Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wednesday’s Suns/Hawks Game Postponed

January 13th, 2021 at 10:29am CST by Luke Adams

Wednesday night’s game in Phoenix between the Suns and Hawks has been postponed, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

As of Tuesday night, the Suns only had one player (Jalen Smith) listed as being out due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols. The Hawks are missing several players due to injuries, but had no players in the protocols.

However, Phoenix’s most recent game took place on Monday in Washington, and the Wizards had their Wednesday game postponed as a result of having too many players tied up in a contact tracing investigation. Sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that the Wizards have positive COVID-19 tests on their roster and that the contact tracing affecting Washington has now extended to the Suns.

The total number of postponed NBA games this week is beginning to add up. After postponing a game between Houston and Oklahoma City back on December 23, the NBA was able to play all of its games as scheduled up until this Sunday, when the Celtics/Heat contest was affected.

Today’s Hawks/Suns postponement represents the sixth time since Sunday that has a game has had to be pushed back, and the seventh time in total this season. Three contests (Hawks/Suns; Celtics/Magic; and Jazz/Wizards) that were initially on the schedule for tonight won’t be played.

Kaminsky Thrilled Suns Wanted Him Back

January 8th, 2021 at 9:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns rookie Jalen Smith didn’t make the team’s three-game road trip that began Friday in Detroit due to health and safety protocols, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. Smith, the 10th overall pick, hadn’t played since Phoenix’s second game against Sacramento because of an ankle injury.
Forward Frank Kaminsky made his feelings apparent about the Suns before he re-joined them, Gina Mizell of the team’s website writes. Phoenix declined a $5MM option on his contract but claimed him after the Kings waived him late in training camp. “For some reason, people tell you, ‘Don’t let it be known where you want to go or where you want to play,’” Kaminsky said. “But I don’t care. I wanted to play here. I wanted to be with this team and with this group of people.”

Nader Ready To Make Suns Debut

January 5th, 2021 at 9:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Suns coach Monty Williams said Abdel Nader is “a full go” after recovering from a concussion, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets. Nader hasn’t played since the preseason after taking hard fall at Utah. Nader was tossed into the Chris Paul trade with the Thunder and had his $1.75MM salary for this season guaranteed in November.

Community Shootaround: Are The Suns A Playoff Team?

January 2nd, 2021 at 9:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Just as they did while going unbeaten at Disney World, the Suns are sporting the best record in the NBA. Phoenix is off to a 5-1 start that includes victories over three playoff teams from last season: the Mavericks, Jazz and Nuggets.

While the results are similar to what they did in Orlando, this is a different Suns team after the offseason trade that brought in Chris Paul. In addition to serving as a veteran presence to guide his younger teammates, Paul remains a high-level point guard at age 35, averaging 13.2 points and 8.7 assists through the season’s first six games.

Paul is surrounded by plenty of weapons, much like he was in Oklahoma City last year. Devin Booker has been one of the league’s most proficient scorers for the past four seasons, and former number one pick Deandre Ayton can be a dominating inside presence. Mikal Bridges looks like one of the league’s most improved players, averaging 15.3 PPG and 5.2 RPG so far.

It has been a long time since the Suns made a serious run at the playoffs. Last year’s 8-0 performance in the bubble only brought their record to 34-39, still short of the ninth-place finish needed to reach the qualifying game. Phoenix hasn’t posted a winning season since going 48-34 in 2013/14 and hasn’t been to the playoffs in 11 years.

Although there’s plenty of optimism in Phoenix, the players realize there’s a long road ahead, Paul told Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“It’s early, it’s early. It’s a long season,” he said. “We always say this, we’re just trying to pile up wins. Just trying to pile up wins. It’s a new format as far as the playoffs and all that this season. So every game matters.”

We want to get your early-season impression of the Suns. Do they have enough talent to reach the postseason in a Western Conference race that seems to be loaded with good teams? Please leave your answer in the comments section.

New Suns Center Kaminsky Enjoyed Showing Up Kings

December 29th, 2020 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Suns center Frank Kaminsky was excited to play well against the Kings, the team that had just cut him, Suns writer Gina Mizell tweets. “I gotta be honest, that felt good,” Kaminsky said. He scored 11 points in 19 minutes off the bench for Phoenix on Sunday.

E'Twaun Moore Staying Ready Despite Seeing No Action In Two Games

December 27th, 2020 at 7:53pm CST by JD Shaw

Suns guard E’Twaun Moore is staying ready despite not making the team’s rotation in the first two games, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic writes. “To his credit, when I talked to him about it, he handled it about as good as anybody I’ve ever seen,” coach Monty Williams said. “It’s one of the reasons why we wanted him on the team. He’s going to be ready when he’s called on, but he handled it like a champion.”

Damian Jones' Salary Guarantee Date Pushed Back

December 26th, 2020 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

Damian Jones‘ 2020/21 salary was initially set to become fully guaranteed at the start of the regular season, but he and the Suns have agreed to push that deadline back to February 25, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots To Start Season

December 24th, 2020 at 12:23pm CST by Luke Adams

Now that the regular season is underway, no NBA team is carrying more than 17 players in total — 15 on standard contracts and two on two-way deals. However, not every team is making use of all 17 roster spots available to them.

Currently, 12 of the league’s 30 teams have at least one open roster spot, either on their regular roster or in their two-way slots.

Those dozen teams have different reasons for not carrying a 15th man on their standard roster. For some clubs, the decision is likely financially motivated, since an open roster spot means not having to pay an extra player.

Some teams may want to maintain the roster flexibility that an open roster provides — it can allow a club to act quickly and decisively in the event of an injury or a two-for-one trade opportunity.

A handful of teams actually can’t add a 15th man at this point, since they’re too close to their hard cap and won’t be able to fit another minimum-salary contract below that hard cap until later in the season.

With the G League season not yet underway, a healthy team may simply decide there’s no point in filling the 15th spot with a developmental player who won’t see any game action. That may also be the reason why some teams haven’t yet filled both their two-way contract slots.

Listed below, with the help of our roster counts breakdown, are the teams that aren’t carrying full rosters.

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Charlotte Hornets
Houston Rockets *
Los Angeles Clippers *
Los Angeles Lakers *
Milwaukee Bucks *
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the team can’t currently sign a 15th man due to the hard cap.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Detroit Pistons
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

Suns Pick Up 2021/22 Options On Ayton, Bridges, Johnson

December 22nd, 2020 at 9:55am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have exercised their fourth-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, along with the third-year option on Cameron Johnson‘s rookie deal, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.

All three options apply to the 2021/22 season, guaranteeing each player’s salary for that year. Ayton’s option is worth $12.63MM, Bridges’ is for $5.56MM, and Johnson’s has a value of $4.44MM.

None of the decisions came as a surprise, as all three players have established themselves as promising young contributors in Phoenix.

Ayton, the former No. 1 overall pick, averaged 18.2 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 38 games (32.5 MPG) in 2019/20 after serving a 25-game suspension to start the season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2021.

Bridges, who will also be extension-eligible next year, recorded 9.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 1.4 SPG with a solid .510/.361/.844 shooting line in 73 games (28.0 MPG) last season. He moved into Phoenix’s starting lineup later in the season, including for the team’s 8-0 run during the summer restart.

Johnson, the 11th pick in the 2019 draft, averaged 8.8 PPG and knocked down 39.0% of his three-point tries in 57 games (22.0 MPG) as a rookie. The Suns will have to decide next year whether to exercise his $5.89MM fourth-year option for 2022/23.

Suns Claim Frank Kaminsky Off Waivers

December 21st, 2020 at 10:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have reunited with veteran forward/center Frank Kaminsky, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Phoenix claimed Kaminsky off waivers.

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 month.

After being let go by the Suns, Kaminsky signed a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Kings, but was beaten out by Glenn Robinson III for the 15th spot on Sacramento’s roster and was cut on Saturday.

As a result of tonight’s waiver claim, Kaminsky is back in Phoenix on a much more team-friendly deal than the $5MM option the Suns turned down in November. Because the club had an open roster spot, no corresponding roster move was required to claim Kaminsky.