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And-Ones: Kelly, O’Bryant, Leonard, Booker, Curry

July 30th, 2018 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Lakers and Hawks forward Ryan Kelly has signed a contract to play for SunRockeres Shibuya of Japan next season, according to a Sportando report. Kelly spent last season with Real Betis in Spain and averaged 13.3 PPG and 4.5 RPG.

Kelly, 27, last appeared in the NBA during the 2016/17 season with Atlanta, when he saw action in 16 games. He spent his first three seasons with the Lakers. The 6’11” power forward has averaged 6.0 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 19.2 MPG in his 163-game NBA career.

In other basketball news domestically and overseas:

Maccabi Tel Aviv is close to signing power forward Johnny O’Bryant, according to another Sportando report. O’Bryant, 25, played 36 games last season with the Hornets, averaging 4.6 PPG and 2.8 RPG in 10.5 MPG. O’Bryant, 25, was traded to the Knicks in February and then waived. The 6’9” O’Bryant has also played for the Nuggets and Bucks, who selected him 36th overall in the 2014 draft.
Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Victor Oladipo and Ben Simmons are among the dark-horse candidates to win the Most Valuable Player award, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. A healthy Leonard would quickly become a prime MVP candidate, O’Connor opines, while Booker could have a breakout campaign after showing steady progress in his first three seasons.
DeMarcus Cousins (Warriors) and Isaiah Thomas (Nuggets) are obvious choices as the best bargains in free agency but as Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated notes, there are several other players who could fall into that category. Ed Davis (Nets), Seth Curry (Trail Blazers) and Brook Lopez (Bucks) should all provide production that far outweigh the deals that they signed, in Mahoney’s view.

Suns Notes: Harrison, Reed, Booker, Cooley

July 14th, 2018 at 8:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Shaquille Harrison turned up his defense in Las Vegas in a bid for a roster spot, writes Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. The 24-year-old averaged 2.7 steals per game to go with a 12.2/4.4/6.0 line in five summer league contests.

Harrison is hoping to earn a role as the third point guard behind Brandon Knight and rookie Elie Okobo, and Bordow believes his fate depends on what other moves the team makes this summer. New coach Igor Kokoskov said he puts “a lot” of value on Harrison’s defensive abilities.

Harrison joined the Suns on a pair of 10-day contracts before signing for the rest of the season in mid-March. A $50K guarantee kicks in August 1 on his $1,378,242 salary for 2018/19.

There’s more news out of Phoenix:

Davon Reed, another young guard hoping for a roster spot, also helped his cause in Las Vegas, Bordow adds in the same story. Reed showed no effects of the arthroscopic knee surgery that slowed him last year as he averaged 13.4 PPG and displayed the quickness and athleticism he had before the injury. The Suns have a logjam at shooting guard with Devin Booker established as the starter and Troy Daniels, Mikal Bridges and Josh Jackson all in the mix for backup minutes. Reed has placed himself in a good position to make the roster, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, who notes that the Suns extended his guarantee date so they could watch him in summer league.
Booker was happy that the Suns elected to give him a max extension this year instead of waiting until he was a restricted free agent next summer, Bordow writes in a separate story. “Like I said Phoenix, the entire organization has been behind me since day one, starting with the draft,” Booker said. “For a team to draft you and take a chance on you means they believe in you. [Owner] Robert Sarver and [GM] Ryan McDonough, I think those guys truly believe in me and it showed with the contract.”
Although he’s surrounded by big-name prospects, Jack Cooley has become a summer league fan favorite, relays Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Sports 98.7. The 27-year-old center was part of the Suns’ entry as he tries to get another shot at the NBA. He played seven games with the Kings last season after being out of the NBA for two years. “There’ve been talks with not just only Phoenix, but there have been a couple other teams that have rediscovered interest that wasn’t previously there,” Cooley said.

Suns Sign Devin Booker To Five-Year Extension

July 7th, 2018 at 10:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have officially signed guard Devin Booker to a contract extension that will cover five years and pay him the maximum salary, the team announced today in a press release. The club also tweeted out of a photo of Booker with the finalized contract.

“I am humbled and honored to commit to the Suns organization long term,” Booker said in a statement. “I have loved calling Phoenix home the last three seasons as this team and community are special to me. Thank you to the Suns for drafting me and believing in me. I look forward to the future and pursing a title as a Phoenix Sun.”

The Suns and Booker met earlier this week and were said to be making progress toward finalizing a new five-year max extension. The deal couldn’t be completed until after the July moratorium ended on Friday.

Booker’s new contract will go into effect starting in the 2019/20 season. Currently, based on a $109MM cap projection for that league year, a five-year deal would be worth $158MM. However, that figure could go up or down depending on where the salary cap ultimately lands. The starting salary will be worth 25% of the cap.

Booker, 21, has improved his numbers across the board during his first three seasons in the NBA, establishing new career highs in PPG (24.9), APG (4.7), RPG (4.5), 3PT% (.383), and several other categories in 2017/18.

The Suns haven’t won more than 24 games in a season since Booker debuted with the team, but the franchise appears to be trending in a positive direction. So far this offseason, the club has added No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, young three-and-D wing Mikal Bridges, and veteran wing Trevor Ariza, among others, so Booker should have more help going forward.

Booker was one of 23 former first-round picks eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason. While the Suns guard was the first one to officially sign a new deal, there are several other candidates to get one before the mid-October deadline, including Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Myles Turner, and Larry Nance.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Lakers, Knight, Kings

July 5th, 2018 at 10:08pm CST by Austin Kent

There’s pressure on the Lakers to get a second star, but it’s far from urgent, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report writes. So long as the franchise continues to practice patience, they’ll remain flexible enough to have options.

As things stand, the club has $5.7MM in cap space. That figure could grow to as much as $15.5MM if the club waives and stretches Luol Deng‘s contract over three seasons. They can get as high as $22.8MM if they can unload the deal altogether with “at least a first-rounder attached,” Pincus says. That flexibility would make a Brandon Ingram-for-Kawhi Leonard swap financially feasible.

Of course the Lakers could wait to see if a different trade for a star beckons, as reports suggest with Jimmy Butler and as is at least borderline conceivable with Damian Lillard.

An alternative to making a move this season would be giving center Brook Lopez the Lakers’ remaining $5.7MM of cap space on a one-year deal, retaining all of their young players in an audition to see who best fits with LeBron James, then going out shopping for a star next summer.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:

The Suns may have their go-to point guard already on the roster. Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic writes about how head coach Igor Kokoskov has referred to Brandon Knight as their starter and that the guard seems to already have a better relationship with Kokoskov than he did with Earl Watson.
The Suns are making progress in their rookie scale extension negotiations with Devin Booker, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 tweets, noting that they could have something finalized by the end of the weekend.
Signing either Zach LaVine or Jabari Parker would require the Kings to reshape their roster, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. The club currently has plenty of young players they’d like to develop. The Kings already have Bogdan Bogdanovic and Buddy Hield at the two while they just drafted Marvin Bagley to play the four.

Devin Booker Progressing Toward Max Extension With Suns

July 3rd, 2018 at 6:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns are making progress on a five-year, $158MM extension with Devin Booker, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic.

Phoenix presented the offer to Booker at a meeting today. A source tells Bordow that parameters of the deal were outlined and describes the session as “productive,” citing “mutual interest from both sides in working to finalize a deal.”

Booker quickly emerged as an offensive force for the Suns after being taken with the 13th pick in the 2015 draft. He posted career highs across the board in his third season with 24.9 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 4.5 RPG.

The $158MM figure is an estimate based on current cap projections, but the final value won’t be set until next season’s official figures are in place.

Booker and the Suns have until the day before the season starts to complete an extension, but it sounds like the two sides may be able to finalize a deal not long after the July moratorium ends on Friday.

Max Deal Candidate Devin Booker Set To Meet With Suns

July 1st, 2018 at 10:49pm CST by Austin Kent

The Suns will meet with star guard Devin Booker to discuss a rookie scale extension, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The meeting, which will include franchise owner Robert Sarver, general manager Ryan McDonough, Booker, and Booker’s agent Leon Rose, will take place on Tuesday.

Booker has been pegged as a potential max player for a while now, and Wojnarowski reiterates that the star guard a strong candidate to procure the highest deal he’s eligible for when the time comes.

While there had been reports that Booker wasn’t pleased with the Suns’ lack of communication when they waived close friend Tyler Ulis, Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic tweets that it likely won’t impact Booker’s desire to remain with the team long-term.

In his third season, the 21-year-old Booker averaged 24.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Now heading into his fourth, he’ll be joined by the deepest supporting cast of his career, with Phoenix having reached an agreement to sign Trevor Ariza after adding Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges in the draft.

Although the exact amount that Booker will be eligible to make in 2019/20 and beyond won’t be set until next season’s cap figures are revealed, a max deal would be worth 25% of the cap. With the current cap projection for 2019/20 set at $109MM, that would result in a $158MM deal over the course of five seasons.

The parties would also have the freedom to negotiate a clause that would allow Booker to earn as much as 30% of the cap in the event that he qualifies for an All-NBA team in 2019. Such was the case with the deal between the Sixers and Joel Embiid, who would have received a 30% max if he had earned a spot on the All-NBA First Team — he narrowly missed out.

Booker and the Suns will have until the day before the 2018/19 regular season begins to reach an agreement on a rookie scale extension. If they don’t come to terms, Booker will be on track to become a restricted free agent next summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Devin Booker Upset With Suns’ Front Office

July 1st, 2018 at 1:25pm CST by Luke Adams

1:25pm: Booker wasn’t upset with the Suns’ front office over the fact that Ulis was waived, but the “lack of communication” regarding the move upset him, a source tells Jordan Schultz of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links).

12:22pm: The Suns waived guard Tyler Ulis on Saturday before his salary for 2018/19 could become guaranteed, and the move isn’t sitting well with one noteworthy Sun. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), Devin Booker is upset with Phoenix’s front office over the release of Ulis, his best friend.

Booker, who is entering his fourth NBA season, is now eligible for a contract extension for the first time in his career. He and the Suns could come to an agreement anytime between now and the start of the 2018/19 regular season, and a new deal would keep Booker off the restricted free agent market in 2019.

It remains to be seen whether Booker’s unhappiness with the front office will have any real impact on those contract negotiations. While it probably isn’t a great time for the franchise to upset its star scorer, players eligible for rookie scale extensions generally don’t turn down maximum-salary offers, as Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic observes (via Twitter). And Phoenix is expected to put that sort of offer on the table.

It would be a surprise if Ulis’ release creates an irreparable rift in the relationship between Booker and the Suns, but it’s still something worth watching as the club looks to lock up the 21-year-old to a long-term deal.

And-Ones: Extension Candidates, BIG3, Sports Betting

April 13th, 2018 at 7:02pm CST by Austin Kent

With the NBA postseason set to tip off this weekend an equally intriguing offseason draws nearer. Recently, Keith Smith of RealGM took a nice, long look at the upcoming batch of players eligible to sign rookie contract extensions after July 1.

While some players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker are no-brainers for rich contract extensions, other players like Kristaps Porzingis and Myles Turner are intriguing cases.

Porzingis, Smith writes, could be a candidate for a conditional contract extension similar to the one Joel Embiid signed last summer. Turner, meanwhile, proved himself a worthy NBA starter early in his career but has dealt with injury setbacks of his own in the time since.

A number of the top lottery picks in the 2015 draft class aren’t likely to sign significant extensions, if they’re even eligible to do so at all. Two of the top five picks – Jahlil Okafor and Mario Hezonja – didn’t even have the fourth-year of their rookie deals picked up.

For a breakdown of all 30 first-round picks, how they fared through their first three seasons in the NBA and whether or not you can expect them to hit the restricted market in 2019, be sure to check out Smith’s full piece.

There’s more from around the NBA.

With discussion over the legalization of sports betting a hot topic these days, the NBA Player’s Association has issued a statement, urging consideration for players’ rights ahead of any consequent negotiations over associated fees. Ben Fawkes of ESPN has the latest about the pressing issue while Chris Crouse of Hoops Rumors confirms that the NBA is open to having the union involved.
The BIG3 held its offseason draft last night in preparation for the league’s second season set to begin on June 22. Andre Owens, an international journeyman who played sparingly with the Jazz and Pacers over a decade ago was the first overall pick. Notable NBA alums, including Jason Maxiell, Quentin Richardson, the original Mike James and Bonzi Wells were also taken over the course of three rounds. Josh Peters of USA Today has a full breakdown of the draft.
The NBA draft order is set, ahead of the May 15th lottery that is. We broke down what happened when a series of tiebreakers decided the fates of 12 impacted teams.

Suns Rumors: Coaching Search, Booker, Knight

April 13th, 2018 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

As we relayed earlier today, the Suns reached out to former assistant Dan Majerle to see if he’d have interest in the head coaching position in Phoenix, but were turned down. Despite Majerle’s lack of interest, the club should have no shortage of candidates for the position. GM Ryan McDonough said this week that there are at least five to 10 names on the Suns’ list of targets, per Bob Baum of The Arizona Republic.

While it’s not clear just how quickly the Suns intend to conduct interviews and narrow down their list of candidates, McDonough said that he’d like to have a head coach in place before the draft combine and lottery in May. The lottery is scheduled for May 15, with the combine to follow from May 16-20, so we can probably count on the Suns making a hire within the next month or so.

Here’s more out of Phoenix:

In the wake of another losing season, Devin Booker says he’s “done with not making the playoffs,” as Baum details. “I’m serious. This is probably my last year ever not making the playoffs. If that’s putting pressure on myself, I’m going to take this summer and work that hard so that it doesn’t happen again.”
Speaking of Booker, he’ll become extension-eligible for the first time this offseason. While the standout guard didn’t formally commit to inking a new deal in the coming months, he dismissed the speculation that he’s unhappy in Phoenix, according to Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic. “Don’t believe in nonsense,” Booker said. “With TV, they need something to talk about. I’ve always mentioned since my first day here that I fell in love with this city, I fell in love with the fan base and the dedication they showed to the team.”
Brandon Knight is looking forward to getting back on the court in 2018/19 after missing the entire 2016/17 season with a torn ACL, Baum writes. Knight still has two fully guaranteed seasons on his contract, so he figures to be a part of the Suns’ rotation going forward. “I’m just trying to help the Suns in any way I can,” Knight said this week.
Having finished first in the lottery standings, the Suns are assured of a top-four pick in the first round of this year’s draft. McDonough said this week that he wouldn’t trade that selection unless it’s for a young superstar, tweets Bordow.

Suns Notes: Jones, Booker, Cousins

April 6th, 2018 at 8:20pm CST by Austin Kent

Fourteen-year NBA veteran James Jones hasn’t had much time to acclimate to his new role as vice president of basketball operations for the Suns but, as Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic writes, the 37-year-old has fallen in love with the position just one year removed from his playing career.

Jones, who focuses on player development while team general manager Ryan McDonough tackles scouting, believes that the club is closer to winning than their record suggests and implies that they need to surround their solid young core with players committed to winning.

“Our young guys have talent that needs to be realized,” Jones said. “I think we need to challenge them to be better, to be great and to continue to put them in a winning environment and surround them with players that want to win at all costs and raise the bar for them from a performance and conditioning standpoint.”

If taken at face value, the club could be looking to take the next step in its rebuild, progressing from the asset accumulation stage that saw them acquire valuable young players like Devin Booker and Josh Jackson to the stage of actually starting to build a winning environment.

The Suns have failed to win 25 games in each of the past three seasons, so a conscious commitment to winning would be a notable development.

“We’ll look to add guys that bring that type of mentality but also we have to create it internally by putting our guys in tough situations, putting our guys in strategic situations that will test their mental toughness, test their level of competitiveness and push them and reveal who they are,” he said.

There’s more out of Phoenix tonight:

The Suns were said to have an interest in DeMarcus Cousins when he came available for trade during the 2016/17 season. This summer he’ll be a free agent and HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky suggests that Phoenix, replete with several other former Kentucky Wildcats, could once again explore such an option.
Count Devin Booker among those confident that the Suns will be aggressive this offseason. “This summer is a big summer for us,” Booker told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “You hear our GM come out and say he’s going to be super aggressive. We have young talent, we have a lot of picks, with a lot of money too. So I think there’s definitely going to be a lot of moves made this summer.“
The Suns have a pile of interesting young assets and a mandate to capitalize on them so expect an interesting summer in the desert. Did you know that you can get a sneak peek at any rumors that start to swirl in the weeks leading up to the much anticipated 2018 offseason? Follow our Phoenix Suns page or, if you’re using the Trade Rumors app, add the dedicated team feed to your account.