The Suns are among the contending teams that have pursued veteran forward Thaddeus Young, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Young, who will earn $14.19MM in a contract year in 2021/22, was sent from the Bulls from the Spurs in the sign-and-trade deal that landed DeMar DeRozan in Chicago.
Young is coming off a productive season, having averaged 12.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 4.3 APG with a career-best .559 FG% in 68 games (24.3 MPG) for the Bulls in 2020/21. And his expiring contract at a reasonable rate makes the 33-year-old a relatively safe investment.
However, it’s unclear whether he’s in the Spurs’ plans or if the team simply acquired him as part of the DeRozan return for salary-matching purposes and would happily flip him. Charania suggests that San Antonio is expected to receive “strong interest” in Young from playoff teams.
Phoenix could use some extra depth at the power forward spot since Dario Saric is expected to miss most or all of the 2021/22 campaign while recovering from a torn ACL. Any offer the Suns make for Young would likely start with Saric (who is earning $8.51MM) for salary-matching purposes and would have to include another asset or two.
The Suns would have to add a little more salary to Saric’s $8.51MM to sufficiently match Young’s cap hit, and many of their lesser-paid players aren’t yet trade-eligible since they were recently signed. As such, second-year center Jalen Smith looks like a potential candidate to be included in any offer for Young, though that’s just my speculation.
Thaddeus vs Dario & Jalen Smith…
I’ll take all of them.
Man that seems like a lot for Thaddeus Young. Jalen can play a little, and Saric (when healthy) is better and much younger that Thaddeus. But I guess that’s what you gotta do when you lash yourself to a 37 year old point guard and gotta win NOW.
IMO
Spurs would reject it
Reasons
Jalen Smith is not ready
Smith is raw material, need to go to third team for a finish good
Pop targets 35 wins this season then retired
Jalen smith is very raw and so far has not shown he is any more than a long project. Spurs would want more than just Smith.
It’s not enough for Spurs. Maybe if Saric wasn’t out for the year, but honestly Jalen Smith just hasnt really impressed enough to be the featured asset coming back.
Now if they add on top a swap for PHX’s 1st (probably in late 20s) for a Spurs 2nd, it gets done.
Suns don’t have available first round pick until 2026
Not sure why Spurs would do it but Thad would be great for the Suns playing 20 or so per game.