- Deandre Ayton (left ankle sprain) and Devin Booker (left hamstring tightness) are listed as questionable for the Suns‘ game on Thursday vs. the Clippers, tweets Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com. Booker has missed Phoenix’s last two games, but said on Tuesday that he feels “healthy” and “strong,” per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, so his return appears imminent. The team will be without point guard Cameron Payne, who left Tuesday’s loss due to a right foot sprain, Bourguet adds.
Every trade deadline features at least a small handful of deals that are exclusively about money rather than players, and this season’s deadline likely won’t be any different, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Pincus suggests the Sixers are one team worth keeping a close eye on for a possible financially motivated trade.
Philadelphia is just barely over the luxury tax line, so moving a player like Jaden Springer or Shake Milton to sneak under that threshold would save a ton of money for the team. Not only would the Sixers avoid paying a small tax bill in that scenario — they’d also be one of the non-taxpayers that receives a portion of the league-wide tax payments at season’s end. Pincus has estimated that each non-taxpayer will get a share of about $17MM, based on the current tax projections.
Here are a few more highlights from Pincus’ latest look at the trade market:
- Although the Pistons‘ front office has downplayed the likelihood of a Bojan Bogdanovic trade, Pincus hears from “well-placed” sources that Detroit may simply be waiting for an offer with a “suitable” first-round pick. Presumably, a suitable first-rounder would be one that doesn’t include heavy protections and has a chance to land in the teens or higher.
- While there has been no indication they’re pursuing him, some rival executives think the Mavericks should be targeting Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, Pincus writes.
- Pincus identifies Magic center Mohamed Bamba as a possible trade candidate to watch, since his role has declined due to Paolo Banchero‘s arrival and Bol Bol‘s emergence. Bamba’s 2023/24 salary is non-guaranteed, so his two-year, $20.6MM contract is relatively team-friendly.
- The three-team trade talks the Suns had with the Bucks and Rockets about a possible Jae Crowder trade expanded to include the Warriors, who are among the teams with interest in Crowder, says Pincus. However, nothing came of those discussions.
The Rockets have had preliminary trade talks about veteran shooting guard Eric Gordon with approximately a half-dozen teams, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
According to Feigen, a number of contenders are expected to target Gordon, given his ability to make outside shots and defend multiple positions. His pseudo-expiring contract, which is non-guaranteed for next season, should also be appealing to potential suitors.
However, Gordon’s cap hit of $19.6MM will make him a tricky piece to move, and the Rockets don’t feel any urgency to get a deal done, given that he remains under contract for 2023/24. Although the 33-year-old’s $20.9MM salary for next season isn’t cheap, Houston projects to have significant cap room and may decide that hanging onto Gordon is the best way to use of a chunk of that room.
The Rockets’ asking price for Gordon remains high, which will also complicate a potential trade. According to Feigen, Houston doesn’t just want a 2023 first-round pick from a contending team, since such a first-rounder would likely end up in the mid- to late-20s. The Rockets would be looking to add a pick in a future season or one from a third team that has a chance of landing higher in the first round, Feigen explains.
Acquiring a future pick may be a more realistic outcome, since three-team deals are complicated and Houston isn’t all that interested in adding a third 2023 first-rounder to its collection with so many young players already on the roster, says Feigen. The Rockets owe their own first-rounders to Oklahoma City in 2024 and 2026, so they may be more inclined to fortify their cache of draft assets in those years (though they do control Brooklyn’s ’24 and ’26 picks).
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- As Shams Charania reported earlier in the week, the Rockets’ asking price for Kenyon Martin Jr. is even higher than their price for Gordon. Feigen classifies Houston as “hesitant” to move Martin, since he’s enjoying a career year and still has room to grow at age 21. Feigen also observes that Martin’s contract would give the Rockets the option of declining his 2023/24 team option to sign him to a long-term contract as a restricted free agent — the club took that path with Jae’Sean Tate this past summer.
- The proposed three-team trade involving the Rockets, Suns, and Bucks that Charania mentioned on Monday didn’t get very far down the line. According to Feigen, it “never gained traction past the proposal stage or a second phone call.”
- Stephen Silas rejoined the Rockets for Tuesday’s game just three days after the death of his father Paul Silas and his emotions remained raw before and after his club’s upset win over Phoenix, Feigen writes in another Houston Chronicle story. “Definitely great to be back,” said Silas, who added that his father would have told him to “get his butt out there and coach” his team. “I love these guys. I love this team. I kind of didn’t want the game to end because now, real life starts up again.”
The Phoenix Suns appear to be in a tricky spot two months into the season.
On the surface, the Suns still rank as one of the league’s top teams. They were two victories from capturing the NBA championship two seasons ago. They proved that was no fluke last season by piling up 64 regular-season victories and entering the postseason as the No. 1 overall seed.
They couldn’t sustain that dominance in the playoffs, as they required six games to knock out the upstart Pelicans, then saw their season end unceremoniously with a Game 7 collapse against the Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.
Despite the distraction of owner Robert Sarver’s suspension and injuries to starters Chris Paul and Cameron Johnson, the Suns got off to a strong start this season. They were 16-7 but have since lost four straight.
They were blown out by the Mavs and Celtics before back-to-back losses to New Orleans, which has the look of a serious contender with the return of Zion Williamson.
The Suns should still finish in the top six in the Western Conference. They have one of the league’s premier players in Devin Booker, who is averaging a career-best 27.4 points per game.
After allowing Deandre Ayton to enter restricted free agency over the summer, the Suns chose to match the Pacers’ giant offer sheet. Ayton has remained productive, posting numbers in line with his previous seasons.
Paul has finally returned from his nagging heel ailment. Johnson should return sometime next month from his knee injury.
The Jae Crowder situation still looms over the front office. It’s not a question of if, but rather when, Crowder will be dealt. GM James Jones has patiently waited for an offer that will presumably include a rotation player to help the team this season.
Will that be enough for the Suns to make a deep playoff run? Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com doesn’t think so. He points out the team doesn’t get to the free throw line often enough and lacks the mental toughness of past teams.
Moreover, he sees the roster as being fundamentally flawed, lacking in ball-handling, offensive creation, playmaking and size at power forward.
The Suns have other assets besides Crowder to deal, most notably the expiring contracts of Dario Saric and Torrey Craig. They also own all of their future draft picks.
That brings us to today’s question: What should the Suns do to maintain their status as one of the Western Conference’s top teams? Will roster tweaks be enough or do they have to do something drastic to keep up with the other contenders?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
- Suns interim governor Sam Garvin is confident the front office will get a solid offer for Jae Crowder, who is sitting out while he awaits a trade. “(GM James Jones and his staff have) had a lot of discussions with a lot of teams that are interested in Jae. As James said, there’s no magic wand of a timeline,” Garvin told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic (subscription required). “It’s going to happen when it’s going to happen, but I think Jae is going to go somewhere and do well and I think we’re going to get value for Jae.” Garvin addresses other topics in the Q&A, including Jones’ extension and the team’s inability to sign Cameron Johnson to an extension.
- Suns star guard Devin Booker will sit out for the second straight game on Tuesday due to left hamstring tightness, Rankin writes in a separate story. Booker also missed Phoenix’s overtime loss to New Orleans on Sunday. Booker has a history of hamstring issues, Rankin notes.
- The Suns aren’t good enough to win a championship the way their roster is currently constructed, Gerald Bourguet of GoPhnx.com opines. Bourguet believes they need more ball-handling, offensive creation, playmaking and size at power forward. It’s unlikely that simply trading Jae Crowder will solve all those issues, he adds.
A pair of venture capitalists recently submitted a $3 billion offer to buy the Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, according to Marc Vartabedian of The Wall Street Journal.
The offer was made by Jack Selby, managing director of the Thiel Capital investment firm, which was founded by tech mogul Peter Thiel, and Jason Pressman, managing director of Shasta Ventures. Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, among other companies, could also provide financing for the purchase, Vartabedian reports.
Selby and Pressman had a meeting in Phoenix last Wednesday with some of the Suns’ top officials and got a tour of the team’s arena and practice facility, Vartabedian adds. They are one of several groups that are hoping to buy the team, and second-round bids are due in January.
The $3 billion offer would be the second-highest purchase price ever for an NBA franchise, trailing only the $3.3 billion that Joe Tsai paid for the Nets in 2019.
The Suns were put up for sale after the NBA suspended owner Robert Sarver for a year and fined him $10MM following an investigation into inappropriate workplace conduct. He purchased the team in 2004 for $401MM, which was a record price at the time.
Team vice chairman Sam Garvin said over the weekend that Sarver will seek a buyer who plans to keep the team in Phoenix.
The Lakers are seeking shooters in their trade talks with rival teams and have discussed a potential deal with the Pistons involving Bojan Bogdanovic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Along with players to match Bogdanovic’s $19.343MM salary, the trade could include a protected first-round pick from L.A. in either 2027 or 2029, sources tell Charania.
Bogdanovic has been enjoying a career-best season since Detroit acquired him from the Jazz in September, averaging 21.0 points per game while shooting 50.8% from the field and 43.7% on three-pointers. He signed a two-year, $39.1MM extension in October that will keep him under team control through the 2024/25 season.
Charania hears there are about a dozen teams that have expressed interest in Bogdanovic, with all offering first- or second-round picks in return. Charania’s sources say the Pistons aren’t committed to moving Bogdanovic and have expressed a “significant reluctance” to some of the teams that have inquired.
The Athletic insider passes along a few more rumors:
- The Suns were trying to work out a three-team deal to send Jae Crowder to the Bucks, multiple sources told Charania. Phoenix would have received Eric Gordon and Kenyon Martin Jr. from the Rockets in the proposed trade, while four of Milwaukee’s second-round picks would have gone to Houston, along with unidentified players. The Rockets have nixed the deal so far and are hoping to get a first-round pick for Gordon and “a very good first-rounder” if they decide to move Martin. Charania hears that Houston has gotten interest in Gordon from several contenders, but is less willing to talk about parting with Martin. The Bucks may search for another team to help complete the deal for Crowder.
- The Hawks and Heat have also expressed interest in Crowder, Charania adds, and Miami will have more assets to offer when Dewayne Dedmon, Victor Oladipo and other players become trade-eligible on Thursday.
- The Hawks have talked to several teams about John Collins, including the Jazz, Nets and Mavericks, according to Charania, who adds that Atlanta hasn’t shown interest in a Brooklyn deal that would include Joe Harris. The Suns also like Collins, but they aren’t willing to take on his pricey contract. The Hawks would like to acquire Kyle Kuzma from the Wizards, but Charania hears there’s not much traction on a potential deal with Washington.
There’s plenty of interest in Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma as the NBA’s unofficial trade season begins this week, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
Pincus cautions that Washington hasn’t decided to move Kuzma, but there’s a risk he’ll leave in free agency next summer if he declines his $13MM player option for 2023/24 as expected. General manager Tommy Sheppard recently indicated that the Wizards intend to re-sign Kuzma, but Pincus points out that the team already has two established scorers in Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis and is off to an 11-16 start.
Pincus adds that Kuzma could be one of the five best players on the free agent market and may become too expensive for Washington to keep.
“He wants out,” an NBA source said told Pincus. “He’s looking for over $20 million a season and in a big market (or with a contender).”
Pincus cites the Kings, who tried to trade for Kuzma in 2021 before the Lakers sent him to the Wizards, as a team to watch. Sacramento can’t unconditionally offer a first-rounder earlier than their 2028 pick, but Pincus believes a deal could be constructed around Harrison Barnes and either that future pick or a young prospect such as Davion Mitchell.
The Suns may see a Kuzma trade as a chance to finally unload Jae Crowder, Pincus notes, suggesting Crowder and Cameron Johnson, who is recovering from knee surgery, may be enough to get a deal done. Johnson will be a restricted free agent next summer, which would allow the Wizards to match any offer he might get.
Pincus also believes the Knicks have interest in Kuzma, who is represented by CAA, the former agency of team president Leon Rose. Obi Toppin could be the centerpiece of a deal, according to Pincus, who adds that New York has young players such as Immanuel Quickley and Cam Reddish to offer, along with a wealth of draft assets.
- Suspended Suns owner Robert Sarver wants to find a buyer who will keep the team in Arizona, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports. Team vice chairman Sam Garvin is confident Sarver will find a buyer who won’t look to move the franchise. “I think he really wants to find someone who loves Arizona, wants to keep (the Suns) in Arizona and is committed to the fans and is committed to the community,” Garvin said. “I think he’ll do a good job on the sale.”