerns about reaching that threshold in 2020/21.

Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2020/21 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.


Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

Charlotte Hornets

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons

  • Acquired Jerami Grant from the Nuggets via sign-and-trade.

Houston Rockets

Los Angeles Clippers

  • Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Serge Ibaka.

Los Angeles Lakers

Miami Heat

Milwaukee Bucks

New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder

Phoenix Suns

  • Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Jae Crowder.

Portland Trail Blazers

Toronto Raptors

Utah Jazz

Washington Wizards

  • Using non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Robin Lopez.

This list could continue to grow during the offseason if other teams acquire a player via sign-and-trade, use more than the taxpayer portion of their mid-level exception, or use their bi-annual exception.

Kings Sign Frank Kaminsky

NOVEMBER 30: The deal is official, according to a press release issued by the Kings.


NOVEMBER 26: The Kings have agreed to sign free agent forward/center Frank Kaminsky to a one-year contract, his agent Kevin Bradbury tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Kaminsky’s one-year deal with Sacramento is non-guaranteed, per Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Kaminsky, 27, averaged 9.7 PPG and 4.5 RPG on .450/.331/.678 shooting in 39 games (19.9 MPG) for Phoenix in 2019/20. A patella stress fracture shortened his season, however, and he played a very limited role during the Suns’ 8-0 run in the bubble at Walt Disney World. The team declined his $5MM option for 2020/21 last week.

Having lost Alex Len and Harry Giles in free agency, Sacramento has fortified its frontcourt by agreeing to a deal with Hassan Whiteside on Wednesday and now lining up a contract for Kaminsky.

The two incoming veterans will join a rotation that also features Richaun Holmes, Marvin Bagley, and Nemanja Bjelica up front.

B.J. Johnson To Sign With Suns

Small forward B.J. Johnson is set to sign a deal with the Suns, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

Johnson, 24, was on a two-way contract with Magic for the 2019/20 season but did not receive a qualifying offer from Orlando. Details of Johnson’s agreement with the Suns are unknown as of this writing, but it’s unlikely to be a fully guaranteed deal.

The 6’7″ wing went undrafted out of La Salle in 2018. After a stop with the Magic’s G League affiliate, the Lakeland Magic, at the start of the 2018/19 season, he logged limited time for the Hawks and Kings before landing back in Orlando in the fall of 2019. He appeared in just 10 games for Orlando, averaging 8.3 MPG.

In 28 games (all starts) for the Lakeland Magic during the 2019/20 season, however, Johnson averaged 22.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 2.1 SPG. He had a shooting line of .461/.414/.784. For his efforts, Johnson was rewarded with a 2020 All-NBA G League Second Team inclusion.

Suns Sign Lottery Pick Jalen Smith

The Suns have signed lottery pick Jalen Smith, according to a team press release.

Assuming Smith received the usual 120% above the rookie scale, he’ll make $4,245,720 in his first season and a total of $19,328,334 over the next four seasons.

He’ll look to get some minutes at the power forward and center spots on a team with playoff aspirations. He played two seasons at Maryland.

The 6’10” Smith averaged 15.5 PPG on 53.8% shooting from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range, plus 10.5 RPG and 2.4 BPG as a sophomore. He finished third in the nation with 21 double-doubles last season.