Phoenix Suns Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Northwest Notes: Trail Blazers, Mitchell, Topic, Nuggets

July 24th, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers’ rebuilding process is happening at a fortunate time in light of the NBA’s new restrictive apron provisions, writes Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report. With so many young players on the roster, Portland doesn’t face the immediate decisions that other teams have to deal with, but it’s only a matter of time until its recent draft picks become eligible for extensions.

Highkin doesn’t believe the Blazers would have gotten nearly the same return for Damian Lillard if they had waited another year to trade him. Teams are placing a greater value on draft picks and are becoming less willing to gamble on older players with multiple years remaining on expensive contracts. Highkin points to Dejounte Murray, whom Atlanta traded for far less than it gave up to acquire him two years ago, along with Trae Young, Brandon Ingram and Zach LaVine, who may all have been dealt by now if the old rules were still in effect.

Highkin also notes that max extensions for rookie scale contracts don’t seem as automatic as they used to be. He states that Orlando’s Paolo Banchero and Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams appear to be the only “locks” to get those extensions next summer, when Portland will have to decide whether Shaedon Sharpe is worthy of a long-term commitment in excess of $200MM.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Ajay Mitchell‘s Summer League performance showed why the Thunder were willing to trade up to the 38th pick to acquire him, observes Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. The Santa Barbara guard, who recently signed a two-way contract, showed an ability to change speeds and finish around the basket, posting an 11-point, 10-assist double-double early in Las Vegas. First-round pick Dillon Jones displayed “flashes and flaws” in his first Summer League experience, while 2022 lottery pick Ousmane Dieng was held out of the games in Vegas after playing in Salt Lake City.
Nikola Topic could turn out to be a steal for the Thunder at No. 12 when he returns next season from his partially torn ACL, Rylan Stiles states in a Sports Illustrated piece. Oklahoma City was willing to wait a year for Topic to get healthy, and he could develop into a lead guard for the second unit.
The Nuggets will open their preseason schedule with a pair of games against the Celtics Oct. 4 and 6 in Abu Dhabi, tweets Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. Denver will host the Suns Oct. 13 and the Thunder Oct. 15 before traveling to face the Timberwolves Oct 18.

Suns Hiring Brent Barry As Assistant Coach

July 23rd, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

Brent Barry is moving from a front office role in San Antonio to Phoenix’s bench for the 2024/25 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the Suns are hiring Barry as an assistant coach.

A former NBA sharpshooter who played in the league from 1995-2009, Barry made 40.5% of his career three-point attempts and won a pair of championships with the Spurs in 2005 and 2007.

Following his retirement as a player, Barry initially transitioned into the media space, serving as an analyst with TNT from 2016-18.

He was hired by San Antonio in 2018 as the team’s vice president of basketball operations and has spent the last six seasons with the organization. In addition to his VP role, he was the general manager of the Austin Spurs from 2022-24. However, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported last month that Barry was expected to move on from the club this offseason.

Barry’s move to the sidelines doesn’t come out of nowhere. He previously interviewed for the Trail Blazers’ head coaching job in 2021 — that position ultimately went to Chauncey Billups.

Barry represents the latest addition to a new-look Suns coaching staff under head coach Mike Budenholzer, who was a longtime Spurs assistant earlier in his career and overlapped with Barry in San Antonio from 2004-08. David Fizdale, Chad Forcier, Mike Hopkins, Chaisson Allen, and Vince Legarza are among Budenholzer’s other assistants.

Team USA Notes: Durant, James, Embiid, Holiday

July 22nd, 2024 at 10:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Durant didn’t participate in any of Team USA’s exhibition games due to a right calf strain. Regardless, his spot on the 12-man roster is not in jeopardy as the team heads to Paris for the Olympics, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

“There’s no thought of replacing Kevin,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I was hoping he would get a game in here, but it just didn’t work out that way.”

The current plan for Durant is to practice with the team several times when it gets to France later this week. Kerr said he wants Durant to have some contact and go through a scrimmage before the Suns superstar suits up. His availability for Sunday’s pool play opener against Serbia is uncertain but Durant practiced last week and ramped up his activity level over the weekend.

We have more on Team USA:

After its stunning close call against South Sudan, Team USA had another tough challenge in its exhibition finale against Germany on Monday. LeBron James came to the rescue, supplying 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. He made several clutch plays and baskets down the stretch of a 92-88 win, scoring the team’s last 11 points. “Just putting the team on his shoulders,” said Jrue Holiday, per Windhorst.
Joel Embiid had his best exhibition outing on Monday, as he contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists. “People who watch me know that every season it takes me a couple of games to get going, and this is no different,” Embiid said. “That’s the reason we’ve got preseason games. I feel like myself and I’m going to keep going and I’m going to be playing at that MVP level I’ve played for the last five or six seasons.”
Holiday is appearing in his second straight Olympics. He had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists on Monday. “Plug into the gaps where I can,” Holiday told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.com, explaining how he expects to contribute. “Knowing that because of the caliber of the team that we have, the minutes might not be there. Or we might not even play in some games. Whenever you get the chance to shoot, you might just get one or two shots. I feel like somebody like me, it’s not about the shots. It’s about going out there and experiencing the game and doing the things that is a little bit of the dirty work. You can impact the game without scoring. I’d like to think I’ve always been that type of player.”

Suns Notes: Okogie, Dunn, Durant, Madkins

July 21st, 2024 at 10:31am CST by Arthur Hill

With a new two-year contract in hand, Josh Okogie hopes to help the Suns become a legitimate contender in the West, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Okogie, who has been a valuable reserve in Phoenix for the past two years, was rewarded with a $16MM deal, although only the first season at $8.25MM is guaranteed.

“My mentality is just to go out there and just try to try to give this team the energy that they need on both sides of the floor,” Okogie said. “We have a lot of talent on this team, but I want to be the battery of this team, if that makes sense. The motor of this team, to get people going, get people excited to play, get people moving. … Just, when JO steps on this court, everybody’s intensity level just rises.”

Okogie is with the team in Las Vegas, but he’s concentrating on his photography skills rather than basketball. After trying out his new hobby during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Okogie is learning how to shoot the action of Summer League.

“I’m still not good,” Okogie said. “I’ll say 90-95% of my pictures are B.S., but I feel like I’ve gotten better — slightly — each day I’ve taken pictures. I’ve kind of figured out how the camera works, how to do the settings, how to do the white balance and all that. So it’s been pretty cool.”

There’s more on the Suns:

First-round pick Ryan Dunn didn’t play on Saturday as Phoenix closed out its Summer League schedule with a loss to Sacramento, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Playing for the fourth time in five days, the Suns chose to rest their top rookie, who displayed elite defensive instincts but struggled with his shot. In four games, Dunn averaged 5.8 PPG on 34.4% shooting, along with 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals. “Our guys loved him,” owner Mat Ishbia said in an NBA TV interview. “His work ethic. His defensive ability. His athleticism. He’s the kind of guy that fits in well with our team. We’re looking for some young guys that have energy and some positivity while playing great defense. He’s long, athletic and in the Summer League he’s performed just as we expected. It’s been fun having him so far and we’re excited to see what he can do during the season, too.”
After going through his first practice with Team USA on Friday, Kevin Durant sat out Saturday’s close call against South Sudan. Monday’s game with Germany will be Durant’s last opportunity to take the floor before the start of the Olympics.
Assistant general manager Gerald Madkins won’t return to the Suns next season, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Also leaving are personnel evaluation manager David Sevush and scouts Charles Payne and Darrel Johnson.

Olympic Notes: Durant, Team USA, Jokic, Murray

July 19th, 2024 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Suns star Kevin Durant, who is recovering from a strained calf, participated in Team USA’s practice in London on Friday, per Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic. It was the first time Durant has practiced with the team ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The United States will face South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday in its last pre-Olympic tune-up games. Durant is day-to-day and is considered questionable to play in those contests.

“I’m going to see how I feel after practice today,” Durant said.

Here are some more notes ahead of the Olympics, which begin next week:

Team USA has gone 3-0 in exhibition contests vs. Canada, Australia and Serbia thus far. While the Americans’ roster is brimming with talent and skill, and their record is unblemished in unofficial games, not everything has been clicking so far, particularly the awkward fit of Joel Embiid, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer. Embiid is used to being the center of his team’s offense, but he has looked out of sorts playing under a different set of rules and with a reduced role, Pina observes. On the other hand, the team’s defense — led by Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo — has been extremely impressive ahead of the Olympics, says Pina.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic undoubtedly raises the ceiling of the Serbian national team, but participating in international events for his home country also comes with increased scrutiny, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes. “It’s a big burden, because it’s kind of like, he’s the best basketball player in the world,” said Nuggets assistant Ognjen Stojakovic, who has coached for Serbia since last summer. “People identify themselves with athletes and sports. They all have high expectations, especially for the national team. … There’s so much pressure on Nikola to play. And not just Nikola, for every athlete to play in all those big competitions.” Serbia is in Group C, alongside the U.S., South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was held out of Canada’s exhibition game vs. France on Friday, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. The Canadian national team said Murray was rested for precautionary reasons. The 27-year-old battled a left calf strain and a right elbow injury during the playoffs, but Denver was eliminated from contention more than two months ago.
In case you missed it, Suns forward/center Bol Bol will miss the Olympics for South Sudan due to personal reasons.

Pacific Notes: Leonard, Clippers, DeRozan, Roddy

July 19th, 2024 at 11:30am CST by Rory Maher

Law Murray of The Athletic explores some offseason questions related to the Clippers, starting with the health of Kawhi Leonard.

The six-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP was removed from Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics, leading to speculation about the status of his right knee, which has caused him issues over the years, including battling inflammation in the playoffs. According to Murray, both Leonard and the Clips seem confident in the 33-year-old’s health, even if some reports suggested otherwise.

President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said he and the Clippers were “very disappointed” in USA Basketball’s decision to replace Leonard.

“He wouldn’t be out there and we wouldn’t put him out there if we weren’t confident that he’d be able to go through the entire Olympic experience,” Frank said. “I get it from USAB’s perspective; no one has a crystal ball. … Ultimately, they decided after the third practice that they didn’t feel as confident as we felt. That’s their right. It’s their team.”

Here’s more from the Pacific:

The Clippers are now 4-0 at the Las Vegas Summer League after dispatching the Jazz on Thursday, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. Second-year players Kobe Brown (20 points, three rebounds, six assists) and Jordan Miller (19 points, five rebounds, four assists) were the top individual performers for the Clips, who have to wait until Friday’s games conclude to determine whether or not they’ll advance to the semifinals, Carr notes.
DeMar DeRozan has been a veteran leader for the Bulls the past three seasons and he plans to continue that with the Kings, he told Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “I take pride in that,” DeRozan said. “Just giving whatever experience in life that I’ve been through, sharing that and giving any type of gems that I can give to help avoid any type of pitfall that someone else could go through if they haven’t been through something. I’ve been through a lot on and off the court that I feel like I can share. Any experience that I can give, I’ll try to give it all because I want the best for anybody I work with or play with and I want them to thrive the best way they can.”
Suns forward David Roddy has been hoisting up three-pointers during Summer League action, and he’ll likely need to show he can convert them at a high level if he wants to earn minutes under new head coach Mike Budenholzer, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. As Rankin notes, Budenholzer’s teams ranked between second and eighth in the NBA in three-point attempts from 2018-23, while former first-rounder Roddy has converted just 30.1% of his outside looks over his first two NBA seasons.

Suns’ Bol Bol To Miss Olympics For South Sudan

July 19th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Rory Maher

Suns big man Bol Bol will miss the 2024 Olympics in Paris due to undisclosed personal reasons, reports Leonard Solms of ESPN.

Bol, who re-signed with Phoenix on a one-year deal earlier this month, was on South Sudan’s 25-man preliminary roster for the Olympics in June. However, he will not be competing in the tournament, assistant coach Ajou Deng confirmed to ESPN.

The No. 44 overall pick of the 2019 draft, Bol has played for Denver, Orlando and Phoenix over the course of his five NBA seasons. The 24-year-old forward/center averaged 5.2 points and 3.2 rebounds on .616/.423/.789 shooting in 43 games with the Suns in 2023/24 (10.9 minutes per contest).

South Sudan, which qualified for the Olympics based on its results at last year’s World Cup, will finalize its 12-man roster following Saturday’s exhibition game against the United States, Solms writes.

Bol was the only player on South Sudan’s preliminary roster who is currently under contract with an NBA team, though several others have NBA experience, including JT Thor, Wenyen Gabriel, Thon Maker, and Carlik Jones.

Pacific Notes: Hield, Knecht, Hyland, Eubanks, Suns

July 18th, 2024 at 8:28pm CST by Luke Adams

New Warriors sharpshooter Buddy Hield, who ranks 22nd all-time among NBA players in career three-pointers, will be the de facto replacement for the player who ranks sixth on that all-time list (Klay Thompson). Asked this week if he feels pressure to replicate the production and the outside shooting that Thompson provided for years in Golden State, Hield downplayed that idea.

“There’s no pressure,” Hield said, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Just come and do my job. What Klay has done for this organization has been tremendous. I love Klay a lot. I’ve watched him over the years. He’s special. The way he can get hot and the way he can just change the game and be the two-way player that he is, and the champion that he is. So, I don’t look at it as pressure. I think it’s fun just being in that role and seeing if I can get the same looks he got.”

Hield has never been as effective an all-around player as Thompson was in his prime years, and he certainly can’t match the former Warriors’ postseason accomplishments, having appeared in a playoff game for the first time this spring. However, the two players’ career shooting numbers are quite similar — Thompson has made 3.1 of 7.6 three-pointers per game (41.3%) in 793 contests, while Hield has knocked down 3.0 of 7.6 per game (40.0%) in 632 outings.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Dalton Knecht has been the best player on the Lakers‘ Summer League roster and already looks like a potential steal as the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, who says the rookie forward projects to be in the top nine of L.A.’s rotation in the regular season. Entering Thursday’s contest, Knecht has averaged 22.0 PPG with a .412 3PT% in his first two games in Vegas.
Bones Hyland saw more playing time for the Clippers during the final month-and-a-half of the 2023/24 season and won’t have Russell Westbrook ahead of him on the depth chart in ’24/25. However, with Kris Dunn and Kevin Porter Jr. now in the mix in a Los Angeles backcourt that also features James Harden, Norman Powell, and Terance Mann, there’s still no clear path to regular playing time for Hyland, who remains on the trade block, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Although Drew Eubanks decided well ahead of his player option deadline to opt out of his deal and become a free agent, he wasn’t necessarily set on leaving the Suns, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays. “The interest was always there for me to return (to Phoenix),” said Eubanks, who ultimately agreed to a deal with Utah. “The notion of it being a ‘mutual split’ is just factually false. There were a lot of conversations about me coming back this next year from the moment the season ended and into free agency. At the end of the day, there were other opportunities and I had to make the best decision for myself and my family. Loved my year in Phoenix.”
The Suns will hire John Little as the head coach of their new NBA G League affiliate, the Valley Suns, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Little was previously part of G League coaching staffs with Maine and Wisconsin.

Pacific Notes: T. Jones, Clippers, Podziemski, Gillespie

July 18th, 2024 at 3:29pm CST by Rory Maher

A report last week from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype indicated that the Clippers had sign-and-trade interest in free agent point guard Tyus Jones.

However, Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter links here) has heard differently, stating the team was “never” focused on the 28-year-old, and with Kris Dunn coming aboard, L.A. is no longer viewed as even a long-shot destination for Jones. According to Murray, the Clips are not interested in Jones “in any capacity.”

As Murray explains, the Clippers always planned to acquire Dunn, it just took a few weeks to come together. Murray suggests the rumor may have come from Jones’ camp, as he’s still seeking a new contract nearly three weeks into free agency.

Here’s more from the Pacific:

In part due to his strong play as a rookie and in part due to his team-friendly contract, which will pay him $3.5MM, $3.7MM and $5.7MM over the next three seasons, Brandin Podziemski holds more value to the Warriors than he would to most other teams, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes. “I think I can get (to an All-Star level),” Podziemski has said. “I’m never gonna just settle for being a role player.” Shams Charania of The Athletic recently reported that Podziemski’s potential inclusion in a deal for Lauri Markkanen has been a sticking point in negotiations between Golden State and Utah. According to Slater, Podziemski isn’t off limits in trade talks, but the Warriors place a high value on what he brings to the table, both in the short and long term.
Former Nuggets guard Collin Gillespie landed with the Suns on a two-way deal this summer. He views Phoenix as a “really good opportunity” to earn minutes at point guard, he told Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. “I feel like I’m an elite shooter,” Gillespie said. “I can run the point guard position really well, get guys shots, especially the guys who I’ll be playing with (Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal). They’re elite scorers. Just find them in spots for them to score and have the best opportunity to help us win.”
Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports takes an in-depth look at Gillespie’s game, exploring the 25-year-old’s strengths and weaknesses and discussing whether it’s reasonable to expect the former Villanova standout to play rotation minutes in 2024/25.

Offseason Observations: Apron Impact, Rockets, Spurs, Okogie

July 18th, 2024 at 11:52am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA's offseason is far from over. As we saw last summer, when Damian Lillard was traded to Milwaukee in late September and Jrue Holiday was flipped from Portland to Boston on October 1, the trade market stays open into the fall.

We also could still see impactful moves on the free agent market occurring much later in the offseason, as was the case a year ago when Derrick Jones and P.J. Washington - two key members of the Mavericks' team that made the NBA Finals - signed their respective contracts during the second half of August (Washington signed with the Hornets before being traded to Dallas later in the season).

Still, the pace of the offseason action has certainly slowed down since the start of July, giving us an opportunity to look back and reflect on all that's gone down in the last few weeks.

From one of the biggest storylines of the summer (the impact of the new tax apron rules) to some under-the-radar developments (like the structure of Josh Okogie's new deal with the Suns), we're taking a closer look today at some of the more curious offseason subplots.

Let's dive in...

Has the impact of the new apron restrictions been overstated?

The concept of the tax apron has existed in the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement for years, and a second apron was implemented in 2023, but the 2024 offseason is the first time all the new apron-related restrictions introduced in the current CBA have been in place. Those new restrictions affect the trade market most significantly, with teams operating over the first tax apron not permitted to take back more salary than they send out and teams over the second apron prohibited from aggregating player salaries.

While it's true that these rules have made it challenging for teams with high payrolls to make moves as easily as they used to, I think they've also become a convenient scapegoat for teams to justify certain roster decisions.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS

Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Luke Adams
Join exclusive weekly live chats with Arthur Hill
Remove ads and support our writers.