Suns guard Chris Paul suffered a right shoulder contusion during the team’s Game 1 victory over the Lakers on Sunday, but he was able to return to the game and later expressed optimism about his status going forward.
Speaking to reporters after the game (video link via The Arizona Republic), Paul downplayed the injury, declaring that he’ll “be all right.” Asked about whether he thinks he’ll be available to play in Game 2, the veteran point guard replied, “Absolutely.”
Here’s more on the Suns:
- In a feature for Sports Illustrated, Rohan Nadkarni takes a closer look at how Suns general manager James Jones turned a perennial lottery team into a legit contender just two years after assuming control of the team’s front office. “You know, we talk about ceilings a lot, but the first goal was to raise the floor,” Jones said of his approach to building the roster. “I wanted us to stay grounded. It was important not to get far ahead of ourselves and have our guys thinking so far in advance. You take one step at a time, and every time you take a step you raise the floor.”
- Speaking to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, Suns owner Robert Sarver admitted that this year’s team exceeded his expectations. Sarver said the team entered the season hoping to vie for a top-four seed in the West, which he viewed “a challenging goal, but obtainable.” Phoenix finished with the NBA’s second-best record.
- Former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton tells Shams Charania of The Athletic that he wants “to be certified as the best young two-way center who’s ever played the game.” However, with the Suns pushing for a title this season, Ayton – who averaged a career-low 14.4 PPG in 2020/21 – has been happy to take a step back on offense and play the role the team has asked of him. “Me playing like this, changing my play style and sacrificing certain things that I’m known for, that’s fine. Once it’s with winning, I’m perfectly fine,” Ayton said. “Everybody can eat, everybody is OK. I’m perfectly fine with it. I’m just a competitor, man, I love to compete and play with my teammates and love to be coached. Knowing what I do and what I sacrifice leads to wins, I’m happy.”
Wasn’t much of a rebuild. They had good players, no leader. Thunder were desperate to dump Chris Paul and they got a leader.
lal avg 23.3 ft this yr. 28 in game, +4.7. phx avg 18.7 ft this yr. 12 in game, -6.7. lal +11.4 ft advantage. phx was supposed to have home court advantage, lal in trouble? wsh avg 26.1 ft this yr. 15 in game, -11.1. phi avg 25.5 this year. 33 in game, +7.5. phi +18.6 advantage. even with hc and refs help, they only win by 7. phi needs all the help they can get. mem avg 21.4 this yr. Shot 21, +.4. uth avg 21.5 this yr. Refs gave em 33, +11.5. uth +11.4. uth in trouble even when spida comes back, hc and refs couldn’t help here either. atl -12.2 compared to season avg. ny was -5.9. ny still had +6.1 ft though and still lost by 2. are the refs gonna keep this series tight?
Never saw that before. I prefer the succint illowa!
“in game”? If that means “high game” then why bother with it in addition to saying the mean average?
But bother with the “a” in “uth”… not hard.
None of those decimal digits are relevant.
I think the point is that refs determine outcomes… but that can be overblown.
i didn’t use the “a” in uth so no one would think i had preferential treatment. just wanted to let people see which way the party gets tilted. something different to see. i used the decimals to let yall know i do my homework:)
I think that reason is society-wide, though nobody says so.
It’s like, this statistic must be computed and certified, because it has a decimal digit.
What should Lakers do in offseason if Suns knocked out Lakers in first round?
Let Schroder walk, one thing. He already turned down an offer from the Lakers that would have significantly overpaid him, and I am grateful they dodged that bullet. I also have been wishing they would get rid of Kuzma for a while now, but instead they gave him an extension, so I doubt they will move him. Kuzma has to be one of the most overrated players in the league.
Those are my assessments of both players regardless of how the postseason plays out for the Lakers.
I think kuzma got the extension so he’s easily able to match up in potential trades.. schroder is gone this off season and lakers dodged a bullet with not re signing him.. he’s not a very good starting pg.. fine coming off the bench but he insisted on starting to get starter money in free agency
The scary thing is that if other teams make offers like this to
Tucker 3 years $45 million team option
Harrell 2 years $30 million
Caruso 3 years $30 million team option
MLE player $6 million
Total team salary $178 million
Luxury tax $147 million
After that,
Schroeder luxury tax will be scary huge
THT needs to go…or grow up. Schroder needs to go. Vogel needs to play Morris, or anyone else with a pulse. Everyone looked soft and tired yesterday.
Not sure what to make of the logjam at the 5. They play the best with AD there but he can’t hang for long. Drummond or Harrell…one has to go.
Unfortunately, if they let Schroder walk they can’t really replace him with anyone better.
If all free agents need to go, Lakers will decline
The main goal is to upgrade the roster
I predict that Blazers will be 8th seed next year
Are the Lakers better than Blazers?
It’s lucky
Clippers have no draft picks to upgrade
They can trade Luke Kennard and Morris to upgrade because they have good GMs
Drummond is terrible. I cannot understand how he keeps getting so much playing time, and I’d be shocked if he remained with the Lakers next season.
Lotta people (my Laker fans inc) have zero idea how the salary cap works…..I think Lakers fans might be guilty of this more than mostly every team as we have gotten a lot of (X-Mas ) presents under the tree the last decade…..
Its not that they love Dennis its that its Dennis or NOBODY tax be dammned …..
Its not Lakers call on Harrell first off…hes got a club option
Drummond is exactly the type of player you think is better till he’s on your team…I was guilty of this as well 3 months ago….. He’s not even worth the 2/20’s TT Ibaka and Harrell got this offseason (Not that all those were worth it in hindsight either)
The Lakers can only sign returning’s, its funny you still see people saying Lonzo etc etc etc
They DO have ammo to enter the trade market tho… Kuzma and KCP give them the salary match
*** Regarding Kuzma …His 2/26 left (w a 3/39) option is a deal around the league- There would be 29 other teams looking to get him at that price if they have the space….. Its cute a lot of Laker fans hate him but 29 other GMs disagree….. With Kuz Kcp Gasol thats a 30 mill salary match…coupled with the first rder this pick year and a far out pick (27′ 1st) they can probably get a pretty solid player via trade or S & T
No doubt a very tough offseason for Rob and Co but a lotta different ways to improve
** Harrell has player option sorry not club
I could not be more impressed with the maturity, intelligence and clear-sightedness of DeAndre Ayton, as reflected by his comments. It takes a lot of players 6 or 7 years in the league to find this mature approach to what’s important. Some never, ever get there. Ayton is 22 years old and in his third season.
I really think Chris Paul has helped them all with maturity and IQ. Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dario Saric or the same Devin Booker, all of them seem to have taken a leap in terms of doing the right things at the right time.
The article started with James Jones being wise, talking about raising the floor not the ceiling.
This year he added Paul & Crowder and did not lose Saric, while losing Oubre and Baynes.
These were not widely advised moves.
Remember their 8-0 bubble record last year.
The Suns cannot possibly hope for similar result by starting a one-armed Paul gm 2. IDKY the Lakers let them get away with that at the end of gm 1. The Lakers looked odd; the Suns looked dynamic, though the HC was really pushing hard and that maynot continue to work.
Booker was looking to drive every time. I take back my criticisms of years ago, though they were right at the time. He is amazing now.
CP3 getting hurt during the playoffs as a member of the team with the best (in this case 2nd best) record in the NBA. Where have we heard this before? Thanks Chris.
Look at how James Jones turned the suns around so fast. But other teams like the magic,kings,wolves,bulls..still can’t get it together. Some GM’s have guts and others make excuses.
give karnisovas a chance. it’s just the end of his first season running things for the bulls. james jones is still going with his third season. it didn’t start coming together for phx till the end of last year.
Pinched nerve are painful. He should be ok for gm2. Chris just needs to run offense and be clutch. Booker is the guy here. Nobody on Lakers can stop him. And Ayton is a great 2way player. Don’t sleep on him, he can get you 25 easy. Lakers are done. AD has gone Hollywood. He’s satisfied with one ring. Suns don’t go deep enough on their bench. To be a title winner. But they could get into Finals. There’s no clear cut dominant team in the West. They just might do this. Like to see Chris in Finals.
i hope he’ll be fine, but he can’t dribble under pressure with his right. i see it as a red flag for the rest of the playoffs. chris paul prove me wrong pls.
I’ve been a James Jones fan since his first PC as FO chief. It was apparent that he was going to approach the job without the typical ego, or a desire to make a splash or cater to fans or media. This ship turned before they got CP3.