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James Jones Joins Suns’ Front Office; GM McDonough Extended

July 19th, 2017 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA forward James Jones appears ready to call it a career as a player, and will transition into a front office role in Phoenix. The Suns announced today in a press release that Jones has joined the franchise and has been named vice president of basketball operations.

According to the Suns, Jones will report to general manager Ryan McDonough, who has received a new multiyear contract extension from the franchise. Jones will work alongside McDonough to “oversee all basketball-related matters for the Suns,” per the announcement.

“I would like to thank [team owner] Robert [Sarver] and his partners for extending my agreement with this great franchise,” McDonough said in a statement. “We have laid the foundation for what we hope will become the next championship caliber Suns team. There is still a lot of work to be done to reach our ultimate goal of bringing a championship to Phoenix so we are thrilled to add James Jones to our staff.”

Jones, 36, has played for 14 seasons in the NBA, spending team with the Pacers, Suns, Trail Blazers, Heat, and Cavaliers, appearing in 709 regular-season games and another 148 playoff contests.. Along with LeBron James, Jones has appeared in the last seven NBA Finals. However, a report earlier this month suggested that the veteran forward wouldn’t be returning to the Cavs for the 2017/18 campaign.

Instead, Jones will take his talents to the Suns’ front office, and will look to help McDonough guide a rebuilding organization. Phoenix entered this month mulling the idea of making a big splash in free agency, but watched Blake Griffin re-sign with the Clippers and backed off Paul Millsap, opting instead to focus on developing the team’s young players.

The Suns’ roster currently features a mix of promising youngsters and veteran role players. The club figures to build around players like Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss, Alan Williams, and Tyler Ulis, with veterans such as Tyson Chandler and Jared Dudley not part of the long-term plans. Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight are also believed to be on the trade block.

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Raptors' Valanciunas Talks With Suns, Others Didn't Get Far

July 17th, 2017 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams
  • The Raptors haven’t had much luck in their efforts to trade Jonas Valanciunas, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details. According to Deveney, discussions with the Kings, Suns, Hornets, Trail Blazers, Hawks, and others “did not get very far.” Now that they’ve dumped some salary by moving DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph, it’s not clear if the Raptors are still attempting to move Valanciunas.
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Pacific Notes: Jackson, Clippers, Paul

July 16th, 2017 at 9:05pm CST by Austin Kent

No stranger to the spotlight, Josh Jackson thrived with all eyes watching how he would fare in his first summer league. In his first five games in Las Vegas, the No. 4 overall pick flourished for the Suns, Andrew Vailliencourt of The Republic writes.

Suns summer league coach Marion Garnett sees Jackson’s desire to lead the team and recognizes that it will likely be a factor when he joins the rest of his team in Phoenix.

“He has it in him,” Garnett said. “It’s kind of what he’s wired with, to be the lead dog. I don’t know how that dynamic is going to play out with our regular [Suns] group, but he does have it in him.”

In five games with the Suns’ summer league squad, Jackson posted 17.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

  • The Warriors have had a successful offseason, at least in the eyes of head coach Steve Kerr. Anthony Slater of the Mercury News recently caught up with the bench boss. “Happy for Steph that he got paid,” Kerr said. “Happy for Andre that he was rewarded for what he’s done here and I think he’s got gas left in the tank. KD facilitated a lot of that.“
  • The Clippers‘ move to add Danilo Gallinari could be indicative of the strategy Doc Rivers plans to take in 2017/18. “Losing Chris Paul is tough because he is a great player,” Rivers told Marc Spears of The Undefeated. “But we have a lot of great players on our team that play so many different ways. That is why ‘Gallo’ is so important to us, because our thought was that if you’re not going to run a point guard-dominated offense, then you’ve got to run a movement offense with versatility.“
  • After an injury plagued few seasons, Doc Rivers believes the Clippers‘ success was too dependent on the health of Chris Paul, Mark Medina of the Orange County Register writes.
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Latest On Suns, Knicks Trade Talks

July 14th, 2017 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns and Knicks have had trade talks involving Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe, but don’t appear to be close to a deal. According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (Twitter link), the two teams discussed a trade involving Knight, but the Knicks countered with a deal that included Bledsoe, which Phoenix declined.

We heard previously that the Knicks had contacted the Suns about Bledsoe. As Marc Berman of The New York Post observed at the time though, New York doesn’t have a ton of assets to offer up in a potential deal. Bledsoe isn’t a hugely valuable trade chip, but he’s a starting-caliber point guard coming off a career year and is under contract at a reasonable rate ($29.5MM for two years), so Phoenix would likely be seeking young players or picks, which the rebuilding Knicks would be reluctant to give up.

That’s not the case for Knight, who is coming off perhaps the worst year of his career, having recorded a career-low .398 FG% and 11.0 PPG. The Knicks wouldn’t have to give up as much for the former eighth overall, but Gambadoro suggests that the two teams were discussing a deal that would trade Knight “into cap space.” The Knicks no longer have space available, so it’s not clear what a Knight deal would look like at this point.

The Knicks explored signing a handful of veteran point guards in free agency, but ultimately used their cap space and room exception to sign Tim Hardaway and Ron Baker, respectively. That effectively took the team out of the market for any notable veteran free agents, but New York continues to seek out a veteran mentor for Frank Ntilikina, making the trade route a real possibility.

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Spurs, Suns Discussed Simmons Sign-And-Trade

July 13th, 2017 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Before they renounced Jonathon Simmons‘ rights and made him an unrestricted free agent, the Spurs discussed a sign-and-trade scenario that would have sent Simmons to the Suns in a deal for center Tyson Chandler, writes Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News. It’s not clear if the proposed deal would have been Simmons for Chandler straight up or if other parts would have been involved, but either way, San Antonio backed out of the deal, reluctant to take on Chandler’s contract, per Young.

With Simmons now a UFA, it will be interesting to see if the Suns make a move to land him outright. According to David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link), there’s “strong” interest in Simmons around the league, with a couple teams apparently in the lead for him. The free agent guard could make a decision by the weekend, says Aldridge.

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Knicks Contact Phoenix About Eric Bledsoe

July 12th, 2017 at 8:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks believe they can trade for a veteran point guard and have contacted the Suns about Eric Bledsoe, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.

Jeff Hornacek is well acquainted with Bledsoe after coaching him in Phoenix, Berman notes, but outside of Courtney Lee and possibly a first-round pick, the Knicks don’t have many assets to offer. Bledsoe, 27, still has two years and $29.5MM left on his current contract. He averaged 21.1 points and 6.3 assists last season, but was shut down in mid-March after playing in 66 games.

Bledsoe has reportedly been on the trade market, with the Suns talking to the Nuggets and Bulls about possible deals prior to the draft.

The Knicks are among a “multitude” of teams that have reached out to Ramon Sessions, Berman adds. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Hornets, who declined their option on him last month. New York only has $1.5MM in cap space remaining, but can go up to $2.3MM under the veterans minimum exception, which applies to players with at least 10 seasons of experience.

Another possibility Berman lists is Donald Sloan, who spent last season in China after playing for the Nets in 2015/16. In 61 games with Brooklyn that year, Sloan averaged 7.0 points and 4.4 assists per night.

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NBA Teams With Cap Room Remaining

July 10th, 2017 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

We’re only on the 10th day of the NBA league year, but already, the number of teams with cap room still available is dwindling.

Clubs without cap room remaining could create space at some point — the Knicks, for instance, used the last of their cap room to finalize Tim Hardaway‘s offer sheet, but may try to clear salary by trading Carmelo Anthony and/or Courtney Lee. For now though, only a handful of teams have a useful amount of cap space left.

Those teams with cap room are listed below, along with an informal breakdown of what their situation looks like. Many deals haven’t yet been finalized, so these figures our based on our projections, with the help of information from Basketball Insiders and HeatHoops.

Teams with cap room remaining:

  • Atlanta Hawks: With agreed-upon deals for Mike Muscala and Tyler Dorsey not yet official, the Hawks retain about $18-19MM in cap room. And that’s not counting whatever amount of money Jamal Crawford was willing to give up in his buyout, so that figure may creep a little higher.
  • Brooklyn Nets: The Nets remain in a holding pattern with Otto Porter, but after he officially moves over to the Wizards’ books and Brooklyn completes its trade for DeMarre Carroll, the team should have about $16-17MM in cap room. The Nets could create a little more space by waiving one or more non-guaranteed players.
  • Denver Nuggets: Once the Nuggets’ signing of Paul Millsap becomes official, the team won’t have much cap flexibility left, though that could change if Mike Miller is waived and/or Mason Plumlee is renounced. If both of those players remain on the cap, Denver will only have about $2MM in room. If they move on from both players, the Nuggets could get up to about $11MM+ in space.
  • Indiana Pacers: Assuming the Pacers stretch Monta Ellis‘ salary, as has been reported, they should have in the neighborhood of $7-8MM in remaining cap room, even after finalizing the acquisitions of Darren Collison, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Cory Joseph.
  • Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers have approximately $17MM in cap room left, though they’d have to renounce their remaining unrestricted free agents to make use of all that space.
  • Orlando Magic: The Magic could have retained their exceptions and cap holds and stayed over the cap, but it looks like they’re operating under the cap, signing Shelvin Mack with room instead of the mid-level exception. Orlando doesn’t have much space available, but could get up to $8MM+ in room by waiving C.J. Watson, and could increase that number a little more by cutting other non-guaranteed players.
  • Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers’ remaining cap room will depend on the exact numbers for J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson, but it figures to be in the neighborhood of $16-17MM.
  • Phoenix Suns: Alex Len‘s $12MM+ cap hold is a significant factor in the Suns’ remaining cap room. If they were to renounce Len, the Suns could get up to about $23MM in room, with the ability to create even more by waiving non-guaranteed contracts. However, if they keep Len on the books, Phoenix’s cap room is below $11MM, and will be reduced further when Alan Williams‘ new deal becomes official.
  • Sacramento Kings: Deals for George Hill, Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, and Bogdan Bogdanovic will use up most of the Kings’ space, but the team should still have room in the $8-10MM range after those signings become official.

Teams that went under the cap, but have used all (or virtually all) of their room:

  • Boston Celtics
  • Miami Heat
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • New York Knicks

These teams went below the cap this summer to accommodate big-money moves. In some cases, those deals aren’t yet official, but when they’re finalized, they’ll eliminate any cap room these teams have left. A couple of these clubs have already committed their room exception to certain players, with the Celtics on track to sign Aron Baynes and the Wolves lining up a deal with Jamal Crawford.

Teams that are operating over the cap, but could create some cap room:

  • Chicago Bulls
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Utah Jazz

These teams are currently operating as over-the-cap clubs in order to retain their full mid-level, bi-annual, and trade exceptions, but there could be scenarios in which it makes more sense to renounce those exceptions and dip below the cap.

In the Bulls’ and Mavs’ cases, it would likely only happen if they don’t retain top RFAs (Nikola Mirotic and Nerlens Noel, respectively). Meanwhile, the Jazz could only create up to about $12MM in room if they were to waive their non-guaranteed contracts  and wait to sign Joe Ingles.

Note: Items on Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic were edited after publication to adjust figures.

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Clippers, Knicks, Others Renounce UFAs

July 8th, 2017 at 9:45am CST by Luke Adams

Several NBA teams have renounced their unrestricted free agents, eliminating any form of Bird rights the team had on those players, per RealGM’s transactions log. Here’s a breakdown of which teams renounced their UFAs and what those moves might mean:

Los Angeles Clippers

New York Knicks

  • Players renounced: Ron Baker, Justin Holiday, Derrick Rose, and Sasha Vujacic.
  • The thinking: The Knicks needed to clear cap room to fit in Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s offer sheet, so these moves aren’t really a surprise. The one interesting name is Baker — the club also withdrew its qualifying offer to him. He has reportedly agreed to a deal with New York already, but if the team doesn’t need his QO or FA rights to complete that signing, it may just end up being a two-year, minimum salary contract that could be finalized once the Knicks use up their cap room on other players.

Atlanta Hawks

Detroit Pistons

  • Players renounced: Aron Baynes and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
  • The thinking: With a $125.266MM hard cap now in place, the Pistons will have to keep team salary below that figure for the rest of the league year.

Brooklyn Nets

  • Players renounced: K.J. McDaniels
  • The thinking: McDaniels’ cap hold likely had to be eliminated from the books in order to fit Otto Porter‘s offer sheet.

Phoenix Suns

  • Players renounced: Ronnie Price
  • The thinking: I don’t see any obvious reason that the Suns needed to renounce Price’s minimum salary cap hold, but there’s no reason to keep it on the books either — if the team wants to eventually re-sign Price, it can use cap room or the minimum salary exception to do so.
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Davon Reed Contract Details

July 8th, 2017 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams
  • The Suns‘ new four-year contract for second-rounder Davon Reed is fully guaranteed for the first year, half guaranteed in the second year, and non-guaranteed in years three and four (Twitter link).
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Suns Sign Second-Rounder Davon Reed

July 6th, 2017 at 3:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have made it official with one of their second-round picks, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed rookie guard Davon Reed to his first NBA contract. Reed’s deal was reported by Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).

An ACC All-Defensive player for Miami in 2016/17, Reed averaged 14.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG in his senior season, making 39.7% of his three-point attempts. Reed was one of three players selected in last month’s draft by the Suns, who also nabbed Josh Jackson with the fourth overall pick and selected Alec Peters at No. 54.

Terms of Reed’s new deal aren’t yet known. As the No. 32 overall pick, he won’t be subject to the NBA’s rookie scale. However, he’s still a good bet to earn more than the minimum — last year, before the NBA’s minimum salaries jumped, the Suns drafted Tyler Ulis with the 34th overall pick and signed him to a four-year, $4MM contract with two fully guaranteed years.

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