The trade that sent T.J. Warren from the Suns to the Pacers along with the No. 32 overall pick in exchange for a small amount of cash was one of the more surprising deals of the summer. After all, Warren had been a productive scorer in recent years in Phoenix and his three-year, $35MM contract wasn’t particularly unwieldy.
Speaking recently to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Warren said he isn’t upset or angry about the deal, but that he’s eager to prove the Suns made a mistake in giving him up for essentially nothing.
“When guys get moved, they want to show and prove the team that moved them wrong,” Warren said. “I’m not mad at the Phoenix Suns, but they made the deal and I’m just excited to move on. I’m ready to show the whole NBA — and not just the Suns for making the wrong decision — that the Pacers made the right decision. I’m worth more than cash considerations. It’s on me to prove it. But the Suns messed up.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Within that same Athletic article, Charania wrote that the Kings have expressed some remorse over Harrison Barnes‘ four-year, $85MM contract due to its impact on future deals, as we relayed on Friday. However, a Kings source denied that the team is experiencing any buyer’s remorse over Barnes’ contract, according to both Jason Jones of The Athletic and James Ham of NBC Sports California (Twitter links).
- In a conversation with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, forward Dario Saric spoke about being traded to the Suns, his role in Phoenix, and playing for Monty Williams, among other topics. Saric, who has now been moved twice in his three-year career, also discussed what it feels like to be a trade piece. “I wish I could stay with one team for five, six years. Three years. Ten years,” Saric said. “I’d love to have that, but in this kind of business, you need to be open-minded.”
- Lakers guard Alex Caruso suffered a pelvic bone contusion during the team’s final preseason game on Friday, tweets Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet. X-rays were negative, but Caruso will undergo additional testing.
- Offseason addition Glenn Robinson III won the competition for the Warriors‘ starting small forward job, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. While Robinson played well in the preseason, he essentially won the job by default, with Alfonzo McKinnie waived and Alec Burks sidelined due to an ankle injury.
If the Warriors can get through the first 10 games with a .500 record they will be fine. Right now they have been down 5 players all preseason and only 1 of those 5 could be ready on limited minutes to start the season. With no big man in the middle for the first 10 games there will be some blow outs.
Pacers got so lucky picking up Warren and a high second round pick for next to nothing. Warren is a combo forward who lasted year average 18/4/2 while shooting over 42% from 3. His deal is also pretty cheap at about 12 mil for another couple years.
“Surprising” was far too kind of a word to use there. That deal was a downright embarrassment, and that’s saying a lot for a franchise as inept as the Suns.
Man the Suns make some very questionable decisions. They could’ve easily paired Garland and Booker in the backcourt this offseason while keeping Oubre Warren and Ayton to fill out the roster. That might not excite people but all 5 of those guys would be 23 or under except Warren who is 26. Plus you’d have bridges Baynes T. Johnson and others on the bench.
Garland Booker Oubre and Ayton would be a much better looking team
They had the #6 which could have been Culver or White but Garland went at #5. Still good; I’m less convinced about Cam Johnson. Saric should be good for Ayton so there’s that.
I think Cam Johnson should be the starting SF. Move Oubre to bench with Tyler Johnson. Cameron Johnson has looked like a legit NBA shooter.